R.J. Anderson – författare

Students of the human sciences – economics, sociology, politics, anthropology, psychology – frequently encounter the names and distinctive theories of philosophers. It is none the less difficult to judge the contribution of such philosophers without a training in philosophy. First published in 1986, Philosophy and the Human Sciences is designed to bridge that gap in understanding by introducing the philosophers of most importance for the human sciences, from the viewpoint of the non-specialist or the specialist in another discipline.This book offers a straightforward exposition of the contribution of a number of major philosophers and schools of philosophy to the social and behavioural sciences. Where appropriate, the exposition is illustrated by examples drawn from the human sciences; for example, Wittgenstein’s thought is introduced through a discussion of his treatment of Sir James Frazer’s anthropology. The authors have considerable experience of writing for students, and the book should be widely welcomed.

This book examines the nature of work and management, centring on documents as a class of management objects which have been relatively understudied in ethnomethodological research. Treating documents and similar artefacts as ordering devices, the authors describe consociation – the social organisation of patterns of coordinated action in situations where the usual resources of face to face communication are absent. With a focus on senior managers, this volume provides a description of the interior configuration of the world of senior management as the encountered, everyday experience of managing, drawing on first person experience rather than ethnographic fieldwork to shed new light on the importance of third person reflection upon practical understandings. An innovative study of the social character of such management objects as spreadsheets, strategic plans, computational models and charts, Action at a Distance will appeal to scholars of sociology with interests in ethnomethodology, the sociology of work and method in the social sciences.

This book examines the nature of work and management, centring on documents as a class of management objects which have been relatively understudied in ethnomethodological research. Treating documents and similar artefacts as ordering devices, the authors describe consociation – the social organisation of patterns of coordinated action in situations where the usual resources of face to face communication are absent. With a focus on senior managers, this volume provides a description of the interior configuration of the world of senior management as the encountered, everyday experience of managing, drawing on first person experience rather than ethnographic fieldwork to shed new light on the importance of third person reflection upon practical understandings. An innovative study of the social character of such management objects as spreadsheets, strategic plans, computational models and charts, Action at a Distance will appeal to scholars of sociology with interests in ethnomethodology, the sociology of work and method in the social sciences.