This unique book presents original concepts to characterize the current crisis of democracy. Offering a comparative study of original electoral data and analysis of contemporary trends, models and theoretical frameworks, Luigi Di Gregorio argues that democracy is affected by 'demopathy'; it is sick and is in need of therapy. Luigi Di Gregorio explores how democratic malaise derives from the transition to postmodernity and the rise of individualization: the loss of social meaning, the end of meta-narratives, the crisis of knowledge and cognitive authorities, narcissism and new perceptions of time and space. The author argues that mass media and technological innovations are the main drivers of this change and have heightened the logic of the consumer society. The resulting psychological democracy is that of a permanent 'pollcracy', whose leaders are simply pursuers of public opinion. The book concludes that democracy must be defended by building a positive narrative to counterbalance the effects of these trends. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, this book will be critical reading for scholars and students of political science, political sociology, political theory and political communication and marketing. Its broad perspective paints a big picture that will also be beneficial for political consultants and policy analysts.

Whereas rational choice theory has enjoyed considerable success in economics and political science, due to its emphasis on individual behavior sociologists have long doubted its capacity to account for non-market social outcomes. Whereas they have conceded that rational choice theory may be an appropriate tool to understand strictly economic phenomena - that is, the kinds of social interactions that occur in the gesellschaft- many sociologists have contended that the theory is wholly unsuitable for the analysis of the kinds of social interactions in the gemeinschaft - such as those occurring in families, in social groups of all kinds, and in society at large. In a variety of non-technical chapters, Rational Choice Sociology shows that a sociological version of rational choice theory indeed can make valuable contributions to the analysis of a wide variety of non-market outcomes, including those concerning social norms, family dynamics, crime, rebellion, state formation and social order. 'Michael Hechter is one of the major proponents of rational actor theory in the social sciences. The book is a useful collection of some of the major articles that cover important issues that are of general interest - in particular collective action and social order. The book shows the wide range of application of the theory and, hopefully, will contribute to further increase its recognition as an important tool to explain social phenomena.' - Karl-Dieter Opp, University of Leipzig, Germany and University of Washington, US 'An early pioneer of sociological rational choice, Michael Hechter has made seminal contributions to rational choice theory over a career spanning nearly 50 years. This book brings those contributions together in a single volume. Although the chapters address a range of substantive topics--fertility decisions, the value of children, collective action, the genesis of mutiny, and state formation--at its core is a deep concern with a fundamental question for social science: How is social order, solidarity, and control possible in human societies? This book provides a compelling answer from a rational choice perspective.' - Ross L. Matsueda, University of Washington, US

This groundbreaking book investigates the clash between a desire for unfettered mobility and the prevalence of inequality, exploring how this generates frictions in everyday life and how it challenges the ideal of just cosmopolitanism. Reading fictional and popular cultural texts against real global contexts, it develops an 'aesthetics of justice' that does not advocate cosmopolitan mobility at the expense of care and hospitality but rather interrogates their divorce in neoliberal contexts. In this timely analysis, Rodanthi Tzanelli discusses questions of social injustice in the context of multiple and intertwined mobilities - business, technology, travel, tourism, popular cultural pilgrimage and social movements - that are at the forefront of early twenty-first century socio-cultural concerns. The book thus creates an interdisciplinary intervention on the politics and poetics of mobility in rapidly globalised lifeworlds and places. Human geography and sociology scholars with a particular interest in mobilities studies, cosmopolitanism, social theory and tourism or pilgrimage studies will find this book an intriguing and insightful read.

Sapiens showed us where we came from. In uncertain times, Homo Deus shows us where we’re going.

Yuval Noah Harari envisions a near future in which we face a new set of challenges. Homo Deus explores the projects, dreams and nightmares that will shape the twenty-first century and beyond – from overcoming death to creating artificial life.

It asks the fundamental questions: how can we protect this fragile world from our own destructive power? And what does our future hold?

'Homo Deus will shock you. It will entertain you. It will make you think in ways you had not thought before’ Daniel Kahneman, bestselling author of Thinking, Fast and Slow

This unique and insightful book provides a comprehensive examination of contemporary cultural policy and its discourses, influences, and consequences. It examines the factors that have led to a narrowing of cultural policy and suggests new ways of thinking about cultural policy beyond economics by reconnecting it with the practices of work, value, and the social. With a particular focus on Australia and the UK, and with reference to transnational bodies including UNESCO, this book identifies and examines influential national and international factors that have shaped cultural policy, including its implementation of an economic agenda. Deborah Stevenson retraces the foundations of contemporary cultural policy, with chapters exploring the hierarchies of legitimacy that form the basis of value and excellence, the increased hegemony of the economy within the art world complex, and the notions of class and gender as two key factors of social inequality that shape access to the arts. Analysing cultural value, work, and the social as important points of tension and potential disruption within contemporary cultural policy, this book will be essential reading for students and scholars of arts and cultural management, cultural policy studies, cultural sociology, economics, and leisure and urban studies. It will also be of interest to students, scholars, and practitioners across the humanities and the social sciences.

Incorporating insights from political economy and behavioural psychology, this radical book provides an up-to-date account of the dilemmas facing social policy this decade: where did we go wrong, and what we can do about it? Ian Greener reconsiders one of the leading analyses by Jessop of the relationship between the economic and the political, combining it with insights from behavioural science. Covering the economy, healthcare, education and social security, detailed case studies show that the tensions and contradictions in present policy stem from the relationship between government and corporations and a resulting growth in inequality. The author presents a new, unified and effective framework to consider where social policy has come from, where it is now, and what what can we do about it? This book is ideal for those who want the bigger picture of politics and social policy, including advanced undergraduates and postgraduate students of social policy, welfare studies, politics, or other social science disciplines.

By most accounts, Europe has been mired in a "demographic crisis" since about 1970. By a demographic crisis is meant that Europe's dependency ratio is increasing, and the net result has been declining populations and fewer workers to sustain society. However, there are certain issues that need attention. Two topics seem to capture some of these issues: The implications of the possible crisis, and the crisis' assessment. The present volume is organized around both topics (implications and assessment). There are at least three contributions being made by the proposed volume. To begin with, while there are other issues related to the demographic crisis in Europe the present volume should motivate additional research. Secondly, the research in the proposed volume does not necessarily assume that there is a demographic crisis in Europe nor that it is consistent across national lines. Thus, each chapter, in essence, examines a different issue associated with the proposal that there is a crisis. Finally, the present volume makes several methodological contributions. For example, the chapter by David Swanson uses non-Bayesian modeling in studying infant mortality. Richard Verdugo examines the dependency ratio and selected factors on economic growth in selected European nations, Kposowa and Ezzat conduct an assessment, Martins examines variation in the path toward a crisis, Johnson examines humanitarian migration and the crisis, Edmonston examines the association between geopolitics and the crisis.

The Mobilities Paradox: A Critical Analysis asks how the mobilities paradigm, arguably one of the most influential theoretical innovations of the 21st century, holds up against the empirical realities of a deeply unequal world. Korstanje's provocative analysis pairs a sweeping overview of the theoretical landscape with specific instances of tourism, terrorism, hospitality, automobility, digital technologies, and non-places to put mobilities theory to the test.' - Jennie Germann Molz, College of the Holy Cross, US The theory of mobilities has gained great recognition and traction over recent decades, illustrating not only the influence of mobilities in daily life but also the rise and expansion of globalization worldwide. But what if this sense of mobilities is in fact an ideological bubble that provides the illusion of freedom whilst limiting our mobility or even keeping us immobile? This book reviews the strengths and weaknesses of the mobilities paradigm and reminds us that today only a small percentage of the world?s population travel internationally. In doing so the author?s insightful analysis constructs a bridge between Marxism and Cultural theory. Offering a critical discussion of the theory of mobilities, the book explores the concept in the context of colonialism, nation states, consumption, globalization, fear and terrorism. This unique book presents an alternative viewpoint that is vital reading for cultural theorists, sociologists, anthropologists and Marxist scholars seeking a different understanding of the theory of mobilities.

In this fifth edition of the best-selling core introductory textbook, Pete Alcock and Lee Gregory provide a comprehensive and engaging introduction to social policy. Continuing with the unbeaten narrative style and accessible approach of the previous editions, the authors explore the major topics of social policy in a clear and digestible way. By breaking down the complexities behind policy developments and their outcomes, the book demonstrates the relationship between core areas of policy and the society we live in. This new edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to cover the impact of Brexit and contains reflections on the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic for social policy. Each chapter contains comprehension activities to aid understanding, as well as helpful summary points and suggestions for further reading.

One of England's grand masters of history provides a clear and persuasive interpretation of the creation of "respectable society" in Victorian Britain. Integrating a vast amount of research previously hidden in obscure or academic journals, he covers not only the economy, social structure, and patterns of authority, but also marriage and the family, childhood, homes and houses, work and play.

By 1900 the structure of British society had become more orderly and well-defined than it had been in the 1830s and 1840s, but the result, Thompson shows, was fragmentation into a multiplicity of sections or classes with differing standards and notions of respectability. Each group operated its own social controls, based on what it considered acceptable or unacceptable conduct. This "internalized and diversified" respectability was not the cohesive force its middle-class and evangelical proponents had envisioned. The Victorian experience thus bequeathed structural problems, identity problems, and authority problems to the twentieth century, with which Britain is grappling.

American public universities were founded in a civic tradition that differentiated them from their European predecessors-steering away from the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. Like many such higher education institutions across the United States, the University of Wisconsin's mission, known as the Wisconsin Idea, emphasizes a responsibility to serve the needs of the state and its people. This commitment, which necessarily requires a pledge to academic freedom, has recently been openly threatened by state and federal actors seeking to dismantle a democratic and expansive conception of public service. Using the Wisconsin Idea as a lens, Education for Democracy argues that public higher education institutions remain a bastion of collaborative problem solving. Examinations of partnerships between the state university and people of the state highlight many crucial and lasting contributions to issues of broad public concern such as conservation, LGBTQ rights, and poverty alleviation. The contributors restore the value of state universities and humanities education as a public good, contending that they deserve renewed and robust support.

The rapid and formative rise in research on social innovation and entrepreneurship means that theoretical frameworks are still being created, while traditional notions of economic efficiency and social welfare are tested. The field is progressing fastest in the measurement and measuring of social entrepreneurial effectiveness. Social innovators, who draw from philanthropy, as well as capital markets, for financial resources, have adopted the lean start up as a paradigm for their organization logics. This collection showcases the myriad emerging philosophical, methodological, and theoretical approaches, many of which are led by practitioners. It is organized into five sections. The first section reports on theoretical approaches to researching sustainable entrepreneurship that are less familiar. The second section reports on research focusing on the entrepreneurial responses to problems of climate change. The third and fourth sections report on research investigating social entrepreneurial processes, and how opportunities are formed and exploited. The fifth section reports on the ethical dimensions of social innovation. Researchers, scholars, educators and policymakers will find this book a useful reference, with novel ideas for future research and discourse. Contributors include: S.G.S. Abdelgawad, P. Bruner, R. Cortina-Cruz, M. Cortina-Mercado, R. Defiebre-Muller, P.F. Diochon, A.G. Earle, H.D. Fountaine, R. Harrison, R.T. Herko, K. Joensuu, K. Kaesehage, L. Katz, M. Leyshon, S. Lopez-Palau, M. Makela, S.D. Ocampo, T. Onkila, M. Pasquini, B. Rivera-Cruz, M.A. Tietz, Y.W. Turell, D. van der Horst, F.I. Viola, D. Windsor, M. Zhang

Reproducing Domination: On the Caribbean Postcolonial State collects thirteen key essays on the Caribbean by Percy C. Hintzen, the foremost political sociologist in Anglophone Caribbean studies. For the past thirty years, Hintzen has been one of the most articulate and discerning critics of the postcolonial state in Caribbean scholarship, making seminal contributions to the study of Caribbean politics, sociology, political economy, and diaspora studies. His work on the postcolonial elites in the region, first given full articulation in his book The Costs of Regime Survival: Racial Mobilization, Elite Domination, and Control of the State in Guyana and Trinidad, is unparalleled. Reproducing Domination contains some of Hintzen's most important Caribbean essays over a twenty-five-year period, from 1995 to the present. These works have broadened and deepened his earlier work in The Costs of Regime Survival to encompass the entire Anglophone Caribbean; interrogated the formation and consolidation of the postcolonial Anglophone Caribbean state; and theorized the role of race and ethnicity in Anglophone Caribbean politics. Given the recent global resurgence of interest in elite ownership patterns and their relationship to power and governance, Hintzen's work assumes even more resonance beyond the shores of the Caribbean. This groundbreaking volume serves as an important guide for those concerned with tracing the consolidation of power in the new elite that emerged following flag independence in the 1960s.

Technology has been hailed as one of the catalysts toward economic and human development. In the current economic era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, information acquisition, transformation, and dissemination processes are posed to be the key enablers of development. However, in the context of developing countries, there is a need for more evidence on the impact that ICT has on addressing developmental issues. Such evidence is needed to make a case for investments in ICT-led interventions to improve people's lives in developing countries. Perspectives on ICT4D and Socio-Economic Growth Opportunities in Developing Countries is a collection of innovative research on current trends that portray the ICT and development nexus (ICT4D) from economic and human development perspectives within developing countries. While highlighting topics including mobile money, poverty alleviation, and consumer behavior, this book is ideally designed for economists, government officials, policymakers, ICT specialists, business professionals, researchers, academicians, students, and entrepreneurs.

The newest generation of leaders was raised on a steady diet of popular culture artifacts mediated through technology, such as film, television and online gaming. As technology expands access to cultural production, popular culture continues to play an important role as an egalitarian vehicle for promoting ideological dissent and social change. The chapters in this book examine works and creators of popular culture ? from literature to film and music to digital culture ? in order to address the ways in which popular culture shapes and is shaped by leaders around the globe as they strive to change their social systems for the better. Now is an exceptional time to explore the synergy between leadership, popular culture and social change. With analyses that span time, genre and space, the book?s contributors investigate works of popular culture as objects of leadership that help us to both reinforce and question our understandings of who we are and how we want to reshape the world around us. This dynamic examination of leadership presents a useful model of analysis not only for scholars of leadership and popular culture but also for cultural historians and educators across the humanities. Contributors include: K.M.S. Bezio, V.K. Bratton, P.D. Catoira, H. Connell Schaaf, L. DelPrato, S.J. Erenrich, K. Ganesan, S. Guenther, E.M. Holowka, K. Klimek, M.A. Menaldo, N.O. Warner, K. Yost

Sociological Theory, Second Edition is a lively and accessible introduction to contemporary sociological debates. With additional material on theoretical developments since 1995, this substantially updated work is a systematic and comprehensive text presenting clear arguments on the relative merits of the different positions taken within sociological theory. In this second edition John Scott has re-ordered the chapters and chapter sections to draw out a strong narrative on contention and convergence in sociological theory. A consideration of the work of Talcott Parsons sets the scene for subsequent debates on neofunctionalist, symbolic interactionist, rational choice, and conflict theories, together with recent developments in structuralism and post-structuralism. This second edition has been re-cast and updated to give a fuller discussion of the syntheses produced by Anthony Giddens and Jurgen Habermas, tracing their lineage back to Parsons's framework. It considers the various views of modern society depicted in these syntheses and it reviews the wider debates on modernity and post-modernity. The central argument of the book is that advances in sociological understanding arise from the synthesis of rival ideas, and it concludes with an exploration of those areas in which sociological theory is in need of further development. New features of the second edition include: - greater prominence for neofunctionalism in relation to earlier structural-functional theories - discussion of the theoretical ideas of Pierre Bourdieu - expanded coverage of post-structuralist theoretical ideas in relation to structuralist theories - positioning of ethnomethodology and conversation analysis in relation to earlier work on symbolic interactionism - a stronger positioning of debates over modernity and post-modernity as extensions of general theoretical debates. Authoritative, comprehensive and written in a thoroughly accessible style, this text will have major appeal to students, researchers, teachers and specialists in sociological theory.

Currently, the nation's attention is concentrated on the long-standing sexual misdeeds conducted by prominent political, sports, and entertainment figures, which has been succinctly captured by the "#Me Too" movement. This movement has spread to call into question the actions of leaders in religious institutions and organizations, providing the context for research that examines the experiences of individuals and groups as they engage in their daily activities within these establishments. #MeToo Issues in Religious-Based Institutions and Organizations is an essential research book that provides comprehensive research into the effects of the #MeToo movement on institutions and organizations with a significant religious basis and reveals challenges and issues of welcoming gender and diversity. Readers will gain insights and tools for improving social conditions in their personal lives, in places of worship, in organizations, and in academic or other institutional environments. Highlighting a range of topics including diversity, gender equality, and Abrahamic religions, this book is ideal for religious officials, church leaders, psychologists, sociologists, professionals, researchers, academicians, and students.

Consumerism and capitalist and socialist industry have reached the point where state power is legitimatized by its ability to increase the number of commodities. A unique culture has been created in which marketing is the main social bond. Values no longer shape and condition needs, wants, desires, or preferences. Leiss draws on economics, psychology, sociology, and anthropology to show the vagueness of our thought on the relation between nature and culture, desire and reason, needs and commodities. This book raises serious, vital questions for all those concerned about the future of our present society.