Focusing on service-providing organizations established by health and human service professionals in post-Communist Poland, this book adds a new dimension to the sociological study of voluntary organizations. The author investigates the motives and interests of the people who establish these organizations and the connections among organizational forms, the social organizations of production, and the occupational interests of professional service providers.

After the collapse of communism, many states are faced with the challenges of democratization; they need to establish their legitimacy in an uncertain economic climate and within a geopolitical order. This book brings Max Weber's sociology to bear on this transformation of the political landscape. The essays in this volume develop Weberian concepts and apply his comparative-historical method with the aim of deepening our understanding of these problems. They cover a wide range of examples, from the United States to Western and Eastern Europe, and from Russia and Japan to the Islamic states.

The Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are thriving after hundreds of years of German colonization, numerous wars of conquest, and demographic Russification. Their cultures have survived, perhaps through a conscious effort to sustain many of their most ancient customs and traditions. Though the Baltic States are responding to modern and postmodern international trends, contemporary developments in the region's cultural life are part of an ongoing conversation about the way in which the Balts understand their histories, destinies, and national identities. This timely overview of the reemerging states portrays the Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians as they see themselves-through a historical lens. The Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are thriving after hundreds of years of German colonization, numerous wars of conquest, and demographic Russification. Their cultures have survived, perhaps through a conscious effort to sustain many of their most ancient customs and traditions. Though the Baltic States are responding to modern and postmodern international trends, contemporary developments in the region's cultural life are part of an ongoing conversation about the way in which the Balts understand their own histories, destines, and national identities. This timely overview of the reemerging states portrays the Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians as they see themselves-through a historical lens. The approach in each of the topical chapters is to generalize what is common among the three states and then to focus on each country in turn. Chapters on the land, people, and history; religion; marriage, family, gender, and education; holidays, cuisine, and leisure activities; language, folklore, and literature; media and cinema; performing arts; and art are a superb introduction to the Baltics and to the unique aspects of the countries. Lithuania's culture has been heavily influenced by Poland, and the capital, Vilnius, was a thriving center of Jewish learning until the Nazi years. Latvia is the most ethnically diverse and Russian-influenced. Estonia sees itself as a European country, indeed, Scandinavian.

Very little has been written to address the emerging trends in social software and technology. With these technologies and applications being relatively new and evolving rapidly, research is wide open in these fields. Social Software and Web 2.0 Technology Trends fills this critical research need, providing an overview of the current state of Web 2.0 technologies and their impact on organizations and educational institutions. Written for academicians and practicing managers, this estimable book presents business applications as well as implementations for institutions of higher education with numerous examples of how these technologies are currently being used. Delivering authoritative insights to a rapidly evolving domain of technology application, this book is an invaluable resource for both academic libraries and for classroom instruction.

Inheritance and Wealth in America is a superb collection of original essays, written in nontechnical language by experts in sociology, economics, anthropology, history, law, and other disciplines. Notable chapters provide - an outstanding interpretative history of inheritance in American legal thought - a critical review of the literature on the economics of inheritance at the household and societal levels - a superb history of Federal taxation of wealth transfers, and - a sociological examination of inheritance and its role in class reproduction and stratification. This groundbreaking work is of value to any researcher dealing with the transmission of wealth and privilege across generations.

Using literacy practices in the newly independent post-apartheid Namibia as a lens through which to examine the effects of globalisation, this broad case study looks at issues surrounding tourism, state control and the new forces of consumerism. By placing literacy at the centre of an investigation into social and cultural change as experienced by individuals, Papen shows that in times of change, reading and writing are always implicated in structures of power and inequality. The book considers language practices that can exclude some members of Namibian society and also looks at the strategies used by local people to accommodate and even embrace the onward march of global English and the influx of foreign visitors, practices and modes of commerce and interaction.

practice, some of which is translated into the standard forms of public discourse, in publication, and then retranslated by readers and adapted again to local practice at self-selected other sites. Less may be left implicit, and additional personal and contextual information is carried, by the "informal" methods of communication which mediate local projects and international publication. But both methods of communication are screens as well as conduits of information. History and Background of the Volume When the planning of this volume began in the spring of 1977, it seemed a natural part of the mandate for the Yearbook. There had also been a number of more specific calls for deeper studies of research in social and historical context (3). These calls can be seen as giving permission and legitimacy to ask questions otherwise seen as irrelevant, or even disrespectful, and as attempts to develop new perspectives from which to ask and to answer them. The implied and expressed irreverence toward traditions and institutions of great respect may have prolonged this process of initial apologetics. In any case, in May 1977 the theme of 'The Social Process of Scientific Investigation' was proposed to the Editorial Board for Volume IV as "the heart of the subject. " That is, the ethnographic and detailed historical study of actual scientific activity and thinking at or close to the work site.

In myriad ways, humans have gradually tailored their world to meet immediate material needs. In so doing, we have, in the minds of many, systematically altered a formerly hospitable environment into one more ambiguous in its effect on the human organism. Just as environments have adapted in response to human activity, so too is the human body now, in turn, forced to adapt to these altered conditions. Today, mysterious illnesses, from chronic fatigue to Gulf War Syndrome, meet us at every turn. Yet even as an increasing number of people attribute ailments to environmental problems, the suspected relationships between illness and environment remain unclear.

Illness and the Environment examines how sick people and their allies struggle to achieve public recognition of somatic complaints and disabilities that they contend are related to "manufactured environments." The first of its kind, the anthology considers the political, legal, and medical conflicts arising from these illnesses, and will prove invaluable to researchers, scholars, public policy makers, trial attorneys, and activist organizations.

This book examines the process of political and social reform that Colombia has experienced in the past decade. As the relationship between the state, the economy and the society are redefined in Latin America, Colombia has also undergone substantial transformations. This story offers a Colombian dimension to the increasing interest in processes of state reform elsewhere. The approach is interdisciplinary and will be of interest to political scientists, economists, sociologists, geographers and historians.

"Civil Society" has been experiencing a global renaissance among social movements and political thinkers during the last two decades. This collection of original papers by junior and senior scholars offers an important comparative-historical dimension to the debate by examining the historical roots of civil society in Germany and Britain from the seventeenth-century revolutions to the beginning of the welfare state.

Pain research is still dominated by biomedical perspectives and the need to articulate pain in ways other than those offered by evidence based medical models is pressing. Examining closely subjective experiences of pain, this book explores the way in which pain is situated, communicated and formed in a larger cultural and social context. Dimensions of Pain explores the lived experience of pain, and questions of identity and pain, from a range of different disciplinary perspectives within the humanities and social sciences. Discussing the acuity and temporality of pain, its isolating impact, the embodied expression of pain, pain and sexuality, gender and ethnicity, it also includes a cluster of three chapters discusses the phenomenon and experience of labour pains. This volume revitalizes the study of pain, offering productive ways of carefully thinking through its different aspects and exploring the positive and enriching side of world-forming pain as well as its limiting aspects. It will be of interest to academics and students interested in pain from a range of backgrounds, including philosophy, sociology, nursing, midwifery, medicine and gender studies.

"Taken as a whole, the collection provides a useful grounding in contemporary Durkheimian studies." . CHOICE
There has been a growing interest in Durkheim, founding father of sociology, since the 1970s. This volume takes a look at the current stage of Durkheimian studies, pointing out paths scholars are now following as they examine the various themes of study that Durkheim opened up to the academic world. They clearly demonstrate the continuing importance of Durkheim's works and the benefits to be derived from re-reading them in the light of contemporary social developments.
W. S. F. Pickering is a retired Lecturer in sociology from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1991, he helped to found the British Centre for Durkheimian Studies in the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford."

Despite a substantial legacy of literature on EU interest representation, there is no systematic analysis available on whether a European model of interest representation in EU governance is detectable across functional, and territorial, categories of actors. 'Functional' actors include associations for business interests, the professions, and trade unions, as well as 'NGOs' and social movements; territorial based entities include public actors (such as regional and local government), as well as actors primarily organised at territorial level. What are the similarities and differences between territorial, and functional, based entities, and are the similarities greater than the differences? Are the differences sufficient to justify the use of different analytical tools? Are the differences within these categories more significant than those across them? Is there a 'professionalised European lobbying class' across all actor types? Does national embeddedness make a difference? Which factors explain the success of actors to participate in European governance? This book was originally published as special issue of Journal of European Integration.

Bridging the gap between historical theory and the study of historical memory, this series crosses the boundaries between both academic disciplines and cultural, social, political and historical contexts. In an age of rapid globalization, which tends to manifest itself on an economic and political level, locating the cultural practices involved in generating its underlying historical sense is an increasingly urgent task. Identity has become a core concept of the social and cultural sciences. Bringing together perspectives from sociology, anthropology, psychology, history, and literary criticism, this book offers a comprehensive and critical overview on how this concept is currently used and how it relates to memory and constructions of historical theory."

The multiple impact of the May 1968 events in France is here reviewed and analysed, initially through a narrative account of the events themselves and then through a systematic survey of the various manners in which they have been interpreted and reproduced in France. This covers successively political, social/sociological, and cultural texts - first-hand accounts along with works by political activists and academic social scientists - before moving to a consideration of fictional works (novels and feature films) dealing with or set during the events.

Northern Ireland is frequently characterized in terms of a "two traditions" paradigm, representing the conflict as being between two discrete cultures. Proceeding from an analysis of the historical and religious context, this study demonstrates the reductionist nature of the "two traditions" model, highlighting instead the complexity of ethnic identities and cultural traditions. It thus shows why attempts at reconciliation like the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, which seeks to promote the concept of a "parity of esteem" based on this identity model., are fraught with difficulties. Reflecting on the applicability of the concept of multiculturalism in the context of Northern Ireland, the author proposes a re-conceptualisation of Northern Irish culture along lines that steer clear of binary oppositions. From the Contents: 'Webs of Significance'; Dis-membering the Past; Divided by Common Cosmologies; A Discourse in Difference; The Process if 'Cruthinitude'; Un Unclaimed Tradition; Ethnic Nationality; The 'Fuzzy Frontier'; The 'Common Ground'

While sociological modernists were outrageously presumptious in their claims for sociological knowledge, postmodernists have gone to another extreme in claiming that it has no more truth status than fiction. Critical of both positions, Sociological Reasoning develops an original typology of approaches to social scientific theory and research which is distinguished by its openness and reflexive awareness of rhetorical and methodological aspects of knowledge claims. Laced with graphic illustrative examples, this is a strikingly well-written text that will appeal to students at undergraduate level and beyond.

In this original text/reference, Bela H. Banathy discusses a broad range of design approaches, models, methods, and tools, together with the theoretical and philosophical bases of social systems design. he explores the existing knowledge bases of systems design; introduces and integrates concepts from other fields that contribute to design thinking and practice; and thoroughly explains how competence in social systems design empowers people to direct their progress and create a truly participative democracy. Based on advanced learning theory and practice, the text's material is enhanced by helpful diagrams that illustrate novel concepts and problem sets that allow readers to apply these concepts.

Heretical thoughts in an orthodox series on sociology of the sciences? Devils and science between the covers of one book? Games with ambivalence to mask collective uncertainty? We anticipate similar future reactions from readers or reviewers when assessing the way in which this volume has been assembled. But writings on counter-science, like the history of colonialism, are usually written by the winners, therefore unequivocally partial and only too often lacking in social imagination. In seeking to redress the balance, we admit to having been fully receptive to the latter, of having displayed an un measured degree of sympathy with heretics and outsiders, including practising scientists, and to letting science defend itself. The antithetical relationship implied in the volume's title - Counter-movements in the Sciences - stands for what we regard as an ongoing, open-ended process. In collecting material for this volume, we have brought together voices speaking from different quarters: there are those who, although modestly claiming to speak only for them selves, have set out to question sacred assumptions of scientific faith or to cast doubt on well-known claims scientific knowledge holds over other forms of knowledge; others have undertaken to demonstrate the fragility, ifnot untenability of attempts at demarcation between science and other systems of belief or practice or shown that demarcations between different forms of rationality rest on other than methodological grounds; finally, those who wish to re-arrange, by mapping out some meta-point of surveillance, familiar territory, showing the need for rearrangement and"

Northern Ireland is frequently characterized in terms of a "two traditions" paradigm, representing the conflict as being between two discrete cultures. Proceeding from an analysis of the historical and religious context, this study demonstrates the reductionist nature of the "two traditions" model, highlighting instead the complexity of ethnic identities and cultural traditions. It thus shows why attempts at reconciliation like the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, which seeks to promote the concept of a "parity of esteem" based on this identity model., are fraught with difficulties. Reflecting on the applicability of the concept of multiculturalism in the context of Northern Ireland, the author proposes a re-conceptualisation of Northern Irish culture along lines that steer clear of binary oppositions. From the Contents: 'Webs of Significance'; Dis-membering the Past; Divided by Common Cosmologies; A Discourse in Difference; The Process if 'Cruthinitude'; Un Unclaimed Tradition; Ethnic Nationality; The 'Fuzzy Frontier'; The 'Common Ground'

How children learn to read well and what kind of teaching helps them is a scarcely penetrated mystery. This book is a fascinating and informative research report by a group of teachers who set out to teach children who have failed to acquire a useful degree of literacy; in it they discuss their experiences. The authors are presenting evidence about a central and constant problem in education, an essential kind of evidence which is often ignored, because it is so difficult to collect and present. The report presents enough case-notes and recordings of lessons and discussions to allow readers to make their own interpretations alongside those of the writers. Highly informative about many of the central topics of teaching literacy it discusses children's motivation, the influence of social and cultural background on learning, and different methods of teaching reading.

Hardbound. This volume of Studies in Law, Politics and Society presents a diverse array of articles by an interdisciplinary and international group of scholars. Their work spans the social sciences, humanities, and law. Their work examines the legal regulation of dangerous intimacies, the way the body is represented in legal discourse and practice, disputes about images, and new perspectives in sociolegal theory. Together these articles illuminate some of the exciting and innovative work being done in interdisciplinary legal scholarship.

Never before have we so needed a new literacy that will enable us to meaningfully participate in the rapidly evolving technologically mediated world. This collection offers a solid basis for defining this new technological literacy by bringing together theoretical work that ranges from philosophy, design, and pedagogy.