What is the Sociology of Knowledge

The sociology of knowledge is a subfield within the discipline of sociology in which researchers and theorists focus on knowledge and knowing as socially grounded processes, and how, therefore, knowledge is understood to be a social production. Given this understanding, knowledge and knowing are contextual, shaped by interaction between people, and fundamentally shaped by one’s social location in society, in terms of race, class, gender, sexuality, nationality, culture, religion, etc.—what sociologists refer to as â€Å"positionality,† and the ideologies that frame one’s life. Impact of Social Institutions As socially situated activities, knowledge and knowing are made possible by and shaped by the social organization of a community or society. Social institutions, like education, family, religion, media, and scientific and medical establishments, play fundamental roles in knowledge production. Institutionally produced knowledge tends to be valued more highly in society than popular knowledge, which means that hierarchies of knowledge exist wherein the knowledge and ways of knowing of some are considered more accurate and valid than others. These distinctions often have to do with discourse, or the ways of speaking and writing that are used to express one’s knowledge. For this reason, knowledge and power are considered intimately related, as there is power within the knowledge creation process, power in the hierarchy of knowledge, and especially, power in creating knowledge about others and their communities. In this context, all knowledge is political, and the processes of know ledge formation and of knowing have sweeping implications in a variety of ways. Prominent Research Areas Research topics within the sociology of knowledge include and are not limited to: The processes by which people come to know the world, and the implications of these processesThe role of the economy and consumer goods in shaping knowledge formationThe effects of type of media or mode of communication on knowledge production, dissemination, and knowingThe political, economic, social, and environmental implications of hierarchies of knowledge and knowingThe relationship between power, knowledge, and inequality and injustice (i.e., racism, sexism, homophobia, ethnocentrism, xenophobia, etc.)Formation and spread of popular knowledge that is not institutionally framedThe political power of common sense, and the connections between knowledge and social orderThe connections between knowledge and social movements for change Theoretical Influences Interest in the social function and implications of knowledge and knowing exist in the early theoretical work of Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Émile Durkheim, as well as that of many other philosophers and scholars from around the world, but the subfield began to congeal as such after Karl Mannheim, a Hungarian sociologist, published Ideology and Utopia in 1936. Mannheim systematically tore down the idea of objective academic knowledge and advanced the idea that one’s intellectual point of view is inherently connected to one’s social position. He argued that truth is something that only exists relationally, because thought occurs in a social context, and is embedded in the values and social position of the thinking subject. He wrote, â€Å"The task of the study of ideology, which tries to be free from value-judgments, is to understand the narrowness of each individual point of view and the interplay between these distinctive attitudes in the total social process.† By plainly stating these observations, Mannheim spurred a century of theorizing and research in this vein, and effectively founded the sociology of knowledge. Writing simultaneously, journalist and political activist Antonio Gramsci made very important contributions to the subfield. Of intellectuals and their role in reproducing the power and domination of the ruling class, Gramsci argued that claims of objectivity are politically loaded claims and that intellectuals, though typically considered autonomous thinkers, produced knowledge reflective of their class positions. Given that most came from or aspired to the ruling class, Gramsci viewed intellectuals as key to the maintenance of rule through ideas and common sense, and wrote, â€Å"The intellectuals are the dominant group’s ‘deputies’ exercising the subaltern functions of social hegemony and political government.† French social theorist Michel Foucault made significant contributions to the sociology of knowledge in the late twentieth century. Much of his writing focused on the role of institutions, like medicine and prison, in producing knowledge about people, especially those considered â€Å"deviant.† Foucault theorized the way institutions produce discourses that are used to create subject and object categories that place people within a social hierarchy. These categories and the hierarchies they compose emerge from and reproduce social structures of power. He asserted that to represent others through the creation of categories is a form of power. Foucault maintained that no knowledge is neutral, it is all tied to power and is thus political. In 1978, Edward Said, a Palestinian American critical theorist and postcolonial scholar, published Orientalism. This book is about the relationships between the academic institution and the power dynamics of colonialism, identity, and racism. Said used historical texts, letters, and news accounts of members of Western empires to show how they effectively created â€Å"the Orient† as a category of knowledge. He defined â€Å"Orientalism,† or the practice of studying â€Å"the Orient,† as â€Å"the corporate institution for dealing with the Orient—dealing with it by making statements about it, authorizing view of it, describing it, by teaching it, settling it, ruling over it: in short, Orientalism as a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient.† Said argued that Orientalism and the concept of â€Å"the Orient† were fundamental to the creation of a Western subject and identity, juxtaposed against the Orien tal other, that was framed as superior in intellect, ways of life, social organization, and thus, entitled to rule and resources. This work emphasized the power structures that shape and are reproduced by knowledge and is still widely taught and applicable in understanding relationships between the global East and West and North and South today. Other influential scholars in the history of the sociology of knowledge include Marcel Mauss, Max Scheler, Alfred Schà ¼tz, Edmund Husserl, Robert K. Merton, and Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann (The Social Construction of Reality). Notable Contemporary Works Patricia Hill Collins, â€Å"Learning from the outsider within: the sociological significance of black feminist thought.† Social Problems, 33(6): 14-32; Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Routledge, 1990Chandra Mohanty, â€Å"Under western eyes: feminist scholarship and colonial discourses.† Pp. 17-42 in Feminism without borders: decolonizing theory, practicing solidarity. Duke University Press, 2003.Ann Swidler and Jorge Arditi. 1994. â€Å"The new sociology of knowledge.† Annual review of sociology, 20: 305-329.

Essay on Chemistry and the Structure of DNA - 590 Words

Genetics relies on chemistry to explain phenomena related to the field. The structure of DNA relies on chemistry. In fact, when James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA, they did so by building models based on the laws of chemistry. Chemistry also relates heavily to the structure and function of one of the main products of DNA: protein. Chemistry dictates the structure of DNA. DNA is a polymer of monomers called nucleic acids. These are made of a nitrogenous base, a phosphate group and a sugar. It is the negative charge on the phosphate group that makes DNA an acid. There are 4 different bases: adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine. In groups of three, these four bases can code for any protein coded for in an†¦show more content†¦These are covalent bonds that involve removing a water molecule from each amino acid in a process called dehydration synthesis. The second level of organization involves the backbones of the amino acids. Hydrogen bonds form between the phosphate and carboxyl groups to form either hydrophobic alpha helices or hydrophilic beta pleated sheets. Alpha helices are hydrophobic because the coiled nature of the amino acids shields any hydrophilic parts of the amino acids from the environment. Proteins that are made to span a cell membrane will be made of both alpha helices and beta pleated sheets. The proteins are made so that alpha helices are within the membrane the beta pleated sheets are outside the membrane. This is because cell membranes are made of amphipathic molecules called phospholipids that form a bilayer. The third level involves the interactions between R groups on the amino acids. These could be ionic interactions, covalent bonding or hydrophobic or hydrophilic reactions. A specific type of covalent bond is called a disulfide bridge. This is formed when two sulfyhydryl groups within two amino acids’ R groups interact to form a covalent bond. 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Practices Organizational Citizens Behaviour -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Practices Organizational Citizens Behaviour? Answer: Introducation In todays competitive business world, corporations focus on hiring qualified and talented employees that are capable of efficiently performing assigned tasks. According to Wood et al. (2016), organisational behaviour assists companies in determining job performance and personality of an employee. It studies peoples behaviour in an enterprise to analyse the performance of individual and group. This essay will discuss the role of organisational behaviour theories in positively influencing employees performance in a firm. In recent years, corporations implement organisational behaviour strategies to enhance the productive performance of employees by maintaining a positive working environment. As per Suppiah and Singh (2011), effective organisational behaviour enables employees to interact with others positively. Leadership approach is a crucial element which assists in evaluating the impact of organisational behaviour in an enterprise and implementing various strategies to improve emplo yees performance. This essay will analyse why effective care is needed from leaders while performing various business functions such as setting goals, designing jobs, working conditions and motivating employees. Further, the essay will evaluate how managers can influence productive performance of employees and impact upon different organisational processes. Modern corporations use organisational behaviour theories for human resource purposes which assist them maximising the outputs of individual and group members. In recent years, managers pay special care while performing various business activities such as motivating employees, designing jobs, establishing positive working conditions and others in order to encourage employees productive performance (Snape and Redman, 2010). Managers use organisational behaviour theories to analyse the structure and processes of an enterprise to understand its internal and external interactions. While encouraging employees, managers reveal various hard and soft dimensions of their personality which they can utilise to encourage and motivate workers. There are various major contributing factors in organisational behaviour approach such as psychology, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, political science, and economics. Manager analyses these factors while developing and implement organisational behaviour theories. The psychological factors evaluate how individual behave in response to incentive and sociology analyse employee relationship with groups and others (Kashyap, 2018). Social Psychology observes individuals behaviour in threat, conflicts and stress situations. Anthropology examines customer, traditions and social norms of a company since it is a part of larger society. Political Science assesses the power, authority and corporate politics which influence corporations hierarchy and economics focus on monetary and non-monetary incentives to motive employees performance. Job design focus on reducing job dissatisfaction among employees and assigning them jobs based on their qualifications and skills. In recent years, managers use job design strategy to increase employees productive performance by offering non-monetary incentives, such as personal achievement, promotion, job satisfaction, increasing responsibilities and challenges in their jobs (Erez, 2010). Organisation use job enrichment, job rotations, job enlargement and job simplification techniques during job design process. Various organisational behaviour theories assist managers in improving the efficiency of job design process and increasing job satisfaction. The Common Sense Theory (Theory X and Y) provides that there are different types of people in a corporation; Theory X employees focus on monetary benefits, and they did not care about anything else whereas Theory Y employees focus on improving their lives and independence (Sorensen and Minahan, 2011). Theory X employees are considered as lazy, unreliable and untrustworthy, whereas, Theory Y employees are moral, responsible and good for companys development. Steve Jobs, former CEO and co-founder of Apple Incorporation, used Douglas McGregors Theory X and Theory Y approach in the company to increase employees productive performance (Baker, 2013). He used this theory to motivate the team as a whole rather than managing individual staff which allowed employees to perform with full potential. In the technology industry, job satisfaction is a key factor because most of the employees are millennials who do not prefer to work for another company and believe in establishing start-ups. High rate of retention in software companies can be reduced by Theory X and Y approach because it assists in designing jobs that satisfy employees requirement and increase their productive performance. Similarly, Herzbergs Two Factor Theory also assist corporations in job designing process because it analyses various motivators that cause job satisfaction or dissatisfaction in a company and managers can use them to positively influence employees performance (Tan and Waheed, 2011). Google Incorporation uses this approach to increase the satisfaction of their employees because of which company has won the title of the best place to work many times (Fortune, 2017). Managers can implement these organisational behaviour theories into various operations in order to impact upon processes across the com pany, for example, implementing these policies into recruitment and selection process can allow the corporation to hire qualified employees based on job requirements. Working conditions referred to the organisational environment which affects employees in a company such as legal rights, responsibilities, job hours, safety standards, positive relationships and others. Managers focus on establishing positive working conditions in the workplace since it encourages employees to work at their full potential. Organisational behaviour theories focus on increasing job satisfaction of employees and motivating them in order to improve their working conditions (Chiang and Hsieh, 2012). Effective conflict resolution techniques also assist managers in establishing a positive relationship between workers. Many companies implement Behavioural management theory which provides that managers should have a better understanding of human nature, and they should treat every employee equally (Gavetti et al., 2012). The theory is based on Human relation approach which focuses on establishing positive organisational relationships that encourage workers to perform better. Effective communication is one of the major issues in large corporations, and it reduces companys performance because decision-making process takes a considerable amount of time. Managers can implement Webers Theory of Bureaucracy to address communication issue; the theory provides that role and responsibilities should be clearly defined which assist in establishing structured, hierarchical and clear communication channels. Managers should implement this theory across different divisions in order to address issues relating to poor communication (Merz, 2011). Modern corporations are facing the issue of high retention because people did not prefer to do repetitive tasks that are boring and does not require any cognitive or challenging skills. To address this issue, managers implement Goal-Setting Theory which set achievable goals for workers that challenge them to improve their productive performance (Sullivan and Strodes, 2010). Goal setting theory enables the manager to set SMART goals for employees which is an acronym for smart, measurable, assignable, realistic and time-based. These goals are based on employees skills and qualification, and they should be clearly communicated by the managers (Zahorsky, 2018). Google Incorporation uses this strategy because it reduces employees dissatisfaction by providing them new roles, responsibilities, and obligations which increase job satisfaction. Motivation is another approach which is used by modern corporations to increase employees productive performance and job satisfaction. The Expectancy T heory given by Porter and Layman Porter and Edward Lawler provide that employees are motivated by what they want and how likely they are going to get it. Porter and Lawler used the model given by Victor Vroom and added new aspects to improve it. The theory provides that there are two types of rewards: intrinsic and extrinsic (Estes and Polnick, 2012). Intrinsic rewards include personal growth, achievement, accomplishment, and sense of pleasure. Extrinsic motivation is based on tangible rewards such as increase in salary, bonus, and others. Managers should offer rewards based on employees requirement and their performance. Hierarchy of Needs Theory provided by Abraham Maslow is another popular motivation approach which encourages employees to increase their productive performance. The theory divided employees needs into five parts: physiological, security, social, self-esteem and self-actualisation (Jerome, 2013). The managers are requiring analysing employees requirements and providing them incentives accordingly. Kelloggs, an American food manufacturing company, has implemented Hierarchy of Needs theory throughout its divisions in or der to establish a positive relationship with employees and increase job satisfaction (Sharaf, 2014). This strategy assist company is reducing employee retention rate because it operates in food processing industry in which the work in repetitive and boring, and rate of employee retention is high. In conclusion, the organisational behaviour is a study of individuals and group in a company which focus on increase employees performance and establishing positive relationships. Managers pay special care while performing various business functions such as job designing, goal setting, establishing effective working conditions, motivating workers and others. Various organisational behaviour theories encourage employees to increase their productive performance such as Webers Classic Theory, Goal-Setting Theory, Hierarchy of Needs, Common Sense Theory and others. These theories assist managers in addressing various organisational issues which negatively influence employees performance. Following recommendations can assist managers in encouraging employees productive performance and influencing processes across the organisation. Modern corporations should analyse their workplace environment and business structure before implementing an organisational behaviour theory because one theory cannot apply to different companies and managers should develop a strategy based on firms requirements. The organisational behaviour theory should also be flexible, so it can be transformed by rapidly changing market conditions. The organisational behaviour theory should be similar and applied across different division of an organisation, or else it can give rise to employee disputes because one division might receive better incentives than others which create organisational conflict. These recommendations can be implemented by companies to encourage their employees productive performance which provides them a competitive advantage and sustains their future growth. References Baker, S. (2013) Steve Jobs vs Tim Cook If X worked then Y use a collaborative management style?. [Online] Righttrack Consultancy. Available at https://www.righttrackconsultancy.co.uk/steve-jobs-vs-tim-cook-if-jobs-was-effective-with-x-then/ [Accessed 17th January 2018]. Chiang, C.F. and Hsieh, T.S. (2012) The impacts of perceived organizational support and psychological empowerment on job performance: The mediating effects of organizational citizenship behavior.International journal of hospitality management,31(1), pp.180-190. Erez, M. (2010) Culture and job design.Journal of Organizational Behavior,31(2?3), pp.389-400. Estes, B. and Polnick, B. (2012) Examining motivation theory in higher education: An expectancy theory analysis of tenured faculty productivity.International Journal of Management, Business, and Administration,15(1), pp.1-7. Fortune. (2016) Google. [Online] Available at https://fortune.com/best-companies/google/ [Accessed 17th January 2018]. Gavetti, G., Greve, H.R., Levinthal, D.A. and Ocasio, W. (2012) The behavioral theory of the firm: Assessment and prospects.Academy of Management Annals,6(1), pp.1-40. Jerome, N. (2013) Application of the Maslows hierarchy of need theory; impacts and implications on organizational culture, human resource and employees performance.International Journal of Business and Management Invention,2(3), pp.39-45. Kashyap, D. (2018) Organizational Behavior and Other Fields of Study. [Online] Your Article Library. Available at https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/organization/organizational-behaviour/organizational-behavior-and-other-fields-of-study/63745 [Accessed 17th January 2018]. Merz, F. (2011)Max Weber's Theory of Bureaucracy and its Negative Consequences. Grin Verlag. Sharaf, A. (2014) Kellogg's strategy (K-Values) of motivating employees. [Online] LinkedIn. Available at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140722081552-40947926-kellogg-s-strategy-k-values-of-motivation-of-employees [Accessed 17th January 2018]. Snape, E. and Redman, T. (2010) HRM practices, organizational citizenship behaviour, and performance: A multi?level analysis.Journal of Management Studies,47(7), pp.1219-1247. Sorensen, P.F. and Minahan, M. (2011) McGregor's legacy: the evolution and current application of Theory Y management.Journal of Management History,17(2), pp.178-192. Sullivan, G.S. and Strode, J.P. (2010) Motivation through goal setting: A self-determined perspective.Strategies,23(6), pp.18-23. Suppiah, V. and Singh Sandhu, M. (2011) Organisational culture's influence on tacit knowledge-sharing behaviour.Journal of knowledge management,15(3), pp.462-477. Tan, T.H. and Waheed, A. (2011) Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory and job satisfaction in the Malaysian retail sector: The mediating effect of love of money. Wood, J.M., Zeffane, R.M., Fromholtz, M., Wiesner, R., Morrison, R., Factor, A., McKeown, T., Schermerhorn, J.R., Hunt, J.G. and Osborn, R.N. (2016)Organisational behaviour: Core concepts and applications. John Wiley Sons Australia, Ltd.. Zahorsky, D. (2018) 5 Elements of a SMART Business Goal. [Online] The Balance. Available at https://www.thebalance.com/elements-of-a-smart-business-goal-2951530 [Accessed 17th January 2018].