This is a book with a difference: it produces a completely new perspective on lifelong learning and the learning society and locates them within humanity itself. Five themes run through this book: Humankind has always been aware of the imperfections of human society: as a consequence, it has looked back to a mythological past and forward to a utopian future that might be religious, political, economic or even educational to find something better. Lifelong learning as we currently see it is like two sides of the same coin: we learn in order to be workers who produce, and learn we have a need to consume. We then devour the commodities we have produced, whilst others take the profits! One of the greatest paradoxes of the human condition has been the place of the individual in the group/community, or conversely how the groups allow the individual to exist rather than stifle individuality Modernity is flawed and the type of society that we currently have, which we in the West call a learning society, is in need of an ethical overhaul in this late modern age. There is a need to bring a different perspective - both political and ethical - on lifelong learning and the learning society in order to try to understand what the good society and the good life might become. In Democracy, Lifelong Learning and the Learning Society, the third volume of his trilogy on lifelong learning, Professor Jarvis expertly addresses the issues that arise from the vision of the learning society. The book concludes that since human beings continue to learn, so the learning society must be a process within the incomplete project of humanity. All three books in the trilogy will be essential reading for students in education, HRD and teaching and learning generally, in addition to academics and informed practitioners. The Lifelong Learning and the Learning Society Trilogy Volume 1: Towards a Comprehensive Theory of Human Learning Volume 2: Globalisation, Lifelong Learning and the Learning Society Volume 3: Democracy, Lifelong Learning and the Learning Society Peter Jarvis is an internationally renowned expert in the field of adult learning and continuing education. He is Professor of Continuing Education at the University of Surrey, UK, and honorary Adjunct Professor in Adult Education at the University of Georgia, USA.

A study of social assumptions, specific events, medical categories, distinct groups and ideas of control in health research. This book examines presumptions about gender, race and age with particular reference to the "biological clock" and notions of "civilized countries" and "primitive races." The volume is divided into three sections. The first section spells out the author's new theory of medicalism - a co-emergent process of health care which puts health-care consumers on an equal causal footing with health-care providers. The second section takes up each of the issues of age, sex and race in turn and looks at the particular consequences of these assumptions for specific health events. With age, fertility is the focus. With sex and race, the focus is on cancer. The third section deals with action both in terms of doing better research and making informed choices about health care.

The contributors to this volume explore the close relationship between education and the molding of modern immigrant societies through case studies of either Asian migrants or Asian immigrant societies. This volume will be especially useful for researchers, educators, and students intent on understanding some of the critical challenges faced by a globalizing world.

Religious social action groups are emerging as key movers in sweeping sociopolitical changes world-wide. Although their inspiration is religious, their goals are secular. This volume considers the role of such groups by examining regions and nations where change has been most dramatic. Areas researched include: Western Europe, North America, the Amazonian rain basin, Malaysia, Japan, Russia, Northern Ireland, and Israel. The movements studied are as diverse as Conservative Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, the New Christian Right, and Indonesian Muslims. In each case social action groups are studied to understand how they evolve within the current political context in order to change it.

Family Fictions explores images and narratives of the family in recent Hollywood cinema. This is the first in-depth analysis of this important topic which explores how problematic representations of the family were in a period when the family was a pivotal political and social issue. Through close textual analysis of the biggest box-office hits of recent years, this book demonstrates the volatility of family representations and the instability of its narrative and ideological functions. Well-known films discussed, include Kramer versus Kramer , E.T. and Look Who's Talking.

From sitcoms and soap operas to talk shows and movies, Americans are in love with the idea of a white wedding. The happy bride and groom smile from the covers of fashion and entertainment magazines, and appear in TV commercials to sell everything from life insurance to antacid. Fascinated by this national obsession, Chrys Ingraham peers behind the veil to question the meaning of weddings in American popular culture. What she finds is nothing less than a wedding industrial complex. The wedding industry does a thriving business with annual revenues in excess of 30 billion dollars. The average cost of a wedding is over $19,000, with 2.4 million couples getting married each year. White Weddings is the first book to investigate the underside of this recession-proof industry, exposing how weddings are used to sell a heterosexual fairy tale. Ingraham draws on popular media, such as bridal magazines, children's toys, feature films, television, and advertising to reveal how they regulate gender, sexuality, race, and class. relies on romantic and sacred notions of heterosexuality to maintain the illusion of normalcy. This entertaining and insightful book will make you think twice about ever wanting to catch the bouquet.

Small group research is of particularly wide interest to people working in a fairly broad variety of areas concerned with understanding conflict, especially for practitioners and researchers concerned with conflict resolution, peace, and related areas.

The editors will focus on six main topical areas of small group research, which include:

- Cooperation, competition, and conflict resolution
- Coalitions, bargaining, and games
- Group dynamics and social cognition
- The group and organization
- Team performance
- Intergroup relations

Wagar pulls together all aspects of futures studies in this unique volume--comprising a vital introduction to, and defense of, the impressive array of futurist inquiry. The book examines how futurists think and work. It compares and analyzes their ideas on a wide range of topics, including the environment, politics, economics, war and peace, and sociocultural issues. Wagar also shows how the three ideological paradigms within the futures field, the technoliberal, the radical, and the countercultural, play a role in the study of the future. The organizing theme of this unique work by W. Warren Wagar is the way in which images of alternative futures are shaped by ideological differences in the present. Wagar identifies three principal camps of futurist thought: technoliberals, radicals, and counterculturalists. By far the largest group are the technoliberals--supporters of parliamentary democracy, civil liberties, free enterprise, and technological progress. Radicals occupy the Marxist and democratic-socialist Left, while counterculturalists espouse decentralist, eco-pacifist, and New Age values. The Next Three Futures pulls together all aspects of futures studies--comprising a vital introduction and outline of the many worlds of futurist inquiry. The book consists of two parts: the first an examination of how futurists think and work; the second a comparative and critical analysis of their ideas on a wide variety of topics. After a short prologue, the first chapter defines the scope and limitations of futures research, and discusses its chief methodologies. The next chapter gives a valuable intellectual history of futurism from its earliest origins, with special emphasis on the work of H. G. Wells. The idea of the ideological paradigm in futures studies is described in the third chapter. The following four chapters, making up part two, investigate the thinking of contemporary futurists on the environment, economic and political developments, war and peace, and societal/cultural issues. Wagar's epilogue considers the possibility that the technoliberal, radical, and countercultural futures may all lie ahead for humankind, but at different stages and times in the years to come. This highly readable volume will be of great value to students of futurism, futurists, political scientists, sociologists, economic forecasters, environmentalists, and anyone else fascinated by the study of the future.

Studies in Symbolic Interaction (SSI) is an ISI listed serial that locates current symbolic interactionist thought and provides contemporary readings of social situations. The papers are longer than the average journal article allowing more scope for expansion and development. To reflect the wide range of perspectives in symbolic interactionism, SSI draws on many interpretative resources including: Post-structuralism Reconstructivism Performativity Critical race theory Feminist theory Posthumanism Materials theory Post-colonialism Affective theories Queer theory

This book deals with the process of the diffusion of cohabitation in Europe and discusses its impact upon fundamental changes in family formation. It makes use of highly dynamic statistical modelling that takes into account both changes occurring along the life course (individuals' biographies) and across birth cohorts of individuals (generational change) in a comparative perspective. It is thus innovative methodologically, but is written in such a way as to be easily readable by those with little knowledge of quantitative methods. The approach proposed is empirically tested on a selection of European countries: the social democratic Sweden, the conservative-corporatist France and West Germany, the former socialist East Germany, and the familistic Italy and Spain. The theory and its application are described in a clear and simple manner, making the arguments and their illustrations accessible to those from a variety of disciplines.

The study shows evidence of the 'contagiousness' of cohabitation, providing new insights on a process relevant to many social science debates. It is thus directed to those interested in the mechanisms driving social and cultural change, the nature of demographic changes, as well as diffusion processes.

Working with older people has become an increasingly important part of social work education and practice. Whether studying community care, adult services, human growth and development, or social work processes and interventions, this book will be a vital source of information and help.

Working with Older People provides a framework of knowledge, skills and values pertinent to qualifying social work courses and the new post-qualifying award in Social Work with Adults, including discussion of:

• ideas about human development and theories of older age
• legislation, social policy and social welfare
• skills for working with older people
• assessment and care planning
• partnership working.

Written by two experienced educators and practitioners, this key text facilitates individual or group learning through features such as objectives for each chapter, case studies and further reading suggestions. There are numerous activities throughout the book and the final chapter contains pointers to consider for all of the activities. It will be essential reading for social work students and qualified social workers.

In 1948, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, stating every human being's right of equality in dignity and right. However, notwithstanding recognition by the international community of its importance and codification in numerous national and sub-national constitutions and legislation, reinforced by various multilateral and regional human rights treaties, the right of equality continues to be unable to take complete firm hold in all regions and countries. Evidence, as presented by the insightful papers in this collection, published initially as a Special Double Issue of The International Journal of Human Rights dedicated to exploring the place of equality in Asia-Pacific societies, suggests that although progress is being made the right of equality has not yet fully materialized, both in law and in reality, in the world's most populous region. Many factors, particularly entrenched cultural heritage and practices, the lingering effects of colonialism and newly found independence, and, above all, pervasive ignorance and prejudices, continue to impede the recognition, development and protection of equality in this region. Of course, equality, a normative right and entitlement by virtue of our humanity, has neither been fully achieved in societies outside the region. Such neo-colonial thinking in fact perpetuates and assists in the subjugation of the right of equality in the Asia-Pacific Region as a matter of relevance and concern only to Western countries. Accordingly, we hope that our discussions will also be able to shed light and generate reflections on realities outside the region as interlinked with our aim. The Editor's book fee has been donated to the UNICEF Tsunami Fund. This book was previously published as a special issue of The International Journal of Human Rights.

From local bike-sharing initiatives to overhauls of transport infrastructure, mobility is one of the most important areas in which modern cities are trying to realize a more sustainable future. Yet even as politicians and planners look ahead, there remain critical insights to be gleaned from the history of urban mobility and the unsustainable practices that still impact our everyday lives. United by their pursuit of a "usable past," the studies in this interdisciplinary collection consider the ecological, social, and economic aspects of urban mobility, showing how historical inquiry can make both conceptual and practical contributions to the projects of sustainability and urban renewal.

Recent developments have made obsolete the division of the globe into three worlds of capitalist, state socialist and underdeveloped countries. This book traces the interconnectedness of the 'disorganisation' of capitalism in the industrialised west, the transformation of former state socialist societies, and the divergent fortunes of third world countries. It argues that comparative sociology continues to have relevance in the age of globalisation and provides a framework within which these developments can be placed in their proper perspective.

First published in 2007. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Science/Technoscience has moved to center stage in debates over change, power and justice in twenty-first century societies. This text provides a general framework for understanding, combining and applying the rich range of approaches that exist within sociology about science: in particular, the role (and limitations) of science in generating knowledge, and the relationship between scientific knowledge and social progress. Drawing on case studies such as the genetics and computing "revolutions," this is a clear, even-handed and comprehensive introduction to the field.

This set of monographs presents a broad and comprehensive overview of European views on Weber's relevance to twentieth-century sociology. A combination of translations and original writings in English, they represent a sophisticated and contemporary cross-section of comment on his analysis of modern institutions. A common theme to all of these works is a concern for Weber's relevance to the study of industrial and capitalist civilization. There is also a strong focus on political and economic issues in his sociology. Many of these volumes are, in themselves, individual classics. As a whole these represent one of the best collections on Weber in English and offer a fundamental research archive and library resource. They are available as a set or as individual volumes. Contents: From History to Sociology, Antoni (1940): 0-415-17452-X: Max Weber: An Intellectual Portrait, Reinhard Bendix (1966): 0-415-17453-8: The Sociology of Max Weber, J. Freund (1966): 0-415-17454-6: Max Weber and German Politics, J.P. Mayer (1955): 0-415-17455-4: 0 Max Weber and Modern Sociology, A. Sahay (1971): 0-415-17456-2: Weber and Islam, B. Turner (1974): 0-415-17458-9: Weber and the Marxist World, J. Weiss (1981): 0-415-17457-0:

While the international mobility of students is a well-established feature of higher education, the international mobility of institutions and courses on a large scale is a more novel phenomenon. Transnational education is at the leading-edge of the most fundamental changes taking place in higher education today. Topics discussed in this new volume include: the extent and form of offshore activity the pedagogical and cultural controversies that have plagued transnational education the challenges it presents to governments, educators and HE managers how governments are developing forms of regulation to integrate cross-border programs and branch-campuses into their strategic planning for the sector the new opportunities for students and institutions. Transnational Education presents a global perspective on the development of international online education, partner-supported transnational programs and international branch campuses. It provides a comprehensive and analytical account of the active role some universities are playing on the international stage and offers valuable guidance on future trends in the sector.

While successive moral panics have cast working class mothers - associated by the tabloids with social problems as diverse as crime, underachievement, unemployment and mental illness - as a threat to civilization, the voices and experiences of these women are remarkably absent from discussions.
The book attempts to address this gap by examining how such mothers make sense of their lives with their children and families, how they position themselves within a context of inequality and vulnerability, and how they resist, subvert and survive material and social marginalization. By focusing specifically on working class mothers and their opportunities and choices, Val Gillies challenges common assumptions about "good parenting." She draws on her findings to make their implications clear and to give practical advice to professionals who work with children and families. The themes addressed in the book will include:
- children's poor academic performance
- truanting
- conduct disorder
- juvenile delinquency
- teenage pregnancy.
This controversial text provides a detailed insight into the experiences of mothers who are so often the focus of public concern and intervention. It will be of interest to students and researchers in sociology, social work and social policy, as well as social workers, health professionals and social policy-makers.

Franco Ferrarotti examines the ways in which we have come to cope with the problems unforeseen by the early idealists of the industrial age. Beginning with a detailed critique of the Enlightenment concept of the individual and how it compares to present day values, beliefs, and attitudes, he proceeds to demonstrate how current technology influences the lives of individuals in the work place and in the community at large. The influence of science and industrial progress on our development as human beings is critically analyzed. Finally, Ferrarotti gives some suggestions as to how we may find a way out of the dilemmas facing modern society and speculates on the fates of those societies currently in transition. While many writers have dealt with specific aspects of the modern industrial age, Ferrarotti faces squarely the general problem of the social and political impact of technologically based life.

There have been striking increases in both long-distance travel and in communications through mobile phones, text messaging, emailing and videoconferencing. Such developments in communication, along with a similar increase in physical travel and movement of goods around the globe, reconfigure social networks by disconnecting and reconnecting people in new ways. This original book puts forward one of the first social science studies of the geographies of social networks and related mobilities of travel, communications and face-to-face meetings. The book examines five interdependent mobilities that form and reform these geographies of networks and travel in the contemporary world. These are: physical travel of people for work, leisure, pleasure, migration and escape; physical movement of objects delivered to producers, consumers and retailers; imaginative travel elsewhere through images and memories seen on texts, TV, computer screens and film; virtual travel on the internet; and communicative travel through letters, cards, telegrams, telephones, faxes, text messages and videoconferences. In the book the authors examine the interconnections between these different mobilities. They research how travel and social meetings require systems of coordination using virtual and communicative travel in-between physical travel and meetings. They argue that, while it might be imagined that there would be less need of physical meetings with improved technology, on the contrary, scheduled visits and meetings have become highly significant. The research shows that they are necessary to social life in the contemporary world, both within business and, especially, within families and friendships which are increasingly conducted at a distance.

This book examines the institutional racism and language discrimination that Black Francophones a " who constitute a racial minority situated within a linguistic minority a " face and identifies the strategies of resistance Black Francophones invent to gain access to power structures. The book is written to cover an area of research (Black Francophones) that is largely understudied. The book deals with the areas of immigration, race and anti-racism, gender, multiculturalism, linguistic minorities and francophone studies. It brings together multidisciplinary sociological and sociolinguistic theories and methodologies and sheds light on the discourse of institutional racism and resistance.

From early department stores in Cape Town to gendered histories of sartorial success in urban Togo, contestations over expense accounts at an apartheid state enterprise, elite wealth and political corruption in Angola and Zambia, the role of popular religion in the political intransigence of Jacob Zuma, funerals of big men in Cameroon, youth cultures of consumption in Niger and South Africa, queer consumption in Cape Town, middle-class food consumption in Durban and the consumption of luxury handcrafted beads, this collection of essays explores the ways in which conspicuous consumption is foregrounded in various African contexts and historical moments.

In 1899, Thorstein Veblen coined the phrase `conspicuous consumption' to describe status-seeking in the obscenely unequal world of late-nineteenth century America. Many of the aspects he described in The Theory of the Leisure Class are still evident in our world today. While Veblen's crude denunciation of material extravagance finds echoes in media exposes about the lifestyles of the rich worldwide, it is particularly recognisable in reporting on Africa. Here, images of conspicuous consumption have long circulated in local and global media as indictments of political corruption and signs of moral depravity.

The essays in Conspicuous Consumption in Africa put Veblen's concept under robust critical scrutiny, drawing on theorists like Mbembe, Guyer and Bayart by way of critique or addition. They delve into the pleasures, stresses and challenges of consuming in its religious, generational, gendered and racialised aspects, revealing conspicuous consumption as a layered set of practices, textures and relations. The authors resist the trap of easy moralisation, pointing to more complex ethical and political registers of analysis and judgement. This volume shows how central and revealing conspicuous consumption can be to fathoming the history of Africa's projects of modernity, and their global lineages and legacies.

In its grounded, up-close case studies, it is likely to feed into current public debates on the nature and future of African societies - South African society in particular.

Hospitality: a social lens follows on from the unique contribution made by In Search of Hospitality: theoretical perspectives and debates. It progresses debate, challenges the boundaries of ways of knowing hospitality, and offers intellectual insights stimulated by the study of hospitality.
The contributing authors provide tangible evidence of continuing advancement and development of knowledge pertaining to the phenomenon of hospitality. They draw on the richness of the social sciences, taking host and guest relations as a means of studying in-group and out-group relations with and between societies. The chapter contributors represent a multi-disciplinary, international grouping of leading academics with expertise in hospitality management and education, human resource management, linguistics, modern languages, gastronomy, history, human geography, art, architecture, anthropology, and sociology. Each lends their expertise to apply as a social lens through which to view, analyse, and explore hospitality within a range of contexts. Through this process novel ways of interpreting, knowing and sense-making emerge that are captured in the final chapter of the book, and have informed future research themes which are explored.
*Promotes debate, challenges boundaries and offers insights into the study of hospitality
*Muli-disciplinary and international contributors
*An excellent reference for researchers interested in the sociology within the hospitality and tourism industries