This landmark collection brings leading scholars in the field of political communication to debate one of the most important questions of our age: Can the media serve democracy? For the media to be democratic, they must enter into a positive relationship with their readers, viewers and listeners as citizens rather than consumers who buy things, audiences who gaze upon spectacles or isolated egos, obsessed with themselves. The media's first task is to remind people that they are inhabitants of a world in which they can make a difference. By enabling citizens to encounter and make sense of events, relationships and cultures of which they have no direct experience, the media constitute a public arena in which members of the public come together as more than passing strangers.

Parental involvement with children at home, in school, and in the community is one of the most important factors in educational success. Yet we know very little about the most effective approaches to parental intervention. Moreover, not all parents have the same resources or opportunities to act on the educational expectations they have for their c

Re-riting Woman presents the first in-depth ethnographic study of Dianic Wicca. Its subject, Circle of Aradia, is a branch of the religion based in the Los Angeles area. This religion-of, by, and for women-conceives the Divine as exclusively female, and has infused feminism into Wicca worldwide. Kristy S. Coleman combines ethnography with theory to present a full account of what Dianic Witches' lived practice looks like and what it means. The theorist of focus, Luce Irigaray, asserts that women must reclaim their own space and imagine the Divine as female to achieve full emancipation. Moreover, Irigaray's critical analysis of Western culture creates a subtext that clarifies what is at stake in this practice. Thick description of seasonal rituals dispels fears and stereotypes about Wicca, and offers readers a comforting familiarity and shared healing. Coleman employs ritual theory to suggest why and how these rites wield such meaning-altering possibilities. Practitioners' statements that describe a shift in worldview and self-conception elicit Coleman's proposal that Dianic rituals re(w)rite the valuation and meaning of woman. Dianic women's stories reveal both the transformative power of the tradition's practice and the organization's challenges related to power politics.

This book presents a major report that has evoked extensive controversy and initiated extensive policy debate on equality and achievement in education. It examines the concept of equality of educational opportunity and the relations between equality and achievement and between families and schools.

Re-riting Woman presents the first in-depth ethnographic study of Dianic Wicca. Its subject, Circle of Aradia, is a branch of the religion based in the Los Angeles area. This religion-of, by, and for women-conceives the Divine as exclusively female, and has infused feminism into Wicca worldwide. Kristy S. Coleman combines ethnography with theory to present a full account of what Dianic Witches' lived practice looks like and what it means. The theorist of focus, Luce Irigaray, asserts that women must reclaim their own space and imagine the Divine as female to achieve full emancipation. Moreover, Irigaray's critical analysis of Western culture creates a subtext that clarifies what is at stake in this practice. Thick description of seasonal rituals dispels fears and stereotypes about Wicca, and offers readers a comforting familiarity and shared healing. Coleman employs ritual theory to suggest why and how these rites wield such meaning-altering possibilities. Practitioners' statements that describe a shift in worldview and self-conception elicit Coleman's proposal that Dianic rituals re(w)rite the valuation and meaning of woman. Dianic women's stories reveal both the transformative power of the tradition's practice and the organization's challenges related to power politics.

What underlying philosophy and mission should museums pursue in the first half of the twenty-first century? In Museum Philosophy, twenty-four authors use the lenses of a variety of disciplines to answer this essential question. Museum professionals offer their answers alongside philosophers, historians, political scientists, educators, sociologists, and others in a wide-ranging exploration of institutions from art museums to zoos. Hugh Genoway's book offers philosophical and ethical guidelines, describes the ways specific institutions illustrate different philosophies, examines major divisions in the museum community, and explores outreach and engagement between the museum and its larger community. Both established museum professionals and students of museum studies will benefit from this insightful look into the foundations and future of their field.

"There is in modem society a structural change that underlies many of the social changes with which the conference was concerned. My argument here will be that this is a qualitative change in the way society is organized, a change with many implications. I will call this a change from primordial and spontaneous social organization to constructed social organization (see Coleman 1990, Chapters 2, 3, and 24 for an extended examination of this change). The common definitions of these terms contain some hint of what I mean, but I will describe the change more fully to ensure that it is clearly understood. By primordial social organization I mean social organization that has its origins in the relationships established by childbirth. Not all these relations are activated in all cultures, but some subset of these relations forms the basis for all primitive and traditional social organization. From these relations, more complex structures unfold. For example, from these relations come families; from families come clans; from clans, villages; and from villages, tribes, ethnicities, or societies."

This book is a series of five lectures given in 1981 at Syracuse University, each couples with a concluding 'dialogue' where the author poses questions and objections to his own essays and then answers them. Coleman sees the book as the extension of his 1973 volume, Power and the Structure of Society, and as the second step in the construction of sociological theory about an emerging 'social structure that is not as most of me colleagues would see it.'

The purpose of this four volume series is to make available for college teachers and students samples of important and realistic applications of mathematics which can be covered in undergraduate programs. The goal is to provide illustrations of how modem mathematics is actually employed to solve relevant contemporary problems. Although these independent chapters were prepared primarily for teachers in the general mathematical sciences, they should prove valuable to students, teachers, and research scientists in many of the fields of application as well. Prerequisites for each chapter and suggestions for the teacher are provided. Several of these chapters have been tested in a variety of classroom settings, and all have undergone extensive peer review and revision. Illustrations and exercises are included in most chapters. Some units can be covered in one class, whereas others provide sufficient material for a few weeks of class time. Volume 1 contains 23 chapters and deals with differential equations and, in the last four chapters, problems leading to partial differential equations. Applications are taken from medicine, biology, traffic systems and several other fields. The 14 chapters in Volume 2 are devoted mostly to problems arising in political science, but they also address questions appearing in sociology and ecology. Topics covered include voting systems, weighted voting, proportional representation, coalitional values, and committees. The 14 chapters in Volume 3 emphasize discrete mathematical methods such as those which arise in graph theory, combinatorics, and networks.

The method of normal forms is usually attributed to Poincare although some of the basic ideas of the method can be found in earlier works of Jacobi, Briot and Bouquet. In this book, A.D.Bruno gives an account of the work of these mathematicians and further developments as well as the results of his own extensive investigations on the subject. The book begins with a thorough presentation of the analytical techniques necessary for the implementation of the theory as well as an extensive description of the geometry of the Newton polygon. It then proceeds to discuss the normal form of systems of ordinary differential equations giving many specific applications of the theory. An underlying theme of the book is the unifying nature of the method of normal forms regarding techniques for the study of the local properties of ordinary differential equations. In the second part of the book it is shown, for a special class of equations, how the method of normal forms yields classical results of Lyapunov concerning families of periodic orbits in the neighborhood of equilibrium points of Hamiltonian systems as well as the more modern results concerning families of quasiperiodic orbits obtained by Kolmogorov, Arnold and Moser. The book is intended for mathematicians, theoretical mechanicians, and physicists. It is suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate students.

All ruminants are dependent on the microorganisms that live in their forestomach - the rumen - to break down ingested feed constituents into a form that the host animal can utilize. Protozoa are part of this complex ruminal population and are essential for the nutritional well-being and productivity of the host ruminant. Over 30 different genera (nearly 300 species) of protozoa from the rumen ecosystem have been described since their initial discovery nearly 150 years ago. This book brings together, for the first time, the available information on these protozoa. It comprehensively describes the characteristic anatomical features of value for their identification and includes detailed sections on techniques and methodologies for the isolation and cultivation of these fastidious, oxygen-sensitive microorganisms. Their occurrence, biochemistry, physiology, and role in the ruminal ecosystem are fully reviewed. Particular emphasis is given to potential improvement of the nutrition and productivity of the host ruminant through manipulation of the protozoal population and its activities.

From its inception as a public communication network, the Internet was regarded by many people as a potential means of escaping from the stranglehold of top-down, stage-managed politics. If hundreds of millions of people could be the producers as well as receivers of political messages, could that invigorate democracy? If political elites fail to respond to such energy, where will it leave them? In this short book, internationally renowned scholar of political communication, Stephen Coleman, argues that the best way to strengthen democracy is to re-invent it for the twenty-first century. Governments and global institutions have failed to seize the opportunity to democratise their ways of operating, but online citizens are ahead of them, developing practices that could revolutionise the exercise of political power.

Wieder lieferbar ab Juli 2010 "Hier haben wir eine Raritat in der Soziologie vor uns: eine koharente, scharfsinnige Analyse der ganzen Vielfalt von Kernproblemen der Disziplin - das Selbst, individuelle und soziale Entscheidung, Familie, Normen, Herrschaft, Macht, kollektives Handeln, Burokratie, Revolution -, die uberzeugend und prazise genug ist, um formale Modelle zur Dynamik sozialer Systeme zu ermoglichen." Michael T. Hannan, Cornell University"

This book examines the present and future of televised election debates, from the Nixon-Kennedy presidential debate of 1960 to the age of digital interactive multimedia. A number of contributors, from various perspectives - debate producers, participants and pundits - and from a variety of countries - Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, UK, Israel - discuss the significance of TV debates in what is the first international study of this important political phenomenon.

Parental involvement with children at home, in school, and in the community is one of the most important factors in educational success. Yet we know very little about the most effective approaches to parental intervention. Moreover, not all parents have the same resources or opportunities to act on the educational expectations they have for their children.This book examines the resources available to parents and the actions parents can take to further their children's education. It is the first study of the subject based on major survey data, drawing from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988--a national survey of 26,000 eighth graders, their parents, teachers, and school administrators. The authors explore several important debates, including the extent to which parental involvement can mitigate the constraints of poverty for minorities and disadvantaged students, school choice and equality of educational opportunity, and the effects that school-sponsored activities involving parents have on educational performance.Certain to change the thinking of educators and policymakers, this book is essential reading for scholars and parents as well.

The Media and the Public explores the ways a range of media, from the press to television to the Internet, have constructed and represented the public. Provides a new synthesis of recent research exploring the relationship between media and their publics Identifies ways in which different publics are subverting the gatekeeping of mainstream media in order to find a voice and communicate with others Situates contemporary media-public discourse and relationships in an historical context in order to show the origin of contemporary public/political engagement Creates a theoretical expansion on the role of the media in accessing or denying the articulation of public voices, and the ways in which publics are harnessing new media formats to produce richer and more complex forms of political engagement

What underlying philosophy and mission should museums pursue in the first half of the twenty-first century? In Museum Philosophy, twenty-four authors use the lenses of a variety of disciplines to answer this essential question. Museum professionals offer their answers alongside philosophers, historians, political scientists, educators, sociologists, and others in a wide-ranging exploration of institutions from art museums to zoos. Hugh Genoway's book offers philosophical and ethical guidelines, describes the ways specific institutions illustrate different philosophies, examines major divisions in the museum community, and explores outreach and engagement between the museum and its larger community. Both established museum professionals and students of museum studies will benefit from this insightful look into the foundations and future of their field.

From its inception as a public communication network, the Internet was regarded by many people as a potential means of escaping from the stranglehold of top-down, stage-managed politics. If hundreds of millions of people could be the producers as well as receivers of political messages, could that invigorate democracy? If political elites fail to respond to such energy, where will it leave them? In this short book, internationally renowned scholar of political communication, Stephen Coleman, argues that the best way to strengthen democracy is to re-invent it for the twenty-first century. Governments and global institutions have failed to seize the opportunity to democratise their ways of operating, but online citizens are ahead of them, developing practices that could revolutionise the exercise of political power.

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a rare, disabling and potentially fatal brain infection of the central nervous system (CNS) caused by reactivation of the John Cunningham virus (JCV). The most important risk factor for PML is immunosuppression associated with HIV/AIDS or therapy. Approximately 60 to 80% of the adult population has JC antibodies, but PML is rarely diagnosed. The chapters in this book include research on the pathologic features of PML, the diagnosis, risk factors, pathogenesis, and management strategies.

Statistical methods are applied widely in industry, particularly in manufacturing processes, to provide authoritative methods for quality control and thus improve productivity and efficiency. The various methods range from graphical approaches to generalised modelling, and from designed experiments to process control. Statistical Practice in Business and Industry presents the latest advances in the application of statistical and optimisation methods within modern industry, alongside more established methods. Methods are demonstrated across a wide range of real-life applications from fields including finance, e-commerce, micro-electronics, chemical and automotive engineering, component assembly, household goods and plastics manufacturing. Each topic is investigated by an expert in that field, facilitating a comprehensive understanding of how statistical methods benefit business and industry.

The book:

Provides comprehensive coverage of the essential statistical methods applied in industry.

Presents user-friendly practical guidance on the applications of the methods.

Adopts a graphical approach, helping the non-statistician to fully understand the methods.

Features problem solving strategies for all aspects of business, from product and process design, through to packaging and delivery, dealing with single and multivariate problems.

Includes a review of available software and references to further reading.

The lucid style of Statistical Practice in Business and Industry makes this an invaluable text for anyone working in industry and employing statistical methods in their work. It also makes ideal supplementary reading for students of engineering and statistics.

This landmark collection brings leading scholars in the field of political communication to debate one of the most important questions of our age: Can the media serve democracy? For the media to be democratic, they must enter into a positive relationship with their readers, viewers and listeners as citizens rather than consumers who buy things, audiences who gaze upon spectacles or isolated egos, obsessed with themselves. The media's first task is to remind people that they are inhabitants of a world in which they can make a difference. By enabling citizens to encounter and make sense of events, relationships and cultures of which they have no direct experience, the media constitute a public arena in which members of the public come together as more than passing strangers.

This book brings together the most important theoretical work of James S. Coleman on problems of collective action. Coleman's work has formed a consistent and highly distinguished attempt to find an account of the workings of social and political processes rooted in the rationality of the individual participants. The chapters address in various ways the fundamental Hobbesian problem of order; the question of how a set of self-interested individuals can arrive at some kind of social order. The volume is organised in three parts. The essays in Part I address the problem of social choice as a fundamental problem of the functioning of social systems. Those in Part II deal with relations of power as a crucial aspect of the relations between individual actions and their social consequences. Part III considers the question of the creation of collectivities and the rights that are allocated under them. As a whole, the volume demonstrates the integration and force of the views Coleman has developed.