"Dynamic Utopia" articulates a significant theoretical alternative to contemporary social movement theory. In opposition to linear conceptualizations of movement (birth, growth and decay), characteristic of classical and most contemporary social movement theory, the author posits an interpretation of subaltern resistance that attempts to capture its eternal qualities. Through the application of chaos theory DEGREESIDynamic Utopia DEGREESR seeks recognition of the persistence of resistance hovering within civil society, modes of resistance not necessarily involving overt expressions of conflict, the amassing of resources, or the establishment of representative organizations. To that end, it is argued that contemporary intentional communities are indicative of a social movement, seeking as they do a progressive redefinition of fundamental aspects of politics, economics, and culture.

The author's research proceeds by identifying the multiple ways in which intentional communities signify innovations in living, seeking to redefine the experiences of childcare, sex, love, play, conflict resolution, work, cohabitation, food production and distribution, environmentally conscious living, and spirituality. Intentional communities are, it is argued, laboratories for what is possible in the humane development of political, economic, and cultural relations. Analyses are primarily of American intentional communities, with references to communities in Italy and Mexico.

Wood and Zurcher suggest that the social self--its experience and organization--reflects the great transformation of society from industrial to postindustrial. . . . Wood and Zurcher have contributed to our social psychological understanding of self-development in several ways. They pack information about theories of modern self-hood into a well-researched and accessible book. Readers will find a resource on theories of the postmodern self here. The authors also introduce a creative use of computerized content analysis, which they successfully demonstrate by transforming personal documents into social scientific data. Contemporary Sociology According to various observers, the postmodern self represents changes in contemporary culture--from rationality and unemotional performance to irrationality and mysticism; from institutional standards and duty-to-society to individual standards and duty-to-self; from structure and stability to transience and experimentation. Through an analysis of diaries from nineteenth- and twentieth-century Americans, this study deals with the nature of the postmodern self. It provides a framework for understanding the ideas that collectively comprise postmodern self theory and presents empirical data concerning its historical validity. The book reflects the use of a computer approach in which the statistical incidence of particular words is examined over time.

This is a wide-ranging study of electoral politics in England between 1734 and 1832. It analyses the control of the electoral system by the upper classes, the world of the voters, and the function of an election in the unreformed period. The history of the electoral system has been distorted by later emphasis on the extent of corruption in the constituencies. Dr O'Gorman takes us deep into the political underworld normally left undisturbed by historians; that of the committee men, agents, and canvassers who made the unreformed system work for as long as it did. Above all, this book is about the voters - their motivations, prejudices, beliefs and ideals, as well as their numbers and political behaviour. Frank O'Gorman has combined computer analysis with traditional historical methods to reconstruct the social and ideological world of the voters, and argues that an understanding of the electoral dimension is vital to a broader understanding of the Hanoverian regime and its popular acceptance. The interaction of the parliamentary parties at Westminster with the older political culture of the constituencies is traced in the final part of this book. The nature of Hanoverian politics and society have been the subject of much recent debate, and this far-reaching analysis of the electorate takes us to the very heart of that social and political structure.

Though the composition of the populace of industrial nations has changed dramatically since the 1950s, public discourse and scholarship, however, often remain welded to traditional concepts of national cultures, ignoring the multicultural realities of most of today's western societies. Through detailed studies, this volume shows how the diversity affects the personal lives of individuals, how it shapes and changes private, national and international relations and to what extent institutions and legal systems are confronted with changing demands from a more culturally diverse clientele. Far from being an external factor of society, this volume shows, diversity has become an integral part of people's lives, affecting their personal, institutional, and economic interaction.

The 'European project' is in a state of perpetual crisis in which the root cause is a lack of identification by ordinary citizens with Europe and European institutions. The Evolution of European Identities employs state of the art analysis of in-depth interviews by renowned practitioners to give a unique 'bottoms up' perspective on the development (or its lack) of a sense of 'European mental space'. Linking conceptual findings with case studies, the book provides unique insights into groups that have been especially sensitized by their life experiences to question what it means to be European in the twenty-first century. The groups explored in this book include: adults who experienced European education exchanges when young; transnational workers; civil society organization activists; persons involved in cross-border intimate relationships; farmers who are subject to European markets, regulations and subsidies; and migrants into 'fortress Europe'.

The "cultural turn" in sociology created a new interest in power questions. This has led to a renewed interest in conceptual discussions of power in the field of culture studies, whereas empirical work is still less developed. "Comparative Studies of Culture and Power" sets the focus on the uses of cultural and symbolic means in struggles for hegemony: in politics, music markets, literature and the arts. Gender specific uses of rhetorical techniques is one salient theme, struggles for recognition of rhythm and blues music another. Several articles treat the role of the arts in nation building, as well as the role of public monuments in the acknowledgement of war and terrorism. The analyses relate to cultures all over the Western world.

This collection gives voice to the peoples and groups impacted by globalization as they seek to negotiate their identities, language use, and territorial boundaries within a larger global context. Rather than viewing globalization as one-dimensional (i.e., cultural, economic, or political), the approaches taken by the authors reflect a nuanced and multifaceted discussion of globalization that integrates all three perspectives. They explore identity, boundaries, language use, and other issues in the context of specific temporal and spatial contexts.

This rare interdisciplinary combination of research into neighbourhood dynamics and effects attempts to unravel the complex relationship between disadvantaged neighbourhoods and the life outcomes of the residents who live therein. It seeks to overcome the notorious difficulties of establishing an empirical causal relationship between living in a disadvantaged area and the poorer health and well-being often found in such places. There remains a widespread belief in neighbourhood effects: that living in a poorer area can adversely affect residents' life chances. These chapters caution that neighbourhood effects cannot be fully understood without a profound understanding of the changes to, and selective mobility into and out of, these areas. Featuring fresh research findings from a number of countries and data sources, including from the UK, Australia, Sweden and the USA, this book offers fresh perspectives on neighbourhood choice and dynamics, as well as new material for social scientists, geographers and policy makers alike. It enriches neighbourhood effects research with insights from the closely related, but currently largely separate, literature on neighbourhood dynamics.

This book explores the complex problem of how to measure the 'success' of social organisations, projects and activities. Whether improving a local situation, organizing a campaign around sustainability, or assessing the intangible effects of perceived social benefits, currently we have only have a very limited range of mechanisms for judging effectiveness. On the one hand, a market-driven logic demands that qualitative perceptions and experiences are quantified into simplified and numerically defined variables. On the other, community projects are left un-assessed, as one-off outcomes of local and situated processes that must somehow automatically 'make things better'. For academics, researchers and other professionals working in this field this has resulted in the deep frustration of not being able to assess the things that are most centrally important: higher human values such as integrity, trust, respect, equality and social justice. Measuring Intangible Values argues that we can make shared social values - and their measurement - central to decisions about improving civil society. But because these social values are intangible, we need to develop ways of eliciting and validating them at the local level that can capture people's shared meanings across multiple goals and perspectives. We need to develop mechanisms for evaluating whether these values are met that use rigorous but also relevant measures. And we need to develop ways of doing this that are scalable, transferable and comparable across different kinds of organisations and fields of activity. This book will be valuable for researchers in all social science disciplines which touch on human values, such as sociology, social psychology, human geography, social policy, architecture and planning, design and community studies.

This is the ethnography of the "Mykoniots d'election," a 'gang' of romantic adventurers who have been visiting the island of Mykonos for the last thirty-five years and have formed a community of dispersed friends. Their constant return to and insistence on working, acting and creating in a tourist space, offers them an extreme identity, which in turn is aesthetically marked by the transient cultural properties of Mykonos. Drawing semiotically from its ancient counterpart Delos, whose myth of emergence entails a spatial restlessness, contemporary Mykonos also acquires an idiosyncratic fluidity. In mythology Delos, the island of Apollo, was condemned by the gods to be an island in constant movement. Mykonos, as a signifier of a new form of ontological nomadism, semiotically shares such assumptions. "The Nomads of Mykonos" keep returning to a series of alternative affective groups largely in order to heal a split: between their desire for autonomy, rebellion and aloneness and their need to affectively belong to a collectivity. Mykonos for the "Mykoniots d'election" is their permanent 'stopover'; their regular comings and goings discursively project onto Mykonos' space an allegorical (discordant) notion of 'home'.

Pola Bousiou was born and educated in Thessaloniki, Greece, and later at the London School of Economics where she received her PhD in social anthropology. Subsequently she has turned to film-making; in her current research she is exploring the relationship between anthropology and film by deconstructing her auto-ethnographic text into an experimental film narrative.

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.

Throughout the world, governments and intergovernmental organizations, such as the International Organization for Migration are developing new approaches aimed at renewing migration policy-making. This book, now in paperback, critically analyzes the actors, discourses and practices of migration management.

This volume is directed toward researchers and health professionals with an interest in the interstices of social networks and health. It consists of original papers that address critical themes in health-related social network research and disease prevention. The sections discuss the dynamics of social networks and their role in providing social support under varying conditions and contexts; how social network theory and research contribute to disease prevention and control; methodological issues that affect recall and agreement when conducting social network studies; how social networks structure and facilitate or discourage health risk; and the role of network ties in disease prevention. The volume concludes by examining the influence of social support in health promotion, symptom identification and disease management.

Iran's long history and complex cultural legacy have generated animated debates about a homogenous Iranian identity in the face of ethnic, linguistic and communal diversity. The volume examines the fluid boundaries of pre-modern identity in history and literature as well as the shaping of Iranian national identity in the 20th century.

In Western countries, the theories and practices of citizenship and democracy have come under intense scrutiny. These are premised on a relatively autonomous nation state, yet national boundaries are now being tested through globalization. At the same time they are being challenged by new forms of identity based on communities, minorities and transnational belonging. Increasingly, the nation state is incapable of delivering on its promise of economic, political and social rights. The contributions in this book focus on the relationship between citizenship and difference, highlighting new tensions between the local and the global.

An encyclopedic dictionary that treats organizations, persons, and federal legislation that document the history of grass-roots community organizing. Focusing on neighborhood associations in the US from the 1880s to the present, the work includes more than 100 signed entries, which average one to two pages each. Numerous cross-references and thorough name and subject indexes are included. . . . The] excellent bibliographic essay by Robert Fisher contains] 12 pages of accessible books, articles, and papers on the topic as a whole and by time period. The editor has also provided a useful introductory essay on the changing notion of neighborhood. This well-planned and well-edited resource is further enhanced by its attractive typography and layout. Highly recommended to academic libraries with programs in sociology, social work, local politics, and urban history, and to all urban public libraries. "Choice"

This new historical dictionary brings together informaton about the formative years of community organization and material on the more recent explosion in the organization of America's urban areas. The organizational activities included in this volume focus on the geographical community rather than on issue-oriented activities; are dedicated to the involvement of neighborhood residents in both the planning and implementation of local activities; and share a commitment to provide not only fuller services but also to serve as agents for potential social change.

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

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.

Today Capitalism is generally accepted as the only viable socioeconomic system in spite of the stress, moral decay, drug abuse, and crime it fosters. Peeters shows that, before entering the present Materialistic Phase, Western society went through two other phases, the Religious and the Militaristic-Nationalistic Phase. He argues that current social problems arose because the behavior of most people was no longer determined by the laws of Church and State, but instead by the need to be productive and the desire to acquire money and material goods. Peeters shows that Materialism is, however, not the ultimate stage of development of society. A comparison of the three phases and Communism-a rival form of materialistic Phase-shows that Western society is going to enter a Fourth Phase, which Peeters asserts will occur around 2050. Peeters sets out to discover which prominent traits of today's ways of living and acting will be rejected during the transition toward the Fourth Phase and which new characteristics will emerge. The educational system, democracy, the goals of production and income inequality will all have to change when people adapt their aims to the requirements of the Post-Materialistic Phase. The challenge of the forces that now rule people's lives and the rejection of materialism will ultimately recreate a healthy, balanced society. Scholars and researchers in Future Studies as well as concerned citizens will find this a provacative analysis of today's problems and their possible resolution.

Chosen by The Humanitarian Times as one of the Top Ten Titles on Humanitarian Issues of 1998 "Up-to-date material. Fills a fundamental gap in the literature which has tended to be based on pedagogical reasoning rather than actual field research." . Population Index At the start of the 1990s, there was great optimism that the end of the Cold War might also mean the end of the "refugee cycle" - both a breaking of the cycle of violence, persecution and flight, and the completion of the cycle for those able to return to their homes. The 1990s, it was hoped, would become the "decade of repatriation." However, although over nine million refugees were repatriated worldwide between 1991 and 1995, there are reasons to believe that it will not necessarily be a durable solution for refugees. It certainly has become clear that "the end of the refugee cycle" has been much more complex, and ultimately more elusive, than expected. The changing constructions and realities of refugee repatriation provide the backdrop for this book which presents new empirical research on examples of refugee repatriation and reconstruction. Apart from providing up-to-date material, it also fills a more fundamental gap in the literature which has tended to be based on pedagogical reasoning rather than actual field research. Adopting a global perspective, this volume draws together conclusions from highly varied experiences of refugee repatriation and defines repatriation and reconstruction as part of a wider and interrelated refugee cycle of displacement, exile and return. The contributions come from authors with a wealth of relevant practical and academic experience, spanning the continents of Africa, Asia, Central America, and Europe. Richard Black is Lecturer in Human Geography at the School of African and Asian Studies, University of Sussex, where he moved in 1995 from King's College, London. Khalid Koser is Research Fellow in the School of African and Asian Studies, University of Sussex and was previously Research Fellow in the Migration Research Unit at University College, London.