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While artificial intelligence (AI), robots, bio-technologies and digital media are transforming work, culture, and social life, there is little understanding of or agreement about the scope and significance of this change. This new interpretation of the ‘great transformation’ uses history and evolutionary theory to highlight the momentous shift in human consciousness taking place. Only by learning from recent crises and rejecting technological determinism will governments and communities redesign social arrangements that ensure we all benefit from the new and emerging technologies. The book documents the transformations under way in financial markets, entertainment, and medicine, affecti...
This book draws on a wealth of evidence including young people’s own stories, to document how they are now faring in increasingly unequal societies like America, Britain, Australia, France and Spain. It points to systematic generational inequality as those born since 1980 become the first generation to have a lower standard of living than previous generations. While governments and experts typically explain this by referring to globalization, new technologies, or young people’s deficits, the authors of this book offer a new political economy of generations, which identifies the central role played by governments promoting neoliberal policies that exacerbate existing social inequalities based on age, ethnicity, gender and class. The book is a must read for social science students, human service workers and policy-makers and indeed for anyone interested in understanding the impact of government policy over the last 40 years on young people.
This book analyses how generations of secondary and high school students in many countries have been thoughtful, committed and effective political actors, particularly over the past decade.
When we catch a bus, visit a doctor, borrow a book from the library or enrol in a course we benefit from the social policies of government. Talking Policy explains how the myriad programs and services we take for granted are developed and delivered, and how this fits into the political process. There is a human and political aspect to social policy-making; it's not all rational solutions to measurable problems. The authors explain how issues come to be defined as social problems, and offer an account of the historical development of social policy and the welfare state in Australia. They also outline the competing political and philosophical ideas which influence the different ways in which g...
Drawing on case studies from around the world, contributors to this ground-breaking book explore a major contemporary paradox: on the one hand, young people today are at the forefront of political campaigns promoting social rights and ethical ideas that challenge authoritarian orders and elite privileges. On the other hand, too many governments, some claiming to be committed to liberal-democratic values, social inclusion and youth participation are engaged in repressing political activities that contest the status quo. Contributors to this book explore how, especially since 9/11, governments, state agencies and other traditional power holders around the globe have reacted to political dissen...
Most of us work in them, most of us live in them. Some are complex, some are simple. Some meet only once while others last for decades. Whatever form they take, groups are central to our lives. Making Groups Work offers a comprehensive introduction to the key issues in group work. It outlines the role of groups and the history of group work, discusses group politics, and shows how groups can help promote social change. Detailed case studies are used to make the crucial link between theory and practice. The authors also offer strategies for making groups work effectively. Making Groups Work is essential reading for social workers, health workers, counsellors, community workers, youth workers, trainers and anyone else interested in working with groups. It is also a good introductory text for students and a handy reference for professionals.
After decades on the social and political margins, far-right groups and movements are enjoying increasing success, and even claiming a place in mainstream electoral politics in many Western political systems. Research shows that new media like Twitter, YouTube, and community sites likes 4chan and Reddit are increasingly involved with the mobilization of popular support for far-right electoral campaigns, and even organized political violence. These technologies – including other social media, discussion websites, certain online games, chat servers, talk radio, cable news, and print media – are making contemporary far-right ideologies possible in diverse ways, altering methods of recruitme...
Unlike many current approaches, this book looks at trust relations in order to understand schooling and other social practices. Trust relations include both what an individual is prepared to trust in the circumstances, and what a competent practitioner in an evolving tradition should trust. It is therefore considered whether trust relations are more fundamental in society than those of truth or power. Schooling has a social, as well as an education, role. As a result, the scope of the trust relations under investigation must range beyond the pedagogical. By expanding our understanding of the trust relations required to create and maintain effective schooling in particular circumstances, it may be possible for a greater section of society to receive a good education. Issues including curriculum, classroom management, and community relations may be understood in a different way and help enable currently intractable problems to be tackled more effectively. This book presents the initial investigations of a number of authors who collaborated on this project and was originally published as a special issue of the journal, Educational Philosophy and Theory.
International Criminology is an easy-access critical introduction to how conventional criminologists in the international arena think about and research crime. By using examples from the US, UK and Australia, the authors outline key ideas, vocabulary, assumptions and findings of the discipline while opening up a set of critical underlying issues and problems. From theoretical traditions to historical perspectives; contemporary criminology to reflexive criminology; this all encompassing text covers it all. This is the most valuable introduction to international criminology available for undergraduates and works as a superb refresher for more experienced students.
This book sets to explore the key issues and future prospects facing critical criminology, bringing together a set of leading authorities in the field from the UK, Australasia and the USA. A key concern of the book is to review the possibilities and strategies of pursuing critical criminological scholarship in the context of an increasingly dominant administrative criminology paradigm, reflected in the rise of neo-liberalism, a 'governmentalised' criminology of risk, crime control and situational crime prevention.