Urban Dictionary Definition of Renaissance Woman:<\/p>\n
She can mix the knowledge of what is considered disparate spheres into a new whole, Within my ongoing journey from\u00a0psychology to theology to philosophy to ethnography and now sociology, I long to bring together the understandings of humans with \u201cvast, deep, curiosity and experiences\u201d that help others live life true in the image of God. That\u2019s how I approached Anthony Elliott\u2019s book Contemporary Social Theory<\/em>. My hope was to understand the concept of social theory as one more tool for generative thought. How could I make it relevant and integral to all the other ways of thinking?<\/p>\n Truth be known, I wasn\u2019t very \u201crenaissance\u201d as I read it. I slogged through it. Perhaps because of its striking similarity to McGrath\u2019s survey approach in Christian Theology<\/em>, I felt bogged down by name upon name, theory upon theory. In fact, after the first three attempts at trying to understand a definition of social theory in the beginning of the book, I gave up. I went to the back of the book instead. It is here that I discovered something that grabbed my attention. Anthony Giddens, a highly sought-after social theorist by political leaders in the UK and US, writes articles for the pedestrian as well as academic where he \u201caddressed the massive disconnect between the high-consequence risks of globalization on the one hand, and the lifestyle risks on the other. He has argued, in a provocative and polemical fashion, that the major issues of our time do not reduce to traditional divisions in politics between Left and right.\u201d He goes on to say that it\u2019s time \u201cto find new ways of working together, cooperating through transnational forums and processes and intergovern-mentalism to develop novel models of \u2018global governance.\u2019\u201d[2]<\/a> Now that\u2019s relevant, especially in light of the elections that are occurring this week in the US. As my son-in-law posted on his Facebook page today: \u2013 \u201cLet us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.\u201d (John F. Kennedy.) Here is social theory working itself out in the common sense of what it means to live within a society that builds on \u201cpromot[ing] the general good of society.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n Upon further reading, my interest now piqued, Elliot explained Giddens\u2019 theory of structuration and reflexivity that elevates\u00a0the mundane as the place to\u00a0explore the \u201cthird way,\u201d[4]<\/a> an idea prevalent in the world of church planting. How can we hold the tensions of life in duality, not dualism?[5]<\/a> Asserting, Giddens offers that the structures that are internal to us, not external, provide a way to understand social theory as one that includes human interaction within the systems, and how systems change as a result of human interactions. Rather than operating on one simple theory, Giddens opens up the concept that we need to hold both as articulated: \u201cIn all instances, therefore, dualism goes beyond duality by separating; while duality avoids dualism by distinguishing only to unite.\u201d[6]<\/a> So while my response to Elliot\u2019s book was probably made as a result of eating bad pizza, I did glean some gems. (Sidebar: it was the first DMinLGP book I read on Kindle which also might have had an influence).<\/p>\n Interestingly, the book did accomplish my initial goal of providing generative thought. Because of my fuzzy understanding of social theory, I proceeded to explore other resources that defined\u00a0social theory. One text, Modern Social Theory: An Introduction<\/em> was helpful in understanding that social theory is the conjecture about how to define and observe systems about the function of humans in society by means of analysis and research. On the layman\u2019s level it\u2019s simply reflection on what is seen, similar to the Ethnography approach we explored in Pink\u2019s books. Harrington offers that while the goal of social theory is to understand the systems, it also requires the meta-cognition of how the researcher gets to that understanding. Specifically, social theorists need to recognize the values that laden facts since facts cannot be separated out. \u201cAll schools of social theory in fact advocate combinations of involvement and detachment, of both practical moral-political dedication, and scientific distance.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/p>\n In another text, Wikipedia<\/em>, the author\u2019s explanation between a worldview and theory differentiated that a \u201ctheoretical orientation\u201d cannot be proven while the goal of a \u201ctheory\u201d is to explain and predict, ultimately being able to prove it.[8]<\/a> Ultimately then, a social theory requires some accountability. Integrating what I know by using some Greek understanding of praxis, the \u201cvita contemplative\u201d requires a \u201cvita activa\u201d in the hope of a social theory that can be tested, or at the very least, used as Best Practices. Reflection and action create the foundation for a social theory. \u00a0To tie Elliott\u2019s book back in, while his explanation for the\u00a0genesis of social theory is a result of trying to understand the suffering of those in the Holocaust, he does create for contemporary use a compendium that allows the reader to address what best helps explain, discern, address, and perhaps change the current society that is in constant turmoil.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Urban Dictionary<\/em>, s.v. \u201cReal Renaissance Woman,\u201d accessed November 5, 2014, http:\/\/www.urbandictionary.com\/author.php?author=Real+Renaissance+Woman<\/a>. (August 18, 2013)<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Anthony Elliott, Contemporary Social Theory: an Introduction<\/em> (Milton Park, Abingdon: Routledge, 2009), 343-344.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Ibid, 345.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Ibid, 122.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Ibid, 129.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Walter Niebrzydowski Msgr., \u201cDualism Vs. Duality,\u201d www.fatherwaltersparish.org<\/em> (blog), n.d., accessed November 5, 2014, .<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Austin Harrington, ed., Modern Social Theory: an Introduction<\/em> (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 7-8.<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> Wikipedia<\/em> s.v. \u201cSocial Theory,\u201d accessed November 5, 2014, http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Social_theory<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Urban Dictionary Definition of Renaissance Woman: She can mix the knowledge of what is considered disparate spheres into a new whole, by using her most unique method of analysis\u00a0based on her very vast, deep, curiosity and experiences… which led to a very vast & deep knowledge, that she is so anxious to apply to everyday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[238],"class_list":["post-3173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-elliott","cohort-lgp5"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3173"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3177,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3173\/revisions\/3177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nby using her most unique method of analysis\u00a0based on
\nher very vast, deep, curiosity and experiences…
\nwhich led to a very vast & deep knowledge,
\nthat she is so anxious to apply to everyday life, &
\nto inquire, and share with everyone she meets.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n