Best of
Society

2008

The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels, and the Business of AIDS


Elizabeth Pisani - 2008
    With swashbuckling wit and fierce honesty, she dishes on herself and her colleagues as they try to prod reluctant governments to fund HIV prevention for the people who need it most—drug injectors, gay men, sex workers, and johns.Pisani chats with flamboyant Indonesian transsexuals about their boob jobs and watches Chinese streetwalkers turn away clients because their SUVs aren't nice enough. With verve and clarity, she shows the general reader how her profession really works; how easy it is to draw wrong conclusions from "objective" data; and, shockingly, how much money is spent so very badly. "Exhibit A": the 45 billion taxpayer dollars the Bush administration is committing to international AIDS programs.

The Best I Could


Subhas Anandan - 2008
    From taking on the sensational cases of Took Leng How, Anthony Ler and Ah Long San to his views on mandatory death sentences and police entrapment , Subhas Anandan has become the face of criminal defence in Singapore. But why does he choose to represent clients who are to all intents and purposes guilty? And are the criminals who he represents really the monsters they are made out to be? Has he ever felt sorry for the clients he represents? What are his views on the death penalty, and which parts of the legal system does he think need reforming?

From Outrage to Courage: The Unjust and Unhealthy Situation of Women in Poor Countries and What They Are Doing About It


Anne Firth Murray - 2008
    In this searing cradle-to-grave review, Murray tackles health issues from prenatal care to challenges faced by aging women. Looking at how gender inequality affects basic nutrition, Murray makes clear the issues are political more than they are medical. In an inspiring look, From Outrage to Courage shows how women are organizing the world over. Women’s courage to transform their situations and communities provides inspiration and models for change. From China to India, from Indonesia to Kenya, Anne Firth Murray takes readers on a whirlwind tour of devastation—and resistance.

Flat Earth News: An Award-Winning Reporter Exposes Falsehood, Distortion and Propaganda in the Global Media


Nick Davies - 2008
    In this eye-opening exposé, Davies uncovers an industry awash in corruption and bias. His findings include the story of a prestigious Sunday newspaper that allowed the CIA to plant fiction in its columns; the newsroom that routinely rejects stories about black people; the respected paper that hired a professional fraudster to set up a front company to entrap senior political figures; as well as a number of newspapers that pay cash bribes to bent detectives. His research also exposes a range of national stories that were in fact pseudo events manufactured by the public relations industry and global news stories that were fiction generated by a machinery of international propaganda. The degree to which the media industry has affected government policy and perverted popular belief is also addressed. Gripping and thought-provoking, this is an insider’s look at one of the world’s most tainted professions.

The Long Descent: A User's Guide to the End of the Industrial Age


John Michael Greer - 2008
    Greer fans will recognize many of the book's passages from previous essays, but will be delighted to see them fleshed out here with additional examples and analysis.The Long Descent is one of the most highly anticipated peak oil books of the year, and it lives up to every ounce of hype. Greer is a captivating, brilliantly inventive writer with a deep knowledge of history, an impressive amount of mechanical savvy, a flair for storytelling and a gift for drawing art analogies. His new book presents an astonishing view of our society's past, present and future trajectory--one that is unmatched in its breadth and depth. Reviewed by Frank KaminskiWired.com—  The Long Descent is a welcome antidote to the armageddonism that often accompanies peak oil discussions. "The decline of a civilization is rarely anything like so sudden for those who live through it" writes Greer, encouragingly; it's "a much slower and more complex transformation than the sudden catastrophes imagined by many soical critics today."The changes that will follow the decline of world petroleum production are likely to be sweeping and global, Greer concludes, but from the perspective of those who live through them these changes are much more likely to take gradual and local forms. Reviewed by Bruce SterlingAmericans are expressing deep concern about US dependence on petroleum, rising energy prices, and the threat of climate change. Unlike the energy crisis of the 1970s, however, there is a lurking fear that now the times are different and the crisis may not easily be resolved.The Long Descent examines the basis of such fear through three core themes:• Industrial society is following the same well-worn path that has led other civilizations into decline, a path involving a much slower and more complex transformation than the sudden catastrophes imagined by so many social critics today.• The roots of the crisis lie in the cultural stories that shape the way we understand the world. Since problems cannot be solved with the same thinking that created them, these ways of thinking need to be replaced with others better suited to the needs of our time.• It is too late for massive programs for top-down change; the change must come from individuals.Hope exists in actions that range from taking up a handicraft or adopting an “obsolete” technology, through planting an organic vegetable garden, taking charge of your own health care or spirituality, and building community.Focusing eloquently on constructive adaptation to massive change, this book will have wide appeal.John Michael Greer is a certified Master Conserver, organic gardener, and scholar of ecological history. The current Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA), his widely-cited blog, The Archdruid Report (thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com) deals with peak oil, among other issues. He lives in Ashland, Oregon.

Frederick Douglass: The Most Complete Collection of His Written Works & Speeches


Frederick Douglass - 2008
    AUTHOR'S BIRTHCHAPTER II. REMOVAL FROM GRANDMOTHER'SCHAPTER III. TROUBLES OF CHILDHOODCHAPTER IV. A GENERAL SURVEY OF THE SLAVE PLANTATIONCHAPTER V. A SLAVEHOLDER'S CHARACTERCHAPTER VI. A CHILD'S REASONINGCHAPTER VII. LUXURIES AT THE GREAT HOUSECHAPTER VIII. CHARACTERISTICS OF OVERSEERSCHAPTER IX. CHANGE OF LOCATIONCHAPTER X. LEARNING TO READCHAPTER XI. GROWING IN KNOWLEDGECHAPTER XII. RELIGIOUS NATURE AWAKENEDCHAPTER XIII. THE VICISSITUDES OF SLAVE LIFECHAPTER XIV. EXPERIENCE IN ST. MICHAELSCHAPTER XV. COVEY, THE NEGRO BREAKERCHAPTER XVI. ANOTHER PRESSURE OF THE TYRANT'S VISECHAPTER XVII. THE LAST FLOGGINGCHAPTER XVIII. NEW RELATIONS AND DUTIESCHAPTER XIX. THE RUNAWAY PLOTCHAPTER XX.CHAPTER XXI. ESCAPE FROM SLAVERYSECOND PARTCHAPTER I. ESCAPE FROM SLAVERYCHAPTER II. LIFE AS A FREEMANCHAPTER III. INTRODUCED TO THE ABOLITIONISTSCHAPTER IV. RECOLLECTIONS OF OLD FRIENDSCHAPTER V. ONE HUNDRED CONVENTIONSCHAPTER VI. IMPRESSIONS ABROADCHAPTER VII. TRIUMPHS AND TRIALSCHAPTER VIII. JOHN BROWN AND MRS. STOWECHAPTER IX. INCREASING DEMANDS OF THE SLAVE POWERCHAPTER X. THE BEGINNING OF THE ENDCHAPTER XI. SECESSION AND WAR"MEN OF COLOR, TO ARMS!”THE BLACK MAN AT THE WHITE HOUSECHAPTER XII. HOPE FOR THE NATIONCHAPTER XIII. VAST CHANGESCHAPTER XIV. LIVING AND LEARNINGCHAPTER XV. WEIGHED IN THE BALANCECHAPTER XVI. "TIME MAKES ALL THINGS EVEN"CHAPTER XVII. INCIDENTS AND EVENTSCHAPTER XVIII. "HONOR TO WHOM HONOR"CHAPTER XIX. RETROSPECTIONCONCLUSIONAPPENDIXWEST INDIA EMANCIPATIONTHIRD PARTCHAPTER I. LATER LIFECHAPTER II. A GRAND OCCASIONCHAPTER III. DOUBTS AS TO GARFIELD'S COURSECHAPTER IV. RECORDER OF DEEDSCHAPTER V. PRESIDENT CLEVELAND'S ADMINISTRATIONCHAPTER VI. THE SUPREME COURT DECISIONCHAPTER VII. DEFEAT OF JAMES G. BLAINECHAPTER VIII. EUROPEAN TOURCHAPTER IX. CONTINUATION OF EUROPEAN TOURCHAPTER X. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1888CHAPTER XI. ADMINISTRATION OF PRESIDENT HARRISONCHAPTER XII. MINISTER TO HAÏTICHAPTER XIII. CONTINUED NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE MÔLE ST. NICOLASCOLLECTED ARTICLES OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, A SLAVEMY ESCAPE FROM SLAVERYRECONSTRUCTIONMY BONDAGE and MY FREEDOMCONTENTSEDITORS PREFACEINTRODUCTIONLIFE AS A SLAVE?I--CHILDHOODII--REMOVED FROM MY FIRST HOMEIII--PARENTAGEIV--A GENERAL SURVEY OF THE SLAVE PLANTATIONV--GRADUAL INITIATION INTO THE MYSTERIES OF SLAVERYVI--TREATMENT OF SLAVES ON LLOYDS PLANTATIONVII--LIFE IN THE GREAT HOUSEVIII--A CHAPTER OF HORRORSIX--PERSONAL TREATMENTX--LIFE IN BALTIMOREXI--"A CHANGE CAME O'ER THE SPIRIT OF MY DREAM"XII--RELIGIOUS NATURE AW

Reappraisals: Reflections on the Forgotten Twentieth Century


Tony Judt - 2008
    The twentieth century has become "history" at an unprecedented rate. The world of 2007 is so utterly unlike that of even 1987, much less any earlier time, that we have lost touch with our immediate past even before we have begun to make sense of it. In less than a generation, the headlong advance of globalization, with the geographical shifts of emphasis and influence it brings in its wake, has altered the structures of thought that had been essentially unchanged since the European industrial revolution. Quite literally, we don't know where we came from. The results have proved calamitous thus far, with the prospect of far worse. We have lost touch with a century of social thought and socially motivated social activism. We no longer know how to discuss such concepts and have forgotten the role once played by intellectuals in debating, transmitting, and defending the ideas that shaped their time. In Reappraisals, Tony Judt resurrects the key aspects of the world we have lost in order to remind us how important they still are to us now and to our hopes for the future. Reappraisals draws provocative connections between a dazzling range of subjects, from the history of the neglect and recovery of the Holocaust and the challenge of "evil" in the understanding of the European past to the rise and fall of the "state" in public affairs and the displacement of history by "heritage." With his trademark acuity and Žlan, Tony Judt takes us beyond what we think we know to show us how we came to know it and reveals how many aspects of our history have been sacrificed in the triumph of mythmaking over understanding, collective identity over truth, and denial over memory. His book is a road map back to the historical sense we so vitally need.

They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It


Brigitte Gabriel - 2008
    Gabriel challenges our western and politically-correct notions about Islam, demonstrating why radical Islam is so deadly and how we can halt its progress.Brigitte Gabriel speaks her mind:*Fundamentalist Islam is a religion rooted in 7th century teachings that are fundamentally opposed to democracy and equality.*Radical Islamists are utterly contemptuous of all "infidels" (non-Muslims) and regard them as enemies worthy of death.*Madrassas in America are increasing in number, and they are just one part of a growing radical Islamic army on US soil.*Radical Islam exploits the US legal system and America's protection of religion to spread its hatred for western values.*America must organize a unified voice that says "enough" to political correctness, and demands that government officials and elected representatives do whatever is necessary to protect us.Brigitte Gabriel has fearlessly faced down critics, death threats, and political correctness, and is one of the most sought after terrorism experts in the world. They Must Be Stopped is her clarion call to action. Gabriel thoroughly addresses the historical and religious basis of radical Islam, its frightening encroachment into societies around the world, and its abuses of democracy in the name of religion.

Josef Koudelka: Invasion 68: Prague


Josef Koudelka - 2008
    That all changed on the night of August 21, when Warsaw Pact tanks invaded the city of Prague, ending the short-lived political liberalization in Czechoslovakia that came to be known as the Prague Spring. Koudelka had returned home the day before from photographing gypsies in Romania. In the midst of the turmoil of the Soviet-led invasion, he took a series of photographs which were miraculously smuggled out of the country. A year after they reached New York, Magnum Photos distributed the images credited to "an unknown Czech photographer" to avoid reprisals. The intensity and significance of the images earned the still-anonymous photographer the Robert Capa Award. Sixteen years would pass before Koudelka could safely acknowledge authorship. Forty years after the invasion, this impressive monograph features nearly 250 of these searing images--most of them published here for the first time--personally selected by Koudelka from his extensive archive. Interspersed with the images are press and propaganda quotations from the time, also selected by Koudelka, alongside a text by three Czech historians. Though the images gathered in this remarkable publication document a specific historical event, their transformative quality still resonates.

Community: The Structure of Belonging


Peter Block - 2008
    The various sectors of our communities--businesses, schools, social service organizations, churches, government--do not work together. They exist in their own worlds. As do so many individual citizens, who long for connection but end up marginalized, their gifts overlooked, their potential contributions lost. This disconnection and detachment makes it hard if not impossible to envision a common future and work towards it together. We know what healthy communities look like--there are many success stories out there, and they've been described in detail. What Block provides in this inspiring new book is an exploration of the exact way community can emerge from fragmentation: How is community built? How does the transformation occur? What fundamental shifts are involved? He explores a way of thinking about our places that creates an opening for authentic communities to exist and details what each of us can do to make that happen.

The Devil in Dover: An Insider's Story of Dogma v. Darwin in Small-Town America


Lauri Lebo - 2008
    In a case that recalled the famed 1925 Scopes “monkey” trial and made international headlines, eleven parents sued the school board. When the case wound up in federal court before a George W. Bush–appointed judge, Lebo had a front-row seat.Destined to become required reading for a generation of journalists, scientists, and science teachers, as well as for anyone concerned about the separation of church and state, The Devil in Dover is Lebo’s widely praised account of a perfect storm of religious intolerance, First Amendment violations, and an assault on American science education. Lebo skillfully probes the compelling background of the case, introducing us to the plaintiffs, the defendants, the lawyers, and a parade of witnesses, along with Judge John E. Jones, who would eventually condemn the school board’s decision as one of “breathtaking inanity.”With the antievolution battle having moved to the state level—and the recent passage of state legislation that protects the right of schools to teach alternatives to evolution—the story will continue to be relevant for years to come.

Liberty Versus the Tyranny of Socialism: Controversial Essays


Walter E. Williams - 2008
    Although many of these essays focus on the growth of government and our loss of liberty, many others demonstrate how the tools of freemarket economics can be used to improve our lives in ways ordinary people can understand.

The Theological Origins of Modernity


Michael Allen Gillespie - 2008
    Taking as his starting point the collapse of the medieval world, Gillespie argues that from the very beginning moderns sought not to eliminate religion but to support a new view of religion and its place in human life. He goes on to explore the ideas of such figures as William of Ockham, Petrarch, Erasmus, Luther, Descartes, and Hobbes, showing that modernity is best understood as a series of attempts to formulate a new and coherent metaphysics or theology.“Bringing the history of political thought up to date and situating it against the backdrop of contemporary events, Gillespie’s analyses provide us a way to begin to have conversations with the Islamic world about what is perhaps the central question within each of the three monotheistic religions: if God is omnipotent, then what is the place of human freedom?”—Joshua Mitchell, Georgetown University

Hungry City: How Food Shapes Our Lives


Carolyn Steel - 2008
    Yet few eaters are conscious of the processes that are required to bring food into a metropolis. This original and revolutionary study examines the way in which modern food production has damaged the balance of human existence, and reveals a centuries-old dilemma that holds the key to a host of current problems, among them obesity, the inexorable rise of the supermarkets, and the destruction of the natural world. The rise and impact of such American hallmarks as industrialized food and meat production, the supermarket, fast food restaurant chains, and processed edibles on city life is examined alongside the historical roots and the contemporary issues at each stage of the food cycle, from farm to plate to landfill. Original and inspiring, this is a warning call to the waste and destruction caused by today’s food systems, and a guide to correcting its errors.

Small Wars Permitting: Dispatches from Foreign Lands


Christina Lamb - 2008
    Since leaving England aged 21 with an invitation to a Karachi wedding and a yearning for adventure, Christina Lamb has spent 20 years living out of suitcases, reporting from around the world and becoming one of Britain’s most highly regarded journalists. She has won numerous awards, including being named Foreign Correspondent of the Year a remarkable four times.‘Small Wars Permitting’ is a collection of her best reportage, following the principal events of the last two decades everywhere from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. But Lamb’s main interest has always been in the untold stories, the people and places others don’t visit. Undaunted by danger, disease or despots, she has travelled by canoe through the Amazon rainforest in search of un-contacted Indians, joined a Rio samba school to infiltrate crime rackets behind Carnival and survived a terrifying ambush by Taliban.No less remarkable are the characters that Lamb meets along the way, from Marsh Arabs who covet Play Stations instead of buffaloes to an Armenian compère for performing dolphins with whom she travelled during the war in Iraq.Lamb’s writing is passionate, powerful and poetic, transforming reportage into literature. Through the stories she tells – and her own development from a self-confessed ‘war junkie’ to a devoted mother – Lamb attempts to comprehend the human consequences of conflict in the countries she has come to know.

Not with a Bang But a Whimper: The Politics and Culture of Decline


Theodore Dalrymple - 2008
    No social critic today is more adept and incisive in exploring the state of our culture and the ideas that are changing our ways of life. In Not with a Bang But a Whimper, he takes the measure of our cultural decline, with special attention to Britain-its bureaucratic muddle, oppressive welfare mentality, and aimless youth-all pursued in the name of democracy and freedom. He shows how terrorism and the growing numbers of Muslim minorities have changed our public life. Also here are Mr. Dalrymple's trenchant observations on artists and ideologues, and on the questionable treatment of criminals and the mentally disturbed, his area of medical interest.

The Zeitgeist Movement: Observations and Responses - Activist Orientation Guide


Peter Joseph - 2008
    Jacque currently lives in Venus, Florida, working closely with his associate, Roxanne Meadows. Now, let it be understood that Mr. Fresco will be the first to tell you that his perspectives and developments are not entirely his own, but rather uniquely derived from the evolution of scientific inquiry which has persevered since the dawn of antiquity. Simply put, what The Venus Project represents and what The Zeitgeist Movement hence condones, could be summarized as: ‘The application of The Scientific Method for social concern.’Through the humane application of Science and Technology to social design and decision-making, we have the means to transform our tribalistic, scarcity driven, corruption filled environment into something exceedingly more organized, balanced, humane, sustainable and productive. To do so, we have to understand who we are, where we are, what we have, what we want, and how we are going to obtain our goals. Given the current state of affairs, many of which will be addressed in the first part of this book, the reader should find that we not only need to move in another direction…we have to. The current economic system is falling apart at an accelerating rate, with the prospect of worldwide unemployment occurring on the largest scale ever seen. Simultaneously, we are courting the “point of no return” in regard to the destruction of the environment.Our current methods of social conduct have proven to have no chance in resolving the problems of environmental destruction, human conflict, poverty, corruption and any other issue that reduces the possibility of collective human sustainability on our planet. It is time we grow up as a species and really examine what the true problems and solutions are, as uncomfortable, nontraditional and foreign as they might seem.This work will first present the current economic problems we face, recognizing root causes, consequences and inevitabilities, while then presenting solutions derived from an assessment of what is actually relevant to life and society. Additionally, information will be provided as to how each one of us can help in this challenge, presenting methods of communication and activism that will hopefully speed up the process of transformation.It is very important that those who begin this work pause for a moment and think about the windows of perspective they have been indoctrinated into. Considering the current vastness of human values and ideologies, coupled with the identification that grows over time with associations to a particular train of thought, tradition or notion of reality, it can be difficult and even painful for aperson to revise or remove the cherished understandings which they have considered true for long periods of time. This ‘ego’ association, coupled with the perpetual state of ‘limited knowledge’ each one of us has, will be the biggest hurdle many will face when reading the information presented here. It is time to broaden our loyalties and affiliations beyond the narrow confines of the marketplace, tradition, and the nation-state to encompass the human species as a whole, along with the planetary environment that supports us all. It is time we view the earth as an indivisible organic whole, a living entity composed of countless forms of life, all brought together in a single community.If nature has taught us only one thing, it is that the only constant is change. There is no such thing as a Utopia. Therefore, in order for us to grow productively as a species, we need to become experts at “changing our minds” about anything and everything. If you choose to approach this material with a conscious attempt at being open-minded and objective, we feel the ideas expressed here will realign your vision of the world, yourself, and the future of our human family in a way that is the most productive, humane and effective.

Essays on Religion, Science, and Society


Herman Bavinck - 2008
    "Essays on Religion, Science, and Society" is the capstone of his distinguished career. These seminal essays offer an outworking of Bavinck's systematic theology as presented in his "Reformed Dogmatics" and engage enduring issues from a biblical and theological perspective. The work presents his mature reflections on issues relating to ethics, education, politics, psychology, natural science and evolution, aesthetics, and philosophy of religion. This collection--Bavinck's most significant remaining untranslated work--is now available in English for the first time. Pastors, students, and scholars of Reformed theology will value this work.

Poverty and Power: A Structural Perspective on American Inequality


Edward Royce - 2008
    In opposition to this dominant, individualistic view, Poverty and Power proposes that American poverty is a structural problem, resulting from the failings of the political economy, not the failings of the poor. In Poverty and Power Edward Royce argues that the current poverty problem originates from changes in the larger economic, political and cultural landscape and from a corresponding shift in the balance of power that has worked to the advantage of business over labor.

Speaking Treason Fluently: Anti-Racist Reflections from an Angry White Male


Tim Wise - 2008
    The essays included in this collection span the last ten years of Wise’s writing and cover all the hottest racial topics of the past decade: affirmative action, Hurricane Katrina, racial tension in the wake of the Duke lacrosse scandal, white school shootings, racial profiling, phony racial unity in the wake of 9/11, and the political rise of Barack Obama. Wise’s commentaries make forceful yet accessible arguments that serve to counter both white denial and complacency—two of the main obstacles to creating a more racially equitable and just society. Speaking Treason Fluently is a superbly crafted collection of Wise’s best work, which reveals the ongoing salience of race in America today and demonstrates that racial privilege is not only a real and persistent problem, but one that ultimately threatens the health and well-being of the entire society.

Masters Of Greek Thought: Plato, Socrates, And Aristotle


Robert C. Bartlett - 2008
    

The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends on It


Os Guinness - 2008
    The Case for Civility is a proposal for restoring civility in America as a way to foster civility around the world. Influential Christian writer and speaker Os Guinness makes a passionate plea to put an end to the polarization of American politics and culture that—rather than creating a public space for real debate—threatens to reverse the very principles our founders set into motion and that have long preserved liberty, diversity, and unity in this country.Guinness takes on the contemporary threat of the excesses of the Religious Right and the secular Left, arguing that we must find a middle ground between privileging one religion over another and attempting to make all public expression of faith illegal. If we do not do this, Guinness contends, Western civilization as we know it will die. Always provocative and deeply insightful, Guinness puts forth a vision of a new, practical "civil and cosmopolitan public square" that speaks not only to America's immediate concerns but to the long-term interests of the republic and the world.

Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City


Peter D. Norton - 2008
    By 1930, most streets were primarily a motor thoroughfares where children did not belong and where pedestrians were condemned as "jaywalkers." In Fighting Traffic, Peter Norton argues that to accommodate automobiles, the American city required not only a physical change but also a social one: before the city could be reconstructed for the sake of motorists, its streets had to be socially reconstructed as places where motorists belonged. It was not an evolution, he writes, but a bloody and sometimes violent revolution. Norton describes how street users struggled to define and redefine what streets were for. He examines developments in the crucial transitional years from the 1910s to the 1930s, uncovering a broad anti-automobile campaign that reviled motorists as "road hogs" or "speed demons" and cars as "juggernauts" or "death cars." He considers the perspectives of all users--pedestrians, police (who had to become "traffic cops"), street railways, downtown businesses, traffic engineers (who often saw cars as the problem, not the solution), and automobile promoters. He finds that pedestrians and parents campaigned in moral terms, fighting for "justice." Cities and downtown businesses tried to regulate traffic in the name of "efficiency." Automotive interest groups, meanwhile, legitimized their claim to the streets by invoking "freedom"--a rhetorical stance of particular power in the United States. Fighting Traffic offers a new look at both the origins of the automotive city in America and how social groups shape technological change.Peter D. Norton is Assistant Professor in the Department of Science, Technology, and Society at the University of Virginia.

The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters


Rose George - 2008
    But we should--even those of us who take care of our business in pristine, sanitary conditions. For it's not only in developing countries that human waste is a major public health threat: population growth is taxing even the most advanced sewage systems, and the disease spread by waste kills more people worldwide every year than any other single cause of death. Even in America, 1.95 million people have no access to an indoor toilet. Yet the subject remains unmentionable."The Big Necessity "takes aim at the taboo, revealing everything that matters about how people do--and don't--deal with their own waste. Moving from the deep underground sewers of Paris, London, and New York--an infrastructure disaster waiting to happen--to an Indian slum where ten toilets are shared by 60,000 people, Rose George stops along the way to explore the potential saviors: China's five million biogas digesters, which produce energy from waste; the heroes of third world sanitation movements; the inventor of the humble Car Loo; and the U.S. Army's personal lasers used by soldiers to zap their feces in the field.With razor-sharp wit and crusading urgency, mixing levity with gravity, Rose George has turned the subject we like to avoid into a cause with the most serious of consequences.

Organization Theory: A Libertarian Perspective


Kevin A. Carson - 2008
    It integrates the insights of mainstream organization theory into that framework, along with those of more radical thinkers like Ivan Illich, Paul Goodman, and R.A. Wilson.Part One examines the ways in which state intervention in the market, including subsidies to the inefficiency costs of large size and regulatory protection against the competitive consequences of inefficiency, skews the size of the predominant business artificially upward to an extent that simply could not prevail in a free market. Part Two examines the effects of such large organizational size on the character of the system as a whole. Part Three examines the internal pathologies and contradictions of organizations larger than a free market could support. And Part Four surveys the potential building blocks of an alternative, decentralized and libertarian economic order.

Desire and Deceit: The Real Cost of the New Sexual Tolerance


R. Albert Mohler Jr. - 2008
    Pornography infiltrates nearly every home. Homosexuality is accepted. Lust has been redefined. The family as an institution is questioned.We are reminded every day that assumptions about what is right and wrong, sexually, are different today than they were fifty–or even ten–years ago. Christian principles that formed the pattern for generations of American families are conspicuously absent. What happened and why? How do we respond to the dramatic shift in our culture’s perspective on sex? As one of today’s most influential thinkers, Dr. Albert Mohler addresses these critical topics in a thoughtful, cut-to-the-chase style in Desire and Deceit. As you follow Mohler’s guidance in applying biblical solutions to today’s most highly charged issues, you will be not only equipped but also inspired to speak the truth in a society hungry for answers.

Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage: Valuing All Families under the Law


Nancy D. Polikoff - 2008
    Beyond (Straight and Gay) Marriage boldly moves the discussion forward by focusing on the larger, more fundamental issue of marriage and the law. The root problem, asserts law professor and LGBT rights activist Nancy Polikoff, is that marriage is a bright dividing line between those relationships that legally matter and those that don't. A woman married to a man for nine months is entitled to Social Security survivor's benefits when he dies; a woman living for nineteen years with a man or woman to whom she is not married receives nothing.Polikoff reframes the debate by arguing that all family relationships and households need the economic stability and emotional peace of mind that now extend only to married couples. Unmarried couples of any sexual orientation, single-parent households, extended family units, and myriad other familial configurations need recognition and protection to meet the concerns they all share: building and sustaining economic and emotional interdependence, and nurturing the next generation. Couples should have the choice to marry based on the spiritual, cultural, or religious meaning of marriage in their lives, asserts Polikoff. While marriage equality for same-sex couples is a civil rights victory, she contends that no one should have to marry in order to reap specific and unique legal results. A persuasive argument that married couples should not receive special rights denied to other families, Polikoff shows how the law can value all families, and why it must.

Dishonest Money: Financing the Road to Ruin


Joseph Plummer - 2008
    Each topic is explained in simple / common language: The Federal Reserve System, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; who created them and who benefits?Inflation, deflation, booms, busts, BAILOUTS, depressions and recessions; what are they, what causes them and who benefits?Honest money VS dishonest money: how are they different and who benefits?By the end of this short book, the reader will be familiar with these terms, will know "who benefits" and (more importantly) will know who ultimately pays the price...

Integral Ecology: Uniting Multiple Perspectives on the Natural World


Sean Esbjörn-Hargens - 2008
    With more than two hundred distinct and valuable perspectives on the natural world—and with scientists, economists, ethicists, activists, philosophers, and others often taking completely different stances on the issues—how can we come to agreement to solve our toughest environmental problems? In response to this pressing need, Integral Ecology unites valuable insights from multiple perspectives into a comprehensive theoretical framework—one that can be put to use right now. The framework is based on Integral Theory, as well as Ken Wilber’s AQAL model, and is the result of over a decade of research exploring the myriad perspectives on ecology available to us today and their respective methodologies.Dozens of real-life applications and examples of this framework currently in use are examined, including three in-depth case studies: work with marine fisheries in Hawai’i, strategies of eco-activists to protect Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest, and a study of community development in El Salvador. In addition, eighteen personal practices of transformation are provided for you to increase your own integral ecological awareness. Integral Ecology provides the most sophisticated application and extension of Integral Theory available today, and as such it serves as a template for any truly integral effort.

A Companion to Cultural Memory Studies


Astrid Erll - 2008
    Articles by renowned international scholars offer readers a unique overview of the key concepts of cultural memory studies. The handbook not only documents current research in an unprecedented way; it also serves as a forum for bringing together approaches from areas as varied as sociology, political sciences, history, theology, literary studies, media studies, philosophy, psychology, and neurosciences."Cultural memory studies" - as defined in this handbook - came into being at the beginning of the 20th century, with the works of Maurice Halbwachs on m'moire collective. In the course of the last two decades this area of research has witnessed a veritable boom in various countries and disciplines. As a consequence, the study of the relation of "culture" and "memory" has diversified into a wide range of approaches. This handbook is based on a broad understanding of "cultural memory" as the interplay of present and past in sociocultural contexts. It presents concepts for the study of individual remembering in a social context, group and family memory, national memory, the various media of memory, and finally the host of emerging transnational lieux de m'moire such as 9/11.

The Future's So Bright I Can't Bear to Look


Tom Tomorrow - 2008
    From Hurricane Katrina to the latest presidential campaign, these cartoons provide an unflinching look at where we've been -- and just how bright we can expect the future to be.

Medical Anthropology: A Biocultural Approach


Andrea S. Wiley - 2008
    An ideal core text for introductory courses, Medical Anthropology: A Biocultural Approach provides a current and accessible overview of this diverse and rapidly expanding field. Working from a Biocultural approach, Medical Anthropology examines the major health issues that affect most human societies, describing and synthesizing the ways in which biology, culture, health, and environment interact. It integrates up-to-date and relevant biological data with analyses of both evolutionary theory and the sociocultural conditions that often lead to major challenges to our health and survival. Authors Andrea S. Wiley and John S. Allen first present basic biological information on a specific health condition and then extend their investigation to include evolutionary, historical, sociocultural, and political-economic perspectives. Topics covered include healers and healing; health, diet, and nutrition; child health, growth, and development; reproductive health; aging; infectious disease; behavioral disease; stress, social inequality, and race; and mental illness. Each chapter features a variety of case studies and examples--current and historical, local and global--that demonstrate how a medical anthropological perspective can shed important light on a particular health condition. In addition, the text is enhanced by numerous tables, figures, review questions, critical thinking questions, suggestions for accompanying ethnographies, and a glossary to help students better understand the material. Throughout the text, the authors consider how a biocultural anthropological approach could be applied to more effective prevention and treatment efforts. They also highlight the ways in which medical anthropology has the potential to help improve the health of populations around the world

A Forgotten Liberator: The Life and Struggle of Savitribai Phule


Braj Ranjan BaMani - 2008
    on her struggle against caste, patriarchy, work with peasants.

American Indians and the Law


N. Bruce Duthu - 2008
    The self-rule of Native tribes long predates the founding of the United States, and that peculiar status has led to legal and political disputes—with vast sums of money hanging in the balance. From cigarette taxes to control of environmental resources to gambling law, the history of American Indians and American law has been one of clashing values and sometimes uneasy compromise. In this clear-sighted account, American Indian scholar N. Bruce Duthu explains the landmark cases in Indian law of the past two centuries and demonstrates their common thread throughout history, giving us an accessible entry point into a vital facet of Indian history. American Indians and the Law provides an overview of the major events, the differing principles, and the evolving perspectives that have governed relations among the tribes, the federal government, and the states since the founding of this country.

Over: The American Landscape at the Tipping Point


Alex S. MacLean - 2008
    Over: The American Landscape at the Tipping Point is an ambitious and visually breathtaking catalogue of the extraordinary patterns and profound physical consequences brought about by natural processes and human intervention.   The book allows readers to visualize climate change and our culture's excessive use of resources and energy, which account for our oversized carbon footprint. It demonstrates the extent to which the human ecosystem, and our economic and social well being, are dependant upon our wise use of land and its resources. Over is divided into sections covering such as Atmosphere; Way of Life; Automobile Dependency; Electricity Generation; Deserts; Water Use; Sea-Level Rise; Waste and Recycling; and Urbanism. MacLean’s powerful photographs and insightful text make it clear that maintenance of the current American lifestyle is incompatible with a planet of diminishing natural resources and a finite atmosphere. Over compels us all to reconsider our basic assumptions about how we live, work, and play, and reveals that, while the challenges we face today are not insurmountable, the future depends on our collective vision, passion, and commitment.

Works of David Hume


David Hume - 2008
    This collection offers lower price, the convenience of a one-time download, and it reduces the clutter in your digital library. All books included in this collection feature a hyperlinked table of contents and footnotes. The collection is complimented by an author biography. Table of Contents A Treatise of Human Nature (1739-40)An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748) An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751) The Natural History of Religion (1757) Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779)

Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement


Steven Bouma-Prediger - 2008
    Mass emigrations, displaced families, and human alienation from the earth all mark our times. In critiquing contemporary North American culture, Steven Bouma-Prediger and Brian Walsh discuss various forms of homelessness -- socioeconomic, ecological, and psycho-spiritual -- and creatively show how biblical attentiveness and Christian faith can heal the profound dislocations in our society.Ending each of their chapters with a moving biblical meditation, the authors also interact throughout with characters and themes from current literature and popular culture -- from Salman Rushdie to Barbara Kingsolver, from the Wizard of Oz to Bruce Cockburn.

India: A Cultural Decline or Revival?


Bharat Gupt - 2008
    It is often taken for granted that independence from the british rule also ushered an era of cultural and social freedom in india the author wishes to examine if that is true or if a cultural decline set in soon after based on a verse in the pancatantra, the book has been divided into six parts: eka (person), kula (family), grama (habitat), janapada (land), prithvi (earth) and atma issues of education, conflicts between the classes, regions, jatis, languages and religions, expansion of proselytizers, lack of governance, tensions between the legislators and judiciary, rise of unbridled consumerism, falling standards of democracy, dilemmas created by notions of dharma challenged by westernized modernity, and the problems of attaining universal harmony, are all put into a perspective under these six categories while examining the state of affairs the author also suggests a way for the pursuit of happiness through unselfish transcendence

Tactical Biopolitics: Art, Activism, and Technoscience


Beatriz da Costa - 2008
    Tactical Biopolitics suggests that the political challenges at the intersection of life, science, and art are best addressed through a combination of artistic intervention, critical theorizing, and reflective practices. Transcending disciplinary boundaries, contributions to this volume focus on the political significance of recent advances in the biological sciences and explore the possibility of public participation in scientific discourse, drawing on research and practice in art, biology, critical theory, anthropology, and cultural studies. After framing the subject in terms of both biology and art, Tactical Biopolitics discusses such topics as race and genetics (with contributions from leading biologists Richard Lewontin and Richard Levins); feminist bioscience; the politics of scientific expertise; bioart and the public sphere (with an essay by artist Claire Pentecost); activism and public health (with an essay by Treatment Action Group co-founder Mark Harrington); biosecurity after 9/11 (with essays by artists' collective Critical Art Ensemble and anthropologist Paul Rabinow); and human-animal interaction (with a framing essay by cultural theorist Donna Haraway).ContributorsGaymon Bennett, Larry Carbone, Karen Cardozo, Gary Cass, Beatriz da Costa, Oron Catts, Gabriella Coleman, Critical Art Ensemble, Gwen D'Arcangelis, Troy Duster, Donna Haraway, Mark Harrington, Jens Hauser, Kathy High, Fatimah Jackson, Gwyneth Jones, Jonathan King, Richard Levins, Richard Lewontin, Rachel Mayeri, Sherie McDonald, Claire Pentecost, Kavita Philip, Paul Rabinow, Banu Subramanian, subRosa, Abha Sur, Samir Sur, Jacqueline Stevens, Eugene Thacker, Paul Vanouse, Ionat Zurr

The Modern Girl Around the World: Consumption, Modernity, and Globalization


Alys Eve WeinbaumMary Louise Roberts - 2008
    Modern Girls wore sexy clothes and high heels; they applied lipstick and other cosmetics. Dressed in provocative attire and in hot pursuit of romantic love, Modern Girls appeared on the surface to disregard the prescribed roles of dutiful daughter, wife, and mother. Contemporaries debated whether the Modern Girl was looking for sexual, economic, or political emancipation, or whether she was little more than an image, a hollow product of the emerging global commodity culture. The contributors to this collection track the Modern Girl as she emerged as a global phenomenon in the interwar period.Scholars of history, women’s studies, literature, and cultural studies follow the Modern Girl around the world, analyzing her manifestations in Germany, Australia, China, Japan, France, India, the United States, Russia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Along the way, they demonstrate how the economic structures and cultural flows that shaped a particular form of modern femininity crossed national and imperial boundaries. In so doing, they highlight the gendered dynamics of interwar processes of racial formation, showing how images and ideas of the Modern Girl were used to shore up or critique nationalist and imperial agendas. A mix of collaborative and individually authored chapters, the volume concludes with commentaries by Kathy Peiss, Miriam Silverberg, and Timothy Burke.Contributors: Davarian L. Baldwin, Tani E. Barlow, Timothy Burke, Liz Conor, Madeleine Yue Dong, Anne E. Gorsuch, Ruri Ito, Kathy Peiss, Uta G. Poiger, Priti Ramamurthy, Mary Louise Roberts, Barbara Sato, Miriam Silverberg, Lynn M. Thomas, Alys Eve Weinbaum

To Do Justice: A Guide for Progressive Christians


Rebecca Todd Peters - 2008
    Rooted in Christian tradition, each essay analyzes a contemporary problem from social, biblical, and theological perspectives before providing directions for public policy. These engaged ethicists from across the mainline denominations provide concrete examples of how progressive-minded Christians can work for justice in response to these moral dilemmas. With discussion questions in each chapter, this book is an excellent resource for classrooms--both in colleges and in churches.

From Little Things Big Things Grow


Paul Kelly - 2008
    The iconic Australian song – “out anthem of home” – appears here for the first time as a beautiful book for the young, and the young at heart – which is to say, all of us.Featuring the inspirational words from Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody, the riveting paintings of Peter Hudson, and the sweet wild artwork of Gurindji schoolchildren from Kalkaringi, NT, this book will light up rooms and hearts all over Australia – and all profits will be donated to arts and literacy projects for the Gurindji children, in memory and celebration of one of the greatest moments of courage and peace in our history.

A Brief Introduction to Modern Arabic Literature


David Tresilian - 2008
    It provides a guide to the literary landscape, indicating the major landmarks in the shape of authors, ideas and debates.The picture that emerges shows that the literature of the modern Arab world, Europe’s closest neighbour, is not so far from us as we are sometimes encouraged to think.A timely contribution to the dialogue between East and West, bringing modern Arabic literature into the mainstream for English-speaking readers.David Tresilian has taught at Columbia University, the American University of Cairo, Cairo University and the University of Paris XIII. He has been at the American University of Paris since 1999 and was formerly co-editor of the Cairo Review of Books, published in Cairo by al-Ahram.

Art and Upheaval: Artists on the World's Frontlines


William Cleveland - 2008
    Here are six remarkable stories of artists in Northern Ireland, Cambodia, South Africa, the United States (Watts, Los Angeles), aboriginal Australia, and Serbia, who heal unspeakable trauma, give voice to the forgotten and disappeared, and re-stitch the cultural fabric of their communities.Author Bill Cleveland is an activist, teacher, facilitator, lecturer, and director of the Center for the Study of Art & Community. He is the author of Art in Other Places, which explores the emerging community arts movement in the United States.

The Kings and Their Gods: The Pathology of Power


Daniel Berrigan - 2008
    Daniel Berrigan minces no words in his assessment of that biblical era. Prophets, kings, and the gods they worship -- all are found wanting. Berrigan examines the complex terrain of these two biblical books, opening our eyes to the deep flaws of their oft-praised characters. He shows that this dark time in biblical history is in many ways repeating itself today. The wars of these kings, Berrigan says, are our wars now, and we are fashioning our own gods to approve our misdeeds. These two books of Scripture come to vivid -- and sometimes terrifying -- life when we recognize these undeniable similarities.The Kings and Their Gods reveals Berrigan in stunning form. Here this modern-day prophet distills the wisdom gained from his long learning and his remarkable life experiences. The book is both a masterful biblical commentary and a clarion call to action. It balances polemics and poetry, despair and joy. It is truly a midrash for our troubled times -- both an indictment of the horror that is and an invitation to the great goodness that may be.

The Historical Jesus: An Essential Guide


James H. Charlesworth - 2008
    How is the student of the Bible to assess these various claims about Jesus? And what difference does knowledge of his time and place make for Christian faith, theological thinking, and historical research? James Charlesworth presents the solid results of modern study into the life and times of Jesus, especially regarding the role of the Essenes, the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the nature of messianic expectation, and much more. No one today is better equipped than James Charlesworth to lead students through the thickets of controversy that surround much of contemporary historical Jesus research. This Abingdon Essential Guide will fulfill the need for a brief, substantive, yet highly accessible introduction to this core area of New Testament studies. Drawing on the best in current scholarship, written with the need of students foremost in mind, addressed to learners in a number of contexts, this Essential Guide will be the first choice of those who wish to acquaint themselves or their students with the broad scope of issues, perspectives, and subject matters relating to modern quests for the historical Jesus. It will also be a preferred text for those who need or want to refresh their knowledge regarding the context within which Jesus lived in preparation for leading church discussion groups in studies of the Gospels.

State, Pluralism, and the Indian Historical Tradition


Satish Chandra - 2008
    It examines the evolution of the state in India and the role of the towns in the Orient; the Indian Historical tradition including the maritime narratives as well as the tradition of cultural pluralism--reflected in the Bhakti or Sufi movements in history--in the context of the unfolding of political processes in the fifty years after independence.

The Politics of Truth: Selected Writings of C. Wright Mills


C. Wright Mills - 2008
    Wright Mills was a radical public intellectual, a tough-talking, motorcycle-riding anarchist from Texas who taught sociology at Columbia University. Mills's three most influential books--The Power Elite, White Collar, and The Sociological Imagination--were originally published by OUP andare considered classics. The first collection of his writings to be published since 1963, The Politics of Truth contains 23 out-of-print and hard-to-find writings which show his growth from academic sociologist to an intellectual maestro in command of a mature style, a dissenter who sought toinspire the public to oppose the drift toward permanent war. Given the political deceptions of recent years, Mills's truth-telling is more relevant than ever. Seminal papers including Letter to the New Left appear alongside lesser known meditations such as Are We Losing Our Sense of Belonging?John Summers provides fresh insights in his introduction, which gives an overview of Mills's life and career. Summers has also written annotations that establish each piece's context and has drawn up a comprehensive bibliography of Mills's published and unpublished writings.

The Illusion of Freedom and Equality


Richard Stivers - 2008
    Once thought of as a kind of personal property and an aspect of the dignity of the individual, the context of freedom and equality today is technological before it is political and economic and is also now largely thought of in collective terms. Focusing on the work of Jacques Ellul and Max Weber, Stivers traces the development of freedom and equality in Enlightenment thought and American history and then proceeds to discuss their current ideologies, realities, and illusions.

The New Psychology of Leadership: Identity, Influence and Power


S. Alexander Haslam - 2008
    Examines a range of theoretical and practical issues that are central to the leadership process, including the nature of group identity, the basis of authority and legitimacy, the dynamics of justice and fairness, the determinants of followership and charisma, and the practice and politics of leadership.

Behind the Housing Crash: Confessions from an Insider


Aaron Clarey - 2008
    It is an expose written by Aaron Clarey, a credit analyst who worked at various banks in the Twin Cities and saw first hand the unethical, if not, illegal dealings that led up to the housing bubble and subsequent crash. Stories of commission-addicted bankers, bribed appraisers, FBI investigations, IRS raids, offshore bank accounts and more regale the reader with a blood-boiling story of corruption, incompetence and limitless greed. However, the book goes beyond exposing those responsible for the housing crash, and does an exemplary job of explaining, in clear and simple language, the economics behind the housing crisis and the consequences for us all. If you are looking for an excellent expose on the banking industry, an explanation why your house is worth $100,000 less than it was before, or are just curious as to what happened, look no further. This is the book to read.

The Codfathers: Lessons from the Atlantic Business Elite


Gordon Pitts - 2008
    What are the roots of this management style, and how did it become the gold standard for Canadian business leaders? Acclaimed business writer Gordon Pitts argues that the source lies Down East, in the business traditions of the Atlantic provinces. The defining traits of fierce company loyalty, excellent operations, and casual-yet-aggressive negotiating style grew out of the entrepreneurial and family businesses for which the region is famous. The exodus of many talented members of the Maritime business class into Central and Western Canada, New England and New York has taken this brand of management into the global power centres of international commerce. Based on in-depth interviews with Atlantic business leaders, The Codfathers provides a window on the notoriously secretive world of the Irvings, the McCains, the Sobeys, and other key business tycoons, including John Bragg, the Nova Scotia bluebeberries and cable tycoon; John Risley, the hard-driving seafood king; and Ron Joyce, who made Tim Hortons into a Canadian icon. It examines the power networks built around Bay Street Lawyer Purdy Crawford and former New Brunswick premier, Frank McKenna, who is now bringing the Maritime Mafia into the corridors of power in Washington, D.C. The world of Newfoundland commerce is populated by such singular personalities as helicopter titan Craig Dobbin, cable-czar-turned-premier Danny Williams, and satellites-to-seafood kingpin Derrick Rowe. This export of entrepreneurial talent from the East Coast is one of corporate Canada`s best-kept secrets. But what of the next generation? Some will swim against the tide of outward migration to return home, but most will work for global multinationals and corporations based in other areas of the world. One thing is certain, however: throughout their lives, whether fighting rush hour traffic in New York or overseeing the expansion of a Canadian business in China, these business leaders will continue the Atlantic traditions of dogged resilience, understated aggressiveness, and the ability, when things get rough, to unnerve the enemy with an onslaught of colourful language.

Blind Spot: When Journalists Don't Get Religion


Paul A. Marshall - 2008
    The authors of Blind Spot argue that all too frequently journalists and commentators do not take religion seriously and therefore fail to grasp the religious context of the news.Blind Spot's essays examine news stories reported by major media sources in which key religious dimensions were ignored, overlooked, or misrepresented. These stories range from the 2004 U.S. presidential elections, to Iran, Iraq, and the papal succession. Blind Spot offers all readers -- whether people of faith or not -- an interesting and balanced analysis of the news media's uneasy relationship with religion and religious issues.

Spirit of China


Parragon Books - 2008
    Related to many aspects of Chinese history, philosophy, and lifestyle, the five elments serve as starting points for you to explore this unique country.

Embodied Grounding: Social, Cognitive, Affective, and Neuroscientific Approaches


Gün R. Semin - 2008
    The term 'embodiment' captures the common denominator of these developments, which come from several disciplinary perspectives ranging from neuroscience, cognitive science, social psychology, and affective sciences. For the first time, this volume brings together these varied developments under one umbrella and furnishes a comprehensive overview of this intellectual movement in the cognitive-behavioral sciences.

Surviving 1000 Centuries: Can We Do It?


Roger-Maurice Bonnet - 2008
    This book provides a quantitative view of our civilization over the next 100,000 years, in comparison to the 40-60,000 years it took for modern humans to emerge from Africa, on the basis of contemporary scientific and technological knowledge. The first 5 chapters provide the general scientific background, starting with a brief history of our planet, from its formation 4.5 billion years ago until the present day. The evolution of the Earth's atmosphere and the origin of water are highlighted as being the most important factors for the emergence and the development of life, especially in comparison to Earth's neighbours, Venus and Mars. The authors then consider both cosmic and natural hazards, pointing out that scientific information provided by satellites and communication systems on the ground could prevent many unnecessary casualties by forward planning and the installation of elementary precautions.The changing climate in the past and in the future is considered, showing how atmospheric greenhouse gases CO2 and methane played an important role in past climates, whereas future human industrial and agricultural emissions of greenhouse gases largely determine the future climate. The authors highlight the importance of long term monitoring and control of the atmospheric composition. Chapter 7 looks at future energy and inorganic resources, the needs for which in the year 100,000 will be five times larger than the present ones. The most likely sources will be from fusion, solar and wind energy, and storage facilities will be needed for the latter two. Water, agriculture and forests are considered in the following chapter: although adequate food and water should be available worldwide, inadequate management may cause some densely populated areas to experience shortages.The colonization of other planets, in particular Mars and Venus, and the possibility of extracting resources from the Moon or asteroids are discussed in Chapter 9. The final chapters stress the importance of international collaboration to manage Earth's future, together with the crucial role of space for its monitoring, surveillance and management. Cooperative world governance and global laws should be undertaken by the political, scientific and space worlds and encompass both the rich and poorer countries.

Truth Machine: The Contentious History of DNA Fingerprinting


Michael Lynch - 2008
    But DNA evidence is far from infallible. Truth Machine traces the controversial history of DNA fingerprinting by looking at court cases in the United States and United Kingdom beginning in the mid-1980s, when the practice was invented, and continuing until the present. Ultimately, Truth Machine presents compelling evidence of the obstacles and opportunities at the intersection of science, technology, sociology, and law.

Evolutionary Biology of Human Female Sexuality


Randy Thornhill - 2008
    Though conventional wisdom asserts that women's estrus has been evolutionarily lost, Randy Thornhill and Steven W. Gangestad assert that it is present, though concealed. Women, they propose, therefore exhibit two sexualities each ovulatory cycle-estrus and sexuality outside of the estrous phase, extended sexuality-that possess distinct functions. Synthesizing research in behavioral evolution and comparative biology, the authors provide a new theoretical framework for understanding the evolution of human female sexuality, one that is rooted in female sexuality and phylogeny across all vertebrate animals.

Rawls's 'a Theory of Justice': An Introduction


Jon Mandle - 2008
    It transformed the field by offering a compelling alternative to the dominant utilitarian conception of social justice. The argument for this alternative is, however, complicated and often confusing. In this book Jon Mandle carefully reconstructs Rawls's argument, showing that the most common interpretations of it are often mistaken. For example, Rawls does not endorse welfare-state capitalism, and he is not a 'luck egalitarian' as is widely believed. Mandle also explores the relationship between A Theory of Justice and the developments in Rawls's later work, Political Liberalism, as well as discussing some of the most influential criticisms in the secondary literature. His book will be an invaluable guide for anyone seeking to engage with this ground-breaking philosophical work.

Sex and War: How Biology Explains Warfare and Terrorism and Offers a Path to a Safer World


Malcolm Potts - 2008
    In the spirit of Guns, Germs and Steel, Sex and War asks the basic questions: Why is war so fundamental to our species? And what can we do about it?Malcolm Potts explores these questions from the frontlines, as a witness to war-torn countries around the world. As a scientist and obstetrician, Potts has worked with governments and aid organizations globally, and in the trenches with women who have been raped and brutalized in the course of war. Combining their own experience with scientific findings in primatology, genetics, and anthropology, Potts and Hayden explain war’s pivotal position in the human experience and how men in particular evolved under conditions that favored gang behavior, rape, and organized aggression. Drawing on these new insights, they propose a rational plan for making warfare less frequent and less brutal in the future.Anyone interested in understanding human nature, warfare, and terrorism at their most fundamental levels will find Sex and War to be an illuminating work, and one that might change the way they see the world.

Ordinary People as Mass Murderers: Perpetrators in Comparative Perspective


Olaf Jensen - 2008
    This book provides a unique overview of the current state of research on perpetrators. Contributions approach the topic from various expertise (history, gender, sociology, psychology, law, comparative genocide), and address several unresolved questions. The overall focus is on the key question that it still disputed: How do ordinary people become mass murderers?

The End of Empires: African Americans and India


Gerald Horne - 2008
    Book by Horne, Gerald C

The State of Sex: Nevada's Brothel Industry


Kathryn M. Hausbeck - 2008
    Nevada is part of the "new American heartland," as its pastimes, people, and politics have become more central to the nation. The rise of a service and leisure economy over the past sixty years has propelled sexuality into the heart of contemporary markets. Yet, neoliberal laws in the United States promote business but limit sexual commerce. How have Nevada's legal brothels survived, while the rest of the country criminalizes prostitution? How do brothels operate? Who works in them? This book brings social theory on globalizing economies, politics, leisure consumption, and emotional labor in interactive service work together with research on contemporary prostitution and sexual commerce. The authors employ an innovative, multi-method sociological approach, combining historical analysis of how the brothels came to be with over a decade's worth of ethnographic research on the current state of the industry.

Separate and Dominate: Feminism and Racism after the War on Terror


Christine Delphy - 2008
    Today, Delphy remains a prominent and controversial feminist thinker, a rare public voice denouncing the racist motivations of the government’s 2011 ban of the Muslim veil. Castigating humanitarian liberals for demanding the cultural assimilation of the women they are purporting to “save,” Delphy shows how criminalizing Islam in the name of feminism is fundamentally paradoxical.Separate and Dominate is Delphy’s manifesto, lambasting liberal hypocrisy and calling for a fluid understanding of political identity that does not place different political struggles in a false opposition. She dismantles the absurd claim that Afghanistan was invaded to save women, and that homosexuals and immigrants alike should reserve their self-expression for private settings. She calls for a true universalism that sacrifices no one at the expense of others. In the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, her arguments appear more prescient and pressing than ever.

Social Entrepreneurship: A Modern Approach to Social Value Creation


Arthur C. Brooks - 2008
    KEY TOPICS: Measuring social value, earned income, donations and government income, entrepreneurial fundraising and marketing, and social enterprise business plans. MARKET: For the entrepreneur who seeks to understand the social and non-for-profit sectors.