Kategoria BISAC: Social Science >> General

In this major contribution to contemporary political theory, Jean Cohen and Andrew Arato argue that the concept of civil society articulates a contested terrain in the West that could become a primary locus for the expansion of democracy and rights.

Axel Honneth's Critique of Power is a rich interpretation of the history of critical theory, which clarifies its central problems and emphasizes the "social" factors that should provide that theory with a normative and practical orientation.

Honneth focuses on the dialog between French and German social theory that was beginning at the time of Michel Foucault's death. It traces the common roots of the work of Foucault and Jurgen Habermas to a basic text of the last generation of critical theorists -- Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno's Dialectic of Enlightenment -- and...

This book addresses the question of how we can best feed the ten billion or so people who will likely inhabit the Earth by the middle of the twenty-first century. He asks whether human ingenuity can produce enough food to support healthy and vigorous lives for all these people without irreparably damaging the integrity of the biosphere.

What makes this book different from other books on the world food situation is its consideration of the complete food cycle, from agriculture to post-harvest losses and processing to eating and discarding. Taking a scientific approach, Smil espouses...

A progenitor of modern egalitarianism, communitarianism, and participatory democracy, Jean-Jacques Rousseau is a philosopher whose deep concern with the relationship between the domains of private domestic and public political life has made him especially interesting to feminist theorists, but also has made him very controversial. The essays in this volume, representing a wide range of feminist interpretations of Rousseau, explore the many tensions in his thought that arise from his unique combination of radical and traditional perspectives on gender relations and the state.

Among...

Jonathan Edwards (1703-58) was arguably this country's greatest theologian and its finest philosopher before the nineteenth century. His school if disciples (the "New Divinity") exerted enormous influence on the religious and political cultures of late colonial and early republican America. Hence any study of religion and politics in early America must take account of this theologian and his legacy.

Yet historians still regard Edward's social theory as either nonexistent or underdeveloped. Gerald McDermott demonstrates, to the contrary, that Edwards was very interested in the social...

This book offers a broad perspective on the issue of world hunger, analyzing the long-term data on food production from 1885 to the present. Exploring evidence of the validity of Malthusian theory throughout history, the book documents those cases where innovations in food-producing technologies were adopted in response to population pressures and crises of hunger.

On the 75th anniversary of the Harrison Narcotic Act that unleashed the federal anti-drug crusade, historian Richard Lawrence Miller explores the origins, purposes, and effects of America's drug war. Thoroughly documented, The Case for Legalizing Drugs assembles diverse findings by chemists, biologists, pharmacologists, psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, historians, prosecutors, police officers, and drug users themselves. The resulting mosaic argues that most problems associated with illicit drugs are caused by laws restricting them. This book is a realistic appraisal of...

This volume examines the social policies that arose from the civil rights movement and proposes new steps to economic independence for black families that would place the responsibility within all sectors of society. Jewell argues that social policies and their absence have affected the status of black family structures, and she refutes the myth of significant black progress since the civil rights era. Attention is focused on the extent to which black families have been adversely affected by a process of assimilation, which was sociopsychological rather than economic.

"Survival of the...

Impacts of technological change have historically been assessed only after the passage of a significant period of time. It is then that historians recreate the decisions that were made, sort out the influencing factors, and debate in hindsight the options that were available at the time. Sheldon Krimsky, consistent with the importance of his subject, telescopes this process by providing to contemporary readers a broad overview of the first ten years of the industrial revolution in applied molecular genetics. He discusses the birth and expectations of the biotechnology industry, the...

This book is a study of local grassroots activism in two major political areas, the peace and environmental movements, over a period of five years. Interviews with leaders of 166 different groups in five states (Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, California, and Oregon), supplemented by personal observation and participation in several of those groups are the foundations of this analysis. The major concerns are the components of group and movement successes, both short-run and long-run, and activist group adaptations to change in the larger social and political world in light of...

. . . Mr. Itzkoff places most of the blame for America's alleged intellectual decline on what he sees as an economically and intellectually elite cast of misguided liberals. They have isolated themselves from American society, he says, by their paternalistic treatment of the underclass, by discounting the importance of traditional family values and by failing to raise enough bright children to sustain national competence. The New York Times Book Review

Few doubt that the United States has slipped from its longstanding eminence as the world's wealthiest and most productive nation. The...

Drawing from the field of political sociology, geography, anthropology, and peace studies, Routledge explores how peasant communities in rural India form effective resistance movements against displacement, dislocation, and cultural destruction engendered by the development process. He shows how the Baloapal movement--resisting a missile base--and the Chipko movement--resisting a program of deforestation--offer rich lessons in development strategies, nonviolent sanctions, and grassroots social change. The sanctions chosen by the movements are shown to be of particular importance and to...

This straightforward text provides journalists, both professional and student, with an explanation of the realities of an increasingly important facet of today's precision journalism--public opinion polling. The work aims to provide the skills necessary for evaluating and interpreting survey results accurately. After a brief review of the historical relationship between the press and public opinion, the authors examine the polling environment today. Then, step-by-step, they take the reader through the basics of journalistic uses of public opinion surveys and the questions to be asked by...

Death camps are the most enduring image of the Holocaust, but they were only the final expression of a destruction process that began in 1933. In that year the Nazi regime mobilized members of an entire society to destroy their neighbors. Lawmakers, judges, attorneys, and the rest of the legal system played a crucial role in reassuring good Germans that a war on Jews was legitimate. Nazi Justiz emphasizes the prewar years of a robust Western European nation at peace with all countries. Such emphasis demonstrates that a Holocaust can happen in any country sharing the heritage of Western...

This volume describes how culturally transmitted messages delude people about who they are and what they want in relationships. Expectations of mates, children, parents, friends, and business associates are based on stereotypes and misperceptions, and are therefore delusional. Our current educational system has failed to provide adequate information on relating, communications, and self awareness. As a result, disturbed or failed relationships continue to be a major source of pain and conflict. The results of gender based enculturation are graphically depicted. Both males and females will...

Based on in-depth interviews by skilled clinicians with husbands and wives who have been married more than 20 years, Mackey and O'Brien explore how spouses adapt to each other from the early years of marriage, through the parenting years, and into the post-parenting or empty-nest years. Purposively selected for inclusion were spouses representing religious, ethnic, racial, and educational diversity. Given increased life expectancies, couples who stay together will remain together for longer periods of time. As longevity extends into the seventies, eighties, and beyond, it is critical to...

All CEOs, managers, supervisors, training professionals, and educators must be able to effectively recruit, train, manage, and promote a culturally diverse work force. Unfortunately, few of them have been adequately trained to do so. Effective management of diversity is good business. It takes effective communication, conflict resolution, and the creation of an inclusive organizational culture to succeed. This comprehensive book helps administrators better understand the problems they face and how to deal with them by dispelling the myths and facing the realities of cultural...

This volume provides a comprehensive and concise overview on the nature and causes of prejudice. The importance of a scientific understanding of prejudice and racism, different approaches to the definition and conceptualization of prejudice, and the relation of prejudice and behavior are considered. John Duckitt also contributes a unique historical analysis of social scientific understandings of prejudice. He integrates an otherwise confusing mass of popular theories and perspectives into a coherent explanatory framework and develops this into a systemic multilevel approach to the problem...

Whether politically, socially, economically, or psychologically, postmodern institutions attempt to influence their environments through the use of rhetoric in their public relations campaigns. As corporations increasingly dominate the public discourse we experience daily, it becomes increasingly important to understand how that discourse operates, and to become more informed creators and consumers of institutional rhetoric.

This volume examines the theoretical bases and practical effects of a variety of public relations campaigns. The contributors demonstrate that rhetorical...