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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social groups & communities > General
This encyclopedia provides detailed information about the historical, cultural, social, religious, economic, and scientific significance of gold, across the globe and throughout history. Gold has been an intrinsic part of human culture and society throughout the world, both in ancient times and in the modern era. This precious metal has also played a central role in economics and politics throughout history. In fact, the value of gold remains a topic of debate amid the current upheavals of economic conditions and attendant reevaluations of modern financial principles. Gold: A Cultural Encyclopedia consists of more than 130 entries that encompass every aspect of gold, ranging from the ancient metallurgical arts to contemporary economies. The connections between these interdisciplinary subjects are explored and analyzed to highlight the many ways humankind's fascination with gold reflects historical, cultural, economic, and geographic developments. While the majority of the works related to gold focus on economic theory, this text goes beyond that to take a more sociocultural approach to the subject. Contains more than 130 A-Z entries on the significance of gold worldwide, from antiquity to the present, from an interdisciplinary perspective, as well as sidebar entries Provides unique details and remarkable scope of facts in each entry along with direct references to and examples of primary source materials Photographs and illustrations of the use and significance of gold as varied as Ca' d'Oro in Venice, royal crowns, filigree, Italian florin coin, Hatshepsut, Rumpelstiltskin, Wat Traimit, and modern "bling" Extensive bibliography including monographs, scholarly articles, newspaper and magazine articles, primary source documents, and online resources Detailed subject index as well as list of entries and guide to related topics
In recent years there has been growing debate among sociologists about the concept of class and its relevance to the highly industrialised world of the late twentieth century. This book makes available in a single volume all of the key contributions to this debate and takes it a step further with a number of specially commissioned pieces. An editorial introduction which sets the main arguments in context, additional commentary and two alternative conclusions help to make this a unique text for a subject that remains crucial yet highly contentious.
This is a detailed study of understanding in a second language, related to the actual lives of minority workers. The focus is on everyday interactions between these workers and the bureaucrats of the society in which they are now resident. It provides an important contribution to the debate about the function of language as a social practice, adding a new perspective to the psycholinguistic and experimental paradigms, currently existing in second language acquisition research.
John E. Tropman examines older Americans and public policy opinion between 1952 and 1978 in order to see just where elder citizens fit in the overall picture. Differences and similarities to opinions of younger groups are discussed along with the changes that took place from the conservative fifties to the liberal sixties and early seventies and back again to the conservatism of the late seventies.
This study of social structures looks at the network approach. It contains non-technical articles that contrast structural analysis with other social scientific approaches. It deals with individual behaviour and identity and with neighbourhood and community ties. It examines the relationships within and between organizations, discussing how firms occupy strategically appropriate niches. It also explores the impact of the growth of the Internet, equating computer networks as social networks connecting people in virtual communities and collaborative work.
In the first book-length study of this topic, D.W. McKiernan examines the way mainstream commercial cinema represents society's complex relationship with the idea and practice of community in the context of rapidly changing social conditions. Films examined include "Fond Kiss," "The Idiots" and "Monsoon Wedding."
This collection examines Axel Honneth's theory of recognition and the crucial role played by the media in struggles for recognition. It brings together debates on controversial aspects of Honneth's work and a set of intriguing empirical studies including with slum-dwelling adolescents, leprosy patients and women exposed to child labor exploitation
Violence has marked relations between blacks and whites in America for nearly four hundred years. In The Lineaments of Wrath, James W. Clarke draws upon behavioral science theory and primary historical evidence to examine and explain its causes and enduring consequences. Beginning with slavery and concluding with the present, Clarke describes how the combined effects of state-sanctioned mob violence and the discriminatory administration of "race-blind" criminal and contract labor laws terrorized and immobilized the black population in the post-emancipation South. In this fashion an agricultural system, based on debt peonage and convict labor, quickly replaced slavery and remained the back-bone of the region's economy well into the twentieth century. Quoting the actual words of victims and witnesses from former slaves to "gangsta" rappers Clarke documents the erosion of black confidence in American criminal justice. In so doing, he also traces the evolution, across many generations, of a black subculture of violence, in which disputes are settled personally, and without recourse to the legal system. That subculture, the author concludes, accounts for historically high rates of black-on-black violence which now threatens to destroy the black inner city from within. The Lineaments of Wrath puts America's race issues into a completely original historical perspective. Those in the fields of political science, sociology, history, psychology, public policy, race relations, and law will find Clarke's work of profound importance.
"Waldren's engaging book is carefully crafted ... a superior guide to both the structure and meaning of community and the pleasures of daily life." . Choice ..". solid accounts of the concepts and social practices related to the casa ... patronage, and social hierarchy ... Waldren] also devotes attention to some less traditional concerns, such as gender, conceptions of social space, tourism, and economic development." . American Anthropologist The indigenous population of Deia has lived side by side with increasing numbers of foreigners over the past century, and what has occurred there over this period offers an example of how the population of one Mediterranean village has gained full advantage from the economic opportunities opened up by foreign investments, without losing the fabric of social relations, the meaning and values of their culture. Deia has been able to continue as a community with its own symbolic boundaries and identity, not in spite of the outsiders (some of whom are well-known literary personalities, artists and musicians) but because of their presence. This study shows how, under the impact of wars, migration, national politics, global economic and technological developments and especially tourism, the categories of Insider and Outsider are contracted and expanded, and reinterpreted to fit the constantly changing "reality" of the society; they assume different meanings at different times. The conflicts and resulting compromises over a hundred-year period have provided a sense of history that allows each group to define, develop, adapt and sustain their sense of belonging to their own communities.
Recognition lies at the heart of multiple contests around citizenship rights, identity politics, claims for material re-distribution, and demands for past harms to be acknowledged. This book seeks to consider where various contemporary contests over recognition are taking us. By looking at disputes around disability, race and ethnicity, nationalism, class, sexuality and ownership of the past, it explores the contemporary significance of recognition claims. In reflection of the global contexts of such disputes, the book draws on accounts from Europe, the USA, Latin America, the Middle East and Australasia. In doing so the book explores the following questions: Do we live in a moment where recognition is opening up to allow for greater space for varied or hybrid forms of living and mutual valuation, provided with rights and protection? Or is recognition paradoxically a means to narrow down options to more restrictive categories of acceptable ways of living and legitimate access to rights?
The first edition of Spatial Divisions of Labour rapidly became a classic. It had enormous influence on thinking about uneven development, the nature of economic space, and the conceptualisation of place arguing for an approach embedding all these issues in a notion of spatialised social relations. This second edition includes a new first chapter and an extensive additional concluding essay addressing key issues in the debates and controversies which followed initial publication.
This volume takes the unexplored and timely approach of studying the differences between the rural and urban poor. The studies presented conclude that rural poverty is more likely than its urban counterpart to be caused by inadequate unemployment compensation, rising unemployment, depression in the agricultural sector (the farm crisis), and discriminatory welfare regulations. As well as establishing the differences, the contributors elucidate the alternate strategies necessary to reach this less visible but equally needy group. They also suggest alternate reforms designed to mitigate poverty in rural America. Inequitable treatment of the rural poor is evidenced by the fact that although, by conventional measures at least, poverty rates are higher in rural than in urban regions of this country, the rural poor are far less likely to receive assistance. One significant reason is that the rural poor are more often employed and more likely to have assets that make them ineligible for benefits. This is only one of several indications that rural poverty requires specifically tailored programs to address its unique causes and problems. The work begins with an examination of ways of measuring poverty and goes on to look at the utilization of welfare programs. Two essays are then devoted to the role of the labor force. The work concludes with three approaches to reform. An index and a bibliography complete the volume, which will provide fresh research and insights for courses in poverty, rural sociology, and rural economic development.
In this meticulously researched and compelling study, David Sim reconstructs the social setting of the Matthean community at the time the Gospel was written and traces its full history.Dr Sim argues that the Matthean community should be located in Antioch towards the latter part of the first century. He acknowledges the dispute within the early Christian movement and its importance. He defines more accurately the distinctive perspectives of the two streams of thought and their respective relationships to Judaism. A new and important work in Matthean studies.>
DESCRIPTION: People with mental illness in the criminal justice system are a vexing problem in many countries. Efforts to cope with this problem have taken a number of forms and this volume explores the key issues in this area. Whether and to what extent any of these efforts achieve their goals remains a significant question for researchers from a range of disciplines and for actors and stakeholders from various sectors of the mental health and criminal justice systems TABLE OF CONTENTS: Contributors; Introduction; Criminal Justice Involvement and Severe Mental Illness; Where is the 'illness' in the criminalization of mental illness?; Treatment Modalities for Offenders with Mental Illness; Community mental health services and criminal justice involvement among persons with mental illness; Case management and the forensic client; The impact of 'new generation' anti-psychotic medications on criminal justice outcomes; Embedding Community Mental Health Service System Interventions in the Criminal Justice Process: From Arrest to Release; Jail diversion for people with mental illness: what do we really know); The nature of the alliance: an anthropological look at the practice of forensic psychiatry; Courting the court: courts as agents for treatment and justice; Prison, hospital or community: community re-entry and mentally ill offenders.
Opening with a discussion of the key issues of globalization, migration, multiculturalism, multilingualism and global cities, David Block then turns to four detailed case studies: East Asian students living and working in London; foreign language teachers from France; London's growing Latino community; and second generation South Asian university students. Via these case studies the book explores the ambivalent and multi-layered identities of individuals who have crossed geographical and psychological borders during the course of their lifetimes and settled in London, the quintessential global city.
This book looks at Kurdish Nationalism in Iran and examines the links between the structural changes in the Kurdish economy and its political demands. Farideh Koohi Kamali argues that the transition of the nomadic, tribal society of Kurdistan to an agrarian village society was the beginning of a process by which Kurds saw themselves as a community of homogenous ethnic identity. The political movements of Kurds in Iran are discussed to illustrate that the different phases of economic development of Kurdish society played a great role in determining the way in which Kurds expressed their political demands for independence. MARKET 1: Postgraduates studying Middle East Studies; Development Studies; Ethnicity and Nationalism; International Studies; Refugee Studies; Peace Studies
Religion and the Social Order
In this book, the author gives the background to the 15-year-long saga of Hong Kong and the asylum seekers from Vietnam. In the run-up to 1997 - when the territory will become a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China - there has been increasing tension associated with the presence of 50,000 Vietnamese men, women and children in Hong Kong. The majority of the people who fled from Vietnam are imprisoned in what has often been described as "appalling conditions' by a local adminstration that has been unable to find a solution to the problem.;The principal themes of the book cover screening and repatriation, the violence in the detention centres, the plight of children and the urgent need for the international community to be more generous to a group of people suffering from the horrors of war.;The author points to the wasted opportunities and the "unlived lives" of thousands of ordinary people from Vietnam who have been physically and emotionally bruised by the politics of another era, and the entrenched positions and vested interests of the Hong Kong, British and United States Governments.
A complementary companion to the author's Dictionary of Medieval Knighthood: Concepts and Terms (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1986), this takes the Norman conquest of England in 1066 as its starting point and the late fourteenth century, marked by the unsuccessful revolt of the English peasantry in 1381, as its concluding point. The categories named in the subtitle encompass knights, nobles, rulers, clerics, fictional characters, literary works, chansons de geste, castles, battles, treaties, legal terms, and the authors whose works historical and fictional have transmitted the medieval heritage to later ages. Largely confining his scope to Anglo-Norman chivalry and politics, Broughton describes and analyzes the roles people, events, and places played in a colorful and bloody age. Within articles cross-references to other entries in this volume and the Concepts and Terms volume are nearly as thick as the rain of arrows from battlements during battle. This thorough cross-referencing is especially helpful to the casual reader who approaches these books without a background knowledge of knighthood and its social, political, and military dimensions. Together these two dictionaries offer modern readers the means to understand the medieval world. Wilson Library Bulletin This work, a companion volume to the Dictionary of Medieval Knighthood and Chivalry: Concepts and Terms (Greenwood Press, 1986), is designed to help the uninitiated reader understand more easily the development and growth of chivalry and knighthood in the medieval age. Focusing primarily on people, places, and events in France and England, Broughton provides a brief biography of major historical knights and other personages of note, descriptions of important literary knightly characters and the works in which they appear, identification of castles and other places of geographical interest, and accounts of major battles during the period 1050-1400. The entries are all arranged alphabetically, and virtually all include a reference to the primary scholarly works on the subject. Frequent cross references are made to the Concepts and Terms volume and to related entries in the present volume, enabling the researcher to find materials of interest easily. Broad in scope, the dictionary covers issues ranging from the Battle of Hastings, which brought the concept of knighthood to England in 1066, to the battle of Crecy (1346) and Poiters (1356) and the legendary Knights of King Arthur's Round Table. A significant contribution to the study of medieval history and literature, this volume will be an indispensable aid to students pursuing research in this area.
This book presents accounts of fieldwork conducted in French Louisiana by anthropologists and folklorists between the 1970s and 2000 and looks at the personal, ethical, political, and scientific issues researchers need to confront and resolve when they attempt to explain a modern complex culture by using the traditional tools and methods of anthropology, participant observation, and interviews. The study casts a critical look at the core anthropological concepts of field, informants, and knowledge. In line with the ongoing reassessment of these concepts, it proposes that the field, identities, and knowledge acquired through research are not set, given entities but rather are a matter of construction. It shows how the personal profiles of the researchers (native or outsider, activist or academic, man or woman, black or white) contribute to frame the research. It illustrates the shifting of these identities during and after the research in response to personal, relational, and political circumstances. It also considers the application of the knowledge derived from research in the fields of tourism, cultural activism, and language policy in the context of the cultural renaissance experienced by Cajuns and Creoles over the past decades.
This is the seventh volume in a series designed to publish theoretical, empirical and review papers on scientific human ecology. Human ecology is interpreted to include structural and functional changes in human social organization and sociocultural systems. |
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