The stage is set for the Beijing Olympiad to be the greatest mega-event, sporting or otherwise, in history. Still, the issues taxing many minds include whether the Beijing Games will be successful; whether they will be wrought with and wrecked by troubles; and who they will benefit. What value will the 2008 Games be to the people of China? Will they mainly serve the purposes of the dominant political, economic and cultural groups at and between the local, regional and global levels of modern social life?

The Beijing Olympiad examines these among other questions, providing a range of original insights of interest to an array of scholars, researchers and students from Sports Studies to Sociology, Politics, Economics, International Relations and Legal Studies.

The stage is set for the Beijing Olympiad to be the greatest mega-event, sporting or otherwise, in history. Still, the issues taxing many minds include whether the Beijing Games will be successful; whether they will be wrought with and wrecked by troubles; and who they will benefit. What value will the 2008 Games be to the people of China? Will they mainly serve the purposes of the dominant political, economic and cultural groups at and between the local, regional and global levels of modern social life?

The Beijing Olympiad examines these among other questions, providing a range of original insights of interest to an array of scholars, researchers and students from Sports Studies to Sociology, Politics, Economics, International Relations and Legal Studies.

Human rights are acquiring an increasingly prominent role on the world stage. Interest in, concern about and action on human rights are widespread and rising, albeit in a far from globally even, uniform and untroubled fashion. Human rights have generated a booming global industry while having become, not unconnectedly, highly controversial and deeply contested. Human rights matters have emerged as a major source of disagreement, dispute and discord at and between the local, regional and global levels of social, cultural, political and economic life. These developments are addressed in the book by an examination of the links between the evolving global human rights regime (GHRR) and the character and course of human rights in the world's most dynamic, complex and problematic region, that of the Asia Pacific. The authors argue that although the Asia Pacific and human rights nexus is influenced by cultural clashes, it is largely shaped by power distributions and struggles rooted in the global political economy (GPE). The prevailing GHRR reflects the way in which globalization processes have been Western led, but its future is far from certain given the current shift in the balance of GPE power towards the Asia Pacific, and especially East Asia.

Child Labour in Global Society is a critical response to the modern educational regime, compulsory schooling and the 'slavery industry' in a globalizing world; to evolving and exploitative notions of 'slavery'; to definitions of 'slavery' in international law; to approaches to 'educational labour', including in international human rights law; and to cultural, common-sense and professional perspectives on 'slavery' and 'educational labour', in the light of which it is arguable that children's 'slave labour' in modern and modernizing societies is grossly under-estimated and otherwise greatly, if conveniently, misrepresented.

Child Labour in Global Society is a critical response to the modern educational regime, compulsory schooling and the 'slavery industry' in a globalizing world; to evolving and exploitative notions of 'slavery'; to definitions of 'slavery' in international law; to approaches to 'educational labour', including in international human rights law; and to cultural, common-sense and professional perspectives on 'slavery' and 'educational labour', in the light of which it is arguable that children's 'slave labour' in modern and modernizing societies is grossly under-estimated and otherwise greatly, if conveniently, misrepresented.

This volume describes phase 3 of the AiREAS multidisciplinary cocreation effort to produce a Healthy City. Phase 1 referred to making visible the invisible from an air quality and human exposure perspective. Phase 2 studies air quality related to health and Phase 3 looks at air quality, health and lifestyle from the perspective of persuasion to innovative change. The three books together describe the coming about and first results of the AiREAS "healthy city" cooperative in the city of Eindhoven and Province of North Brabant in the Netherlands. AiREAS is an initiative focused on the multidisciplinary co-creation of healthy cities using the core human value of human health and air quality as guiding principle for profound regional innovation.

This book describes the coming about and first results of the AiREAS "healthy city" cooperative in the city of Eindhoven and Province of North Brabant in the Netherlands. AiREAS is an initiative focused on the multidisciplinary co-creation of healthy cities using the core human value of human health and air quality as guiding principle for profound regional innovation. The unique group process that followed uses the complexity of the city of Eindhoven as living lab. It is an anthropology based initiative that invites directly to the same table of core innovative responsibility the local government, innovative business partners, scientific insights and research, and civilian participation. The first phase is described here in which the consortium decided to want to make the invisible of air pollution and human exposure visible for the integral innovative participation of all city's core pillars (policy, education, infrastructure, culture and entrepreneurship). The experience is unique in the world and proceeding now with more phases in Eindhoven and the role out of the same working format in other cities. This Brief is made available to inspire the world to address together the most complex issues of our current era: pollution, climate and core human values.

A set of essays critically assessing aspects of the state's involvement in caring in modern societies, with particular reference to Britain, Japan, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Paul Close is also the editor of "Family and Economy in Modern Society".

A collection of essays on the social divisions and inequalities encompassing and pervading family life in modern society. It covers issues at the forefront of current social discourse and presents information and ideas relevant to progressive social policy, administration and change.

Supranationalism in the New World Order argues that in the post-Cold War distribution of global power and configuration of global players, the European Union is just one among a growing number of regional regimes that are acquiring prominent roles in the process of global governance, to some extent through the operation of differentiated zones of geo-political management. The EU is currently the most advanced and influential example of a regional regime by virtue of having the novel European Community at its core-the EC uniquely being constructed around supranational institutions, decision-making, and laws. But the EU's uniqueness is unlikely to last. The evident competitive advantages of supranational regional regimes, in conjunction with the realism generally adopted by the various global players, is conducive to the consolidation and proliferation of SRRs in a manner consistent with the neo-functionalist perspective on the progress of the EU. Other prospective SRRs include the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the East Asian Economic Caucus, the South Asian Society for Regional Cooperation, the North American Free Trade Area, and the Andean Community. It is argued that the emerging character of the global system will increasingly depend on SRRs, the relationships among such organizations, and, accordingly, the doctrine of supranationalism. The book offers a distinctive way of representing the global system, global processes, and global developments with the help of a set of freshly articulated concepts. The result is a novel, but highly contentious, treatise.

Supranationalism in the New World Order argues that in the post-Cold War distribution of global power and configuration of global players, the European Union is just one among a growing number of regional regimes that are acquiring prominent roles in the process of global governance, to some extent through the operation of differentiated zones of geo-political management. The EU is currently the most advanced and influential example of a regional regime by virtue of having the novel European Community at its core - the EC being uniquely constructed around supranational institutions, decision-making and laws. But the EC's uniqueness is unlikely to last. The evident competitive advantages of supranational regional regimes, in conjunction with the realism generally adopted by the various global players, is conducive to the consolidation and proliferation of SRRs in a manner consistent with the neo-functionalist perspective on the progress of the EU. Other prospective SRRs include the Association of South-East Asian Nations, the East Asian Economic Caucus, the South Asian Society for Regional Cooperation, the North American Free Trade Area, and the Andean Community. It is argued that the emerging character of the global system will increasingly depend on SRRs, the relationships among such organisations, and accordingly the doctrine of supranationalism. The book offers a distinctive way of representing and interpreting the global system, global processes and global developments with the help of a set of freshly articulated concepts. The result is a novel, but highly contentious, treatise.