Today, I’m starting a ‘rent a person who does nothing‘ service . . . Except for very simple conversation, I’m afraid I can do nothing. Shoji Morimoto was constantly being told that he was a ‘do-nothing’ because he lacked initiative. Dispirited and unemployed, it occurred to him that if he was so good at doing nothing, perhaps he could turn it into a business. And with one tweet, he began his business of renting himself out . . . to do nothing. Morimoto, aka Rental Person, provides a fascinating service to the lonely and socially anxious. Sitting with a client undergoing surgery, accompanying a newly-divorced client to her favourite restaurant, visiting the site of a client’s suicide attempt are just a few of his thousands of true life adventures. He is dependable, non-judgmental and committed to remaining a stranger and the curious encounters he shares are revelatory about both Japanese society and human psychology. In Rental Person Who Does Nothing, Morimoto chronicles his extraordinary experiences in his unique line of work and reflects on how we consider relationships, jobs and family in our search for meaningful connection and purpose in life.

In this book Adrian Koopman details the complex relationship between plants, the Zulu language and Zulu culture. Zulu plant names do not just identify plants, they tell us a lot more about the plant, or how it is perceived or used in Zulu culture. For example, the plant name umhlulambazo (what defeats the axe’ tells us that this is a tree with hard, dense wood, and that usondelangange (come closer so I can embrace you) is a tree with large thorns that snag the passer-by. In a similar vein, both umakuphole (let it cool down) and icishamlilo (put out the fire) refer to plants that are used medicinally to treat fevers and inflammations. Plants used as the base of love-charms have names that are particularly colourful, such as unginakile (she has noticed me), uvelabahleke (appear and they smile) and the wonderfully named ungcingci-wafika-umntakwethu (how happy I am that you have arrived, my sweetheart!). And then there are those plant names that are just plain intriguing, if not mystifying: umakhandakansele (the heads of Mr Ratel), isandlasonwabu (hand of a chameleon), intombikayibhinci (the girl does not wear clothes) and ukhuningomile (piece of firewood, I am thirsty).

African perspectives on concepts such as gender, feminism and the family are vastly different from their Western counterparts. Similarly, mechanisms of socialisation such as religion, capitalism and the law require context-specific application to the notion of polygyny. This book interrogates the construction of gender identity in adults raised in Zulu polygynous families in the Hammarsdale area in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It highlights the complexities of gender identities as participants negotiate between modern, constitutional, individual freedoms and patriarchal, cultural, communal customs and traditions. The themes also point to the contestation between individuality and collectivism in the construction of gender identity within polygynous families in Zulu culture. The South African Constitution guarantees gender equality and individual rights and freedoms for its citizens, yet customary law practices, such as polygyny, appear to contravene these principles. The participants reveal that although women and men experience different influences, they cite similar prevalent factors that have a bearing on their gender identity construction, namely, gender role socialisation, naming practices and the principle of seniority.

This is the updated and substantially expanded second edition of Christopher Ballantine's classic Marabi Nights, which offers a fascinating view of the triumphs and tragedies of South Africa's marabi-jazz tradition. Based on conversations with legendary figures in the world of music - as well as a perceptive reading of music, the socio-political history, and social meanings - this book is one of sensitive and impassioned curatorship. New chapters extend the book's in-depth account of the birth and development of South African urban-black popular music. They include a powerful story about gender relations and music in the context of forced migrant labor in the 1950s, a critical study of the legendary Manhattan Brothers that uniquely positions their music and words in relation to the apartheid system, and an account of the musical, political, and commercial strategies of the local record industry. A new afterword looks critically at the place of jazz and popular music in South Africa since the end of apartheid, and argues for the continued relevance of the robust, questioning spirit of the marabi tradition. The book includes an illustrative CD of historic sound recordings that the author has unearthed and saved from oblivion.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world’s leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. Extensively updated, this second edition of the Advanced Introduction to Social Policy provides a concise overview of the field that takes newer realities into account as well as taking insights from the traditional social policy canon. Daniel Béland and Rianne Mahon draw on both classic and contemporary theories to illuminate the broad processes that are putting pressure on existing social policy arrangements and raising new research questions. Key Features: Assesses the social policy implications of changing gender relations and the increasing salience of ethnic diversity Focuses on both the advanced industrial world and the growing significance of the Global South as a site of social policy innovation Provides a global perspective on social policy that features systematic attention to transnational actors, moving beyond the methodological nationalism that has traditionally marked the field Presenting a lucid and up-to-date overview of comparative and global social policy, this thoroughly revised second edition will prove vital to researchers, university students, and university instructors of social policy, political science, sociology, public policy, and social work.

Adrian Daub’s What Tech Calls Thinking is a lively dismantling of the ideas that form the intellectual bedrock of Silicon Valley. Equally important to Silicon Valley’s world-altering innovation are the language and ideas it uses to explain and justify itself. And often, those fancy new ideas are simply old motifs playing dress-up in a hoodie. From the myth of dropping out to the war cry of “disruption,� Daub locates the Valley’s supposedly original, radical thinking in the ideas of Heidegger and Ayn Rand, the New Age Esalen Foundation in Big Sur, and American traditions from the tent revival to predestination. Written with verve and imagination, What Tech Calls Thinking is an intellectual refutation of Silicon Valley's ethos, pulling back the curtain on the self-aggrandizing myths the Valley tells about itself. FSG Originals × Logic dissects the way technology functions in everyday lives. The titans of Silicon Valley, for all their utopian imaginings, never really had our best interests at heart: recent threats to democracy, truth, privacy, and safety, as a result of tech’s reckless pursuit of progress, have shown as much. We present an alternate story, one that delights in capturing technology in all its contradictions and innovation, across borders and socioeconomic divisions, from history through the future, beyond platitudes and PR hype, and past doom and gloom. Our collaboration features four brief but provocative forays into the tech industry’s many worlds, and aspires to incite fresh conversations about technology focused on nuanced and accessible explorations of the emerging tools that reorganise and redefine life today.

Written by renowned author Cara Flanagan and a highly experienced author team, this Student Book has been approved by AQA, offering high quality support you can trust. // Each topic in the specification is presented on one spread so you can see the whole topic with just the right amount of detail and depth of information. // Spreads are divided into Description (AO1) and Evaluation (AO3) - the two key skills for any topic. // Research methods and mathematical requirements are thoroughly covered in a dedicated chapter plus in 'Apply it' exercises across the book. // Application questions, practice questions and skills guidance are provided for the new assessment objectives and mark schemes. // Each chapter ends with visual summaries, example student answers with comments and test yourself multiple choice questions.

This innovative book explores how the design of financial education programmes could benefit from the findings of behavioural economics and finance and cognitive sciences. It covers the social, cultural and technological determinants of financial education, the role of the banking system in promoting financial literacy, and how governments and regulatory authorities are dealing with financial education and risk literacy programmes in schools. Featuring contributions from authors with diverse methodological and ideological backgrounds, Financial Education and Risk Literacy offers a rich and multifaceted debate. Chapters explore theory and empirical evidence, utilising investigations of programmes deployed and the outcomes of experiments. This book also complements the emerging literature by studying how individuals perceive and process information when making financial decisions. Economics students and scholars, in particular those studying behavioural economics, will appreciate the forward-looking agenda of this book. Its insights into how policymakers can benefit from a behavioural approach will also help regulators in the financial education sector.

This cutting-edge book unpacks the relationship between culture and consumer behavior to present the state-of-the-art in cross-cultural consumer research. Examining how culture shapes what consumers seek, evaluate and choose to purchase, Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior explains why and how cultural values such as individualism, indulgence, or uncertainty avoidance influence consumers’ buying behavior. With a balanced approach, the book explores not only how cultural differences between countries shape our decisions but also outlines the basic concepts of cross-cultural consumer research, the measurement of cultural values proposed in the Hofstede, Schwartz and GLOBE models, and the psychological foundations of culture-specific consumer behavior. Based on these conceptual foundations, the authors explain how cultural values shape consumers’ buying processes, from information searches through post-purchase behavior. This book will be valuable to researchers and students of international business, global marketing, and consumer behavior. Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior will also be relevant for marketing practitioners and international marketing agencies.

This innovative Handbook provides a comprehensive treatment of the complex relationship between inequality and the environment and illustrates the myriad ways in which they intersect. Featuring over 30 contributions from leading experts in the field, it explores the ways in which inequality impacts three of the most pressing contemporary environmental issues: climate change, natural resource extraction, and food insecurity. Laying the conceptual foundations for its analysis of key inequality–environment intersections, the Handbook covers theoretical traditions employed in the environmental inequality literature and examines different approaches to the concept of rights and how these influence scholarship on environmental justice. Chapters further investigate the multifaceted relationships between the natural environment and common forms of social inequalities, including race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, social class, the economy, and the state. Bringing together cutting-edge research on diverse inequality–environment intersections, this comprehensive Handbook will be relevant to both students and researchers in the social sciences and environmental sociology, politics, and geography. Its empirical insights will also prove valuable to public and social policymakers with access to mechanisms that can shape environmental protection policies.

From fire walking to funerals, the hidden science of the rituals that give life meaning Ritual is perhaps the oldest, and certainly the most enigmatic, thread in human culture. Apparently pointless ceremonies pervade every documented society: from handshakes to hexes, hazings to parades. Before we learned to farm, we were gathering in giant stone temples. And yet, though rituals exist in every culture and can persist nearly unchanged for centuries, their logic has remained a mystery until now. Today, a fearless new generation of anthropologists is venturing into this shadowy realm. Armed with cutting-edge technology and drawing on discoveries from a huge range of disciplines, they emerge with a powerful new perspective on our place in the world. Join the pathfinding scientist Dimitris Xygalatas on a tour of human culture at its strangest. In coronations, in silent prayer, in fire-walks and in all the bewildering variety of humanity's ritual life, Xygalatas reveals the deep and subtle mechanisms that bind us together.

This book provides a vivid examination of the issue of consumer inequality in America—one of society's most under-discussed and critical issues—through the evaluation of real-life cases, the trend of consumers suing companies for discrimination, and the application of novel frameworks to establish legitimate consumer equality. Everyone—regardless of race, gender, or other appearance-based factors—should receive equal access and equal treatment in businesses open to the public. Unfortunately, consumer equality has yet to be achieved. In fact, marketplace discrimination remains a pervasive problem in the United States, in spite of racial inroads on other fronts—employment and housing, for example. Consumer Equality: Race and the American Marketplace is the first book to elucidate how consumer discrimination remains an unresolved, pressing, and complex issue. Written by three well-established experts on consumer discrimination and business law who have presented their research and opinions to national and local media and as expert witnesses in court cases, this book examines the multilayered problem that results in citizens being suspected of committing a crime or detained by police or security personnel because of their ethno-racial background. This book could be considered required reading for representatives of large corporations, small businesses, and any organization interested in avoiding charges of marketplace discrimination as well as civil rights groups, community organizations, and organizations concerned about social justice.

Gathering insightful and stimulating contributions from leading global experts in Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED), this comprehensive Handbook traces the development of AIED from its early foundations in the 1970s to the present day. The Handbook evaluates the use of AI techniques such as modelling in closed and open domains, machine learning, analytics, language understanding and production to create systems aimed at helping learners, teachers, and educational administrators. Chapters examine theories of affect, metacognition and pedagogy applied in AIED systems; foundational aspects of AIED architecture, design, authoring and evaluation; and collaborative learning, the use of games and psychomotor learning. It concludes with a critical discussion of the wider context of Artificial Intelligence in Education, examining its commercialisation, social and political role, and the ethics of its systems, as well as reviewing the possible challenges and opportunities for AIED in the next 20 years. Providing a broad yet detailed account of the current field of Artificial Intelligence in Education, researchers and advanced students of education technology, innovation policy, and university management will benefit from this thought-provoking Handbook. Chapters will also be useful to support undergraduate courses in AI, computer science, and education.

This dynamic Handbook unpacks the entanglements between the two notions of home and migration, which illuminate the lived experiences of (in)voluntary mobilities and the contested terrain of inclusion and belonging. Drawing on cross-disciplinary contributions from leading international scholars, the Handbook advances research on the social study of home in relation to migration, refugee, displacement, and diaspora studies. It investigates the interplay between the notions of house and home, examining the relevance of home as a category of both analysis and practice. With a global and comparative range of case studies and examples, chapters bridge disciplines in unprecedented ways, exploring the existential, epistemological, and political implications of home for those struggling for it from afar and from the margins. Synthesising and systematising state-of-the-art research on home and migration, this groundbreaking Handbook will prove an invaluable resource for students, scholars and researchers of sociology, anthropology, geography, and architecture. Practitioners and volunteers involved in social welfare, housing, informal social support, and mobilisations, for or by migrants and refugees, will also find this book of importance.

What went wrong with capitalism? Ruchir Sharma’s explanation is unlike any you have heard before. Progressives are partly right when they mock modern capitalism as “socialism for the rich,” but what really happened in recent decades is that government in developed nations expanded in just about every measurable dimension, from spending and regulation to the sheer scale of its rescues each time the economy wobbled. The result, Sharma says, is “socialized risk,” expensive government guarantees, for everyone―welfare for the poor, entitlements for the middle class, and bailouts for the rich.

Voters say they are disillusioned with capitalism, but a system so distorted by government interventions is a dysfunctional version of free market ideals. As a result, productivity and economic growth have slowed sharply, shrinking the pie for everyone and stoking popular anger. Since these flaws developed as the government expanded, building an even bigger state will only double down on what’s gone wrong. The answer Sharma offers is a series of seven fixes to restore the balance between state support and free markets and lay the path to a more prosperous and happier future.

"Moving, multifaceted, and deeply human...as eye-opening as it is compelling� —Cecile Richards, author of Make Trouble  At a time where reproductive rights are at risk, these vital stories of diverse individuals serve as a reminder of the importance of empathy, finding community and motivating advocacy  For a long time, when people asked Dr. Meera Shah, Chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic, what she did, she would tell them she was a doctor and leave it at that. But when she started to be direct about her work as an abortion provider an interesting thing started to happen: one by one, people would confide that they'd had an abortion themselves. The refrain was often the same: You're the only one I've told.  This book collects these stories as they've been told to Shah to humanize abortion and to combat myths that persist in the discourse that surrounds it. A wide range of ages, races, socioeconomic factors, and experiences shows that abortion always occurs in a unique context.   Today, a healthcare issue that's so precious and foundational to reproductive, social, and economic freedom for millions of people is exploited by politicians who lack understanding or compassion about the context in which abortion occurs. Stories have the power to break down stigmas and help us to empathize with those whose experiences are unlike our own.   A portion of proceeds will be donated to promote reproductive health access. 

This remarkable third edition offers a unique contribution to mental health literature. It covers the full spectrum of issues related to mental health and illness in Canada, incorporating insights from a diversity of physical and social science perspectives, to expand the way readers think about mental health. Interdisciplinary and reader-friendly, this engaging volume introduces students to a wide range of topics, including substance use, children and youth, trauma, culture, gender and sexuality, diagnosis and treatment, and population approaches. Updates to this edition comprise new insights on topics such as the opioid crisis, legalization of cannabis, changes to provincial mental health acts, and an expansion on previously included Indigenous mental health content. As an introductory text, A Concise Introduction to Mental Health in Canada provides a superb foundation for students of medicine, nursing, social work, psychology, and public health.

This Handbook brings together experts from around the world to reflect critically on the relationship between tourism and rural community development. It first orients the reader in the important conceptual and epistemological foundations of the topic, before moving to consider key concepts and the most significant and salient theoretical and methodological developments in the field. Chapters written by a range of well-established, leading and emerging scholars in the field consider crucial issues facing tourism development in rural communities across different geographical settings. The Handbook represents a variety of traditional and emerging forms of scholarly writing, including theoretically driven chapters, empirical case studies and first-person narratives, to offer a detailed study of the topic. With a forward-looking angle, it studies tourism development in rural areas, including working with rural communities, tourism governance and ethical considerations. Chapters also consider new directions in the field, examining food and tourism, degrowth, landscapes, animals, social impacts and women social entrepreneurs. This comprehensive and innovative Handbook offers a wealth of empirical and theoretical knowledge on tourism and rural community development, and as such will be a critical resource for tourism, development studies and human geography scholars and students.

This provocative book explores how ancient notions about the fat body and the glutton in western culture both challenge and confirm ideas about what it means to be overweight and gluttonous today. People in the ancient western world made a distinction between being fat and being a glutton, even when they valued self-control and criticized excessive behavior. Examining many works of early western cultures, this book shows how ancient views both confirm and challenge our contemporary assumptions about fat bodies and gluttons. Eating to Excess: The Meaning of Gluttony and the Fat Body in the Ancient World explores the historical roots of the symbolic relationship between fatness, gluttony, and immorality in western culture. It includes chapters on Greek philosophy, medicine, and physiognomy; Greek and Roman popular culture; early Christianity; and the development of gluttony as one of the seven deadly sins. By examining ancient ideas about gluttony and fat bodies, the author offers new insight into what it means to be human in the western world. Contains various illustrations such as photographs of figures and statues from archeological sties and a depiction of a biblical scene of sacrifice Provides a bibliography of primary and secondary sources after each chapter Includes a comprehensive index of important topics

Grief is always difficult, but if yours feels especially painful, stuck, or complex, you may be experiencing complicated grief. Complicated grief is not an illness or disorder. It’s simply normal grief that’s been made more challenging by circumstances that overwhelm the person in mourning. If someone you love has died of suicide, homicide, or accidental causes; if the death was violent or premature or ambiguous; if you are struggling with additional life issues right now, such as health challenges (physical or mental), family problems, or financial stress; if your relationship with the person who died was extremely close or troubled; if you have suffered several losses in quick succession—this concise guide is for you. In this compassionate resource by one of the world’s most beloved grief counselors, you’ll learn how complicated grief is different and what you can do to soften and eventually reconcile it. You’ll inventory the reasons your grief is complicated. You’ll learn the importance of engaging with and expressing your grief. And you’ll find hope for your healing. There is a path through and beyond the wilderness of complicated grief. It’s more arduous than most, but to li