This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This authored monograph analyses the determining factors of societal evolution: the interaction between individuals and the resulting relationship, which the author calls the "Social Bond". The book aims at providing a better understanding of social dynamics and social interaction, and the author develops two models which provide interesting new insights. The target audience primarily comprises academics working in the field of social complexity and related fields, but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students alike.

The re-emergence of China as a world power promises to be the signal economic, political, cultural, and social development of the 21st century. In the face of its rise, fine grained accounts of the shape and texture of this new China are both timely and necessary. Navigating the Aspirational City forwards a theory of contemporary Chinese urban educational culture that focusses on the influence of dominant conceptions of "the good citizen" and the material environment upon parents as they pursue their childrearing projects. The book provides a description of the beliefs and practices of urban Chinese parents as they "educate" their children. These beliefs and practices are placed in relation to a historical chain of ideas about how to best educate children, as well as within the urban context in which they are produced and reproduced, renovated, and transformed. Beginning with a history of revolutionary "orders of worth" culminating in the "aspirational cite," the book details the shifting standards that define the "human capital" conditions of possibility of a developed modern economy. It goes on to describe a set of policies and practices known as san nian da bianyang by which the whole of one particular city, Shijiazhuang, has been demolished, re-built, and re-ordered. Contemporary China is, the author contends, no less revolutionary than Mao's, noting that parents' beliefs and practices articulate with the present ideational and material context to produce what appears, at times, to be radical transformation and, at others, remarkable stability.

Knowledge And Global Power is a ground-breaking international study which examines how knowledge is produced, distributed and validated globally.

The former imperial nations – the rich countries of Europe and North America – still have a hegemonic position in the global knowledge economy. Fran Collyer, Raewyn Connell, João Maia and Robert Morrell, using interviews, databases and fieldwork, show how intellectual workers respond in three Southern tier countries, Brazil, South Africa and Australia. The study focuses on new, socially and politically important research fields: HIV/AIDS, climate change and gender studies.

The research demonstrates emphatically that ‘place matters’, shaping research, scholarship and knowledge itself. But it also shows that knowledge workers in the global South have room to move, setting agendas and forming local knowledge.

Non-State Regulatory Regimes explores how the concept of regulation continues to evolve. The focus is placed on those forms of regulation that are different from state regulation or present alternatives to state regulation. Departing from an analysis of the goals and policies of the traditional regulatory state, the emergence of 'regulation by other means' is examined. The approach is interdisciplinary encompassing various perspectives be they legal, political, international relations-based, economic, or sociological. The task of comprehending non-state regulation is a daunting one. To date, a number of essays already exist, which concentrate on specific aspects of the issue. In comparison to these essays, this study is innovative in that it applies a holistic view. Linking public policy approaches to regulation, it draws a theoretical path to understanding the emergence and persistence of non-state jurisdictional assertions and regulatory regimes.

At the core, it doesn't matter what you believe governs the fate of man and Earth, what matters is that humans, as a global society, build a future that is sustainable and peaceful. This is the ultimate human evolutionary development, this is our challenge. By tracing our existence from where we began to what we have become today, this book explores the evolution and, should we continue on our current path, the subsequent possible obsolescence of human beings. Far from a doomsday tome, The Fishbowl Principle challenges readers to expand their worldview. We need to change our measure of a successful life from simply existing to prospering. The authors refuse to accept that life as we exist today is "as good as it gets." We argue that humans have reached a fragile tipping point; and that instead of fragmenting and isolating ourselves in a future of despair, we can and will work together to an even higher apex. As a human race, we examine what can be achieved if we look to our similarities instead of our differences. If we could harness communication as a powerful and cost effective tool to bring us together and educate ourselves in a way that fosters sustainable and responsible population growth, the positive transformation to our lives would be immeasurable. Whether you exist today as a peasant in a tribal setting or as an urban dweller we explore fostering a sense of global community based on common ground, not just niche existence. We present tangible alternatives and pose thought-provoking questions. Our vision is a collaborative one, and requires your participation. A path back to evolution starts with you, and includes all of us.

The impact of religion on family and reproduction is one of the most fascinating and complex topics open to scholarly research. The linkage between family and religion has received no systematic treatment on a comparative basis, either in the social sciences or in historical studies. This book provides new insights into the relationships between religion and demography during the crucial period of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Apart from providing a wealth of descriptive information on family life and fertility in different national and religious settings, the major strength of the book lies in its conceptual insights. The book will attract and stimulate readers at the advanced undergraduate or at the graduate level in history, religious studies, womena (TM)s studies, family studies, social demography, sociology, and anthropology due to its subject matter (moral issues related to fertility decline and family change played an important role in processes like secularisation, and religious secessions in the19th and 20th century), its analytical approach (all chapters make use of micro-level data on family and family size and use comparable statistical methods specifically suited for these kinds of data), and its theoretical orientation (the chapters explicitly focus on the variety of mechanisms via which religions had an effect on family life and fertility). The book is truly cross-cultural, showing the similarities as well as the differences in the positions of the various churches on matters important for reproduction in Western Europe, the US and Canada in the period 1850-1950. The consideration of the causes of variations in family size in the past provides arefreshing perspective on contemporary effects of religion on reproductive behaviour and the family.

"This volume successfully promotes an agenda for research on the complex and diverse historical relationships between fertility, identity, community and religion." Simon Szreter, Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge

"These well-researched and lucidly argued papers will provide important reading for all those interested in the religious history of the nineteenth century." Hugh McLeod is Professor of Church History at the University of Birmingham

"This is a very valuable new resource for scholars, both established and new, to understand the role of religious institutions in family and demographic behavior and the ways in which those behaviors change across long periods of time." Arland Thornton, Director, Population Studies Center, University of Michigan

"This book shows also that modern demographic and social history is able to revive the past in ways unthinkable only a generation ago." Massimo Livi-Bacci is Professor of Demography, University of Florence, and honorary president of the "International Union for the Scientific Study of Population."

In recent decades, globalization and regional integration have brought significant economic and demographic changes in East Asia, including rising economic inequality, growing population movements within and across borders, and the emergence or renewed geopolitical significance of cultural and linguistic minority populations. These trends have coincided with significant changes in family formation, dissolution, and structures. How have these changes played out in the diverse educational systems of East Asia? In what innovative ways are East Asian governments addressing the new demographic realities of their student populations? This volume offers a snapshot of key educational stratification issues in East Asian nations, and their evolution in conjunction with changing student populations. Scholars of Japan, China, and Korea in this volume address issues ranging from curricular adaptations to globalization, to persisting and new forms of educational stratification, to new multiculturalism in educational policy. In addition, authors consider the ways that migration is shaping education in the city-states of Hong Kong and Singapore. Collectively, the pieces in this volume represent a first attempt to investigate national responses to critical regional trends.

Why is teacher education policy significant - politically, sociologically and educationally? While the importance of practice in teacher education has long been recognised, the significance of policy has only been fully appreciated more recently. Teacher education in times of change offers a critical examination of teacher education policy in the UK and Ireland over the past three decades, since the first intervention of government in the curriculum. Written by a research group from five countries, it makes international comparisons, and covers broader developments in professional learning, to place these key issues and lessons in a wider context.

This volume examines the evolving relationship between the nation-state, citizenship and the education of citizens, exploring the impact European integration had on national policies towards educating its citizens and citizenship.

Instead of yet another theory on good governance, this book presents a substantiation of contemporary notions. It builds on the theoretical foundations for taking an overall perspective on social contexts and culminates in a systemic framework that captures social structures based on first principles of viability and sustainability. The framework at hand enables applicants to view social contexts holistically while at the same time envisioning a rich picture of what leverages the implementation of social purposes beyond the boxes of the professional disciplines: social structures can be assessed, strengths and weaknesses identified and measures arrived at. Ultimately, the required structures can be tailor-made to align forces for a joint implementation of purposes. Conventional static hierarchies can be deployed into dynamic social organisms capable of developing and adapting continuously according to the opportunities and challenges faced.

Grandparenting in divorced families is the first in-depth exploration of grandparents' relationships with their adult children and grandchildren in divorced families. It asks what part grandparents might play in public policy and whether measures should be taken to support their grandparenting role. Do grandparents have a special role in family life that ought to be recognised in law? This book examines grandparents' roles and functions and gives voice to their attitudes and opinions. Grandparenting is often represented sentimentally with too little account taken of the diversity of attitudes and behaviour. The study asks challenging questions about grandparents' contributions to family life and comments on the legal and policy implications. It includes fascinating discussion of issues such as: grandparents who are excluded and ignored; partisan behaviour and its effect on family relationships; communicating across the family divide; change and continuity in grandparents' relationships with their grandchildren. This groundbreaking book is intended for a wide readership. Grandparents and parents in divorced families will identify with many of the thoughts, feelings and experiences reflected here. Academics in social science and law departments will encounter new thinking about the nature of the grandchild-grandparent relationship. Policy makers will discover more about recent policy initiatives and their strengths and limitations.

Today, there is no comparable threat to Western democracies as the rise of right-wing populism. While it has played an increasing role at least since the 1990s, only the social consequences of the global financial crises in 2008 have given its break that led to UK's 'Brexit' and the election of Donald Trump as US President in 2016 but also promoted what has been called left populism in countries that were hit the hardest from both the banking crisis and consequential neo-liberal austerity politics in the EU like Greece and Portugal. In 2017, the French Front National (FN) attracted many voters in the French Presidential elections; we have seen the radicalization of the Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) in Germany and the formation of centre-right government in Austria. Further, we have witnessed the consolidation of autocratic regimes as in the EU member states Poland and Greece. All these manifestations of right-wing populism share a common feature: they attack or even compromise the core elements of democratic societies such as the separation of powers, protection of minorities, or the rule of law. Despite a broad debate on the re-emergence of 'populism' in the transition from the twentieth to the twenty-first century that has brought forth many interesting findings, a lack of sociological reasoning cannot be denied as sociology itself withdrew from theorising populism decades ago and left the field to mainly political sciences and history. In a sense, Populism and the Crisis of Democracy considers itself as a contribution to start with filling this lacuna. Written in a direct and clear style, this set of volumes will be an invaluable reference for students and scholars in the field of political theory, political sociology and European Studies.

Bring the spark back into your bedroom and your relationship with gutsy and effective advice from bestselling author Michele Weiner Davis.

It is estimated that one of every three married couples struggles with problems associated with mismatched sexual desire. Do you? If you want to stop fighting about sex and revitalize your intimate connection with your spouse, then you need this book. In "The Sex-Starved Marriage," bestselling author Michele Weiner Davis will help you understand why being complacent or bitter about ho-hum sex might cost you your relationship.

Full of moving firsthand accounts from couples who have struggled with the erosion of sexual desire and rebuilt their passionate connection, "The Sex-Starved Marriage" addresses every aspect of the sexual libido problem:

• If you're the more highly sexed partner, you'll breathe a sigh of relief. At last someone understands your feelings about the void in your marriage. Discover why your pleas for touch have fallen upon deaf ears and why your approach to the lull in your sexual relationship could be a sexual turnoff. Most important, learn new ways to motivate your spouse to take your needs for more physical closeness to heart.
• If you're the spouse with a lagging libido, you're far from alone. You'll learn about the physiological and psychological factors, including unresolved relationship issues, that may contribute to the chill in your bedroom and what you can do to melt the ice. And if you're a man, you'll be surprised to learn that staggering numbers of men, even men whose sexual machinery works just fine, "get headaches" too!

"The Sex-Starved Marriage" will give you and your spouse the inspiration, encouragement, and answers you need.

This is a concise and accessible introduction into the concept of objectification, one of the most frequently recurring terms in both academic and media debates on the gendered politics of contemporary culture, and core to critiquing the social positions of sex and sexism. Objectification is an issue of media representation and everyday experiences alike. Central to theories of film spectatorship, beauty fashion and sex, objectification is connected to the harassment and discrimination of women, to the sexualization of culture and the pressing presence of body norms within media. This concise guidebook traces the history of the term's emergence and its use in a variety of contexts such as debates about sexualization and the male gaze, and its mobilization in connection with the body, selfies and pornography, as well as in feminist activism. It will be an essential introduction for undergraduate and postgraduate students in Gender Studies, Media Studies, Sociology, Cultural Studies or Visual Arts.

Wolf populations have recently made a comeback in Northern Europe and North America. These large carnivores can cause predictable conflicts by preying on livestock, and competing with hunters for game. But their arrivals often become deeply embedded in more general societal tensions, which arise alongside processes of social change that put considerable pressure on rural communities and on the rural working class in particular. Based on research and case studies conducted in Norway, Wolf Conflicts discusses various aspects of this complex picture, including conflicts over land use and conservation, and more general patterns of hegemony and resistance in modern societies.

This is the first single-authored critical engagement with the major works of Zygmunt Bauman. Where previous books on Bauman have been exegetical, here an unwavering light is shone on key themes in the sociologist's work, exposing serious weaknesses in Bauman's interpretations of the Holocaust, Western modernity, consumerism, globalisation and the nature of sociology. The book shows how Eurocentrism, the neglect of issues of gender and a lack of awareness of the racism faced by Europe's non-white ethnic minorities seriously limit Bauman's analyses of Western societies. At the same time, it points to Bauman's repeated insistence on the need for sociologists to take a moral stance in favour of the world's poor and downtrodden as being his most valuable legacy. The book will be of great interest to sociologists. Its readability will be valued by undergraduates and postgraduates and it will attract a readership well beyond the discipline. -- .

The phenomenon of "Cultural Reverse" ( ) emerged in the 1980s after China's reform and opening up. In this era of rapid social change, the older generation started to learn from the younger generation across many fields, in a way that is markedly similar to the biological phenomenon of "The old crow that keeps barking, fed by their children" from ancient Chinese poetry. In this book, the author discusses this new academic concept and other aspects of Chinese inter-generational relations. In the first volume, the author explains some popular social science theories about generations, traces the history of Chinese intergenerational relationships, and through focus group interviews with 77 families in mainland China, comprehensively discusses the younger generation's values, attitudes, behavior patterns and the ways which differ from their ancestors'. Following on from the first volume, this second volume further analyzes the multiple causes of cultural reverse, including rapid social change, the influence of peer groups, and the impact of the media. Then, in a broader context, the author discusses the complex interdependence of and conflict among the state, society and youth. He tells a story of the transformation of Chinese youth over the past hundred years, and names this "one-place" (fast-changing China) and "one-time only" (unrepeatable) phenomenon "China feeling". The book will be a valuable resource for scholars of Chinese sociology, and also general readers interested in contemporary Chinese society.

In recent decades, the focus of the study of culture in sociology has been divided between the sociology of culture and cultural sociology. In the former approach, culture is seen as a reflection of the deeper and more "real" social structures.
A cultural sociology, however, begins from the premise that ideas and beliefs retain autonomy from the social structures to which they refer and illuminate. Only after the internal logics of meaning have been discovered and understood--the codes, narratives, and rhetorical techniques--can the cultural be put back into social structure, and analyzed in a multidimensional way. Edited by Jeffrey Alexander, arguably the leading cultural sociologist in the world, and two other widely respected practitioners, Ron Jacobs and Phil Smith, these essays from an international cast of the best and brightest cultural sociologists cover topics in theory and method; power, politics, and states; economics and organization; mass media; social movements; religion; aesthetics; knowledge; and health. Organized by empirical areas of study rather than particular theories or competing intellectual strands, the editors demonstrate that cultural sociology is not so much as a specialized subfield of sociology but, rather, an intellectual approach that can be generalized across all the core fields of the discipline.

This book includes a series of reports that mainly discuss the Middle Income Trap against the backdrop of population ageing in China. It also offers practical suggestions on how to avoid it properly. Concretely, it argues that the government should accelerate the transition of economic development modes, resolve concentrated social conflicts, promote a balanced rural and urban development during the process of urbanization, and mitigate the effects of population ageing by fostering strengths and avoiding weaknesses. As for the challenges posed by population ageing in China, it puts forward five core suggestions tailored to China's unique situation. Assessing a number of real-world challenges, the general report and the special reports combine theory and empirical findings, using primary data for their analyses. Given the wealth of essential information it provides, the book offers a valuable reference resource for decision-makers.

Mary Douglas's innovative explanations for styles of human thought and for the dynamics of institutional change have furnished a distinctive and powerful theory of how conflicts are managed, yet her work remains astonishingly poorly appreciated in social science disciplines. This volume introduces Douglas's theories, and outlines the ways in which her work is of continuing importance for the future of the social sciences. Mary Douglas: Understanding Human Thought and Conflict shows how Douglas laid out the agenda for revitalizing social science by reworking Durkheim's legacy for today, and reviews the growing body of research across the social sciences which has used, tested or developed her approach.

In this unique contribution to economic sociology, Jeffrey Hass examines the impact of culture, norms and political authority on Russia's post-socialist transition. The interactions and contradictions of moral economies and market relations are examined, exploring the often overlooked social dimension to market-building in Russia.