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The Tumultuous Politics of Scale: Unsettled States, Migrants, Movements in Flux
by Donald M. Nonini Ida SusserContemporary politics, this book contends, depend upon the turbulent struggles and strategies around scale. Confl icts over scale can be seen as opaque class struggles. Political projects, whether from the ground up or representing corporate or state interests, continually contest the scale at which authority is vested. This volume looks at the way global corporations redefi ne the scale of power and how working- class and other movements build alliances and cross scales to develop political blocs. What injustices are perpetrated or, more hopefully, redressed in this process? The book, consisting of contributions from anthropologists, geographers, and cultural studies scholars, explores theoretical issues around contested temporal and spatial scales, and around variations in scale from the body to the global. Part I focuses on bodies in motion, entangled in battles over new boundaries and political coalitions, and the ways in which migrants and refugees are disrupted by intersecting time scales. Part II on the nation- state addresses the shifting responsibilities assigned by law at diff erent historical moments and the impact of global energy trade on national austerity policies. Part III, on rescaling sovereignty, discusses the misleading media discourse on “Brexit” and reconstructs the class bases of the move to the Right in Eastern Europe that threaten the EU. Part IV on the histories of changing scales of movements revisits historical debates on uneven and combined development, and sets out the transnational labor movements of the eighteenthand nineteenth- century Atlantic, which prefi gure contemporary struggles of labor in a world which is still one of uneven and combined capitalist development. Finally, Part V considers ways in which some social movements are constrained by scale while others reshape parties and traverse nations in their eff orts to build class alliances and political blocs.
The Tuning of Place: Sociable Spaces and Pervasive Digital Media (The\mit Press Ser.)
by Richard CoyneHow pervasive digital devices—smartphones, iPods, GPS navigation systems, and their networks—us formulate a sense of place and refine social relationshipsHow do pervasive digital devices—smartphones, iPods, GPS navigation systems, and cameras, among others—influence the way we use spaces? In The Tuning of Place, Richard Coyne argues that these ubiquitous devices and the networks that support them become the means of making incremental adjustments within spaces—of tuning place. Pervasive media help us formulate a sense of place, writes Coyne, through their capacity to introduce small changes, in the same way that tuning a musical instrument invokes the subtle process of recalibration. Places are inhabited spaces, populated by people, their concerns, memories, stories, conversations, encounters, and artifacts. The tuning of place—whereby people use their devices in their interactions with one another—is also a tuning of social relations.The range of ubiquity is vast—from the familiar phones and hand-held devices through RFID tags, smart badges, dynamic signage, microprocessors in cars and kitchen appliances, wearable computing, and prosthetics, to devices still in development. Rather than catalog achievements and predictions, Coyne offers a theoretical framework for discussing pervasive media that can inform developers, designers, and users as they contemplate interventions into the environment. Processes of tuning can lead to consideration of themes highly relevant to pervasive computing: intervention, calibration, wedges, habits, rhythm, tags, taps, tactics, thresholds, aggregation, noise, and interference.
The Turn to Biographical Methods in Social Science: Comparative Issues and Examples (Social Research Today Ser.)
by Joanna Bornat Prue Chamberlayne Tom WengrafBiographical research methods have become a useful and popular tool for contemporary social scientists. This book combines an exploration of the historical and philosophical origins of this important field of qualitative research with comparative examples of the different ways that biographical methods have been successfully applied internationally. Through these many illustrative examples of socio-biography in process the authors show how formal textual analysis, whilst uncovering hidden emotional defences, can also shed light on wider historical processes of societal transformation. Topics discussed include: *individual and linked lives *generational change *political influences on memory and identity *biographical work in reflexive societies *narrativity and empowerment in professional practice *ways of theorising and generalising from case-studies.Biographical Methods in the Social Sciences promotes debate and provides opportunities for students and researchers to widen their uses of narrative research.
The Turn-On: How the Powerful Make Us Like Them—from Washington to Wall Street to Hollywood
by Steven GoldsteinHow do Tiffany Haddish, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep and Apple’s Tim Cook turn us on, and why do some other public figures drive us crazy and turn us off? And who are the behind-the-scenes gurus who help public figures turn us on or off? Steven Goldstein, a civil rights leader who has worked in politics, business and entertainment, breaks down the industry of creating likeability and how public figures manufacture likeability—and how they sometimes destroy it through scandals.As a television producer, Congressional lawyer, leader of state and national civil rights organizations, and communications advisor to corporate and political leaders, Steven Goldstein has been a mover and shaker in every sector of American power. He knows what makes public figures likeable. Based on his twenty-five years of experience and original teachings, Goldstein tells us why we like certain people, and dislike others, in politics, business, and entertainment. Why do we let some into our personal world and refuse to let others enter? Goldstein has developed a paradigm that describes how we fall in like, reminiscent of falling in love, with the public figures who shape our lives. And Goldstein names names. Why do we like Ellen DeGeneres and Morgan Freeman, yet find Gwyneth Paltrow sometimes maddening? Why do we like Warren Buffett, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Google’s Sundar Pichai aside from their products and profits? And apart from our ideology, why do some of us like Barack and Michelle Obama and others Donald Trump, and what does Ben Franklin have to do with any of it? Goldstein identifies eight traits of likeability that every public figure reveals to us in pairs, with each pair deepening our relationship with that person. The pairs are: Captivation and HopeAuthenticity and RelatabilityProtectiveness and ReliabilityPerceptiveness and CompassionGoldstein not only tells us how we fall in like with public figures, but he also reveals the behind-the-scenes players in politics, business and entertainment who shape who we like. Likeability isn’t just something you have or you don’t. Likeability can be manufactured—and it can be destroyed. Public figures can be their own worst enemies in saying or doing things that turn us off. Why do we forgive some but not others?The Turn-On will make you think twice about a celebrity reinvention, a glamorous media appearance or a perfectly crafted speech, and will give you tools to take control of your own likeability and become more like your favorite star.
The Turnaway Study: The Cost of Denying Women Access to Abortion
by Diana Greene Foster&“If you read only one book about democracy, The Turnaway Study should be it. Why? Because without the power to make decisions about our own bodies, there is no democracy.&” —Gloria Steinem The &“remarkable&” (The New Yorker) landmark study of the consequences on women&’s lives—emotional, physical, financial, professional, personal, and psychological—of receiving versus being denied an abortion that &“should be required reading for every judge, member of Congress, and candidate for office—as well as anyone who hopes to better understand this complex and important issue&” (Cecile Richards).What happens when a woman seeking an abortion is turned away? To answer this question, Diana Greene Foster assembled a team of scientists—psychologists, epidemiologists, demographers, nurses, physicians, economists, sociologists, and public health researchers—to conduct a ten-year study. They followed a thousand women from across America, some of whom received abortions, some of whom were turned away. Now, for the first time, Dr. Foster presents the results of this landmark study in one extraordinary, groundbreaking book. Judges, politicians, and pro-life advocates routinely defend their anti-abortion stance by claiming that abortion is physically risky and leads to depression and remorse. Dr. Foster&’s data proves the opposite to be true. Foster documents the outcomes for women who received and were denied an abortion, analyzing the impact on their mental and physical health, their careers, their romantic relationships, and their other children, if they have them. Women who received an abortion were better off by almost every measure than women who did not, and five years after they receive an abortion, 99 percent of women do not regret it. As the national debate around abortion intensifies, The Turnaway Study offers the first thorough, data-driven examination of the negative consequences for women who cannot get abortions and provides incontrovertible evidence to refute the claim that abortion harms women. Interwoven with the study findings are ten &“engaging, in-depth&” (Ms. Magazine) first-person narratives. Candid, intimate, and deeply revealing, they bring to life the women and the stories behind the science. Revelatory, essential, and &“particularly relevant now&” (HuffPost), this is a must-read for anyone who cares about the impact of abortion and abortion restrictions on people&’s lives.
The Turning: Why the State of the Family Matters, and What the World Can Do about It
by Richard Eyre Linda EyreIt is easy to find alarming statistics on escalating violence, addiction and economic inequality in developed countries and stubborn poverty in the third world. The fascinating question has to do with cause. New York Times #1 bestselling authors Richard and Linda Eyre's new book The Turning: Why the State of the Family Matters and What the World Can Do about It contends that the social and economic challenges faced not only in the United States, but throughout the world, are the direct result of an unprecedented and widespread turning away from family. The negative effects of this turning are apparent in the youth of the world today: In São Paulo, Brazil, more than 1.2 million "street children" are addicted to cocaine; Suicide is the third leading cause of death for American fifteen-to-twenty-four-year-olds; Great Ormond Street Hospital in London has treated girls as young as seven or eight for eating disorders; In Ethiopia, nearly half of the children under the age of six work 30-hour weeks; and In the past year there have been over 64 school shootings in the U.S., equaling more than one shooting a week. The Turning uses research findings, statistics (like those listed above), and the Eyres' personal experiences at home and abroad to show that families are essential to the survival and success of civilization. With the well-being of the world at risk, The Turning will move readers in a way that will raise personal reflection, discussion, and action to return the family to its necessary position as the recognized and prioritized basic unit of society. But far more than a book of statistics and political suggestions, this is a book for parents--parents who want to better understand the world their children are growing up in and who want to create a family culture that is stronger than the internet culture, the peer culture, and all the other influences that flurry around our children every day. As Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat opened our eyes to the cause-and-effect aspects of the global economy, The Turning will open the eyes of readers across the world to the means-and-ends connections between stable families and households and the world's ability to meet its social and economic challenges. As Harvard's Clayton Christensen and best-selling author of The Innovator's Dilemma states, "This book gives us a common cause, and a clear way to frame and explain the causality of today's problems." In the spirit of Friedman's The World is Flat, Richard and Linda Eyre examine the connections between the world's mounting social problems and the breakdown of families and look deeply at the root causes of family disintegration--the false paradigms that confuse the priorities of parents and influence the kind of policies and practices in larger institutions (from media to government) that threaten families both economically and emotionally.
The Tweetable Pope: A Spiritual Revolution in 140 Characters
by Michael J. O'LoughlinBoston Globe journalist and Catholic commentator Michael O’Loughlin opens a wonderful window into the heart and revolutionary mission of Pope Francis by examining his extensive and revelatory use of social media—published to coincide with the pontiff’s visit to the United States in September 2015.Michael O’Loughlin uses Pope Francis’s almost daily “tweets” to his 21 million followers to explain why this pope has captured the world’s imagination and to explore his strategy and vision for the Catholic Church. Grouped by the Pope’s most pressing concerns—forgiveness, mercy, injustice, poverty, war, joy, the environment, and more—The Tweetable Pope uses Francis’ pithy 140-character (or fewer) missives as a prism to view the biographical, historical, and spiritual context of his messages and how each is part of a larger vision.O’Loughlin contends that these seemingly simple communications provide a direct line to the Pope’s heart, illuminating a peaceful, loving, and courageous visionary committed to restoring the church to the original Christian tenets of its founder, Jesus Christ—love, mercy, grace, and compassion—and reshaping it as a force for change to help the most needy. A thoughtful and enlightening examination of how the pope is using this exciting and fascinating new medium to communicate directly to his flock, The Tweetable Pope is an inspiring and moving testimony of how we, too, can be more centered on what matters most to God.
The Twentieth-Century American City: Problem, Promise, and Reality (The American Moment)
by Jon C. TeafordModern cities embody America’s successes and failures—while offering hope for the future.Throughout the twentieth century, the city was deemed a problematic space, one that Americans urgently needed to improve. Although cities from New York to Los Angeles served as grand monuments to wealth and enterprise, they also reflected the social and economic fragmentation of the nation. Race, ethnicity, and class splintered the metropolis both literally and figuratively, thwarting efforts to create a harmonious whole. The urban landscape revealed what was right—and wrong—with both the country and its citizens’ way of life. In this thoroughly revised edition of his highly acclaimed book, Jon C. Teaford updates the story of urban America by expanding his discussion to cover the end of the twentieth century and the first years of the next millennium. A new chapter on urban revival initiatives at the close of the century focuses on the fight over suburban sprawl as well as the mixed success of reimagining historic urban cores as hip new residential and cultural hubs. The book also explores the effects of the late-century immigration boom from Latin America and Asia, which has complicated the metropolitan ethnic portrait.Drawing on wide-ranging primary and secondary sources, Teaford describes the complex social, political, economic, and physical development of US urban areas over the course of the long twentieth century. Touching on aging central cities, technoburbs, and the ongoing conflict between inner-city poverty and urban boosterism, The Twentieth-Century American City offers a broad, accessible overview of America’s persistent struggle for a better city.
The Twenty-One: The True Story of the Youth Who Sued the U.S. Government Over Climate Change
by Elizabeth RuschCompelling and timely, award-winning author Elizabeth Rusch’s The Twenty-One tells the gripping inside story of the ongoing landmark federal climate change lawsuit, Juliana vs. United States of America. The Twenty-One is for readers of Christina Soontornvat’s All Thirteen, fans of Steve Sheinkin’s books, and anyone interested in the environment and climate change, as well as youth activism, politics and government, and the law. From severe flooding in Louisiana to wildfires in the Pacific Northwest to melting permafrost in Alaska, catastrophic climate events are occurring more frequently—and severely—than ever. And these events are having a direct impact on the lives (and futures) of young people and their families. In the ongoing landmark case Juliana vs. United States, twenty-one young plaintiffs claim that the government’s support of the fossil-fuel industry is actively contributing to climate change, and that all citizens have a constitutional right to a stable climate—especially children and young adults, because they cannot vote and will inherit the problems of the future.Elizabeth Rusch’s The Twenty-One is a gripping legal and environmental thriller that tells the story of twenty-one young people and their ongoing case against the U.S. government for denying their constitutional right to life and liberty. A rich, informative, and multifaceted read, The Twenty-One stars the young plaintiffs and their attorneys; illuminates the workings of the United States’s judicial system and the relationship between government, citizens’ rights, and the environment; and asks readers to think deeply about the future of our planet. Features extensive backmatter, including a timeline, glossary, call to action, additional resources, and photographs.
The Twilight of Britain: Cultural Nationalism, Multi-Culturalism and the Politics of Toleration
by G. Gordon Betts"Betts is to be commended on his careful and insightful elucidation of the complex and novel sets of dilemnas now facing the British people at a time of superficial calm masking serious divisions."--AlbionThe erosion of British sovereignty, national identity and culture, the subversion of its history and traditions, and the demoralization of its institutions and public services, are a source of increasing unease to many. The process began, Betts argues, with the end of the colonial empires. Since the beginning of the last decade, concern about the consequences has been heightened by global instability. The demise of the Communist empire, the rise of national independence movements, and the eruption of long standing and bitter ethno-national conflicts have resulted in a mass migration of economic refugees and asylum seekers to Britain and other Western nations. In Britain, public attitudes are ambivalent. In part this is a consequence of the promotion of the myth of the multiracial Commonwealth, the regional devolution of the United Kingdom, and the transition from a European Economic Union into a politically federalized European super-state. Britain's national interests have become secondary to those of the United Nations and an inchoate and unwilling international community. Influenced by an outmoded UN Convention on Refugees and the lack of a consistent immigration policy and failure of those immigration controls that do exist, gradual but major political, social, and cultural shifts have occurred without the express consent of the majority of the British electorate. Virtually all public debate by the government and by politicians on these issues has been taboo, effectively silenced by fear of being accused of xenophobia, discrimination, and racism. The result is cynicism and disenchantment with the political process as a whole. Betts's objective is to promote responsible and informed discussion of these issues. In the absence of this, he warns, we risk the twilight of a harmonious British society, diminished pride in British institutions and national identity, and competing and conflicting separatist ethnic, racial, and cultural claims. Twilight of Britain will be of interest to general readers, those interested in modern Britain and Europe, as well as sociologists, political scientists, and philosophers. G. Gordon Betts was educated in the Universities of Cambridge, Birmingham, Greenwich, and Kent at Canterbury. He is a chartered chemical engineer, having spent his professional career with a major British oil company in the petrochemical industry.
The Twilight of Social Conservatism: American Culture Wars in the Obama Era
by John DombrinkDespite many Americans’ triumphant proclamations that Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 elections signified a post-partisan, post-racial society, it seems that the United States is more divided than ever. From the rise of the Tea Party, to strident anti-immigration and anti-welfare movements, to the so-called “war on women”, the United States on its surface appears to be caught in the turmoil of a culture war that has not relented since the Reagan era. But, as John Dombrink writes in The Twilight of Social Conservatism, the conservative backlash seen during Obama’s presidency is indicative not of a rising social conservative force in society, but of a waning one.Drawing on demographic research, political polls, contemporary media, and internet commentary, Dombrink demonstrates that the vitality of major social conservative ideas from the culture war era has faded. Support for once-divisive wedge issues, like same-sex marriage and reproductive rights, has increased dramatically, and Americans, particularly young Americans, are less religious and more libertarian than ever before. As he traces the end of the culture wars and the “unwedging” of American politics over the last eight years, Dombrink is quick to caution that social conservatism has not disappeared entirely from view. Nevertheless, the once-prominent “Moral Majority” pushing for dominance in American culture is now reconsidering itself as a minority, and Dombrink argues that it is unlikely that social conservative forces will ever regain the power and potency they once held in American politics. A comprehensive and insightful work, The Twilight of Social Conservatism deftly analyzes the liberalizing trends that created the social and political culture America has today and that portend to the culture America will have in years to come.
The Twilight of the American Enlightenment: The 1950s and the Crisis of Liberal Belief
by George MarsdenIn the aftermath of World War II, the United States stood at a precipice. The forces of modernity unleashed by the war had led to astonishing advances in daily life, but technology and mass culture also threatened to erode the country’s traditional moral character. As award-winning historian George M. Marsden explains in [Title TK], postwar Americans looked to the country’s secular, liberal elites for guidance in this precarious time, but these intellectuals proved unable to articulate a coherent common cause by which America could chart its course. Their failure lost them the faith of their constituents, paving the way for a Christian revival that offered America a firm new moral vision-one rooted in the Protestant values of the founders. A groundbreaking reappraisal of the country’s spiritual reawakening, [Title TK] shows how America found new purpose at the dawn of the Cold War.
The Twitter Book (O'reilly Ser.)
by Tim O'Reilly Sarah MilsteinTwitter is not just for talking about your breakfast anymore. It's become an indispensable communications tool for businesses, non-profits, celebrities, and people around the globe. With the second edition of this friendly, full-color guide, you'll quickly get up to speed not only on standard features, but also on new options and nuanced uses that will help you tweet with confidence. Co-written by two widely recognized Twitter experts, The Twitter Book is packed with all-new real-world examples, solid advice, and clear explanations guaranteed to turn you into a power user. Use Twitter to connect with colleagues, customers, family, and friends Stand out on Twitter Avoid common gaffes and pitfalls Build a critical communications channel with Twitter--and use the best third-party tools to manage it. Want to learn how to use Twitter like a pro? Get the book that readers and critics alike rave about.
The Twittering Machine
by Richard SeymourA brilliant probe into the political and psychological effects of our changing relationship with social mediaFormer social media executives tell us that the system is an addiction-machine. We are users, waiting for our next hit as we like, comment and share. We write to the machine as individuals, but it responds by aggregating our fantasies, desires and frailties into data, and returning them to us as a commodity experience. The Twittering Machine is an unflinching view into the calamities of digital life: the circus of online trolling, flourishing alt-right subcultures, pervasive corporate surveillance, and the virtual data mines of Facebook and Google where we spend considerable portions of our free time. In this polemical tour de force, Richard Seymour shows how the digital world is changing the ways we speak, write, and think. Through journalism, psychoanalytic reflection and insights from users, developers, security experts and others, Seymour probes the human side of the machine, asking what we&’re getting out of it, and what we&’re getting into. Social media held out the promise that we could make our own history–to what extent did we choose the nightmare that it has become?
The Two Sides of the Business Family: Governance and Strategy Across Generations (Management for Professionals)
by Tom A. Rüsen Arist von Schlippe Torsten GrothThis book focuses on a central success factor for family businesses: maintaining the decision-making ability over generations while not jeopardizing the business due to family conflict, inefficient governance structures, or lack of identification. The authors identify that this is not as easy as the endeavor to bring two social systems together with contradicting logic (family and business) leads to many dangerous pitfalls. This book presents outcomes of a unique research project in which family managers of eleven of the oldest and largest German family businesses, at least the fourth generation, met for more than three years on a regular basis and presented the essence of their family governance structures to each other and to the authors. It was a joint “learning journey” that admits identifying twelve core questions that these families had been answering to keep up the relationship between family and business successfully over generations. Obviously, there is no “right” answer to these questions. The key to success is rather engaging the families in a process to find out their own answers and make them aware of the “two sides”: being a family is different from being a business family.
The Two Sovereigns: Social Contradictions of European Modernity
by Keith TesterThis book is invariably stimulating, containing many interesting and provocative ideas on issues central both to social theory and to making sense of the world(s) in which we live. It develops a series of original images or metaphors - gardens v. allotments, double strangers and so on - as aids to understanding social processes. Lively, bold and assured it will interest students of social theory, political science and philosophy.
The Two-Income Trap
by Elizabeth Warren Amelia Warren TyagiIn this revolutionary exposé, Harvard Law School bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren and financial consultant Amelia Tyagi show that today's middle-class parents are increasingly trapped by financial meltdowns. Astonishingly, sending mothers to work has made families more vulnerable to financial disaster than ever before. Today's two-income family earns 75% more money than its single-income counterpart of a generation ago, but has 25% less discretionary income to cover living costs. This is "the rare financial book that sidesteps accusations of individual wastefulness to focus on institutional changes," raved the Boston Globe. Warren and Tyagi reveal how the ferocious bidding war for housing and education has silently engulfed America's suburbs, driving up the cost of keeping families in the middle class. The authors show why the usual remedies-child-support enforcement, subsidized daycare, and higher salaries for women-won't solve the problem. But as the Wall Street Journal observed, "The book is brimming with proposed solutions to the nail-biting anxiety that the middle class finds itself in: subsidized day care, school vouchers, new bank regulation, among other measures. " From Senator Edward M. Kennedy to Dr. Phil to Bill Moyers, The Two-Income Trap has created a sensation among economists, politicians, and families-all those who care about America's middle-class crisis.
The Two-Income Trap
by Elizabeth Warren Amelia Warren TyagiIn this revolutionary exposé, Harvard Law School bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren and financial consultant Amelia Tyagi show that today's middle-class parents are increasingly trapped by financial meltdowns. Astonishingly, sending mothers to work has made families more vulnerable to financial disaster than ever before. Today's two-income family earns 75% more money than its single-income counterpart of a generation ago, but has 25% less discretionary income to cover living costs. This is "the rare financial book that sidesteps accusations of individual wastefulness to focus on institutional changes," raved the Boston Globe. Warren and Tyagi reveal how the ferocious bidding war for housing and education has silently engulfed America's suburbs, driving up the cost of keeping families in the middle class. The authors show why the usual remedies-child-support enforcement, subsidized daycare, and higher salaries for women-won't solve the problem. But as the Wall Street Journal observed, "The book is brimming with proposed solutions to the nail-biting anxiety that the middle class finds itself in: subsidized day care, school vouchers, new bank regulation, among other measures." From Senator Edward M. Kennedy to Dr. Phil to Bill Moyers, The Two-Income Trap has created a sensation among economists, politicians, and families-all those who care about America's middle-class crisis.
The Two-Income Trap
by Elizabeth Warren Amelia Warren TyagiIn this revolutionary exposé, Harvard Law School bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren and financial consultant Amelia Tyagi show that today's middle-class parents are increasingly trapped by financial meltdowns. Astonishingly, sending mothers to work has made families more vulnerable to financial disaster than ever before. Today's two-income family earns 75% more money than its single-income counterpart of a generation ago, but has 25% less discretionary income to cover living costs. This is "the rare financial book that sidesteps accusations of individual wastefulness to focus on institutional changes," raved the Boston Globe. Warren and Tyagi reveal how the ferocious bidding war for housing and education has silently engulfed America's suburbs, driving up the cost of keeping families in the middle class. The authors show why the usual remedies-child-support enforcement, subsidized daycare, and higher salaries for women-won't solve the problem. But as the Wall Street Journal observed, "The book is brimming with proposed solutions to the nail-biting anxiety that the middle class finds itself in: subsidized day care, school vouchers, new bank regulation, among other measures. " From Senator Edward M. Kennedy to Dr. Phil to Bill Moyers, The Two-Income Trap has created a sensation among economists, politicians, and families-all those who care about America's middle-class crisis.
The Two-Income Trap
by Elizabeth Warren Amelia Warren TyagiIn this revolutionary exposé, Harvard Law School bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren and financial consultant Amelia Tyagi show that today's middle-class parents are increasingly trapped by financial meltdowns. Astonishingly, sending mothers to work has made families more vulnerable to financial disaster than ever before. Today's two-income family earns 75% more money than its single-income counterpart of a generation ago, but has 25% less discretionary income to cover living costs. This is "the rare financial book that sidesteps accusations of individual wastefulness to focus on institutional changes," raved the Boston Globe. Warren and Tyagi reveal how the ferocious bidding war for housing and education has silently engulfed America's suburbs, driving up the cost of keeping families in the middle class. The authors show why the usual remedies-child-support enforcement, subsidized daycare, and higher salaries for women-won't solve the problem. But as the Wall Street Journal observed, "The book is brimming with proposed solutions to the nail-biting anxiety that the middle class finds itself in: subsidized day care, school vouchers, new bank regulation, among other measures." From Senator Edward M. Kennedy to Dr. Phil to Bill Moyers, The Two-Income Trap has created a sensation among economists, politicians, and families-all those who care about America's middle-class crisis.
The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Parents Are (Still) Going Broke
by Elizabeth Warren Amelia Warren TyagiMore than two decades ago, the women's movement flung open the doors of the workplace. Although this social revolution created a firestorm of controversy, no one questioned the idea that women's involvement in the workforce was certain to improve families' financial lot. Until now.In this brilliantly argued book, Harvard Law School bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren and business consultant Amelia Tyagi show that today's middle-class parents are suffering from an unprecedented and totally unexpected economic meltdown. Astonishingly, sending mothers to work has made families more vulnerable than ever before. Today's two-income family earns 75% more money than its single-income counterpart of a generation ago, but actually has less discretionary income once their fixed monthly bills are paid.How did this happen? Warren and Tyagi provide convincing evidence that the culprit is not "overconsumption," as many critics have charged. Instead, they point to the ferocious bidding war for housing and education that has quietly engulfed America's suburbs. Stay-at-home mothers once provided a financial safety net if disaster struck; their move into the workforce has left today's families chillingly at risk. The authors show why the usual remedies--child-support enforcement, subsidized daycare, and higher salaries for women--won't solve the problem, and propose a set of innovative solutions, from rate caps on credit cards to open-access public schools, to restore security to the middle class.
The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Parents Are Going Broke
by Elizabeth Warren Amelia Warren TyagiIn this revolutionary exposé, Harvard Law School bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren and financial consultant Amelia Tyagi show that today's middle-class parents are increasingly trapped by financial meltdowns. Astonishingly, sending mothers to work has made families more vulnerable to financial disaster than ever before. Today's two-income family earns 75% more money than its single-income counterpart of a generation ago, but has 25% less discretionary income to cover living costs. This is "the rare financial book that sidesteps accusations of individual wastefulness to focus on institutional changes," raved the Boston Globe. Warren and Tyagi reveal how the ferocious bidding war for housing and education has silently engulfed America's suburbs, driving up the cost of keeping families in the middle class. The authors show why the usual remedies-child-support enforcement, subsidized daycare, and higher salaries for women-won't solve the problem. But as the Wall Street Journal observed, "The book is brimming with proposed solutions to the nail-biting anxiety that the middle class finds itself in: subsidized day care, school vouchers, new bank regulation, among other measures. " From Senator Edward M. Kennedy to Dr. Phil to Bill Moyers, The Two-Income Trap has created a sensation among economists, politicians, and families-all those who care about America's middle-class crisis.
The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind
by Melissa S. KearneyThe surprising story of how declining marriage rates are driving many of the country’s biggest economic problems. In The Two-Parent Privilege, Melissa S. Kearney makes a provocative, data-driven case for marriage by showing how the institution’s decline has led to a host of economic woes—problems that have fractured American society and rendered vulnerable populations even more vulnerable. Eschewing the religious and values-based arguments that have long dominated this conversation, Kearney shows how the greatest impacts of marriage are, in fact, economic: when two adults marry, their economic and household lives improve, offering a host of benefits not only for the married adults but for their children. Studies show that these effects are today starker, and more unevenly distributed, than ever before. Kearney examines the underlying causes of the marriage decline in the US and draws lessons for how the US can reverse this trend to ensure the country’s future prosperity. Based on more than a decade of economic research, including her original work, Kearney shows that a household that includes two married parents—holding steady among upper-class adults, increasingly rare among most everyone else—functions as an economic vehicle that advantages some children over others. As these trends of marriage and class continue, the compounding effects on inequality and opportunity grow increasingly dire. Their effects include not just children’s behavioral and educational outcomes, but a surprisingly devastating effect on adult men, whose role in the workforce and society appears intractably damaged by the emerging economics of America’s new social norms. For many, the two-parent home may be an old-fashioned symbol of the idyllic American dream. But The Two-Parent Privilege makes it clear that marriage, for all its challenges and faults, may be our best path to a more equitable future. By confronting the critical role that family makeup plays in shaping children’s lives and futures, Kearney offers a critical assessment of what a decline in marriage means for an economy and a society—and what we must do to change course.
The Tyranny of E-mail: The Four-thousand-year Journey to Your Inbox
by John Freeman"The computer and e-mail were sold to us as tools of liberation, but they have actually inhibited our ability to conduct our lives mindfully, with the deliberation and consideration that are the hallmark of true agency." The first e-mail was sent less than forty years ago; by 2011, there will be 3.2 billion e-mail users. The average corporate worker now receives upwards of two hundred e-mails per day. The flood of messages is ceaseless and follows us everywhere. We check e-mail in transit; we check it in the bath. We check it before bed and upon waking up. We check it even in midconversation, blithely assuming no one will notice. We no longer make our own to-do list. E-mail does. It's time for a break. In The Tyranny of E-mail, John Freeman takes an entertaining look at the nature of correspondence through the ages. From love poems delivered on clay tablets to the art of the letter to the first era of information overload (via the telegraph) to the vast network brought on by the Internet, Freeman answers the difficult question, Where is this taking us? Put down your BlackBerry and consider the consequences. As the toll of e-mail mounts by reducing our time for leisure and contemplation and by separating us from one another in an unending and lonely battle with the overfull inbox, John Freeman -- one of America's preeminent literary critics -- enters a plea for communication that is more selective and nuanced and, above all, more sociable.
The Tyranny of Generosity: Why Philanthropy Corrupts Our Politics and How We Can Fix It
by Theodore M. LechtermanThe practice of philanthropy, which releases private property for public purposes, represents in many ways the best angels of our nature. But this practice's noteworthy virtues often obscure the fact that philanthropy also represents the exercise of private power. <p><p>In The Tyranny of Generosity, Theodore Lechterman shows how this private power can threaten the foundations of a democratic society. The deployment of private wealth for public ends may rival the authority of communities to determine their own affairs. And, in societies characterized by wide disparities in wealth, philanthropy often combines with background inequalities to make public decisions overwhelmingly sensitive to the preferences of the rich. Allowing private wealth to dictate social outcomes collides with core commitments of a democratic society, a society in which people are supposed to determine their common affairs together, on equal terms. <p><p>But why exactly is democracy valuable? How should these values be weighed against the liberty of donors and the many social benefits that philanthropy promises? Lechterman explores these questions by examining various topics in the practice of philanthropy: the respective roles of philanthropy and government, public subsidies for private giving, the use of donations for political speech, instruments of perpetual giving, the rise in giving by commercial corporations, and "effective altruism" as a guide for individual giving. <p><p>These studies build to a surprising conclusion: realizing the democratic ideal may be impossible without philanthropy—but making philanthropy safe for democracy also requires fundamental changes to policy and practice.