This book maps emergent global practices and discourses of mediated, spiritualized social change. Bringing together scholarly perspectives from around the world and across disciplines, the authors explore how 'spiritualities' express themselves through and with media - from television to Internet, from fashion to art murals - as socially transforming voices and practices. The very fluidity of the meaning of spirituality is part of its appeal: it can service as easily as a reference to a perceived common essence of humanness as it can work to legitimate market-based practices. While the involvement of spiritual life with social transformation is certainly not peculiar to contemporary societies, what has changed is the upsurge of media in these matters. In the specific case of religion, globalization has unleashed a cascade of unexpected and unpredictable implications, many of which are consequences of the media. The authors here show ways in which media and spiritualities are engaged around the world in efforts to restructure paradigms, institutions, beliefs and practices to affect social change. >

Exploring the meanings of social deviance and the public reaction to it, this clear and cogent book shows that what qualifies as deviance varies according to place, time and situation. The author demonstrates that deviance cannot be explained in terms of absolutes, nor can it be understood apart from its setting.

Exploring contemporary debates and developments in Roma-related research and forms of activism, this volume argues for taking up reflexivity as practice in these fields, and advocates a necessary renewal of research sites, methods, and epistemologies. The contributors gathered here - whose professional trajectories often lie at the confluence between activism, academia, and policy or development interventions - are exceptionally well placed to reflect on mainstream practices in all these fields, and, from their particular positions, envision a reimagining of these practices.

The Catholic literary revival in America refers both to the impact of the modern resurgence in European Catholic thought and letters upon the American Church between 1920 and 1960, and to efforts by American Catholic educational and literary leaders to induce a similar flowering of Catholic life and culture in their own country. Arnold Sparr examines those areas of Catholic thought and culture that most concerned educated American Catholics, critics, and cultural leaders between 1920 and 1960: the renaissance in Catholic literary, theological, philosophical, and social thought; its application to modern economic, social, and intellectual problems; and the growth and development of the twentieth century Catholic novel. He contends that the movement had both intellectual and organizational aspects. It represented not only an awakening of American Catholics to their modern intellectual and cultural heritage, but a movement by a self-conscious American Catholic cultural community to realize its own share of modern Catholic thinkers, writers, and poets. Sparr maintains that American Catholic intellectual and cultural life between 1920 and 1960 was driven by three forces: to promote the intellectual standing of American Catholicism, to defend the Catholic faith and its adherents from detractors, and to redeem what was seen as a drifting and fragmented secular culture. He divides the book into three sections, each corresponding to separate phases of the American Catholic literary revival. "Organization and Development, 1920-1935" treats the socio-cultural antecedents of the revival and the self-conscious attempts of the revival's early Jesuit leaders to build a Catholic intellectual presencein America. Part two, "Transformation, 1935-1955," addresses the shift in Catholic revivalist thought from the confrontational literary-philosophical postures of the 1920s and early 1930s to more positive understandings of Catholic faith and practice. Finally, "Dissolution, the 1950s and After" chronicles the eclipse of the revival, resulting from a reactivation of the Catholic intellectualism issues, increasing concerns about professionalism within Catholic academia, and liberal Catholic association of the revival with so-called "ghetto culture." Parts one and two conclude with chapters on the American Catholic novel; the search for the Great American Catholic novel, an important element of the revival, provides an organization framework through which to summarize and assess major trends in the larger cultural movement. This new work will interest scholars and students of American Catholicism, the Catholic church in the 20th century, and cultural and religious historians.

There have been famous chefs for centuries. But it was not until the second half of the twentieth century that the modern celebrity chef business really began to flourish, thanks largely to media advances like television which allowed ever greater numbers of people to tune in.

"Food Media" charts the growth of this enormous entertainment industry, and also how, under the threat of the obesity 'epidemic', some of its stars have taken on new authority as social activists, while others continue to provide delicious distractions from a world of potentially unsafe food. The narrative that joins these chapters moves from private to public consumption, and from celebrating food fantasies to fueling anxieties about food realities, with the questionable role of interference in people's everyday food choices gaining ground along the way.

Covering celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver and Rachael Ray, and popular trends like foodies, food porn and fetishism, "Food Media" describes how the intersections between celebrity culture and food media have come to influence how many people think about feeding themselves and their families - and how often that task is complicated when it need not be.

The second great transformation of our society in the modern era has demoted manufacturing to a position that is secondary to the service industries, thus originating today's information society. This volume examines how massive social change over the past few decades has created a new set of winners and losers and what this has done to society. The author rejects the orthodox explanations for the losers' plight--such as job stagnation, income inequality, and an increase in crime and violence--and argues that the main causes of success or failure in today's society are psychosocial. While today's losers lack the character structure and values that would help them adjust to change, the winners--the Chameleons--have acquired a character structure symmetrical with the needs of the new society. This new elite, however, is not immune to anxiety and fear because of the contradictions and impossible demands that characterize what Rosen calls the "Chameleon Complex" and because different factions of the elite constantly fight to control culture and shape the nation's identity. Rosen puts contemporary social change in an historical context, showing that today's turmoil resembles the disturbances that have taken place whenever society has undergone rapid and fundamental social change.

Cyberculture is a particularly complex issue. It is seen as a fantastic meeting point of classic philosophers with postmodern theorists, politicians with community engineers, contemporary sophists with software engineers, and artists with rhetoricians. Today, cyberculture is identified highly with new media and digital rhetoric and could be used to create a comprehensive map of modern culture. Present and Future Paradigms of Cyberculture in the 21st Century is a comprehensive research publication that explores the influence of the internet and internet culture on society as a whole. Highlighting a wide range of topics such as digital media, activism, and psychology, this book is ideal for academicians, researchers, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, and students.

The editors have assembled a collection of original essays offering a holistic view of how technology shapes the modern world. Consideration is given to several major issues, such as the dehumanizing effects of technology, which tends to objectify social life; the emphasis on productivity and the accumulation of material goods; and the intricacies involved in creating a responsible technology that would establish more socially sensitive principles, values, and beliefs. Technology is examined not simply as machinery, but as a procedure that can be used to define every aspect of social existence, and the book demonstrates how to bring about the changes that are necessary to remedy this alienating situation.

Grocery shopping is an often ignored part of the story of how food ultimately gets to our pantry shelves and tables. "A Theory of Grocery Shopping" explores the social organization of grocery shopping by linking the lived experience of grocery shoppers and retail managers in the US with information transmitted by nutritionists, government employees, financial advisors, journalists, health care providers and marketers, who influence the way we think about and perform the work of shopping for a household's food. The author provides insight into the contradictory messages that shape how consumers provision their households, and details how consumers respond to these messages. The book challenges the consumer choice model that places responsibility on the shopper for making the "right" choice at the grocery store, thereby ignoring the larger social forces at work, which determine what products are available and how they get to the shelves.

The concept of ethnic, racial, and gender humor is as sensitive a subject today as it has ever been; and yet at no time in the past have we had such a quantity of this humor circulating throughout society. We can see the power of such content manifested continually in our culture's films and stand-up comedy routines, as well as on popular TV sitcoms, where Jewish, black, Asian, Hispanic, and gay characters and topics have seemingly become essential to comic scenarios. Though such humor is often cruel, it can also be a source of pride and play among minorities, women, and gays. Leon Rappoport's incisive account takes an in-depth look at ethnic, racial, and gender humor, and shows that despite the polarization that is often apparent in the debates such humor evokes, the most important melting pot in this country may be the one that we enter when we share a laugh at ourselves. This timely work displays ethnic, racial, and gender humor in both its aspects: as an aggressive instrument of prejudice and as a powerful defense against it. Rappoport explores the origins and implications of the various slurs, stereotypes, and obscenities that are typical of this double-edged form of modern comedy, as well as the ways in which irony has been employed by minority figures as a weapon against oppression. Broad in scope and lively in style, Rappoport's volume is enhanced by illustrative jokes and comedy routines, and should keep readers engaged, entertained, and provoked throughout.

Along with biological and medical factors, psychological factors must also be considered in health and well being. Stress plays a major role in physical illness, and stress management is therefore critical to establishing good health and well being behavior. William Miley offers a biopsychosocial approach emphasizing the complex interactions between biologoical, psychological, social, and cultural factors. Lifestyles are a fertile ground for psychological intervention to maintain health and well being. This book focuses on contemporary lifestyle patterns offering positive behaviors to initiate and maintain healthy lifestyles and maintain well being.

"... this is a well-written and rich resource". -- School Library Journal review of A Student's Guide to British American Genealogy

This groundbreaking series is the first to explain the "how-to's" of genealogical research in simple, jargon-free language. The Oryx American Family Tree Series explores how to research family history for 12 different ethnic groups. Each volume begins with an overview of the group's historical and cultural background, then guides readers through each step in tracing their own genealogical heritage, with practical advice on how to
-- locate important family documents and other vital sources of information
-- conduct interviews with family members and record eyewitness accounts of key events
-- use the latest electronic research tools
-- research your background if you are adopted or come from a nontraditional family
-- preserve family history for future generations

Each volume is written in a friendly, narrative style and is extensively illustrated with full-color and black-and-white photographs. Hundreds of valuable resources unique to each ethnic group are also listed and annotated, including genealogical organizations, books, magazines, journals, videos, and special libraries and archives.

The Oryx American Family Tree Series provides an easy-to-follow road map for anyone interested in tracing a family history -- from junior high and high school students to adults who require a basic primer. Every library will want to make this practical, highly readable series available to its patrons.

Each volume is produced as a sturdy 6 x 9 casebound publication, 192 pages, and printed on acid-free paper.

In recent years, a number of books devoted to a behavior analytic approach to cultural practices have appeared, and this book falls within that domain. At the same time, however, this book is unique in that it minimizes the space devoted to abstract discussion of behavior analytic concepts and principles. Instead, the authors focus exclusively upon particular cultural practices, which are disparate and drawn from three countries, ranging from public health practices to historical utopian communities to various practices of visual artists, art dealers, and gallery owners. In addition, cultural practices regarding women and the changing Japanese society's effect on Japanese women's behavior are considered. Changes in policies aimed at increasing the birth rate in Quebec are analyzed in behavior analytic terms. The wide range of cultural practices addressed by this book are given coherence by the fact that all are addressed by the various authors in terms of behavior analytic concepts and principles. This book is further confirmation of the fact, unappreciated by some, that a behavior analytic approach can address practices that consist of the behaviors of large numbers of people. The authors demonstrate that the behavior analytic approach is not culture-bound. Rather, they show that behavior analytic concepts and principles can illuminate human practices in any culture.

Does religion encourage altruism on behalf of those who do not belong? Are the very religious more likely to be altruistic toward outsiders than those who are less religious? In this book Pearl M. Oliner examines data on Christian rescuers and nonrescuers of Jews during the Holocaust to shed light on these important questions.

Drawing on interviews with more than five hundred Christians--Protestant and Catholic, very religious, irreligious, and moderately religious rescuers and nonrescuers living in Nazi-occupied Europe, Oliner offers a sociological perspective on the values and attitudes that distinguished each group. She presents several case studies of rescuers and nonrescuers within each group and then interprets the individual's behavior as it relates to his or her group. She finds that the value patterns of the religious groups differ significantly from one another, and she is able to highlight those factors that appear to have contributed most toward rescue within each group.

A vivid rendering of the educational, social, and physical environment of two elementary schools in contrasting socioeconomic settings, this book calls attention to the importance of place in human lives and learning. The author draws from systematic observations conducted over a three-year period, presenting the schools and the persons who inhabit them via a fictionalized narrative. This treatment allows readers to understand how the material conditions of poverty and wealth inform children's worldview without compromising the identity of the study participants. Written by an eminent African-American professor of architecture and urban planning who is an outspoken advocate for social justice, this book is a rare gem.

This challenging and insightful work wrestles with the difficult treatment problems confronting both culturally and socially oppressed clients and psychotherapists in a society where diversity has often been resisted. The authors question long-held assumptions within the profession and urge recognition of new ethnic, racial, and gender realities which significantly impact therapies. Recognizing the implications of cultural diversity in the society, the authors-clinicians seek to broaden health professionals' awareness of clients' needs and to promote the requisite empathy. They describe how ethnic, racial, and gender issues affect psychotherapy's progress and outcomes. Specific concerns about such key factors as self-esteem, gender roles, and social regard are addressed in a context supportive of diversity enhancement rather than one seeking uniformity. Case studies offer highly valuable resource material and, through the authors' explication, insights into their challenging perspectives on this highly important health service.

The Chinese triangle of mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan constitutes one of the most dynamic regions in the world economy. Since the late 1970s, these three societies have experienced increasing economic integration; however, studies aimed at analyzing and explaining this integration have often overlooked the very important role social institutions have played in the shaping of this process. To fill this gap, this book adopts a systematic institutional approach designed to examine the different patterns of institutions in the three countries and to discuss how such social institutions as the economy, gender, social networks, and the Chinese diaspora have exerted a profound impact on all three societies. The chapters, taken together, argue that different patterns of institutional configuration have led to divergent paths of development, and that this divergence will have significant implications on the prospects for Chinese national reunification in the twenty-first century.

The Introductory chapter provides a historical discussion on the origins and the transformation of the Chinese triangle during the second half of the twentieth century. The remainder of the volume is broken into four topics considered crucial for understanding the transformation of the Chinese triangle: economic transformation, gender, social networks, and the Chinese diaspora. As globalization impacts the Chinese triangle, studies that consider the issues from the perspective of social institutions will be increasingly important to understanding the area as it develops in the world economy.

The chapters in this volume have been written by authors whose research work emphasizes the aggression-eliciting characteristics of people and other animals, the traits that make them targets of aggressive behavior. The clear focus of the book is on aggression by humans, although some of the authors may refer to data from other species. Chapters include aggression and violence towards other species, sexual minorities, psychiatric workers, school children, athletes, women, and drivers on highways. There are additional targets of aggressive behavior which have not been included because they are not emphasised in the research literature of psychology. Since the major concern of psychological science is with the behavior of individuals rather than groups, topics such as racial violence, warfare, and political violence have been specifically excluded.

The Internet may now be the most powerful, single source of information in the world, and with an estimated 200 million computers in homes by 2000, the ability to send and receive virtually any type of data will be almost infinite. Unfortunately, besides fascinating educational information the Internet is also crammed with pornography and other material inappropriate for children. Parents need advice on how to place controls over their kids' access to adult websites and to protect them from the bad influences and the criminal elements thriving on the net.This is an easy-to-follow, often humorous book that trains parents not only to beware of the dangers on the Internet but also how to gain control of their child's access to Web sites, chat rooms, homepages, e-mail, and more. Drawing on many years of personal experience as a top-ten Internet service provider (ISP), and as a loving parent, author Robert Maynard provides a lucid approach to safe computer literacy for children and parents. Filled with tips and techniques to help parents monitor their kids' online activities, this is the best and most accessible guide to safe surfing in cyberspace. Help your children enter the age of technology prepared and protected!

An intriguing exploration of the emotional relationship between historically significant leaders and their followers. In this wide-ranging historical exploration of transformational leadership, Popper examines why followers are influenced by leaders and what psychological dynamics exist between leaders and their subordinates, and, in the process, redefines the phenomenon of leadership. Exploring the emotional connections that bind charismatic leaders and those who support them, he contends that this multifaceted relationship is based on reciprocal need. By focusing on prominent figures throughout history who have altered the lives of their followers in profound ways, Popper shows how these leaders reinvented and disseminated value systems, for good (e.g., Nelson Mandela) and for ill (e.g., Hitler). Whether the influence of a charismatic leader is destructive and negative or constructive and positively transformative, this intriguing work argues that the reciprocal process that takes place between leader and follower is surprisingly similar. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Hitler, Charles Manson, and Jim Jones, Popper defines and explores three types of leader-follower relationships: regressive relationships, which are characterized by mutual dependence; symbolic relationships, which are rooted in symbolic meaning; and developmental-transformational relationships, which permit positive moral and emotional development. The author has written widely on leadership issues. Surveys a range of leaders, whose influence was beneficial or malign.

Every society must find a way to resolve the tension between individual interests and the common good. Today, poorer nations bear the added burden of sagging economics and colossal debt, hardly a sound basis for sustaining a semblance of civil rights or social justice. Cuba stands apart, as a small and poor country, which nevertheless has established standards of access to education, health care and housing that are among the highest in the world. An understanding of the legal system that has fostered and continues to protect this singular achievement offers inarguably important lessons for the global legal and policy-making community. Debra Evenson's eloquent analysis of Cuban law and society first appeared in 1994, and remains the only detailed, first-hand treatment of the subject. This thoroughly revised second edition incorporates the many changes that have taken place in Cuba during the last decade. The author finds a regime still unalterably committed to preserving fundamental principles of socialism, even as it struggles against enormous odds to maintain a secure place in the global economy. As it analyzes the substantive and procedural issues of the various fields of law, judicial administration and legal practice, Law and Society in Contemporary Cuba explores at every turn the ongoing "reinvention" of socialism that Cuba has chosen to pursue. Cuba's commitment to a sustainable socialist economy in the prevailing market-driven global context colors the numerous recent reforms that introduce decentralized decision making and management at local and enterprise levels. The author explains the effects of de-subsidization of state enterprises on legal issues arising inlabor-management relations, banking, and taxation, and describes new "private" initiatives such as expanded areas of foreign investment, individual ownership of farms, and increased self-employment incentives. Other fields of law covered include criminal justice, family law, environmental regulation, intellectual property, and judicial procedure. Ms. Evenson does not turn a blind eye to the undeniable limitations on freedom of expression and political association imposed by Cuban law. However, her analysis also reveals the express and persistent U.S. hostility and efforts to undermine the current government that have a direct impact upon reducing the political and legal space for spontaneous debate inside Cuba. In doing so, she does readers an additional service by allowing us to reflect on the outcomes of one of Washington's most consistent foreign policy directions over the past four decades. By illuminating the relationship between law and social policy in a system striving to guarantee basic social rights, racial and gender equality and equitable distribution of wealth, this book is a major contribution to legal theory and invites re-examination of the appropriate balance between social justice and individual autonomy as perceived by the dominant legal culture.

Cafes and coffee shops have become core venues in the urban landscape, places to be social, chat with friends or colleagues, take a break or relax, or work in companionable solitude. In this edited volume, researchers from a range of social sciences and countries examine the practices, histories, and meanings of cafes, thus contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the contemporary cafe. The essays that make up this text are as heterogeneous as they are complementary; they are at once a synthesis of what we know and an invitation to investigate further the concept of a 'cafe society'.