Social Science - General

Long before Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope en route to India, the peoples of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia engaged in vigorous cross-cultural exchanges across the Indian Ocean. This book focuses on the years 700 to 1500, a period...

Research and practice in the field of acculturation psychology is continually on the rise. Featuring contributions from over fifty leading experts in the field, this Handbook compiles and systemizes the current state of the art by exploring the broad international scope of acculturation. The...

As transfer points between different economic and cultural zones, cities are crucial to shaping processes of cultural exchange. Urban culture embraces cultural traits borrowed or imported from afar and those of local neighbourhoods, professions and social groups, yet it also offers possibilities for the...

Few Renaissance Venetians saw the New World with their own eyes. As the print capital of early modern Europe, however, Venice developed a unique relationship to the Americas. Venetian editors, mapmakers, translators, writers, and cosmographers represented the New World at times as a place...

Impelled by a demand for increasing American strength in the new global economy, many educators, public officials, business leaders, and parents argue that school computers and Internet access will improve academic learning and prepare students for an information-based workplace. But just how valid is...

From Simon & Schuster, Spiritual Politics is Mark Silk's exploration of religion and America since World War II. A social history of the people and ideas that have shaped American culture in the postwar era shows how Americans have pursued a national religion while...

RELATIONAL REALITY reveals the coherence among numerous surprising discoveries, most made since 2004, about the interrelated nature of physical reality. These discoveries are now transforming every mainstream field of human endeavor, as basic assumptions (built on the old idea that everything in the physical...

An investigation of how tribalism affected the evolution of the human mind. The analysis reveals a process that beliefs are a primary means of group identification and are a natural component of the evolution of human thought and culture. The results are mental processes...

The "Neverland Valley-Welcome" sign depicts a little boy, bending over to talk to a troll. Peter Pan was playing at the packed eighty-seat, 7,000 square-foot theatre. Popcorn and drinks were dished up gratis to the mobs at the concession stand. On-screen, Captain Hook had...

People moved into America very early across the Bering Strait. By the fifth millennia B.C.E. tropical sailors brought diseases to America and took plants and animals in both directions. Long before Columbus, tropical sailors carefully selected crops from New World highlands and shorelines, wet...

Over the years (1870 - 2006) there have been some cases of children that were lost in the mountains for days. Searchers persevered beyond hope, and in most cases the child was found alive. A few were not. There are three chapters of individual...

Why is the Osu caste system, a form of discrimination, still deep-seated in Igboland? Are the civil and human rights of the Osu not being violated? How does the system affect global perception on Igbo culture and her civilization? The Osu Caste Discrimination in...

The central thesis of Bill O'Reilly Versus The Truth is that Bill O'Reilly misleads the public by representing himself as a non-partisan, when in fact he is a right-wing political partisan who supports the Republican Party and does everything within his power to vilify...

Did God create life, or did the world spontaneously appear? Drawing on meticulous research into the scientific and religious realms, Our Universe is a detailed study of the origin of the universe, life on Earth, and the destiny of mankind. Biophysics professor Faiz M....

The Department of Energy's Marcus Siddley is charged to carry out the conversion from gasoline to hydrogen energy technology. To spread the message to the world's leaders, he travels to Russia, China, and France. He soon meets the beautiful Algerian-born Meredith, and they are...

The Philosophy of Olodumare and Shango is a work designed for the thinking man. It details the thorny issue of black metaphysics. Oswald Eckles Jr treats of the nature of the black man versus the other. It contains some hard truths about the white...

The Positive Mental Moxie of Myth for Personal Growth Joseph Campbell defined a myth as "a life-shaping image, a metaphor that creates a hero out of those who heed it." Author Dr. Gene Landrum takes Campbell's definition one step further by offering a variety...

Author: James G. CaridiISBN-10: 0595221688ISBN-13: 9780595221684Publisher: iUniverseLanguage: EnglishPublished: 04/17/2002Pages: 124Format: PaperbackWeight: 0.43lbsSize: 9.14h x 5.94w x 0.31d

Essential text for a 1 term/semester undergraduate course on Northern Ireland (usually a 2nd year option). Combines coverage of the historical context of the situation in Northern Ireland with a thorough examination of the contemporary political situation and the peace process. The book explores...

Why did the Soviet economic system fall apart? Did the economy simply overreach itself through military spending? Was it the centrally-planned character of Soviet socialism that was at fault? Or did a potentially viable mechanism come apart in Gorbachev's clumsy hands? Does its failure...

In 1776, America was a hotbed of enlightenment and revolution. Thomas Paine not only spurred his fellow Americans to action but soon came to symbolize the spirit of the Revolution. His elegantly persuasive pieces spoke to the hearts and minds of those fighting for...

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our...

Unlike most other similar books, this systematic, carefully reasoned, non-technical analysis of the nature and significance of scientific knowledge opens the way to reconciliation in the 'science wars'. By describing how academic scientists actually undertake research and communicate their findings, it shows that the...

The diffusion of markets and democracy around the world was a defining feature of the late twentieth century. Many social scientists view this economic and political liberalization as the product of independent choices by national governments. This book argues that policy and political changes...

The focus of growing concern in international trade policy, anti-dumping procedures have become a source of tension between countries. This handbook covers major areas arising in anti-dumping investigations as embodied in the relevant World Trade Organization (WTO) provisions and offers well-sourced information and guidance...

This volume is a unique contribution to the philosophy of the social sciences, presenting the results of cutting-edge philosophers' research alongside critical discussions by practicing social scientists. The book is motivated by the view that the philosophy of the social sciences cannot ignore the...

The book contains four studies that consider the challenges of implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child in different legal traditions or systems: common law, civil law, Islamic law, and plural legal systems. Each study is unique in the way it presents...

Thomas Allsen is one of the foremost historians of the Mongol empire. His latest book breaks new scholarly boundaries in its exploration of cultural and scientific exchanges between Iran and China. Contrary to popular belief, Mongol rulers were intensely interested in the culture of...

This book is a study of dress in France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In it Roche discusses general approaches to the history of dress, locates the subject within current French historiography and uses a large sample of inventories to explore the differences...

This book offers a careful examination of the politics of social policy in an era of austerity and conservative governance. Focusing on the administrations of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, Paul Pierson provides a compelling explanation for the welfare state's durability and for the...

When and why have employers supported the development of institutions of social insurance that provide benefits to workers for various employment-related risks? What factors explain the variation in the social policy preferences of employers? This book provides a systematic evaluation of the role played...

Catherine Boone examines political regionalism in Africa and how it affects forms of government, and prospects for democracy and development. Boone's study is set within the context of larger theories of political development in agrarian societies. It features a series of compelling case studies...

New Profession, Old Order is an exploration of the creative tension between modern technology and preindustrial Germany. It concentrates on the social and educational history of engineers as a microcosm of the larger society between 1815 and 1914, and asks why this new occupation,...

Promising increased efficiency and superior service, the quasi-government has grown as governmental functions have been delegated to new entities combining characteristics of public- and private-sector organizations. Jonathan Koppell argues that control of public policy is sacrificed when public policy is carried out by such...

Social movements such as environmentalism, feminism, nationalism, and the anti-immigration movement figure prominently in the modern world. Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements examines social movements in a comparative perspective, focusing on the role of ideology and beliefs, mechanisms of mobilization, and how politics shapes...

Early New Englanders used magical techniques to divine the future, to heal the sick, to protect against harm and to inflict harm. Protestant ministers of the time claimed that religious faith and magical practice were incompatible, and yet, as Richard Godbeer shows, there were...

In The Meanings of Death, John Bowker offers a major contribution to debates about the value of death and its place in both Western and Eastern religions. Examining the themes of friendship and sacrifice in the world's major religions, Bowker argues that there are...

Drawing on a multitude of data sets and building on analyses carried out over more than a decade, Reasoning and Choice offers a major new theoretical explanation of how ordinary citizens figure out what they favor and oppose politically. Reacting against the conventional wisdom,...

In this book John Zaller develops a comprehensive theory to explain how people acquire political information from the mass media and convert it into political preferences. Using numerous specific examples, Zaller applies this theory in order to explain the dynamics of public opinion on...

An examination of the public fascination with spiritualism and psychical research in Britain from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth century. The book explores the variety of social background, education, and professional expertise that characterized the men and women who attended seances and investigated...

In this comprehensive study of the early development of the Soviet propaganda system, Peter Kenez describes how the Bolshevik Party went about reaching the Russian people. Throughout this book, Kenez is more concerned with the experience of the Soviet people than with high-level politics....

This book examines Sir Joseph Banks' role in promoting "imperial science," in the context of the consolidation of the British State during a time of extraordinary upheaval. Under pressure from the American, French and Industrial revolutions, the State became interested in the possible uses...

In the years following World War II, American writers and artists produced a steady stream of popular stories about Americans living, working, and traveling in Asia and the Pacific. Meanwhile the U.S., competing with the Soviet Union for global power, extended its reach into...

Empire of Ecstasy offers a novel interpretation of the explosion of German body culture between the two wars-nudism and nude dancing, gymnastics and dance training, dance photography and criticism, and diverse genres of performance from solo dancing to mass movement choirs. Karl Toepfer presents...

Conflicting interests and conflicting attitudes toward the war characterized the uneasy relationship between Washington and Hollywood during World War II. There was deep disagreement within the film-making community as to the stance towards the war that should be taken by one of America's most...

"While focusing on the central problem of evil, O'Fiaherty illuminates every aspect of Hindu thought." --Choice "This is Dr. O'Flaherty's third book on Indian mythology, and the best yet. The range and number of myths handled is dazzling .... Moreover, her fluent and lucid...

Throughout history, mankind has had the ever-recurring dream of creating perfection. In America, many of these dreams were put to the severe test of reality. More than 100 religious and socialistic communities were formed in the nineteenth century alone, in a widespread movement that...

In the wake of the First World War, many Germans saw the future of their nation as contingent on a vision of municipal progress. In this well-researched study, Anthony McElligott uses local politics as an analytical tool to decipher the bigger picture of the...

The Stratigraphy and Fauna of the Hackberry Stage of the Upper Devonian looks at the rocks of the Hackberry stage, which are exposed throughout a narrow belt in north central Iowa and constitute the uppermost member of the Devonian section. Although limited in area...

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, representations of Poland and the Slavic East cast the region as a primitive, undeveloped, or empty space inhabited by a population destined to remain uncivilized without the aid of external intervention. These depictions often made direct reference...