Bringing together twenty-five years of research on the sequential organization of laughter in everyday talk, Phillip Glenn analyzes recordings and transcripts to indicate the finely-detailed coordination of human laughter. He demonstrates that its occurrence, relative to talk and other activities, reveals much about its emergent meaning and effects. The book considers laughter's significant role in how people display, respond to, and revise identities and relationships.

Individuals struggle to find meaning within the chaos of states undergoing political change. Religious elites seek to define their role within the new order while political elites search for new ways to ensure legitimacy and develop national unity. Contrasting the politics of religious liberty in a number of Southern and Eastern European countries, John Anderson explores the broader issue of creating a democratic mentality in such transitional societies. In the process he exposes the use of privilege and discrimination practiced by religious and political elites in these societies.

Fernando Vega-Redondo's self-contained account of the main contributions of modern game theory and its applications to economics starts with a detailed description of how to model strategic situations. The discussion proceeds by studying basic solution concepts and their main refinements; games played under incomplete information; and repeated games. For each of these theoretical developments, the text includes a companion set of applications that cover the most representative instances of game-theoretic analysis in economics (e.g., oligopolistic competition, public goods, coordination failures, bargaining, insurance markets, implementation theory, signaling and auctions).

Edited by three well-known analysts of risk and its communication, this volume brings together contributions from a group of international experts in risk perception and risk communication. Key conceptual issues are discussed as well as a range of recent case studies that span BSE and food safety, AIDS/HIV, nuclear power, child protection, Y2K, electromagnetic fields, and waste incineration. The volume also draws attention to issues in public policy, risk management and risk communication practice.

Clearly organised around a single question--is love possible?--Joanne Brown's book provides conceptualizations of love and of its possibility from sociological, philosophical and psychoanalytic viewpoints. Material from biographical, narrative interviews are presented in order to look at how people from two age groups conceptualise love and view its realisation or possibility in their own lives. The book argues for the importance of a psychosocial understanding of love and provides a critical discussion of the philosophy and methods of psychosocial studies.

Peter Berger is the most influential contemporary sociologist of religion. This collection of essays is the first in-depth study of his contribution, providing a comprehensive introduction to his work and to current thought in the study of religion. Themes addressed include:
* Berger on religion and theology
* Religion, spirituality and the discontents of modernity
* Secularization and de-secularization
A postscript by Peter Berger, responding to the essays, completes this overview of this major figure's work.

The applications of gamification and the contexts in which game elements can be successfully incorporated have grown significantly over the years. They now include the fields of health, education, work, the media and many others. However, the human and social sciences still neglect the analysis and critique of gamification. Research conducted in this area tends to focus on game objects and not gamification s logic as its ideological dimension. Considering that the game, as a model and a reference, laden with social value, deserves to be questioned beyond its objects, The Gamification of Society gathers together texts, observations and criticisms that question the influence that games and their mechanics have on wider society. The empirical research presented in this book (examining designers practices, early childhood, political action, the quantified self, etc.) also probes several different national contexts - those of Norway, Belgium, the United States and France, among others.

This book discusses the justifications and limits of cultural nationalism from a liberal perspective. Chaim Gans presents a normative typology of nationalist ideologies, distinguishing between cultural liberal nationalism and statist liberal nationalism. Statist nationalisms argue that states have an interest in the cultural homogeneity of their citizenries. Cultural nationalisms argue that people have interests in adhering to their cultures (the adherence thesis) and in sustaining these cultures for generations (the historic thesis). Gans argues that freedom- and identity-based justifications for cultural nationalism common in literature can only support the adherence thesis, while the historical thesis could only be justified by the interest people have in the long-term endurance of their personal and group endeavors. The Limits of Nationalism examines demands often made in the name of cultural nationalism, such as claims for national self-determination, historical rights claims to territories and demands entailedby cultural particularism as opposed to cultural cosmopolitanism.

1) While grounded in research, the writing style and concise nature of coverage are intended to be digestible by busy music educators, both pre-service and in-service teachers 2) Each chapter includes an introductory vignette of a music educator (hypothetical, but based on true stories) who is struggling with challenges associated with the chapter content. 3) "Wellness" is a much-discussed topic and this book specifically addresses situations particular to MUSIC Education.

This Handbook of Political Sociology provides the first complete survey of the vibrant field of political sociology. Part I explores the theories of political sociology. Part II focuses on the formation, transitions, and regime structure of the state. Part III takes up various aspects of the state that respond to pressures from civil society, including welfare, gender, and military policies. And Part IV examines globalization. The Handbook is dedicated to the memory of co-author Robert Alford.

This is a history of a space - a space between the Panonian plain in the East and the most northernmost bay in the Adriatic in the West, from the eastern Alps in the North and the Dinaridic mountain area in the South. It is also a history of all the different people who lived in this area. The authors show that the Slavs did not settle an empty space and simply replace the Celto-Roman inhabitants of earlier times; they are, on the contrary, presented as the result of reciprocal acculturation. The authors show that the Slovenes made more than two important appearances throughout the entire feudal era; the same holds for later periods, especially for the twentieth century. This book offers a concise and complete history of an area that finally became an integral part of Central Europe and the Balkans.

Students' school motivation and engagement are key contributors to the quality of their academic learning and performance, as well as growth in other important areas of life (social, emotional, and physical health). Fostering motivation and engagement is thus a meaningful educational purpose, both in and of itself and as a pathway to holistic student development. However, motivation and engagement do not develop in a vacuum, and effort seeking to facilitate them cannot be effectively pursued without understanding their underpinning sociocultural influences. In the first edition of this volume, Big Theories Revisited (McInerney & Van Etten, 2004), authors of major models of school motivation and engagement were 'challenged' to look into their theoretical work through a sociocultural lens. The volume has been well received as objectively reflected in the number of citations of its chapters. Significant progress has since been made in the theorizing and research of 'big theories' of school motivation and engagement. In this volume, we invited a group of internationally-renowned scholars to re-examine their theoretical and conceptual work by highlighting the 'what' (factors) and 'how' (processes) of sociocultural influences in association with the key motivation and/or engagement construct(s) of their expertise. We made it clear to our contributors that we solicited new chapters rather than chapters with merely rehashed materials. As a result, this volume, Big Theories Revisited 2 (Liem & McInerney, 2018) contains chapters that critically discuss sociocultural influences on school motivation and engagement constructs as viewed from focal theories including self-determination theory, achievement goal theory, personal investment theory, expectancy value theory, self-efficacy theory, self- and co-regulated learning models, and many others. Whereas some of the chapter topics covered in the initial edition are also part of this edition, some are new and provide fresh sociocultural angles on achievement-relevant processes and outcomes. Likewise, whereas some of the authors contributed to the earlier edition of the Volume, many of them are different. What appears to be the same across the two editions is the scholarly distinction of the authors and the substantive rigor of the chapters in advancing our current understanding of this field of enquiry. Readers will learn much from and be inspired by stimulating ideas presented in this volume.

* Links immunity with social theory. * Considers the themes of self, biography and emotion, and how these are transmitted in immunity media and communications. * Gives emphasis to popular culture, affect, social context and personal experience narratives in exploring the dynamics of immunity in health. * Grounded in personal experience narratives so is richly nuanced by gender, biography and context.* Accessible digest of social and cultural theory on immunity, which is often quite abstract and philosophical. * Applies analysis to contemporary health threats, in particular pandemics and superbugs.

* Links immunity with social theory. * Considers the themes of self, biography and emotion, and how these are transmitted in immunity media and communications. * Gives emphasis to popular culture, affect, social context and personal experience narratives in exploring the dynamics of immunity in health. * Grounded in personal experience narratives so is richly nuanced by gender, biography and context.* Accessible digest of social and cultural theory on immunity, which is often quite abstract and philosophical. * Applies analysis to contemporary health threats, in particular pandemics and superbugs.

Assisted Reproductive Technologies in the Global South and North critically analyses the political and social frameworks of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), and its impact in different countries. In the context of a worldwide social pressure to conceive - particularly for women - this collection explores the effect of the development of ARTs, growing globalisation and reproductive medicalization on global societies. Providing an overview of the issues surrounding ART both in the Global South and North, this book analyses ART inequalities, commonalities and specificities in various countries, regions and on the transnational scene. From a multidisciplinary perspective and drawing on multisite studies, it highlights some new issues relating to ART (e.g. egg freezing, surrogacy) and discusses some older issues regarding infertility and its medical treatment (e.g. in vitro fertilisation, childless stigmatisation and access to treatment). This book aims to redress the balance between what is known about Assisted Reproductive Technologies in the Global North, and how the issue is investigated in the Global South. It aims to draw out the global similarities in the challenges that ARTs bring between these different areas of the world. It will appeal to scholars and students in the social sciences, medicine, public health, health policy, women's and gender studies, and demography.

The emergence of what are called `new media' and `social media' is one of the most discussed topics in contemporary societies. Because media and public communication are mostly analyzed within particular theoretical frameworks and within specific disciplinary fields, polarized views have been created with cyberoptimists and celebrants on one side and cyberpessimists and skeptics on the other. Thus we lack an understanding of the interdependencies and convergence between disciplines and practices. The second edition of this book expertly synthesizes competing theories and disciplinary viewpoints and examines the latest data, including international research from fast-growing markets such as China, to provide a comprehensive, holistic view of the twenty-first century media (r)evolution. Dr. Macnamara argues that the key changes are located in practices rather than technologies and that public communication practices are emergent in highly significant ways. Engaging and accessible, this book is essential reading for scholars and professionals in media and communication and an invaluable text for courses in media studies, journalism, advertising, public relations and organisational and political communication.

This book paints a comprehensive portrait of Mexico's system of assisted reproduction first from a historical perspective, then from a more contemporary viewpoint. Based on a detailed analysis of books and articles published between the 1950s and 1980s, the first section tells the story of how the epistemic, normative, and material infrastructure of the assisted reproduction system was built. It traces the professionalization process of assisted reproduction as a medical field and the establishment of its professional association. Drawing on ethnographic material, the second part looks at how this system developed and flourished from the 1980s up to 2010, its commercialization process, how the expansion of reproductive services took place, and the messages regarding reproductive technologies that circulated within a wide discursive landscape. Given its scope and methods, this book will appeal to scholars interested in science and technology studies, reproduction studies, history of medicine, medical anthropology, and sociology.

What if philosophy could solve the psychological puzzle of trauma? Embodied Trauma and Healing argues just that, suggesting that one might be needed in order to understand the other. The book demonstrates how the body-mind problem that haunted Descartes was addressed by phenomenologists, whilst also proposing that the human experience is lived subjectively as embodied consciousness. Throughout this book, the author suggests that the phenomenological tools that are used to explore the body can also be an effective way to discuss the physical and mental aspects of embodied trauma. Drawing on the work of Paul Ricoeur, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Emmanuel Levinas, the book outlines a phenomenological approach to the embodied and relational subject. It offers a reading of embodied trauma that can connect it to wider conversations in psychological underpinnings of trauma through Peter Levine's somatic research and Bessel van der Kolk's embodied remembering. Connecting to the analytic tradition, the book suggests that phenomenology can unify both language-based and body-based therapeutic practice. It also presents a compelling discussion that ties the embodied experience of relation in trauma to the wider causal factors of social suffering and relational rupture, intergenerational trauma and the trauma of land, as informed by phenomenology. Embodied Trauma and Healing is essential reading for researchers within the fields of philosophy, psychology and medical humanities for it actively engages with contemporary configurations of trauma theory and recent research developments in healing and mental disorder diagnosis.

Offers a new perspective on "traditional" Asian medicines Provides original insights into "traditional" Asian pharmaceutical industries Broad-ranging, multidisciplinary and comparative research on Asian medicine in China, India, Japan, Mongolia, and Nepal Relevant to scholars, students, health professionals, and policy makers Includes extensive bibliographies of essential but little-known scholarship on Asian medicines from Asia

This book examines environmental policy-making through research into individuals' reaction to environmental issues. It is often assumed that people are reluctant to contribute to environmental protection, because they do not see it as in their interests. The authors argue that self-interest is just one of a number of motives which affect people's choices, and that voluntary environmental polices are thus more likely to succeed than might be expected. They base their arguments on detailed surveys of public opinion.

This important book outlines how, despite varying levels of global socio-economic development, governments around the world can guarantee their citizens' fundamental right to basic healthcare. Grounded in the philosophical position that healthcare is an essential element to human dignity, the book moves beyond this theoretical principle to offer policy-makers a basis for health policies based on public accountability and social responsiveness. Also emphasizing the importance of global co-operation, particularly in the area of health promotion and communication, it addresses, too, the issue of financial sustainability, suggesting robust mechanisms of economic and social regulation. New opportunities created by e-health, evidence-based data and artificial intelligence are all highlighted and discussed, as is the issue of patient rights. Students and researchers across bioethics, public health and medical sociology will find this book fascinating reading, as will policy-makers in the field.

A Story of a Marriage Through Dementia and Beyond is the extraordinary, unflinching account from sociologist Laurel Richardson of her love and caregiving through the last period of her husband Ernest Lockridge's life - from his transient amnesia to his death from Lewy Body Dementia. Focusing on the lived experience of the caregiver through the loved one's journey from mild cognitive impairment to death, the book gives the reader the experience of what the medical diagnoses mean and what has led up to the loss. It shows the complex, nuanced lives of a couple both living with the worst effects of a disease like Lewy Body Dementia, while maintaining, sometimes with hope and laughter, their loving connection nourished through a 40-year marriage. Dementia is a 'silver tsunami' - the third leading cause of death amongst senior populations. Richardson's beautifully written book gives on-the-ground emotional support to those already in service as caregivers and helps prepare others for such service. Hospices, book clubs, and medical and allied professionals will find this book extraordinarily valuable. Weaving in autoethnographic and sociological methods and scholarship, as well as a list of reading and further resources for caregivers and scholars, this book will also appeal to courses in a wide range of disciplines and fields, including health communication, nursing and allied health, courses covering death and dying, end-of-life, and illness care, and, of course, scholars pursuing autoethnography, creative non-fiction, and qualitative methods.

The origins of jazz were in the barrelhouses of New Orleans and the speakeasies of Chicago. By the nineteen fifties, a musical renaissance transformed jazz into a high art form. Paul Lopes shows how the rise of a jazz art world was a unique movement--a socially diverse community of musicians, critics, collectors, producers, and enthusiasts that struggled in various ways against cultural orthodoxy in America. This accessible, interdisciplinary book will be of great interest to scholars and students of sociology, cultural studies, American studies, African-American studies, and jazz studies.

Strategic Choice Under Uncertainty provides an inside perspective of how multinational corporations dealt with the pressure to withdraw from South Africa in the 1980s. The decision was mired in the uncertainty of weighing the economic and social costs of the disinvestment strategy against the benefits that would come with the restoration of racial equality and democracy in the country. By providing a robust conceptual scaffolding of environmental uncertainty, the book empirically demonstrates how extra-organizational environmental forces can affect strategic choices and, therefore, performance outcomes. Furthermore, the book demonstrates the vulnerability of multinational business operations to repressive host government practices, and the powerlessness of business decision-makers to implement their objectively rational plans under such conditions. It illustrates that the threat and, indeed, the actual execution of large scale corporate withdrawal can be instrumental in spurring social change in such repressive host countries.