Structuration theory helps to explain the role of human agency in the reciprocal relationship between social systems and structures, which Giddens called the "duality of structure." The theory explicates how power struggles emerge and are negotiated and, depending on the restructuration, can help to resolve conflict or lead to deteriorations and…

We apply Durkheim's social transitional theory to explain the variation of anomie in 30 nations in the world. Combining data from two sources--the 1995 "World Values Survey and the United Nations University's World Income Inequality Database" or WIID--we test the hypothesis that rapid sociopolitical change at the structural level disrupts social…

Social systems, like biological systems, sometimes manifest dysfunctions that could be considered forms of "social disease." The author interprets the term "social diseases" as "persistent dysfunctions of social relations" that disrupt the normal functioning of particular elements of society or the entire social…

This article aims to illuminate how and why public schools have been sustained and/or strengthened as hierarchical, inequitable, and undemocratic sites that serve the corporate capitalist state. In doing so, the author draws on three theoretical ideas: the "shock doctrine," described vividly by Naomi Klein (2007); "critical…

This article examines how issues of national, Pan-African and tribal identities are handled in Kenyan upper secondary school textbooks for History and Government. Kenya is a multi-ethnic country without a common pre-colonial history. As a result, the historical record does not easily provide a common narrative with which to unify the nation. To…

In exploring the quality of schools' social system, this study provides insight into in which types of schools students may encounter barriers in developing supportive teacher-student relationships because of teachers exposing low levels of trust in students. Student culture and teachability perceptions are assessed as incentives for teachers'…

This paper, drawing on the theoretical framework of critical discourse analysis, examines the general goals and objectives of the national curriculum reform launched by the Ministry of Education in 2001 for Chinese primary schools. Four policy documents relevant to the curriculum reform are analyzed, including Chinese curriculum and English…

Boys have a slight advantage in the number of live births in the US (about 101:100), so, all things being equal, it is reasonable to assume that they would populate institutions at about the same rate as girls. However, institutions are social structures, and in social systems all things are almost "never" equal, so, clearly, there are other…

Purpose: The purpose of this cross-cultural study of schools in Sweden and Texas is to examine the cultural contexts of schools in both settings, and the leadership role of principals in creating and sustaining inclusive schools for diverse populations. Design/methodology/approach: The data were drawn from two studies; the first involving school…

A particular trait of the educational system under socialist reign was accountability at the input side--appropriate facilities, centrally decided curriculum, approved text-books, and uniformly trained teachers--but no control on the output. It was simply assumed that it met the agreed standards, which was, in turn, proven by the statistics…

The understanding of feminist pasts has been largely ignored in the history of education. This paper suggests that the historical sociology of Olive Banks provides fresh starting points for future research exploring the relationship between the history of social and political movements and a reassessment of contemporary and historical forms of…

There has been a lot of crises in Nigerian politics and Administration--a crisis of confidence in our elected officials, a lost of faith in our democratic government and an increasing frustration at government, and more also, an increasing frustration at the irrelevance of individual's vote in our political process. All these crises are crises…

Henry A. Giroux is recognized as one of the fifty most significant thinkers on education in the 20th century. He is also considered a scholar of immense influence in a number of fields internationally, hardly an inconsequential accolade in a century noted for a glut of educational and social thinkers. Yet, its wide-ranging and ever-expanding…

We examined the relationship between Individualism/Collectivism and generalized social trust across 31 European nations participating in the European Social Survey. Using multilevel regression analyses, the current study provides the first empirical investigation of the effects of cultural norms of Individualism/Collectivism on generalized social…

Universities are increasingly being seen as commercial enterprises, and are represented as particular types of business entities in manuals provided to university managers. Critical discourse analysis is employed in this paper to construct an analytical framework for the study of managerial advice, which is then used to examine the manual provided…