As the world's billionaire class reaps record profits and global inequalities further divide nations and communities, this anthology compiled by renown activist Dr. Vandana Shiva pulls back the curtain on how ruthless capitalistic exploitation branded as philanthropic altruism forges a direct path to global destruction. Philanthrocapitalism and the Erosion of Demo cracy: A Global Citizens' Report on the Corporate Control of Technology, Health, and Agriculture details how global philanthrocapitalist organizations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and affiliated entities effectively monopolize and privatize common land for food production in a manner that jeopardizes public health around the globe. Through various initiatives, sub-organizations, development schemes, and funding mechanisms, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's empire in particular weaves an intricate network of power and influence designed to ensnare local communities and traditions in an unwavering pursuit of profit and market expansion. Philanthrocapitalism and the Erosion of Democracy calls to account problematic initiatives that serve to corrode the integrity of democratic institutions, often under a banner of future-oriented innovation. This book lays bare the destructive power of overly capitalistic systems that enable mass human suffering and environmental catastrophe via the entanglement of private investment and public policy. This democratic emergency is analyzed in detail by leading experts and civil society movements' leaders, such as: Dr. Vandana Shiva, Farida Akhter, Jose Esquinas Alcazar, Nicoletta Dentico, Fernando Cabaleiro, Seth Itzkan, Dru Jay, Satish Kumar, Jonathan Latham, Aide Jimenez-Martinez, Chito Medina, Zahra Moloo, Silvia Ribeiro, Adelita San Vicente, Ali Tapsoba, Jim Thomas, Timothy A. Wise. International organizations and national movements who also participated include ETC Group, Community Alliance for Global Justice/AGRA Watch, Soil4Climate, Bioscience Resource, GM Watch, Naturaleza de Derechos - Argentina, Masipag - Philippines, Terre a Vie - Burkina Faso, UBINIG - Bangladesh.

This three-part book 'pulls back the curtain on disturbing technological and corporate trends that are already reshaping our world and that will become crucial battlegrounds for civil society in the years ahead.' Vandana Shiva, Founder, Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology 'Geopiracy' analyses how Northern governments and corporations are cynically using growing concerns about the ecological and climate crisis to propose geoengineering 'quick fixes'. These threaten to wreak havoc on ecosystems, with disastrous impacts on the people of the global South. As calls for a 'greener' economy mount and oil prices escalate, corporations are seeking to switch from oil-based to plant-based energy. 'The New Biomassters' exposes how a biomass economy based on using gene technologies to reprogramme living organisms to behave as microbial factories will facilitate the liquidation of ecosystems. This constitutes a devastating assault of the peoples and cultures of the South, accelerating the wave of land grabs that are becoming common in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 'Capturing Climate Genes' shows how the worlds largest agribusiness companies including Monsanto, BASF, Dupont and Syngenta are pouring billions of dollars into, and claiming patents on, what are claimed to be 'climate-ready crops'. Far from helping farmers adjust to a warming world - something peasant farmers already know how to manage - these crops will allow industrial agriculture to expand plantation monocultures into lands currently cultivated by poor peasant farmers. These crops are not a solution to growing hunger, they will feed only the gluttony of corporate shareholders for profits.

"The book offers communication researchers some of the best recent work on qualitative inquiry in the human disciplines. . . . Published by Sage, the leading publisher of qualitative research in the social sciences today. . . . Jim Thomas's method, well displayed in illustrations drawn from his emancipatory work in prisons, has important connections to the participatory action (Friere) and critical theory traditions. . . . This work brings the communication scholar up-to-date on where qualitative methods are in current sociological and educational discourse."

--Norman K. Denzin in Journal of Communication

If a researcher's responsibility entails the righting of social wrongs and producing valid research results, how is it possible to juxtapose these two goals? Representing the marriage of two traditions in social science, critical theory and qualitative research, Doing Critical Ethnography applies a critical worldview to the conventional logic of cultural inquiry. This innovative volume does not oppose conventional ethnography; rather, it offers a style of thinking about the direct relationship between knowledge, society, and political action. The author defines the rules and guidelines for a praxis-oriented ethnographic tradition, one both ideologically engaged and scientifically valid. He also outlines the various types of critical ethnography and explains the tenets of each and how research can be carried out under these frameworks.

This challenging volume will be useful to students and professionals in qualitative research in social theory, and critical studies.

Science of Synthesis: Houben-Weyl Methods of Molecular Transformations is the entirely new edition of the acclaimed reference series, Houben-Weyl, the standard synthetic chemistry resource since 1909. This new edition is published in English and will comprise of 48 volumes published between the years 2000 and 2008. Science of Synthesis is a quality reference work developed by a highly esteemed editorial board to provide a comprehensive and critical selection of reliable organic and organometallic synthetic methods. Science of Synthesis is designed to be the first point of reference when searching for a synthesis strategy. This volume covers the synthesis of five-membered heterocyclic compounds with an oxygen-, sulfur-, nitrogen-, selenium-, tellurium-, or phosphorus-containing heterocycle fused to one or two benzenoid rings. Volume 10 presents selected procedures for the synthesis of benzoannulated five-membered hetarenes. It covers the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds with widely differing stabilities and chemical and physical properties ranging from unstable hetarenes, such as benzo[c]furans, to very stable dibenzohetarenes, such as dibenzothiophene. For full information on the Science of Synthesis series, visit the Science of Synthesis Homepage. Series Editors: D. Bellus, S. V. Ley, R. Noyori, M. Regitz, E. Schaumann, I. Shinkai, E. J. Thomas, B. M. Trost, P. J. Reider.