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What’s Wrong with Social Security Benefits?
by Paul SpickerIn this thought-provoking book, Paul Spicker challenges readers to rethink social security benefits in Britain. Putting a case for reform of the system, Spicker argues that most of the criticisms made of social security benefits – that spending is out of control, that it has led to mushrooming dependency, that it fails to get people into work, and that the system is riddled with fraud – are misconceived. Addressing those misconceptions, Spicker assesses the real problems with the system, related to its size, its complexity, the expectation that benefits agencies should know everything, and the determination to ‘personalise’ benefits for millions of people. This stimulating short book is a valuable introduction to social security in Britain and the potential for its reform. For more from the author on social security and social policy visit blog.spicker.uk.
What's Wrong with the World
by G. K. ChestertonIn the aptly titled treatise What's Wrong With the World, one of the twentieth century's most memorable and prolific writers takes on education, government, big business, feminism, and a host of other topics. A steadfast champion of the working man, family, and faith, Chesterton eloquently opposed materialism, snobbery, hypocrisy, and any adversary of freedom and simplicity in modern society.Culled from the thousands of essays he contributed to newspapers and periodicals over his lifetime, the critical works collected for this edition pulse with the author's unique brand of clever commentary. As readable and rewarding today as when they were written over a century ago, these pieces offer Chesterton's unparalleled analysis of contemporary ideals, his incisive critique of modern efficiency, and his humorous but heartfelt defense of the common man against trendsetting social assaults.
The WhatsApp India Story: Inside the Digital Maya Sphere
by Sunetra Sen Narayan Shalini NarayananWhatsApp is used by over half a billion people in India today in all fields – in business, corporate and informal sectors, in government, for education and among friends, families and acquaintances. This book critically explores the social messaging app’s rapid expansion in India and its growing influence and looks at whether, as a form of horizontal communication, it poses a challenge to more traditional structures of communication. The book examines WhatsApp’s spread in the personal and professional lives of Indians and the myriad ways in which people in India are using the app in social and business interactions, including among people living with disabilities. Using case studies, interviews, surveys and in-depth research, it analyses key aspects of WhatsApp’s massive popularity and its impact on how people communicate. It also explores its impact on the psycho-social dynamics in India, including the dissemination of fake news and politically motivated content, and the consequent need for media regulation in the country. One of the first books to analyse the pervasiveness of WhatsApp and social media apps in different areas of Indian society, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of media studies, communication studies, digital media, cultural studies, cyberculture studies, sociology and social policy and media law.
Wheat and not weeds: Honor To A Marshal
by G. G. Vega Vanessa TorreMy country, the Republic of Paraguay, a nation that was born big, was strong, independent and prosperous, which aroused the envy of neighboring nations, which allied themselves to make war. Three nations, who promised to sweep my country in three months, but the intention came to them, it took them 5 long and hard years. But it was my country, my race that paid the price, there were only human remains, malnourished and sick women, children in extreme conditions, and a few men. God did not want Paraguay to become extinct, despite the terrifying genocide that had suffered and had been hidden in history. This book reminds you that Paraguay is Wheat and not weeds. We fought two wars but for noble reasons, not because of envy, evil or criminal ambition.
Wheat Marketing in Transition
by Linda Courtenay BotterillThis detailed account tells the background story of a privatised monopoly whose sharp practices embroiled a national government in scandal and shocked a nation that prides itself on the strength of its institutions. AWB Limited, the former Australian Wheat Board that in the 1990s was sold into the private sector, paid more than $US200m in kickbacks to the pariah regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, exploiting the provisions of the United Nations' Oil for Food program by inflating the price of the wheat it sent there to disguise the pay-offs that secured the contracts. The ensuing uproar threatened the careers of key cabinet ministers in the Howard government and contributed to the rise and subsequent election victory of the Australian Labor Party's Kevin Rudd.
The Wheel of Law: India's Secularism in Comparative Constitutional Context
by Gary Jeffrey JacobsohnHow can religious liberty be guaranteed in societies where religion pervades everyday life? In The Wheel of Law, Gary Jacobsohn addresses this dilemma by examining the constitutional development of secularism in India within an unprecedented cross-national framework that includes Israel and the United States. He argues that a country's particular constitutional theory and practice must be understood within its social and political context. The experience of India, where religious life is in profound tension with secular democratic commitment, offers a valuable perspective not only on questions of jurisprudence and political theory arising in countries where religion permeates the fabric of society, but also on the broader task of ensuring religious liberty in constitutional polities. India's social structure is so entwined with religion, Jacobsohn emphasizes, that meaningful social reform presupposes state intervention in the spiritual domain. Hence India's "ameliorative" model of secular constitutionalism, designed to ameliorate the disabling effects of the caste system and other religiously based practices. Jacobsohn contrasts this with the "visionary" secularism of Israel, where the state identifies itself with a particular religion, and with America's "assimilative" secularism. Constitutional globalization is as much a reality as economic globalization, Jacobsohn concludes, and within this phenomenon the place of religion in liberal democracy is among the most vexing challenges confronting us today. A richly textured account of the Indian experience with secularism, developed in a broad comparative framework, this book is for all those seeking ways to respond to this challenge.
The Wheel of Law: India's Secularism in Comparative Constitutional Context
by Gary Jeffrey JacobsohnHow can religious liberty be guaranteed in societies where religion pervades everyday life? In The Wheel of Law, Gary Jacobsohn addresses this dilemma by examining the constitutional development of secularism in India within an unprecedented cross-national framework that includes Israel and the United States. He argues that a country's particular constitutional theory and practice must be understood within its social and political context. The experience of India, where religious life is in profound tension with secular democratic commitment, offers a valuable perspective not only on questions of jurisprudence and political theory arising in countries where religion permeates the fabric of society, but also on the broader task of ensuring religious liberty in constitutional polities. India's social structure is so entwined with religion, Jacobsohn emphasizes, that meaningful social reform presupposes state intervention in the spiritual domain. Hence India's "ameliorative" model of secular constitutionalism, designed to ameliorate the disabling effects of the caste system and other religiously based practices. Jacobsohn contrasts this with the "visionary" secularism of Israel, where the state identifies itself with a particular religion, and with America's "assimilative" secularism. Constitutional globalization is as much a reality as economic globalization, Jacobsohn concludes, and within this phenomenon the place of religion in liberal democracy is among the most vexing challenges confronting us today. A richly textured account of the Indian experience with secularism, developed in a broad comparative framework, this book is for all those seeking ways to respond to this challenge.
When All Else Fails: The Ethics of Resistance to State Injustice
by Jason BrennanWhy you have the right to resist unjust governmentThe economist Albert O. Hirschman famously argued that citizens of democracies have only three possible responses to injustice or wrongdoing by their governments: we may leave, complain, or comply. But in When All Else Fails, Jason Brennan argues that there is a fourth option. When governments violate our rights, we may resist. We may even have a moral duty to do so.For centuries, almost everyone has believed that we must allow the government and its representatives to act without interference, no matter how they behave. We may complain, protest, sue, or vote officials out, but we can’t fight back. But Brennan makes the case that we have no duty to allow the state or its agents to commit injustice. We have every right to react with acts of “uncivil disobedience.” We may resist arrest for violation of unjust laws. We may disobey orders, sabotage government property, or reveal classified information. We may deceive ignorant, irrational, or malicious voters. We may even use force in self-defense or to defend others.The result is a provocative challenge to long-held beliefs about how citizens may respond when government officials behave unjustly or abuse their power.
When America Was Great: The Fighting Faith of Liberalism in Post-War America
by Kevin MattsonA sweeping intellectual history that will make us rethink postwar politics and culture, When America Was Great profiles the thinkers and writers who crafted a new American liberal tradition in a conservative era -- from historians Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., and C. Vann Woodward, to economist John Kenneth Galbraith and theologian Reinhold Niebuhr.A compelling tale that will redefine the word "liberal" for a new generation, Mattson retraces the intellectual journey of these towering figures. They served in the Second World War. They opposed communism but also wanted to make America's poor visible to the affluent society. Contrary to those who characterize liberals as naïve or sentimental "bleeding hearts," they had a tough-minded and nuanced vision that stressed both human limitations and hope. They felt America should stand for something more than just a strong economy.
When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America
by Paula J. GiddingsA history of the African American woman’s experience in America and an analysis of the relationship between sexism and racism.When and Where I Enter is an eloquent testimonial to the profound influences of African American women on race and women’s movements throughout American history. Drawing on speeches, diaries, letters, and other original documents, Paula Giddings powerfully portrays how black women have transcended racist and sexist attitudes—often confronting white feminists and black male leaders alike—to initiate social and political reform. From the open disregard for the rights of slave women to examples of today’s more covert racism and sexism in civil rights and women’s organizations, Giddings illuminates the black woman’s crusade for equality in the process, she paints unforgettable portraits of black female leaders, such as antilynching activist Ida B. Wells, educator and FDR adviser Mary McCleod Bethune, and the heroic civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, among others, who fought both overt and institutionalized oppression.Praise for When and Where I Enter“History at its best—clear, intelligent, moving. Paula Giddings has written a book as priceless as its subject.” —Toni Morrison“A powerful book. Paula Giddings has shone a brilliant light on the lives of women left in the shadow of history.” —Maya Angelou“A jarringly fresh interpretation . . . a labor of commitment and love.” —New York Times Book Review
When Are You Coming Home?: How Young Children Cope When Parents Go to Jail (Critical Issues in Crime and Society)
by Hilary Cuthrell Luke Muentner Julie PoehlmannAs the United States approaches its 50th year of mass incarceration, more children than ever before have experienced the incarceration of a parent. The vast majority of incarceration occurs in locally operated jails and disproportionately impacts families of color, those experiencing poverty, and rural households. However, we are only beginning to understand the various ways in which children cope with the incarceration of a parent – particularly the coping of young children who are most at risk for the adversity and also the most detrimentally impacted. When Are You Coming Home? helps answer questions about how young ones are faring when a parent is incarcerated in jail. Situated within a resilience model of development, the book presents findings related to children’s stress, family relationships, health, home environments, and visit experiences through the eyes of the children and families. This humanizing, social justice-oriented approach discusses the paramount need to support children and their families before, during, and after a parent’s incarceration while the country simultaneously grapples with strategies of reform and decarceration.
When Audrey Met Alice
by Rebecca Behrens<P>Living in the White House is like being permanently grounded. Only with tighter security. <P> When First Daughter Audrey Rose discovers Alice Roosevelt's hidden diary, the White House will never be the same. Because Audrey stops being the perfect "First Daughter" and starts asking herself... <P>What Would Alice Do?
When Bad Men Combine: The Star Route Scandal and the Twilight of Gilded Age Politics
by Professor Shawn Francis PetersThe Star Route scandal captured the nation’s attention for more than a decade, with newspapers throughout the United States characterizing it as an unprecedented case of Gilded Age graft. Shawn Francis Peters’s When Bad Men Combine provides a glimpse into this uniquely tumultuous period marked by brazen greed and duplicity. In the first book to offer a full recounting of the Star Route maelstrom, which roiled American politics during the 1870s and 1880s, Peters reveals how postal service corruption resulted in a remarkable legal case that featured jury bribery and document theft. When Bad Men Combine follows the saga to its culmination as two sensational criminal trials presented evidence implicating some of the most prominent men in America and, perhaps, led to the assassination of President James Garfield.
When Bad States Win: Rethinking Counterinsurgency
by Jeffrey TreistmanThere is a common assumption that the promotion of democracy and economic development are the most effective means of quelling widespread political unrest within a country. Many believe that free and fair elections, health care, education, and employment will help secure the hearts and minds of citizens. By contrast, the violation of human rights and international law is presumed to be counterproductive, engendering political protest and violent rebellion.When Bad States Win challenges the belief that democratic institutions and economic growth are effectual tools in countering insurgencies. Jeffrey Treistman uses a mixed-methods approach to examine the conditions in which governments have violated human rights and attacked civilians to effectively suppress political dissent. His research suggests that moderate levels of violence against civilians tend to backfire and only provoke widespread resentments that lead to the overthrow of a central government; however, when pursued to extremes, brutal repression and indiscriminate violence against civilians can effectively defeat a rebellion. As a result, bad states may sometimes win.As the number of democratic states in the world continues to decline, violence and authoritarian rule are on the rise. A thought-provoking and timely analysis, When Bad States Win offers important insight into how democratic states can respond to human rights violations in regions in crisis.
When Bad Things Happen to Privileged People: Race, Gender, and What Makes a Crisis in America (Emersion: Emergent Village Resources For Communities Of Faith Ser.)
by Dara Z. StrolovitchA deep and thought-provoking examination of crisis politics and their implications for power and marginalization in the United States. From the climate crisis to the opioid crisis to the Coronavirus crisis, the language of crisis is everywhere around us and ubiquitous in contemporary American politics and policymaking. But for every problem that political actors describe as a crisis, there are myriad other equally serious ones that are not described in this way. Why has the term crisis been associated with some problems but not others? What has crisis come to mean, and what work does it do? In When Bad Things Happen to Privileged People, Dara Z. Strolovitch brings a critical eye to the taken-for-granted political vernacular of crisis. Using systematic analyses to trace the evolution of the use of the term crisis by both political elites and outsiders, Strolovitch unpacks the idea of “crisis” in contemporary politics and demonstrates that crisis is itself an operation of politics. She shows that racial justice activists innovated the language of crisis in an effort to transform racism from something understood as natural and intractable and to cast it instead as a policy problem that could be remedied. Dominant political actors later seized on the language of crisis to compel the use of state power, but often in ways that compounded rather than alleviated inequality and injustice. In this eye-opening and important book, Strolovitch demonstrates that understanding crisis politics is key to understanding the politics of racial, gender, and class inequalities in the early twenty-first century.
When A Billion Chinese Jump: How China Will Save Mankind -- Or Destroy It
by Jonathan S. WattsAs a young child, Jonathan Watts believed if everyone in China jumped at the same time, the earth would be shaken off its axis, annihilating mankind. Now, more than thirty years later, as a correspondent for The Guardian in Beijing, he has discovered it is not only foolish little boys who dread a planet-shaking leap by the world’s most populous nation. When a Billion Chinese Jump is a road journey into the future of our species. Traveling from the mountains of Tibet to the deserts of Inner Mongolia via the Silk Road, tiger farms, cancer villages, weather-modifying bases, and eco-cities, Watts chronicles the environmental impact of economic growth with a series of gripping stories from the country on the front line of global development. He talks to nomads and philosophers, entrepreneurs and scientists, rural farmers and urban consumers, examining how individuals are trying to adapt to one of the most spectacular bursts of change in human history, then poses a question that will affect all of our lives: Can China find a new way forward or is this giant nation doomed to magnify the mistakes that have already taken humanity to the brink of disaster?
When Blame Backfires: Syrian Refugees and Citizen Grievances in Jordan and Lebanon
by Anne Marie BaylounyThe recent influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan and Lebanon has stimulated domestic political action against these countries' governments. This is the dramatic argument at the heart of Anne Marie Baylouny's When Blame Backfires.Baylouny examines the effects on Jordan and Lebanon of hosting huge numbers of Syrian refugees. How has the populace reacted to the real and perceived negative effects of the refugees? In thought-provoking analysis, Baylouny shows how the demographic changes that result from mass immigration put stress on existing problems in these two countries, worsening them to the point of affecting daily lives. One might expect that, as a result, refugees and minorities would become the focus of citizen anger. But as When Blame Backfires demonstrates, this is not always the case. What Baylouny exposes, instead, is that many of the problems that might be associated with refugees are in fact endemic to the normal routine of citizens' lives. The refugee crisis exacerbated an already dire situation rather than created it, and Jordanians and Lebanese started to protest not only against the presence of refugees but against the incompetence and corruption of their own governments as well. From small-scale protests about goods and public services, citizens progressed to organized and formal national movements calling for economic change and rights to public services not previously provided. This dramatic shift in protest and political discontent was, Baylouny shows, the direct result of the arrival of Syrian refugees.
When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment
by Mark A. KleimanCost-effective methods for improving crime control in AmericaSince the crime explosion of the 1960s, the prison population in the United States has multiplied fivefold, to one prisoner for every hundred adults—a rate unprecedented in American history and unmatched anywhere in the world. Even as the prisoner head count continues to rise, crime has stopped falling, and poor people and minorities still bear the brunt of both crime and punishment. When Brute Force Fails explains how we got into the current trap and how we can get out of it: to cut both crime and the prison population in half within a decade.Mark Kleiman demonstrates that simply locking up more people for lengthier terms is no longer a workable crime-control strategy. But, says Kleiman, there has been a revolution—largely unnoticed by the press—in controlling crime by means other than brute-force incarceration: substituting swiftness and certainty of punishment for randomized severity, concentrating enforcement resources rather than dispersing them, communicating specific threats of punishment to specific offenders, and enforcing probation and parole conditions to make community corrections a genuine alternative to incarceration. As Kleiman shows, "zero tolerance" is nonsense: there are always more offenses than there is punishment capacity. But, it is possible—and essential—to create focused zero tolerance, by clearly specifying the rules and then delivering the promised sanctions every time the rules are broken.Brute-force crime control has been a costly mistake, both socially and financially. Now that we know how to do better, it would be immoral not to put that knowledge to work.
When Bubbles Burst
by John P. CalverleyA meticulous examination of the financial fallout of 2008, When Bubbles Burst explores what the future holds for individuals, companies, and central banks. In a non-technical, accessible manner, John Calverly gives advice for investors and professionals regarding what happened then-and what might happen next.
When Can Oil Economies Be Deemed Sustainable? (The Political Economy of the Middle East)
by Giacomo Luciani Tom MoerenhoutThis open access book questions the stereotype depicting all Gulf (GCC) economies as not sustainable, and starts a critical discussion of what these economies and polities should do to guarantee themselves a relatively stable future.Volatile international oil markets and the acceleration of the energy transition has challenged the notion that oil revenues are sufficient to sustain oil economies in the near to medium term. But what is the meaning of economic sustainability? The book discusses the multiple dimensions of the concept: economic diversification, continuing value of resources, taxation and fiscal development, labor market sustainability, sustainable income distribution, environmental sustainability, political order (democracy or authoritarianism) and sustainability, regional integration.The overarching message in this book is that we should move on from the simplistic branding of the Gulf economies as unsustainable and tackle the details of which adaptations they might need to undertake.
When Care Work Goes Global: Locating the Social Relations of Domestic Work (Gender in a Global/Local World)
by Mary RomeroWomen who migrate into domestic labour and care work are the single largest female occupational group migrating globally at present. Their participation in global migration systems has been acknowledged but remains under-theorized. Specifically, the impacts of women migrating into care work in the receiving as well as the sending societies are profound, altering gendered aspects of both societies. We know that migration systems link the women who migrate and the households and organizations that employ domestic and care workers, but how do these migration systems work, and more importantly, what are their impacts on the sending as well as the receiving societies? How do sending and receiving societies regulate women’s migration for care work and how do these labour market exchanges take place? How is reproductive labour changed in the receiving society when it is done by women who are subject to multifaceted othering/racializing processes? A must buy acquisition, When Care Work Goes Global will be an extremely valuable addition for course adoption in migration, labour and gender courses taught in Sociology, Anthropology, Geography, Women's Studies, Area Studies, and International Development Studies.
When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: My Life as a Hip-hop Feminist
by Joan MorganA new voice of the post-Civil Rights, post-feminist, post-soul generation has emerged which probes the complex issues facing African-American women today. The book is a decidedly intimate look into the life of the modern black woman.
When China Attacks: A Warning to America
by Grant NewshamWhen China Attacks is a fire bell in the night—a warning about a war that we are already losing. It offers a frightening, and well-founded, blow-by-blow account of what might happen next.China poses an existential threat to America, warns a veteran intelligence officer, and the window for an effective response is closing fast. Col. Grant Newsham, a former reserve head of intelligence for Marine Forces Pacific, delivers a blow-by-blow account of how the threat has developed, from the growing skill and belligerence of the Chinese military to gray-zone campaigns to hollow out America&’s will to resist. These efforts that have now reached fruition. You can see the war damage in Baltimore, Erie, Buffalo, and countless other communities across the United States. With decades of experience in Asia, including as a U.S. Marine, a diplomat, and an executive with Morgan Stanley and Motorola in Japan, Col. Newsham brings together the military, political, economic and social to provide insights into how far along we already are, and what needs to be done. Now. The question is not whether the Chinese will attack. They already have. It is trying to kill our economy, our institutions, our way of life, our people. It is dominant in the world economy. It is a master of intellectual property theft. It shows strategic genius at cornering essential markets. It has been staggeringly successful in buying influence among American elites. It is killing us with Fentanyl. And its military buildup is astonishing. So far, China has been waging a mostly covert war on the United States and its allies. But, emboldened by American weakness and perceived decline, the war could soon explode into the open. The flashpoint will be Taiwan—but the war will extend over the entire Pacific Theater and beyond. The results—as Col. Newsham paints in stark detail—will be devastating. America risks a humiliating retreat, with almost unimaginable costs to our economy and security. Will America fight back before the cold war that Communist China is waging against America and its allies goes hot? The conflict is coming. We&’re not ready. China is already attacking America. Is American defeat inevitable? No, but we must change course immediately. And to do that, we must wake up and heed the sobering message of When China Attacks.
When China Goes to the Moon...
by Marco AlibertiThis book is about China's ambitions in its most complex and internationally visible space endeavor, namely its human space exploration programme. It provides a comprehensive reflection on China´s strategic direction and objectives in space, including in particular those set forth in its human spaceflight programme and analyses the key domestic and external factors affecting the country's presumed manned lunar ambitions. The objective of the book is to disentangle the opportunities and challenges China´s space ambitions are creating for other spacefaring nations and for Europe in particular. It therefore includes an in-depth analysis of possible European postures towards China in space exploration and seeks to stimulate a debate on future space strategies in the broader context of world politics.
When China Rules the World
by Martin JacquesGreatly revised and expanded, with a new afterword, this update to Martin Jacques's global bestseller is an essential guide to understanding a world increasingly shaped by Chinese power Soon, China will rule the world. But in doing so, it will not become more Western. Since the first publication of When China Rules the World, the landscape of world power has shifted dramatically. In the three years since the first edition was published, When China Rules the World has proved to be a remarkably prescient book, transforming the nature of the debate on China. Now, in this greatly expanded and fully updated edition, boasting nearly 300 pages of new material, and backed up by the latest statistical data, Martin Jacques renews his assault on conventional thinking about China's ascendancy, showing how its impact will be as much political and cultural as economic, changing the world as we know it. First published in 2009 to widespread critical acclaim - and controversy - When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order has sold a quarter of a million copies, been translated into eleven languages, nominated for two major literary awards, and is the subject of an immensely popular TED talk.