This collection sheds light on diverse forms of collective engagement among young people. Recent developments in youth studies, and the changing global shape of socio-economic conditions for young people, demand new approaches and ideas. Contributors focus on novel processes, practices and routines within youth collectivity in various contexts across the globe, including Indonesia, Spain, Italy, Norway and Poland. The chapters pay particular attention to transitional phases in the lives of young people. Conceptually, the book also explores the strengths and limitations of a focus on collectivity in youth studies. Ultimately, the book makes the case for a focus on forms of collectivity and engagement to help scholars think through contemporary experiences of shared social life among young people. Contributors are: Duncan Adam, Massimiliano Andretta, Roberta Bracciale, David Cairns, Diego Carbajo Padilla, Enzo Colombo, Valentina Cuzzocrea, Carles Feixa, Ben Gook, Izabela Grabowska, Natalia Juchniewicz, Ewa Krzaklewska, Wolfgang Lehmann, Michelle Mansfield, Maria Martinez, Ann Nilsen, Rebecca Raby, Paola Rebughini, Birgit Reissig, Bjorn Schiermer, Tabea Schlimbach, Melanie Simms, Benjamin Tejerina, Kristoffer C Vogt, and Natalia Waechter.

This collection of essays explores the complex relationship between religion and multiculturalism and the role of the state and law in the creation of boundaries. Western secular democracies are composed of increasingly religiously diverse populations. The idea of "multiculturalism" was formed as a constructive response to this phenomenon, but, in many areas of the globe, support for multiculturalism is challenged by attempts to preserve the cultural and legal norms of the majority.
The State of Israel offers a particularly pertinent case study, and is a central focus of this collection. The contributors to this volume address the concepts of religious difference and diversity, as well as the various ways in which states and legal systems understand and respond to them. Mappingthe Legal Boundaries of Belonging shows that, as a consequence of a purportedly secular human rights perspective, state laws may appear to define religious identity in a way that contradicts the definition found within a particular religion. Both state and religion make the same mistake, however, if they take a court decision that emphasizes individual belief and practice as a direct modification of a religious norm: the court lacks the power to change the internal authoritative definition of who belongs to a particular faith. Similarly, in the pursuit of a particular model of social diversity, the state may adopt policies that imply a particular private/public distinction foreign to some religious traditions.
This volume, which includes contributions from leading scholars in the field, will be an invaluable resource to anyone seeking to understand the legal meaning and impact of religious diversity.

What would happen if I accepted an invitation to Bible Study from Jehovah's Witnesses? What would attending a Kingdom Hall meeting involve? And if I invited door-knocking Witnesses into my home? This book introduces Jehovah's Witnesses without assuming prior knowledge of the Watch Tower organization. After outlining the Society's origins and history, the book explains their key beliefs and practices by taking the reader through the process of the seeker who makes initial contact with Witnesses, and progresses to take instruction and become a baptized member. The book then explores what is involved in being a Witness - congregational life, lifestyle, rites of passage, their understanding of the Bible and prophetic expectations. It examines the various processes and consequences of leaving the organization, controversies that have arisen in the course of its history, and popular criticisms. Discussion is given to the likelihood of reforms within the organization, such as its stance on blood transfusions, the role of women and new methods of meeting and evangelizing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Global Trends of Smart Cities provides integrated analysis of 135 cities that participated in the IBM's Smarter Cities Challenge in 2010-2017. It establishes evidence-based benchmarking of city geographies, city sizes, governance structures, and local planning contexts in smart cities. This book uses a combination of descriptive statistical analysis and real-world case study narratives to evaluate the ways in which each individual urban variable or their combination matter in the diversity of smart city approaches around the globe. It is acknowledged that the Smarter Cities Challenge offers a particular set of smart initiatives and is not representative of all smart cities around the world. Nevertheless, the global presence of the Challenge across five continents and its involvement with 135 cities of all size and socioeconomic status provides a solid foundation to conduct comparative research on smart cities. Considering limited comparative research available in the smart city debate, this book makes significant contribution in understanding the state of smart city development in urban governments worldwide.

Disasters undermine societal well-being, causing loss of lives and damage to social and economic infrastructures. Disaster resilience is central to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, especially in regions where extreme inequality combines with the increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters. Disaster risk reduction and resilience requires participation of wide array of stakeholders ranging from academicians to policy makers to disaster managers. Disaster Resilient Cities: Adaptation for Sustainable Development offers evidence-based, problem-solving techniques from social, natural, engineering and other disciplinary perspectives. It connects data, research, conceptual work with practical cases on disaster risk management, capturing the multi-sectoral aspects of disaster resilience, adaptation strategy and sustainability. The book links disaster risk management with sustainable development under a common umbrella, showing that effective disaster resilience strategies and practices lead to achieving broader sustainable development goals.

This multi-disciplinary volume is the first collective effort to explore Istanbul, capital of the vast polyglot, multiethnic, and multireligious Ottoman empire and home to one of the world's largest and most diverse urban populations, as an early modern metropolis. It assembles topics seldom treated together and embraces novel subjects and fresh approaches to older debates. Contributors crisscross the socioeconomic, political, cultural, environmental, and spatial, to examine the myriad human and non-human actors, local and global, that shaped the city into one of the key sites of early modern urbanity. Contributors are: Oscar Aguirre-Mandujano , Zeynep Altok, Walter G. Andrews, Betul Basaran, Cem Behar, Maurits H. van den Boogert, John J. Curry, Linda T. Darling, Suraiya Faroqhi, Emine Fetvaci, Shirine Hamadeh, Cemal Kafadar, Cigdem Kafescioglu, Deniz Karakas, Leyla Kayhan Elbirlik, B. Harun Kucuk, Selim S. Kuru, Karen A. Leal, Gulru Necipoglu, Christoph K. Neumann, Asli Niyazioglu, Amanda Phillips, Marinos Sariyannis, Aleksandar Shopov, Lucienne Thys-Senocak, Nukhet Varlik, N. Zeynep Yelce, Gulay Yilmaz, and Zeynep Yurekli.

"Relax The horror stories you have heard about adolescence are false."
This is Dr. Laurence Steinberg's reassuring message to parents in this newly revised edition of his classic book "You and Your Adolescent," which "Publishers Weekly "says is "filled with solid advice for the parents of adolescents." Among the new topics in this updated edition:
* An expanded definition of adolescence to age 25, recognizing that college graduates often remain dependent on their parents for an extended period, creating a new parent-child dynamic
* A discussion of social media that addresses whether parents of preteens and young teens should monitor use of these new communication tools
* What new research into the adolescent brain tells us about teenage behavior
As Dr. Steinberg writes, "Most books written for parents of teenagers were survival guides (many still are). Nowadays, adolescence is too long--15 years in some families--for mere survival. Knowledge, not fortitude, is what today's parents need. That's where this book comes in."

Management of IoT Open Data Projects in Smart Cities demonstrates a key project management methodology for the implementation of Smart Cities projects: Principles and Regulations for Smart Cities (PaRSC). This methodology adopts a basis in classic Scrum soft management methods with carefully considered expansions. These include design principals for high-level architecture design and recommendations for design at the level of project teams. This approach enables the deployment of rule-based linguistic models for IoT project management, supporting the design of high-level architecture and providing rules for Scrum Smart Cities team. After reading this book, the reader will have a thorough grounding in IoT nodes and methods of their design, the acquisition and use of open data, and the use of project management methods to collect open data and build business models based on them.