Environmental movements are at a crossroads. Increasingly institutionalized almost everywhere in the industrially developed societies, established environmental organizations are confronted by new radical groups and uninstitutionalized local protesters. Despite growing evidence of the universality of environmental problems and of economic and cultural globalization, the development of a truly global environmental movement is at best tentative. The dilemmas which confront environmental organizations are no less apparent at the global than at national levels. This volume is a collection of 1990s research on environmental movements in western and southern Europe, the US and the global arena.

There is no denying that friendship, however narrow or broad the definition, is dynamic and highly responsive to socio-cultural and environmental factors. Urban Youth Friendships and Community Practice highlights the greater importance of friendships in circumstances where youth have been marginalized and have limited access to instrumental resources that restrict geographical mobility or curtail their movement to limited public spaces (in which they are validated, and even liked or admired). Youth friendships are not limited to peer-networks; they can cross other social divides and involve adults of all ages. Indeed, community practice and asset assessment approaches are increasingly focusing on the relevance of strong peer relationships and networks as strengths upon which to build. Friendships, therefore, are a community asset and as such could be included as a key aspect of community asset assessments and interventions. Community organizations, schools, religious institutions, and other less-formal groups provide practitioners with ample opportunities to foster urban youth friendships. This book seeks to accomplish four goals: (1) provide a state of knowledge on the definition, role, and importance of friendships in general and specifically on urban youth of color (African-American, Asia and Latinos); (2) draw implications for community practice scholarship and practice; (3) illustrate how friendships can be a focus of a community capacity enhancement assets paradigm through the use of case illustrations; and (4) provide a series of recommendations for how urban friendships can be addressed in graduate level social work curriculum but with implications for other helping professions. Urban Youth Friendships and Community Practice is a must-have for community practitioners, whether their focus be social work, recreation, education, planning, or out-of-school programming.

Rather than focusing upon advanced countries, where civil society growth is seen as a post-market development, this volume explores developing countries, with case studies examining grassroots developments and experiences. The desirability, efficiency and effectiveness of market institutions as viewed by civil society organizations is addressed in this important collection, which moves the debate from acceptance or criticism of global markets to focus upon the case of rural development where local social relations and economic exchange remain more powerful and relevant than the operation of markets .

The past decade has seen the emergence of new types of trade union representatives attracting new and more diverse activists; this book explores their motivations and values, drawing upon the voices of the activists themselves and capturing the relationship between work, social identity and class consciousness.

This book explores leisure-related voluntary associations in France during the nineteenth century as practical expressions of the Revolutionary concept of fraternite. Using a mass of unpublished sources in provincial and national archives, it analyses the history, geography and cultural significance of amateur musical societies and sports clubs in eleven departements of France between 1848 and 1914. It demonstrates that, although these voluntary associations drew upon and extended the traditional concept of cooperation and community, and the Revolutionary concept of fraternity, they also incorporated the fundamental characteristics of competition and conflict. Although intended to produce social harmony, in practice they reflected the ideological hostilities and cultural tensions that permeated French society in the nineteenth century.

Few terms elicit such strong and varied feelings and yet have so little clarity as "democracy." Leaders of large states use "democracy" to designate their nations' public character even as critics and rivals use the term to validate their own political perspectives. In Envisioning Democracy, the editors and contributors address the following questions: What does democracy mean today? What could it mean tomorrow? What is the dynamic of democracy in an increasingly interdependent world? Envisioning Democracy explores these questions amid the dynamic of democracy as a political phenomenon interacting with forms of economic, ethical, ethnic, and intellectual life. The book draws on the work of Sheldon S. Wolin (1922-2015), one of the most influential American theorists of the last fifty years. Here, scholars consider the historical conditions, theoretical elements, and practical impediments to democracy, using Wolin's insights as touchstones in thinking through the possibilities and obstacles facing democracy now and in the future.

Since the 1980s, neoliberalism has had a major impact on social life and, in turn, research in the social sciences. Emerging from the crisis of the Keynesian welfare state, neoliberalism describes a social transformation that has impacted relationships between citizens and the state, consumers and the market, and individuals and groups. Neoliberal Contentions offers original essays that explore neoliberalism in its various guises. It includes chapters on economic policy and restructuring, resource extraction, multiculturalism and equality, migration and citizenship, health reform, housing policy, and 2SLGBTQ communities. Drawing on the work of influential Canadian political economist Janine Brodie, the contributors use Brodie's scholarship as a springboard for their own distinct analyses of pressing political and social issues. Acknowledging neoliberalism's crises, failures, and contradictions, this collection contends with neoliberalism by "diagnosing the present," situating the phenomenon within a broader historical and political-economic context and observing instances in which neoliberal rationality is reinforced as well as resisted.

In the coming decade, we may see the advent of multinational federalism on an international scale. As great powers and international organizations become increasingly uncomfortable with the creation of new states, multinational federalism is now an important avenue to explore, and in recent decades, the experiences of Canada and Quebec have had a key influence on the approaches taken to manage national and community diversity around the world. Drawing on comparative scholarship and several key case studies (including Scotland and the United Kingdom, Catalonia and Spain, and the Quebec-Canada dynamic, along with relations between Indigenous peoples and various levels of government), The Legitimacy Clash takes a fresh look at the relationship between majorities and minorities while exploring theoretical advances in both federal studies and contemporary nationalisms. Alain-G. Gagnon critically examines the prospects and potential for a multinational federal state, specifically for nations seeking affirmation in a hostile context. The Legitimacy Clash reflects on the importance of legitimacy over legality in assessing the conflicts of claims.

The senses are made, not given. This revolutionary realization has come as of late to inform research across the social sciences and humanities, and is currently inspiring groundbreaking experimentation in the world of art and design, where the focus is now on mixing and manipulating the senses. The Sensory Studies Manifesto tracks these transformations and opens multiple lines of investigation into the diverse ways in which human beings sense and make sense of the world. This unique volume treats the human sensorium as a dynamic whole that is best approached from historical, anthropological, geographic, and sociological perspectives. In doing so, it has altered our understanding of sense perception by directing attention to the sociality of sensation and the cultural mediation of sense experience and expression. David Howes challenges the assumptions of mainstream Western psychology by foregrounding the agency, interactivity, creativity, and wisdom of the senses as shaped by culture. The Sensory Studies Manifesto sets the stage for a radical reorientation of research in the human sciences and artistic practice.

Grounded in extensive historical research, this eye-opening survey reveals the long-undervalued role secret societies have played in American history. Americans are fascinated by secret societies and have devoured exaggerated claims for their influence. At the same time, scholarly assessments of covert groups that have shaped American social, cultural, and political history have often undervalued their role or even questioned their existence. This survey challenges both the exaggerators and the deniers. Freemasons? They may not be the hidden rulers of the world, but a significant number of America's founders were Masons. The Know Nothings? Two American presidents joined the movement. The Bohemian Grove? Republican politicians and corporate leaders really did engage in strange behavior under the redwood trees through the 20th century. Revealing fascinating facts about some of the most talked-about covert societies, including the Mafia, the Skull and Bones and the Ku Klux Klan, Secret Societies and Clubs in American History exposes the truth about the subcultures that made their mark on some of the most important events in the nation's history and contributed to the shaping of the country itself. Based on scholarly research, this book appeals to both academics and the general public Sheds light on familiar figures from American history Includes photographs

Income inequality has skyrocketed in Canada over the past few decades. The rich have become richer, while the average household income has deteriorated and job quality has plummeted. Common explanations for these trends point to globalization, technology, or other forces largely beyond our control. But, as Jobs with Inequality shows, there is nothing inevitable about inequality. Rather, runaway inequality is the result of politics and policies - what governments have done to aid the rich and boost finance and what they have not done to uphold the interests of workers. Drawing on new tax and income data, John Peters tells the story of how inequality is unfolding in Canada today by examining post-democracy, financialization, and labour market deregulation. Timely and novel, Jobs with Inequality explains how and why business and government have rewritten the rules of the economy to the advantage of the few, and considers why progressive efforts to reverse these trends have so regularly run aground.

In Spain, on May 15, 2011, a movement against austerity measures began. In a time when representative democracies were under threat, 15M came to life as a virtuous and democratic response to the slide into far-right populism and authoritarianism. More than a social movement, 15M became a mode of being with transformative, democratizing potential. In Democracy Here and Now, Pablo Ouziel offers a grounded analysis of 15M. At the time of the movement and during the ensuing encampments, Ouziel travelled extensively, speaking to participants, and keeping an ongoing record of his conversations. Presenting an original participatory mode of research, the book reveals six types of intersubjective, "joining hands" relationships that 15M has brought into being and works to carry on in creative ways. The book shows how the movement's way of being and temporality persists in Spain following the square occupations, while 15M citizens continue to learn and move forward in less perceptible ways. Democracy Here and Now sheds light on a deeply relational, intersectional, and eco-social mode of democracy, and shows how 15M's ongoing democratization practices are exemplary of similar grassroots movements around the world, broadening our understandings of what it means to be democratic in the here and now.

In the coming decade, we may see the advent of multinational federalism on an international scale. As great powers and international organizations become increasingly uncomfortable with the creation of new states, multinational federalism is now an important avenue to explore, and in recent decades, the experiences of Canada and Quebec have had a key influence on the approaches taken to manage national and community diversity around the world. Drawing on comparative scholarship and several key case studies (including Scotland and the United Kingdom, Catalonia and Spain, and the Quebec-Canada dynamic, along with relations between Indigenous peoples and various levels of government), The Legitimacy Clash takes a fresh look at the relationship between majorities and minorities while exploring theoretical advances in both federal studies and contemporary nationalisms. Alain-G. Gagnon critically examines the prospects and potential for a multinational federal state, specifically for nations seeking affirmation in a hostile context. The Legitimacy Clash reflects on the importance of legitimacy over legality in assessing the conflicts of claims.

Free expression is under threat. Social media and "fake news," misinformation, and disinformation have prompted governments to propose new forms of regulation that are deeply challenging to free expression. Hate speech, far-right populism, campus speech debates, and censorship consistently make headlines in Canada and abroad. Dilemmas of Free Expression offers forward-looking appraisals of ways to confront challenging moral issues, policy problems, and controversies that pay heed to the fundamental right to free expression. The essays in this volume offer timely analyses of the law, policy, and philosophical challenges, and social repercussions to our understanding of expressive freedom in relation to government obligations and public discourse. Free expression and its limits are multifaceted, deeply complex, inherently values-based, and central to the ability of a society to function. Dilemmas of Free Expression addresses the challenges of limiting free expression across a host of issues through an analyses by leading and emerging voices in a number of disciplines, including political science, law, philosophy, and Indigenous studies.

Despite decades of efforts to combat homelessness, many people continue to experience it in Canada's major cities. There are a number of barriers that prevent effective responses to homelessness, including a lack of agreement on the fundamental question: what is homelessness? In Multiple Barriers, Alison Smith explores the forces that shape intergovernmental and multilevel governance dynamics to help better understand why, despite the best efforts of community and advocacy groups, homelessness remains as persistent as ever. Drawing on nearly 100 interviews with key actors in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal, as well as extensive participant observation, Smith argues that institutional differences across cities interact with ideas regarding homelessness to contribute to very different models of governance. Multiple Barriers shows that the genuine involvement of locally based service providers, with the development of policy, are necessary for an effective, equitable, and enduring solution to the homelessness crisis in Canada.

Coloniality and Racial (In)Justice in the University examines the disruption and remaking of the university at a moment in history when white supremacist politics have erupted across North America, as have anti-racist and anti-colonial movements. Situating the university at the heart of these momentous developments, this collection debunks the popular claim that the university is well on its way to overcoming its histories of racial exclusion. Written by faculty and students located at various levels within the institutional hierarchy, this book demonstrates how the shadows of settler colonialism and racial division are reiterated in "newer" neoliberal practices. Drawing on critical race and Indigenous theory, the chapters challenge Eurocentric knowledge, institutional whiteness, and structural discrimination that are the bedrock of the institution. The authors also analyse their own experiences to show how Indigenous dispossession, racial violence, administrative prejudice, and imperialist militarization shape classroom interactions within the university.

The Middle East has not, historically, been a first-order priority for Canadian foreign and defence policy. Most major Canadian decisions on the Middle East have come about through ad hoc decision-making rather than strategic necessity. Balancing international obligations with domestic goals, Canadian relations with this region try to find a balance between meeting alliance obligations and keeping domestic constituents content. Middle Power in the Middle East delves into some of Canada's key bilateral relations with the Middle East and explores the main themes in Canada's regional presence: arms sales, human rights, defence capacity-building, and mediation. Contributors analyse the key drivers of Canada's foreign and defence policies in the Middle East, including diplomatic relations with the United States, ideology, and domestic politics. Bringing together many of Canada's foremost experts on Canada-Middle East relations, this collection provides a fresh perspective that is particularly timely and important following the Arab uprisings.

Exploring pressing questions around Canadian citizenship, Canada in Question delves into contemporary issues that come into play in identifying what it means to be Canadian. Beginning with an update on the status of Canadian citizenship, Peter MacKinnon acknowledges that with the exception of Indigenous peoples, most Canadians migrated to Canada in the last 400 years. In surveying the status of citizenship, the author addresses the impact of these newcomers on Indigenous peoples, and the subsequent impression that the following influx of new immigrants and migrants has had on citizenship. MacKinnon investigates the ties that bind Canadians to their country and to their fellow citizens, and how these ties are often challenged by global influences, such as identity politics and social media. Shedding light on the connection between economic opportunity and citizenship, and on the institutional context in which differences must be accommodated, Canada in Question examines current circumstances and new challenges, and looks to the unique future of Canadian citizenship.

Exploring pressing questions around Canadian citizenship, Canada in Question delves into contemporary issues that come into play in identifying what it means to be Canadian. Beginning with an update on the status of Canadian citizenship, Peter MacKinnon acknowledges that with the exception of Indigenous peoples, most Canadians migrated to Canada in the last 400 years. In surveying the status of citizenship, the author addresses the impact of these newcomers on Indigenous peoples, and the subsequent impression that the following influx of new immigrants and migrants has had on citizenship. MacKinnon investigates the ties that bind Canadians to their country and to their fellow citizens, and how these ties are often challenged by global influences, such as identity politics and social media. Shedding light on the connection between economic opportunity and citizenship, and on the institutional context in which differences must be accommodated, Canada in Question examines current circumstances and new challenges, and looks to the unique future of Canadian citizenship.

With its implications for health care, the economy, and an assortment of other policy areas, population aging is one of the most pressing issues facing governments and society today, and confronting its complex reality is becoming increasingly urgent, particularly in the age of COVID-19. In The Four Lenses of Population Aging, Patrik Marier looks at how Canada's ten provinces are preparing for an aging society. Focusing on a wide range of administrative and policy challenges, this analysis explores multiple actions from the development of strategic plans to the expansion of long-term care capacity. To enhance this analysis, Marier adopts four lenses: the intergenerational, the medical, the social gerontological, and the organizational. By comparing the unique insights and contributions of each lens, Marier draws attention to the vital lessons and possible solutions to the challenges of an aging society. Drawing on over a hundred interviews with senior civil servants and thousands of policy documents, The Four Lenses of Population Aging is a significant contribution to public administration, provincial politics, and comparative public policy literatures, and a timely resource for policymakers and general readers seeking an informed perspective on a timely and important issue.

Euro-Austerity and Welfare States analyses the political economy of welfare state reform in the first episode of Euro-austerity during the 1990s. It shows how Europe's welfare states survived unrelenting pressures stemming from the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) laid out in the Maastricht Treaty of 1992. Throughout, H. Tolga Bolukbasi draws lessons for scholars and policy practitioners, and his insightful analysis sheds important light on the second wave of Euro-austerity that set in following the Great Recession of 2008. Paying careful attention to government expenditures and budgetary politics, Bolukbasi analyses the political economy of reform in countries where the EMU's impact was expected to be greatest. Based on in-depth comparative case studies of Belgium, Greece, and Italy, he shows how scholars, policymakers, and citizens alike expected Euro-austerity to erode Europe's welfare states. Contrary to popular opinion, Bolukbasi finds that the reality was much more complicated. A thorough critique of the "Euro-austerity hypothesis," this book presents a rigorous comparative study of the resilience of the welfare state in various national contexts.

Supporting Children and Their Families Facing Health Inequities in Canada fills an urgent national need to analyze disparities among vulnerable populations, where socio-economic and cultural factors compromise health and create barriers. Offering solutions and strategies to the prevalent health inequities faced by children, youth, and families in Canada, this book investigates timely issues of social, economic, and cultural significance. Chapters cover a diverse range of socio-economic and cultural factors that contribute to health inequality among the country's most vulnerable youth populations, including mental health challenges, low income, and refugee status. This book shares scientific evidence from thousands of interviews, questionnaires, surveys, and client consultations, while also providing professional insights that offer key information for at-risk families experiencing health inequities. Timely and transformative, this book will serve as an informed and compassionate guide to promote the health and resiliency of vulnerable children, youth, and families across Canada.

The Japanese term Bosozoku refers to a specific Japanese phenomenon, the teengage bike gangs based in the urban centres of Japan that gather every weekend in the major metropolises, such as Osaka and Tokyo, for mass rallies of bikers in their thousands.

The Chinese Communist Youth League is the largest youth political organization in the world, with over 80 million members. Former Chinese President Hu Jintao was a firm supporter of the League, and believed that it could play a bigger role in winning the hearts and minds of Chinese youth by actively engaging with their interests and demands. Accordingly, he provided the League with a new youth work mandate to increase its capacity for responsiveness under the slogan 'keep the Party assured and the youth satisfied'. This original investigation of the hitherto-unexamined organization uses a combination of interviews, surveys and ethnography to explore how the League implemented Hu's mandate at both local and national levels, exposing the contradictory nature of some of its campaigns. By doing so, it also sheds light on the reasons for Xi Jinping's turn against the League during his first term in office. The Chinese Communist Youth League: Juniority and Responsiveness in a Party Youth Organization develops the original concept of 'juniority' to capture the complex ways that generational power is institutionalized, alienating young people from official political processes, with significant implications for China's political development. The book will be of interest to researchers and students of Chinese politics, as well as to scholars of comparative youth politics and sociology.

This book discusses the relationship, interaction and conflict between everyday life and various institutions in a specific village in North China, with a focus on the formal and informal legal systems. It vividly describes the village's "legal construction problems" as well as the customs and laws, and such it can be seen as a historical and innovative comment on China's problems. The book is based on the author's field investigations assessing vast amounts of material concerning local organizations, formal and informal authorities, economic exchange, religious rituals, as well as interviews with villagers and numerous court files. It presents an in-depth exploration of "pluralism of authority" in China's rural society, and examines how various authorities were formed. It also summarizes how various local disputes are resolved and discusses the villagers' understanding of the concept of "justice." Lastly, it suggests ways in which national law and local customs could communicate and collaborate.