This book is about our appreciation for order and meaningfulness. It offers a new theory of that feeling inspired by Durkheim and Marx, then derives other theories to answer a range of questions: why we like to make ourselves orderly (in Chapter Three s theory of identity and commitment), why create shared orders of meaning (in Chapter Four s theory of culture); how we create those orders collaboratively through conversation (Chapter Five), and also through narrative, symbolic, and ritualistic formats (Chapter Six), and how orders of meaning are created in response to social structural position (Chapter Seven). In the end, this book shows how our sense of order both integrates and segregates us into productive associations with one another. And so, Explaining Culture is able to explain two patterns common to all growth: expansion and centralization. We see how our desire for novelty disperses us for resources, and that for familiarity draws us together to create meaningful order from them. Indeed, this book may offer a new approach to answering one of the most basic questions in both social and natural science: the question of how organic systems like society are created and maintained. Explaining Culture is an important new step in answering our most basic questions about culture, social interaction, and the emergence of order. The unique contribution of this work is in identifying the determinants of meaningfulness, and the ways we make the world meaningful by ordering it. Our valuing of order is rarely mentioned in sociology, but this book shows how it is the key influence in how we order ourselves and each other.

This book aims to address this neglect in the European context with concentration on the UK case. Conceptually, This book explores the meanings of diaspora and whether this is an appropriate concept to refer to Latin American migration to Europe in particular. It also examines the utility of transnationality and transmigration as useful in explaining and assessing the realities of the movement of Latin Americans around the world. The book provides important conceptual discussions of some key themes in relation to Latin American migrants in general, such as poverty, negotiating institutions, family life and domestic service and mainly in relation to the European context. Perhaps most importantly in terms of the state of current knowledge on the topic, it uncovers the lives of Latin American migrants in the UK, which have remained largely hidden to date.

Planning is particularly important in Eastern Europe since most spatial change and economic planning are the products of centralised decision-making, which in turn is the product of a systematic socio-political ideology. Planning is therefore an important key to understanding society, economy and spatial change in Eastern Europe. This book, which was first published in 1987, provides a comprehensive overview of planning in Eastern Europe. Each chapter discusses the nature of planning in the country in question and the changes which have taken place since 1945, and examines regional, economic, land-use, environmental protection and urban design policies and their achievements in the post- 1945 period. Introductory chapters discuss the physical, economic and political background of the area and a conclusion considers overall successes and failures and discusses likely future developments. This book is ideal for students of geography.

Social geography has been one of the most important growth areas within the field of geography in recent decades. It has brought within geographical analysis a wide range of new topics, such as ethnic segregation, crime and environment and inner city problems. First published in 1986, this edited collection surveys the field of social geography. Using key international case studies from across Europe, North America, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, authors discuss the different trends, leading figures and issues of concern in social geography throughout the world. This is a comprehensive and accessible study that will be of particular interest to students of social and human geography, urban and environmental planning.

This book explores how and why the idea of the African environmental crisis developed and persisted through colonial and post-colonial periods, and why it has been so influential in development discourse. From the beginnings of imperial administration, the idea of the desiccation of African environments grew in popularity, but this crisis discourse was dominated by the imposition of imperial scientific knowledge, neglecting indigenous knowledge and experience. African Environmental Crisis provides a synthesis of more than one-and-a-half century's research on peasant agriculture and pastoral rangeland development in terms of soil erosion control, animal husbandry, grazing schemes, large-scale agricultural schemes, social and administrative science research, and vector-disease and pest controls. Drawing on comparative socio-ecological perspectives of African peoples across the East African colonies and post-independent states, this book refutes the hypothesis that African peoples were responsible for environmental degradation. Instead, Gufu Oba argues that flawed imperial assumptions and short-term research projects generated an inaccurate view of the environment in Africa. This book's discussion of the history of science for development provides researchers across environmental studies, agronomy, African history and development studies with a lens through which to understand the underlying assumptions behind development projects in Africa.

This book provides a systematic description and analysis of the development of national environmental policies in seventeen countries in terms of capacity building. It covers a broad spectrum of different types of countries, ranging from advanced industrial, newly industrializing and transition countries to developing countries, representing all continents. This allows the reader to draw conclusions about the chances of an effective global environmental policy, the interrelationship between economic and environmental development as well as the importance of globalization, new forms of governance, and democratization for sustainable development. The editors deliver a broad cross-national survey covering altogether thirty countries and focussing on the diffusion of environmental innovations, the globalization of environmental policy, and the worldwide convergence of basic environmental policy patterns.

How do we research and represent mobile experiences: of being in place momentarily, of passing through? This book explores the movement of bodies through space, examining perceived limitations and considering methodological responses, technologies and strategies designed to inform our understanding of people's experience of movement through space.

The books in this set, originally published between 1968 and 1992 introduce the reader to the many lines of thought in the literature on economic geography and tie these various aspects together within the concept of the economy. As well as providing a comprehensive overview of the Western European economy since the Second World War, and including specific studies and assessments of the Dutch and Italian economies, these volumes examine the economic factors that have shaped cities and patterns of urbanization.

In The Mosque Conflict in Catalonia: Space, Culture, and Capitalism, Martin Lundsteen examines two paradigms around mosque conflicts-one of an analytical nature and the other of a political-technical nature. Lundsteen argues that both paradigms interpret conflicts culturally, as originating primarily in the symbolic realm. Though racism and xenophobia are certainly at the core of the issue, Lundsteen shows through the study of the conflict surrounding the mosque project in Premia de Mar (Barcelona) that other dimensions of utmost importance lurk behind these interpretations. This book constitutes an anthropological approach to the intersection of local-global processes of contemporary capitalism and emphasizes the understudied socio-spatial dimension of these conflicts.

Crude Domination is an innovative and important book about a critical topic - oil. While there have been numerous works about petroleum from 'experience-far' perspectives, there have been relatively few that have turned the 'experience-near' ethnographic gaze of anthropology on the topic. Crude Domination does just this among more peoples and more places than any other volume. Its chapters investigate nuances of culture, politics and economics in Africa, Latin America, and Eurasia as they pertain to petroleum. They wrestle with the key questions vexing scholars and practitioners alike: problems of the economic blight of the resource curse, underdevelopment, democracy, violence and war. Additionally they address topics that may initially appear insignificant - such as child witches and lionmen, fighting for oil when there is no oil, reindeer nomadism, community TV - but which turn out on closer scrutiny to be vital for explaining conflict and transformation in petro-states. Based upon these rich, new worlds of information, the text formulates a novel, domination approach to the social analysis of oil.

This volume gathers distinguished researchers on travel behavior from a variety of disciplines, to offer state-of-the-art research and analysis encompassing environmental, traffic and transport psychology; transport planning and engineering; transport geography; transport economics; consumer services research; environmental sociology and well-being research. The underlying dilemma is that neither contemporary transportation technology nor contemporary travel behaviors are sustainable. The path toward sustainability is complex, because the consequences of changing technology and attempts to change travel preferences can be extreme both in economic and in social terms. The Handbook of Sustainable Travel discusses transportation systems from environmental, social and economic perspectives, to provide insights into the underlying mechanisms, and to envisage potential strategies towards more sustainable travel. Part I offers an introduction to the subject, with chapters review historical and future trends in travel, the role of travel for a good society, and the satisfaction of travelers with various features of travel options. Part II proceeds from the fact that the car is the backbone of today's transportation system, and that a break with automobiles is likely to be necessary in the future. Contributors review the development of private car use, explore economic and psychological reasons why the car has become the primary mode of transport and discuss how this can be changed in the future. Part III addresses the social sustainability of travel, providing insights into the social costs and benefits of leisure, business and health travel, and taking into account the social costs or benefits of measures whose goals are primarily environmental. The authors provide the necessary background to judge whether proposed transport policies are also sustainable from a social perspective. Part IV highlights future alternatives to physical travel and surveys ecologically sustainable travel modes such as public transport and non-motorized modes of transportation.

Human clustering in coastal areas The coastal zone has gained a solid reputation as a place vocated for recreational activities and this is generally related to the presence of the sea. The relationship, however, does not appear univocal or simple: the sea can be perceived as a hostile element by humans and the more general question of whether the presence of the shore is in itself a favourable, repulsive, or irrelevant factor to settlement is a debatable point, at least for pre-industrial societies. Back in the early part of the 19th century, Friedrich Hegel regarded oceans and rivers as unifying elements rather than dividing ones, thus implying a trend towards the concentration of human settlements along them. 'The sea', he wrote, 'stimulates 1 courage and conquest, as well as profit and plunder', although he realized that this did not equally apply to all maritime peoples. In Hegel's view, different approaches to the sea were mainly the results of cultural factors and, in fact, he recognized that some people living in coastal areas perceive the sea as a dangerous and alien place and the shore as aftnis terrae.

Hardbound. The theory and practice of measuring consumer demand for environmental quality is comprehensively and practically reviewed in this book. It was perceived that there was a significant need for a book that was both theoretically rigorous yet could address the question of how to actually measure this demand. The volume is divided into two sections. The first section develops theoretical tools and covers the principal methods for measuring demand for environmental goods. The second part of the book is concerned with implementing theory for specific classes of environmental effects.

The Pedestrian and the City provides an overview and insight into the development, politics and policies on walking and pedestrians: it includes the evolution of pedestrian-friendly housing estates in the 19th century up to the present day. Key issues addressed include the struggle of pedestrianization in town centers, the attempts to create independent pedestrian footpaths and the popularity of traffic calming as a powerful policy for reducing pedestrian accidents.

Hass-Klau also covers the wider aspects of urban and transport planning, especially public transport, since these are important for promoting a pedestrian-friendly environment. The book includes pedestrian-friendly policies and guidelines from a number of European countries and includes case studies from the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, the US and Canada, with further examples from ten additional countries. It also contains a unique collection of original photographs; including before and after photos of newly introduced pedestrian-friendly transport policies.

As the pedestrian environment has become ever more crucial for the future of our cities, the book will be invaluable to students and practicing planners, geographers, transport engineers and local government officers. "

Understanding the New Global Economy: A European Perspective argues that globalisation is facing economic and political headwinds. A new global economic geography is emerging, cross-border relationships are changing, and global governance structures must come to terms with a new multipolar world. This book clarifies the fundamental questions and trade-offs in this new global economy, and gives readers the tools to understand contemporary debates. It presents a range of possible policy options, without being prescriptive. Following a modular structure, each chapter takes a similar approach but can also be read as a stand-alone piece. State-of-the-art academic research and historical experiences are weaved throughout the book, and readers are pointed towards relevant sources of information . This text is an accessible guide to the contemporary world economy, suited to students of international economics, political economy, globalisation, and European studies. It will also be valuable reading for researchers, professionals, and general readers interested in economics, politics, and civil society.

Exploring the connection between tourism and violence, this book draws on a range of disciplinary approaches, including social anthropology, cultural geography, sociology, and tourism studies. Ideas and concepts of violence have long been explored in the social sciences literature but in relation to tourism studies specifically the concept has rarely been problematised. Drawing on a range of case studies this book demonstrates the relationship between tourism and violence both in its overt physical form and in the social structures and symbolic landscapes that underpin touristic activity. Tourism and Violence offers a timely intervention in this field by bringing together, for the first time, work by scholars who, in their different ways, are engaging with the concept of violence within touristic settings and practices. This unique book paves the way for future research that will probe further the intersections between violence and tourism.

Community indicators projects are plentiful. These projects capture the quality of life in towns, cities, counties, metropolitan regions, and larger geographic regions. Community quality-of-life (QOL) indicators are increasingly being integrated into overallplanningandotherpublicpolicyactivities.Thecommunityindicatorsproject reports are used not only in monitoring and evaluation applications but also in the context of increasing citizen participation in guiding communities towards achieving desired goals. This is the fourth book in a series covering best practices in community QOL indicators. Each volume presents individual cases (chapters) of communities at the local or regional levels that have designed and implemented community indi- tors programs. In Volume IV, we present nine chapters from a variety of contexts: cities such as the City of Phoenix (Arizona, USA), Jacksonville (Florida, USA), and Bristol (UK), suburban communities areas such as Long Island (New York, USA) and Sydney (Australia), larger regions such as Vancouver (Canada), and townships such as Sobantu (South Africa).

Focusing on Shenzhen as a representation of the general urban village phenomenon in China, this book considers the impact of China's economic reform on urbanization and urban villages over the past three decades. Shenzhen's urban villages are some of the first of their kind in China, unique in their diversity and organizational capacity, but most notably in their ability to protect village culture whilst coexisting with Shenzhen, one of the fastest urbanizing cities on earth. Providing a study of regional contrast of urban villages in China with newly collected fieldwork materials from Guangzhou, Beijing, and Xi'an, this book also considers recent developments within urban villages, including attempts at marketization of the so-called xiao chanquanfang (the quintessential urban village apartment units). It also addresses the corruption scandals that engulfed some urban villages in late 2013. Through cutting edge fieldwork, the author offers a cross-disciplinary study of the history, culture, socio-economic changes, and migration of the villages which arguably embody Chinese social mobility in an urban form.

Exploring Social Geography, first published in 1984, offers a challenging yet comprehensive introduction to the wealth of empirical research and theoretical debate that has developed in response to the advent of a social approach to the subject. The argument emphasises the essentially spatial structure of social interaction, and includes a succinct discussion of geographical research on segregation and interaction, which has combined numerical analyses and qualitative ethnographic field research. A distinctive view of social geography is adopted, inspired by the Chicago school of North American pragmatism, but also incorporating the formal sociological theories of Simmel and Weber. Exploring Social Geography will be of value to students of urban geography in particular. However, it will also indicate a wide-ranging and distinctive perspective for all students of the social sciences with a special interest in debates concerning urban, ethnic, racial, anthropological and theoretical issues.

The Unique Nature of Frontier Cities and their Development Challenge Harvey Lithwick and Yehuda Grad us The advent of government downsizing, and globalization has led to enormous com petitive pressures as well as the opening of new opportunities. How cities in remote frontier areas might cope with what for them might appear to be a devastating challenge is the subject of this book. Our concern is with frontier cities in particular. In our earlier study, Frontiers in Regional Development (Rowman and Littlefield, 1996), we examined the distinction between frontiers and peripheries. The terms are often used interchangeably, but we believe that in fact, both in scholarly works and in popular usage, very different connotations are conveyed by these concepts. Frontiers evoke a strong positive image, of sparsely settled territories, offering challenges, adventure, unspoiled natural land scapes, and a different, and for many an attractive life style. Frontiers are lands of opportunity. Peripheries conjure up negative images, of inaccessibility, inadequate services and political and economic marginality. They are places to escape from, rather than frontiers, which is were people escape to. Peripheries are places of and for losers."

In recent years, popular media have inundated audiences with sensationalised headlines recounting data breaches, new forms of surveillance and other dangers of our digital age. Despite their regularity, such accounts treat each case as unprecedented and unique. This book proposes a radical rethinking of the history, present and future of our relations with the digital, spatial technologies that increasingly mediate our everyday lives. From smartphones to surveillance cameras, to navigational satellites, these new technologies offer visions of integrated, smooth and efficient societies, even as they directly conflict with the ways users experience them. Recognising the potential for both control and liberation, the authors argue against both acquiescence to and rejection of these technologies. Through intentional use of the very systems that monitor them, activists from Charlottesville to Hong Kong are subverting, resisting and repurposing geographic technologies. Using examples as varied as writings on the first telephones to the experiences of a feminist collective for migrant women in Spain, the authors present a revolution of everyday technologies. In the face of the seemingly inevitable dominance of corporate interests, these technologies allow us to create new spaces of affinity, and a new politics of change.

Modernity was critically important to the formation and evolution of landscape architecture, yet its histories in the discipline are still being written. This book looks closely at the work and influences of some of the least studied figures of the era: established and less well-known female landscape architects who pursued modernist ideals in their designs. The women discussed in this volume belong to the pioneering first two generations of professional landscape architects and were outstanding in the field. They not only developed notable practices but some also became leaders in landscape architectural education as the first professors in the discipline, or prolific lecturers and authors. As early professionals who navigated the world of a male-dominated intellectual and menial work force they were exponents of modernity. In addition, many personalities discussed in this volume were either figures of transition between tradition and modernism (like Silvia Crowe, Maria Teresa Parpagliolo), or they fully embraced and furthered the modernist agenda (like Rosa Kliass, Cornelia Oberlander). The chapters offer new perspectives and contribute to the development of a more balanced and integrated landscape architectural historiography of the twentieth century. Contributions come from practitioners and academics who discuss women based in USA, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, South Africa, the former USSR, Sweden, Britain, Germany, Austria, France and Italy. Ideal reading for those studying landscape history, women's studies and cultural geography.

This title was first published in 1986 during a recession much like that faced in recent years, which placed immense pressure on the British planning system and led to social unrest in the inner cities and in many disadvantaged areas. Within this context, Peter Ambrose outlines the features of land development and explores the circumstances of post-war planning. The central section of the book deals with the key forces at work in land development - finance, the construction industry and the local and central state - and explains how they interact. Using a number of case-studies, including the greenfield urban fringe and London's docklands, as well as examples drawn from other countries, Ambrose provides an essential background to the British planning system and the problems still faced by it today.

Inequality is not just a problem of poverty and the poor; it is as much a problem of wealth and the wealthy. The provision of public services is one area which is increasingly being reconfigured to extract wealth upward to the 1%, notably through so-called Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). The push for PPPs is not about building infrastructure for the benefit of society but about constructing new subsidies that benefit the already wealthy. In other words, it is less about financing development than developing finance. Understanding and exposing these processes is essential if inequality is to be challenged. But equally important is the need for critical reflection on how the wealthy are getting away with it. What does the wealth gap suggest about the need for new forms of organising by those who would resist elite power? -- .