Download or read book Social Science at the Crossroads written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2019-05-20 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social Science at the Crossroads brings questions of the future of the university, of democracy, of social science and religion to the front and offers analyses that point toward an overview of urgent problems in the current debate in social science.
Download or read book Social Sciences and Modern States written by Peter Wagner and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1991-03-28 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern social sciences have, over the past forty years, been committed to the improvement of public policy. More recently, however, doubts have arisen about the possibility and desirability of a policy-oriented social science. In this book, leading specialists in the field analyze both the development and failings of policy-oriented social science. In contrast to other writings on the subject, this volume presents a distinctively historical and comparative approach. By looking at earlier periods, the contributors demonstrate how policy orientation has been central to the emergence and evolution of the social sciences as a form of professional activity. Case studies of rarely examined societies such as Poland, Brazil and Japan further demonstrate the various ways in which intellectual developments have been shaped by the societal contexts in which they have emerged and how they have taken part in the shaping of these societies.
Download or read book Crossroads of Social Science written by Heinz Eulau and published by Algora Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The essays in this collection analyze the successes and failures of the social sciences over the last few decades as well as on their future. The focus of the book is on generic problems, difficulties, and dilemmas in the social sciences that the contributors are uniquely qualified to articulate. Each of them has been intimately involved in the development of one or another discipline in the last thirty years or so; each has made significant contributions to that development in many ways; each has a personal perspective on accomplishments and failures, promises and needs, continuities to be cultivated and opportunities to be seized. ." . . anyone concerned with the state of social science disciplines should find these essays of interest." - Journal of Politics
Download or read book At the Crossroads Lessons and Challenges in Computational Social Science written by Yamir Moreno and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The interest of physicists in economic and social questions is not new: for over four decades, we have witnessed the emergence of what is called nowadays “sociophysics” and “econophysics”, vigorous and challenging areas within the wider “Interdisciplinary Physics”. With tools borrowed from Statistical Physics and Complexity, this new area of study have already made important contributions, which in turn have fostered the development of novel theoretical foundations in Social Science and Economics, via mathematical approaches, agent-based modelling and numerical simulations. From these foundations, Computational Social Science has grown to incorporate as well the empirical component --aided by the recent data deluge from the Web 2.0 and 3.0--, closing in this way the experiment-theory cycle in the best tradition of Physics.
Download or read book Energy at the Crossroads written by Vaclav Smil and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2005-02-11 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An objective, comprehensive, and accessible examination of today's most crucial problem: preserving the environment in the face of society's insatiable demand for energy. In Energy at the Crossroads, Vaclav Smil considers the twenty-first century's crucial question: how to reconcile the modern world's unceasing demand for energy with the absolute necessity to preserve the integrity of the biosphere. With this book he offers a comprehensive, accessible guide to today's complex energy issues—how to think clearly and logically about what is possible and what is desirable in our energy future. After a century of unprecedented production growth, technical innovation, and expanded consumption, the world faces a number of critical energy challenges arising from unequal resource distribution, changing demand patterns, and environmental limitations. The fundamental message of Energy at the Crossroads is that our dependence on fossil fuels must be reduced not because of any imminent resource shortages but because the widespread burning of oil, coal, and natural gas damages the biosphere and presents increasing economic and security problems as the world relies on more expensive supplies and Middle Eastern crude oil. Smil begins with an overview of the twentieth century's long-term trends and achievements in energy production. He then discusses energy prices, the real cost of energy, and "energy linkages"—the effect energy issues have on the economy, on quality of life, on the environment, and in wartime. He discusses the pitfalls of forecasting, giving many examples of failed predictions and showing that unexpected events can disprove complex models. And he examines the pros and cons not only of fossil fuels but also of alternative fuels such as hydroenergy, biomass energy, wind power, and solar power. Finally, he considers the future, focusing on what really matters, what works, what is realistic, and which outcomes are most desirable.
Download or read book At the Crossroads written by Jane T. Merritt and published by UNC Press Books. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examining interactions between native Americans and whites in eighteenth-century Pennsylvania, Jane Merritt traces the emergence of race as the defining difference between these neighbors on the frontier. Before 1755, Indian and white communities in Pennsylvania shared a certain amount of interdependence. They traded skills and resources and found a common enemy in the colonial authorities, including the powerful Six Nations, who attempted to control them and the land they inhabited. Using innovative research in German Moravian records, among other sources, Merritt explores the cultural practices, social needs, gender dynamics, economic exigencies, and political forces that brought native Americans and Euramericans together in the first half of the eighteenth century. But as Merritt demonstrates, the tolerance and even cooperation that once marked relations between Indians and whites collapsed during the Seven Years' War. By the 1760s, as the white population increased, a stronger, nationalist identity emerged among both white and Indian populations, each calling for new territorial and political boundaries to separate their communities. Differences between Indians and whites--whether political, economic, social, religious, or ethnic--became increasingly characterized in racial terms, and the resulting animosity left an enduring legacy in Pennsylvania's colonial history.
Download or read book African Crossroads written by Ian Fowler and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 1996-07-01 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cameroon is characterized by an extraordinary geographical, cultural, and linguistic diversity. This collection of essays by eminent historians and anthropologists summarizes three generations of research in Cameroon that began with the collaboration of Phyllis Kaberry and E. M. Chilver soon after the Second World War and continues to this day. The idea for this book arose from a concern to recognize the continuing influence of E. M. Chilver on a wide variety of social, historical, political and economic studies. The result is a volume with a broad historical scope yet one that also focuses on major contemporary theoretical issues such as the meaning and construction of ethnic identities and the anthropological study of historical processes. For more information on this title and related publications, go to http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/Chilver/index.html
Download or read book Capitalism at the Crossoads written by Stuart L. Hart and published by Pearson Prentice Hall. This book was released on 2007-07-18 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Capitalism at the Crossroads is built on strong theoretical underpinnings and illustrated with many practical examples. The author offers a pioneering roadmap to responsible macroeconomics and corporate growth." -Clayton Christensen, Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School and author of The Innovator's Dilemma "I hope this book will be able to influence the thought processes of corporations and motivate them to adapt to forthcoming business realities for the sake of their own long-term existence. Besides business leaders, this is a thought-provoking book for the readers who are looking for solutions to capitalism’s problems." -Muhammad Yunus, Founder and Managing Director, Grameen Bank, Bangladesh and 2007 Nobel Peace Prize recipient "Capitalism at the Crossroads is a practical manifesto for business in the twenty-first century. Professor Stuart L. Hart provides a succinct framework for managers to harmonize concerns for the planet with wealth creation and unambiguously demonstrates the connection between the two. This book represents a turning point in the debate about the emerging role and responsibility of business in society." -C.K. Prahalad, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, co-author of Competing for the Future and author of The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid "Stuart Hart was there at the beginning. Years ago when the term ‘sustainability’ had not yet reached the business schools, Stuart Hart stood as a beacon glowing in the umbrage. It is clear commerce is the engine of change, design the first signal of human intention, and global capitalism is at the crossroads. Stuart Hart is there again; this time lighting up the intersection." -William McDonough, University of Virginia, co-author of Cradle to Cradle "Professor Hart is on the leading edge of making sustainability an understandable and useful framework for building business value. This book brings together much of his insights developed over the past decade. Through case studies and practical advice, he argues powerfully that unlimited opportunities for profitable business growth will flow to those companies that bring innovative technology and solutions to bear on some of the world’s most intractable social and environmental problems." -Chad Holliday, Chairman and CEO, DuPont "Capitalism at the Crossroads clearly reveals the essence of what sustainability means to today’s business world. Hart’s analysis that businesses must increasingly adopt a business framework based on building sustainable value speaks to the entire sustainability movement’s relevance. Sustainability is more than today’s competitive edge; it is tomorrow’s model for success." -Don Pether, President and CEO, Dofasco Inc. "Stuart Hart has written a book full of big insights painted with bold strokes. He may make you mad. He will certainly make you think." -Jonathan Lash, President, The World Resources Institute "A must-read for every CEO—and every MBA." -John Elkington, Chairman, SustainAbility "This book provides us with a vast array of innovative and practical ideas to accelerate the transformation to global sustainability and the role businesses and corporations will have to play therein. Stuart Hart manages to contribute in an essential way to the growing intellectual capital that addresses this topic. But, beyond that, the book will also prove to be a pioneer in the literature on corporate strategy by adding this new dimension to the current thinking." -Jan Oosterveld, Professor, IESE Business School, Barcelona, Spain Member, Group Management Committee (Ret.), Royal Philips Electronics "Capitalism at the Crossroads captures a disturbing and descriptive picture of the global condition. Dr. Hart constructs a compelling new corporate business model that simultaneously merges the metric of profitability along with societal value and environmental integrity. He challenges the corporate sector to take the lead and to invoke this change so that the benefits of capitalism can be shared with the entire human community worldwide." -Mac Bridger, CEO of Tandus Group "Stuart L. Hart makes a very important contribution to the understanding of how enterprise can help save the world’s environment. Crucial reading." -Hernando de Soto, President of The Institute for Liberty and Democracy and author of The Mystery of Capital "Stuart Hart’s insights into the business sense of sustainability come through compellingly in Capitalism at the Crossroads. Any businessperson interested in the long view will find resonance with his wise reasoning." -Ray Anderson, Founder and Chairman, Interface, Inc. "This stimulating book documents the central role that business will play in humanity’s efforts to develop a sustainable global economy. Professor Hart presents an attractive vision of opportunity for those corporations that develop the new technologies, new business models, and new mental frames that are essential to a sustainable future." -Jeffrey Lehman, Former President of Cornell University "The people of the world are in desperate need of new ideas if global industrial development is ever to result in something other than the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, with nature (and potentially all of us) suffering the collateral damage. Few have contributed more to meeting this need over the past decade than Stuart Hart by helping to illuminate the potential role for business and new thinking in business strategy in the journey ahead. Capitalism at the Crossroads challenges, provokes, and no doubt will stimulate many debates—which is exactly what is needed." -Peter Senge, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chairperson of the Society for Organizational Learning, and author of The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning Organization New Foreword by Al Gore Brand-New Second Edition, Completely Revised with: Up-to-the-minute trends and lessons learned New and updated case studies The latest corporate responses to climate change, energy, and terrorism Global capitalism stands at a crossroads-facing terrorism, environmental destruction, and anti-globalization backlash. Today's global companies are at a crossroads, too-searching desperately for new sources of profitable growth. Stuart L. Hart's Capitalism at the Crossroads, Second Edition is about solving both of those problems at the same time. It's about igniting new growth by creating sustainable products that solve urgent societal problems. It's about using new technology to deliver profitable solutions that reduce poverty and protect the environment. It's about becoming truly indigenous to all your markets, and avoiding the pitfalls of first-generation "greening" and "sustainability" strategies. Hart has thoroughly revised this seminal book with new case studies, trends, and lessons learned-including the latest experiences of leaders like GE and Wal-Mart. You'll find new insights from the pioneering BoP Protocol initiative, in which multinationals are incubating new businesses in income-poor communities. You'll also discover creative new ways in which corporations are responding to global warming and terrorism. More than ever, this book points the way toward a capitalism that's more inclusive, more welcome, and far more successful-for both companies and communities, worldwide. Paths to profitable sustainability: Lessons from GE and Wal-Mart Shattering the "trade-off" myth New commercial strategies for serving the "base of the pyramid" What enterprises have learned about doing business in income-poor regions Becoming indigenous-for real, for good Codiscovering new opportunities, cocreating new businesses with the poor Learning from leaders: 20+ new and updated case studies Best practices from DuPont, HP, Unilever, SC Johnson, Tata, P&G, Cemex, and more About the Author xii Acknowledgments xiii Foreword: Al Gore, Former Vice President of the U.S. xxiv Foreword: Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO, S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. xxvii Prologue: Capitalism at the Crossroads xxxi PART ONE: MAPPING THE TERRAIN Chapter 1: From Obligation to Opportunity 3 Chapter 2: Worlds in Collision 31 Chapter 3: The Sustainable Value Portfolio 59 PART TWO: BEYOND GREENING Chapter 4: Creative Destruction and Sustainability 87 Chapter 5: The Great Leap Downward 111 Chapter 6: Reaching the Base of the Pyramid 139 PART THREE: BECOMING INDIGENOUS Chapter 7: Broadening the Corporate Bandwidth 169 Chapter 8: Developing Native Capability 193 Chapter 9: Toward a Sustainable Global Enterprise 223 Epilogue 249 Index 254
Download or read book Social Science at the Crossroads written by Leszek A. Kosiński and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Genetic Crossroads written by Elise K. Burton and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2021-01-26 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Middle East plays a major role in the history of genetic science. Early in the twentieth century, technological breakthroughs in human genetics coincided with the birth of modern Middle Eastern nation-states, who proclaimed that the region's ancient history—as a cradle of civilizations and crossroads of humankind—was preserved in the bones and blood of their citizens. Using letters and publications from the 1920s to the present, Elise K. Burton follows the field expeditions and hospital surveys that scrutinized the bodies of tribal nomads and religious minorities. These studies, geneticists claim, not only detect the living descendants of biblical civilizations but also reveal the deeper past of human evolution. Genetic Crossroads is an unprecedented history of human genetics in the Middle East, from its roots in colonial anthropology and medicine to recent genome sequencing projects. It illuminates how scientists from Turkey to Yemen, Egypt to Iran, transformed genetic data into territorial claims and national origin myths. Burton shows why such nationalist appropriations of genetics are not local or temporary aberrations, but rather the enduring foundations of international scientific interest in Middle Eastern populations to this day.
Download or read book Changing Course written by Clint Bolick and published by Transaction Publishers. This book was released on 1988 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Clint Bolick is co-founder of the Institute for Justice and President of the Alliance for School Choice.
Download or read book At the Crossroads Lessons and Challenges in Computational Social Science written by Javier Borge-Holthoefer and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2016-11-29 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The interest of physicists in economic and social questions is not new: for over four decades, we have witnessed the emergence of what is called nowadays “sociophysics” and “econophysics”, vigorous and challenging areas within the wider “Interdisciplinary Physics”. With tools borrowed from Statistical Physics and Complexity, this new area of study have already made important contributions, which in turn have fostered the development of novel theoretical foundations in Social Science and Economics, via mathematical approaches, agent-based modelling and numerical simulations. From these foundations, Computational Social Science has grown to incorporate as well the empirical component --aided by the recent data deluge from the Web 2.0 and 3.0--, closing in this way the experiment-theory cycle in the best tradition of Physics.
Download or read book Criminal Justice at the Crossroads written by William R. Kelly and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2015-05-05 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past forty years, the criminal justice system in the United States has engaged in a very expensive policy failure, attempting to punish its way to public safety, with dismal results. So-called "tough on crime" policies have not only failed to effectively reduce crime, recidivism, and victimization but also created an incredibly inefficient system that routinely fails the public, taxpayers, crime victims, criminal offenders, their families, and their communities. Strategies that focus on behavior change are much more productive and cost effective for reducing crime than punishment, and in this book, William R. Kelly discusses the policy, process, and funding innovations and priorities that the United States needs to effectively reduce crime, recidivism, victimization, and cost. He recommends proactive, evidence-based interventions to address criminogenic behavior; collaborative decision making from a variety of professions and disciplines; and a focus on innovative alternatives to incarceration, such as problem-solving courts and probation. Students, professionals, and policy makers alike will find in this comprehensive text a bracing discussion of how our criminal justice system became broken and the best strategies by which to fix it.
Download or read book Generation at the Crossroads written by Paul Rogat Loeb and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Challenging prevailing media stereotypes, Generation at the Crossroads explores the beliefs and choices of the students who came of age in the 1980s and 1990s. For seven years, at over a hundred campuses in thirty states, Paul Loeb asked students about the values they held. He examines their concepts of responsibility, the links they draw between present and future, and how they view themselves in relation to the larger human community in which they live. He brings us a range of voices, from "I'm not that kind of person," to "I had to take a stand." Loeb looks at how the rest of us can serve young people as better role models, and give them courage and vision to help build a better world. This insightful book explores the culture of withdrawal that dominated American campuses through most of the eighties. He locates its roots in historical ignorance, relentless individualism, mistrust of social movements, and a general isolation from urgent realities. He examines why a steadily increasing minority has begun to take on critical public issues, whether environmental activism, apartheid, hunger and homelessness, affordable education, or racial and sexual equity. Loeb looks at individuals who have overcome precisely the barriers he has described, and how their journeys can become models. The generational choices he explores will shape our common future.
Download or read book What is Work written by Raffaella Sarti and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2018-09-21 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every society throughout history has defined what counts as work and what doesn’t. And more often than not, those lines of demarcation are inextricable from considerations of gender. What Is Work? offers a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding labor within the highly gendered realm of household economies. Drawing from scholarship on gender history, economic sociology, family history, civil law, and feminist economics, these essays explore the changing and often contested boundaries between what was and is considered work in different Euro-American contexts over several centuries, with an eye to the ambiguities and biases that have shaped mainstream conceptions of work across all social sectors.
Download or read book Democracy at a Crossroads written by Gregory L. Samuels and published by Social Science Education Consortium Book Series. This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At a time of questionable civility in American politics, democratic education appears to be at a crossroads. As we consider how to best explore democracy and foster a more civically-engaged populace in the current socio-political context, it is critical to examine what frames our educational systems, policies, and practices and shapes our civic identity. While teachers struggle with decreased instructional time for social studies and the demands of standardized tests, the social sciences are often pushed to the margins. Reflecting on how to negotiate local, state, national, and global tensions related to policy and practice, educators work to do what is best to equip students to foster democratic citizenship and ideals. Social sciences educators are uniquely positioned to embrace a journey that upholds democratic ideals of equality, freedom, and justice, while simultaneously critiquing inequity and injustice in schools and our society. The contributors to this volume situate a variety of discussions within the context of the crossroads and explore how to negotiate, translate, and reconceptualize our own beliefs and positionings in ways that positively influence and empower students, teachers, teacher educators, and education policy makers. Studies are presented related to civic education, cross-cultural interpretations, emotional citizenship, international economics, and race-consciousness, as well as those that discuss how to challenge dominant narratives and negotiate educational policies and practices.
Download or read book Building Community Food Webs written by Ken Meter and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2021-04-29 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our current food system has decimated rural communities and confined the choices of urban consumers. Even while America continues to ramp up farm production to astounding levels, net farm income is now lower than at the onset of the Great Depression, and one out of every eight Americans faces hunger. But a healthier and more equitable food system is possible. In Building Community Food Webs, Ken Meter shows how grassroots food and farming leaders across the U.S. are tackling these challenges by constructing civic networks. Overturning extractive economic structures, these inspired leaders are engaging low-income residents, farmers, and local organizations in their quest to build stronger communities. Community food webs strive to build health, wealth, capacity, and connection. Their essential element is building greater respect and mutual trust, so community members can more effectively empower themselves and address local challenges. Farmers and researchers may convene to improve farming practices collaboratively. Health clinics help clients grow food for themselves and attain better health. Food banks engage their customers to challenge the root causes of poverty. Municipalities invest large sums to protect farmland from development. Developers forge links among local businesses to strengthen economic trade. Leaders in communities marginalized by our current food system are charting a new path forward. Building Community Food Webs captures the essence of these efforts, underway in diverse places including Montana, Hawai‘i, Vermont, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, and Minnesota. Addressing challenges as well as opportunities, Meter offers pragmatic insights for community food leaders and other grassroots activists alike.
