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This concise, accessible, and engaging handbook offers a companion for social work students to acquire professional and competency-based writing skills. Written by experienced educators, the book builds writing proficiency by introducing a social work-based guide to academic writing and professional communication. Each chapter addresses a specific area of social work writing and development, progressing from coursework and beginning fieldwork to practice-based assessments and reports. The authors integrate a series of scaffolded activities throughout for readers to cultivate awareness and further technique; and with sections explaining contemporary communication methods and common writing challenges, readers will be prepared to use technology both to strengthen their writing and to ease the overall process.Excellent for use in courses across the social work curriculum and as a personal guide, the Handbook for Social Work Writing provides students with on-the-spot guidance for any type of academic or professional writing assignment.

Until the middle of the twentieth century, few thought of science as a social system, instead seeing scientific discovery as the work of individual geniuses. Columbia University's Department of Sociology played a pivotal role in advancing the social study of science. Researchers of the “Columbia Program” analyzed how science works as a social institution, exploring its norms, values, and structure.Smoother Pebbles presents a collection of essays authored or coauthored by Jonathan R. Cole, a leading Columbia Program figure, that trace the development and institutionalization of the sociology of science. Spanning from the 1960s to the 2020s and including both empirical and theoretical studies of science, the book is at once wide-ranging and united by core questions. Are scientists rewarded for the merits of their work or for other reasons? How does the system of social stratification in science operate? Has the funding of scientists been the result of an “old boys'network”? How fair is the peer review process? In what ways does science fall short of its universalistic ideals? What factors have constrained opportunities for women in science? How has science fared amid attacks on academic freedom and free inquiry at universities? Cole's introduction contextualizes both individual essays and the major concerns of the Columbia Program. Smoother Pebbles is essential reading for those interested in the growth and crucial questions of the sociology and social studies of science.

Throughout their careers, social scientists must come up with compelling research topics, decide when and where to publish, and revise their manuscripts for publication. Despite the importance of these skills, they are seldom if ever addressed in the course of graduate training. Heavy emphasis is placed on conducting research, and other core activities such as teaching also receive attention, yet fundamental academic practices are left almost entirely in the shadows.Practicing Sociology brings together a range of leading sociologists to reflect on their work and demystify this tacit knowledge. In conversational and engaging essays, they provide practical guidance and hard-won wisdom for readers at any stage of their scholarly careers. The book's three sections explore the art of finding new research questions, best practices in publishing, and how to make the most out of the peer review process. Contributors'distinctive voices come through as they recount their frustrations and failures as well as the joys of the sociological craft. They provide a range of perspectives, underscoring that there is no one “right” way to practice sociology but a constellation of different approaches that together give the field its vitality.Practicing Sociology features a team of skilled scholars including Peter Bearman, Paul J. DiMaggio, Wendy Espeland, Marion Fourcade, Shamus Rahman Khan, Eric Klinenberg, Michèle Lamont, Jennifer Lee, Mignon Moore, Mario Small, Duncan Watts, and many more.

This book is an expansive history of community weekly newspapers in the United States during the twentieth century. It explores such topics as ownership, business practices, employees and hiring practices, educating college students to work for weeklies, community involvement, government propaganda campaigns in small-town weeklies, syndication services, community leadership, advertising and other revenue sources, and competition for audiences with the development of radio and television. Weeklies told the story of average American daily lives more thoroughly and in a more personal manner than the big-city dailies. In essence, the weekly publisher-editor served as author of his community's life story. Despite the problems that faced the weekly industry throughout its long and proud history, the constants that remained were identifying and utilizing survival tactics. Throughout the twentieth century an obituary had been written for community weeklies, but they found a way to fight back and happen upon a means, a method, or a message that resonated with audiences and advertisers enough to allow them to keep their doors open. Today, however, many community weeklies are shutting their doors after generations of family ownership. Chain-owned weeklies are also closing as media companies downsize for financial survival. These weeklies and their stories are a vital part of U.S. history. This book serves as a supplement to journalism and business history courses, or as a text for special topics courses. It is also of general interest to U.S. history buffs and current or former media workers.'Beth Garfrerick has given us an important, seminal work. Most historians have ignored community newspapers. Prof. Garfrerick shows that they played vital roles in the lives of their readers. Her book is a major contribution to the study of journalism history.'—David Sloan, Founder, American Journalism Historians Association'This book serves as an important corrective to the dominant narrative of American journalism, which has focused too exclusively on big-city dailies while ignoring the personal, grassroots journalism found in thousands of influential weekly newspapers around the country. It is a must-read for media scholars, who will appreciate Garfrerick's skill in uncovering these newspapers'economic strategies and historicizing their vital public role.'—Tracy Lucht, Professor of Journalism History and Women and the Media, Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, Iowa State University

Never has the world been as rich in scientific knowledge as it is today. But what are its main sources? In accessible and engaging fashion, Global Mega-Science examines the origins of this unprecedented growth of knowledge production over the past hundred and twenty years. David P. Baker and Justin J.W. Powell integrate sociological and historical approaches with unique scientometric data to argue that at the heart of this phenomenon is the unparalleled cultural success of universities and their connection to science: the university-science model. Considering why science is so deeply linked to (higher) educational development, the authors analyze the accumulation of capacity to produce research—and demonstrate how the university facilitates the emerging knowledge society. The age of global mega-science was built on the symbiotic relationship between higher education and science, especially the worldwide research collaborations among networked university-based scientists. These relationships are key for scholars and citizens to understand the past, future, and sustainability of science.

This report highlights that gender inequalities and women's subordination in India are caused by two formidable macro-structures: patriarchy and the exclusion of unpaid work from the macro-economy. Both these structures reinforce each other and negatively impact women's empowerment. Patriarchy imposes subordination on women and forces a disproportionately higher share of unpaid domestic services and unpaid care onto them. This is unfair and unjust - a violation of basic human rights. Other structures like race, religion, and caste cut across these main structures. The selected papers in this report show how patriarchy causes gender inequalities in all critical dimensions of women's life on the one hand, and how unpaid domestic services and unpaid care sustains the macro-economy and its growth on the other. The contributors discuss pathways to integrate unpaid work with the macro-economy such that the strength of patriarchy declines and at the same time gender equality is promoted. To put it differently, unless the structures are addressed by integrating unpaid work, inequalities cannot be addressed effectively. The report emphasizes that this is the only way to move to real macroeconomics. The papers have explored pathways to break these structures gradually to achieve gender equality and empower women. Though the path is challenging, it is feasible to reach the goal of pervasive gender equality.

This volume discusses the current state of knowledge on the conceptual understanding of inequality. The book poses a range of empirical puzzles in the Indian context and examines inequalities across categories of the region of residence, caste, and sex, using a fascinating range of outcome indicators, comprising education, health, earnings, self-employment, and crime.The empirical chapters of this volume use various large-scale secondary data sources to expose the deep-rooted, structural inequalities in the Indian society. It answers some of the pertinent questions around inequality such as why do the backward regions of India continue to remain backward, both in terms of economic and human development indicators? Why do enterprises owned by backward caste individuals have systematically lower business earnings? Are backward castes and women more likely to face crime when their relative status improves? How do the circumstances that children find given at birth influence their learning outcomes? etc.The book will be of interest to teachers, students, and researchers of economics of education, development studies, development economics, and Indian economics. It will also be useful for policymakers, academicians, and anyone curious to learn about inequality.

From its inception, the public safety net in the United States has excluded many people because of their race, gendered roles, or other factors. As a result, they must prove their moral worthiness to get resources for themselves and their families. In When Care Is Conditional, sociologist Dani Carrillo reveals the ramifications of this conditional safety net by focusing on one particularly vulnerable population: undocumented immigrants. Through in-depth interviews with Latinx immigrants in northern California, Carrillo examines three circumstances—place, gender, and immigration status—that intersect to influence an individual's access to health care, food assistance, and other benefits. She demonstrates that place of residence affects undocumented immigrants'ability to get care since more services are available in urban areas, where many immigrants cannot afford to live, than suburban areas, where public transportation is limited. She also shows that while both men and women who are undocumented have difficulty obtaining care, men often confront more challenges. Undocumented women who are pregnant or mothers are eligible for some government safety net programs and rely on informal coethnic networks or a “guiding figure”—a relative, friend, neighbor, or coworker—who explains how to get care and makes them feel confident in accessing it. Most undocumented men, in contrast, are not eligible for public programs except in a medical emergency and often lack someone to guide them directly to care. Men sometimes steer one another to jobs through worker centers—where they may learn about various services and take advantage of those that increase their employability, like English or computer classes—but a culture of masculinity leads them to downplay medical problems and seek health care only in a crisis. As undocumented immigrants navigate this exclusionary system, Carrillo finds that they resist the rhetoric stigmatizing them as lawbreakers. Dismissing the importance of “papers” and highlighting their work ethic, they question the fairness of U.S. immigration policies and challenge ideas about who deserves care. Carrillo offers concrete recommendations, such as improving labor conditions and reexamining benefit eligibility, to increase access to care for not only undocumented immigrants but also people who have been excluded because of their race, criminal record, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability. She argues that working with and across populations creates a powerful form of solidarity in advocating for inclusive care. When Care Is Conditional provides compelling insights into how safety net and immigration policies intersect to affect people's everyday lives and calls for a cultural shift so that the United States can provide unconditional care for all.

The employer-driven push to systematically replace Black workers with unauthorized immigrantsIn The Manufacturing of Job Displacement, Laura López-Sanders argues that the walls of American businesses hide a system of illegal practices and behaviors that lead to racial inequality in the labor market. Drawing on extensive research in South Carolina manufacturing facilities, nearly 300 interviews, and her own experience working at both the “bottom” of the labor market (e.g., cleaning toilets and on assembly-line jobs) and in mid-level supervisory positions, López-Sanders provides a behind-the-scenes accounting of daily factory life.She uncovers preferential hiring practices that fly in the face of civil rights legislation barring employment discrimination, including orchestrated actions of employers to systematically replace Black workers with Hispanic unauthorized immigrants. López-Sanders argues against the predominant view that worker displacement occurs primarily because of hiring biases or social networks. Instead, she shows that employers intervene strategically, relying on subcontractors, agencies, and intermediaries to shift the race and gender in an organization. They also use vulnerable and tractable immigrant labor to impose and justify untenable standards that drive native-born workers out of their jobs and create vacancies to be filled by additional immigrant workers. The Manufacturing of Job Displacement sheds new light on a classic question about ethnic succession and segmentation in the labor market and reorients the ongoing debates about the economic impact of immigration.

The book is aimed at providing an assertion of Gender Studies as a vital community in our time, united in a commitment to inquiry. It brings forward an interdisciplinary set of early career researchers'accounts of their motives for engaging in Gender Studies and, of the encounters with limitations as well as possibilities they experience on the paths they have chosen.Each chapter is accompanied by a brief response paper where a more senior researcher involves in conversation with respective chapter's content and shares reflections regarding Gender Studies, its integration, and developments. The first level corresponds with the significance of research in the field and its transformative power in and, crucially, outside the academia. The second relates to the value of networking and community building for doing research.The book presents Gender Studies in a communicative, open manner that invites the reader to engage in and continue the displayed discussions. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of gender studies, sociology, queer studies, women's studies, trans studies, anthropology, and literary studies.

This 2-volume book highlights cutting-edge ecodesign research and covers broad areas ranging from individual product and service design to social system design. It includes business and policy design, circular production, life cycle design and management, digitalization for sustainable manufacturing, user behavior and health, ecodesign of social infrastructure, sustainability education, sustainability indicators, and energy system design. Featuring selected papers presented at EcoDesign 2021: 12th International Symposium on Environmentally Conscious Design and Inverse Manufacturing, it also includes diverse, interdisciplinary approaches to foster ecodesign research and activities. In the context of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), it addresses design innovations for sustainable value creation, considering technological developments, legislation, and consumer lifestyles. Further, the book discusses the conceptof circular economy, which aims to develop circular business models for resource efficient society by taking advantage of digital technologies including artificial intelligence, internet of things, digital twin, data analysis and simulation. Written by experts from academia and industry, Volume 2 focuses on the sustainability assessment of product lifecycle, waste management, material circularity and energy efficiency, food and agriculture, user behavior and health, and transportation. The methods, tools, and practices described are useful for readers to facilitate value creation for sustainability.

This book encapsulates the innovative discussions held during the International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Systems for Sustainable Development (AI2SD'2023), which took place at Mohammed 6 University of Sciences and Health Casablanca, Morocco. This book delves into the multifaceted realm of advanced intelligent systems, specifically focusing on digital health technology. The book offers a comprehensive exploration of cutting-edge research and breakthroughs in this dynamic field, providing a holistic perspective on the latest advancements. Within these pages, you will find papers covering an array of captivating topics, including AI-driven diagnostics, wearable health devices, predictive analytics in health care, and much more. Each contribution delves into the synergy of intelligent systems and digital health, showcasing how these technologies intertwine to shape the future of healthcare. Designed for researchers, practitioners, and enthusiasts alike, this book serves as an invaluable resource for staying updated on the latest trends and developments in the intersection of advanced intelligent systems and digital health technology. Whether you are seeking to broaden your knowledge or seeking practical insights, this book caters to a diverse readership eager to harness the potential of these innovative domains.

'As the Oracles of God'examines how Quakers in colonial America sought to control both the written and spoken word in their religious communities. It looks at the ways in which American Friends set up committees to censor texts deemed heterodox, as well as the ways Quakers sought to moderate the words of believers through encouraging self-censorship as a way to access personal revelation, while also paying particular attention to the experiences of those who ran afoul of Friends'rules in these regards, either by publishing works without the consent of their meetings or speaking in un-Quakerly fashion. Debates over freedom of speech, the work asserts, defined early modern religious communities just as much as it did more formal legal institutions.

This edited collection represents a first-of-its-kind exploration of English-related discourses in the Caribbean. Drawing from Critical Discourse and stylistic analyses, the book's wide-ranging chapters examine language as it is produced within the complex demographic milieu of the region. It addresses a critical lack of linguistic scholarship on discourse types from the Caribbean, since the major academic focus in the post-independence era has been on descriptive and interventionist work in Creole Linguistics. This volume seeks to add new dimensions to language in practice with its focus on the development of discourse types within the region, public policy, discourses surrounding the galvanising figure of the Caribbean Prime Minister, literary discourses, and gender and media representations. As a site of great variation, linguistic and otherwise, the Caribbean provides unique insight into the interplay of the socio-political and language in contemporary societies in the Global South. Based on work presented at the University of Trinidad and Tobago's “Stylistics, Critical Discourse Analysis and Language Use in the Caribbean” 2021 conference, the book draws together papers from established Caribbeanists seeking to bridge the existing theoretical and analytical gap between the more macro, socio-political aspects of studies in the social sciences, and the more micro features of linguistic analysis. With its breadth of coverage and analysis, this volume has implications for work being done at all levels of university scholarship in the social sciences, media discourses, decolonisation practices, and language and society in postcolonial and multi-ethnic contexts worldwide.

A'zero waste'society and the'circular economy'trend are urgently needed. Even if achieving 100% trash recycling and a fully circular economy may not always be attainable, aiming toward this goal might result in a sustainable future. Municipal solid wastes pose a hazard to the environment because of open burning, landfills, reckless disposal, and many other factors. Waste is being thrown away in more significant quantities and is made up of several different materials. Municipal solid waste (MSW) characteristics must be carefully considered when developing, implementing, or modifying solid waste management systems. Local waste variables that vary with cultural, climatic, socioeconomic, and institutional capacities are crucial for developing efficient waste management techniques. This book provides a comprehensive overview of landfills'situation, their categories, and the types of garbage they receive. The final section of the study provides an overview of prospective waste management techniques, their restrictions, and the potential areas for further research on landfill sites. This book has the advantage that world-class experts in their respective fields have written each chapter. As a result, this book presents a balanced picture across the whole spectrum of chapters on municipal solid wastes.

This volume of the Annual Review for the Sociology of Religion adresses the challenges of the diversity and complexity of sociological approaches to Asian forms and dynamics of Asian or Asian-inpired ascetic ideas and practices. Eleven papers, written by scholars conducting researches in different geographic and cultural contexts, all contribute to enrich discussion on the relevance of sociological studies of Yoga, meditation and other ascetic techniques and traditions. Contributors are: Zuzana Bártová, Loïc Bawidamann, Jørn Borup, Sally SJ Brown, Ugo Dessì, Marianne Qvortrup Fibiger, Marc Lebranchu, Patrick S.D. McCartney, Lionel Obadia, Matteo Di Placido, Alexandros Sakellariou, João Paulo P. Silveira, and Rafael Walthert.

This book details how British Catholic communities view abortion, highlighting the diversity of positions which often contrast with the official line of Catholic Church doctrine. The authors'extensive qualitative investigation involving various Catholic constituents demonstrates the complex ways attitudes are formed. Based on interviews with priests, Catholic parishioners, anti-abortion activists and Catholics living in close proximity to activism, this book takes a lived religion approach to argue that attitudes and approaches to abortion are nuanced and contextual, with the Catholic concept of individual conscience playing a fundamental role in navigating abortion issues. Ultimately, this investigation helps to explore in much greater depth the increased liberalisation in attitudes among Catholics towards abortion, at a time when Catholic activism opposing abortion is growing, and therefore shines a light on the conflicts that are apparent at the heart of Catholic parishes. Thisbook will be of interest to scholars in Gender and Sexuality Studies, Sociology, Theology and Religious Studies.

The Ethnographer's Way guides researchers through the exciting process of turning an initial idea into an in-depth research project. Kristin Peterson and Valerie Olson introduce “multidimensioning,” a method for planning projects that invites scholars to examine their research interests from all angles. Researchers learn to integrate seemingly disparate groups, processes, sites, and things into a unified conceptual framework. The handbook's ten modules walk readers step-by-step, from the initial lightbulb moment to constructing research descriptions, planning data gathering, writing grant and dissertation proposals, and preparing for fieldwork. Designed for ethnographers and those working across disciplines, these modules provide examples of multidimensional research projects with exercises readers can utilize to formulate their own projects. The authors incorporate group work into each module to break the isolation common in academic project design. In so doing, Peterson and Olson's handbook provides essential support and guidance for researchers working at all levels and stages of a project.

This book provides solid sociological foundations to computational social science (CSS). CSS is an emerging research field, and many books with those words in the title are on the market. However, CSS has not become mainstream in sociology, for which there are two reasons. First, CSS does not necessarily solve major research questions in sociology. Second, its sociological foundations are weak. These two reasons are interrelated—that is, CSS cannot solve major research questions because its sociological foundations are weak. Thus, even if it tries to solve those questions, its approaches seem to mainstream sociologists to miss the point. To resolve that shortcoming, this book fills the gap between CSS and sociology, shows that CSS can solve major research questions in sociology, and advances sociology by introducing to it theories and methodologies of CSS.

This book presents an in-depth analysis of young people's experiences of diverse drinking practices, including heavy drinking and drunkenness, as fun and pleasurable as they navigate gendered leisure spaces. Using qualitative data elicited through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, the analysis engages with theories and concepts of culture, gender, and transgression to foreground the roles that socio-cultural and material elements and human agency play in shaping alcohol consumption in contemporary Nigeria. It focuses on the enactment of hyper-heterosexual and alternative masculinities and the reconfigurations of passive and non-passive femininities through drinking practices. It also interrogates how and why multinational alcohol companies are targeting Nigerian women and youths and the extent to which their activities are contributing to changing gendered drinking and sexual practices, which are at odds with the extant local norms that promote abstinence, moderation among adults, and sexual purity among unmarried youths. Importantly, this book moves beyond solely Western theorizing by drawing on both Western and non-Western gender theories to analyze how contemporary Nigerian young men and women ‘do'masculinity and femininity with alcohol and will be a valuable resource for social scientists, students, policymakers, practitioners, and the general public interested in youth drinking behaviours, multinational alcohol companies'activities, and decolonizing gender scholarship.

This edited collection brings together theoretical and empirical reflections on the role played by new technology and digital platforms in the provision of food. The way food is produced, distributed, consumed and disposed has significant consequences for the environment, affecting soil fertility, water and air quality, the state of the climate and the loss of biodiversity. Such negative effects are strictly related to the agro-industrial system of production and consumption, based on logic of low prices, high availability and high waste.This collection brings together a carefully curated range of insights from a team of twenty researchers coming from different fields working in different European universities engaged in the same project for more than three years. As a result, this book will appeal to people working on food studies and on sustainable food production and consumption, offering both conceptual-theoretical insights into contemporary food issues alongside empirical illustrations.

We present a Machine Learning (ML) approach to monitoring and classifying noise pollution. Both methods of monitoring and classification have been proven successful. MATLAB and Python code was generated to monitor all types of noise pollution from the collected data, while ML was trained to classify these data. ML algorithms showed promising performance in monitoring the different sound classes such as highways, railways, trains and birds, airports and many more. It is observed that all the data obtained by both methods can be used to control noise pollution levels and for data analytics. They can help decision making and policy making by stakeholders such as municipalities, housing authorities and urban planners in smart cities. The findings indicate that ML can be used effectively in monitoring and measurement. Improvements can be obtained by enhancing the data collection methods. The intention is to develop more ML platforms from which to construct a less noisy. The second objective of this study was to visualize and analyze the data of 18 types of noise pollution that have been collected from 16 different locations in Malaysia. All the collected data were stored in Tableau software. Through the use of both qualitative and quantitative measurements, the data collected for this project was then combined to create a noise map database that can help smart cities make informed decisions.

Cybercrime and Digital Deviance, Second Edition, combines insights from sociology, criminology, psychology, and cybersecurity to explore cybercrimes such as hacking, identity theft, and romance scams, along with forms of digital deviance such as pornography addiction, trolling, and “canceling” people for perceived violations of norms.Other issues are explored including cybercrime investigations, nation-state cybercrime, the use of algorithms in policing, cybervictimization, and expanded discussion of the theories used to explain cybercrime. Graham and Smith conceptualize the online space as a distinct environment for social interaction, framing their work with assumptions informed by their respective work in urban sociology and spatial criminology, and offering an engaging entry point for understanding what may appear to be a technologically complex course of study. The authors apply a modified version of a typology developed by David Wall: cybertrespass, cyberfraud, cyberviolence, and cyberpornography. This typology is simple enough for students just beginning their inquiry into cybercrime, while its use of legal categories of trespassing, fraud, violent crimes against persons, and moral transgressions provides a solid foundation for deeper study. In this edition each chapter includes a new “Current Events and Critical Thinking” section, using concepts from the chapter to explore a specific event or topic like the effect of disinformation on social cohesion and politics.Taken together, Graham and Smith's application of a digital environment and Wall's cybercrime typology makes this an ideal upper-level text for students in sociology and criminal justice. It is also an ideal introductory text for students within the emerging disciplines of cybercrime and cybersecurity.

Does the current celibate, semi-monastic, and all-male seminary formation contribute to the persistence of clerical sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church?Applying sociological theories on socialization, total institutions, and social resistance as the primary conceptual framework, and drawing on secondary literature, media reports, the author's experience, interviews, and Church documents, this book argues that the Catholic Church's institution of the celibate seminary formation as the only mode of clerical training for Catholic priests has resulted in negative unintended consequences to human formation such as the suspension of normal human socialization in society, psychosexual immaturity, and weak social control against clerical sexual abuse. The author thus contends that celibate training, while suitable for those who do live in religious or monastic communities, is inappropriate for those who are obliged to live alone and work in parishes. As such, an alternative model for diocesan clerical formation is advanced.A fresh look at the aptness – and effects – of celibate formation for diocesan clergy, this volume is the first to relate the persistence of Catholic clerical sexual abuse to celibate seminary formation, exploring the structural links between the two using sociological arguments and proposing an apprenticeship-based model of formation, which has numerous advantages as a form of clerical training. It will therefore appeal to scholars and students of religion, sociology, and theology, as well as those involved with seminary formation.

Socionomics: How Social Mood Shapes Society explores the main principles and applications of socionomic theory as elaborated by Robert Prechter. Socionomic theory posits that an omnipresent social mood, shifting constantly in a wave form through all aspects of society, is responsible for the aggregate tenor and character of all social, economic and cultural trends, from fluctuations in the stock market to the popularity of particular genres of music at a given time.The social mood as an endogenous and collective force has its roots in the herding instinct often identified amongst crowds. Individuals typically make rational decisions when acting alone, and in the context of certainty, but in groups and in context of uncertainty, mood-based mimetic behavior can affect all the participants. As social mood often goes unnoticed, people tend to give their collective feelings labels to rationalize them, thus constituting ‘public opinion'. Therefore, whilst ‘public opinion'as presented in the media is usually seen as rational, it is in fact based on the social mood context that often determines how people think, feel and behave. As the internet and social media have become ubiquitous in our daily lives, these rationalizations are spreading faster and faster than ever before and creating a pseudo-reality which can corrupt the collective perception of what is real and what is not.This stimulating and thought-provoking book will be of great interest to academics, practitioners and policymakers with an interest in the humanities and social sciences, particularly sociology and economics.

Quality of Life and Climate Change: Impacts, Sustainable Adaptation, and Social-Ecological Resilience delves into the pressing concerns surrounding climate change and its profound impacts on the quality of life (QoL) experienced by individuals and communities worldwide. This book explores the intricate relationship between climate change, variability, and QoL in both rural and urban settings. It undertakes a detailed review of QoL assessments to examine the extent to which climatic changes and livability conditions are incorporated into existing evaluations. By shedding light on the critical need to consider climatic factors in measuring and comparing QoL, especially in the context of creating aging-friendly and climate-neutral cities, this publication addresses a significant research gap. To answer the question of how climate change and its variability impact the QoL of living beings across diverse geographical settings, this book expands our understanding of this crucial topic through reporting and documentation of the associations between climatic changes and QoL, particularly in understudied rural and urban areas. Furthermore, the book emphasizes resilience as a critical factor in maintaining urban QoL and developing sustainable living environments. A key contribution of this work lies in the exploration of various models adopted worldwide to enhance resilience and create sustainable living environments in the face of climate change. By examining these models, the book strives to identify effective solutions for maintaining and enhancing QoL, as well as building resilient systems capable of withstanding climate change and variability. This book presents prospective themes, including sustainable solutions, mitigation strategies, and models to enhance socio-ecological resilience. The chapters within the book cover a wide range of topics including climatic variations and future projections, technological advancements in climate change mitigation, implications for residential and non-residential areas, industrial solutions, SDG attainment, mitigation strategies, QoL measurement instruments, and urban QoL models. By addressing these themes, the book provides a comprehensive analysis of the complex interactions between climate change, QoL, and the pursuit of sustainable development. This book serves as a valuable resource for researchers, academicians, policymakers, civil society groups, think tanks, government and non-government organizations, international agencies, and other interested parties seeking to deepen their knowledge and capacity in the field of climate change and its impacts on QoL and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) attainment.

The book explores the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on nations across the globe since early 2020. It hosts a variety of perspectives within economic, social and development research studies, providing contemporary and proper information. The book also presents policy prescriptions for developing economies, critiques the system of disease surveillance and waste management, and defines a vision for India's development. It also mirrors issues related to digitisation, marginalisation, government regulations and health systems and provides original ideas for innovative methodologies suitable for higher education.Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan)

This book is a comprehensive compilation of groundbreaking insights stemming from the esteemed International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Systems for Sustainable Development (AI2SD'2023), hosted at Cadi Ayyad University Morocco. Focused on the crucial themes of energy, environment, agriculture, and industry, this book captures the essence of transformative discussions and cutting-edge research that unfolded during the conference. Within these pages, readers are invited to explore the intricate world of intelligent systems, where innovation converges to tackle the key challenges of sustainability. The book immerses its audience in a wealth of knowledge that deeply represents the latest advancements shaping the future landscape. Diverse topics are intricately woven into the fabric of this discourse, covering AI-driven solutions designed for energy optimization, environmental sustainability, precision agriculture, and intelligent industry applications. Each contribution serves as a testament to the collaborative efforts of researchers, practitioners, and experts who gathered to drive innovation at the intersection of intelligent systems and sustainable development. Crafted as an invaluable resource,'Advancements in Intelligent Systems: AI2SD'2023 Proceedings‘ caters to a diverse readership eager to delve into the forefront of trends and developments emerging from the crossroads of advanced intelligent systems in energy, environment, agriculture, and industry. Whether you're a researcher, practitioner, or enthusiast, unlock the transformative potential inherent in these innovative domains.

This book focuses on the traditional ecological knowledge in addressing the current climate crisis in the Indian Himalayas. Local or indigenous people in the Himalayas, through their low-carbon producing lifestyles, contribute very little to the climate crisis. However, at the same time, they bear the brunt of this crisis way more than many others. It is important to learn about their traditional ways of life and the knowledge that they hold regarding ecology and environment. Traditional ecological knowledge and associated belief systems are given increasing attention across the globe in recent times toward addressing some of the grave environmental concerns. Climate change is one such concern. The rising consideration of concepts such as ethnoecology and ethnobotany signifies the scientific, socio-cultural and economic potential of the traditional ecological knowledge systems. It is indisputable that these knowledge systems have the ability to provide important insights towards tackling many present-day environmental distresses including several climate change challenges. In this book, the authors concentrate on such traditional ecological knowledge systems in the Indian Himalayan region and try to figure out their significance in relation to the modern science. Overall, the authors attempt to write a book where the relevance of traditional ecological knowledge systems could be addressed and communicated to a larger audience—both academic scientific and non-academic.

Looking back at the'War on Terror'and its policies, actions, and the violence that followed, this book analyzes the resulting changes in international power structures and the relationship between citizens and their representatives. It defines our shortcomings in opposing this type of violence by demonstrating how the notion of legitimate violence has been broadened. The impact of the'War on Terror'on the public view of Liberalism is explored, as well as its effects on the role of state authorities in our lives. Thus, this book names the lessons we ought to learn from the　actions taken against terrorist organizations.

The second edition of Classical and Contemporary Social Theory provides wraparound coverage of the classical social theorists and influential sociological schools of thought in the contemporary period.Explained carefully and clearly throughout, Tim Delaney reviews the key concepts and contributions from brilliant classical social thinkers and recent sociological thought, spanning over 500 years of source material. He weaves together profiles of leading theorists, thorough descriptions of major academic and intellectual perspectives, and discussion of prevailing themes of interest that have concerned theorists and sociologists throughout time and will likely continue to do so in the future. The book emphasizes methods of investigation and application in its overview of the field by challenging readers to think about problems critically and in relation to key sociological theories and to also apply their sociological understanding to real, everyday events.In this new edition, Delaney revisits the classical period and highlights the special contributions of American social theorists and their impact on the diversity of thought leading into the contemporary era. He attends to later schools of thought and weaves in important updates related to critical race theory and globalization. With updated context and further applications, the second edition of Classical and Contemporary Social Theory is a perfect addition to combined courses in social theory.

In recent decades, the historical social sciences have moved away from deterministic perspectives and increasingly embraced the interpretive analysis of historical process and social and political change. This shift has enriched the field but also led to a deadlock regarding the meaning and status of subjective knowledge. Cultural interpretivists struggle to incorporate subjective experience and the body into their understanding of social reality. In the early twentieth century, philosopher Alfred Schutz grappled with this very issue. Drawing on Edmund Husserl's phenomenology and Max Weber's historical sociology, Schutz pioneered the interpretive analysis of social life from an embodied perspective. However, the recent interpretivist turn, influenced by linguistic philosophies, discourse theory, and poststructuralism, has overlooked the insights of Schutz and other phenomenologists. This book revisits Schutz's phenomenology and social theory, positioning them against contemporary problems in social theory and interpretive social science research. The book extends Schutz's key concepts of relevance, symbol relations, theory of language, and lifeworld meaning structures. It outlines Schutz's critical approach to the social distribution of knowledge and develops his nascent sociology and political economy of knowledge. This book will appeal to readers with interests in social theory, phenomenology, and the methods of interpretive social science, including historical sociology, cultural sociology, science and technology studies, political economy, and international relations.

This volume examines the potentially deleterious impact of place branding on the social fabric, ecosystems and local economies of the places concerned. As the different essays show, place branding is a fundamentally political practice, often driven by hidden agendas that marginalize certain groups within society. Contributors explore place branding from a wide variety of angles, including: the role played by the visual arts in city branding; the applied arts, and speci cally the fashion industry's potential for shaping perceptions of a particular place; the different ways in which sport has been exploited by the political elites; the role of design in place branding, including the architectural design of sports stadia; and the potentially insidious economic and societal consequences of excessive consumption of branded places.

This book introduces the non-specialist reader to the principal ideas, nature and purpose of social network analysis. Social networks operate on many levels, from families up to the level of nations, and play a critical role in determining the way problems are solved, organizations are run, and the degree to which individuals achieve their goals. Social network theory maps these relationships between individual actors and has become hugely influential across the social sciences. Assuming no prior knowledge of quantitative sociology, and avoiding technicalities, this book presents the key ideas in context through examples and illustrations. Using a structured approach to understanding work in this area, John Scott signposts further reading and online sources so that readers can develop their knowledge and skills to become practitioners of this research method. A series of Frequently Asked Questions takes the reader through the main objections raised against social network analysis. The new edition updates the overview of the discipline with more recent work and current research in sociology.

While trauma and loss can occur anywhere, most suffering is experienced as personal tragedy. Yet some tragedies transcend everyday life's sad but inevitable traumas to become notorious public events: de facto'public'tragedies. In these crises, suffering is made publicly visible and lamentable. Such tragedies are defined by public accusations, social blame, outpourings of grief and anger, spontaneous memorialization, and collective action. These, in turn, generate a comparable set of political reactions, including denial, denunciation, counterclaims, blame avoidance, and a competition to control memories of the event. Disasters and crises are no more or less common today than in the past, but public tragedies now seem ubiquitous. After Tragedy Strikes argues that they are now epochal—public tragedies have become the day's definitive social and political events. Thomas D. Beamish deftly explores this phenomenon by developing the historical context within which these events occur and the role that political elites, the media, and an emergent ideology of victimhood have played in cultivating their ascendence.

This open access short reader offers an intersectional perspective on the meaning of home in migration. The book provides a pathway through existing scholarship on home and migration, exploring how intersectional power relations and transnational migration regimes are felt, experienced, lived and navigated by migrants, who are differently positioned, in the making and imagining of home. The meanings associated with home are composed of the interrelation of places, spaces, people, social relations, materialities, emotions and temporalities. These multiple aspects highlight the complexities inherent in the idea of home, which come to the fore particularly when one moves location. Migration and Home explores these issues by focusing on specific key aspects of home in migration: home and gender; home and age; home and materiality; and home and migration status, class and race. It proposes the concept of structural im/possibilities as a framework for understanding the power relations and structures that shape where, when and for whom home in migration is more, or less, possible.

As monstrous bodies on-screen signal a wide range of subversive destabilization of the notions of identity and community, this anthology asks what meanings monsters and monstrosity convey in relation to our recent circumstances shaped by neoliberalism and the pandemic that have led to the intensified tightening of border controls by nation-states, the intensive categorization of (un)identifiable bodies, and subsequent forms of isolations and detachments imposed by social distancing and the rapid transition of sociality from reality to virtual reality. Presenting various thinkings along the lines of the body and its representations as cultural text, together with popular or recent media productions showing various bodies deemed to be monstrous as they either cross conventionally held borders or stay in liminal spaces such as between human-animal, human-machine, virtual bodies-corporeal flesh, living-death, and other permeable borders, this volume looks into the on-screen constructions of the monster and monstrosity not only as they represent notions of difference, perceived (non)belongings, and disruptions of traditional identity markers, but also as they either conceal various vulnerabilities or implicitly endorse violence towards the labeled Other.

Automation, digitalisation, the post-industrial transition and climate change are creating new social risks which are not adequately supported by established welfare state institutions. In this timely book, Maurizio Ferrera, Joan Miró and Stefano Ronchi propose critical social and institutional policy reform in response to the nation state's inability to maintain a balanced ecosystem between democracy, the market economy, welfare and the rule of law. Social Reformism 2.0 provides a diagnosis of the critical issues facing the welfare state, namely the transition to post-industrialisation, globalisation and European integration, and the fourth technological revolution. Situating the European social model within a multi-crisis context, this book surveys the current reform trends in social policy, addressing decades of global development, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the climate emergency, before proposing a number of strategic policy reforms. It ultimately champions a transition towards a greener economy and a realignment of progressive politics, highlighting the central role Europe plays in coordinating and stimulating change. Offering a highly detailed yet accessible critique, this socially pertinent study will strongly appeal to students and academics with an interest in political science, European studies, sociology, social and public policy analysis and welfare state research. It will also highly benefit policymakers, bureaucrats, practitioners and stakeholders involved in social governance processes at a national and European level.

Laying down the foundations of a critical sociological approach to the interdisciplinary domain of public policy, this insightful book presents the first systematic reflection on the use of Bourdieu's theory of social fields to analyse policy processes. Engaging with theoretical dimensions, it provides innovative methodological tools, both quantitative and qualitative in nature, to be used in the wider field of policy studies.Bringing together expert contributors from across the globe, the book explores a diverse range of case studies on various policy sectors and processes such as international policy circulation and policy implementation. Offering a wealth of critical analysis, chapters highlight the unsatisfactory nature of mainstream policy approaches and advocate for the use of Bourdieu's sociological theory to account for the social milieus, structures of relationships, and power dynamics in which public policies are made. Encompassing numerous actors and groups, this theory enables a critical sociological understanding of policy orientations by unveiling the structures of relationships in policymaking.Innovative and perceptive in its approach, this book will prove to be an important resource for scholars and students interested in the fields of critical policy studies, public policy, public administration and management, and sociology.

This authoritative book proposes a methodological and theoretical strategy for developing sociological explanations of the socio-cultural universe. Jonathan H. Turner and Alexandra Maryanski discuss the problems that persist in explaining the socio-cultural universe using only biological and psychological approaches and outline new strategies for understanding the evolution of human beings and their biological nature.Through exploring human evolution, human nature, human behaviours and patterns of social organisation, Turner and Maryanski demonstrate that evolutionary explanations of behaviours and patterns can be drawn from modern synthesis in biology. They also explain why certain dimensions of the socio-cultural universe can only be understood using purely sociological approaches to evolutionary analysis. They expertly analyse alternative biologically-based strategies for explaining the evolution of human beings and a purely sociological strategy for understanding the emergent properties of human socio-cultural formations.Innovative in its approach, this timely book will be of great interest to scholars interested in the fields of science and technology studies, sociology and sociological theory, cultural sociology, social psychology, and social policy. It will also be highly beneficial to those looking to better understand the optimum methodological strategies for understanding the biology of human nature.

This edited volume offers innovative perspectives on the study of music as cultural diplomacy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), a region often overlooked in such discussions. It offers an innovative contribution to the field of ethnomusicology, as well as political science and international relations, by highlighting the agency of non-state actors (local voices, communities, and grassroots organizations), thereby contributing towards de-centering the state, hitherto conceived as the chief player in cultural diplomacy.This volume is divided into four main parts organized along the following themes: 1. History and Historiography, 2. Migration, Diaspora, and Ethics, 3. Statecraft and Music Making, and 4. Affective and Sensorial Diplomacy. The perspectives offered in this volume offer a deeper exploration of bottom-up initiatives of cultural diplomacy through music, instead of the more usual analyses of top-down, state-directed programmes. Overall, the aim is to reconceptualize Middle Eastern, North African and Arab Gulf musical practices in their relationship to power and cultural diplomacy in order build a broader and pluri-dimensional account of these contentious relationships.

Misinformation and disinformation have emerged as paramount societal challenges, affecting areas from public health to climate change and eroding both social understanding and democratic values. Enter the political fact-checkers: stalwart defenders of accurate public information and guardians of robust public discourse. What began as an endeavor to verify political claims in the U.S. has transformed into a global movement addressing diverse forms of public information, harnessing innovative tech tools, championing media literacy, and exploring governance solutions. Who are these fact-checkers, and how have they become such a versatile force against misinformation? While united by very similar verification practices, the community of fact-checkers is remarkably diverse. Reflecting the media-political landscapes they navigate, these initiatives bring together a spectrum of professional expertise, visions, and strategies. This book delves into this fascinating world, exploring how theconcept of fact-checking has proliferated globally. Spotlighting efforts in Argentina, Georgia, Italy, and the U.S., it offers an in-depth understanding of fact-checkers'approaches, their alignment with distinct environments, and their potential impact on modern public discourse.

This book claims a discursive space in academic scholarship for knowledges and ways of knowing that capture the diversity, complexity and full humanness of Australian Muslim women's subjectivities. It draws on in-depth conversational interviews with 20 Australian Muslim women from various ethnic backgrounds during which the women shared their experiences of being at the crossroads of their religious, gendered, racialised and ethnic identities. The book puts forward a decolonial feminist border methodology by weaving the work of decolonial feminist philosophers Maria Lugones and Gloria Anzaldúa with postmodern feminist thinking on subjectivity and with discourse analysis. This methodology is used to centre and attend to the fluidity and plurality of Muslim women's subjectivities, at the intersections of race, ethnicity, patriarchy, gender, sexuality and Islam.

The theories of social reproduction are highly complicated, and they have various quantification problems. By introducing the Triptych Model of Social Class Reproduction, which can be applied in different cultures and societies, this book resolves this issue by providing a rich and easy-to-grasp understanding of these theories. It discusses various issues with the Marxian conception of social reproduction, class measurement challenges, and advanced equations of social practice. Further, it substantiates the practice of social reproduction in quantitative research in the domains of language, family, ethnicity, and indigenous culture.

This book presents a reflection on the debate between cultural multiculturalism and interculturalism by reviewing the main sociological and philosophical approaches that mark it. It opens with reflections on liberalism and neo-communitarianism, from John Rawls to Charles Taylor, Jurgen Habermas and Will Kymlicka, and then delves into the multicultural model of integration, examining its theoretical foundations, internal differences and political applications. The case of the United Kingdom and the comparison with the policies adopted in other European countries enable the author to focus on the limits of multiculturalism and the consequent need to overcome its criticism towards a new inter-cultural paradigm, which is currently the main focus of the finest international literature (Ted Cantle and Tariq Modood) – and at the heart of scholarly debate and political confrontation between Canada's multiculturalists and Quebec's interculturalists (Gerard Bouchard). Discussing the reflections of scholars who took part on the debate about the role of religious dialogue as a source of identity and recognition between different communities, the author's ambition is to find a third way, tailored to the particular socio-cultural context of Italy.

Inspiration is the initial spark that puts us on track towards our beliefs, attitudes, and actions. It partly defines who we are and whom we will become. But what are the sources of our inspirations, what governs them, how do they take shape in our lives and how are our lives shaped by them? Can they be right and wrong, and do we have the power to control them? This book provides an analysis of the historical, geographical, and cultural aspects of those countless moments that ignite our passions, guide our efforts, or cause the lack of both. Through the study of human inspirations, the author elaborates a variety of issues, including current societal, political, and global challenges, spirituality, human character, individualism, education, as well as the contrast between what used to be the political East and West, communism and capitalism. The book offers an intriguing look at the inflation of inspirations in our rapidly changing societies and its global implications. It fuses numerous fields to offer a refined view of the world and ourselves in it. Do advanced societies consist of advanced individuals, or is it time to reassess our values, redefine our principles, and seek inspirations that dare to question the status quo and introduce us to a category of dignity that moves us closer to a truly advanced world?

Corona, the Lockdown, and the Media investigates media influence on policies to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Bernhagen and Kybelka propose that news reporting on the pandemic pitches human impact against economic consequences of the virus and of restrictive policy measures designed to contain it. They argue that the use of these frames influences governments'decisions to enact or lift lockdown measures. Using time series data from England, France, and Germany, the authors show that news reporting on COVID-19 was indeed characterized by these media frames. However, there is no evidence of media influence on government policy. Instead, the authors find that anti-pandemic policy decisions were responsive to public opinion in these countries.

This book investigates how digitalization has affected entrepreneurship, labour markets, financial markets, and women's empowerment, underlining the opportunity it presents for a more inclusive and equal society. It explores how technology changes and creates gender, and the transformational potential it has for questioning conventional concepts of gender, drawing on the theories and critiques of cyberfeminism. The contributors discuss how women's agency and power in establishing emancipated cyberspaces are critically impacted by cyberfeminist conceptions of technical growth. Therefore, the volume sheds light on how technology may be a tool for women's empowerment and emancipation as well as how it might sustain current power imbalances and gender inequities by exploring cyberfeminism. The nexus of gender and technology is explored in depth by examining the connections between gendered, classed, and digital activities. In addition, this book looks at how technology may either support current power relations or provide disadvantaged people with a chance to question and disrupt them. Contributors are: Yarkın Çelik, Gözde Ersöz, Oktay Hekimler, Meltem İnce Yenilmez, Ayşe Mine İşler, Eylül Kabakçi Günay, Gökmen Kantar, Miray Özden, Kürşad Özkaynar, Fatma Pelin Erel, Mehtap Polat, Sedat Polat, and Gamze Yıldız Şeren.

Throughout the twentieth century, even the harshest prison systems in the United States were rather porous. Incarcerated people were regularly released from prison for Christmas holidays; the wives of incarcerated men could visit for seventy-two hours relatively unsupervised; and governors routinely commuted the sentences of people convicted of murder. By the 1990s, these practices had become rarer as politicians and the media—in contrast to corrections officials—described the public as potential victims who required constant protection against the threat of violence. In A Wall Is Just a Wall Reiko Hillyer focuses on gubernatorial clemency, furlough, and conjugal visits to examine the origins and decline of practices that allowed incarcerated people to transcend prison boundaries. Illuminating prisoners'lived experiences as they suffered, critiqued, survived, and resisted changing penal practices, she shows that the current impermeability of the prison is a recent, uneven, and contested phenomenon. By tracking the “thickening” of prison walls, Hillyer historicizes changing ideas of risk, the growing bipartisan acceptance of permanent exile and fixing the convicted at the moment of their crime as a form of punishment, and prisoners'efforts to resist.

This volume considers spirit possession in the Himalayas and the various ways in which invisible powers are made present. It does so by examining material representations of these powers through artefacts, animals, plants and natural substances, while also focusing on narratives of people's encounters with the invisible that may help them to reconfigure reality. Through these two approaches, the contributions examine new phenomena associated with the concepts of'possession'and'shamanism', which otherwise tend to lead research into well-worn furrows. The book addresses a range of themes, including the gods of the Western Himalayas, death and ritual dissolution among Hyolmo Buddhists in Nepal, gods and rivers as legal persons in India, and the problem of conversion disorder in Nepal.Rich in ethnography, this book will be indispensable for scholars and researchers of anthropology, religion, spiritualism, sociology of religion, Himalayan studies, sociology and South Asia.