Confronting the issue of the unacceptable as a social category, this collection of international essays provides distinctive perspectives on the theme of what is deemed socially acceptable. The book reveals the ways category of the unacceptable reflects sexual, racial and political fault-lines of a society.

Death is an element at the center of all religious imagination. Analysts from Freud to Agamben have pondered religion's fascination with death, and religious art is saturated with images of suffering unto death. As this volume shows, religious fascination with death extends to the notion of elective death, its circumstances, the virtue of those who perform it, and how best to commemorate it. The essays in Martyrdom, Self-Sacrifice, and Self-Immolation address the legendary foundations for those elective deaths which can be categorized as religiously sanctioned suicides. Broadly condemned as cowardice across the world's moral codes, suicide under certain circumstances-such as martyrdom, self-sacrifice, or self-immolation-carries a dynamic importance in religious legends, some tragic and others uplifting. Believers respond to such legends presumably because choosing death is seen as heroic and redemptive for the individuals who die, for their communities, or for humanity. Envisioning suicide as virtuous clashes with popular conceptions of suicide as weak, immoral, and even criminal, but that is precisely the point. This volume offers analyses from renowned scholars with the literary tools and historical insights to investigate the delicate issue of religiously sanctioned elective death.

For decades F. H. Cardoso has been among the most influential of Latin American scholars, his writings on globalization, dependency, and politics having reached a world-wide audience. This book, the third by Cardoso to appear in English, is the first to incorporate essays written during his tenure as president of Brazil. The transformation of Cardoso's economic and political approach is nowhere better documented than in this broad-ranging collection of writings that span Cardoso's early theoretical work through his pragmatic agenda for Brazil in a rapidly changing world economy. The book also traces the development of one of the world's leading intellectuals, who took theory into the arena of policy when he became head of state.

Agent-based modelling on a computer appears to have a special role to play in the development of social science. It offers a means of discovering general and applicable social theory, and grounding it in precise assumptions and derivations, whilst addressing those elements of individual cognition that are central to human society. However, there are important questions to be asked and difficulties to overcome in achieving this potential. What differentiates agent-based modelling from traditional computer modelling? Which model types should be used under which circumstances? If it is appropriate to use a complex model, how can it be validated? Is social simulation research to adopt a realist epistemology, or can it operate within a social constructionist framework? What are the sociological concepts of norms and norm processing that could either be used for planned implementation or for identifying equivalents of social norms among co-operative agents? Can sustainability be achieved more easily in a hierarchical agent society than in a society of isolated agents? What examples are there of hybrid forms of interaction between humans and artificial agents? These are some of the sociological questions that are addressed.

This volume of "Studies in Law, Politics, and Society" presents a diverse array of articles by an interdisciplinary group of scholars. Their work spans the social sciences, humanities, and the law. Those scholars examine the nature of family and the intersection of family and law, the way contexts shape legal actors, and the nature of rights and resistance. The articles published here exemplify the exciting and innovative work now being done in interdisciplinary legal scholarship.

The most important collection of essays on American Women's History This collection incorporates the most influential and groundbreaking scholarship in the area of American women's history, featuring twenty-three original essays on critical themes and topics. It assesses the past thirty years of scholarship, capturing the ways that women's historians confront issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality. This second edition updates essays related to Indigenous women, slavery, the American Revolution, Civil War, the West, activism, labor, popular culture, civil rights, and feminism. It also includes a discussion of laws, capitalism, gender identity and transgender experience, welfare, reproductive politics, oral history, as well as an exploration of the perspectives of free Blacks and migrants and refugees. Spanning from the 15th through the 21st centuries, chapters show how historians of women, gender, and sexuality have challenged established chronologies and advanced new understandings of America's political, economic, intellectual and social history. This edition also features a new essay on the history of women's suffrage to coincide with the 100th anniversary of passage of the 19th Amendment, as well as a new article that carries issues of women, gender and sexuality into the 21st century. Includes twenty-three original essays by leading scholars in American women's, gender and sexuality history Highlights the most recent scholarship on the key debates and future directions of this popular and contemporary field Substantially updates the first edition with new authors and topics that represent the expanding fields of women, gender, and sexuality Engages issues of race, ethnicity, region, and class as they shape and are shaped by women's and gender history Covers the breadth of American Women's history, including Native women, colonial law and religion, slavery and freedom, women's activism, work and welfare, culture and capitalism, the state, feminism, digital and oral history, and more A Companion to American Women's History, Second Edition is an ideal book for advanced undergraduates and graduate students studying American/U.S. women's history, history of gender and sexuality, and African American women's history. It will also appeal to scholars of these areas at all levels, as well as public historians working in museums, archives, and historic sites.

The Russian school system should have an important role to play in the process of democratization and the revival and modernization of the economy in that country. Is it in a position to respond to this task? In this book an analysis is conducted of the attempts to reform the Russian school system in the 1990s, setting the progress made and problems encountered by the schools against the broader context of political, economical and social flux in Russia as a whole.

Drawing on elements of progressive education, existential theory, feminist pedagogy, and values education, critical humanism combines the holistic-psychological concerns of humanistic education with the sociopolitical contextualization of critical pedagogy. Developed over the past seventeen years in one of North America's most experimental postsecondary programs, The New School of Dawson College, this theory and practice responds to both the personal and the political needs of students. Reconstructing Education is at once a review of this century's educational theories, an account of the work at the school, and an empowering illustration of the way in which schools can incite the motivation of students and encourage them to become active members in a truly democratic society.

The case study chapters on The New School give concrete examples of how this philosophy is manifested in the school's methodology, structure, and pedagogy and draws heavily on the written work of teachers and students. To formulate a similar approach for a specific school, it is essential to combine a rigorous analysis of existing educational models with the dialectical process of creating and recreating a new model defined by the articulation of both learners' and teachers' affective, cognitive, and socially constructed needs. This is a valuable book for anyone concerned with alternative approaches to education and for courses on educational theory or the philosophy of education.

The issues that these authors address in this book are some of the most salient in American society. It is imperative that Americans today address these issues and establish an appropriate world view. There is little question that how people resolve these issues will have a long-lasting impact on the future of civilization.

This book investigates the history of writing as a cultural practice in a variety of contexts and periods. It analyses the rituals and practices determining intimate or 'ordinary' writing as well as bureaucratic and religious writing. From the inscribed images of 'pre-literate' societies, to the democratization of writing in the modern era, access to writing technology and its public and private uses are examined. In ten studies, presented by leading historians of scribal culture from seven countries, the book investigates the uses of writing in non-alphabetical as well as alphabetical script, in societies ranging from Native America and ancient Korea to modern Europe. The authors emphasise the material characteristics of writing, and in so doing they pose questions about the definition of writing itself. Drawing on expertise in various disciplines, they give an up-to-date account of the current state of knowledge in a field at the forefront of 'Book History'.

The impetus for this book derives from the unusually high percentage of minority students generlly, and Native American students specifically, who do not complete a collegiate degree. Of all ethnic groups in the U.S., Indian students experience the most difficulty in obtaining a degree. A host of strategies and policies have been implemented by well-meaning administrators to decrease attrition, yet these ideas have often failed to make any significant difference in whether Indian students graduate. This volume is the result of a two-year study of Native American undergraduate students. It offers suggestions based on longitudinal data for empowering Native American and minority students at the organizational, curricular and classroom levels. By employing a critical framework, the book extends our thinking about minorities in academia, and provides insight into the pitfalls that occur with liberal solutions for retention and recruitment strategies.

Reputation In Artificial Societies discusses the role of reputation in the achievement of social order. The book proposes that reputation is an agent property that results from transmission of beliefs about how the agents are evaluated with regard to a socially desirable conduct. This desirable conduct represents one or another of the solutions to the problem of social order and may consist of cooperation or altruism, reciprocity, or norm obedience.
Reputation In Artificial Societies distinguishes between image (direct evaluation of others) and reputation (propagating meta-belief, indirectly acquired) and investigates their effects with regard to both natural and electronic societies. The interplay between image and reputation, the processes leading to them and the set of decisions that agents make on their basis are demonstrated with supporting data from agent-based simulations.

Taking a unique qualitative approach to studying Russian political culture, this book presents an in-depth analysis of the attitudes and activities of residents in two provincial capitals, Syktyvkar and Kirov. It shows evidence of underlying democracy in popular opinions. It also finds an authoritarian side that is being strengthened by the ongoing crisis of Russia's transition. In entering a controversial subject area, the author directs a critical eye toward the contemporary research on Russian political culture.

The Handbook of Organizational Politics offers a broad perspective on the intriguing phenomena of power, influence and politics in the modern workplace; their meaning for individuals, groups and other organizational stakeholders; and their effect on organizational outcomes and performances. Comprising entirely of new chapters and insights, this second edition revisits the theory on organizational politics (OP) and examines its progress and changes in emphasis in recent years. This timely and informative book provides a comprehensive set of state-of-the-art studies on workplace politics based on experiences from around the world. The contributors highlight topics such as political skills, political will, politics and leadership, compensations, politics and performance, and politics and the learning climate. Students and scholars will benefit from the up-to-date collection of studies in the field of OP. This Handbook will also be of interest to practitioners and managers from public and private sectors looking for better explanations of internal processes in business. Contributors: S.L. Albrecht, G. Blickle, S.L. Bohle, D.A. Buchanan, M.R. Buckley, A. Capezio, A.M. Carnes, A. Drory, A.J. DuBrin, L. Eldor, B.P. Ellen III, G.R. Ferris, R. Frieder, J.N. Harris, S.E. Hill, J.D. Jacobs, I. Kapoutsis, E.M. Landells, L.P. Maher, G. Meisler, J.P. Meriac, M. Mizrahi, T.P. Munyon, K. Oerder, G.B. Schmidt, N. Schutte, H. Sibunruang, A.L.E. Thomas, D.R. Vashdi, E. Vigoda-Gadot, A. Wihler, D. Windsor

Facing the challenges of globalization and ecology, the standards for economic, social and environmental performance of companies are becoming more demanding. This book shows what sustainable development means for the business community and presents best practice approaches in environmental management from Japan, the USA, Brazil and seven European countries. The book stresses that international competitiveness depends on the effective use of innovative management tools and has to be supported by an intelligent system of environmental regulation, that is, promoting innovation and eco-efficiency. Experts with many years of practical experience share their know-how on how to achieve excellency in environmental performance and present concrete steps towards a sustainable company.

ICT-D refers to the trend in development thinking and practice that considers deployment of new technologies like computers, mobile phones and Internet, which are important for spurring economic growth, enabling good governance and facilitating human development. In this context, telecentres have emerged as an immensely popular strategy for providing shared and mediated access to ICTs. The rapid proliferation of telecentres in rural India during the last decade was driven by multiple agencies, each with their own purpose, priorities and pre-designed set of services. This volume juxtaposes the global discourse on ICT-D and telecentres with in-depth empirical case studies on the pattern of access and use of telecenters in rural India to draw implications for policy and practice.
It suggest that access and use of telecentres and their services are mediated by the multiple contexts in which they are embedded. While they provide opportunities for people to interact with new technologies, their impact has been mainly in terms of convenience provided by some of the services vis-a-vis existing alternate channels. Particular telecentre models have brought about some change, but this is only when there was a match between the services provided and the local demand for particular information and services. The delivery structure services in terms of user fee, need for reading and computing skills, and linkages with existing institutional context have further shaped access and use.
The efficacy of telecentres in generating new jobs in rural areas, increasing efficiency and reach of e-Governance and other basic services, enhancing livelihoods and the well-being of the people, and overcoming the rural-urban divide has been limited.

This book raises questions about the changing relationships between technology, people and health. It examines the accelerating pace of technological development and a general shift to personalized, patient-led medicine. Such relationships are increasingly mediated through particular medical technologies, drawn together by the authors as 'personal medical devices' (PMDs) - devices that are attached to, worn by, interacted with, or carried by individuals for the purposes of generating biomedical data and carrying out medical interventions on the person concerned. The burgeoning PMD field is advancing rapidly across multiple domains and disciplines - so rapidly that conceptual and empirical research and thinking around PMDs, and their clinical, social and philosophical implications, often lag behind new technical developments and medical interventions. This timely and original volume explores the significant and under-researched impact of personal medical devices on contemporary understandings of health and illness. It will be a valuable read for scholars and practitioners of medicine, health, science and technology and social science.

"Bridging the Digital Divide" investigates problems of unequal access to information technology. The author redefines this problem, examines its severity, and lays out what the future implications might be if the digital divide continues to exist. This is also the first book to assess empirically the policies in the United States designed to address the social problems arising from the digital divide. It analyzes policies at both federal and local level, as well as looking at the success of community-based initiatives. The analysis is supported by empirical data resulting from extensive fieldwork in several US cities. The book concludes with the author's recommendations for future public policy on the digital divide.

This book provides a critical interpretation of the construction of Irish national identity in the longer perspective of history. Drawing on recent sociological theory, the authors demonstrate how national identity was invented and codified by a nationalist intelligentsia in the late nineteenth century. The trajectory of this national identity is traced as a process of crisis and contradiction. One of the central arguments is that the negative implications of Irish national identity have never been fully explored by social science.

Ben Light puts forward an alternative way of thinking about how we engage with social networking sites. He analyses our engagements social networking sites in public, at work, in our personal lives and as related to our health and wellbeing, emphasizing the importance of disconnection instead of connection.

This book develops a philosophical and logical interpretation of the concept of information within the formal structure of Constructive Type Theory (CTT), in a manner concurrent with a diverse range of contemporary perspectives on the philosophy of information. It presents a newly formulated and conceptually developed presentation of the Problem of Analyticity, and a new interesting perspective on the constructive interpretation of knowledge processes.

As the last presumptive founder of American sociology, Edward Alsworth Ross (1866u1951) was the first to secure its place in public discourse. Originally an economist who strongly criticized monopolies, Ross sought answers to the larger social issues of his day. His theory of social control helped to unify sociology into an independent discipline and elevate social research into an academic necessity. He implored sociologists to explain those social forces that unified people into sustainable groups. This first full analysis of Ross's intellectual legacy uses new sources to explore more broadly the scope of his influence. Throughout his career, Ross remained a controversial figure. Strong critiques of monopolies and immigration led to his dismissal from Stanford in 1900 in a landmark academic freedom case. Never satisfied with qualitative research, Ross traveled the world in search of social changes which he reported back to the American public. A 1910 trip to China yielded profound conclusions on the American economy and on the status of women. As one of the first observers of revolutionary Russia, Ross emerged at once critical of socialism and confident in the American system. Moreover, his articles reached a wide audience to demonstrate the usefulness and scope of American sociology. As Ross gained public favor, however, his academic reputation waned. By the 1920s he was left in the wake of quantitative scholarship. His concept of social control continued to engage academic theorists while new applications emerged in industrial management. After his death, scholars have debated new meanings of social control even as the disciplines of history and sociology have fragmented. In offering this examination of Ross's thought, McMahon draws on new primary materials, including interviews, to recreate the controversies that surrounded his career. The depths of his pursuits have never been so fully explored, and this new look at Ross places him among the giants of American intellectual life. "Social Control and Public Intellect" will be of interest to sociologists, historians, and American studies specialists.

Volume 15 offers a series of critical articles and commentaries by some of the leading historically-oriented social scientists writing in academia today. Collectively, the articles examine issues ranging from the relations between class, power and history, to the role of states and culture in mediating those dynamics. Special attention is paid to race, gender, citizenship and civil society in the formation of such structures and processes. The countries or regions under study include the United States, Brazil, Chile, China, Mexico, Samoa and Southwest Africa.In keeping with the journal's commitment to inter-disciplinary, as well as historical inquiry, our nine contributors come from a variety of disciplines (sociology, political science, anthropology and history), all drawing on debates and themes that cut across the social sciences. The significance of the inter-disciplinary perspective is seen not only in the range of cases, literatures and methodologies brought to bear on the key issues under study; it also forms the substantive core of several contributions that call for a rethinking of conventional disciplinary boundaries and methodological frames.

This volume brings together contributions that resemble spotlights thrown on the past twenty-five years of science and technology studies. It covers a broad range: history of science; science and politics; science and contemporary democracy; science and the public; science and the constitution; science and metaphors; and science and modernity and provides a critical overview of how the field of science and technology studies has emerged and developed.