This book argues that the dominant descriptions of the 'caste system' are rooted in the Western Christian experience of India. Thus, caste studies tell us more about the West than about India. It further demonstrates the imperative to move beyond this scholarship in order to generate descriptions of Indian social reality. The dominant descriptions of the 'caste system' that we have today are results of originally Christian themes and questions. The authors of this collection show how this hypothesis can be applied beyond South Asia to the diasporic cultures that have made a home in Western countries, and how the inheritance of caste studies as structured by European scholarship impacts on our understanding of contemporary India and the Indians of the diaspora. This collection will be of interest to scholars and students of caste studies, India studies, religion in South Asia, postcolonial studies, history, anthropology and sociology.

In the first decade of the twenty-first century, the People's Republic of China experienced dramatic growth and expansion that altered the educational environment of children. Rapid economic development increased prosperity and educational opportunities for children expanded in a wealthier society. Yet, a by-product of rising wealth was rising inequality. While the children of the emerging urban middle and elite classes enjoyed new prosperity, the children of hte persistently poor in rural communities continued to experience challenges such as food insecurity, illness, hardships of family separation, and migrant life on the margins of the cities. This time period saw a large resource gap emerge between the home conditions of poor rural children compared with those of their wealthier urban counterparts. This book highlights the complexities China has experienced in seeking to extend full educational access to rural children- including rural- to- urban migrant and ethnic minority children-during a momentous period in China. Chapters delve into the experiences, perceptions, strategies, and diffi culties of rural- origin children and their families in the school system, and lay bare the challenges of policy initiatives designed to support rural education. We hope the experiences detailed here will be of interest to students and scholars of rural educational policy and practice in China and worldwide.

Fighting Global Neo-Extractivism: Fossil-Free Social Movements in South Africa analyzes social struggles over damaging new fossil fuel projects in the Global South with a focus on South Africa, Africa's biggest fossil fuel emitter. Fossil fuel extraction in South Africa has reached a new accelerated phase in which the fossil fuel frontier is moving beyond historical 'sacrifice zones' into non-traditional spaces, such as conservation parks and middle-class neighbourhoods, and provoking fervent opposition from grassroots activists. This book examines campaigns such as Frack Free South Africa and Save our iMfolozi Wilderness, viewing them as struggles against neo-extractivism driven by the state and industry. Through a series of detailed case studies, it highlights the shaping of mobilisation patterns by prior land use practices and the capacity to mobilize different social groups across race and class. Developing the notion of the fossil fuel frontier as the material and political boundary that activists in South Africa and elsewhere in the world render visible, this volume provides a theoretical framework to understanding global mobilization patterns. This timely and impassioned book will appeal to students and researchers interested in a range of subjects, including environmentalism, social movements, political ecology, and development studies.

Caste in India, despite its historical resilience, has been undergoing transformation since independence. If caste as a system of rigid stratification has been on the decline, castes as autonomous interest-serving groups have been on ascendance. This book critically engages with the changing notions of caste and its intersection with public policy in India. It discusses key issues such as social security, internal reservation, the idea of Most Backward Classes, caste issues among non-Hindu religious communities, caste in census, caste in market, and service castes and urban planning. Drawing on in-depth case studies from states including Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and West Bengal, the volume explores the cyclical process of how caste drives policies, and how policies in turn shape the reality of caste in India. It looks at the impact of factors like protective discrimination, adult franchise and democratic decentralisation, horizontal and vertical mobilisation, land reforms, and religious conversion on social mobility, and traditional hierarchy in India. Empirically rich and analytically rigorous, this book will be an excellent reference for scholars and researchers of public policy, public administration, sociology, exclusion studies, social work, law, history, economics, political science, development studies, social anthropology, and political sociology. It will also be of interest to public policy and development practitioners.

This book is the first national study of the football pools in Britain which examines the politics and culture of the gambling on the football pools. It charts the rise of the football pools, focusing upon its rapid growth from the 1920s and its prolonged decline in British culture from the 1990s, partly as a result of the National Lottery. The book explores how this new gambling activity became a significant leisure opportunity for the working class - a way to feel that the individual skill of the punter could lead to the winning of some life-changing jackpot cheque being presented by a sporting personality of celebrity. Dominated by Littlewoods, and other large commercial companies, the weekly filling-in of the coupons was considered to be a safe form of investment, guaranteed by the integrity of the pool companies, rather than some seedy gambling operation. The Football Pools and the British Working Class looks at different elements of the football pools from what attracted people to this form of gambling to how the industry developed and adjusted to the suspension of the football fixtures in 1936, and the bad winter of 1962-3. Above all, it examines the deep hostility that surrounded the filling in of the football pools arising from the National Anti-Gambling League, religious groups, the football authorities and MPs. This book will appeal to all those interested in the history of British football and 20th century British working class culture.

This book is a collection of critical engagements with Andrew Sayer, one of the foremost postdisciplinary thinkers of our times, with responses from Sayer himself. Sayer's ground-breaking contributions to the fields of geography, political economy and social theory have reshaped the terms of engagement with issues and debates running from the methodology of social science through to the environment, and industrial development to the ethical dimensions of everyday life. Transatlantic scholars across a wide range of fields explore his work across four main areas: critical realism; moral economy; political economy; and relations between social theory, normativity and class. This is the first full-length critical assessment of Sayer's work. It will be of interest to readers in sociology, economics, political economy, social and political philosophy, ethics, social policy, geography and urban studies, from upper-undergraduate levels upwards.

As a result of the impact of neo-liberal economics and the financial crisis on policy development and implementation, economic and social divides are widening and deepening globally. As the causes and consequences of austerity continue to emerge across Europe and internationally, so the key policy impact messages must continue to be told. Under the themes of Justice, Participation and Social Exclusion, contributors to this volume draw on recent examples to explore and discuss the impact of those targeted or excluded by public and social policies in European countries, developed, implemented and evaluated at a time of austerity. Contexts, consequences and controversies current in the global North are uncovered highlighting the ethical implications for policy research and the role of the academic.
To bear witness and tell the 'truth' is a standpoint usually associated with religious philosophies. In these turbulent years in Western democracies perhaps one critical role for the academic, recast for post-modern times, is to bear witness to the lives of the powerless and tell their 'truths'. Citizen involvement in policy development can be potent and not merely tokenistic if knowledge becomes a means by which policies can be challenged by those subject to them.

How do race and class intersect to shape the identities and experiences of Black middle-class parents and their children? What are Black middle-class parents' strategies for supporting their children through school? What role do the educational histories of Black middle-class parents play in their decision-making about their children's education? There is now an extensive body of research on the educational strategies of the white middle classes but a silence exists around the emergence of the Black middle classes and their experiences, priorities, and actions in relation to education. This book focuses on middle-class families of Black Caribbean heritage. Drawing on rich qualitative data from nearly 80 in-depth interviews with Black Caribbean middle-class parents, the internationally renowned contributors reveal how these parents attempt to navigate their children successfully through the school system, and defend them against low expectations and other manifestations of discrimination. Chapters identify when, how and to what extent parents deploy the financial, cultural and social resources available to them as professional, middle class individuals in support of their children's academic success and emotional well-being. The book sheds light on the complex, and relatively neglected relations, between race, social class and education, and in addition, poses wider questions about the experiences of social mobility, and the intersection of race and class in forming the identity of the parents and their children. The Colour of Class: The educational strategies of the Black middle classes will appeal to undergraduates and postgraduates on education, sociology and social policy courses, as well as academics with an interest in Critical Race Theory and Bourdieu. The Colour of Class was awarded 2nd prize by the Society for Educational Studies: Book Prize 2016.

The subject of the monograph is a multi-layered interpretation of beauty in architecture, the analysis of key ideas, attitudes, and concepts related to the art of shaping space focused on perfection and harmony. An integral approach to significant problems related to shaping the spatial order, taking into account a wide range of social, cultural, aesthetic, and environmental factors related to the beauty and harmony of a place, is a distinctive feature of the monograph. The statements of many theoreticians and practitioners of architecture from Poland and abroad, emphasize the beauty in architecture as an important feature of human surroundings. Architecture, apart from the features of utility and the required technical correctness, should lead to delight, deep reflection, and emotion.

This book analyses social change in Russia, in particular the development of a middle class, one of the most important social and political projects of Putin's administration. Using unique survey data collected in 1998, 2007 and 2015, the authors make extensive and theoretically justified analyses of the changing social distinctions in Russia over the past 20 years. Offering a sophisticated analysis of classes and class they acknowledge that in class analysis there are different phases, requiring different concepts. The first phase is the analysis of class positions; the second is the study of the work and reproduction situations of class groups and the final step is the analysis of class interests. While acknowledging that there are a number Russian-specific factors that seriously complicate traditional class analysis, the authors maintain that the basic tenets of class analysis still hold true. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of sociology, political science, transition studies, social policy and Russian studies and anyone who wants to understand the internal divisions and organization of the middle class in Russia.

This book explores the role of religion in the everyday, transnational lives of Brazilian migrants in London and on their return to Brazil. It contributes to an emerging body of work that recognizes the importance of religion within transnational processes and foregrounds the experiences of Brazilians in London, a growing yet still largely invisible new migrant group in London. It works with the notion of religion as lived experience to give due weight to the perspectives of migrants themselves and examines the ways in which migrants negotiate their religious beliefs and practices in different places and create new connections between them. While focusing on the experience of Brazilian migrants - both in London and on their return - as a case study, it provides significant empirical and conceptual contributions to existing research through its innovative exploration of the interconnections between migration and religion, and moreover, through its inclusion of the return setting into its field of enquiry. Both these areas - religion and return - have been hitherto largely neglected within existing migration research.

The past century of labor was definitively captured by theories like Fordism and Taylorism, or scientific managment, but how do we make sense of global production today? This short book takes a panoramic view of the candidates for the most succinct theory of the 21st century division of labor, including post-Fordism, flexible accumulation, McDonaldization, Waltonism, Nikeification, Gatesism and Siliconism, shareholder value, and lean production and Toyotism. Authors Thomas Janoski and Darina Lepadatu argue that lean production in a somewhat expanded version presents three variations: Toyotism (the strongest form), Nikeification (a moderate form with off-shored plants lacking teamwork) and Waltonism (the merchandising form that presses for off-shoring). While all three share strong elements of "just in time" (JIT) production and supply chain management, they differ in how teamwork and long-term philosophies are valued. This critical review of dominant established theories serves to inform subsequent research on the contemporary international division of labor.

In his newest book, Stehr builds on his classic book Knowledge Societies (1994) to expand the concept toward one of knowledge capitalism for a now, much-changed era. It is not only because of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic that we are living in a new epoch; it is the idea that modern societies increasingly constitute comprehensive knowledge societies under intensive capitalism, whereby the legal encoding of knowledge through national and international law is the lever that enables the transformation of the knowledge society into knowledge capitalism. The Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement, negotiated between 1986 and 1994 as part of the World Trade Organization, is the backbone of the modern society and marks a clear historical demarcation, and although knowledge capitalism is primarily an economic development, the digital giants who are in the driver's seat have significant effects on the social structure and culture of modern society.

The Routledge Handbook of the Anthropology of Labor offers a cross-cultural examination of labor around the world and presents the breadth of a growing and vital subfield of anthropology. As we enter a new crisis-ridden age, some laboring people are protected, while others face impoverishment and death, as they work in unsafe conditions, migrate to gain livelihoods, languish in the unwaged sector, and become targets of law enforcement. The contributions to this volume address questions surrounding the categorization and visibility of work, the relationship of labor to the state, and how divisions of labor map onto racial, gendered, sexual, and national inequalities. In addition to the emotional dimensions and subjectivities of labor, the book also examines how laborers can articulate common experiences and identities, build organizational forms, and claim power together. Bringing together the work of an impressive group of international scholars, this Handbook is essential for anthropologists with an interest in labor and political economy, as well as useful for scholars and students in related fields such as sociology and geography.

In his newest book, Stehr builds on his classic book Knowledge Societies (1994) to expand the concept toward one of knowledge capitalism for a now, much-changed era. It is not only because of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic that we are living in a new epoch; it is the idea that modern societies increasingly constitute comprehensive knowledge societies under intensive capitalism, whereby the legal encoding of knowledge through national and international law is the lever that enables the transformation of the knowledge society into knowledge capitalism. The Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement, negotiated between 1986 and 1994 as part of the World Trade Organization, is the backbone of the modern society and marks a clear historical demarcation, and although knowledge capitalism is primarily an economic development, the digital giants who are in the driver's seat have significant effects on the social structure and culture of modern society.

Originally published in 1992, this book places Cypriot migration to Britain within the context of New Commonwealth migration as a whole and within developments in the field of racial and ethnic relations. It provides an account of the economic and social position of Cypriots in British society, paying particular attention to a number of central theoretical and political debates relating to class, ethnicity, racism and gender. The book argues that migrant groups have to be understood in terms of the interaction between the internal cultural and social differentiations within the group and the wider structural, institutional and ideological processes of the country of migration. Gender divisions and the family are seen as central in understanding the forms of settlement and the economic and social placement of a migrant group.

Originally published in 1986, this book discusses issues such as social class differences in health; the effect of unemployment on health; the relationship between income and health; how much of the class differences in death rates can be explained in terms of medically recognized factors. Presenting empirical research to resolve these issues, the book takes health to the centre of the political stage and raises fundamental issues about the direction of modern economic and social development and its impact on inequality. As relevant now as when it was first published the book reviews twenty of the most important longitudinal studies in the area of health and class that had been carried out in the UK at the time.

This book analyzes what many critics consider to be the three best examples of modern American political fiction-Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men, Edwin O'Connor's The Last Hurrah, and Billy Lee Brammer's The Gay Place-to address a specific problem in American governance: how the intense competition for power among elite factions often results in their ignoring major groups of their constituents, thereby providing political bosses with a rationale to seize authoritarian control of the government in the name of constituent groups who feel ignored or neglected, promising them more democratic rule, but in the process, excluding other groups, so that the bosses themselves become elitist, ruling only for the sake of some constituents and not others.

Compared to much of the rest of the world, America and its citizens are rich. But many people are also deeply miserable at work, at home, or both. In this provocative book, author John Brueggemann unpacks why so many people are struggling, both emotionally and financially, in a nation that looks so prosperous on the surface. From a hospital patient reduced to a balance sheet to a parent working such long hours that he misses dinner, Brueggemann argues that market thinking has permeated every corner of our lives. In the pursuit of more and better, relationships erode, to the detriment of individuals, communities, and the nation as a whole. Rich, Free, and Miserable not only outlines these pressing social problems, but also offers practical suggestions for people looking to make a positive change."

This volume brings together new research that bridges the domains of stakeholder theory, non-market strategy and social movement theory. Although these three research domains have developed via relatively distinct academic communities, they speak to a common set of phenomena at the intersection of business, markets, civil society, and the state. This collection sets an agenda for a more holistic theory of business and society - a theory that takes seriously the various kinds of stakeholders that make up society and have claims over business, that incorporates the goals and objectives of businesses to survive and thrive, and that places an important role on the process of mobilization and contentious interaction between actors whose goals inherently conflict. Using a range of quantitative and qualitative methods, contributors focus on a phenomenon at the intersection of business, civil society, and government. Examining markets shaped by heavy stakeholder involvement and contention, chapters explore topics such as markets for electric vehicles, medical marijuana, municipal drinking water, and cigarettes along with controversial business practice, including employment practices for LGBT workers and racial/ethnic minorities, and working conditions in global supply chains.

The Routledge International Handbook of Working-Class Studies is a timely volume that provides an overview of this interdisciplinary field that emerged in the 1990s in the context of deindustrialization, the rise of the service economy, and economic and cultural globalization. The Handbook brings together scholars, teachers, activists, and organizers from across three continents to focus on the study of working-class peoples, cultures, and politics in all their complexity and diversity. The Handbook maps the current state of the field and presents a visionary agenda for future research by mingling the voices and perspectives of founding and emerging scholars. In addition to a framing Introduction and Conclusion written by the co-editors, the volume is divided into six sections: Methods and principles of research in working-class studies; Class and education; Work and community; Working-class cultures; Representations; and Activism and collective action. Each of the six sections opens with an overview that synthesizes research in the area and briefly summarizes each of the chapters in the section. Throughout the volume, contributors from various disciplines explore the ways in which experiences and understandings of class have shifted rapidly as a result of economic and cultural globalization, social and political changes, and global financial crises of the past two decades. Written in a clear and accessible style, the Handbook is a comprehensive interdisciplinary anthology for this young but maturing field, foregrounding transnational and intersectional perspectives on working-class people and issues and focusing on teaching and activism in addition to scholarly research. It is a valuable resource for activists, as well as working-class studies researchers and teachers across the social sciences, arts, and humanities, and it can also be used as a textbook for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses.

* THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * * SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOLLINGER EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE FOR COMIC FICTION * 'One of the biggest reads of the summer, and for good reason' INDEPENDENT 'Enormously fun . . . A joyous thrill ride of a book' VOX 'Candice Carty-Williams' Queenie crossed with Jordan Peele's Get Out . . . Slick and addictive' METRO _________________________ Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with the isolation and the micro-aggressions, she's thrilled when Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They've only just started comparing natural hair care regimens, though, when a string of uncomfortable events cause Nella to become Public Enemy Number One and Hazel, the Office Darling. Then the notes begin to appear on Nella's desk: LEAVE WAGNER. NOW. It's hard to believe Hazel is behind these hostile messages. But as Nella starts to spiral and obsess over the sinister forces at play, she soon realises that there is a lot more at stake than her career. Dark, funny and furiously entertaining, The Other Black Girl will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last twist. _________________________ THE BOOK EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT: 'One of the books of the year . . . Will blow your mind' STYLIST 'Super-smart, dryly funny' RED 'Page-turning, toe-curling, thrilling. You won't put this one down' BLACK GIRLS BOOK CLUB FOR REFINERY29 'Sharp, satirical and fun' DAILY MAIL 'Bright and funny . . . You will turn page after page in your eagerness to unravel this novel' OYINKAN BRAITHWAITE, NEW YORK TIMES 'The funniest, wildest, deepest, most thought-provoking ride of a book' ATTICA LOCKE 'The year's most buzzed-about debut more than lives up to the hype' i 'Very, very funny and acutely observed' ELIZABETH DAY 'It should be at the top of your summer reading list' WASHINGTON POST

* This book explores the issues and controversies revolving around the National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizenship (NRC) in India, through the lens of ethnicity and religion * It examines the linkages between census enumeration, counting, and classification of population * Will be useful for students, researchers, and teachers of population studies, population geography, migration studies, sociology, political geography, and legal journalism across UK and US. It will also be of interest to political geographers, policymakers, legal journalists, political parties NGOs, and civil societies.

Academic interest in cycling has burgeoned in recent years with significant literature relating to the health and environmental benefits of cycling, the necessity for cycle-specific infrastructure, and the embodied experiences of cycling. Based upon primary research in a variety of contexts such as London, Shanghai and Taipei, this book demonstrates that recent developments in urban cycling policy and practice are closely linked to broader processes of capital accumulation. It argues that cycling is increasingly caught up in discourses around smart cities that emphasise technological solutions to environmental problems and neoliberal ideas on individual responsibility and bio-political conduct, which only results in solutions that prioritise those who are already mobile. Accordingly, the central argument of the book is not that the popularisation of cycling is inherently bad, but that the manner in which cycling is being popularised gives cause for social and environmental concern. Ultimately the book argues that cycling has now become a vehicle for sustaining pro-growth agendas rather than subverting them or shifting to sustainable no-growth/de-growth and less technologically driven visions of modernity. This book makes an innovative contribution to the fields of Cycling Studies, Mobilities and Transport and will be of interest to students and academics working in Human Geography, Transport Studies, Urban Studies, Urban Planning, Public Policy, Sociology and Sustainability.

Musical Gentrification is an exploration of the role of popular music in processes of socio-cultural inclusion and exclusion in a variety of contexts. Twelve chapters by international scholars reveal how cultural objects of relatively lower status, in this case popular musics, are made objects of acquisition by subjects or institutions of higher social status, thereby playing an important role in social elevation, mobility and distinction. The phenomenon of musical gentrification is approached from a variety of angles: theoretically, methodologically and with reference to a number of key issues in popular music, from class, gender and ethnicity to cultural consumption, activism, hegemony and musical agency. Drawing on a wide range of case studies, empirical examples and ethnographic data, this is a valuable study for scholars and researchers of Music Education, Ethnomusicology, Cultural Studies and Cultural Sociology.