This study is a portrayal of the political, economic, and cultural history and present of community gardens in a New York City neighborhood, the Lower East Side of Manhattan. An ethnographic study of a particular instance of urban history, it provides a basis for an understanding of urban community gardens in the United States. Beginning with a historical overview of urban community gardening in the United States and other countries, the author concentrates on the last two decades of the 20th century in this portrayal of a social movement that seeks to impact urban environments both in social and economic terms and in terms of ecological dynamics. The last decade in particular has been critical with regard to the development of a broad network of community-based coalitions acting on behalf of urban community gardens.

The author considers internal dynamics and organization of individual gardens within the specific social, political, and economic context of the Lower East Side and analyzes the political struggle on behalf of community gardens in that neighborhood and the entire city. The author also addresses the diverse ways in which community gardens on the Lower East Side have become critical components in the daily life of urban gardeners, predominantly poor and low-income people.

Social scientists are motivated to understand how various facets of society influence all sorts of behavior. Individual's perceptions about their significance in a given community can have meaningful effects on the way in which we look to communities to develop and foster democratic values and promote civic engagement. The focus of this book is on how community comes to influence political behavior; it takes an interdisciplinary approach blending the fields of community psychology, sociology, and political science. We know from previous research that the context in which an individual interacts influences his/her political behaviors and attitudes. With this in mind, the present research addresses two major questions, 1) how does sense of community influence political behavior and attitudes? and 2) what impact--if any--does involvement in multiple contexts have on political behavior and attitudes?

Although much has been written about how organizations renew themselves, little attention has been given to why they go into decline. Mary Guy's groundbreaking new study looks at both sides of the issue, first analyzing the symptoms of and reasons for organizational decline, and then exploring the requirements for renewal. Drawing upon her own original research and a detailed examination of case studies in both the public and private sector, Guy takes as her conceptual framework the theories that have informed organizational development research. She traces the decline-followed-by-renewal process, proposing an integrated model of organizational decline that includes certain identifiable stages of health and resilience common to all organizations in turmoil.

Guy's analytical framework can be effectively used to pinpoint the position of any organization--large or small, public or private, old or new. She explains how people behave in organizations under stress and outlines the enduring characteristics of organizations in the decline and renewal stages. Numerous examples illustrate the actual process of decline and renewal in real-world settings--small businesses, large corporations, hospitals, schools, voluntary agencies, and government agencies, including the Johnson White House during the Vietnam War. An entire chapter is devoted to tracing the path of decline within NASA's manned space flight program and looking toward its future. Students of organizational development and management theory will find here important new insights into the dynamics of organizational decline and the period of renewed vigor that often follows.

Modern Germany explores life, society, and history in this comprehensive thematic encyclopedia, spanning such topics as geography, pop culture, the media, and gender. Germany and its capital, Berlin, were the fulcrum of geopolitics in the twentieth century. After the Second World War, Germany was a divided nation. Many German citizens were born and educated and continued to work in eastern Germany (the former German Democratic Republic). This title in the Understanding Modern Nations series seeks to explain contemporary life and traditional culture through thematic encyclopedic entries. Themes in the book cover geography; history; politics and government; economy; religion and thought; social classes and ethnicity; gender, marriage, and sexuality; education; language; etiquette; literature and drama; art and architecture; music and dance; food; leisure and sports; and media and pop culture. Within each theme, short topical entries cover a wide array of key concepts and ideas, from LGBTQ issues in Germany to linguistic dialects to the ever-famous Oktoberfest. Geared specifically toward high school and undergraduate German students, readers interested in history and travel will find this book accessible and engaging. Provides examples of how the post-war division of Germany continues to play a role in German society Discusses German politics as well as the nation's role in the European Union Contains contemporary, first-person accounts of everyday life in Germany in a "Day in the Life" appendix Illuminates the text through photos that illustrate key topics Provides fun facts and anecdotal information in sidebars, helping to engage readers

This unique collection of thoughtful and provocative essays brings together the personal retrospectives of seventeen of the most prominent American futurists. Their reflections on how the reality of the 1980s differs from what was anticipated, and what has been learned about social and technological change will provide important reading for futurists and planners who must confront a constantly changing horizon.

This collection brings together new research on contemporary media, politics and power. It explores ways and means through which media can and do empower or dis-empower citizens at the margins that is, how they act as vehicles of, or obstacles to, civic agency and social change.

Through in-depth interviews with 22 New Agers and Neo-Pagans, this study proposes a new model of religious identity from a sociological standpoint. The analysis demonstrates that in spite of their great diversity of beliefs and lack of strong organizational ties, a discernible community of alternative spiritualists does exist. This volume will appeal not only to scholars of the sociology of religion, but also to sociologists interested in community building, social movements, and self-identity.

provides an important and timely contribution to an emergent body of work, reflecting increasing interest in the internationalisation of education and the transnational mobility of students worldwide. The last two decades have seen the dramatic expansion and consolidation of what has astutely been called an international education industry, involving the increased marketisation and branding of education at the national and institutional levels, the development of educational courses geared towards attracting international students, the establishment of offshore schools and university campuses by Western institutions in Asia, and, most conspicuously, the mobility of nearly 3 million international students as they seek out valuable and internationally recognised academic credentials outside their home countries. These students are cognisant of an emergent global map of cultural capital, and the means by which this cultural capital can be converted into economic capital in an international, knowledge-based labour market. Drawing on the work of Pierre Bourdieu and other more recent contributors to the geography and sociology of education, this innovative book sets out an agenda for examining and understanding the transnational mobility of international students and the important national and institutional contexts within which they move. Its striking conclusions are based on substantive empirical research in Canada and Hong Kong, involving in-depth interviews with transnational students and a number of institutional actors directly involved in the internationalization of education. Education, Migration, and Cultural Capital in the Chinese Diaspora would be of significant interest to academics working in the fields of human geography, sociology, social anthropology, migration studies, and education, and is also a valuable text for any educational practitioners involved in the process of internationalisation .

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.

"Deniers of climate change have benefited from political strategies developed by conservative think tanks and public relations experts paid handsomely by the energy industry. With this book, environmental activists can benefit from some scholarly attention turned to their efforts. This book exhibits the best that public scholarship has to offer. Its authors utilize sophisticated rhetorical theory and criticism to uncover the inventional constraints and possibilities for participants at various sites of the Step-It-Up day of climate activism. What makes this book especially valuable is that it is not only directed to fellow communication scholars, but is written in a clear and accessible style to bring the insights of an academic field to a broader public of activists committed to building an environmental social movement." - Prof. Leah Ceccarelli, University of Washington "This is an unusually interesting volume grounded in a sustained and coordinated analysis of the Step It Up campaign. Generating a multifaceted and shared archive for analyzing the SIU campaign on global warming, the volume's multiple authors critically examine intersecting dimensions of the SIU campaign-its persuasive strategies, organizational dynamics, and political practices for everyday citizens-with an eye on implications for enhancing the larger environmental movement. Readers with a practical and theoretical interest in social and political movements will find this book engaging and leavened with heuristic value." - Professor Robert L. Ivie, Indiana University, Bloomington

This book delves into the legal traditions that relegated women to an inferior social and legal status worldwide. Winnie Hazou probes the nature of law, changes in legislation, and the trend of modern law toward a social engineering that effects gender equality. Hazou analyzes changes in major areas of women's lives, such as family, employment, and the acquisition of social power. She presents a global perspective of women's status and discusses international law aimed at eliminating the exploitation and abuse of women. The book highlights five countries, exploring the cultural basis for and social attitudes toward the position of women in each country. Students and scholars of women's studies will find this book a valuable resource.

The book concludes that both national and international law are slowly evolving into an effective tool for the elimination of discrimination against women. In spite of residual traditions, and beliefs across all cultures concerning gender roles, there is great institutional support in governments as well as the United Nations to elevate the status of women. This book combines the sociology of women and the sociology of law to give a global perspective on not only the current position of women but the changes that are occurring in their lives.

Explains the failure-on both sides of the aisle-of the War on Poverty The much-heralded War on Poverty has failed. The number of children living in poverty is steadily on the rise and an increasingly destructive underclass brutalizes urban neighborhoods. America's patience with the poor seems to have run out: even cities that have traditionally been havens for the homeless are arresting, harassing, and expelling their street people. In this timely work, William Kelso analyzes how the persistence of poverty has resulted in a reversal of liberal and conservative positions during the last thirty years. While liberals in the 1960s hoped to eliminate the causes of poverty, today they increasingly seem resigned to merely treating its effects. The original liberal objective of giving the poor a helping hand by promoting equal opportunity has given way to a new agenda of entitlements and equal results. In contrast, conservatives who once suggested that trying to eliminate poverty was futile, now seek ways to eradicate the actual causes of poverty. Poverty and the Underclass suggests that the arguments of both the left and right are misguided and offers new explanations for the persistence of poverty. Looking beyond the codewords that have come to obscure the debate-underclass, family values, the culture of poverty,-Kelso emphasizes that poverty is not a monolithic condition, but a vast and multidimensional problem. During his Presidential campaign, Bill Clinton called for an overhaul of the welfare system and spoke of a new covenant to unite both the left and right in developing a common agenda for fighting poverty. In this urgent, landmark work, William Kelso merges conservative, radical, and liberal ideals to suggest how the intractable problem of poverty may be solved at long last by implementing the principles of this new covenant.

This volume takes a completely new look at two controversial topics: American anti-Communism and the Cold War. First, it reveals the little known history of anti-Communism in the US from the point of view of ethnic refugee/emigre groups, and also offers insight into the lives of minority groups that have hitherto not received scholarly attention, often due to their politically controversial position. The book consists of chapters dedicated to particular ethnic groups, as well as an introduction and conclusion. The discussed groups include Latvians, Ukrainians, Albanians, Bulgarians, Slovaks, Vietnamese, Hmong and Cubans, possibly also Hungarians or Romanians. The introduction provides the historical and sociological framework, and the conclusion undertakes a comparative analysis of ethnic anti-Communism and refugee politics.

The book analyses intersections between gender and diversity through cross-national studies of European public spheres. It explores key questions like to what extent female citizens and migrant/minority groups are included/ excluded in European public spheres and how they contribute to these emerging spheres. Reflections about European equality and diversity issues are based on new research from a large-scale EU project. The theoretical part poses questions of ethno-national diversity and gender from the European context and applies an intersectionality approach to research about the European public spheres. The empirical part contains cross-country and regional case studies comparing the attitudes of collective actors (political parties, NGOs, media) towards gender and ethno-national diversity.

This book presents 18 essays by leading scholars covering mortuary analysis, the archaeology of foraging and agricultural societies, cultural evolution, and archaeological method and theory, which transcend the processual/postprocessual debate in archaeology and provide examples of how archaeologists think about, and go about, studying the past. As archaeology encounters the 21st century, debate over the nature of the discipline dominates professional discourse. Archaeologists are embattled over isms: processualism, postprocessualism, scientism, and humanism are ubiquitous buzzwords in the literature. Yet archaeology is a craft practiced by individuals, learned from and influenced by other individuals. Sometimes a peson, through sheer force of intellectual spirit, rises above the debate to make a mark on the field in ways that cross out schools, paradigms, and factions. It is fitting to look back at the influence one such individual has had on archaeological methods, theory, data collection, and syntheses over the last half century. This volume draws on the experience of students and colleagues who worked with and were strongly influenced by James A. Brown's approach to the past. The volume is divided into five categories, each reflecting one distinctive facet of Brown's affect on archaeology: mortuary analysis, foraging and horticultural societies, complex agriculturalists, proto-historic and historic societies, and method and theory. These diverse categories, with articles by archaeologists of many backgrounds, are drawn together by the threads of Brown's intellectual legacy. Not all authors here are in agreement with Brown's views on their subjects, but all acknolwedge that his work in the area sets a standard that needs to be met if one is to succeed.

Setting out to correct the inadequacies of many written accounts of slavery, teacher and social activist Octavia Albert added her own incisive commentary to the personal narratives of former slaves. Her early interviews, like many antebellum slave narratives, depict cruel punishments, divided families, and debilitating labour. Seeing herself as a public advocate for social change, Albert called for every Christian's personal acceptance of responsibility for slavery's legacies and lessons. As well as its historical value, the book has many merits as a work of literature, using dialogue and experiments with dialect, and incorporating songs and poems in the text.

A bright portrait of modern Africa that pushes back against harmful stereotypes to tell a more comprehensive story.

You already know these stereotypes. So often Africa is depicted simplistically as an arid red landscape of famines and safaris, uniquely plagued by poverty and strife.

In this funny and insightful book, Dipo Faloyin offers a much-needed corrective. He examines each country's colonial heritage, and explores a wide range of subjects, from chronicling urban life in Lagos and the lively West African rivalry over who makes the best Jollof rice, to the story of democracy in seven dictatorships and the dangers of stereotypes in popular culture.

By turns intimate and political, Africa Is Not A Country brings the story of the continent towards reality, celebrating the energy and fabric of its different cultures and communities in a way that has never been done before.