Download or read book Systemic Transitions written by W. Thompson and published by Springer. This book was released on 2009-01-05 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We are all familiar with the popular and academic analyses of the ongoing and future ascent of China. Two of the associated questions are whether and when China might succeed the United States as the lead state in the world system. These are interesting questions, albeit ones that are not likely to be answered in the immediate future. An alternative focus examines instead periods of systemic transition - eras in which it is conceivable that a new leader might emerge at the expense of an older system leader. Framing the question this way presumes that a) future systemic transitions remain a possibility and b) transitions do not occur abruptly but may require several decades to set up structural situations in which a transition might take place. Neither of these assumptions are carved in stone and are open to question. It may be that future systemic transitions are unlikely. Or, it may be that they will not occur as they have in the past. All of these possibilities are assessed from a variety of different perspectives.

Download or read book Systemic Transitions written by W. Thompson and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 2015-11-14 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When do systemic transitions, periods in which the pre-eminence of one state gives way to another, occur? What makes them probable? Do they, or must they, always take the same form?

Download or read book Transition Scenarios written by David P. Rapkin and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013-09-24 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: China’s rising status in the global economy alongside recent economic stagnation in Europe and the United States has led to considerable speculation that we are in the early stages of a transition in power relations. Commentators have tended to treat this transitional period as a novelty, but history is in fact replete with such systemic transitions—sometimes with perilous results. Can we predict the future by using the past? And, if so, what might history teach us? With Transition Scenarios, David P. Rapkin and William R. Thompson identify some predictors for power transitions and take readers through possible scenarios for future relations between China and the United States. Each scenario is embedded within a particular theoretical framework, inviting readers to consider the assumptions underlying it. Despite recent interest in the topic, the probability and timing of a power transition—and the processes that might bring it about—remain woefully unclear. Rapkin and Thompson’s use of the theoretical tools of international relations to crucial transitions in history helps clarify the current situation and also sheds light on possible future scenarios.

Download or read book The Handbook of Large Group Methods written by Barbara Benedict Bunker and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-06-26 with total page 411 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Large Group Interventions are methods used to gather a whole system together to discuss and take action on the target agenda. That agenda varies from future plans, products, and services, to redesigning work, to discussion of troubling issues and problems. The Handbook of Large Group Methods takes the next step in demonstrating through a series of cases how Large Group Methods are currently being used to address twenty-first-century challenges in organizations and communities today, including: Working with widely dispersed organizations, and the problem of involvement and participation Working with organizations facing a serious business crisis Working with organizations in polarized and politicized environments Working in community settings with diverse interest groups Working at the global level and adapting these methods for cross-cultural use Embedding and sustaining new patterns of working together in organizations and communities

Download or read book Low Carbon Mobility Transitions written by Debbie Hopkins and published by Goodfellow Publishers Ltd. This book was released on 2016-11-30 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A thorough examination of how methods of low-carbon transport can be implemented using international case studies, with contributions from recognised industry experts, academics and policy makers.

Download or read book Understanding Economic Transitions written by Berhanu Abegaz and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-02-14 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding Economic Transitions explains the genesis, operation, and transformation of the centrally-planned socialist economy, which figured prominently in the lives of billions of people in twentieth-century Europe and Asia. Just as importantly, the centrally-planned socialist economy’s demise coincided with the shift from nonindustrial to industrial economy (and de-industrialization in some cases) and the onset of ICT-driven globalization. Using theory, empirics, and selected country case studies, this book teases out the enduring lessons from the myriad and fraught pathways of transition from socialism to capitalism. Understanding Economic Transitions provides a self-contained, comprehensive, and authoritative treatment of modern economic systems. This textbook has four features of particular use to students: (i) Using the prism of comparative institutionalism, it melds theory and evidence to revisit the varieties of planned and market-driven systems today; (ii) It takes economic planning seriously in theory and practice (central, cooperative, or indicative) as the most prominent marker of the ever-changing boundaries between state and market; (iii) It focuses on the dynamics of systemic transition in formerly socialist countries by contextualizing them in terms of the whence (central planning), the how (modalities of transition), and the whither (illiberal or liberal capitalism) of politico-economic transformation; and (iv) It examines the profound impact on these structural processes of the post-1990 phase of economic globalization. With its clear, comprehensive content and useful pedagogical features, this textbook will prepare students to understand how economies transition and why.

Download or read book Family Transitions written by Celia Jaes Falicov and published by Guilford Press. This book was released on 1991-07-01 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of all concepts used by family therapists, the family development framework is among the least studied, in spite of its relevance to understanding spontaneous family change and to facilitating therapeutic intervention. The notion that a "developmental difficulty" underlies the appearance of clinical symptoms has become a time-honored tradition in family therapy just as it has been in individual therapy. Yet, unlike the well-established and well-researched models of child and adult development, those in family development are rudimentary. Despite increasing interest in the family life cycle as a framework for family therapy, relatively little has been done to elucidate the specific dimensions and processes of spontaneous and therapeutically-induced change over the family life cycle. This volume gathers original contributions of some of the most prominent family theorists, researchers, and clinicians of our time to improve our understanding of these important and hitherto neglected domains. The book opens with a comprehensive overview by the editor that outlines contributions to the family life cycle framework from family sociology, and crisis theory. This is followed by a comparative analysis of developmental thinking, explicit or implicit, in the theory and interventions of the major family therapy approaches. Then divided into four parts, FAMILY TRANSITIONS introduces new conceptual models that integrate the temporality of the life cycle approach with systems theory.By their very nature, these models cut across therapeutic orientations and have important clinical applications. In Part II, family therapy's views of development are freed from the confines of the therapist's office, and placed in the context of other disciplines. Chapters provide analysis of changing--or static--sociocultural values that can affect conceptions of development; potential misuse of the concept of "cultural identity" in health, mental health, and education; how "family identity" operates as a vehicle for cultural transmission over generations; and family therapists assumptions about women's development. The role of expected and unexpected events in the family life cycle is the focus of Part III. Chapters on clinical approaches geared to dislocations of life cycle occurrences due to unexpected crises, chronic illnesses, loss, or drug abuse provide illustrations of interventions that utilize, enhance, or potentially detract from the family's developmental flow. Part IV explores the articulation of the life cycle framework within four major family therapy orientations: intergenerational, structural, systemic, and symbolic-experiential. Each of these chapters endeavors to elucidate: what is the place of family development in each orientation; concepts of continuity and change; use of the concept of stages, transitions, or developmental tasks; the specific dimensions that change in most families over time; and the links between family dysfunction and life cycle issues. Finally, each chapter illustrates through clinical example assessment strategies, formulation of treatment goals and interventions as these emerge from a particular life cycle model. FAMILY TRANSITIONS presents a significant advance in our understanding of functional and dysfunctional family development and offers a range of interventions to promote developmental change. It is an invaluable resource for clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and counselors that will also interest human development professionals, family sociologists, and family researchers. FAMILY TRANSITIONS can serve as a developmentally oriented textbook for teaching family therapy in academic and professional settings.

Download or read book Sustainable Urban Transitions written by Zaheer Allam and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-07-18 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book aims to explore how sustainability transitions can be explored in current and future cities and how research and policy approaches can be applied to change urban life as we know it, hence aligning the two thematic of urban science and future science, for achieving deep decarbonization. On this, the discourse on philosophy, ethics, and morality appertaining to sustainable cities and urban transitions, across disciplines, are also welcomed as it provides a deeper understanding of humanity in future scenarios. Chapter 08 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Download or read book Urban Sustainability Transitions written by Niki Frantzeskaki and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-06-14 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Balanced Perspectives on Different Urban Ecosystems

Download or read book Shaping Urban Infrastructures written by Simon Guy and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-06-25 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cities can only exist because of the highly developed systems which underlie them, ensuring that energy, clean water, etc. are moved efficiently from producer to user, and that waste is removed. The urgent need to make the way that these services are provided more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable means that these systems are in a state of transition; from centralized to decentralized energy; from passive to smart infrastructure; from toll-free to road pricing. Such transitions are widely studied in the context of the influence of service providers, users, and regulators. Until now, however, relatively little attention has been given to the growing role of intermediaries in these systems. These consist of institutions and organizations acting in-between production and consumption, for example; NGOs who develop green energy labelling schemes in collaboration with producers and regulators to guide the user; consultants who advise businesses on how to save resources; and travel agents who match users with providers. Such intermediaries are in a position to shape the direction that technological transitions take, and ultimately the sustainability of urban networks. This book presents the first authoritative collection of research and analysis of the intermediaries that underpin the transitions that are taking place within urban infrastructures, showing how intermediaries emerge, the role that they play in key sectors - including energy, water, waste and building - and what impact they have on the governance of urban socio-technical networks.

Download or read book System Innovation for Sustainability 1 written by Arnold Tukker and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-08 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sustainable consumption and production (SCP) was adopted as a priority area during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 and has since become one of the main vehicles for targeting international sustainability policy. Sustainable consumption focuses on formulating equitable strategies that foster the highest quality of life, the efficient use of natural resources, and the effective satisfaction of human needs while simultaneously promoting equitable social development, economic competitiveness, and technological innovation. But this is a complex topic and, as the challenges of sustainability grow larger, there is a need to re-imagine how SCP policies can be formulated, governed and implemented. The EU-funded project "Sustainable Consumption Research Exchanges" (SCORE!) consists of around 200 experts in the field of sustainable innovation and sustainable consumption. The SCORE! philosophy is that innovation in SCP policy can be achieved only if experts that understand business development, (sustainable) solution design, consumer behaviour and system innovation policy work together in shaping it. Sustainable technology design can be effective only if business can profitably make the products and consumers are attracted to them. To understand how this might effectively happen, the expertise of systems thinkers must be added to the mix. System Innovation for Sustainability 1 is the first result of a unique positive confrontation between experts from all four communities. It examines what SCP is and what it could be, provides a state-of-the-art review on the governance of change in SCP policy and looks at the strengths and weaknesses of current approaches. The SCORE! experts are working with actors in industry, consumer groups and eco-labelling organisations in the key consumption areas of mobility, food and agriculture, and energy use and housing – responsible for 70% of the life-cycle environmental impacts of Western societies – with the aim of stimulating, fostering or forcing change to SCP theory in practice. The System Innovation for Sustainability series will continue with three further volumes of comprehensive case studies in each of these three critical consumption areas. Each chapter of this book examines problems and suggests solutions from a business, design, consumer and system innovation perspective. It primarily examines the differing solutions necessary in the consumer economies of the West, but also comments on the differing needs in rapidly emerging economies such as China, as well as base-of-the-pyramid economies. The System Innovation for Sustainability series is the fruit of the only major international research network on SCP and will set the standard in this field for some years to come. It will be required reading for all involved in the policy debate on sustainable production and consumption from government, business, academia and NGOs for designers, scientists, businesses and system innovators.

Download or read book Low Carbon Mobility Transitions written by Debbie Hopkins and published by Goodfellow Publishers Ltd. This book was released on 2016 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: * A thorough exploration of low carbon mobility transitions from a range of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives;* A broad view of low carbon transition across travel, transport, tourism and mobilities studies;* A critical exploration of the global, regional and local prospects for low carbon mobility transitions; * Illustrating examples of low carbon transition, from leading scholars researching in a wide range of geographic contexts.Arranged in three interrelated sections; People and Place, Structures in Transition, and Innovations for Low Carbon Mobility, Low Carbon Mobility Transitions presents nineteen theoretically-informed, empirically grounded chapters and case studies that comprehensively address the prospects for global, regional, and local systemic transitions to low carbon mobility. Bringing together the work of leading researchers from 26 universities, research centres and consultancies, spanning six continents, it critically explores the wide-ranging regional contexts in which a low carbon transition has been, is being, or can be achieved. In doing so, it highlights the place-specific, geopolitical and cultural sensitivities of low carbon transitions at national, regional and local (urban) scales. The overlapping roles of technological innovation, behaviour change and policy frameworks are critically examined in this book, providing timely insights into the opportunities for decarbonising the current systems of transport, in order to achieve the radical emissions reductions required to prevent lasting impacts of climate change.Highlights of the book include:* Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary insights into low carbon mobility transitions;* Research-informed chapters and case studies including a range of geographic contexts across the global North and South;* New perspectives on the intersecting and overlapping roles of technological innovation, behaviour change and policy frameworks;* Expert assessments of systemic low carbon transition.About the EditorsDebbie Hopkins is a Research Fellow at the Transport Studies Unit, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford (UK), and a Junior Research Fellow in Geography at Mansfield College, Oxford. James Higham is a Professor in the Department of Tourism, University of Otago (New Zealand), Visiting Professor, University of Stavanger (Norway) and co-editor of the Journal of Sustainable Tourism.

Download or read book Cities and Low Carbon Transitions written by Harriet Bulkeley and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-12-14 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Current societies face unprecedented risks and challenges connected to climate change. Addressing them will require fundamental transformations in the infrastructures that sustain everyday life, such as energy, water, waste and mobility. A transition to a ‘low carbon’ future implies a large scale reorganisation in the way societies produce and use energy. Cities are critical in this transition because they concentrate social and economic activities that produce climate change related emissions. At the same time, cities are increasingly recognised as sources of opportunities for climate change mitigation. Whether, how and why low carbon transitions in urban systems take place in response to climate change will therefore be decisive for the success of global mitigation efforts. As a result, climate change increasingly features as a critical issue in the management of urban infrastructure and in urbanisation policies. Cities and Low Carbon Transitions presents a ground-breaking analysis of the role of cities in low carbon socio-technical transitions. Insights from the fields of urban studies and technological transitions are combined to examine how, why and with what implications cities bring about low carbon transitions. The book outlines the key concepts underpinning theories of socio-technical transition and assesses its potential strengths and limits for understanding the social and technological responses to climate change that are emerging in cities. It draws on a diverse range of examples including world cities, ordinary cities and transition towns, from North America, Europe, South Africa and China, to provide evidence that expectations, aspirations and plans to undertake purposive socio-technical transitions are emerging in different urban contexts. This collection adds to existing literature on cities and energy transitions and introduces critical questions about power and social interests, lock-in and development trajectories, social equity and economic development, and socio-technical change in cities. The book addresses academics, policy makers, practitioners and researchers interested in the development of systemic responses in cities to curb climate change.

Download or read book World Cities And Climate Change written by Hodson, Mike and published by McGraw-Hill Education (UK). This book was released on 2010-06-01 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Relationships between cities and socio-technical energy, water, waste and transport networks are changing. Global Urbanism argues that this is not something that is happening naturally but is the product of social, economic, political and spatial processes and that these changes have profound implications for the mutual organisation of urbanism and resource flows and consequently for the shape of contemporary and future cities.

Download or read book The Circular Bioeconomy written by Piergiuseppe Morone and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2023-10-31 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book offers a unique overview of the circular bioeconomy and its potential contribution to fostering sustainability globally.

Download or read book Routledge Handbook on Cairo written by Nezar AlSayyad and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-12-30 with total page 557 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Handbook simultaneously provides a single text that narrates the Cairo of yesterday and of today, and gives the reader a major reference to the best of Cairo scholarship. Divided into three parts covering Histories, Representations and Discourses of Cairo, the chapters provide comprehensive coverage of Cairo from both a disciplinary and an interdisciplinary point of view, with scholars from a great range of disciplines. Part One contains chapters on the history of specific parts of the city to provide both a concise picture of Cairo and an appreciation for the diversity of its constituent parts and periods. Part Two of the book deals with the various forms of representations of the city, from high-end literature to popular songs, and from photographs to films. Finally, Part Three covers current discourses about the city, comprising historical reflections on the city from the present, surveys of its current condition, analysis of it serious urban problems and visions for its future. The Routledge Handbook on Cairo provides a unique and innovative look at the ever-evolving state of Cairo. It will be a vital reference source for scholars and students of Middle Eastern Studies, Middle East History, Cultural Studies, Urban Studies, Architecture and Politics.

Download or read book Transitions to Sustainable Development written by John Grin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-05-26 with total page 578 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past few decades, there has been a growing concern about the social and environmental risks which have come along with the progress achieved through a variety of mutually intertwined modernization processes. In recent years these concerns are transformed into a widely-shared sense of urgency, partly due to events such as the various pandemics threatening livestock, and increasing awareness of the risks and realities of climate change, and the energy and food crises. This sense of urgency includes an awareness that our entire social system is in need of fundamental transformation. But like the earlier transition between the 1750's and 1890's from a pre-modern to a modern industrial society, this second transition is also a contested one. Sustainable development is only one of many options. This book addresses the issue on how to understand the dynamics and governance of the second transition dynamics in order to ensure sustainable development. It will be necessary reading for students and scholars with an interest in sustainable development and long-term transformative change.