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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social groups & communities
This book is open access and available on
www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by the University of
Sussex, UK. How can we know about children's everyday lives in a
digitally saturated world? What is it like to grow up in and
through new media? What happens between the ages of 7 and 15 and
does it make sense to think of maturation as mediated? These
questions are explored in this innovative book, which synthesizes
empirical documentation of children's everyday lives with
discussions of key theoretical and methodological concepts to
provide a unique guide to researching childhood and youth.
Researching Everyday Childhoods begins by asking what recent
'post-empirical' and 'post-digital' frameworks can offer
researchers of children and young people's lives, particularly in
researching and theorising how the digital remakes childhood and
youth. The key ideas of time, technology and documentation are then
introduced and are woven throughout the book's chapters.
Research-led, the book is informed by two state of the art
empirical studies - 'Face 2 Face' and 'Curating Childhoods' - and
links to a dynamic multimedia archive generated by the studies.
At a time when politicians place increasing importance on the role
of 'community' in overcoming social problems, "Searching for
Community" asks the vital question 'what is community, anyway?'. Is
it an answer to social problems or an illusion to be dismissed?
This insightful book is written from the perspective of the late
Jeremy Brent's thirty year involvement as a youth worker in
Southmead, a housing estate in Bristol and a place where discourses
of community run strong. "Searching for Community" presents a
variety of perspectives to challenge the ways in which areas of
poverty and disrepute are represented. It examines ways to
understand and engage with the troublesome concept of 'community',
vividly describing the collective actions of young people and
adults to show the way community is enacted as a combination of
dreams, actions and materiality.Providing a unique mix of practical
knowledge and a sophisticated analysis of popular, professional,
and theoretical ideas of community, "Searching for Community" makes
uneasy reading for those looking for simplistic solutions to issues
including youth crime, social marginalisation and community
empowerment. This accessible book is a must-read for students and
practitioners in the fields of community development, sociology and
youth work who wish to get beyond the rhetoric and engage with the
complexities of discourses of community.
Anti-Muslim racism with its attendant xenophobia and (the fear of)
Salafist hostility are two of the most essential problems facing
Europe today. Both result from the enormous failure of the
continent's integration policies, which have either insisted on
immigrants' rigid assimilation or left immigrants to fend for
themselves. This book radically breaks with contemporary approaches
to immigrant assimilation and integration. Instead it examines
non-institutional approaches that facilitate immigrant inclusion
through the examples of three alternative small-scale projects that
have impacted the lives of urban working-class youth, specifically
with second-generation immigrant roots, in Vienna, Austria. These
projects involve online gaming, hip hop as an art form, and social
work as emancipatory pedagogic practice (commonly referred to as
street work). This book investigates working-class teenagers'
social networks and describes an online game designed to provide a
platform for interaction between non-immigrant and immigrant youth
who usually either do not interact or display prejudice when they
engage each other. Hip hop can provide both a necessary outlet for
alienated youth to articulate their frustrations and a highly
effective tool for transforming inclusion conflicts. Social work
with marginalized youth is crucial for successful inclusion.
Specifically individual support in small-scale settings provides a
unique opportunity to open up spaces for discouraged and
disaffected teenagers to gain self-worth and dignity. While the
book focuses on identity formation and the teenagers' agency, it
argues that only projects that include both "newcomer" and "native"
can aid in overcoming exclusionary attitudes and policies,
eventually allowing some form of social bonding to take place.
Peculiar Whiteness: Racial Anxiety and Poor Whites in Southern
Literature, 1900-1965 argues for deeper consideration of the
complexities surrounding the disparate treatment of poor whites
throughout southern literature and attests to how broad such
experiences have been. While the history of prejudice against this
group is not the same as the legacy of violence perpetrated against
people of color in America, individuals regarded as ""white trash""
have suffered a dehumanizing process in the writings of various
white authors. Poor white characters are frequently maligned as
grotesque and anxiety inducing, especially when they are aligned in
close proximity to blacks or to people with disabilities. Thus, as
a symbol, much has been asked of poor whites, and various
iterations of the label (e.g., ""white trash,"" tenant farmers, or
even people with a little less money than average) have been
subject to a broad spectrum of judgment, pity, compassion, fear,
and anxiety. Peculiar Whiteness engages key issues in contemporary
critical race studies, whiteness studies, and southern studies,
both literary and historical. Through discussions of authors
including Charles Chesnutt, Thomas Dixon, Sutton Griggs, Erskine
Caldwell, Lillian Smith, William Faulkner, and Flannery O'Connor,
we see how whites in a position of power work to maintain their
status, often by finding ways to recategorize and marginalize
people who might not otherwise have seemed to fall under the
auspices or boundaries of ""white trash.
How do trees help reduce violence? What do roads have to do with
chronic disease? Prevention Diaries examines the unexpected yet
empirically predictable relationships that shape our health,
providing the keys to realizing vitality and health across our
society. With passion, wisdom, and humor, internationally
recognized prevention expert Larry Cohen draws on his three decades
of experience to make a case for building health into the everyday
fabric of our lives-from health care to workplaces, urban planning
to agriculture. Prevention Diaries envisions an alternate model of
American health care, one less predicated on treating sickness and
more focused on preventing it. Doing so requires a shift in how our
society perceives and approaches health - first recognizing our
overreliance on individual solutions, then building an environment
conducive to preventing problems before they occur. Through
first-person vignettes and scientific data, Cohen shows that
prevention is the cure what ails us. By creating greater
opportunities for health and safety - things like safe access to
parks and healthful housing - the US sets a foundation for a
healthier country. Prevention Diaries makes it clear that as the US
works to ensure everyone can access medical services, we also must
make health, not just health care, the ultimate goal.
This book provides fresh insight into the creative practice
developed by Paul McCartney over his extended career as a
songwriter, record producer and performing musician. It frames its
examination of McCartney's work through the lens of the systems
model of creativity developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and
combines this with the research work of Pierre Bourdieu. This
systems approach is built around the basic structures of
idiosyncratic agents, like McCartney himself, and the choices he
has made as a creative individual. It also locates his work within
social fields and cultural domains, all crucial aspects of the
creative system that McCartney continues to be immersed in. Using
this tripartite system, the book includes analysis of McCartney's
creative collaborations with musicians, producers, artists and
filmmakers and provides a critical analysis of the Romantic myth
which forms a central tenet of popular music. This engaging work
will have interdisciplinary appeal to students and scholars of the
psychology of creativity, popular music, sociology and cultural
studies.
The representation of Islam is unquestionably a critical test for
comparing journalistic reporting across countries and cultures. The
Islamic religion has weight in international reporting (defining
what we termed "foreign Islam"), but it is also the religion of
numerically important minority groups residing in Europe ("national
Islam"). The first part of the book is "setting the scene." Three
chapters provide insights in dominant patterns of the
representation of Islam as detected by various authors and studies
involved with Islam representation in Europe. Part two, the core
section of the book, contributes to the development of the field of
comparative journalism studies by comparing several countries and
six media systems in Western Europe: the Dutch-speaking part of
Belgium (Flanders), the French-speaking part of Belgium (Wallonia),
the Netherlands, France, Germany, and the U.K. Part three of this
book presents two reception studies, one qualitative and the other
quantitative. Equally important, as the bulk of attention goes to
Western Europe, is the extension towards the representation of
Muslims and Islam outside Western Europe. Part four of the book is
devoted to the representation of Islam in some of the so-called
BRICs-countries: Russia, China, and India.
This book highlights various dimensions of human habitats in 21st
Century India. The human habitats in the country are marked by
perceptible inequality in social and economic spheres. This is
occurring in tandem with rapid socio-economic transformation across
both rural and urban landscapes. There is a plurality of
transformative characteristics in terms of social and economic
classes, gender and space. Inequality in access to natural
resources such as land and water is still a big factor in
socio-economic differentiation in rural habitats. This constructs a
pedestal of unequal opportunities and access to basic human
necessities such as healthcare, education, potable water and
sanitation. Human habitats experiencing socio-spatial segregation
and exclusion based on caste, community and gender are detrimental
in formation of a civil society and its sustainability in long
terms. The ideal situation for this would be formation of an
inclusive society that celebrates age old socio-cultural
diversities, reduces inequalities and reveres composite culture.
In recent years, the global economy has struggled to meet the
nutritional needs of a growing populace. In an effort to circumvent
a deepening food crisis, it is pertinent to develop new
sustainability strategies and practices to provide a stable supply
of food resources. Urban Agriculture and Food Systems:
Breakthroughs in Research and Practice is an authoritative resource
on the latest technological developments in urban agriculture and
its ability to supplement current food systems. The content within
this publication represents the work of topics such as sustainable
production in urban spaces, farming practices, and urban
distribution methods. This publication is an ideal reference source
for students, professionals, policymakers, researchers, and
practitioners interested in recent developments in the areas of
agriculture in urban spaces.
This text provides readers with an in-depth understanding of the
essential aspects of youth substance abuse-an important
contemporary personal, social, and public health issue. Humans have
been using natural and synthetic chemicals for at least two
millennia-primarily for the purpose of treating medical problems,
but also for recreational purposes. The 2014 Monitoring the Future
survey of eighth, tenth, and twelfth grade students indicates a
general decline in the use of illicit drugs over the last two
decades. On the other hand, perceptions among youth that certain
types of drug use-like marijuana and e-cigarettes-are harmless are
growing. Youth Substance Abuse: A Reference Handbook provides an
overview of the history and development of youth substance abuse
along with a discussion of the medical, social, psychological,
legal, and economic issues associated with youth substance abuse
both in the United States and other parts of the world. The book
begins with a comprehensive introduction to the subject of youth
substance abuse that explains how modern societies have reached the
point where abuse of both legal and illegal substances is a major
health issue in many nations. Readers will learn about the effects
of substances such as cocaine, marijuana, and heroin as well as
substances that are typically legal but have deleterious health,
social, or psychological effects, such as tobacco, alcohol,
prescription drugs, and electronic cigarettes. Subsequent chapters
address how and why youth substance abuse has become a problem in
the United States and other countries, the demographics of this
widespread problem, the direct and indirect effects of youth
substance abuse and addiction, and the range of services and
methods that are available for treating substance abuse. Presents
individual perspectives on youth substance abuse issues that
provide readers with a very personal outlook on specific aspects of
the topic Provides readers with broad coverage of current issues
and topics in substance abuse by adolescents as well as a
historical perspective of how this problem has developed in the
United States over the past century Includes a chapter of primary
documents sourced from a number of laws and court cases dealing
with various aspects of youth substance abuse
While the population continues to grow and expand, many people are
now making their homes in cities around the globe. With this
increase in city living, it is becoming vital to create intelligent
urban environments that efficiently support this growth, and that
simultaneous provide friendly, progressive environments to both
businesses and citizens alike. The Handbook of Research on
Entrepreneurial Development and Innovation within Smart Cities is a
comprehensive reference source that discusses social, economic, and
environmental issues surrounding the evolution of smart cities. It
provides insightful viewpoints on a range of topics such as
entrepreneurial ecosystems, competitive tourism, city efficiency,
corporate social responsibility, and smart destinations. This
publication is ideal for all researchers, academics, and
practitioners that wish to expand their knowledge on the emerging
trends and topics involving smart cities.
Some 80,000 British children - many of them under the age of ten -
were shipped from Britain to Canada by Poor Law authorities and
voluntary bodies during the 50 years following Confederation in
1867. How did this come about? What were the motives and methods of
the people involved in both countries? Why did it come to an end?
What effects did it have on the children involved and what
eventually became of them? These are the questions Roy Parker
explores in a meticulously researched work that brings together
economic, political, social, medical, legal, administrative and
religious aspects of the story in Britain and Canada.He concludes
with a moving review of evidence from more recent survivors of
child migration, discussing the lifelong effects of their
experiences with the help of modern psychological insights. His
book - humane and highly professional - will capture and hold the
interest of many: the academic, the practitioner and the general
reader; and they will include the relatives and descendants, both
in Britain and Canada, of the children around whom this study
revolves.
Today, concerns about the financial stability of Social Security,
trends in disability, health care costs, and the supply of
caregivers are all driven by the coming explosion inthe number of
people over the age of 65. Aging in America focuses on the economic
and demographic portrait of the senior population and can provide a
context for analysis of broader population issues. It provides a
wide range of characteristics of the older population including:
age composition, race and Hispanic origin, educational attainment,
living arrangements, veteran status, employment and income, health
insurance, disability and housing characteristics. Extracting
comparative information from the Census Bureau's FactFinder
dissemination system can be difficult and time-consuming. Aging in
America provides comparative data on a variety of topics in a
single, easy-to-use volume. Some of the benefits of Aging in
America include: *It provides a cross-section of socio-economic
characteristics focused on the aging population for commonly
researched geographic areas: states, counties, cities, metropolitan
and micropolitan areas, and congressional districts *The tables are
structured to allow easy comparisons across geographic areas and
easy profiling of characteristics for any area of reader interest
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