This book offers new perspectives on global phenomena that play a major role in today's society and deeply shape the actions of individuals, organizations and nations. In a complex and rapidly changing environment, decision-makers need to gain a better understanding of global phenomena to adapt and to anticipate the evolution of the global context. The authors-ten renowned international scholars of anthropology, economics, law, management and political science-propose an interdisciplinary and comparative approach to social sciences. They analyse how international phenomena, such as globalisation or transnationalisation, transform the disciplines of social sciences from an epistemological standpoint. Explaining what 'global' means in difference disciplines, the authors analyse several global phenomena that characterise today's international environment such as the circulation of norms and ideas, the linkages between war and globalization, corporate governance, and the impact of multinational enterprises on sustainable development and poverty reduction. Providing examples of analytical disciplinary approaches and guidelines for decision-makers in a fast-changing global context this book will be useful to scholars and students of anthropology, economics, law, management and political science as well as practitioners in the private and public sectors.

The book specifies infrastructure construction achievements and the present development situation in China in the 30 years after the reform and opening up in the fields of architecture, energy, transportation, environmental protection, water conservancy, telecommunications, urban arts and sports. The book also summarizes the experiences and lessons in the course of the construction and puts forward the development requirements and prospects in the hope of providing reference and enlightenment for African people in their infrastructure construction and offering certain help for their smooth construction work in order to avoid disadvantages and achieve better economic and social benefits.

Using quantitative research, this volume investigates the characteristics, problems and trends of the automobile society in China's mega cities and large cities. It also addresses topics related to cars and cities, traffic safety and cars' consumption. China has experienced more than 30 years of rapid economic development, and people's living conditions have greatly improved. One of the symbols of this is family-car ownership, which has increased year by year. China is rapidly becoming an automobile society like North America. But China has huge population and limited urban space, and most of the cities are deteriorating environmentally. Added to this are the low degree energy self-sufficiency and people's lack of awareness of traffic rules, all of which have brought various social problems, such as traffic congestion, lack of parking spaces, air pollution, energy shortage and frequent accidents. The volume presents a series of studies examining the characteristics and problems of China's automobile society development from the perspective of sustainable development. The reports in the volume are both academic and highly readable, making it an interesting resource for researchers and general readers alike. It offers insights into the trends and problems of private cars in China, as well as observations on China's social change through the unique medium of cars.

Providing a comprehensive introduction to the literature and approaches used in the field, this illustrious Handbook explores and interrogates the link between security and development at a global level whilst offering a broad survey of current thinking.With a mixture of approaches and methodologies, each chapter is written by an acknowledged expert and includes international contributions spanning six continents. The topics covered range from the politics of aid by remote control through to intervention and the post-conflict re-establishment of security and demobilization of combatants. This essential book will engage academics involved in research surrounding security and development, along with practitioners who are interested in the philosophy of their actions and their practical implications. Members of organizations such as policy institutes and NGOs will also find this to be a valuable read. Contributors: P. Albrecht, L.R. Andersen, B. Baker, D. Beswick, L. Cooley, L. Denney, T. Donais, M. Duffield, R. Freedman, H. Hudson, P. Jackson, H.M. Kyed, N. Lemay-Hebert, H. Marquette, N. Mlambo, L.W. Moe, R. Muggah, S.M. Murshed, A. OEzerdem, A. Schnabel, M. Sedra, F. Stepputat, G.S. Wagle, N. Wilen, C. Wilkinson, S.A. Zyck

This is the first ethnography to be written about a Campeche Maya community. It examines the surviving Maya traditional technologies and sacred cosmologies and discusses the potential for combining these with modern knowledge and technologies to form an efficient new system that will not only provide for ecologically responsible development but will also make possible the cultural survival of this threatened indigenous population.

This volume focuses on the evolution of public policy and the role of agenda setting with regard to policymaking in countries of the Global South. The authors illustrate the emergence of public policy research as an academic discipline, and highlight various aspects of history, governance, politics, and economics as components of public policy theory development. By offering a cross-national perspective, the papers contribute to a better understanding of when, how, and by whom a given policy agenda is designed, which is essential to grasping how policy is implemented. In turn, the authors investigate how the development of public policy research has influenced policymaking in fields such as democratization, migration, corruption, agriculture, environment, education, and entrepreneurship and, more specifically, agenda setting in selected countries of the Global South.

This comprehensive and timely publication aims to be an essential reference source, building on the available literature in the field of Gamification for the economic and social development of countries while providing further research opportunities in this dynamic and growing field. Thus, the book aims to provide the opportunity for a reflection on this important issue, increasing the understanding of the importance of Gamification in the context of organizations' improvements, providing relevant academic work, empirical research findings and, an overview of this relevant field of study. This text will provide the resources necessary for policymakers, technology developers, and managers to adopt and implement solutions for a more digital era.

Similar to large cities, rural towns have undergone dramatic change since mid-century. The decline in retailing, changes in manufacturing, and jobs moving abroad have had a tremendous impact. Yet while rural and industrial areas have similar concerns about adjusting to a changing economy, successful urban strategies cannot be blindly transferred to rural areas. Nor can rural areas be considered homogeneous. They differ in ethnic makeup, industrial structure, topography, and natural and human resources. Appreciating the diversity of rural areas, this book presents case studies from different industries, regions, and cultures, providing examples of the activity in small town and rural development, and reflecting on how these strategies might be pursued elsewhere.

This collection provides examples of communities that have attempted to affect their future. Telling the stories of small towns that do not attract the attention of national media, this book celebrates the success, creativity, and vision of rural residents. Also included are examples of less effective rural development initiatives, which can be lessons to analyze and avoid mistakes. Ultimately, what is best in small town and rural development is the result of community engagement. This volume will help people to begin, or strengthen, that process of engagement.

The development of biotechnological innovations is quickly becoming a globalized phenomenon as emerging nations are making major strides to compete with more developed economies. Though efforts to bridge the gap between emerging and developed nations have been successful, there are still many barriers that need to be overcome. Comparative Approaches to Biotechnology Development and Use in Developed and Emerging Nations evaluates the importance of manufacturing biotechnological products around the world. Highlighting a comparative analysis of public policies, technological policies, innovations, and marketing capabilities of developed and emerging nations, this publication is a pivotal reference source for government officers, policy makers, academics, and practitioners.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have become ubiquitous in the development sector in Africa and attracting more academic attention. However, the fact that NGOs are an integral part of the everyday lives of men and women on the continent has been overlooked thus far. In Africa, NGOs are not remote, but familiar players, situated in the midst of cities and communities. By taking a radical empirical stance, this book studies NGOs as a vital part of the lifeworlds of Africans. Its contributions are immersed in the pasts, presents and futures of personal encounters, memories, decision-making and politics.

This edited volume examines key questions about evidence-informed policymaking in Indonesia. It draws on insights and evidence acquired through the implementation of the Knowledge Sector Initiative, a donor-funded programme that aims to increase the demand for and use of evidence in policymaking in Indonesia. Featuring contributions from academics, policy researchers, policymakers and development practitioners, the volume will deepen readers' understanding of how knowledge and politics shape the policymaking process in Indonesia. As such, it will be of interest to Indonesian and international researchers, academics, students, practitioners and policymakers concerned with various aspects of evidence-informed policymaking research and processes. In particular, regional and international development practitioners and development partners interested in learning from Indonesia's efforts to improve how evidence is used to address key development challenges will find this volume valuable.

The development change agent contextualises the development change agent through his or her relationship with the local beneficiaries of development. The focus is on change agents as "enablers" or "facilitators" of development at micro or grassroots level, and the key theme is the call for the establishment of a partnership in planning between change agents and the beneficiaries of development. In most chapters the authors challenge conventional thinking on the particular issue under discussion. New options are generated for development change agents, the beneficiaries of development, policy makers and politicians to consider. Popular but contentious development concepts and approaches like holism, a people-centred approach, capacity building, empowerment and participation are explained and applied, and approaches relevant to social capital, indigenous knowledge systems and action research methodology are introduced. This title is relevant to a broad range of potential readers: students at universities (development studies, public and development management, anthropology, sociology, social work, forestry, community health), development practitioners, development consultants, those working for NGOs and CBOs, development corporations/agencies, and politicians and government officials.

Why Industrial Revolution By-Passes Africa is a compelling analysis of the complex dimensions of development in Africa. It identifies and explains the failure of innovations and knowledge in Africa to generate industrial revolution in the continent using two main models: the motivation and growth-ladder models. Focusing on the indifference and secrecy among innovators in the continent, the book shows how the endemic indifference and unparalleled secrecy among African innovators hinders the continent from successfully going up a sustainable development ladder. It argues that with private and un-rewarded knowledge bearers innovating in isolation and dieing in the same fashion, the continent has experienced "continuous but non-additive innovation system" as against "continuous and additive innovation system." Written with the general reader in mind, Why Industrial Revolution By-Passes Africa is an important addition to the current discussions on the problems of innovations, technology and industrialisation in Africa. ________________ Hilary U. Nwokeabia studied Economics and Computer Science at Hunter College of the City University of New York, USA, Econometrics at the New York University, USA and Development Economics at Strathclyde University, Glasgow Scotland. He has conducted research on different programmes and economic and social cooperation measures adopted at global level, with direct impact on individual or group of African countries. He was a key contributor in the design and evaluation of African Priority Programs for Economic Recovery (APPER), United Nation's New Agenda for Development of Africa (UNNADAF), the African Growth and Opportunity Act and New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), among others. He has been a core team member of United Nations flagship publications such as the World Economic Prospects, World Investment Report, Economic Report on Africa and Local Pathways to Global Development - World Bank. Based on own-name intellectual work he has also written articles and provided development advice on Africa's development strategies for members of his economic development clan in the Bretton Woods institutions, particularly the World Bank. Born in Achi in Enugu State of Nigeria, educated in Nigeria, the United States, and the United Kingdom, Hilary Nwokeabia has worked in Nigeria's Ministry of External Affairs, United Nations Headquarters in New York, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Geneva. He has travelled extensively in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. His private works are published in international journals.

This book presents the latest research and novel case studies on crime and corruption in the tourism and hospitality industry. It approaches tourism as both a globalised business impacting the livelihood of millions of people, and a highly challenging field of action for national legislators and law enforcement agencies. The global nature and ubiquity of tourism, as well as the core elements of the holiday experience - such as interactions with unknown environments and places, a care-free mind-set, novelty-seeking behaviour and anonymity - render it highly susceptible to victimisation, crime and corruption. Accordingly, the book addresses a comprehensive set of emerging issues, including: conflict and fraud during holidays; criminal and negligence offences at tourists' expense; exploitation and mistreatment of service workers; deterioration of heritage, cultural and natural resources; and securitisation of tourism.

The end of the Cold War, the cessation of superpower rivalry, and the demise of apartheid in South Africa have offered Africans another opportunity to engage in effective institutional reform and state reconstruction. This book emphasizes the importance of institutions to economic growth and development and, using public choice theory, provides guidelines that can be used to initiate and implement an effective people-driven institutional reform program on the continent.

The relentless growth of cities is inevitable--and irreversible. Developing countries' share of the world's urban population will rise to 71% by the year 2000 and 80% by 2025. By the end of the 1990s, it is estimated that 18 cities in developing countries will have a population of 10 million or more. Although those cities are centers of production, employment, and innovation, rapid urbanization has had many negative consequences: an alarming increase in the incidence of urban poverty, the concentration of modern productive activities in major metropolitan areas, inadequate access to housing and basic urban services, and the degradation of the urban environment.

Urban Management reviews the state of the art in innovative urban management, discusses the latest findings on key issues of urban management, and identifies policy-relevant research needs and priorities. Chapters are contributed by urban specialists from Asia, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, and North America, who identify urbanization processes and strategies, provide comparative analyses of urban management issues throughout the world, and present original country case studies. Recommended for urban development planners and administrators in developing countries, persons from donor countries working on projects in developing countries, students of urban management, and others interested in developmental issues at the global, regional, national, and municipal levels.

This book, a collection of previously published articles, focuses on the role of the Singaporean State in social cultural engineering. It deals with the relationship between the Singaporean state and local agencies and how the latter negotiated with the state to establish an acceptable framework for social cultural engineering to proceed. The book also highlights the tensions and conflicts that occurred during this process. The various chapters examine how the Singaporean state used polices and regulatory control to conserve and maintain ethno-cultural and ethno-religious landscapes, develop a moral education system and how the treatment of women and its morality came into alignment with the values that the state espoused upon from the 1980s through the 1990s.

Addressing the debate around what makes a good citizen, this work proposes a new form of post-colonial citizenship education which can be applied in any cultural setting. International educational partnerships provide the opportunity for participants to live out values such as cultural empathy and thus demonstrate their right to citizenship.

Garrett Hardin, one of the leading thinkers on the problem of overpopulation, addresses the arguments of economists about continued 'sustainable growth'. He discusses issues that are frequently avoided in most short-term considerations of population levels. This book builds upon the success of Hardin's earlier book, Living Within Limits, and seeks to lay out the practical steps that humankind must take now to ensure the long-term survival of civilization.

This book represents the first calm, detailed, and rational description of the imminent end of western industrial civilization as we know it. Despite this alarming premise Gimpel is far from pessimistic, save in the short term: with the sure hand of the historian, he emphasizes how humanity has always recovered from its previous collapses in the past, and will certainly do so again. The unique value of this book is that it gives us a baseline from which we can now work into the future.

This book represents the first calm, detailed, and rational description of the coming end of our current world culture. The author seeks to show that, particularly when we compare actual technological reality in the 1990s with the heady predictions of futurologists back in the 1960s, technology has levelled off, reached a plateau--even in the leading-edge areas like infomatics, space, and medicine.

Even that plateau will prove to be temporary, claims Gimpel, and the end of western industrial society as we know it will inevitably ensue. However exceptional, our civilization has no reason to expect that it will evolve any differently from every civilization before it: decadence and decay have engulfed them all, one after the other. The unique value of this book is that it gives us a baseline from which we can now work into the future. The conclusion, which is not pessimistic--save in the short term--points out that humanity has always recovered from such collapses, and gone on again to reach new heights. By way of making his case, Gimpel leaves us with a final simple thought: The future, he asserts, is China.

This book examines suitable approaches to and makes policy suggestions on China's industrial upgrading according to the requirements of the transformation of economic growth. It is divided into two major parts, the first of which provides an in-depth analysis of the impact that transforming economic growth will have on industrial development, particular regarding export policy adjustments, the rise of labor wages, and the development of a low-carbon economy, offering valuable insights into the difficulties entailed by the transformation process. In turn, Part II discusses the paths chosen for China's industrial upgrading, examines its past failures and current orientation, and puts forward corresponding policy suggestions for the future.

... aims to be something more than a biographical dictionary of missionaries, academics, artists, leaders, diplomats, educators, soldiers, engineers, etc. (dead and alive), who established relationships between the US and Africa. The entries include information on institutions, organizations, business firms, even ships that were involved in these contacts. . . . recommended for most libraries. "Choice"

Contacts between the United States and Africa began in the seventeenth century when American slavers arrived on the West African Coast. They were quickly followed by a multitude of colonists, traders, missionaries, soldiers, diplomats, engineers, scientists, authors, artists, explorers, and hunters, among others, as well as a range of American institutions, societies, and businesses.

This unique reference work provides in one alphabetical format a resource on more than 700 people, organizations, and events that have affected the relations between the United States and Africa from the 1600s to the present. The focus is primarily on those individuals and organizations that were actually in Africa and that have left written or visual records of their stay. Each entry is followed by a short bibliography of major sources, including information on existing manuscript material; a useful index completes the text. Of special interest to scholars of African studies, world history, American foreign policy, and colonialism, this comprehensive reference tool will be a valuable aid in understanding American involvement in Africa.

The Routledge Companion to Applied Performance provides an in-depth, far-reaching and provocative consideration of how scholars and artists negotiate the theoretical, historical and practical politics of applied performance, both in the academy and beyond. These volumes offer insights from within and beyond the sphere of English-speaking scholarship, curated by regional experts in applied performance. The reader will gain an understanding of some of the dominant preoccupations of performance in specified regions, enhanced by contextual framing. From the dis(h)arming of the human body through dance in Colombia to clowning with dementia in Australia, via challenges to violent nationalism in the Balkans, transgender performance in Pakistan and resistance rap in Kashmir, the essays, interviews and scripts are eloquent testimony to the courage and hope of people who believe in the power of art to renew the human spirit. Students, academics, practitioners, policy-makers, cultural anthropologists and activists will benefit from the opportunities to forge new networks and develop in-depth comparative research offered by this bold, global project.

This book explores the nature and type of prevalent collective behavior that influences women empowerment, women workforce participation and behavior change in sanitation. The influence of collective norms and customs have been investigated through a series of studies throughout India. There are very few research works on understanding social norms that distinguishes it from a range of other collective behaviors. This understanding would not only improve analytical clarity on collective behavior in general and social norms in particular, in the context of gender and sanitation, but also improve development practice in these areas. This book is also novel as it would expound the social network in the context of sanitation behavior in India. The tools and techniques discussed in the book are replicable and hence would be helpful for other researchers and development practitioners to analyse other collective behaviours.