Download or read book Postindustrial Possibilities written by Fred L. Block and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1990-05 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Changing economic realities have outmoded much of traditional economic and social theory. Block has taken an inchoate concept and given it precision and force. His analyses of the new technologies are a major contribution to the revived field of 'economic sociology;' but they also contribute to the ongoing debates on industrial policy and the expansion of democratic decision-making."—Daniel Bell, Harvard University "Block's book marks the coming of age of economic sociology. By challenging the central concepts of neo-classical economics Block allows us to think in new ways about healthy economic growth in the context of a more democratic society. He provides a powerful and hopeful analysis of some of our most daunting problems."—Robert N. Bellah, co-author of Habits of the Heart "Block has undertaken the ambitious task of laying out the possibilities that lie within modern capitalism, but are obscured by the conventional perceptions of its economic structure and institutions. By closely examining these perceptions, ranging from labor and capital to that great tutelary deity, the market, Block enables us to see alternative arrangements for achieving qualitative economic growth. At a time when thinking about the future of advanced capitalism was ever more necessary or more difficult, Postindustrial Possibilities seems to me exactly the clear, critical, and constuctive vision that social theory needs."—Robert L. Heilbroner, New School for Social Research "From start to finish, this original and provocative book is impossible to put down. Postindustrial Possibilities clarifies and makes sense of our contemporary 'great transformation.' In so doing, it not only maps social reality incisively, it also provides a powerful critique of the tools in the kitbag of social science (the superb chapter on the market alone is worth the price of admission). At once normative, historical, and policy-oriented, the book suggests an alternative approach rooted in economic sociology that significantly broadens the scope of discussion about possible futures for the United States."—Ira Katznelson, New School for Social Research "A brilliant book that illuminates both the quandaries and possibilities of postindustrial society. Writing in the tradition of Karl Polyani, Fred Block provides a refreshing antidote to the triumphalism of free market ideology that dominates our era, and also lays the intellectual groundwork for alternative and more humane forms of economic organization."—Frances Fox Piven, City University of New York
Download or read book Postindustrial Possibilities written by Fred L. Block and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1990-05-01 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While it is often acknowledged that we live in a "postindustrial" age, our economic concepts have lagged far behind our postmodern sensibility. In this incisive new work, the well-known sociologist, Fred Block, sheds obsolete and shopworn economic analysis by presenting a bold, sweeping reconceptualization of the economy. Postindustrial Possibilities provides a fresh understanding of the dynamics of postindustrial change while offering a roadmap for future economic thinking. Block takes as his point of departure the tired concepts of neo-classical economics which, while still dominant, fall short as tools for comprehending contemporary economic forces. In Block's mind, the failure to revise the concepts of industrial economics means that the reality of today's economy is increasingly understood as "through a glass darkly." Intent on reinvigorating thinking in this area, Block masterfully critiques the central categories of neo-classical economics, such as the market, labor, and capital. Block argues that the neo-classical tradition has obscured the fact that capitalist prosperity has been built not on "free markets" but rather on systematic constraints on market freedom. He further suggests that measurements of capital have become increasingly problematic and that the concept obscures the critical sources of productivity within organizations. In his far-reaching analysis of the Gross National Product, Block shows that there is a growing divergence between the factors that determine people's well-being and trends in measured GNP. Postindustrial Possibilities sets forth a new intellectual paradigm that might be called "Qualitative Growth." One of its primary foci is a shift toward improved product quality and greater priority for various non-commodity satisfactions such as leisure, interesting work, economic security and a safe and clean environment. It also promotes a recognition that greater economic efficiency rests not on infusions of capital but on cooperative labor relations and on institutional reform. Wide-ranging, intellectually vibrant and lucid, Postindustrial Possibilities will engender controversy and debate. It is an enormous contribution that social scientists and policymakers will need to come to terms with.
Download or read book Post industrial Labour Markets written by Thomas Boje and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2005-07-08 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In nearly all OECD countries, the labour market has been in flux in recent decades. This book examines the labour markets and the institutional frameworks that condition their functioning in four different countries: Canada, the United States, Denmark and Sweden. Through a comparative study of these cases, the book discusses the nation-specific patterns that exist in a world that seems to become increasingly subject to common social and economic development.
Download or read book Designing the Green Economy written by Brian Milani and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2000 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Milani, a teacher and research coordinator for the Eco-Materials Project in Toronto, first describes the economic world of the past and present, the industrial and post-industrial world with which we all have some experience. Then comes the economic outline for the world of the future, a green economy most have only glimpsed or heard tell of. Milani's goal is to integrate human technologies into natural processes and stop humanity's "predatory attitude." By doing so we will move from a quantitative model of wealth to a qualitative model where what becomes paramount is the development of people and communities, and the de-development (self-restoration) of nature. Milani wants to reform human practice with real philosophic, economic, and material solutions so that nature no longer needs human protection against human onslaught. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR
Download or read book Back to the Postindustrial Future written by Felix Ringel and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2018-03-26 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How does an urban community come to terms with the loss of its future? The former socialist model city of Hoyerswerda is an extreme case of a declining postindustrial city. Built to serve the GDR coal industry, it lost over half its population to outmigration after German reunification and the coal industry crisis, leading to the large-scale deconstruction of its cityscape. This book tells the story of its inhabitants, now forced to reconsider their futures. Building on recent theoretical work, it advances a new anthropological approach to time, allowing us to investigate the postindustrial era and the futures it has supposedly lost.
Download or read book From Post Industrial to Post Modern Society written by Krishan Kumar and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-02-09 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The second edition of this classic study, revised with a new and substantial opening chapter. New edition of a classic study by a leading social theorist Explores three major ideas crucial to contemporary social theory: the information society, post-Fordism, and post-modernism Places the three key ideas within the context of contemporary discourse on globalization.
Download or read book Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies written by Gøsta Esping-Andersen and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Golden Age of postwar capitalism has been eclipsed, and with it seemingly also the possibility of harmonizing equality and welfare with efficiency and jobs. Most analyses believe that the emerging postindustrial society is overdetermined by massive, convergent forces, such astertiarization, new technologies, or globalization, all conspiring to make welfare states unsustainable in the future.Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies takes a second, more sociological and more institutional, look at the driving forces of economic transformation. What, as a result, stands out is postindustrial diversity, not convergence. Macroscopic, global trends are undoubtedly powerful, yet theirinfluence is easily rivalled by domestic institutional traditions, by the kind of welfare regime that, some generations ago, was put in place. It is, however, especially the family economy that hold the key as to what kind of postindustrial model will emerge, and to how evolving tradeoffs will bemanaged.Twentieth-century economic analysis depended on a set of sociological assumptions that, now, are invalid. Hence, to better grasp what drives today's economy, we must begin with its social foundations.
Download or read book The Jobless Future written by Stanley Aronowitz and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Jobless Future challenges beliefs in the utopian promise of a knowledge-based, high-technology economy. Reviewing a vast body of encouraging literature about the postindustrial age, Aronowitz and DiFazio conclude that neither theory, history, nor contemporary evidence warrants optimism about a technological economic order. Instead, they demonstrate the shift toward a massive displacement of employees at all levels and a large-scale degradation of the labor force. As they clearly chart a major change in the nature, scope, and amount of paid work, the authors suggest that notions of justice and the good life based on full employment must change radically as well. They close by proposing alternatives to our dying job culture that might help us sustain ourselves and our well-being in a science- and technology-based economic future. One alternative discussed is reducing the workday to fewer hours without reducing pay.
Download or read book Theories of the Information Society written by Professor Frank Webster and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-05-03 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Information has come to be regarded as a symbol of the age in which we live. Talk nowadays is of an `information technology' revolution, even of an `information society'. But just what does this mean? In Theories of the Information Society Frank Webster sets out to make sense of the information explosion. He examines and assesses a variety of `images of the information society', and takes a sceptical look at what thinkers mean when they do refer to an `information society'. He looks closely at different approaches to informational developments, and provides critical commentaries on all the major post-war theories.
Download or read book The Constitution of the Post Economic State written by Vladislav L. Inozemtsev and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-07-30 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1998, this author illustrates clearly how, on the threshold of the new millennium, the world is entering a post-economic era. On the basis of a comprehensive analysis of modern socio-economic trends, the author brings forward a new paradigm for understanding contemporary economic processes that change the substance of our civilization.
Download or read book Will Europe Work written by Martin Kohli and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-01-14 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the post war years European integration was driven by nation states attempting to stimulate economic growth and social cohesion through European trade and cooperation. The results were prosperous, and unified Western European societies were based on full employment and redistributive welfare states. However, in today's Europe - a Europe subject to increasing international competition fuelled by both economic and cultural globalization - the European social model needs to be re-examined, yet its emphasis on cohesion remains crucial for the future of Europe as a unified polity. Investigating this issue in depth, this outstanding collection is divided into three key sections. These parts: * ask how recent developments have changed the old European model of employment and social protection, and outline a possible new European social model * focus on the questions of European identity and European borders, with special emphasis on cultural divisions such as ethnicity * concentrate on institutions such as citizenship and language, and reflect on sociology's ability to address European integration and the new European social order. Will Europe Work? brings together some of the leading names in European sociology to look at the construction of this new European social order through changing patterns of employment and Welfare and changing definitions of citizenship and identity.
Download or read book Race Class and the Postindustrial City written by Frank Harold Wilson and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Race, Class, and the Postindustrial City thoroughly explores the scholarship of William Julius Wilson, one of the nation's leading sociologists and public intellectuals, and the controversies surrounding his work. In addressing the connection between postindustrial cities and changing race relations, the author, who is not related to William Julius Wilson, shows how Wilson has synthesized competing theories of race relations, urban sociology, and public policy into a refocused liberal analysis of postindustrial America. Combining intellectual biography, the sociology of knowledge, and theoretical analyses of sociological debates relevant to African Americans, this book provides both appraisal and critique, ultimately assessing Wilson's contribution to the sociological canon.
Download or read book Times of the Technoculture written by Kevin Robins and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-09-02 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Times of the Technoculture explores the social and cultural impact of new technologies, tracing the origins of the information society from the coming of the machine with the industrial revolution to the development of mass production techniques in the early twentieth century. The authors look at how the military has controlled the development of the information society, and consider the centrality of education in government attempts to create a knowledge society. Engaging in contemporary debates surrounding the internet, Robins and Webster question whether it can really offer us a new world of virtual communities, and suggest more radical alternatives to the corporate agenda of contemporary technologies.
Download or read book Sociology of Work written by Vicki Smith and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2013-05-16 with total page 1183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The simple act of going to work every day is an integral part of all societies across the globe. It is an ingrained social contract: we all work to survive. But it goes beyond physical survival. Psychologists have equated losing a job with the trauma of divorce or a family death, and enormous issues arise, from financial panic to sinking self-esteem. Through work, we build our self-identity, our lifestyle, and our aspirations. How did it come about that work dominates so many parts of our lives and our psyche? This multi-disciplinary encyclopedia covers curricular subjects that seek to address that question, ranging from business and management to anthropology, sociology, social history, psychology, politics, economics, and health. Features & Benefits: International and comparative coverage. 335 signed entries, A-to-Z, fill 2 volumes in print and electronic formats. Cross-References and Suggestions for Further Readings guide readers to additional resources. A Chronology provides students with historical perspective of the sociology of work. In the electronic version, the comprehensive Index combines with the Cross-References and thematic Reader′s Guide themes to provide robust search-and-browse capabilities.
Download or read book Post Industrial Urban Greenspace Ecology Aesthetics and Justice written by Jennifer Foster and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-12-30 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers original theoretical and empirical insight into the social, cultural and ecological politics of rapidly changing urban spaces such as old factories, rail yards, verges, dumps and quarries. These environments are often disregarded once their industrial functions wane, a trend that cities are experiencing through the advance of late capitalism. From a sustainability perspective, there are important lessons to learn about the potential prospects and perils of these disused sites. The combination of shelter, standing water and infrequent human visitation renders such spaces ecologically vibrant, despite residual toxicity and other environmentally undesirable conditions. They are also spaces of social refuge. Three case studies in Milwaukee, Paris and Toronto anchor the book, each of which offers unique analytical insight into the forms, functions and experiences of post-industrial urban greenspaces. Through this research, this book challenges the dominant instinct in Western urban planning to "rediscover" and redevelop these spaces for economic growth rather than ecological resilience and social justice. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of Urban Planning, Ecological Design, Landscape Architecture, Urban Geography, Environmental Planning, Restoration Ecology, and Aesthetics.
Download or read book Farm Communities at the Crossroads written by University of Regina. Canadian Plains Research Center and published by University of Regina Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an outgrowth of a conference that analyzed transformations in farming & farm communities and discussed what might be done to achieve a more socially responsible development. It contains papers that address the pace of change in work & rural society which has proceeded so rapidly that every new development appears to be a cross-roads in which something precious is in danger of being left behind, but something valuable may be gained by taking the right route. Topics of the papers include the importance of work, the family farm, community building, knowledge & skills in the farm community, coping with the farm crisis, land reform, short line railways, farm co-operatives, agricultural chemicals & agribusiness, sustainable alternatives for agriculture, game farming, co-operative intervention in the farm machinery sector, conservation tillage, globalization & agricultural policy, agrarian radicalism on the prairies, and farm income support systems. Includes index.
Download or read book Daniel Bell written by Malcolm Waters and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-01-04 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Daniel Bell is perhaps the most famous sociologist of his generation. He has been hailed as the prophet of the emergence of a new society, the postindustrial society, and as one of the leading conservative critics of contemporary culture. In this invaluable introduction, Malcolm Waters presents Bell's arguments clearly and fairly, as well as noting the problems with his work. The three books that have made Bell famous, The End of Ideology, The Coming of Post-Capitalism are drawn upon, as well as his lesser known works on education and social forecasting. A thoroughly comprehensive account of a key, albeit highly controversial, contemporary sociological figure.
