Download or read book Illusions of Opportunity written by Schwarz and published by W. W. Norton. This book was released on 1998-08-01 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The American dream depends upon the idea that every American who works hard can support a family and get ahead. This book presents a measure of ideal against reality, calculating how much opportunity is available relative to the number of households reliant on it. This measure reveals that nearly a quarter of American families cannot find adequate work despite economic growth. Joh Schwartz demonstrates that neither global competition nor governmental interference are the culprits and he shows that the American dream might become reality.
Download or read book Illusions of Opportunity written by Sonia Ospina and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2019-01-24 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Employees expect organizations to offer an equitable distribution of rewards in promotion, compensation, and job challenge to those who work hard. According to Sonia Ospina, the realities of the workplace confound that expectation, since organizational practices oflabelling and ranking individuals create inequality. For this reason, Ospina suggests that an appreciation of how employees experience and resolve the contradiction between expectation and reality is prerequisite to understanding work attitudes in contemporary organizations. Illusions of Opportunity documents the pervasiveness of this contradiction by focusing on three groups of workers within a large public organization in a major city. Exploring individual and collective attempts to make sense of reward distribution, Ospina found that each group endorsed a different definition of merit. The definitions represented an attempt on the part of each group to justify the claims of its own members to being organizational citizen who deserved recognition. Drawing on the research traditions of organizational stratification, the social psychology of justice, and organizational behavior, Ospina operates within a conceptual framework that links objective opportunity structures to employees' subjective perceptions of justice. Through this merger of the structural and the subjective, she provides new insights into the social basis of work attitudes.
Download or read book Illusions of Opportunity written by Sonia Ospina and published by ILR Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Employees expect organizations to offer an equitable distribution of rewards in promotion, compensation, and job challenge to those who work hard. According to Sonia Ospina, the realities of the workplace confound that expectation, since organizational practices of labelling and ranking individuals create inequality. For this reason, Ospina suggests that an appreciation of how employees experience and resolve the contradiction between expectation and reality in prerequisite to understanding work attitudes in contemporary organizations. Illusions of Opportunity documents the pervasiveness of this contradiction by focusing on three groups of workers within a large public organization in a major city. Exploring individual and collective attempts to make sense of reward distribution, Ospina found that each group endorsed a different definition of merit. The definitions represented an attempt on the part of each group to justify the claims of its own members to being organizational citizens who deserved recognition. Drawing on the research traditions of organizational stratification, the social psychology of justice, and organizational behavior, Ospina operates within a conceptual framework that links objective opportunity structures to employees' subjective perceptions of justice. Through this merger of the structural and the subjective, she provides new insights into the social basis of work attitudes.
Download or read book The End of Illusions written by Andreas Reckwitz and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2021-06-28 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We live in a time of great uncertainty about the future. Those heady days of the late twentieth century, when the end of the Cold War seemed to be ushering in a new and more optimistic age, now seem like a distant memory. During the last couple of decades, we’ve been battered by one crisis after another and the idea that humanity is on a progressive path to a better future seems like an illusion. It is only now that we can see clearly the real scope and structure of the profound shifts that Western societies have undergone over the last 30 years. Classical industrial society has been transformed into a late-modern society that is molded by polarization and paradoxes. The pervasive singularization of the social, the orientation toward the unique and exceptional, generates systematic asymmetries and disparities, and hence progress and unease go hand in hand. Reckwitz examines this dual structure of singularization and polarization as it plays itself out in the different sectors of our societies and, in so doing, he outlines the central structural features of the present: the new class society, the characteristics of a postindustrial economy, the conflict about culture and identity, the exhaustion of the self resulting from the imperative to seek authentic fulfillment, and the political crisis of liberalism. Building on his path-breaking work The Society of Singularities, this new book will be of great interest to students and scholars in sociology, politics, and the social sciences generally, and to anyone concerned with the great social and political issues of our time.
Download or read book Empire of Illusion written by Chris Hedges and published by Knopf Canada. This book was released on 2009-07-28 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pulitzer prize–winner Chris Hedges charts the dramatic and disturbing rise of a post-literate society that craves fantasy, ecstasy and illusion. Chris Hedges argues that we now live in two societies: One, the minority, functions in a print-based, literate world, that can cope with complexity and can separate illusion from truth. The other, a growing majority, is retreating from a reality-based world into one of false certainty and magic. In this “other society,” serious film and theatre, as well as newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins. In the tradition of Christopher Lasch’s The Culture of Narcissism and Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death, Hedges navigates this culture — attending WWF contests as well as Ivy League graduation ceremonies — exposing an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion.
Download or read book The Peace of Illusions written by Christopher Layne and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a provocative book about American hegemony, Christopher Layne outlines his belief that U.S. foreign policy has been consistent in its aims for more than sixty years and that the current Bush administration clings to mid-twentieth-century tactics--to no good effect. What should the nation's grand strategy look like for the next several decades? The end of the cold war profoundly and permanently altered the international landscape, yet we have seen no parallel change in the aims and shape of U.S. foreign policy. The Peace of Illusions intervenes in the ongoing debate about American grand strategy and the costs and benefits of "American empire." Layne urges the desirability of a strategy he calls "offshore balancing": rather than wield power to dominate other states, the U.S. government should engage in diplomacy to balance large states against one another. The United States should intervene, Layne asserts, only when another state threatens, regionally or locally, to destroy the established balance. Drawing on extensive archival research, Layne traces the form and aims of U.S. foreign policy since 1940, examining alternatives foregone and identifying the strategic aims of different administrations. His offshore-balancing notion, if put into practice with the goal of extending the "American Century," would be a sea change in current strategy. Layne has much to say about present-day governmental decision making, which he examines from the perspectives of both international relations theory and American diplomatic history.
Download or read book Cognitive Illusions written by Rüdiger F Pohl and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2016-07-22 with total page 521 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cognitive Illusions explores a wide range of fascinating psychological effects in the way we think, judge and remember in our everyday lives. Featuring contributions from leading researchers, the book defines what cognitive illusions are and discusses their theoretical status: are such illusions proof for a faulty human information-processing system, or do they only represent by-products of otherwise adaptive cognitive mechanisms? Throughout the book, background to phenomena such as illusions of control, overconfidence and hindsight bias are discussed, before considering the respective empirical research, potential explanations of the phenomenon, and relevant applied perspectives. Each chapter also features the detailed description of an experiment that can be used as classroom demonstration. Featuring six new chapters, this edition has been thoroughly updated throughout to reflect recent research and changes of focus within the field. This book will be of interest to students and researchers of cognitive illusions, specifically, those focusing on thinking, reasoning, decision-making and memory.
Download or read book Illusions written by Madeline J. Reynolds and published by Entangled: Teen. This book was released on 2018-11-06 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dear Thomas, I know you're angry. It's true, I was sent to expose your mentor as a fraud illusionist, and instead I have put your secret in jeopardy. I fear I have even put your life in jeopardy. For that I can only beg your forgiveness. I've fallen for you. You know I have. And I never wanted to create a rift between us, but if it means protecting you from those who wish you dead—I'll do it. I'll do anything to keep you safe, whatever the sacrifice. Please forgive me for all I've done and what I'm about to do next. I promise, it's one magic trick no one will ever see coming. Love, Saverio
Download or read book Collective Illusions written by Todd Rose and published by Hachette Go. This book was released on 2022-02-01 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and social psychology research, an acclaimed author demonstrates how so much of our thinking is informed by false assumptions—making us dangerously mistrustful as a society and needlessly unhappy as individuals. The desire to fit in is one of the most powerful, least understood forces in society. Todd Rose believes that as human beings, we continually act against our own best interests because our brains misunderstand what others believe. A complicated set of illusions driven by conformity bias distorts how we see the world around us. From toilet paper shortages to kidneys that get thrown away rather than used for transplants; from racial segregation to the perceived “electability” of women in politics; from bottled water to “cancel culture,” we routinely copy others, lie about what we believe, cling to tribes, and silence people. The question is, Why do we keep believing the lies and hurting ourselves? Todd Rose proves that the answer is hard-wired in our DNA: our brains are more socially dependent than we realize or dare to accept. Most of us would rather be fully in sync with the social norms of our respective groups than be true to who we are. Using originally researched data, Collective Illusions shows us where we get things wrong and, just as important, how we can be authentic in forming opinions while valuing truth. Rose offers a counterintuitive yet empowering explanation for how we can bridge our inference gap, make decisions with a newfound clarity, and achieve fulfillment. **National Bestseller** **Wall Street Journal Bestseller** **Named Amazon's 2022 Best Book of the Year in Business, Leadership, and Science**
Download or read book Illusions written by Katherine Stone and published by Zebra Books. This book was released on 1996-05-16 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Twin sons, separated at birth, are brought together again by accident and suspicious surroundings in the movieland Los Angeles.
Download or read book The Illusions Of Post Feminism written by Vicki Coppock and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-09-03 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 1995. As feminists reflect on the impact of the 'second wave' of feminism, and assess the gains of the last thirty years, invariably they have questioned whether claims that women have achieved equality are justified. In the late 1980s, there was a proliferation of popular imagery of 'new' men and 'post-feminist' women, with the concept of 'post-feminism' reinforcing and emphasizing the differences between independent, upwardly-mobile, career orientated women, and those women who 'choose' the more 'natural' role of wife and mother. The Illusions of'Post-Feminism':New Women, Old Myths maintains that 'post-feminism' is a myth. Through in-depth interviews with women about four major areas of their lives: education, work, the media and the family, the authors challenge and expose the myths implicit in the concept of 'post-feminism'. The research illustrates that women's discontent continues, despite the assumption that gender equality would result from equal opportunities legislation. The chapters highlight the ineffective nature of liberal reformism and demonstrate how power relations still lie at the root of the oppression of women. With its provoking and challenging analysis, this revealing book breaks the silence of women's real experiences by showing the actuality of women's lives today.
Download or read book Illusions written by Madeline J. Reynolds and published by Entangled: Teen. This book was released on 2018-11-06 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dear Thomas, I know you're angry. It's true, I was sent to expose your mentor as a fraud illusionist, and instead I have put your secret in jeopardy. I fear I have even put your life in jeopardy. For that I can only beg your forgiveness. I've fallen for you. You know I have. And I never wanted to create a rift between us, but if it means protecting you from those who wish you dead—I'll do it. I'll do anything to keep you safe, whatever the sacrifice. Please forgive me for all I've done and what I'm about to do next. I promise, it's one magic trick no one will ever see coming. Love, Saverio
Download or read book Faith Without Illusions written by Andrew Byers and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2011-02-28 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cynicism has become almost a cliché. It pervades the culture and defines the age--and threatens to derail faith. Andrew Byers identifies the primary factors in the church that inspire disillusionment rather than faith, but he goes beyond that to help struggling cynics channel their frustrations into the redemptive vocations found in the Bible: the prophet, the sage, the tragic poet. These all find their fulfillment in Jesus, and he in turn inspires cynics from the apostle Paul to you and me to embrace our saintly calling--hopeful realism.
Download or read book Epidemic Illusions written by Eugene T Richardson and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2020-12-22 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A physician-anthropologist explores how public health practices--from epidemiological modeling to outbreak containment--help perpetuate global inequities. In Epidemic Illusions, Eugene Richardson, a physician and an anthropologist, contends that public health practices--from epidemiological modeling and outbreak containment to Big Data and causal inference--play an essential role in perpetuating a range of global inequities. Drawing on postcolonial theory, medical anthropology, and critical science studies, Richardson demonstrates the ways in which the flagship discipline of epidemiology has been shaped by the colonial, racist, and patriarchal system that had its inception in 1492. Deploying a range of rhetorical tools and drawing on his clinical work in a variety of epidemics, including Ebola in West Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo, leishmania in the Sudan, HIV/TB in southern Africa, diphtheria in Bangladesh, and SARS-CoV-2 in the United States, Richardson concludes that the biggest epidemic we currently face is an epidemic of illusions—one that is propagated by the coloniality of knowledge production.
Download or read book America Needs Human Rights written by Anuradha Mittal and published by Food First Books. This book was released on 1999 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The time has come to stand up for what's right in America. We may be in the middle of economic recovery, but millions of Americans are not sharing the benefits. The growing ranks of those without adequate food, jobs, shelter, or health care challenge our fundamental notions of right and wrong. America Needs Human Rights makes a powerful case that both the letter and spirit of universally recognized human rights are routinely violated in America by government policies that safeguard profits rather than people. Topics includes understanding human rights, basic needs and human rights, the new American crisis, poverty in America, welfare reform and human rights, policy options, and movement building.
Download or read book Of Green Illusions written by Clifton Lopez and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2012-08-27 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of a young man that would help change the world in which he lived. He stood on the ledge of the great Cauldarian range looking down at his hand in which he held a rock. The beauty of it was overpowering, its green opaque luminescence made him feel falsely at ease. But he knew this was an object of beauty that no Cauldarian should posses. The stone represented the dark side of their history. The ideological faith and power that emanated from it could also be used for good. But its efficacy was wielded as if it were a sword striking at every aspect of the populaces' freedom. So far, its thrusts proved deadly in every instance. It had to be thrown over the ledge and into the night if his people were to survive. Michael awoke from this same dream that he had many times before. It was as if it were only yesterday that his world had changed; it was so different, but in many ways, it was still the same...
Download or read book Free Will and Illusion written by Saul Smilansky and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2000-03-30 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Saul Smilansky presents an original treatment of the problem of free will, which lies at the heart of morality and human self-understanding. He maintains that we have most of the resources we need for a proper understanding of the problem; and the key to it is the role played by illusion. The major traditional philosophical approaches are inadequate, Smilansky argues: their partial insights need to be integrated into a hybrid view, which he calls Fundamental Dualism. Common views about justice, responsibility, human worth, and related notions are radically misguided, and the absurd looms large. We do, however, find some justification for enlightened moral views, and grounding for some of our most cherished views of human nature. The bold and perhaps disturbing claim of Free Will and Illusion is that we could not live adequately with a complete awareness of the truth about human freedom: illusion lies at the centre of the human condition. The necessity of illusion is seen to follow from the basic elements of the free will issue, helping keep our moral and psychological worlds intact. Smilansky offers the challenge of recognizing the centrality of illusion and trying to free ourselves to some extent from it; this is not only a philosophical challenge, but a moral and psychological one as well.
