This book explores the growing attention that sociology has started to give to environmental issues in terms of peace and social justice. With a focus on sociological theory and its development, it reconstructs the long journey made by the social sciences towards the reconstruction, in a single theoretical paradigm, of the problems associated with the implementation of conditions of peace and sustainability. Beginning from the premise that environmental issues are never purely environmental, but entail political, economic and social implications, Sustainable Development and Peace offers an understanding of where we are heading, and how, reflecting on present challenges and possible directions for the future. It will therefore appeal to scholars of sociology, social theory, development studies, politics and environmental studies.

Increasingly, we hear of 'smart' cities, communities, governance and people as constituting the basis of initiatives by which we might address various social and environmental problems, particularly those connected with sustainability, usually by means of an 'intelligent' connection with the 'network society'. This book addresses the issues raised by the emergence of 'smart' dimensions and initiatives in society, critically engaging with questions surrounding the feasibility of what smart initiatives propose and the extent to which they can really offer solutions to the challenges we face. With attention to the notion of 'smart' as applied to the individual, the community, politics and the home, the authors consider the interconnections between these various facets of 'smart living' and their relationship to the notion of the smart society as a whole. Drawing on a concrete study of an attempt to concretize smart ideas in the design of a smart, solar home as part of an international project, Smart Society offers the first extended sociological engagement with the notion of smart living.

This book explores the close interconnection that exists between sociological and philosophical scholarship in relation to peace studies. Through an examination of the thought of nine leading philosophers and sociologists in their historical and geographical context, the author considers notions of nonviolent resistance, pacifism and reverse strike, as well as violence theories of conflict, theories of conflict resolution, the problem of war, and political transitions towards democratization. Engaging with the work of Thoreau, Gandhi, Ghaffar Khan, Capitini, Dolci, Bobbio, Galtung, Sharp and Weil, and considering the institutionalisation of peace research, this volume will appeal to scholars and students of sociology, politics and philosophy with interest in peace and security studies, and conflict.

This book explores the close interconnection that exists between sociological and philosophical scholarship in relation to peace studies. Through an examination of the thought of nine leading philosophers and sociologists in their historical and geographical context, the author considers notions of nonviolent resistance, pacifism and reverse strike, as well as violence theories of conflict, theories of conflict resolution, the problem of war, and political transitions towards democratization. Engaging with the work of Thoreau, Gandhi, Ghaffar Khan, Capitini, Dolci, Bobbio, Galtung, Sharp and Weil, and considering the institutionalisation of peace research, this volume will appeal to scholars and students of sociology, politics and philosophy with interest in peace and security studies, and conflict.

Increasingly, we hear of 'smart' cities, communities, governance and people as constituting the basis of initiatives by which we might address various social and environmental problems, particularly those connected with sustainability, usually by means of an 'intelligent' connection with the 'network society'. This book addresses the issues raised by the emergence of 'smart' dimensions and initiatives in society, critically engaging with questions surrounding the feasibility of what smart initiatives propose and the extent to which they can really offer solutions to the challenges we face. With attention to the notion of 'smart' as applied to the individual, the community, politics and the home, the authors consider the interconnections between these various facets of 'smart living' and their relationship to the notion of the smart society as a whole. Drawing on a concrete study of an attempt to concretize smart ideas in the design of a smart, solar home as part of an international project, Smart Society offers the first extended sociological engagement with the notion of smart living.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the problem of the development of regional security has become increasingly relevant in international politics. Of particular concern is the post-Soviet space, which remains in the most difficult process of transformation. The Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, which entered a sharp phase in 1992, was one of the first and most lengthy (1992-2008) international conflicts in the former Soviet Union. Complex factors, such as the deep roots of the confrontation, the great human sacrifices of the political parties during the hostilities, the high degree of defensive involvement of the entire population of Abkhazia, and the asymmetry in the approaches of the parties, all determine the need for an analysis of the nature and the origins and dynamics of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict.This book identifies the nature and the origins of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict and the causes of the inefficiency of the official negotiation process, and it evaluates the hypothesis of a possible federalist transformation of the institutions of both Georgia and Abkhazia. In the international panorama, federalism, in fact, is being increasingly considered as an instrument of conflict transformation in the case of conflicts based on cultural diversity and ethnicity.