Social Criticism of Advertising: On the Role of Literary Theory and the Use of Data

Abstract

This paper discusses the use of literary theory for the social criticism of advertising. In particular, it examines what types of claims can be made simply by analyzing an ad itself and what types of social criticism require extrinsic data about how other readers understand the ad or the historical context of its creation. The author advocates a “doubly integrated” approach to social criticism that combines literary analysis with use of extrinsic empirical data and also integrates the system by which ads are produced with the way they are comprehended. This approach provides a holistic view of the advertising process and a strong basis for critique. Discussion of a demonstration study shows how qualitative data collected from readers can be used to complement traditional literary interpretations of advertisements.     

中国共产党人继承和发展了马克思主义人口理论

中国共产党人的人口思想是以三代中央领导集体为代表的中国共产党人把马思主义人口理论同中国社会主义建设事业的具体实践相结合的产物,是中国共产党集体智慧的结晶.从多个方面论述了中国共产党人人口思想对马克思主义人口理论的继承和发展.     

A Critique and A Retrieval of Management and the Humanities

The use of literature, and other sources from the humanities, in management education has become more prominent in recent years. But, there is reason to question the ethical justifications by which the marriage of Management and the Humanities is customarily defended. This paper is a critique of Management and the Humanities as it is practiced through the use of literature. By means of a liberal pragmatist kind of criticism, and a case analysis about a hypothetical Grand Theory of Management called Theory R, I draw a sharp distinction between a Management and the Humanities approach that merely confirms conventional truths and a new approach to Management and the Humanities that enables students to grow as what Henry Giroux calls "critical rather than 'good' citizens." I show how this new approach can enable management educators to retrieve the potential of Management and the Humanities to contribute to liberal education.     

A Role for Ethics Theory in Speculative Business Ethics Teaching

The paper discusses the role that ethics theory might play in business ethics teaching. It is noted that little attention is devoted to the explanation and application of ethics theory in business ethics textbooks, which suggests that ethics theory is held in low esteem by business ethics educators. This relative disregard has been justified by some critics on the basis of the limited usefulness of ethics theory to business ethics pedagogy. Notwithstanding these criticisms, the paper argues that ethics theory can play an important role in business ethics teaching which conforms to a speculative agenda. A speculative agenda is described, and a contribution that ethics theory can make to it is explained. This constitutes a form of immanent critique, which enables putative statements of business ethicality to be subjected to critique against the cultural values upon which their credibility rests. Ethics theory is offered as a mediating resource to facilitate such critique. Some criteria that the presentation of ethics theory needs to meet if it is to fulfill this speculative agenda are also outlined.     

浅谈马克思主义思想的与时俱进品质

本文通过分析马克思主义思想与时俱进品质的基本内涵、特征及对中国共产党发展的影响,提出新时期的发展策略,以期通过本文的阐述将马克思主义思想的发展与历史相结合,在实践中把代表最广大人民的根本利益与促进人的全面发展有机统一起来,为加快我国发展提供理论依据.     

Leadership After Virtue: MacIntyre’s Critique of Management Reconsidered

MacIntyre argues that management embodies emotivism, and thus is inherently amoral and manipulative. His claim that management is necessarily Weberian is, at best, outdated, and the notion that management aims to be neutral and value free is incorrect. However, new forms of management, and in particular the increased emphasis on leadership which emerged after MacIntyre’s critique was published, tend to support his central charge. Indeed, charismatic and transformational forms of leadership seem to embody emotivism to a greater degree than do more Weberian, bureaucratic forms of management; hence, MacIntyre’s central contention about our emotivistic culture seems to be well founded. Having criticised the details but defended the essence of MacIntyre’s critique of management, this paper sketches a MacIntyrean approach to management and leadership by highlighting the affinities between MacIntyre’s political philosophy and Greenleaf’s concept of servant leadership.     

浙江私营经济的发展前景

回顾浙江私营经济发展历史轨迹,从马克思主义的基本理论出发,对其发展前景进行探讨。浙江私营经济今后发展将体现在以下几个方面:私营经济将会出现一个长期发展的势头;私营经济将由第三产业为主向多产业化经营领域扩展;私营经济将由经营行为短期化向投资行为长期化转轨;私营经济将向科技型方向发展;私营经济将由家族式管理走向现代化管理;私营经济将向混合型经济结构转变;私营经济将由区域内发展转向跨地区、跨国界发展。     

Effective Protection,Policy Appraisal and Trade Policy Reform

When the effective protection concept was first developed it was widely regarded as a key measure of the structure of protection and became widely deployed. It was however, subject to a theoretical critique on the grounds that it was essentially a partial equilibrium measure, which could not be easily embedded in a general equilibrium framework. Notwithstanding this critique, the concept has continued to be widely used, especially in the context of policy reform and policy appraisal in developing countries. This paper re‐appraises the concept, reviews the extent of its application and discusses the factors behind its longevity as an investigative tool. The paper concludes that the measure still has a role to play in evaluating the structure of protection.     

Alasdair Macintyre’s Aristotelian Business Ethics: A Critique

This paper begins by summarizing and distilling MacIntyre’s sweeping critique of modern business. It identifies the crux of MacIntyre’s critique as centering on the fundamental Aristotelian concepts of internal goods and practices. MacIntyre essentially follows Aristotle in arguing that by privileging external goods over internal goods, business activity – and certainly modern capitalistic business activity – corrupts practices. Thus, from the perspective of virtue ethics, business is morally indefensible. The paper continues with an evaluation of MacIntyre’s arguments. The conclusion is drawn that MacIntyre’s critique, although partially valid, does not vitiate modern business as he claims. In short, modern business need not of necessity be antithetical to individuals’ pursuit of internal goods within practices.     

ALCHIAN AND DEMSETZ'S CRITIQUE OF THE COOPERATIVE FIRM THIRTY‐SEVEN YEARS AFTER

The author discusses the critique of cooperatives implied in Alchian and Demsetz's argument that efficiency is maximized when the central agent managing the firm and watching the labour force at work is the residual claimant. Entering upon a number of criticisms that Alchian and Demsetz's approach attracted over the years, he concludes that their critique does not hold, and his basic argument is that cooperative firms vesting the monitoring function in elected managers will not be less efficient than capitalistic firms in the same situation.     

马克思主义经济哲学理论浅析

马克思主义经济哲学是整个马克思理论体系中至关重要的组成部分,它的形成与发展有其自身的过程和规律,成熟之后也有着特定的核心思想。纵观其形成特点,可以发现马克思是在借鉴与批判同时代的经济学家理论的前提下逐渐形成自己的思想体系的,这种形成过程并不是一帆风顺的,也不是单向度的,而是有着非常复杂和曲折的一系列阶段。了解与分析马克思主义经济哲学的发展脉络以及主要观点,对理解整个马克思主义哲学体系有着重要的基础意义。     

Hartman's quandary: Reconciling pluralism and realism for virtue ethics in business

There is considerable consensus on the idea that Aristotelian virtue ethics advocates moral realism. In numerous works, the well-known business ethicist Edwin Hartman grapples with reconciling the unitary vision of life that a particular kind of moral realism advocates and the pluralist respect for diverse cultures and belief systems that comprise our world. This paper closely follows Hartman's efforts to reconcile his liberal values with his guarded support for Aristotelian moral realism. We argue that the realist interpretation of Aristotle's function argument can be employed to strengthen Hartman's critique of the concept of Homo economicus, which is often posited by its proponents and critics alike as the only viable position for a business manager. Drawing from Aristotle, the paper posits a novel notion of species-excellence as the ultimate telos of human life and an objective basis for a critique of Homo economicus.     

Rejoinder to Hunt’s ‘The bases of power approach to channel relationships’

Abstract

The critique of Blois and Hopkinson presented by Hunt is examined. Hunt argues that Blois and Hopkinson: make criticisms of the power-base approach in channels of distribution research; that these criticisms can be categorised under five headings; and, that each of these criticisms is suspect. This rejoinder examines each of Hunt’s claims and argues that they are not fully convincing.     

浅谈延安整风运动的经验对马克思主义学习型政党建设的启示

延安整风运动是我们党历史上一次成功的马克思主义教育运动,它创造性地以整风形式进行党员教育,为马克思主义学习活动的制度化、规范化提供了典范.应认真总结延安整风运动所体现的求实态度、理论联系实际的学风等,以推进当前马克思主义学习型政党建设.     

Let’s get real: new continental philosophy’s methodological imperative

This paper elucidates the implications of the ontological turn within continental philosophy for social researchers. In my literature review, I focus on the work of ?i?ek, Badiou, and Ferraris, and I identify three challenges which we must address. First, their work demands increasingly realist approaches to social research. Building on this, the second challenge is to find a methodology which can serve this realist approach; here, I argue that critique of the critical theory tradition is most appropriate. The third and final challenge is to identify appropriate concrete methods. I do so and then provide an example of how these methods could be applied in the study of sustainable food production. Ultimately, I argue that the most important intervention is an ethical one, as this tradition compels us to produce knowledge which benefits the comparatively disadvantaged in society. I conclude with specific implications for my own field of consumer research.     

Scale,scope and accountability: A response to Lloyd-Jones and Lewis

This is a response to the critique by Lloyd-Jones and Lewis of our 2003 Business History article. It makes a renewed case for the extension of business history research into corporate governance and accountability, such that this new dimension is considered in conjunction with the analysis of scale and scope. Our approach and that of Lloyd Jones and Lewis demonstrate that governance and accountability, or the lack of it, in conjunction with strategy and structure, are useful dimensions of the cases they analyse, and, we would continue to argue, in the general case as well.     

马克思的企业治理理论

本文根据马克思的有关论述,从企业的契约性质、要素产权界定与企业治理结构、企业治理结构与企业绩效的关系等方面介绍了马克思的企业治理理论,指出马克思是企业治理理论的创始人。     

马克思经济学和古典经济学研究方法上的演化关系探析

古典经济学和马克思经济学是前后相继的两个经济学体系。两者在方法论上既有区别,又有联系。文章就两门学科的研究方法作了简明概括的比较,论证了马克思经济学在研究方法上对古典经济学的继承、发展和创新。     

IS THE NAIRU THEORY A MONETARIST,NEW KEYNESIAN,POST KEYNESIAN OR A MARXIST THEORY?

The NAIRU (non‐accelerating inflation rate of unemployment) theory has become the mainstream theory in explaining unemployment in Europe and is often used to justify demands for a cutback of the welfare state, such as reducing unemployment benefits. Close inspection reveals that it, perhaps surprisingly, shares some arguments with Post Keynesian and even Marxist theory. The paper proposes an underdetermined, encompassing NAIRU model, which is consistent with several theoretical traditions. Depending on the closure with respect to demand formation and determination of the NAIRU itself, the model allows for New Keynesian, Post Keynesian and Marxist results.     

马克思主义核心价值观新论

马克思主义指导思想是社会主义核心价值体系的灵魂,马克思主义核心价值观是马克思主义的灵魂,因而马克思主义核心价值观应是社会主义核心价值体系灵魂之魂。从马克思主义理论体系的整体性出发,以马克思主义价值理论为基础,立足于马克思主义经典著作及马克思和恩格斯的主要社会活动,并以新的方法来观照,自由全面发展和共同解放应为马克思主义核心价值观,而其规定性应作为马克思主义核心价值观的基本内涵。在当前我国努力建设社会主义核心价值体系时代背景下,马克思主义核心价值观将引领当代社会与当代人核心价值观念的发展方向。