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Ethnic Boundary Making: Institutions, Power, Networks

Andreas Wimmer

The book introduces a new theory that overcomes essentializing approaches to ethnicity all the while avoiding the pitfalls of excessive constructivism. It suggests understanding ethnic/racial ... More

The book introduces a new theory that overcomes essentializing approaches to ethnicity all the while avoiding the pitfalls of excessive constructivism. It suggests understanding ethnic/racial boundaries as the outcome of a negotiation process between actors who pursue different boundary making strategies, depending on institutional incentives, their position within power hierarchies, and their pre-existing networks of alliances. This theory contrast with mainstream approaches in the social sciences, where ethnic groups are often treated as self-evident units of observation and ethnic culture and solidarity as self-explanatory variables, thus overlooking the process through which certain ethnic cleavages but not others become culturally meaningful, politically salient, and associated with dense networks of solidarity. By paying systematic attention to variation in the nature of ethnic boundaries, the book also overcomes the exclusive focus on fluidity, malleability, and contextual instability that characterizes radically constructivist approaches. This book introduces a series of epistemological principles, theoretical stances, research designs, and modes of interpretation that allow to disentangle ethnic from other processes of group formation and to assess in how far ethnic boundaries structure the allocation of resources, invite political passion, and represent primary aspects of individual identity. Using a variety of qualitative and quantitative research techniques, several chapters exemplify how this agenda can be realized in concrete empirical research: on how local residents in immigrant neighborhoods draw symbolic boundaries against each other, on the ethnic and racial composition of friendship networks, and how ethnic closure influences the cultural values of Europeans.Less

Experience, Caste, and the Everyday Social

Gopal Guru and Sundar Sarukkai

This book develops a radically new way of understanding the social by focussing on different experiences we have of the everyday empirical reality. This book offers a new way of understanding the ... More

This book develops a radically new way of understanding the social by focussing on different experiences we have of the everyday empirical reality. This book offers a new way of understanding the social processes of societies in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, all of which have complex experiences of the everyday social. The authors begin with the argument that the everyday social is the domain where the first experiences of the social are formed and these experiences influence to a great extent meaning-making of the structural social. Following a critique of some dominant trends in social ontology, they discuss in detail, and with many common examples, how the social is experienced through the perceptual capacities of sight, touch, sound, taste, and smell. They then discuss the relation between experience of belongingness and the social, and show how the social gets authority in a way similar to how natural gets authority in the natural sciences. Moreover, the social appears through the invocation of we-ness, suggestive of a social self. The everyday social also creates its sense of time, a social time which orders social experiences such as caste. Finally, the authors explain how the ethics of the social is formed through the relationship of Maitri (drawn from Ambedkar) between the different socials that constitute a society. This is not just a new theory of the social but is filled with illustrations from the everyday experiences of India, including the diverse experiences of caste.Less

The Explanation of Social Action

John Levi Martin

The social sciences have increasingly placed all their bets on a notion of explanation that turns on linking abstractions through causal relations. This explanatory vocabulary is, if analysts deem it ... More

The social sciences have increasingly placed all their bets on a notion of explanation that turns on linking abstractions through causal relations. This explanatory vocabulary is, if analysts deem it necessary, set against that developed by actors, and we justify this by pointing to everyday people’s limited abilities to survive destructive interrogation of their motives. We are wronger than they; it is possible to produce a rigorous social science that systematizes and organizes actors’ experiences as opposed to negating them. Such an approach would partake of the formal characteristics of an aesthetics, and this book attempts to make a sustained plausibility argument for such a social aesthetics.Less

Generally Speaking: An Invitation to Concept-Driven Sociology

Eviatar Zerubavel

Defying the conventional split between “theory” and “methodology,” this book introduces a yet unarticulated and thus far never systematized method of theorizing designed to reveal abstract social ... More

Defying the conventional split between “theory” and “methodology,” this book introduces a yet unarticulated and thus far never systematized method of theorizing designed to reveal abstract social patterns. Insisting that such methodology can actually be taught, it tries to make the mental processes underlying the practice of a “concept-driven sociology” more explicit. Many sociologists tend to study the specific, often at the expense of also studying the generic. To correct this imbalance, the book examines the theoretico-methodological process by which we can “distill” generic social patterns from the culturally, historically, and situationally specific contexts in which we encounter them. It thus champions a “generic sociology” that is pronouncedly transcontextual (transcultural, transhistorical, transsituational, and translevel) in its scope. In order to uncover generic, transcontextual social patterns, data need to be collected in a wide range of social contexts. Such contextual diversity is manifested multi-culturally, multihistorically, multisituationally, as well as at multiple levels of social aggregation. True to its message, the book illustrates generic social patterns by drawing on numerous examples from diverse cultural contexts and historical periods and a wide range of diverse social domains, as well as by disregarding scale. Emphasizing cross-contextual commonality, generic sociology tries to reveal formal “parallels” across seemingly disparate contexts. This book features the four main types of cross-contextual analogies generic sociologists tend to use (cross-cultural, cross-historical, cross-domain, and cross-level), disregarding conventionally noted substantive differences in order to note conventionally disregarded formal equivalences.Less

India Tomorrow: Conversations with the Next Generation of Political Leaders

Pradeep Chhibber and Harsh Shah

The next generation of political leaders will determine India’s future. We know their names, but not what lies behind what we hear or see in the event/news-focussed coverage in newspapers and ... More

The next generation of political leaders will determine India’s future. We know their names, but not what lies behind what we hear or see in the event/news-focussed coverage in newspapers and television channels. For instance, what moves them? Who inspires them? What are their passions and interests outside of politics? Where do they stand on some of India’s most contentious political issues? Do they have any regrets about their political careers? How do they explain some of the inconsistencies in their words and actions? Have their career choices come with significant personal costs? We set out to write a book that would give readers a snapshot of contemporary Indian politics, and its future, through the stories of 20 of the country’s most prominent next-generation politicians, each of whom we would interview in person. The goal was simple—to understand their personalities and ideologies, and offer readers unique insights. This book does not focus much on the quotidian aspects of politics but rather attempts to unravel the personalities, aspirations, ideologies, interests, passions, and motivations of the leaders featured. In doing so, it explores issues and tensions that lie at the heart of contemporary India’s politics, including but not limited to divisions of caste and religion, institutional decline, federalism, and centre–state relations, integration of Jammu & Kashmir, dynastic politics, and women empowerment.Less

Interrogating India's Modernity: Democracy, Identity, and Citizenship

Surinder Jodhka (ed.)

Written as a tribute to the contributions of Dipankar Gupta to the study of Indian society and the discipline of sociology in India, this festschrift volume brings together essays of some of the ... More

Written as a tribute to the contributions of Dipankar Gupta to the study of Indian society and the discipline of sociology in India, this festschrift volume brings together essays of some of the best-known scholars in the social sciences. Some of these essays are based on rich empirical work, while others explore conceptual domains of the contemporary processes of social change. Still others provide critical commentaries on the functioning of the Indian state and its various administrative organs. Woven around the themes of modernity, identity, and citizenship, the volume explores the dynamics of democratic politics and changing social order of Indian society. The Western idea of modernity had been a source of fascination for a large majority of the nationalist leadership and the newly emergent middle classes of India at the time of its independence in 1947. It was perhaps relatively easier to frame a ‘modern’ Constitution after extensive deliberations with a wide range of interests and opinions. However, institutionalization of an organizational framework where there is a healthy democratic political system and a culture of social relations informed by the modern idea of citizenship has been much more difficult. While, on the one hand, these emergent complexities of the Indian experience raise some very important practical/political questions, on the other, the process of change and churning that Indian society has been undergoing over the last five or six decades also throw-up a fascinating set of questions for the social scientists to engage with. The scholarship of Dipankar Gupta and of those who have contributed to this volume is a good example of this engagement.Less

Mind and Society: From Indian Studies to General Sociology

J.P.S. Uberoi

Khalid Tyabji (ed.)

Seamless in approach and rigour of method and seated very much in the post-modern present, this book spans a wide spectrum of historical periods, cultures, religions, regions and politics. This is a ... More

Seamless in approach and rigour of method and seated very much in the post-modern present, this book spans a wide spectrum of historical periods, cultures, religions, regions and politics. This is a reflection of the author’s search for a theory of vernacular pluralism suitable for Indian society and modernity. The book has three sections. The first engages with the question of swaraj or independent nationalism versus internationalism in the context of knowledge, programmes of research and the university as a social institution. The essays are written to represent the author’s viewpoint on the political conflict between imperialism and nationalism as it relates to the academic pursuit of knowledge in the university and the profession. The second group of essays comprises selected critical reflections on aspects of the modern Western world, academic, theoretical and practical, all here considered as inherently social, but remaining unexamined in our everyday life and practice. They begin with questions of social science and philosophy and conclude with a discussion on the working lives of the industrial worker (West) and the ecological household farmer (East). The third group of essays explores the original project of a vernacular Indian modernity in relation to the Hindu and Muslim cultures of medieval India and in the context of Sikhism as an example of Indian modernity. The thrust of this final section is to establish the ground for a concept of society in the vernacular usage, labour and language, rather than in the concept of ‘tradition’ as general social science and the Orientalist classicists have hitherto done.Less

Modernity in Indian Social Theory

A Raghuramaraju (ed.)

Indian society is extremely complex, particularly in the twentieth century. However, this complexity has not been captured by Indian social theory. One reason is the theoretical burden caused by ... More

Indian society is extremely complex, particularly in the twentieth century. However, this complexity has not been captured by Indian social theory. One reason is the theoretical burden caused by historical events such as colonialism, which incidentally brought modernity to India. Western modernity is mainly normative, and its norms include the concept of autonomous individual, freedom, and instrumental rationality. This normative project is sought to be ruthlessly implemented through modern programmes of secularism, nationalism, urbanization, and industrialization where the pre-modern is sought to be disinherited. This book explores the limitations surrounding Indian social theorists' views on Indian society. It discusses Partha Chatterjee's perspectives on Indian nationalism, Javeed Alam's interpretation of Indian secularism and the use of plural character of Indian society by some Indian social scientists, and Gopal Guru's proposal to move Dalits' lived experience from literature into social theory. The book also examines the limitations surrounding the reading of contemporary texts and activities of thinkers such as Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, B.R. Ambedkar, and Aurobindo Ghosh.Less

Moral Time

Donald Black

Conflict is ubiquitous and inevitable, but people generally dislike it and try to prevent or avoid it as much as possible. So why do clashes of right and wrong occur? And why are some more serious ... More

Conflict is ubiquitous and inevitable, but people generally dislike it and try to prevent or avoid it as much as possible. So why do clashes of right and wrong occur? And why are some more serious than others? This book presents a new theory of conflict that provides answers to these and many other questions. The heart of the theory is a completely new concept of social time. The book claims that the root cause of conflict is the movement of social time, including relational, vertical, and cultural time—changes in intimacy, inequality, and diversity. The theory of moral time reveals the causes of conflict in all human relationships, from marital and other close relationships to those between strangers, ethnic groups, and entire societies. Moreover, the theory explains the origins and clash of right and wrong not only in modern societies but across the world and across history, from conflict concerning sexual behavior such as rape, adultery, and homosexuality, to bad manners and dislike in everyday life, theft and other crime, racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism, witchcraft accusations, warfare, heresy, obscenity, creativity, and insanity. The book concludes by explaining the evolution of conflict and morality across human history, from the tribal to the modern age. It also provides surprising insights into the postmodern emergence of the right to happiness and the expanding rights of humans and non-humans across the world. The book offers an incisive, powerful, and radically new understanding of human conflict—a fundamental and inescapable feature of social life.Less

Narrative Politics: Stories and Collective Action

Frederick W. Mayer

This book seeks to answer two questions: one theoretical, the other empirical. How do individuals come together to act collectively in their common interest? Why is it that those who promote ... More

This book seeks to answer two questions: one theoretical, the other empirical. How do individuals come together to act collectively in their common interest? Why is it that those who promote collective action so often turn to stories? Answering these questions requires recognizing the power of story to overcome the obstacles to collective action: to surmount the temptation to free ride, to coordinate group behaviour, and, indeed, in the first instance, to arrive at a common understanding of the collective interest. Humans are, whatever else we, a storytelling, story-consuming animal. We use stories to make sense of our experience and to imbue it with meaning. Our self-narratives define our sense of identity and script our actions. Because we are constituted by narrative, we can be moved by the stories told to us by others. That is why leaders who call a community to action seek to engross it in a story in which tragedy and triumph hang in the balance, in which taking part in the collective action becomes a moral imperative rather than a matter of calculated self-interest. Drawing on insights from political science and sociology, behavioral economics and neuroscience, history and cultural studies, literature and narrative theory, this book sheds light on a wide range of political phenomena from social movements to electoral politics.Less

New Urban Spaces: Urban Theory and the Scale Question

Neil Brenner

The urban condition is today being radically transformed. Urban restructuring is accelerating, new urban spaces are being consolidated, and new forms of urbanization are crystallizing. How can these ... More

The urban condition is today being radically transformed. Urban restructuring is accelerating, new urban spaces are being consolidated, and new forms of urbanization are crystallizing. How can these transformations be deciphered? In this book, critical urban theorist Neil Brenner argues that confronting this challenge requires not only intensive research on urban restructuring but new theories of urbanization. To this end, Brenner proposes an approach that breaks with inherited conceptions of the urban as a bounded settlement unit—the city or the metropolis—and explores the multiscalar constitution, political mediation, and ongoing rescaling of the capitalist urban fabric, from the local and the regional to the national and the planetary. New Urban Spaces offers a paradigmatic account of how rescaling processes are transforming inherited formations of urban life, the role of multiscalar state spatial strategies in animating them, and their variegated consequences for emergent patterns and pathways of urbanization. The book also advances an understanding of critical urban theory as radically revisable: key urban concepts, methods, and cartographies must be continually reinvented in relation to the relentlessly mutating worlds of urbanization they aspire to illuminate.Less

Postcolonial Thought and Social Theory

Julian Go

Postcolonial thought is an intellectual approach that recognizes the importance of empire and colonialism in the making of the modern world, including the constitution of modern culture and ... More

Postcolonial thought is an intellectual approach that recognizes the importance of empire and colonialism in the making of the modern world, including the constitution of modern culture and knowledge. Although postcolonial thought has resonated strongly in the academic humanities, this book explores its implications for social science and, in particular, social theory and sociology. After introducing the respective histories of social theory and postcolonial thought, the book discusses the various waves of postcolonial thought, beginning with the first wave of prominent thinkers and authors, such as W. E. B. Du Bois, Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Amilcar Cabral, and C. L. R. James. After examining this history, it discusses the second-wave of postcolonial thought, including the work of prominent authors such as Edward Said, Gayatri Spivak, and Homi Bhabha. The book presents the postcolonial challenge to social theory, and charts various strategies for crafting a postcolonial social science. Although some scholars suggest that postcolonial thought and social science are incompatible, this book explores points of convergence as well as difference, and argues for a third wave of postcolonial thought emerging within social science.Less

The Power of the Sacred: An Alternative to the Narrative of Disenchantment

Hans Joas

“Disenchantment” is a key term in the self-understanding of modernity. But what exactly does this concept mean? What was its original meaning when Max Weber introduced it? And can the conventional ... More

“Disenchantment” is a key term in the self-understanding of modernity. But what exactly does this concept mean? What was its original meaning when Max Weber introduced it? And can the conventional meaning or Max Weber’s view really be defended, given the present state of knowledge about the history of religion? This book attempts to divest this concept of its enduring enchantment. The first chapters of the book deal with three empirical disciplines—history, psychology, and sociology of religion—to develop an understanding of religion that then lays the groundwork for chapter 4, which amounts to the most thorough study ever undertaken of Weber’s views on disenchantment. It turns out that Weber’s use of this term was highly ambiguous and that his grand narrative leading from the prophets of ancient Judaism to the crisis of meaning on the eve of World War I collapses when we recognize this ambiguity. This makes it possible to construct an alternative that takes into account the dynamics of ever new sacralizations, their normative evaluation in light of a universalist morality, and the dangers of the misuse of religion in connection with the formation of power. This book constitutes a challenge—for believers and nonbelievers alike.Less

Relational Inequalities: An Organizational Approach

Donald Tomaskovic-Devey and Dustin Avent-Holt

Relational Inequalities focuses on the organizational production of categorical inequalities, in the context of the intersectional complexity and institutional fluidity that characterize social life. ... More

Relational Inequalities focuses on the organizational production of categorical inequalities, in the context of the intersectional complexity and institutional fluidity that characterize social life. Three generic inequality-generating mechanisms—exploitation, social closure, and claims-making—distribute organizational resources, rewards, and respect. The actual levels and contours of the inequalities produced by these three mechanisms are, however, profoundly contingent on the historical moments and institutional fields in which organizations operate. Organizational inequality regimes are comprised of the resources available for distribution; the task-, class-, and status-based social relations within organizations; formal and informal practices used to accomplish goals and tasks; and internal cultural models of people, work, and inequality, often adapted from the society at large to fit local social relationships. Legal and cultural institutions as they are filtered through workplace inequality regimes steer which groups are exploited and excluded, blocking or facilitating the conditions that lead to exploitation and closure. Sometimes exploitative and closure claims-making are naked and open for all to see; more often, they are institutionalized, taken for granted, and legitimated, sometimes even by those being exploited and excluded. The implications of RIT for social science and equality agendas are discussed in the conclusion. Case studies examine historical and contemporary workplace inequality regime variation in multiple countries. The role of intersectionality in producing regime variation is explored repeatedly across the book. Many occupations and industries are examined in depth, with particular attention given to engineers, CEOs, financial service, airlines, and information technology industries.Less

Rich Russians: From Oligarchs to Bourgeoisie

Elisabeth Schimpfössl

This book looks at representatives of the top 0.1 per cent of Russian society: their stories, trajectories, ideas about life, and how they see their role and position at the top of Russian society. ... More

This book looks at representatives of the top 0.1 per cent of Russian society: their stories, trajectories, ideas about life, and how they see their role and position at the top of Russian society. They are explored through their own stories: eighty interviews with multimillionaires and billionaires, and their spouses and children, conducted between 2008 and 2017. These people grew up and lived through a historically unique period of economic turmoil and social change following the collapse of the Soviet Union. When taken in a wider historical context, however, we see the repetition of a time-honored process whereby new money becomes respectable money. Rich Russians applies the sociological frameworks of Max Weber and Pierre Bourdieu in substantiating the claim that bourgeois Russians have acquired all sorts of cultural and social resources that help consolidate their power individually and as a group. They have elaborated more distinguished and refined tastes, rediscovered their family history, and begun actively engaging in philanthropy. Most importantly, they have worked out a narrative for themselves justifying why they deserve their elitist position in society—because of who they are and their superior qualities over others—and why they should be treated as equals by the West. This new, empirically grounded research helps us to understand the Russian bourgeois elite and its increasingly complex relations with Western societies.Less

Shanghai Future: Modernity Remade

Anna Greenspan

China is in the midst of the fastest and most intense process of urbanization the world has ever known, and Shanghai — its biggest, richest and most cosmopolitan city — is positioned for acceleration ... More

China is in the midst of the fastest and most intense process of urbanization the world has ever known, and Shanghai — its biggest, richest and most cosmopolitan city — is positioned for acceleration into the twenty-first century. Yet, in its embrace of a hopeful — even exultant — futurism, Shanghai recalls the older and much criticized project of imagining, planning and building the modern metropolis. Today, among Westerners at least, the very idea of the futuristic city — with its multilayered skyways, domestic robots and flying cars — seems doomed to the realm of nostalgia, the sadly comic promise of a future that failed to materialize. Shanghai Future maps the city of tomorrow as it resurfaces in a new time and place. It searches for the contours of an unknown and unfamiliar futurism in the city's street markets as well as in its skyscrapers. For though it recalls the modernity of an earlier age, Shanghai's current re-emergence is only superficially based on mimicry. Rather, in seeking to fulfill its ambitions, the giant metropolis is reinventing the very idea of the future itself. As it modernizes, Shanghai is necessarily recreating what it is to be modern.Less

Solidarity, Justice, and Incorporation: Thinking through The Civil Sphere

Peter Kivisto and Giuseppe Sciortino (eds)

This book seeks to reengage Jeffrey C. Alexander’s The Civil Sphere several years after its initial appearance. It does so at a moment when Alexander has extended and applied his framework to events ... More

This book seeks to reengage Jeffrey C. Alexander’s The Civil Sphere several years after its initial appearance. It does so at a moment when Alexander has extended and applied his framework to events that have occurred since 2006, specifically the election of Barack Obama, the Arab Spring, and the Occupy movement. The book begins with the a lengthy chapter by the editors that provides an overview of Alexander’s understanding of the civil sphere and the various components crucial to its functioning, particularly the role of public opinion and social movements. How solidarity is achieved in highly differentiated societies is the central concern of the book, and related to it how multicultural incorporation can serve to achieve unity in diversity in a way that advances the cause of justice. It then turns to six eminent international scholars who comment on the book now that the intellectual dust has settled from its initial reception: Robert N. Bellah, Axel Honneth, Bryan S. Turner, Mario Diani, Chad Alan Goldberg, and Farhad Khosrokhavar. Alexander’s rejoinder is intended to both respond to the commentators and to further clarify and develop his thesis.Less

Solitary Action: Acting on Our Own in Everyday Life

Ira J. Cohen

This book presents a unique and engaging view of the world of behaviors individuals perform by themselves. The book’s central claim is that solitary action, in its many diverse and often highly ... More

This book presents a unique and engaging view of the world of behaviors individuals perform by themselves. The book’s central claim is that solitary action, in its many diverse and often highly absorbing forms, is as prevalent in everyday life as the complimentary domain of social interaction. But, while there are numerous studies of social interaction, this is the first work in social theory to develop an understanding of what people do when they are on their own. Like many studies of interaction, by authors such as Mead, Goffman, and Garfinkel, the book focuses on forms of behavior rather than the meaning individuals ascribe to their acts. The focus on forms of behavior leads to three novel premises that shape the understanding of solitary action throughout the book. First, solitary action is a contextually reflexive form of behavior. Second, many forms of solitary action have the distinctive capacity to hold the individual’s attention as the context of activity proceeds. Third, solitary forms of action vary noticeably in their structural constraints. To cite a contrasting set of examples highlighted in the book: whereas the game of solitaire is played with rigid constraints on each move in a sequence of action, the art of solo jazz improvisations provides a multitude of possibilities for variations on a theme. While the book is written with intellectual rigor, the text is surprisingly accessible and includes novel examples that illustrate the significance of each conceptual step.Less

Structure and Cognition: Aspects of Hindu Caste and Ritual

Veena Das

Hindu caste and ritual are two features of the Hindu society that are discussed in Structure and Cognition. The book presents a thorough analysis of two Sanskrit texts, the Dharmaranya Purana and the ... More

Hindu caste and ritual are two features of the Hindu society that are discussed in Structure and Cognition. The book presents a thorough analysis of two Sanskrit texts, the Dharmaranya Purana and the Grihya Sutra of Gobhila; the former contains information on Hindu castes, while the latter contains information on Hindu rituals. The discussions try to show that Sanskrit texts—which are not normally used to study Indian social institutions—may also be used to study different features of Hindu social life. It introduces topics such as jatis and the categories of the Brahman, sanyasi, and king, and studies the issue of the sacred and the profane. It also considers the differences between the Chaturvedi Brahmans and Trivedi Brahmans, and narrates several myths found in the Dharmaranya Purana. The book also contains discussions on the right and left and the basic categorization of space that is used in Hindu rituals.Less

A Theory of Fields

Neil Fligstein and Doug McAdam

Finding ways to understand the nature of social change and social order—from political movements to market meltdowns—is one of the enduring problems of social science. This book draws together ... More

Finding ways to understand the nature of social change and social order—from political movements to market meltdowns—is one of the enduring problems of social science. This book draws together far-ranging insights from social movement theory, organizational theory, and economic and political sociology to construct a general theory of social organization and strategic action. This book proposes that social change and social order can be understood through what the book calls strategic action fields. It posits that these fields are the general building blocks of political and economic life, civil society, and the state, and the fundamental form of order in our world today. Similar to Russian dolls, they are nested and connected in a broader environment of almost countless proximate and overlapping fields. Fields are mutually dependent; change in one often triggers change in another. At the core of the theory is an account of how social actors fashion and maintain order in a given field. This sociological theory of action, what they call “social skill,” helps explain what individuals do in strategic action fields to gain cooperation or engage in competition. To demonstrate the breadth of the theory, the book makes its abstract principles concrete through extended case studies of the Civil Rights Movement and the rise and fall of the market for mortgages in the U.S. since the 1960s. The book also provides a “how-to” guide to help others implement the approach and discusses methodological issues.Less