The volume focuses on privatisation in transition countries, addressing issues ranging from corporate governance to the relationship between privatisation and the emergence of markets, from a multi-disciplinary perspective. The contributors investigate both the theoretical groundwork of privatisation and enterprise restructuring as well as recent empirical evidence. The contributions show that changes in ownership titles are but one part of the story, being closely interwoven as they are with the transformation of corporate governance, enterprise restructuring, network transformation and the emergence of markets.

The action theoretical approach has already proved its value as a framework for communication research, most especially in the study of media audiences and media use. It has deep roots in Weberian sociology, symbolic interactionism and phenomenology and it has been a robust survivor of the various storms that have beset the practice of the social sciences since the collapse of structuralist and social system paradigms. The social action approach privileges the perspective of the acting individual but offers guidelines for connecting the subjective orientation with networks of social interaction and for treating 'behaviour' as a social process. Research within this framework takes account of the wider social context and calls for a careful combination of empirical observation and interpretation, with a corresponding diversity of methodologies. The appeal of the approach stems also from its flexibility, wide range of applications and sensitivity to cultural and social meanings. The contributions assembled in this book, despite their diversity, can all be placed within the framework of social action theory. Some are reports of empirical inquiries, others reflections on theory but each one sheds some light on the significance of media use in everyday experience and contributes to an understanding of communication in society.

This volume focuses on privatization in transition countries, addressing issues ranging from corporate governance to the relationship between privatization and the emergence of markets. The contributors investigate both the theoretical groundwork of privatization and enterprise restructuring as well as recent empirical evidence.

Announcing presidential decisions, debating social issues, disputing the latest developments in television shows, and sharing funny memes-Twitter has become a space where ordinary citizens and world-leaders alike share their thoughts and ideas. As a result, some argue Twitter has leveled the playing field, while others reject this view as too optimistic. This has led to an ongoing debate about the platform's democratizing potential and whether activity on Twitter engenders change or merely magnifies existing voices. Constructing Digital Cultures explores these issues and more through an in-depth examination of how Twitter users collaborate to create cultural understandings. Looking closely at how user-generated narratives renegotiate dominant ideas about gender and race, it provides insight into the nature of digital culture produced on Twitter and the platform's potential as a virtual public sphere. This volume investigates arenas of discussion often seen on Twitter-from entertainment and popular culture to politics, social justice issues, and advertising-and looks into how members of ethnic minority groups use and relate to the platform. Through an in-depth examination of individual expressions, the different kinds of dialogue that characterize the platform, and various ways in which people connect, Constructing Digital Cultures provides a critical, empirically based consideration of Twitter's potential as an inclusive, egalitarian public sphere for the modern age.

The amazing transformation of society brought about by the wide dispersion of computers has given rise to new moral dilemmas. With the rapid development of this technology, the impact of computers on privacy, personal identity, intellectual property, and the form and practice of democracy is becoming more apparent every day. Inevitably, this penetration of computer technology into our private and social lives has a moral dimension, which raises questions about our conduct and requires moral reflection and decision-making. The twenty-six groundbreaking essays collected in this insightful anthology define the nature of this new moral landscape and offer thoughtful answers to the ethical questions raised by the interaction of people and computers.
Divided into five sections, the volume begins with a definition of cyberethics. There is general agreement with James H. Moor's basic definition of the field as "the formulation and justification of policies for the ethical use of computers." Next the issues of anonymity and personal identity are considered. Computers provide individuals with a unique opportunity to create personae for the virtual world that are quite distinct from their normal identities. What are the moral dimensions of creating virtual personalities?
Perhaps the most pressing ethical issue is addressed in the next section on privacy. The ability of computers to store vast amounts of information on any individual raises the harrowing specter of a Big Brother society in the not-too-distant future. How should information be used and how might it be abused? What safeguards are needed to protect privacy as information technology becomes ever more sophisticated?
In the fourth section, questions concerning ownership of intellectual property and copyright law are considered. How can the rights of authorship be protected in the context of the internet?
Finally, the fifth section explores the debate now taking place regarding the impact of computers on democracy. Do computers offer new possibilities for enhancing democracy or will this prospect turn out to be a myth?
This is a much needed anthology of thought-provoking articles on the critical moral issues facing our "brave new world."

This volume provides a critical view of the nature and quality of political and civic communication on Twitter. The introduction lays out the current state of research, showing the continuum of views, from the more optimistic to more pessimistic, regarding the platform's potential to facilitate civic conversations. The eleven empirical case studies in the book provide new insights, addressing a variety of topics through a diverse array of methodological approaches. Together, the chapters provide a counter position to recent studies that offer more celebratory assessments of Twitter's potential. The book draws attention to the chaotic, insular, uncivil, and emotionally charged nature of debate and communication on Twitter.

This volume provides a critical view of the nature and quality of political and civic communication on Twitter. The introduction lays out the current state of research, showing the continuum of views, from the more optimistic to more pessimistic, regarding the platform's potential to facilitate civic conversations. The eleven empirical case studies in the book provide new insights, addressing a variety of topics through a diverse array of methodological approaches. Together, the chapters provide a counter position to recent studies that offer more celebratory assessments of Twitter's potential. The book draws attention to the chaotic, insular, uncivil, and emotionally charged nature of debate and communication on Twitter.

Announcing presidential decisions, debating social issues, disputing the latest developments in television shows, and sharing funny memes—Twitter has become a space where ordinary citizens and world-leaders alike share their thoughts and ideas. As a result, some argue Twitter has leveled the playing field, while others reject this view as too optimistic. This has led to an ongoing debate about the platform’s democratizing potential and whether activity on Twitter engenders change or merely magnifies existing voices. Constructing Digital Cultures explores these issues and more through an in-depth examination of how Twitter users collaborate to create cultural understandings. Looking closely at how user-generated narratives renegotiate dominant ideas about gender and race, it provides insight into the nature of digital culture produced on Twitter and the platform’s potential as a virtual public sphere. This volume investigates arenas of discussion often seen on Twitter—from entertainment and popular culture to politics, social justice issues, and advertising—and looks into how members of ethnic minority groups use and relate to the platform. Through an in-depth examination of individual expressions, the different kinds of dialogue that characterize the platform, and various ways in which people connect, Constructing Digital Cultures provides a critical, empirically based consideration of Twitter’s potential as an inclusive, egalitarian public sphere for the modern age.

The action theoretical approach has already proved its value as a framework for communication research, most especially in the study of media audiences and media use. It has deep roots in Weberian sociology, symbolic interactionism and phenomenology and it has been a robust survivor of the various storms that have beset the practice of the social sciences since the collapse of structuralist and social system paradigms. The social action approach privileges the perspective of the acting individual but offers guidelines for connecting the subjective orientation with networks of social interaction and for treating 'behaviour' as a social process. Research within this framework takes account of the wider social context and calls for a careful combination of empirical observation and interpretation, with a corresponding diversity of methodologies. The appeal of the approach stems also from its flexibility, wide range of applications and sensitivity to cultural and social meanings. The contributions assembled in this book, despite their diversity, can all be placed within the framework of social action theory. Some are reports of empirical inquiries, others reflections on theory but each one sheds some light on the significance of media use in everyday experience and contributes to an understanding of communication in society.

What is it like to experience disability? What are the prevailing cultural attitudes toward those who experience disability? How do social norms and public policies affect those experiencing disability? This book provides a vivid and concrete introduction to the wealth of social, political and ethical debates that surround the experience of disability. Beginning with an exploration of the perspective of persons with disabilities, the essays demonstrate the extent to which the disability experience is affected by social and cultural values, attitudes, and policies. In addition to these first-person reflections, there are essays relating to such issues as: -The disability rights movement -Disability studies -Social policy relating to disability Physician-assisted suicide, genetic testing, selective abortion, the moral status of handicapped newborns, and living and dying with dignity Written in an engaging style with a focus on the concrete, this collection of essays includes contributions by John Hockenberry, Oiver Sacks, Peter Singer, and others. It is a marvelous resource for enabling the reader to comprehend the experience of disability and to explore contemporary issues involving the disability community.

Die medizinischen Wissenschaften sind so rasch gewachsen und haben eine so1che Breite ge- wonnen, daB notwendigerweise die Grundausbildung des Studenten in den Biowissenschaften der Abstimmung bedarf. Vielerorts sind bereits Richtlinien mr die entsprechenden Facher er- arbeitet worden. Sie sollen einen direkten Weg in die klinische Medizin bahnen. Die Biochemie ist eine Grundlage aller Wissenbereiche der Medizin. Nur das molekular-bio- chemisehe Verstandnis ist mr Diagnose wie Therapie eine befriedigende Basis mr viele Bio- chemiker und AErzte. Der Niederschrift dieses Buches gingen Vorlesungen mr Medizinstudenten im 3./4. Semester von Dr. Sloane voraus. Ihr groBer Widerhall und der Prufungserfolg der Studenten, die sich entsprechend auf das Biochemieexamen (National Board Examination, USA) vorbereiteten, war AniaB, diese Kurzfassung zu schreiben. Das "Biochemische Arbeitsbuch" ist kein gewoehn- liches Lehrbuch. Es dient vielmehr vorteilhaft als V orlesungsgrundlage oder V orlesungserganzung und ist besonders in Verbindung mit Zeitschriftenbeitragen und urnfassenderen Lehrbuchern zu verwenden. Das Ziel der Autoren ist es, das heutige Grundwissen der Biochemie kurz und im Zusammenhang mit medizinischen Problemen darzustellen. Photosynthese und Stoffwechsel der Mikroorganis- men werden nicht behandelt. Dieser AbriB soll ein Repetieren mit minimalem ZeitauJwand ermoeglichen. Die entscheidenden Fakten werden genannt und Querverweise gegeben. Molekulare Grundlagen von Krankheits- zustanden des Stoffwechsels werden aufgezeigt, z. B.: 1. anomaler Kohlehydrat-Stoffwechsei: Glykogenspeicherkrankheiten; 2. anomale Hamoglobinsynthese: Sichelzellenanamie; 3. Unfahigkeit der fJ-Zellen der Bauchspeicheldruse, Protein zu synthetisieren: Diabetes mellitus; 4. anomaler Lipidstoffwechsei: Akkumulationserscheinungen in vielen Organen; 5. angeborene Fehler im Aminosaurestoffwechsel: geistige Unterentwicklung (Phenylketonurie).

This book stands as a testimony to the creative impact of W. J. Kilgore's teaching on the minds of his students. The contributors were each once students of Dr. Kilgore, and this collection of essays is designed to contribute to scholarly work in philosophy, at the same time serving as a tribute to Dr. Kilgore's intellectual depth, philosophical rigor, and steadfastness of character.

Research indicates that the llcollegefor all" policies encouraged by well-intentioned but misguided educators are preventing many students from getting crucial information about how they are doing, seeing the full range of their desirable options, assessing the appropriateness and likely outcomes of available options, and identifying actions that can improve their career outcomes. Educators and students must be made to understand that "college for all" policies stem from popular misconceptions about the desirability of college for everyone and the undesirability of jobs after high school. Educators and students must also understand that .changing economic and labor market conditions have led to new rules of college and the labor market (skill demands have increased dramatically, earnings for those with less education have declined, college is more available, and community colleges have open admissions). It is particularly important to realize that students can improve their chances for getting good jobs by having better academic achievement and better noncognitive behaviors, taking vocational courses, getting job placement help from teachers, and working to improve their employment prospects before leaving high school. New policy actions to give students and educators better information and help students make more effective career plans must provide specific guidelines about selecting specific college and labor market options, useful evaluations in the form of tests and ratings, and trusted communication channels that provide authoritative information. (Contains 72 references.).

From the blaming of Princess Diana's death on news photographers to the public apology by CNN over its erroneous Vietnam-nerve-gas story, journalism and the American media in general are being placed under the microscope. The media-now more powerful than ever before due to computer advances, cable television, and the internet-controls our opinions, tastes, and, as some would have us believe, our actions.
But has the media shed its ethics and gotten completely out of control? Has the quest to get the big scoop crippled the news media into believing "first" is better than factual? To whom is the media responsible-the public, the stockholders, the advertisers? Who decides what may "harm" an audience or what is unsuitable for children? Who, if anyone, should regulate the media? How do political agendas play into censorship (the FCC) and funding of the media?
These questions and more are probed in The Media and Morality, a wide-ranging selection of important essays that explores relationships between the media and its diverse audiences, its sponsors, stockholders, governments, and others. The authors attempt to define the obligations of the media in these relationships as well as the risks, benefits, and limits.
In addition to providing up-to-date commentary and opinion on the latest controversial and precedent-setting journalistic developments, this book will help readers toward an ethical analysis of the media in the Information Age.

This distinctive collection of classical and contemporary readings comes at a time when pragmatism is undergoing a renaissance across a spectrum of disciplines. Pragmatism and Religion addresses an important but overlooked issue: whether or not the deep passions and commitments of American pragmatism's central figures are independent of Western religious traditions. The first of the book's three sections samples pragmatism's religious roots. "Classical Sources" includes works by John Winthrop, Jonathan Edwards, Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, as well as Charles Sanders Peirce's "Evolutionary Love," William James's "Philosophy" (chapter 18 of The Varieties of Religious Experience), and selections by John Dewey, W. E. B. Du Bois, John McDermott, and Richard Rorty. Part 2, "Contemporary Essays on the American Tradition of Religious Thought," features Richard Bernstein's "Pragmatism's Common Faith," Stuart Rosenbaum's "Morality and Religion," and Robert Westbrook's "Uncommon Faith," among others. Part 3, "Theism, Secularism, and Religion: Seeking a Common Faith" includes Raymond D. Boisvert's "What Is Religion?" Sandra B. Rosenthal's "Spirituality and the Spirit of American Pragmatism," Carl Vaught's "Dewey's Conception of the Religious Dimension of Experience," and Steven C. Rockefeller's "Faith and Ethics in an Interdependent World," among others. Stuart Rosenbaum's contemporary contributors are among the best in the fields of pragmatism and pragmatism in religion. A unique resource, Pragmatism and Religion will serve students of religion, history, and philosophy, as well as those in interdisciplinary core courses.

In the United States, it is rare that people of different races and social classes live together in the same housing developments and neighbourhoods. The Gautreaux programme, one of the most innovative and extensive court-ordered desegregation efforts ever, in which thousands of low-income, African-American families voluntarily moved from Chicago's inner city to mostly white, middle-class suburbs, was specifically designed to help redress this problem. This is the story of this unique experiment in racial, social and economic integration that began in 1976 and ended only last year. The book tells of the Gautreaux families' initial discomfort and of the discrimination they felt. Yet it also relates how, against the odds, their lives changed for the better, in employment and education, exploding the notion that poor, inner-city blacks cannot escape the "culture of poverty". Today, with vouchers and certificates replacing public housing, the Gautreaux success story is the most valuable record of the possibilities and limitations of mobility programmes.

The kidnaping and beating death of a gay University of Wyoming student; the dragging death of a black man in Jasper, Texas, by advocates of "white pride" -- these two isolated incidents of violent crime occurred in 1998, not 1898, and are painful reminders that bigotry and prejudice stubbornly remain well entrenched in American culture.

What, in today's seemingly enlightened society, compels a bigot? How do prejudice and hatred emerge, and sometimes lead to such horrific violence? What can be done to overcome this subversive social undercurrent?

Updated and augmented with new essays on crimes against religious groups, gay bashing, and current court cases, this is a concise and relevant collection of essays that pinpoints the definitions, origins, and outcomes of intolerance in America.

All civilised societies share a common desire for internal order and security. For this reason, among others, moral codes and legal structures are developed to give form to social belief systems, to regulate interpersonal relations, and to promulgate ideals of appropriate behaviour. But what should society or individuals do when the compelling dictates of personal conscience conflict strongly with statutory law? Can the morality of some be visited upon the rest of society by giving it the authority and power of law? Are there principles that go beyond legal jurisdiction to justify acts of civil disobedience? Is it right to violate the laws of society when they are opposed to personal moral convictions? Few questions have had a more compelling effect on the history and future of the human community. For this reason, the editors have brought together a fascinating collection of essays by some of the most astute minds in law and philosophy to grapple with the tough issues facing Morality and the Law.