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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social institutions > General
Recent advances in ICT have given rise to new socially disruptive technologies: AmI and the IoT, marking a major technological change which may lead to a drastic transformation of the technological ecosystem in all its complexity, as well as to a major alteration in technology use and thus daily living. Yet no work has systematically explored AmI and the IoT as advances in science and technology (S&T) and sociotechnical visions in light of their nature, underpinning, and practices along with their implications for individual and social wellbeing and for environmental health. AmI and the IoT raise new sets of questions: In what way can we conceptualize such technologies? How can we evaluate their benefits and risks? How should science-based technology and society's politics relate? Are science-based technology and society converging in new ways? It is with such questions that this book is concerned. Positioned within the research field of Science and Technology Studies (STS), which encourages analyses whose approaches are drawn from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, this book amalgamates an investigation of AmI and the IoT technologies based on a unique approach to cross-disciplinary integration; their ethical, social, cultural, political, and environmental effects; and a philosophical analysis and evaluation of the implications of such effects. An interdisciplinary approach is indeed necessary to understand the complex issue of scientific and technological innovations that S&T are not the only driving forces of the modern, high-tech society, as well as to respond holistically, knowledgeably, reflectively, and critically to the most pressing issues and significant challenges of the modern world. This book is the first systematic study on how AmI and the IoT applications of scientific discovery link up with other developments in the spheres of the European society, including culture, politics, policy, ethics and ecological philosophy. It situates AmI and the IoT developments and innovations as modernist science-based technology enterprises in a volatile and tense relationship with an inherently contingent, heterogeneous, fractured, conflictual, plural, and reflexive postmodern social world. The issue's topicality results in a book of interest to a wide readership in science, industry, politics, and policymaking, as well as of recommendation to anyone interested in learning the sociology, philosophy, and history of AmI and the IoT technologies, or to those who would like to better understand some of the ethical, environmental, social, cultural, and political dilemmas to what has been labeled the technologies of the 21st century.
A fresh anthropological look at a central but neglected topic: the profound changes in rural life throughout Western Europe today. As locals leave for jobs in cities they are replaced by neo-hippies, lifestyle-seekers, eco-activists, and labour migrants from beyond the EU. With detailed ethnographic examples, contributors analyse new modes of living rurally and emerging forms of social organisation. As incomers' dreams come up against residents' realities, they detail the clashes and the cooperations between old and new residents. They make us rethink the rural/urban divide, investigate regionalists' politicisation of rural life and heritage, and reveal how locals use EU monies to prop up or challenge existing hierarchies. They expose the consequences of and reactions to grand EU-restructuring policies, which at times threaten to turn the countryside into a manicured playground for escapee urbanites. This book will appeal to anyone seriously interested in the realities of rural life today. -- .
This book intends to be a contribution to the "varieties of capitalism" paradigm. The theoretical background is Weber's theory of legitimacy. Was communism ever "legitimate"? What kind of legitimacy claims were made in the transition from communism to capitalism? Central Europe was closer to the Western "liberal" model. Russia built capitalism in a patrimonial way. China followed its own unique way; some called it "socialism with Chinese characteristics". Putin experiments with an innovation for post-communist capitalism. He confronts the "oligarchs" and reallocates property from those who challenge his political authority to old and new loyal ones. In conclusion, the central question is to what extent is "Putinism" a generic model for post-communist capitalism?
Decades after the massive student protest movements that consumed much of the world, the 1960s remain a significant subject of scholarly inquiry. While important work has been done regarding radical activism in the United States and Western Europe, events in what is today known as the Global South-Asia, Africa, and Latin America-have yet to receive the attention they deserve. This volume inserts the Third World into the study of the 1960s by examining the local and international articulations of youth protest in various geographical, social, and cultural arenas. Rejecting the notion that the Third World existed on the periphery, it situates the events of the 1960s in a more inclusive context, building a richer, more nuanced understanding of the era that better reflects the dynamism of the period.
In Histories of Social Studies and Race: 1865-2000, researchers investigate the interplay of race and the emerging social studies field from the time of the Emancipation of enslaved peoples in the second half of the nineteenth century to the multicultural and Afrocentric education initiatives of the late-twentieth century. The chapters incorporate viewpoints from various regions and local communities, as well as different ideas and ideals regarding teaching about race and Black history. This volume makes a case for considering the goals of such efforts-whether for individual development or social justice-and views the teaching of social studies education through the lens of race.
Since the 1990 publication of Gender Trouble, Judith Butler has had a profound influence on how we understand gender and sexuality, corporeal politics, and political action both within and outside the academy. This collection, which considers not only Gender Trouble but also Bodies That Matter, Excitable Speech, and The Psychic Life of Power, attests to the enormous impact Butler's work has had across disciplines. In analyzing Butler's theories, the contributors demonstrate their relevance to a wide range of topics and fields, including activism, archaeology, film, literature, pedagogy, and theory. Included is a two-part interview with Judith Butler herself, in which she responds to questions about queer theory, the relationship between her work and that of other gender theorists, and the political impact of her ideas. In addition to the editors, contributors include Edwina Barvosa-Carter, Robert Alan Brookey, Kirsten Campbell, Angela Failler, Belinda Johnston, Rosemary A. Joyce, Vicki Kirby, Diane Helene Miller, Mena Mitrano, Elizabeth M. Perry, Frederick S. Roden, and Natalie Wilson.
This book uniquely combines cutting-edge medical, psychological, and sociocultural topics pertinent to eating disorders. In the medical realm, the book focuses on Eating Disorders' newly investigated associations with ADHD and sleep disorders, and on innovative treatments of osteoporosis in anorexia nervosa. Novel contributions in the psychological realm address families' trans-generational transmission of Eating Disorders-related difficulties and novel internet-based treatments for such families. Lastly, in the sociocultural realm, the book discusses social contagion and Pro-Ana websites as increasing risk for disordered eating in young women around the globe. This volume provides readers with more holistic perspectives of each realm and their interplay, to promote Eating Disorders' understanding, treatment, prevention, and research. It provides various professionals including mental health providers, physicians, nutritionists, and graduate students in these professions.
A volume in Advances in Cultural Psychology Series Editor: Jaan Valsiner, Clark University This book brings to cultural psychology the focus on phenomenology of everyday life. Whether it is in the context of education, work, or exploration of life environments, the chapters in this book converge on the need to give attention to complex realities of everyday living. Thus, a description of pre-school organization in Japan would be in its form very different from school organization in Britain or Colombia-yet the realities of human beings acting in social roles are continuous around the world.
While skepticism about the role of moral considerations in international politics has been influential within the discipline of international relations (IR), those writing on topics such as war, peace, rights and trade up until the twentieth century took seriously the importance of ethical values and moral debates. The 1990s and 2000s have seen a substantial growth of attention to the ways in which IR conceives and analyzes themes of an ethical nature, and how issues, problems and policies involving ethics are addressed by a variety of actors within the international system. This indispensable research companion widens the perspective from 'ethics and international relations' to 'ethics in international relations', redressing the (mis)perception that ethical concepts, principles, norms and rules are not in part constitutive of the international system and the agents acting within that system. Necessarily cross-disciplinary, expertise is drawn from IR and also philosophy, political theory, religious studies, history and law, making this an ideal volume for any library reference collection.
Whereas most of the literature on migration focuses on individuals and their families, this book studies the organizations created by immigrants to protect themselves in their receiving states. Comparing eighteen of these grassroots organizations formed across the world, from India to Colombia to Vietnam to the Congo, researchers from the United States, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Spain focus their studies on the internal structure and activities of these organizations as they relate to developmental initiatives. The book outlines the principal positions in the migration and development debate and discusses the concept of transnationalism as a means of resolving these controversies.
This book explores the dynamics of excessive violence, using a broad range of interdisciplinary case studies. It highlights that excessive violence depends on various contingencies and is not always the outcome of rational decision making. The contributors also analyse the discursive framing of acts of excessive violence.
This anthology brings together studies of post-colonial, post-Cold War Central Eurasia. This part of the world is in transition from Soviet institutions to independent statehood, nation building, resistance against state expansion, cultural change and the release of market forces. The theoretical framework of the study is called 'critical geo-politics.' The objective of the work is to better comprehend the nature of the post-colonial 'Great Game'. Part I studies US power projection activity in the region. America is extending its World War II trans-oceanic 'defense perimeter into the fossile fuel rich area between integrating Europe, recovering Russia and industrializing China. Part II details various aspects of state-nation building and soci-cultural and economic change in the region. Part III studies interactions between outsiders, neighbors and Central Asian Republics. Conflict and cooperation in the Caspian region is studied in part IV, with Aral Sea and Azerbijan as cases. Revised edition of the book published under the same title in 2004 (ISBN 90 04 12809 3).
The intricacies of living in contemporary Latin American cities include cases of both empowerment and restriction. In Lima, residents built their own homes and formed community organizations, while in Rio de Janeiro inhabitants of the favelas needed to be "pacified" in anticipation of international sporting events. Aspirations to "get ahead in life" abound in the region, but so do multiple limitations to realizing the dream of upward mobility. This volume captures the paradoxical histories and experiences of urban life in Latin America, offering new empirical and theoretical insights to scholars.
Sociologists and anthropologists have had a long interest in studying the ways in which cultures shaped different patterns of health, disease, and mortality. Social scientists have documented low rates of chronic disease and disability in non-Western societies and have suggested that social stability, cultural homogeneity and social cohesion may play a part in explaining these low rates. On the other hand, in studies of Western societies, social scientists have found that disease and mortality assume different patterns among various ethnic, cultural and social-economic groups. The role of stress, social change and a low degree of cohesion have been suggested, along with other factors as contributing to the variable rates among different social groups. Social cohesion has been implicated in the cause and recovery from both physical and psychological illnesses. Although there has been a large amount of work established the beneficial effects of cohesion on health and well-being, relatively little work has focused on HOW increased social cohesion sustains or improves health. This work is based on the premise that there are risk factors, including social cohesion that regulate health and disease in groups. One of the challenges is how to measure social cohesion - it can be readily observed and experienced but difficult to quantify. A better understanding of how social cohesion works will be valuable to improving group-level interventions.
We as individuals share the world with others we fear, hate, or envy. We inhabit the earth with individuals we respect, love, and admire. There are many individuals we can't quite figure out and this makes us disregard them. Why is it that we spend the most physical and mental energy on those individuals who fall into the negative categories of fear, hate, or envy? In this collection of essays, Leonard Clark explores the philosophical, psychological, political, and cultural manifestations of these negative emotional states. Why are we all so paranoid, irritated and agitated?
Rule by Aesthetics offers a powerful examination of the process and experience of mass demolition in the world's second largest city of Delhi, India. Using Delhi's millennial effort to become a 'world-class city,' the book shows how aesthetic norms can replace the procedures of mapping and surveying typically considered necessary to administer space. This practice of evaluating territory based on its adherence to aesthetic norms - what Ghertner calls 'rule by aesthetics' - allowed the state in Delhi to intervene in the once ungovernable space of slums, overcoming its historical reliance on inaccurate maps and statistics. Slums hence were declared illegal because they looked illegal, an arrangement that led to the displacement of a million slum residents in the first decade of the 21st century. Drawing on close ethnographic engagement with the slum residents targeted for removal, as well as the planners, judges, and politicians who targeted them, the book demonstrates how easily plans, laws, and democratic procedures can be subverted once the subjects of democracy are seen as visually out of place. Slum dwellers' creative appropriation of dominant aesthetic norms shows, however, that aesthetic rule does not mark the end of democratic claims making. Rather, it signals a new relationship between the mechanism of government and the practice of politics, one in which struggles for a more inclusive city rely more than ever on urban aesthetics, in Delhi as in aspiring world-class cities the world over.
Narcissism and Its Discontents challenges the received wisdom that narcissism is only destructive of good social relations. By building on insights from psychoanalysis and critical theory it puts forward a theorisation of narcissistic sociability which redeems Narcissus from his position as the subject of negative critique.
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Reviewers have characterized Paul Naour's A Dialogue Between Sociobiology and Radical Behaviorism, which includes brief introductions by E.O. Wilson and B.F. Skinner's elder daughter, Julie Vargus, as an idea book. The work will undoubtedly have a significant academic market and provide students and scholars in biology, ethology, psychology, anthropology, sociology and economics a strong foundation in twentieth century history and systems. Praise for A Dialogue Between Sociobiology and Radical Behaviorism: - E.O. Wilson says of the book: ." . . excellent, an outstanding addition to the history of ideas. It will put Fred Skinner back in the pantheon and, providing context, serve as an excellent introduction to the content and central truths in radical behaviorism. Needless to say, I'm also grateful to have my work following Sociobiology given proper attention." -David Sloan Wilson, author of Darwin's Cathedral writes: "E.O. Wilson and B.F. Skinner agreed that the human capacity for change is both a product of genetic evolution and an evolutionary process in its own right. Yet, the paradigms of sociobiology and radical behaviorism went in very different directions. Paul Naour's insightful analysis of a taped conversation between Wilson and Skinner goes beyond the historical significance of the conversation and helps to integrate the two paradigms for the future." -Carl Haywood writes: "The present question is whether evolution by natural selection is a useful set of concepts for the development of psychology. Naour's proposed confluence of radical behaviorism and sociobiology suggests not only that it is, but also that radical behaviorism shares with sociobiology a debt and an allegiance to Darwinism."
This volume contains the English translation of Felix Kaufmann's (1895-1945) main work Methodenlehre der Sozialwissenschaften (1936). In this book, Kaufmann develops a general theory of knowledge of the social sciences in his role as a cross-border commuter between Husserl's phenomenology, Kelsen's pure theory of law and the logical positivism of the Vienna Circle. This multilayered inquiry connects the value-oriented reflections of a general philosophy of science with the specificity of the methods and theories of the social sciences, as opposed to abstract natural science and psychology. The core focus of the study is the attempt to elucidate how and under what conditions scientific knowledge about social facts, empirically justified and theoretically embedded, can be obtained. The empirical basis of knowledge within the social sciences forms a phenomenological concept of experience. According to Kaufmann, this concept of experience exhibits a complex structure. Within the meaning-interpretation of human action as the core of knowledge in the social sciences, this structure reaches out across the isolated act of verification toward the synthesis of external and internal experiences. The book opens with a detailed and useful introduction by Ingeborg K. Helling, which introduces the historical and theoretical background of Kaufmann's study and specifically illuminates his relation to Alfred Schutz and John Dewey. Finally, it contains interviews with and letters to members of his family, colleagues and students."
This title was first published in 2000: This text presents the results of a three-year study in social research, which aimed to measure and explain anomie in different parts of the world with different cultures and different socio-political and economic conditions. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were applied, and the book not only represents the projects in juxtaposition, but also attempts to show how they relate to each other. The project elaborated instruments for practical use of both public and private agents in development co-operation in order to assess the stability or instability of a given society and to orient development policies accordingly. The book aims to provide the basis for an early detection system for anomie. The main interest is intercultural setting, the detection of hidden anomic potential and the close linkages between scientific research and its applicability for development policy and practice in applied anomie research.
In the sequel to his fascinating analysis of religion and science, 'What is God?', Loewen proceeds to ask the major question implicit in this previous work; What then is Human? His responses take us on a journey from what has been human and what we are today, and allow us to confront some of our favorite conceptual confusions, including such as those between morals and ethics, modesty and humility, and criticism and critique amongst many others. Along the way he defends Wal-Mart, analyses the Dixie Chicks, suggests we temporarily stop having children while also questioning our motives regarding their nascent sexuality, and tells us how we can share the consciousness of another in bizarre circumstances. Engaging the reader with both philosophical and personal narrative, 'A Modest Society' is a must read for all those concerned with not only the current state of social relations, but of humanity itself. |
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