Democracy and Interest Groups assesses the contribution that interest groups make to the democratic involvement of citizens and the generation of social capital. It examines how interest groups are formed and how they maintain themselves - focussing specifically on the supply-side dimension of group membership that is how groups generate and stimulate citizen involvement. The authors draw on new surveys of groups and group members and, more unusually, with non-participants. It also makes use of in-depth interviews with campaign group leaders and organizers.

The increasing atomization of modern society has been accompanied by an enduring nostalgia for the idea of community as a source of security and belonging in an increasingly insecure world. Far from disappearing, community has been revived by transnationalism and by new kinds of individualism. Gerard Delanty begins this stimulating critical introduction to the concept with an analysis of the origins of the idea of community in Western utopian thought, and as a theme in classical sociology and anthropology. He goes on to chart the resurgence of the idea within communitarian thought and postmodern philosophies, the complications and critiques of multiculturalism, and new manifestations of community within a society where changing modes of communication produce both fragmentation and possibilities of new social bonds. Contemporary community, he argues, is essentially a communication community based on belonging and sharing, and can be a powerful voice of political opposition. The communities of today are less spatially bounded than those of the past, but they cannot dispense with the need for a sense of belonging. The communicative ties and cultural structures of contemporary societies have opened up numerous possibilities for belonging based on religion, nationalism, ethnicity, lifestyle and gender.

Drawing on both theoretical and practical case studies, "Community Media" moves from developing attempts at local media to case studies and on to cyber-examples. Alphabetically, its more than two dozen cases include reports on the Asian Pacific region, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Ghana, India, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Latin America, Lebanon, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, as well as a number of other perspectives and (virtual) visions. The contributors, all distinguished international communications scholars, present a range of perspectives on the ever-burgeoning area of grassroots, local media by the people, for the people, their research representing participant observation, hands-on community involvement, serving on international boards of directors, content analysis, and ethical inquiries. It will appeal to a range of academic disciplines, community media groups, and the thousands of people who work in their local cable television centers to provide an alternative voice to mainstream media.

This trans-disciplinary book indicates the necessity for addressing well-being from individual, community and social perspectives in an integrated manner. The book complements the harm-based focus of much social scientific research into health. Invited experts from a wide range of academic disciplines contribute and together the chapters present a new dynamic view of well-being, one that will be crucial for the way in which we will cope with the Twenty-First Century.

This interdisciplinary book indicates the need to address well-being from individual, community and social perspectives in an integrated manner. The book complements the harm-based focus of much social scientific research into health. Chapters by a wide range of academics present a new dynamic view of well-being for the Twenty-First Century.

Segregation: The Rising Costs for America documents how discriminatory practices in the housing markets through most of the past century, and that continue today, have produced extreme levels of residential segregation that result in significant disparities in access to good jobs, quality education, homeownership attainment and asset accumulation between minority and non-minority households.

The book also demonstrates how problems facing minority communities are increasingly important to the nationa (TM)s long-term economic vitality and global competitiveness as a whole. Solutions to the challenges facing the nation in creating a more equitable society are not beyond our ability to design or implement, and it is in the interest of all Americans to support programs aimed at creating a more just society.

The book is uniquely valuable to students in the social sciences and public policy, as well as to policy makers, and city planners.

There is enormous inequality between the income and wealth of the richest 1 percent and all other Americans. While the top 1 percent own 42 percent of all wealth in America, the lower half on the income ladder has only 2 percent of all of the wealth. This book develops a viewpoint contrary to the prevailing conservative paradigm, setting out both reasons for this inequality and the impact of this. To explain inequality, conservative economists focus on individual characteristics such as intelligence and hard work. This book puts forward new evidence to show that changes in economic inequality are primarily due to characteristics inherent in the standard operation of capitalist institutions. Furthermore, the authors seek to explain the cycle of boom and bust by considering political and social factors often overlooked by conservative economists. This book also explores how wealth influences political policies in a way that increases economic inequality even more than its present level. Through analysis of American political and economic institutions, Inequality, Boom, and Bust presents concrete steps for an activist, progressive policy to greatly reduce inequality through free healthcare, free higher education, and reduced unemployment.

There is enormous inequality between the income and wealth of the richest 1 percent and all other Americans. While the top 1 percent own 42 percent of all wealth in America, the lower half on the income ladder has only 2 percent of all of the wealth. This book develops a viewpoint contrary to the prevailing conservative paradigm, setting out both reasons for this inequality and the impact of this. To explain inequality, conservative economists focus on individual characteristics such as intelligence and hard work. This book puts forward new evidence to show that changes in economic inequality are primarily due to characteristics inherent in the standard operation of capitalist institutions. Furthermore, the authors seek to explain the cycle of boom and bust by considering political and social factors often overlooked by conservative economists. This book also explores how wealth influences political policies in a way that increases economic inequality even more than its present level. Through analysis of American political and economic institutions, Inequality, Boom, and Bust presents concrete steps for an activist, progressive policy to greatly reduce inequality through free healthcare, free higher education, and reduced unemployment.

Given the increasing number of old people, the proliferation of books about old age is hardly surprising. Most of these come from cultural historians or social scientists and, when those with a literary background have tackled the subject, they have largely done so through what are known as period studies. In Blasted with Antiquity, David Ellis provides an alternative. Skipping nimbly from Cicero to Shakespeare, and from Wordsworth to Dickens and beyond, he discusses various aspects of old age with the help of writers across European history who have usually been regarded as worth listening to. Eschewing extended literary analyses, Ellis addresses retirement, physical decay, sex in old age, the importance of family, legacy, wills and nostalgia, as well of course as dying itself. While remaining alert to current trends, his approach is consciously that of the old way of teaching English rather than the new. Whether 'blasted with antiquity' like Falstaff in Henry IV Part Two, or with the 'shining morning face' of an unwilling student, his accessible and witty style will appeal to young and old alike.

The concept of sustainability holds that the social, economic, and environmental factors within human communities must be viewed interactively and systematically. Sustainable development cannot be understood apart from a community, its ethos, and ways of life. Although broadly conceived, the pursuit of sustainable development is a local practice because every community has different needs and quality of life concerns. Within this framework, contributors representing the disciplines of anthropology, sociology, geography, economics, law, public policy, architecture, and urban studies explore sustainability in communities in the Pacific, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, and North America. Contributors: Janet E. Benson, Karla Caser, Snjezana Colic, Angela Ferreira, Johanna Gibson, Krista Harper, Paulo Lana, Barbara Yablon Maida, Carl A. Maida, Kenneth A. Meter, Dario Novellino, Deborah Pellow, Claude Raynaut, Thomas F. Thornton, Richard Westra, Magda Zanoni

This informative volume gathers contemporary accounts of the growth, influences on, and impacts of so-called gated communities, developments with walls, gates, guards and other forms of surveillance. While gated communities have become a common feature of the urban landscape in South Africa, Latin and North America, it is also clear that there is now significant interest in gated living in the European and East Asian urban context. The chapters in this book investigate issues and communities such as: gated communities in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, Argentina planning responses to gated communities in Canada who segregates whom? The analysis of a gated community in Mendoza, Argentina sprawl and social segregation in southern California. These illustrative chapters enable the reader to understand more about the social and economic forces that have lead to gating, the ways in which gated communities are managed, and their wider effects on both residents and those living outside the gates. This book was previously published as a special issue of the journal Housing Studies.

This definitive biography tells the story of the former slave Olaudah Equiano (1745?-1797), who in his day was the English-speaking world's most renowned person of African descent. Equiano's greatest legacy is his classic 1789 autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. A key document of the early movement to ban the slave trade, as well as the fundamental text in the genre of the African American slave narrative, it includes the earliest known purported firsthand description by an enslaved victim of the horrific Middle Passage from Africa to the Americas. Equiano, the African is filled with fresh revelations about this many-sided figure.

From civilisational frontier risks associated with new challenges like disruptive technologies, to the shifting nature of great-power conflicts and subversion, the 21stcentury requires a new approach to statecraft. In 21st-Century Statecraft, Professor Nayef Al-Rodhan proposes five innovative statecraft concepts. He makes the case for a new method of geopolitical analysis called 'meta-geopolitics', and for 'dignity-based governance'. He shows how, in an interdependent and interconnected world, traditional thinking must move beyond zero-sum games and focus on 'multi-sum and symbiotic realist' interstate relations. This requires a new paradigm of global security premised on five dimensions of security, and a new concept of power, 'just power', which highlights the centrality of justice to state interests. These concepts enable states to balance competing interests and work towards what the author calls 'reconciliation statecraft'. Throughout, Professor Al-Rodhan brings his philosophical and neuroscientific expertise to bear, providing a practical model for conducting statecraft in a sustainable way.

Heritage and Sustainable Urban Transformations introduces the concept of 'deep cities', a novel approach to the understanding and management of sustainable historic cities that will advance knowledge about how the long-term, temporal and transformative character of urban heritage can be better integrated into urban policies for sustainable futures. Contrary to the growing emphasis on green or smart cities, which focus only on the present and future, the concept of 'deep cities' offers an approach that combines an in-depth understanding of the past with the present and future. Bringing together chapters that cover theoretical, methodological and management issues related to 'deep cities', the volume argues that using this approach will force researchers, managers and consultants to actively use the heritage and history of a city in the planning and management of sustainable cities. Exploring different definitions of 'deep cities', the book reveals varying and sometimes conflicting views among stakeholders concerning how, where and when the depth of a city should be conceptualized. Despite this, the book demonstrates how this new approach can help to create robust cities for the future, as new and innovative solutions are combined with the preservation and strengthening of historical features. Heritage and Sustainable Urban Transformations is the first international collection on the subject of sustainable historic cities. As such, the book will be of great interest to academics and students engaged in the study of heritage, heritage management, architecture, heritage conservation, anthropology, development studies, geography, planning and archaeology.

Community is the dark shadow of sociology - an issue around which sociologists always duck and dive. This book examines the reasons for this reticence through an exegesis of contemporary debates. Additionally it utilizes the work of Hannah Arendt to propose an alternative anti-mechanistic and anti-essentialist approach to community and sociality; an approach that not only moves beyond Foucault and his oppositional work but also offers perhaps the basis for a different approach to politics.