This book studies how religion influences the way people in Colombia remember a massacre of 79 civilians that occurred in a Catholic church in 2002. It analyses how strategies of memorialisation are part of religious peacebuilding initiatives that aim to resist and denounce crimes against human, ethnic, cultural and economic rights.

In America's much-touted classless society, the middle class--decried by some as a mythical construct and heralded by others as the embodiment of the American dream--has always occupied a central and controversial position. This book explores the origins of the new middle classes that emerged in the 20th century, revealing the relationship of these classes to capitalism, bureaucracy, and politics. The book is divided into four parts, addressing: the theoretical problems and historical changes brought on by the emergence of the new middle classes; status and the psychology of class; the middle class in America; and the lifestyles and political orientations of the middle classes in the United States.

Social Policy, Welfare State, and Civil Society in Sweden I-II gives a comprehensive account of the global invention of the welfare state, from the far north of the West to the global East and Southeast, and from its social policy origins to the most recent challenges from civil society. This first volume includes four essays, by now minor classics in welfare state literature. "Before Social Democracy: The Early Formation of a Social Policy Discourse in Sweden" set the stage for a research current that shifted from state welfare to welfare mix and civil society. "Working Class Power and the 1946 Pension Reform in Sweden" examined a key thesis in Peter Baldwin's seminal work The Politics of Social Solidarity, and led to a lively polemic among social historians. The third text was first published (as "Sweden") in volume 1 of Peter Flora's magnum opus Growth to Limits: The Western European Welfare States Since World War II. The final essay, "The Dialectics of Decentralization and Privatization," is a path-breaking study of the Swedish welfare state's reconstruction in the 1980s. The second volume covers the period since 1988 - "the lost world of social democracy" - and recent changes in comparative welfare state research and the Nordic Model. This work is an updated and enlarged edition in two volumes of Sven Hort's well-known and wide-ranging dissertation Social Policy and Welfare State in Sweden, published under the author's birth name Sven E. Olsson in 1990. This first volume contains the original four essays of the first edition. In praise of the new edition: "This is an impressive, comprehensive and knowledgeable contribution to the analysis of the early history and long-term development of the Swedish welfare state. Through a prime focus on reform actors at various stages we are persuasively reminded that there was a history before the ascendance of Social Democracy from the early 1930s, that the Social Democrats played a crucial role in the expansionary phase, and that one must go beyond theories of class politics to get a proper understanding of the evolution and characteristics of the modern welfare state." - Stein Kuhnle, Professor in Comparative Politics, Hertie School of Governance and University of Bergen "The development of the Swedish welfare state is often sketched in fairly simplistic terms. Professor Hort's analysis remains the most penetrating of the complex and fascinating interplay between politics, social forces, and economic development that explains much of the intricacies of the system that eventually emerged." - Gunnar Wetterberg, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Sven E. O. Hort is Professor in Social Welfare at the College of Social Sciences, Seoul National University, Korea. He is an alumnus of Lund University. In Sweden he taught sociology at Linneaus and Sodertorn universities. Currently he is the chief editor of the Swedish journal Arkiv. Tidskrift for samhallsanalys and a deputy editor of European Societies. With Stein Kuhnle he is the author of "The Coming of East and South-East Asian Welfare States," Journal of European Social Policy (2000).

In recent years there has been a significant growth in interest of the so-called 'law in context' extending legal studies beyond black letter law. This book looks at the relationship between statute law and legal practice. It examines how law is applied in reality and more precisely how law is perceived by the general public in contrast to the legal profession. The authors look at a number of themes that are central to examining ways in which myths about law are formed, and how there is inevitably a constitutive power aspect to this myth making. At the same time they explore to what extent law itself creates and sustains myths. The book will be of general interest to a number of different disciplines such as legal theory, general law, criminology and sociology. -- .

Social Policy, Welfare State, and Civil Society in Sweden I-II gives a comprehensive account of the global invention of the welfare state, from the far north of the West to the global East and Southeast, and from its social policy origins to the most recent challenges from civil society. This second volume aims at the civil society challenge to the welfare state since 1988, or "the lost world of social democracy." It opens with an overview of the three generations of comparative welfare state research, from Harold Wilensky to Gosta Esping-Andersen, Theda Skocpol and onwards. Inspired by the work of Norbert Elias, Karl Polanyi, and Stein Rokkan as well as by Benedict Anderson, Tom Nairn and Elinor Ostrom, the civilizing process and embeddedness of the welfare-industrial complex are scrutinized. The author's key concepts are imagined welfare communities, and common pool resources in (civil) society and state. Privatization trends in Sweden - from take-off to bonanza - and domestic resistance to the powers of the day are then lucidly assessed, and the simultaneous deconstruction and reconstruction of a once famous welfare state is elaborated with force and vigour. Finally, the cross-national Scandinavian differences are outlined. The five essays of volume II emphasize the historical relativity of social welfare institutions and argue against all developmental metaphysics. This work is an updated and enlarged edition in two volumes of Sven Hort's well-known and wide-ranging dissertation Social Policy and Welfare State in Sweden, published under the author's birth name Sven E. Olsson in 1990. The first volume contains the original four essays and covers the formation and evolution of the Swedish welfare state 1884-1988. In praise of the new edition: "The publication of this book in 1990 marked a turning point in understanding of how the Swedish welfare state should be conceptualized both from a historical and comparative perspective. Its combination of sophisticated theoretical perspectives and in-depth empirical analysis became a model for many later studies of welfare state regimes. Added to the timely new edition is a 'volume II' sequel that updates and deepens the analysis of how the Swedish welfare state has fared during the era of globalization. This new edition is a 'must read' for everyone interested in the history and future of welfare state regimes." - Bo Rothstein, August Rohss Chair in Political Science, University of Gothenburg In praise of the first edition: ..". takes us beyond simple analyses, emphasizing the deep historical roots of social democracy in Sweden and considering the role of ideas, the organization of politics, and the activities of social classes other than labor in building and securing Swedish social policy. Olsson's book presents a comprehensive overview of the development of the Swedish welfare state and a detailed consideration of several key episodes of welfarestate development." - American Journal of Sociology "This is a very scholarly and broad ranging analysis of the postwar Swedish welfare state ... which is invaluable for comparative policy analysis." - Critical Social Policy ..". essential reading for sociologists and political scientists." - Contemporary Sociology Sven E. O. Hort is Professor in Social Welfare at the College of Social Sciences, Seoul National University, Korea. He is an alumnus of Lund University. In Sweden he taught sociology at Linneaus and Sodertorn universities. Currently he is the chief editor of the Swedish journal Arkiv. Tidskrift for samhallsanalys and a deputy editor of European Societies. With Stein Kuhnle he is the author of "The Coming of East and South-East Asian Welfare States," Journal of European Social Policy (2000).

This book provides a critical understanding of contemporary issues within global society and how these relate to six case study examples (UK, USA, China, India, South Africa, Bangladesh, and Japan). The authors draw on their diverse experience to explore four major themes of contemporary relevance: overall aging of societies; governance and institutions; emergency services and public health provisions; and community activism and involvement. The key issues within the book--sociability, social capital, and community development--are examined in the context of an ever increasing aging world. The authors' sense of optimism is linked to growing evidence that community activism is on the rise and can effectively plug the gap between public need and provision of service.

This cutting-edge volume is the first to address the burgeoning interest in drugs and Africa among scholars, policymakers, and the general public. It brings together an interdisciplinary group of leading academics and practitioners to explore the use, trade, production, and control of mind-altering substances on the continent

This book looks at the role that civil society organizations play in dealing with conflict and violence. The authors argue that in most of the prevalent conceptualizations the conflict dimension of civil society is either downplayed or inadequately addressed. They contend that the ability to deal with conflict is at the heart of organized civil society; in the political process, one of civil society's key functions is to express and mediate between different interests, thus contributing to political decision-making. The chapters draw on detailed, empirical data from the CIVICUS Civil Society Index - a unique comparative data-set drawn from 25 countries, which has not previously been made publicly available. It examines the different ways violence has been manifested in civil societies, the meaning of violent protest and the impact of security legislation that might hinder the mediating efforts of civil society. The book offers a sophisticated comparison between conflict and post-conflict countries and an analysis of the role of civil society in conflict resolution, reconciliation and transitional justice.

This original volume examines forms and limits of human inquiry from a largely sceptical point of view. Human beings are endowed with cognitive agency. Our grasp of the world, and of ourselves, are not merely responses to external stimuli; they are reflective products of human inquiry. At one point in human history it was thought that modern science, especially theoretical physics, is the paradigm of human inquiry. Where does this form of inquiry significantly apply? Are there limits on its claims of truth and objectivity? How much of the vast canvas of human experience does it cover? Where do other forms of inquiry, such as philosophy, religion, and the arts, attain their salience? With the emergence of the scientific study of the human mind itself, these critical questions have taken a more intriguing form in recent decades. Can human inquiry investigate its own nature? Can the scientific theory of language explain the richness of human expression? Can a science of the mind account for human experience? These probing questions on the scientific enterprise are usually addressed from the outside, as it were, by humanists and critical theorists. In these essays, they are examined from the inside by a philosopher whose primary academic work concerns the study of the human, linguistic mind. In that sense, the sceptical inquiry turns on itself.

THE CHALLENGE In February 2009 Attorney General Eric Holder called America "a nation of cowards." His reason was that we "don't have the guts to be honest with each other about racial issues." The lack of honesty that he bluntly implied is obvious. Its cause however is not a lack of courage, but enforcement of deceptive tactics that undermine freedom of speech. In reality his words gave this nation a challenge. Will we meet it? For over forty years, every major cultural movement of the last century successfully achieved its goal through victimization, oppression, and white privilege principles. These deceptive tools developed entitlement thinking that separated people from common sense and goodness. The more people separated from goodness, the more evil surfaced. Disguised as a right and freedom, evil began silencing America. Many people deny it and the dangers of Marxism. Others are euphoric about the transformation. "Oppression" education is doing its job; the destruction of so called white values and America. White privilege and the wheel of oppression fool those in class attendance. They promise people release from make believe oppression, while injecting them with it. The result is a dangerous epidemic of "oppression-isms," most useful for change. Attorney General Eric Holder stated that America needed open racial discussion. We will accept the challenge. The content within is forthright and bold in presentation. Chapter questions are included for private use, institutes of learning, education conferences, and church groups to develop boldness in speaking the truth. We must STOP the biggest Hoax of the Century, White Privilege and The Wheel of Oppression for the survival of America.

New speakers are an increasingly important aspect of the revitalization of minority languages since, in some cases, they can make up the majority of the language community in question. This volume examines this phenomenon from the viewpoint of three minority languages: Breton, Yiddish and Lemko.

This edited volume offers a clear in-depth overview of research covering a variety of issues in social search and recommendation systems. Within the broader context of social network analysis it focuses on important and up-coming topics such as real-time event data collection, frequent-sharing pattern mining, improvement of computer-mediated communication, social tagging information, search system personalization, new detection mechanisms for the identification of online user groups, and many more. The twelve contributed chapters are extended versions of conference papers as well as completely new invited chapters in the field of social search and recommendation systems. This first-of-its kind survey of current methods will be of interest to researchers from both academia and industry working in the field of social networks.

Clarissa de Waal's new book explains Albania's 'transition' from Communism via the experiences of a diverse range of families, highland villagers, urban elite and shanty dwellers - whose lives she has followed since 1992. As such, this is a history - of economic, social and political change - told from the perspective of the participants. We see how far the archaic world of customary law continues to pervade highland life, from dispute settlement to arranged marriages. At the same time, the author shows us members of the ex-communist elite in Tirana embracing rentier capitalism, while squatters on state farmland live under constant threat of eviction. Albania, the author suggests, is a country wracked by contradictions. Clarissa de Waal's new book will inform and engage all those interested in Albania and southeast Europe. Catapulted from totalitarianism to free market capitalism in 1991, Albania emerged from half a century of isolation to find itself an anomaly in Europe: a third world country economically and infra-structurally, first world in terms of education, literature and the arts. This portrait of Albania's 'transition' is based on the experiences of a diverse range of families - highland villagers, urban elite, shanty dwellers - whose lives the anthropologist author has followed closely since 1992. Village life is conveyed in vivid detail. The villagers deal with the grinding poverty of village life with humour, charm and reslience. Rural life, despite concerted attempts by the communist regime to eradicate 'backwardness', is still pervaded by the archaic world of customary law, a system whose influence spans dispute settlement, forest rights, marriage arrangement and blood-feuds. In the capital, Tirana, members of the former communist elite are courted by innumerable missionary groups and foreign 'experts'. These groups, with the means and the connections to do so, are seen to be uninhibitedly embracing rentier capitalism. Meanwhile, highland villagers with no means of subsistence after the closure of state enterprises, have descended to squat on undistributed state farmland, there to live under constant threat of eviction. Mass unemployment, widespread lawlessness and government laissez-faire have led to a scale of emigration unparalleled elsewhere in former communist Europe. The shock of nation-wide revolt in 1997 triggered alarm and international intervention. But new reforms were followed all too quickly by a reversion to government laissez-faire and unchecked corruption. Clarissa de Waal's new book is a history of economic, political and social transition based on the author's anthropological research. As such the reader sees the fundamental changes taking place in Albania from the perspective of the participants. Entertaining as well as informative, "Albania Today" will engage not just those interested in Albania and southeast Europe, but equally anyone with an interest in the impact on individuals and families of the economic and political transition.

In Liberal Barbarism, Erik Ringmar sets out to explain the 1860 destruction of Yuanmingyuan - the Chinese imperial palace north-west of Beijing - at the hands of British and French armies. Yuanmingyuan was the emperor's own theme-park, a perfect world, a vision of paradise, which housed one of the greatest collections of works of art ever assembled. The intellectual puzzle which the book addresses concerns why the Europeans, bent on "civilizing" the Chinese, engaged in this act of barbarism. The answer is provided through an analysis of the performative aspect of the confrontation between Europe and China, focusing on the differences in the way their respective international systems were conceptualized. Ringmar reveals that the destruction of Yuanmingyuan represented the Europeans' campaign to "shock and awe" the Chinese, thereby forcing them to give up their way of organizing international relations. The contradictions which the events of 1860 exemplify - the contradiction between civilization and barbarism - is a theme running through all European (and North American) relations with the rest of the world since, including, most recently, the US war in Iraq.

This thoroughly revised and updated third edition provides an expanded analysis of the nature and future of sociological theory. It offers new sections on feminist, post-colonial, and critical race theories, as well as a discussion of theories of system, structure and complexity. John Scott paints an overview of early developments in sociological thinking, before exploring the principal theorists and theoretical approaches of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. A review of general theory sets the scene for the strong narrative on contention and convergence that is developed throughout the book. Scott argues that the works of the theorists considered provide the basis for a vibrant future for understanding sociology as a cooperative intellectual venture. Analysing emerging debates on modernity and post-modernity, this book looks towards the development and future of theorising in sociology. Lively and accessible in its approach, Sociological Theory will be an essential guide for scholars and students of sociology and sociological theory seeking clear discussions and critical reflections on theoretical ideas.

"Little did I know that my intimidation by senior officers in the UNDP had only just begun." Fouzia Saeed dreamed of bringing social change to the women of Pakistan and was thrilled to land her dream job at the world's ethical compass and institutional tour de force: The United Nations. As expected, the UN was a gathering place for passionate minds devoted to human rights and justice for all. Shockingly, at the UN mission in Pakistan it was also a breeding ground for powerful men who viewed women as sexual objects rather than professional equals. Refusing her boss's advances didn't stop the harassment. Reporting him to superiors didn't either. In her years-long struggle with torment and humiliation at the UN, Fouzia held strong, knowing her fight for women's rights was the only thing that could keep her going. But how do you fight for others' rights when you cannot even take hold of your own? Can you ever change a culture that views sexual harassment by a man as a woman's crime? Fouzia and a group of female colleagues, who similarly suffered in the workplace, gained the courage to risk their reputations. They filed a joint compliant and promptly found themselves under attack by their managers who aligned with the perpetrator in an effort to crush their case. Working with Sharks follows eleven indestructible women and the case that sparked a national movement and culminated in the passage of legislation that made sexual harassment a crime in Pakistan in 2010. Inspirational and poignant, Working with Sharks encourages women in any part of the world to find their voice and stand up to sexual harassment.

This fifth English volume of The China Economy Yearbook is based on a symposium held in autumn 2009 titled Analysis and Forecast of China's Economic Situation, organised by the Analysis and Forecast Project Group for China's Economic Situation of the Institute of Economics, China Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). The contributing authors are experts and scholars from various government sectors, scientific research organisations, and institutes of higher learning. The chapters included provide in-depth analyses of China's economic situation in 2009 and forecasts for 2010, focusing in particular on issues arising from current economic performance, while economic trend forecasts and solutions are proposed based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis.

The United States imprisons more than two million men and women in federal prisons and city, county, and state jails. More than 150,000 individuals are incarcerated in each of the states of California and Texas. Calling attention to the flaws in the justice system, The Mysterious Story of Gitano Cervantes tells the stories of five men housed in Swest state units. Author Finbar Manghan, who has served as a volunteer chaplain in the prisons, looks at the cases of the five men who have been prison residents for a combined period of seventy years. Two are white, two are black, and one is Hispanic. Three of them claim to be innocent, while two admit their guilt; the sentences of the latter are such that they will almost certainly die in prison. One is innocent beyond any reasonable doubt. The experiences of all of them have been tragic. The Mysterious Story of Gitano Cervantes addresses a host of issues related to the men's stories, including false imprisonment, medical mistreatment, misrepresentation of self due to life's humiliations, mental harassment, medical bungling, and betrayal. Manghan reviews the court and prison experiences of these men and explores the need for reform throughout the criminal justice system in America.