"Constructing the Social" provides a clear overview on how to do social constructionist research and analysis and an understanding of the concrete implications of social constructionist theory. Each chapter analyzes the historical and cultural contexts of a wide range of key issues including anxiety, the family, intelligence, ageing and depression. The contributors demonstrate that human beings are social agents rather passive reactors or mere processors of information.
In his exploration of the interaction between religion and worldwide social and cultural change, the author examines the major theories of global change and discusses the ways in which such change impinges on contemporary religious practice, meaning and influence. Beyer explores some of the key issues in understanding the shape of religion today, including religion as culture and as social system, pure and applied religion, privatized and publicly influential religion, and liberal versus conservative religions. He goes on to apply these issues to five contemporary illustrative cases: the American Christian Right; Liberation Theology movements in Latin America; the Islamic Revolution in Iran; Zionists in Israel; and religious environmentalism.
Organizational and Human Resource Management Dimensions
Over the past decade, many companies have adopted new strategies for manufacturing, which have taken their competitiveness on to new planes. A whole array of initiatives, such as FMS, JIT, TQM, CIM, and MRP II, have been introduced. This book deals with the far-reaching significance of these new approaches - collectively labelled "new wave manufacturing". Considerable research evidence as well as practitioners' own experiences make one crucial point time and time again. The organizational as well as the human resource management aspects of these new strategies are critical to their success or failure. The underlying theme which is tackled in this book, therefore, is to what extent do these new operational strategies require a matching set of organizational and HR strategies? By looking at the issues through the joint eyes of production and behavioural analysts, this book provides an unique introduction to the new developments in manufacturing as well as providing an up-to-date assessment of the organizational and H R dimensions to these methods. New Wave Manufacturing Strategies has a vision which goes beyond the "new technology"/advanced manufacturing technology discussions. The chapters have been written in a clear, accessible manner by leading experts from Europe, the USA and Australia as well as from the UK.
Ageing and Later Life reflects the diverse nature of the subject by taking a multidisciplinary approach including literary, historical, sociological, policy, psychological, philosophical and clinical perspectives. This lively and informative book features essays by major authors in the field and includes discussions of: cultural aspects of self-image and identity; current concerns relating to health and well-being; the reality of power and control in the care of older people; concepts and values which shape our understanding of ageing; issues of policy and politics; and historical perspectives on ageing and possibilities for the future. Ageing and Later Life is a set book for The Open University course K256 An Ageing Society.
From the Scars of Survival to the Wisdom for Change
This text explores the nature of woman abuse and contributes to a key issue for feminist campaigning and theory. The past 25 years of research on "battered" women has focused on the psychological, sociological and political conditions which contribute to violence, and on women's reasons for staying with violent and abusive partners. Drawing on first-hand accounts, the author goes beyond the discourse of "victims" and "survivors" to offer insights into the very specific and multi-faceted nature of the abuses women experience - emotional as well as physical. The author sheds light on both the dynamics of abuse which afford abusers control over women, and the resources and knowledge women draw upon to re-empower themselves. Examining first the nature of abuse and then the issues confronted by a woman after she has left an abusive relationship, Kirkwood finds that women's experiences of society after leaving abusive partners are highly interrelated. She develops the concept of a "web" to explain how the different elements of abuse connect to make up the experiences of abused women. Suitable for anyone concerned with understanding woman abuse, this book develops existing knowledge by fully exploring the emotional and practical struggles women confront in leaving abusive relationships, and demonstrates how formerly-abused women create a process of survival and personal change which extends into their experiences after leaving.
This introductory textbook presents psychological and sociological perspectives on the family and explores the links between the family and social policy. The focus is on issues which bring the family into contact with the welfare state - such as domestic violence, child abuse, mental health, old age, poverty, juvenile delinquency and homelessness. The book highlights the different forms of regulation and intervention that "the family' can be subejct to, and how theoretical and ideological models of the "family" are use to explain a wide range of "problems" and inform professional interventions.
The purpose of this book is to examine the scale and significance of the local dimensions of these developments and the implications for central government complementing the existing literature, which focuses almost entirely on the overall national picture. It contains a set of ten original studies which demonstrate the existence of marked geographical variations in population profiles and trends and highlight the main implications and responses. The focus is primarily on those policy areas where there needs to be a local-scale mechanism for decision-making and implementation, such as education, labour recruitment, housebuilding needs, social services and health care.
In this timely contribution to the debates on citizenship, Elizabeth Meehan provides an incisive analysis of the meaning of citizenship, and the links between civil, political and social citizenship. The book provides a clear account of the development of social rights within the European community in three key areas: social security and assistance; participation by workers in the undertakings in which they are employed; and the equal treatment of men and women. The author critically assesses the extent to which inequalities of class, gender and ethnicity are successfully addressed by community social policies.
Infrastructure has for many years been a substantial item on the agenda of the European Community's regional policy, but has had little impact on the narrowing of regional disparities. It has now come to the fore again, with the recognition that there is a need for a genuinely European infrastructure, not just in the obvious areas of physical ......
