Social theory Books

Book SynopsisPractical Reason and Norms focuses on three problems: In what way are rules normative, and how do they differ from ordinary reasons? What makes normative systems systematic? What distinguishes legal systems, and in what consists their normativity? All three questions are answered by taking reasons as the basic normative concept, and showing the distinctive role reasons have in every case, thus paving the way to a unified account of normativity. Rules are a structure of reasons to perform the required act and an exclusionary reason not to follow some competing reasons. Exclusionary reasons are explained, and used to unlock the secrets of orders, promises, and decisions as well as rules. Games are used to exemplify normative systems. Inevitably, the analysis extends to some aspects of normative discourse, which is truth-apt, but with a diminished assertoric force.Trade ReviewAny serious reader should recognize the volume's rigor, sophistication, subtlety, and admirable ambitious sweep. It remains Raz's most impressive achievement ... the republication of Practical Reason and Norms ... is a welcome event. Anyone interested in legal or moral philosophy ... would be advised to pursue it. * Matthew H Kramer, Cambridge Law Journal *

Read more less

Book SynopsisDemocratic equality entails a principle that everyone whose basic interests are affected by policies should be included in the process of making them. Yet individuals and groups often claim that decision making processes are dominated by only some of the interests and perspectives in the society. What are the ideals of inclusion through which such criticisms should be made, and which might guide more inclusive political practice? This book considers that question from the point of view of norms of democratic communication, processes of representation and association, and how wide the scope of political jurisdictions should be. Democratic theorists have not sufficiently attended to the ways processes of debate and decision making often marginalize individuals and groups because the norms of political discussion are biased against some forms of expression. Inclusion and Democracy broadens our understanding of democratic communication by reflecting on the positive political functions of nTrade ReviewYoung advances a nuanced way of thinking about the problem of political exclusion, and its potential remedies ... Young's book is a timely intervention urging an enlargement of political vision. Inclusion and Democracy is an important text, which will rightly generate a deal of provocative debate. * Radical Philosophy *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Democracy and Justice ; Inclusive Political Communication ; Social Difference as a Political Resource ; Representation and Social Perspective ; Civil Society and Its Limits ; Residential Segregation and Regional Democracy ; Self-Determination and Global Democracy

Read more less

Book SynopsisAlthough human lives towards the second half of the twentieth century became increasingly mediated by objects and artifacts and have depended heavily on the functioning of technical systems, materiality in a broad sense became relatively marginalized as a topic of research interest. This volume contributes to redressing the balance by drawing together the work of scholars involved in exploring the sociomaterial dimensions of organizational life. It will look at the way material objects and artifacts are conceived in organizations, and how they function in interaction with human agents. The book offers a new conceptual repertoire and vocabulary that allows deeper thought and discussion about the inherent entanglement of the social and material. Like the preceding volumes in the Perspectives on Process Organization Studies series, the book displays the richness that characterizes process thinking, and combines philosophical reflections with novel conceptual perspectives and insightful emTrade ReviewReview from previous edition Review from previous edition Praise for the series: "As we become more willing to convert reified entities into differentiated streams, the resulting images of process have become more viable and more elusive. Organization becomes organizing, being becomes becoming, construction becomes constructing. But as we see ourselves saying more words that end in "ing," what must we be thinking? That is not always clear. But now, under the experienced guidance of editors Langley and Tsoukas, there is an annual forum that moves us toward continuity and consolidation in process studies. This book series promises to be a vigorous, thoughtful forum dedicated to improvements in the substance and craft of process articulation." * Karl E. Weick, Rensis Likert Distinguished University Professor of Organizational Behavior and Psychology, University of Michigan, USA *"Perspectives on Process Organization Studies will be the definitive annual volume of theories and research that advance our understanding of process questions dealing with how things emerge, grow, develop, and terminate over time. I applaud Professors Ann Langley and Haridimos Tsoukas for launching this important book series, and encourage colleagues to submit their process research and subscribe to PROS." * Andrew H. Van de Ven, Vernon H. Heath Professor of Organizational Innovation and Change, University of Minnesota, USA *"The recent decades witnessed conspicuous changes in organization theory: a slow but inexorable shift from the focus on structures to the focus on processes. The whirlwinds of the global economy made it clear that everything flows, even if change itself can become stable. While the interest in processes of organizing is not new, it is now acquiring a distinct presence, as more and more voices join in. A forum is therefore needed where such voices can speak to one another, and to the interested readers. The series Perspectives on Process Organization Studies will provide an excellent forum of that kind, both for those for whom a processual perspective is a matter of ontology, and those who see it as an epistemological choice." * Barbara Czarniawska, Professor of Management Studies, School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden *Table of Contents1. Introducing the Third Volume of Perspectives on Organization Studies ; 2. Ma(R)King Time: Material Entanglements and Re-Memberings: Cutting Together-Apart ; 3. Reflections on Sociomateriality and Dialogicality in Organization Studies: from Inter-' to Intra-Thinking ... in Performing Practices ; 4. Materializing the Immaterial: Relational Movements in a Perfume s Becoming ; 5. Media as Material: Information Representations as Material Foundations for Organizational Practice ; 6. Knowledge Eclipse: Producing Sociomaterial Reconfigurations in the Hospitality Sector ; 7. The Emergence of Materiality within Formal Organizations ; 8. Reclaiming Things: An Archaeology of Matter ; 9. Untangling Sociomateriality ; 10. Doing By Inventing the Way of Doing: Formativeness as the Linkage of Meaning and Matter ; 11. Otherness and the Letting-be of Becoming: Or, Ethics Beyond Bifurcation

Read more less

Book SynopsisGenealogy has long been one of humanity''s greatest obsessions. But with the rise of genetics, and increasing media attention to it through programs like Who Do You Think You Are? and Faces of America, we are now told that genetic markers can definitively tell us who we are and where we came from.The problem, writes Eviatar Zerubavel, is that biology does not provide us with the full picture. After all, he asks, why do we consider Barack Obama black even though his mother was white? Why did the Nazis believe that unions of Germans and Jews would produce Jews rather than Germans? In this provocative book, he offers a fresh understanding of relatedness, showing that its social logic sometimes overrides the biological reality it supposedly reflects. In fact, rather than just biological facts, social traditions of remembering and classifying shape the way we trace our ancestors, identify our relatives, and delineate families, ethnic groups, nations, and species. Furthermore, genealogies arTrade ReviewAn erudite treatise about how culture drives human cognition about near and remote relatives, Ancestors and Relatives offers lay and academic audiences alike a great read. * Marta Tienda, Science *Table of ContentsList of Figures ; Preface ; The Genealogical Imagination ; Ancestry and Descent ; Co-Descent ; Nature and Culture ; The Politics of Descent ; The Genealogy of the Future ; The Future of Genealogy ; Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book presents a rich collection of critical essays, ethnographic writings, memoirs, and reflections, portraying a well-rounded picture of cinema culture and historical change in Pakistan.Trade ReviewCinema and Society demonstrates the capacity of Pakistani film to do a great deal more than reinforce statist or religious agendas throughout the nearly seventy-year duration of the fractious nation's history, even as it struggles under their influence. * Madeline Clement, Times Literary Supplement *Table of ContentsForeword Preface and Acknowledgements: Ali Nobil Ahmad And Ali Khan Introduction Chapter 1 Pakistani Cinema - Mushtaq Gazdar Chapter 2 The Cinema In Pakistan [1969] - Alamgir Kabir Chapter 3 Modernity And Vernacular Cinema - Iftikhar Dadi Chapter 4 Cinema And The City - Kamran Asdar Ali Chapter 5 From Zinda Laash To Zibahkhana: Horror And Violence In Chapter 6 Nina The Inscrutable Housewife - Sadaat Hassan Manto Chapter 7 Art And Life In Indian Cinema: The Films Of Guru Dutt Section B: Transitions Chapter 8 The Foot-Worshippers Guide To Watching Maula Jatt - Musharraf Ali Farooqi Chapter 9 Pashto Horror Film In Pakistan - Milan Hulsing Chapter 10 Reflections Of Change In The Pakistani Film Industry - Ali Khan Film Posters Chapter 11 Punctuating Gendered Values: Exploring The Phenomena Of Slaps In Commercial Pakistani Films - Sadaf Ahmad Chapter 12 Language And Ideology In Pakistani Cinema - Tariq Rahman Chapter 13 Goonda Raj: The Untold Story Of Punjabi Cinema - Hashim Bin Rashid And Sher Khan Chapter 14 Fascism And Real Estate: An Inquiry Into The Strange Death Of Traditional Cinema Halls - Ali Nobil Ahmad Chapter 15 New Cinema From Pakistan: Film, Technology And Media In Transition - Ali Nobil Ahmad

Read more less

Book SynopsisInstitutions of Law offers an original account of the nature of law and legal systems in the contemporary world. It provides the definitive statement of Sir Neil MacCormick''s well-known ''institutional theory of law'', defining law as ''institutional normative order'' and explaining each of these three terms in depth. It attempts to fulfil the need for a twenty-first century introduction to legal theory marking a fresh start such as was achieved in the last century by H. L. A. Hart''s The Concept of Law.It is written with a view to elucidating law, legal concepts, and legal institutions in a manner that takes account of current scholarly controversies but does not get bogged down in them. It shows how law relates to the State and civil society, establishing the conditions of social peace and a functioning economy. In so doing, it takes account of recent developments in the sociology of law, particularly ''system theory''. It also seeks to clarify the nature of claims to ''knowledge ofTrade ReviewMacCormick's general theory of law finds his most detailed expression in Institutions of Law. This book...is an elucidation of the concept of law as a kind of institutional normative order realised prominently...in the modern state.Table of ContentsPreface ; Acknowledgements ; PART I: NORM, INSTITUTION AND ORDER ; 1. On Normative Order ; 2. On Institutional Order ; 3. Law and the Constitutional State ; 4. A Problem: Rules or Habits? ; PART II: LEGAL POSITIONS AND RELATIONS ; 5. On Persons ; 6. Wrongs and Duties ; 7. Rights and Obligations ; 8. Legal Relations and Things: Property ; 9. Legal Powers and Validity ; PART III: LAW STATE AND CIVIL SOCIETY ; 10. Powers and Public Law: Law and Politics ; 11. Constraints on Power: Fundamental Rights ; 12. Criminal Law and Civil Society: Law and Morality ; 13. Private Law and Civil Society: Law and Economy ; PART IV: LAW, VALUE AND METHOD ; 14. Positive Law and Moral Autonomy ; 15. On Law and Justice ; 16. Laws and Values: Reflections on Method

Read more less

Book SynopsisModern systems theory provides a new method for the analysis of society through an examination of the structures of its communications. In this volume, Niklas Luhmann, the theory''s leading exponent, explores its implications for our understanding of law.Luhmann argues that current thinking about how law operates within a modern society is seriously deficient. He lays out the theoretical and methodological tools that, he argues, can advance our understanding of contemporary society and in particular of the identity, performance, and function of the legal system within that society. In systems theory, society is its communications: they are its empirical reality; the items that can be observed and studied. Systems theory identifies how communications operate within a physical world and how different sub-systems of communication operate alongside each other.In this volume, Luhmann uses systems theory to address a question central to legal theory: what differentiates law from other socialTable of ContentsPreface ; Introduction ; 1. The Location of Legal Theory ; 2. The Operative Closure of the Legal System ; 3. The Function of Law ; 4. Coding and Programming ; 5. Justice: a Formula for Contingency ; 6. The Evolution of Law ; 7. The Position of Courts in the Legal System ; 8. Legal Argumentation ; 9. Politics and Law ; 10. Structural Couplings ; 11. The Self-description of the Legal System ; 12. Society and its Law ; Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisProcesses of collective decision making are seen throughout modern society. How does a government decide on an investment strategy within the health care and educational sectors? Should a government or a community introduce measures to combat climate change and CO2 emissions, even if others choose not too? Should a country develop a nuclear capability despite the risk that other countries may follow their lead? This introductory text explores the theory of social choice. Social choice theory provides an analysis of collective decision making. The main aim of the book is to introduce students to the various methods of aggregating the preferences of all members of a given society into some social or collective preference. Written as a primer suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduates, this text will act as an important starting point for students grappling with the complexities of social choice theory. With all new chapter exercises this rigorous yet accessible primer avoids the Trade Review...an outstanding Primer for the field of social choice that will surely become a standard reference for those wanting to be initiated in the field. * Cambridge Journals *Table of ContentsGLOSSARY OF MAJOR CONCEPTS; HINTS TO EXERCISES

Read more less

Book SynopsisCritical Management Studies (CMS) has emerged as a movement that questions the authority and relevance of mainstream thinking and practice. Critical of established social practices and institutional arrangements, it challenges prevailing systems of domination and promotes the development of alternatives to them. CMS draws upon diverse critical traditions. Of particular importance for its initial articulation was the thinking of members of the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory. From these foundations, CMS has grown into a pluralistic and inclusive movement incorporating a diverse range of perspectives - ranging from labour process theory to radical feminism. In recent times, a set of ideas broadly labelled ''poststructuralist'' have been developed to complement and challenge the insights of Critical Theory, giving new impetus for scholars seeking to challenge the status quo and articulate a more inclusive and humane future for management practice. The Oxford Handbook of Critical ManagTable of ContentsPART I: THEORETICAL APPROACHES; PART II: KEY TOPICS AND ISSUES; PART III: SPECIALISMS; PART IV: CRITICAL MANAGEMENT STUDIES: PROGRESS AND PROSPECTS

Read more less

Book SynopsisBrian Skyrms presents eighteen essays which apply adaptive dynamics (of cultural evolution and individual learning) to social theory. Altruism, spite, fairness, trust, division of labor, and signaling are treated from this perspective. Correlation is seen to be of fundamental importance. Interactions with neighbors in space, on static networks, and on co-evolving dynamics networks are investigated. Spontaneous emergence of social structure and of signaling systems are examined in the context of learning dynamics.Trade ReviewIt is rewarding and exemplifies a good way of doing formal philosophy. It sheds light on what evolutionary approaches, especially simulations, can and cannot do for philosophy. But mostly, it highlights the fact that our understanding of social phenomena cannot be complete if we neglect a dynamical point of view ... We may not need only books like this in philosophy; but we need some, and we certainly need more of them. And if the recent literature is any indication, we will have them -- in no small part due to Skyrms' remarkable, pioneering work * Cédric Paternotte, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; PART I: CORRELATION AND THE SOCIAL CONTRACT ; Introduction to part I ; 1. Evolution and the Social Contract ; PART II: IMPORTANCE OF DYNAMICS ; Introduction to part II ; 2. Trust, Risk, and the Social Contract ; 3. Bargaining with Neighbors: Is Justice Contagious? ; 4. Stability and Explanatory Significance of Some Simple Evolutionary Models ; 5. Dynamics of Conformist Bias ; 6. Chaos and the Explanatory Significance of Equilibrium: Strange Attractors in Evolutionary Game Dynamics ; 7. Evolutionary Dynamics of Collective Action in N-person Stag Hunt Dilemmas ; 8. Learning to Take Turns ; 9. Evolutionary Considerations in the Framing of Social Norms ; PART III: DYNAMIC NETWORKS ; Introduction to part III ; 10. Learning to Network ; 11. A Dynamic Model of Social Network Formation ; 12. Network Formation by Reinforcement Learning: The Long and the Medium Run ; 13. Time to Absorption in Discounted Reinforcement Models ; PART IV: DYNAMICS OF SIGNALS ; Introduction to part IV ; 14. Learning to Signal: Analysis of a Micro-Level Reinforcement Model ; 15. Inventing New Signals ; 16. Signals, Evolution and the Explanatory Power of Transient Information ; 17. Co-Evolution of Pre-Play Signaling and Cooperation ; 18. Evolution of Signaling Systems with Multiple Senders and Receivers ; Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this book, Mats Alvesson aims to demystify some popular and upbeat claims about a range of phenomena, including the knowledge society, consumption, branding, higher education, organizational change, professionalization, and leadership. He contends that a culture of grandiosity is leading to numerous inflated claims. We no longer talk about plans but strategies. Supervisors have been replaced by managers. Goods have become brands. Wealthy countries try to show that they are knowledge societies through mass higher education but with limited effect on real qualifications or qualified job opportunities for graduates. The book views the contemporary economy as an economy of persuasion, where firms and other institutions increasingly assign talent, energy, and resources to rhetoric, image, branding, reputation, and visibility.Using a wide range of empirical examples to illuminate the realms of consumption, higher education, organization, and leadership, this provocative and engaging book Trade ReviewAlvesson finds grandiosity at work behind an array of disconcerting phenomena, from a narcissistic socialmedia culture, to a hyper-adrenalised yet helplessly inane 24-hour news media cycle, to the explosion of public-relations firms and branding efforts. * Ross A. Mittiga, Political Studies Review *an engaging read that bravely tackles higher education orthodoxies * Joanna Williams, The Times Higher Education Supplement *This is a well-written, powerful book that makes you think and reflect about some of the key issues of our time. You couldnt ask for more. * Cary Cooper, Times Higher Education *The Triumph of Emptiness pulls back the proverbial curtain on our current society to reveal the empty truth behind our illusions of grandeur. Mats Alvesson leads us on a critical, smart, and often amusing romp through a world in which everything is excellent, advice is known as coaching, and vice presidents are a dime a dozen. He shows the increasing gap between reality and fantasy, need and want, and product production and the illusions necessary to sell them. Higher education is not immune to these trends, with ideas of college for all and the pronounced dumbing-down of university study. If you are interested in the strange paradox in rich societies of how we can have so much but not be any happier, read this book. * Jean M. Twenge, author of Generation Me and co-author of The Narcissism Epidemic *The Triumph of Emptiness is a provocative, insightful, and highly ambitious (even grandiose) indictment of consumption, work, and the organizations in which it occurs, as well as higher education. They are all critiqued for their grandiosity, inflated and distorted images, and mindless competitiveness. This is an uncompromising work that is likely to both enlighten and infuriate the reader. * George Ritzer, Distinguished University Professor, the University of Maryland *In The Triumph of Emptiness Mats Alvesson demonstrates the considerable value of critical theory for understanding everyday life in contemporary Western societies. Refreshingly astute as regards our current state of institutional being, this book is engagingly written and well-grounded in the best critical thought has to offer. Alvesson has once again accomplished what he does so wellthink a vital subject through with wit and insight. * Mary Jo Hatch, author of Organization Theory: Modern, Symbolic and Postmodern Perspectives *The author, a leading management scholar and a major sociological thinker, punctures the grandiosity and narcissism of our times when we succumb to the illusions that image, hype, and empty talk create value, when everyone must claim to be cutting edge and a world leader. Alvesson succeeds brilliantly in demonstrating that behind such grandiosity lurks an emptiness of meaning, of value, and of imagination. His powerful critical discussions of modern consumption, higher education, professionalism, and leadership insinuate that our current malaise goes far deeper than the economic crisis in which we find ourselves. This is a book that breaks loose of the management publication ghetto and demands to be read by everyone. * Yiannis Gabriel, Chair in Organizational Theory, University of Bath *most delightful book * Thomas Kilkauner, Organizational Change Management *Table of Contents1. Introduction - Zero-Sum Games, Grandiosity, and Illusion Tricks ; 2. Consumption - the Shortcomings of Affluence ; 3. Explaining the Consumption Paradox: Why aren't People (More) Satisfied? ; 4. Higher Education - Triumph of the Knowledge Intensive Society or a Statistical Cosmetics Project? ; 5. Higher Education - an Image-Boosting Business? ; 6. Modern Working Life and Organizations - Change, Dynamism, and Post-Bureaucracy? ; 7. Organizational Structures on the Beauty Parade: Imitation and Shop-Window Dressing ; 8. A Place in the Sun - Occupational Groups' Professionalization Projects and Other Status and Influence Ambitions ; 9. Leadership - A Driving Force or Empty Talk ; 10. The Triumph of Imagology - A Paradise for Tricksters? ; 11. The Costs of Grandiosity

Read more less

Book SynopsisAlthough human lives towards the second half of the twentieth century became increasingly mediated by objects and artifacts and have depended heavily on the functioning of technical systems, materiality in a broad sense became relatively marginalized as a topic of research interest. This volume contributes to redressing the balance by drawing together the work of scholars involved in exploring the sociomaterial dimensions of organizational life. It will look at the way material objects and artifacts are conceived in organizations, and how they function in interaction with human agents.The book offers a new conceptual repertoire and vocabulary that allows deeper thought and discussion about the inherent entanglement of the social and material. Like the preceding volumes in the Perspectives on Process Organization Studies series, the book displays the richness that characterizes process thinking, and combines philosophical reflections with novel conceptual perspectives and insightful empTrade ReviewReview from previous edition Praise for the series: "As we become more willing to convert reified entities into differentiated streams, the resulting images of process have become more viable and more elusive. Organization becomes organizing, being becomes becoming, construction becomes constructing. But as we see ourselves saying more words that end in "ing," what must we be thinking? That is not always clear. But now, under the experienced guidance of editors Langley and Tsoukas, there is an annual forum that moves us toward continuity and consolidation in process studies. This book series promises to be a vigorous, thoughtful forum dedicated to improvements in the substance and craft of process articulation." * Karl E. Weick, Rensis Likert Distinguished University Professor of Organizational Behavior and Psychology, University of Michigan, USA *"Perspectives on Process Organization Studies will be the definitive annual volume of theories and research that advance our understanding of process questions dealing with how things emerge, grow, develop, and terminate over time. I applaud Professors Ann Langley and Haridimos Tsoukas for launching this important book series, and encourage colleagues to submit their process research and subscribe to PROS." * Andrew H. Van de Ven, Vernon H. Heath Professor of Organizational Innovation and Change, University of Minnesota, USA *"The recent decades witnessed conspicuous changes in organization theory: a slow but inexorable shift from the focus on structures to the focus on processes. The whirlwinds of the global economy made it clear that everything flows, even if change itself can become stable. While the interest in processes of organizing is not new, it is now acquiring a distinct presence, as more and more voices join in. A forum is therefore needed where such voices can speak to one another, and to the interested readers. The series Perspectives on Process Organization Studies will provide an excellent forum of that kind, both for those for whom a processual perspective is a matter of ontology, and those who see it as an epistemological choice." * Barbara Czarniawska, Professor of Management Studies, School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden *Table of Contents1. Introducing the Third Volume of Perspectives on Organization Studies ; 2. Ma(R)King Time: Material Entanglements and Re-Memberings: Cutting Together-Apart ; 3. Reflections on Sociomateriality and Dialogicality in Organization Studies: from Inter-' to Intra-Thinking ... in Performing Practices ; 4. Materializing the Immaterial: Relational Movements in a Perfume s Becoming ; 5. Media as Material: Information Representations as Material Foundations for Organizational Practice ; 6. Knowledge Eclipse: Producing Sociomaterial Reconfigurations in the Hospitality Sector ; 7. The Emergence of Materiality within Formal Organizations ; 8. Reclaiming Things: An Archaeology of Matter ; 9. Untangling Sociomateriality ; 10. Doing By Inventing the Way of Doing: Formativeness as the Linkage of Meaning and Matter ; 11. Otherness and the Letting-be of Becoming: Or, Ethics Beyond Bifurcation

Read more less

Book Synopsis*Winner of the 2009 Ralph J. Bunche Award**Named one of CHOICE ''s Outstanding Academic Titles for 2009*Prior to the 1960s, when African Americans had little access to formal political power, black popular culture was commonly seen as a means of forging community and effecting political change. But as Richard Iton shows in this provocative and insightful volume, despite the changes brought about by the civil rights movement, and contrary to the wishes of those committed to narrower conceptions of politics, black artists have continued to play a significant role in the making and maintenance of critical social spaces. Iton offers an original portrait of the relationship between popular culture and institutionalized politics tracing the connections between artists such as Paul Robeson, Lorraine Hansberry, Richard Pryor, Bob Marley and Erykah Badu and those individuals working in the protest, electoral, and policy making arenas. With an emphasis on questions of class, gender and sexualitTrade ReviewA fascinating history and analysis of the nexus of black popular culture and activism from the Jazz Age to the hip-hop era...a timely reminder of the significant influence African American artists and entertainers have had on the political front--not necessarily in enacting laws, but in the symbolic impact of words and actions. * Los Angeles Times *By interweaving many complex issues, In Search of the Black Fantastic moves across the disciplines with ease--politics, history, sociology, American studies, and African American studies--thereby representing one of the most thorough examinations of post-war black culture. * Political Science Quarterly *Iton's work possesses the depth of wide reading in modernist theory and the breadth of wide-open eyes and ears for the popular... challenging, illuminating and groundbreaking. For both lay reader and academician, it may well 'compel a revision of our notions of the political. * Publishers Weekly *A fresh, meticulously well researched study...The book is grounded in a solid historical base, surveying the dilemmas faced by black artists from the Cold War to the present...I strongly recommend In Search of the Black Fantastic to serious scholars of black literature and culture. By so perceptively engaging the relationship between popular art and the politics of marginalized people, it helps to clear the way to a truer, deeper understanding of an important subject which rarely gets such penetrating analysis. * African American Review *Brimming with ideas... In Search of the Black Fantastic offers thought-provoking insights throughout its 400 pages and will certainly stimulate further work in numerous areas of African American history. * American Historical Review *Table of ContentsNOTES; ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; INDEX

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Philosophy of Sociality examines the nature of sociality in its various forms, with special emphasis on collective intentionality. Raimo Tuomela begins with a distinction between the we-perspective and the I-perspective. His study of strong collective intentionality -- as expressed by joint intentions, collective commitment, group belief, authority-based group action, and other phenomena -- outlines the circumstances under which an individual is required to think and act as a group member. By developing a systematic theory of sociality, Tuomela investigates such topics as social institutions, cooperation, cultural evolution, and group responsibility. In The Philosophy of Sociality Tuomela asserts that we-mode collective intentionality is a conceptual prerequisite for understanding basic social notions. He finds several contexts in which we-mode intentionality is preferable to pro-group I-mode intentionality. He ultimately defends a naturalistic view of the social world by arguing tTrade ReviewThis book is a worthy contribution to the literature on social groups and agency. While challenging, its meticulous argumentation helps to recast the familiar notion of the group as a tightly defined and widely applicable concept. * e-International Relations *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION; REFERENCES

Read more less

Book SynopsisGerd Gigerenzer's influential work examines the rationality of individuals not from the perspective of logic or probability, but from the point of view of adaptation to the real world of human behavior and interaction with the environment. Seen from this perspective, human behavior is more rational than it might otherwise appear. This work is extremely influential and has spawned an entire research program. This volume collects recent articles, looking at how people use fast and frugal heuristics to calculate probability and risk and make decisions. It includes the revised articles and newly written introduction that were first published in the hardcover edition. Its appeal is to a mixture of cognitive psychologists, philosophers, economists, and others who study decision making. Gerd Gigerenzer has created new, pathbreaking ways of thinking about human rationality. His ideas build on one another and are best seen as part of a coherent whole that is when the nature of his arguments eTrade Review"Gerd Gigerenzer has created new, pathbreaking ways of thinking about human rationality. His ideas build on one another and are best seen as part of a coherent whole that is when the nature of his arguments emerges most clearly."-- Leda Cosmides, University of California Santa BarbaraTable of ContentsPreface 1. Bounded and rational 2. Fast and frugal heuristics 3. Rules of thumb in animals and humans 4. I think, therefore I err 5. Striking a blow for sanity in theories of rationality 6. Out of the frying pan into the fire 7. What's in a sample? A manual for building cognitive theories 8. "A 30% chance of rain tomorrow" 9. Simple tools for understanding risks: From innumeracy to insight 10. The evolution of statistical thinking 11. Mindless statistics 12. Children can solve Bayesian problems 13. In the year 2054: Innumeracy defeated References Subject Index Name Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisEver since motion pictures first landed on screen, there have been many key questions that the studios and movie watchers have tried to answer. What makes a movie an Oscar winner? How does one movie become a hit and another movie flop? Why do some films earn critical acclaim while other films become critical turkeys or bombs? How do audiences perceive film? What makes a movie resonate with a viewer? Are we unduly influenced by negative behaviors on screen? These questions have spurred debates, discussions, and many theories. Until the last two decades, however, it was quite rare to have the issues approached from a scientific viewpoint.The Social Science of Cinema compiles research from such varied disciplines as psychology, economics, sociology, business, and communications to find the best empirical research being done on the movies, based on perspectives that many filmgoers have never considered. Essays explore such topics as the specific factors that influence whether movies make mTable of ContentsAcknowledgements ; Dedication ; List of Contributors ; Introduction: Social Science of the Cinema: Fade In ; James C. Kaufman and Dean Keith Simonton ; Section One: The Creation ; 1. Writing for success: Screenplays and cinematic impact ; Dean Keith Simonton ; 2. Sell by date? Examining the shelf life and effects of female actors in popular films ; Stacy L. Smith, Amy Granados, Marc Choueiti and Katherine M. Pieper ; 3. Resolving the paradox of film music through a cognitive narrative approach to film comprehension ; Annabel Cohen ; Section Two: The Audience ; 4. What type of movie person are you? Understanding individual differences in film preferences and uses: A psychographic approach ; Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Andrea Kallias, and Anne Hsu ; 5. Film through the human visual system: Finding patterns and limits ; Jordan E. DeLong, Kaitlin L. Brunick, and James E. Cutting ; 6. Self and the cinematic experience in the age of electronic transmission ; Gerald C. Cupchik and Michelle C. Hilscher ; Section Three: The Production ; 7. The producer-director dyad: Managing the faultline between art and commerce ; Joris J. Ebbers, Nachoem M. Wijnberg, and Pawan V. Bhansing ; 8. Networks and rewards among Hollywood artists: Evidence for a social structural ordering of creativity ; Gino Cattani and Simone Ferriani ; 9. Strategic assets and performance across institutional environments ; Allegre L. Hadida ; Section Four: The Reception ; 10. Analyzing the Academy Awards: Factors associated with winning and when surprises occur ; Iain Pardoe and Dean Keith Simonton ; 11. Responses to and judgments of acting on film ; Thalia R. Goldstein ; 12. As good as it gets? Blockbusters and the inequality of box office results since 1950 ; Victor Fernandez-Blanco, Victor Ginsburgh, Juan Prieto-Rodriguez, and Sheila Weyers ; End Section ; 13. Social Science of the Cinema: Fade Out ; Joshua Butler and James C. Kaufman

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe field of political demography - the politics of population change - is dramatically underrepresented in political science. At a time when demographic changes - aging in the rich world, youth bulges in the developing world, ethnic and religious shifts, migration, and urbanization - are waxing as never before, this neglect is especially glaring and starkly contrasts with the enormous interest coming from policymakers and the media. Ten years ago, [demography] was hardly on the radar screen, remarks Richard Jackson and Neil Howe of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, two contributors to this volume. Today, they continue, it dominates almost any discussion of America''s long-term fiscal, economic, or foreign-policy direction. Demography is the most predictable of the social sciences: children born in the last five years will be the new workers, voters, soldiers, and potential insurgents of 2025 and the political elites of the 2050s. Whether in the West or the developing world, political scientists urgently need to understand the tectonics of demography in order to grasp the full context of today''s political developments. This book begins to fill the gap from a global and historical perspective and with the hope that scholars and policymakers will take its insights on board to develop enlightened policies for our collective future.Trade ReviewPolitical Demography is a collection of essays that shows some of the results of the new research in more detail. A chapter by Mark Haas of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh argues that demographic change will consolidate America's strategic position because all other leading nations have such dire demographic trends. China's one-child policy means there is a shortage of women of child-bearing age. As a result, between now and 2050 the number of men in China aged 20 to 25 (ie, of prime military recruiting age) will halve. Similarly, points out Eric Kaufmann, in many countries, fundamentalist religious groups have fertility rates two or three times higher than the societies in which they live. Israel is a good example. Over time, this will alter the balance of power in those countries. * The Economist *Table of ContentsPART I Political Demography and Political Science ; 1. Introduction ; 2. A Theory of Political Demography: Human and Institutional Reproduction ; PART II Population and International Security ; 3. Demography and Geopolitics: Understanding Today's Debate in Its Historical Context ; 4. America's Golden Years? Security in an Aging World ; 5. A New Framework for Aging and Security: Lessons from Power Transition Theory ; PART III Demography, Development, and Conflict ; 6. Age Structure and Development through a Policy Lens ; 7. The Age-Structural Maturity Thesis: The Impact of the Youth Bulge on the Advent and Stability of Liberal Democracy ; 8. Youth Bulges and Violence ; 9. Democracy, Climate Change, and Conflict ; Part IV Demography and National Politics ; 10. Racial Demographics and the 2008 Presidential Election in the United States ; 11. Demography and Immigration Restriction in American History ; 12. The Changing Face of Europe ; 13. <"Go Forth and Multiply>": The Politics of Religious Demography ; Part V Demography in Ethnic and Religious Conflicts ; 14. Wombfare: The Religious and Political Dimensions of Fertility and Demographic Change ; 15. Deter or Engage?: The Demographic Structure of EthnoNationalist Mobilization ; 16. Demographic Change and Conflict in Contemporary Africa ; 17. The Devil in the Demography? Religion, Identity and War in Cote d'Ivoire ; Conclusion ; 18. Politics and Demography: A Summary of Critical Relationships ; References ; Index ; About the Contributors

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first edition of Sexual Conduct, published in 1973, swiftly became a landmark text in the sociology of sexuality. It went on to profoundly shape the ideas of several generations of scholars and has become the foundation text of what is now known as the social constructionist approach to sexuality. The present edition, revised, updated, and containing new introductory and concluding materials, introduces a classic text to a new generation of students and professionals.Traditional views of human sexuality posit models of man and woman in which biological arrangements are translated into sociocultural imperatives. This is best summarized in the phrase anatomy is destiny. Consequently, the almost exclusive concern has been with the power of biology and nature in sexual conduct as opposed to understanding the significance and impact of social life. In Sexual Conduct, Gagnon and Simon lucidly argue that sexual activities, of all kinds, may be understood as theTable of ContentsForeword: Permanence and Change: Sexual Conduct Thirty Years On Kenneth PlummerPreface to the Second Edition John H. GagnonAcknowledgments to the First Edition1. The Social Origins of Sexual Development 2. Childhood and Adolescence 3. Postadolescent Sexual Development 4. The Pedagogy of Sex 5. Homosexuality Among Men 6. A Conformity Greater than Deviance: The Lesbian 7. The Prostitution of Women 8. Homosexual Conduct in Prison 9. Pornography: Social Scripts and Legal Dilemmas 10. Social Change and Sexual ConductAfterword: The Struggle Over Sexual Change Since 1970 John H. GagnonThe Writing of Sexual Conduct: Two Recollections The Never-Ending Conversation: Two InterviewsReferences Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis work presents analysis of the evolution and development of the social sciences. It reconsiders how knowledge actually changes and advances. Challenging the accepted belief that social sciences are in a perpetual state of progress, this work contends that there is a core set of principles.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat is the nature of the social sciences? What kinds of knowledge can theyand should theyhope to create? Are objective viewpoints possible and can universal laws be discovered? Questions like these have been asked with increasing urgency in recent years, as some philosophers and researchers have perceived a crisis in the social sciences. Metatheory in Social Science offers many provocative arguments and analyses of basic conceptual frameworks for the study of human behavior. These are offered primarily by practicing researchers and are related to problems in disciplines as diverse as sociology, psychology, psychiatry, anthropology, and philosophy of science. While various points of view are expressed in these nineteen essays, they have in common several themes, including the comparison of social and natural science, the role of knowledge in meeting the demands of society and its pressing problems, and the nature and role of subjectivity in science. Some authors hold that subjectivity

Read more less

Book SynopsisGeorg Simmel addressed diverse topics across his essayistic writings, which influenced scholars in aesthetics, epistemology, and sociology. This title features Presented alongside these seminal essays are aphoristic fragments from Simmel's last journal, providing a beguiling look into the mind of one of the twentieth century's greatest thinkers.Trade Review"Simmel is the only social theorist one can read anymore." (Max Horkheimer)

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs a philosopher, Richard McKeon spent his career developing Pragmatism in a new key, specifically by tracing the ways in which philosophic problems arise in fields other than philosophyacross the natural and social sciences and aestheticsand showed the ways in which any problem, pushed back to its beginning or taken to its end, is a philosophic problem. The roots of this book, On KnowingThe Social Sciences, are traced to McKeon's classes where he blended philosophy with physics, ethics, politics, history, and aesthetics. This volumethe second in a seriesleaves behind natural science themes to embrace freedom, power, and history, which, McKeon argues, lay out the whole field of human action. The authors McKeon considersHobbes, Machiavelli, Spinoza, Kant, and J. S. Millshow brilliantly how philosophic methods work in action, via analyses that do not merely reduce or deconstruct meaning, but enhance those texts by reconnecting them to the active history of philosophy and to problems o

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs a philosopher, Richard McKeon spent his career developing Pragmatism in a new key, specifically by tracing the ways in which philosophic problems arise in fields other than philosophyacross the natural and social sciences and aestheticsand showed the ways in which any problem, pushed back to its beginning or taken to its end, is a philosophic problem. The roots of this book, On KnowingThe Social Sciences, are traced to McKeon's classes where he blended philosophy with physics, ethics, politics, history, and aesthetics. This volumethe second in a seriesleaves behind natural science themes to embrace freedom, power, and history, which, McKeon argues, lay out the whole field of human action. The authors McKeon considersHobbes, Machiavelli, Spinoza, Kant, and J. S. Millshow brilliantly how philosophic methods work in action, via analyses that do not merely reduce or deconstruct meaning, but enhance those texts by reconnecting them to the active history of philosophy and to problems o

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisRecent years have seen a growing impetus to explain social life almost exclusively in biological and mechanistic terms, and to dismiss cultural meaning and difference.Trade Review"Complexities challenges the claim that human behavior is fixed in the human genome. The authors explore the problematic assumptions involved in a 'genes only' approach to human behavior, and they demonstrate that environment and culture are essential ingredients in all efforts to solve human problems. This balanced account of human development is essential reading for policymakers, and the fascinating case studies will provoke lively discussions in undergraduate classrooms across the country." - Elizabeth Brumfiel, Northwestern University"

Read more less

Book SynopsisRecent years have seen a growing impetus to explain social life almost exclusively in biological and mechanistic terms, and to dismiss cultural meaning and difference.Trade Review"Complexities challenges the claim that human behavior is fixed in the human genome. The authors explore the problematic assumptions involved in a 'genes only' approach to human behavior, and they demonstrate that environment and culture are essential ingredients in all efforts to solve human problems. This balanced account of human development is essential reading for policymakers, and the fascinating case studies will provoke lively discussions in undergraduate classrooms across the country." - Elizabeth Brumfiel, Northwestern University"

Read more less

Book SynopsisUncovering the verbal and nonverbal patterns in the bearing of news on everyday conversations, as well as hospitals and other settings, Maynard shows how people give and receive good or bad news, how they come to realize the news and share it with others.

Read more less

Book SynopsisEveryone worries about privacy these days. Packed with stories that are funny and sad, familiar and strange, this book tours the myriad arenas where privacy battles are fought, lost, and won. It explores how we manage our secrets, our phone calls and e-mail, the perimeters of our homes, and our interactions with neighbors.Trade Review"Islands of Privacy is a major work of original research, depicting the processes, exchanges, and concerns involved in the ongoing social negotiation of this thing we call 'privacy.' The strength of Nippert-Eng's closely detailed approach is that it allows us to see that privacy is a complicated value subject to constant change, pressure, defense, and negation. The book is also elegantly written-in admirable Studs Terkel fashion, Nippert-Eng is able to get people to tell some great stories about the things that interest us all." -John Gilliom, author of Overseers of the Poor: Surveillance, Resistance, and the Limits of Privacy"

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis text puts Sigmund Freud in dialogue with Franz Rosenzwig in the service of re-imagining ethical and political life. Santner makes an argument for understanding revelation in theraputic terms and offers a look at how this understanding suggests ways of re-conceiving political community.

Read more less

Book SynopsisClifford Geertz is the most influential American anthropologist of the past four decades. His writings have defined and given character to the intellectual agenda of a meaning-centered, non-reductive interpretive social science and have provoked much excitement and debate about the nature of human understanding.

Read more less

Book SynopsisClifford Geertz is the most influential American anthropologist of the past four decades. His writings have defined and given character to the intellectual agenda of a meaning-centered, non-reductive interpretive social science and have provoked much excitement and debate about the nature of human understanding.

Read more less

Book SynopsisCollects autobiographies by an international cross-section of well-known sociologists, all of them children of the '60s. This book illuminates the human experience of living through that decade as apprentice scholars and activists, encountering the issues of class, race, the establishment, feminism, war, and the sexual revolution.

Read more less

Book SynopsisCollects autobiographies by an international cross-section of well-known sociologists, all of them children of the '60s. This book illuminates the human experience of living through that decade as apprentice scholars and activists, encountering the issues of class, race, the establishment, feminism, war, and the sexual revolution.

Read more less

Book SynopsisPublished in 1918, this title is the author's final work. Composed in the years before his death, it was, according to Simmel, his 'testament', a capstone work of profound metaphysical inquiry intended to formulate his conception of life in its entirety.Trade Review"Simmel is the only social theorist one can read anymore." - Max Horkheimer"

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn insightful examination of how intersecting individual motivations and social structures mobilize spontaneous mass protests. Between 15 and 26 million Americans participated in protests surrounding the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and others as part of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, which is only one of the most recent examples of an immense mobilization of citizens around a cause. In The Rise of the Masses, sociologist Benjamin Abrams addresses why and how people spontaneously protest, riot, and revolt en masse. While most uprisings of such a scale require tremendous resources and organizing, this book focuses on cases where people with no connection to organized movements take to the streets, largely of their own accord. Looking to the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, and the Black Lives Uprising, as well as the historical case of the French Revolution, Abrams lays out a theory of how and why massive mobilizations arise without the large-scalTrade Review“Skillfully drawing on and synthesizing an impressive range of theoretical perspectives, Benjamin Abrams has fashioned a highly original theory of spontaneous mass mobilization. As if that weren’t enough, he goes on to make a compelling, empirically informed case for the application of his affinity-convergence theory to four iconic mass movements, ranging from the French Revolution to the George Floyd Protests of 2020. Anyone interested in the dynamics of spontaneous mass action will want to read this book.” -- Doug McAdam, Ray Lyman Wilbur Professor of Sociology, Stanford University“Drawing on four diverse cycles of contention. . . . Abrams shows how much of the process of mobilization can be explained as the product of affinities and convergence on the part of unorganized groups—the 'masses' in his title—while their failures can be explained as their inability to create viable and robust structures around their affinities. His book should be read by social movement specialists and by general readers concerned with the current waves of mass mobilization alike. While the book is based on immense reading and research, it is Abrams's deep thinking that I admire most. A very readable and engaging book." -- Sidney Tarrow, author of Power in Movement“Social movements and revolutions are enormously consequential. Yet, their confounding and elusive mysteries are not fully understood. How do they burst forth, who brings them into being, and why do they fail or succeed? Do they spring from spontaneity or organization? The Rise of the Masses squarely confronts these fundamental questions through careful analysis, copious evidence, and enthralling narratives of historic movements. In so doing, Abrams illuminates how these engines of social change operate. This book is a rich fount of knowledge that should be widely read.” -- Aldon Morris, author of The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement"This book will be important reading for those interested in explaining mobilization generally and delving into how we can better understand more spontaneous mobilizations. In addition, it would be of interest to any scholars or publics interested in the four core cases of analysis. I found the book compelling, beautifully written, and convincing." -- Catherine Corrigall-Brown * Social Forces *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I: Theorizing Mobilization 1. What We Know about Mobilization, and What We Need To 2. Affinity-Convergence Theory Part II: The Egyptian Revolution, 2011 3. Egypt on the Eve of Revolution 4. The Anatomy of a Revolutionary Moment 5. The Fall and Fall of Revolutionary Egypt Part III: Occupy Wall Street 6. Globalizing the Revolution 7. Enter the Occupiers 8. The End of the Extraordinary Part IV: The Black Lives Uprising, 2020 9. From Tragedy to Uprising 10. Mass Mobilization for Black Lives Part V: The French Revolution, 1789 11. Mass Mobilization against the Ancien Régime 12. The Development of Revolutionary Mobilization Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn insightful examination of how intersecting individual motivations and social structures mobilize spontaneous mass protests. Between 15 and 26 million Americans participated in protests surrounding the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and others as part of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, which is only one of the most recent examples of an immense mobilization of citizens around a cause. In The Rise of the Masses, sociologist Benjamin Abrams addresses why and how people spontaneously protest, riot, and revolt en masse. While most uprisings of such a scale require tremendous resources and organizing, this book focuses on cases where people with no connection to organized movements take to the streets, largely of their own accord. Looking to the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, and the Black Lives Uprising, as well as the historical case of the French Revolution, Abrams lays out a theory of how and why massive mobilizations arise without the large-scalTrade Review“Skillfully drawing on and synthesizing an impressive range of theoretical perspectives, Benjamin Abrams has fashioned a highly original theory of spontaneous mass mobilization. As if that weren’t enough, he goes on to make a compelling, empirically informed case for the application of his affinity-convergence theory to four iconic mass movements, ranging from the French Revolution to the George Floyd Protests of 2020. Anyone interested in the dynamics of spontaneous mass action will want to read this book.” -- Doug McAdam, Ray Lyman Wilbur Professor of Sociology, Stanford University“Drawing on four diverse cycles of contention. . . . Abrams shows how much of the process of mobilization can be explained as the product of affinities and convergence on the part of unorganized groups—the 'masses' in his title—while their failures can be explained as their inability to create viable and robust structures around their affinities. His book should be read by social movement specialists and by general readers concerned with the current waves of mass mobilization alike. While the book is based on immense reading and research, it is Abrams's deep thinking that I admire most. A very readable and engaging book." -- Sidney Tarrow, author of Power in Movement“Social movements and revolutions are enormously consequential. Yet, their confounding and elusive mysteries are not fully understood. How do they burst forth, who brings them into being, and why do they fail or succeed? Do they spring from spontaneity or organization? The Rise of the Masses squarely confronts these fundamental questions through careful analysis, copious evidence, and enthralling narratives of historic movements. In so doing, Abrams illuminates how these engines of social change operate. This book is a rich fount of knowledge that should be widely read.” -- Aldon Morris, author of The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement"This book will be important reading for those interested in explaining mobilization generally and delving into how we can better understand more spontaneous mobilizations. In addition, it would be of interest to any scholars or publics interested in the four core cases of analysis. I found the book compelling, beautifully written, and convincing." -- Catherine Corrigall-Brown * Social Forces *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I: Theorizing Mobilization 1. What We Know about Mobilization, and What We Need To 2. Affinity-Convergence Theory Part II: The Egyptian Revolution, 2011 3. Egypt on the Eve of Revolution 4. The Anatomy of a Revolutionary Moment 5. The Fall and Fall of Revolutionary Egypt Part III: Occupy Wall Street 6. Globalizing the Revolution 7. Enter the Occupiers 8. The End of the Extraordinary Part IV: The Black Lives Uprising, 2020 9. From Tragedy to Uprising 10. Mass Mobilization for Black Lives Part V: The French Revolution, 1789 11. Mass Mobilization against the Ancien Régime 12. The Development of Revolutionary Mobilization Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisRichard L. Wood spent several years working with two local groups in Oakland, California, one faith-based, the other race-based. Comparing their activist techniques and acheivements, Wood argues that their alternative cultures offer a more democratic future for all Americans.Trade Review"Faith in Action is a timely and intelligent work - a penetrating look at the efficacy of faith-based community activism. Wood's creative new study will appeal to sociologists of culture, politics, and religion and to anyone interested in how social movements work and continue to prosper." - Christian Smith, author of American Evangelicalism

Read more less

Book SynopsisRichard L. Wood spent several years working with two local groups in Oakland, California, one faith-based, the other race-based. Comparing their activist techniques and acheivements, Wood argues that their alternative cultures offer a more democratic future for all Americans.Trade Review"Faith in Action is a timely and intelligent work - a penetrating look at the efficacy of faith-based community activism. Wood's creative new study will appeal to sociologists of culture, politics, and religion and to anyone interested in how social movements work and continue to prosper." - Christian Smith, author of American Evangelicalism

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the first comprehensive and critical assessment of Zygmunt Bauman's work on culture, Dariusz Brzeziński offers a comparative analysis of the theories of one of the most influential intellectuals of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Foregrounding the sociologist and philosopher's Polish period, Brzeziński introduces Bauman to a new international audience.Trade Review"In this first comprehensive and critical assessment of Bauman’s lifelong work on culture, Brzeziński includes Bauman’s Polish-language papers and books, as well as his works discovered only posthumously, presenting them to an international audience." Polish Sociological Review“Brzezinski has produced a valuable and original text which provides new resources for scholars interested in Bauman’s work. It is true to Bauman’s overall goal in his sociology which always sought a critical perspective which, in defamiliarizing the familiar, encouraged his readers to think afresh about what is and what could be. … Brzezinski shows how this key trait of Bauman’s sociology, expressed in his hyperbolizing texts, can be traced back to his earliest consideration of culture in the 1960s and forward into his final pieces. In doing so, he shows how the Bauman pre-exile should count in our consideration of his sociology.” European Journal of Social Theory“Brzeziński skilfully guides the reader through much material not published in English, together with some unpublished and difficult-to-obtain material.” European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology

Read more less

Book SynopsisOne of the most influential intellectuals of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, sociologist and philosopher Zygmunt Bauman (19252017) made reflection on culture a fundamental part of his academic work. He published a substantial number of papers on the topic, and many of his concepts would go on to significantly influence the social sciences and humanities. Bauman began his theoretical studies on culture when working at the University of Warsaw and continued them all his life. Inspired by the many intellectual currents he encountered over his more than six decades of work, Bauman wrote on culture in the contexts of such issues as Marxism and socialism, modernity and the Holocaust, postmodernity and liquid modernity, and contemporary nostalgia. In Zygmunt Bauman and the Theory of Culture Dariusz Brzezinski uses the evolution of Bauman's theory of culture as a prism through which to offer a comparative analysis, putting Bauman's work in conversation with the writinTrade Review"In this first comprehensive and critical assessment of Bauman’s lifelong work on culture, Brzeziński includes Bauman’s Polish-language papers and books, as well as his works discovered only posthumously, presenting them to an international audience." Polish Sociological Review“Brzezinski has produced a valuable and original text which provides new resources for scholars interested in Bauman’s work. It is true to Bauman’s overall goal in his sociology which always sought a critical perspective which, in defamiliarizing the familiar, encouraged his readers to think afresh about what is and what could be. … Brzezinski shows how this key trait of Bauman’s sociology, expressed in his hyperbolizing texts, can be traced back to his earliest consideration of culture in the 1960s and forward into his final pieces. In doing so, he shows how the Bauman pre-exile should count in our consideration of his sociology.” European Journal of Social Theory“Brzeziński skilfully guides the reader through much material not published in English, together with some unpublished and difficult-to-obtain material.” European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology

Read more less

Book SynopsisKAREN O'REILLY is Professor of Sociology at Loughborough University, UK. She has vast experience of teaching sociological theory and international migration, and has published widely in the field of sociology. Her previous publications include Ethnographic Methods, Key Concepts in Ethnography and The British on the Costa del Sol.Trade Review'An engaging, well-organized, and easy to follow text which covers migration theories from a new perspective.' - Matthew Sanderson, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Kansas State University, USA 'A valuable contribution to scholarship in both the migration and social theory fields, written with exemplary clarity.' - David Bartram, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Leicester, UK 'A useful overview of the theories and concepts within migration studies. It provides a thought provoking and helpful framework for understanding migration, and is a valuable tool for both researchers and lecturers.' - Louise Ryan, Reader in Gender and Migration, Middlesex University, UKTable of ContentsIntroduction Practice Theory: A Framework for International Migration Research Theories and Perspectives in Migration Lifestyle Migration: British Migration to Spain's Coastal Areas Labour Migration: Mexican Labour Migration to the United States Domestic Labour Migration: Filipina Domestic Labour Migration to Hong Kong Refugees and Forced Migration: Refugee Children in the United Kingdom Conclusion.

Read more less

Book SynopsisEncompassing management approaches such as Theory Z, and research of nonprofit studies, this book addresses ways in which skills and activities of social administration can further social work practice in the areas of social justice, confronting oppression, and dealing with institutional "isms".Trade ReviewA major contribution to social work administration literature. -- Lawrence Martin Administration in Social Work A diligently researched, articulately presented, well-organized, lengthy, and scholarly book... valuable. Journal of Community PracticeTable of ContentsThe Ecology of Social Administration Introduction Social Administration and Community The Social Agency Social Administration and Organization Elements of Social Administration Leadership and Decision-Making The Process of Management Management Models The Process of Institutionalization Policy, Institutions, and Strategic Action Administrative Planning Implementation Operations Accountability Program Evaluation Communications and Information Administrative Communication Administrative Information Systems Empowerment Administrative Authority Power and Influence Marketing, Public Relations, and Advertising Personnel Systems Human Resources Financial Management Financial Inflows Budgeting Social Administration and Purchase of Service Contracts Ethics and Administration Human Diversity and Administrative Justice Governance Issues: Boards and Directorates Afterword

Read more less