In today’s era of globalization and marginalization we are sometimes struck by the seeming paradox of examples of exceptional development in still marginalized regions, or “counter-geographies”. One such example is the purported clustering of centenarians (those who have surpassed 100 years) in the Caucasus region of the former Soviet States. This paper explores purported centenarian clustering...

A major obstacle to coming to terms with the full reality of bodily life is the widespread myth that the body can be controlled. [...] The essence of the myth of control is the belief that it is possible, by means of human actions, to have the bodies we want and to prevent illness, disability, and death. Like many myths, the myth of control contains a significant element of truth; we do have so...

The notion of a myth has several distinct meanings. On the one hand it is a “Legendary narrative, usually of gods and heroes, or a theme that expresses the ideology of a culture” [1], where the word or should be read inclusively. The word ideology often has a negative connotation which is not necessarily true for myths in this sense; what is intended is that the myths convey some truths to the ...

This paper is concerned with why and how multinational companies (MNCs) voluntarily engage in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), especially in social standards. The first part describes the prevailing perspectives on the CSR debate. Then, with the New Institutionalism in Sociology, an alternative view on CSR is discussed. The third part develops the argument that the ‘traditional’ rational ...

BACKGROUND In the United States, the social myth that abortion clinics are unsafe, lonely places is pervasive. Little research has investigated the extent to which women's negative experiences of clinic interactions and processes confirm or contest this myth. STUDY DESIGN Semistructured interviews with 41 women who received an abortion at a clinic were conducted and analyzed using qualitative...