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Congratulations, by the way: Some Thoughts on Kindness
by George SaundersThree months after George Saunders gave a convocation address at Syracuse University, a transcript of that speech was posted on the website of The New York Times, where its simple, uplifting message struck a deep chord. Within days, it had been shared more than one million times. Why? Because Saunders's words tap into a desire in all of us to lead kinder, more fulfilling lives. Powerful, funny, and wise, Congratulations, by the way is an inspiring message from one of today's most influential and original writers.From the Hardcover edition.
Congregations in America
by Mark ChavesMore Americans belong to religious congregations than to any other kind of voluntary association. What these vast numbers amount to--what people are doing in the over 300,000 churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples in the United States--is a question that resonates through every quarter of American society, particularly in these times of "faith-based initiatives," "moral majorities," and militant fundamentalism. And it is a question answered in depth and in detail in Congregations in America. Drawing on the 1998 National Congregations Study--the first systematic study of its kind--as well as a broad range of quantitative, qualitative, and historical evidence, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the most significant form of collective religious expression in American society: local congregations. Among its more surprising findings, Congregations in America reveals that, despite the media focus on the political and social activities of religious groups, the arts are actually far more central to the workings of congregations. Here we see how, far from emphasizing the pursuit of charity or justice through social services or politics, congregations mainly traffic in ritual, knowledge, and beauty through the cultural activities of worship, religious education, and the arts. Along with clarifying--and debunking--arguments on both sides of the debate over faith-based initiatives, the information presented here comprises a unique and invaluable resource, answering previously unanswerable questions about the size, nature, make-up, finances, activities, and proclivities of these organizations at the very center of American life.
Congregations in Europe
by Christophe Monnot Jörg StolzThis volume describes and maps congregations of Christian confessions and denominations, as well as groups with Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, and various other spiritual faiths, in different European countries. Consisting of three parts, it presents concrete sociological studies addressing how established and not established, old and new congregations of various faiths create a new kind of religious diversity at the country level; how religious congregations are challenged and thrive in large cities; and how religious congregations change in the 21st century. The book enlightens by its descriptive analysis and the theoretical questions it raises concerning the religious transformations happening all over Europe. It addresses issues of religious diversity in the cities of Europe by presenting large studies conducted in cities such as Barcelona in Spain, and Aarhus in Denmark. By means of large-scale censuses taken in areas such as North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany and in countries like Switzerland and Italy, the book shows how the historically established churches restructure their congregations and activities. It clarifies for the new gatherers where and how a new diversity of religious congregations is in the process of being established. Finally, the book covers two important topical issues: pluralisation and secularisation. It provides new data on religious diversity, painting a new picture of secularisation: the impact and structural consequences of the long-term decrease of membership in the established churches.
Conjectures and Confrontations: Science, Evolution, Social Concern
by Robin FoxThis is the third in the series of volumes of essays that Robin Fox began with Reproduction and Succession and continued with The Challenge of Anthropology. Fox who has been described as "the conscience of anthropology" continues to have the same aim: to expose readers in the social sciences and beyond to the consequences of "the biosocial orientation," and to assess the "state of the art" in anthropology in particular and the social sciences in general.As always he encompasses a wide range of topics: Why do bureaucracies fail? Are we really an innovative animal? Is nationalism a purely constructed phenomenon? What is the role of sexual competition in epic literature? In all these enquiries he tries to show in non-technical language how the evolutionary approach throws new light on old problems--and even raises new and more interesting problems. He pursues the issue of whether we have a naturally developed moral sense, and if so what it could possibly be (on the way attempting a definitive definition of the good); he looks at the status of the idea of self-interest in economic and biological science; he examines the current state of archaeology as a basis for a renewed scientific anthropology; and he tries to adjudicate the debate between the scientific and humanistic camps in the social sciences.
Conjectures and Evidences: Methods of Inquiry in the Political and Social Sciences with Elementary Statistics
by Rakhahari Chatterji Partha Pratim Basu Jyotiprasad Chatterjee Suprio BasuThis book examines some of the major and most commonly used methods and statistics necessary for social science research. It is meant primarily for the beginners, and hence does not require any prior training in research methodology or statistics. The methods discussed include aggregate data analysis, the method of survey research, experimental and quasi-experimental research designs, participant observation, content analysis, and focus groups study. In a separate chapter the issue of quantitative and qualitative research methods and their uses has been discussed. An attempt has been made to assess these methods especially from the point of view of their adoption and application by social scientists working in the developing economies. Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan or Bhutan)
Conjugal America: On the Public Purposes of Marriage
by Allan C. CarlsonThe institution of marriage has become perilously weak in America. Changes in the law over the past three decades, such as the spread of no-fault divorce and broad acquiescence to cultures of divorce and intentional childlessness, have stripped traditional marriage of important legal supports. Half of all marriages end in divorce and just as many are childless. Conjugal America seeks to recapture the real purposes of marriage and the unchanging nature of this most vital and fundamental human institution.Confronting contemporary issues and drawing heavily on the natural and social sciences, each chapter also reaches into the past to find truths grounded in human experience. Carlson reexamines the basic bond of marriage to procreation, showing that this tie has been no less than the foundation of the unwritten sexual constitution of Western civilization. He also shows how the Gnostic heresy, which despises procreation, posed a stark danger to the early Christian movement and to ""the sexual constitution"" of our own time as well. He then dissects claims regarding the ""evolution of marriage,"" showing that true marriage always represents the vital connection of the sexual with the economic.Carlson explores the political nature of marriage showing, why every ambitious totalitarian government seeks above all to destroy marriage, and why the true marital bond actually stands for liberty. He concludes by arguing for the necessity of marriage policy. Because both the nature of the centralizing state and the pressures of modernity have altered family circumstances, new protections and encouragements to marriage are now imperative. Conjugal America will be central to the new debate on marriage and its purposes. This book sees the current moment as an opportunity to revitalize a necessary institution that has recently been abused and neglected and reinstate it as the primary source of commitment and care in the modern world.
Conjugations
by Sangita GopalBollywood movies have been long known for their colorful song-and-dance numbers and knack for combining drama, comedy, action-adventure, and music. But when India entered the global marketplace in the early 1990s, its film industry transformed radically. Production and distribution of films became regulated, advertising and marketing created a largely middle-class audience, and films began to fit into genres like science fiction and horror. In this bold study of what she names New Bollywood, Sangita Gopal contends that the key to understanding these changes is to analyze films' evolving treatment of romantic relationships. Gopalargues that the form of the conjugal duo in movies reflects other social forces in India's new consumerist and global society. She takes a daring look at recent Hindi films and movie trends--the decline of song-and-dance sequences, the upgraded status of the horror genre, and the rise of the multiplex and multi-plot--to demonstrate how these relationships exemplify different formulas of contemporary living. A provocative account of how cultural artifacts can embody globalization's effects on intimate life, Conjugations will shake up the study of Hindi film.
Conjuring Asia
by Chris Goto-JonesThe promise of magic has always commanded the human imagination, but the story of industrial modernity is usually seen as a process of disenchantment. Drawing on the writings and performances of the so-called 'Golden Age Magicians' from the turn of the twentieth century, Chris Goto-Jones unveils the ways in which European and North American encounters with (and representations of) Asia - the fabled Mystic East - worked to re-enchant experiences of the modern world. Beginning with a reconceptualization of the meaning of 'modern magic' itself - moving beyond conventional categories of 'real' and 'fake' magic - Goto-Jones' acclaimed book guides us on a magical mystery tour around India, China and Japan, showing us levitations and decapitations, magic duels and bullet catches, goldfish bowls and paper butterflies. In the end, this mesmerizing book reveals Orientalism as a kind of magic in itself, casting a spell over Western culture that leaves it transformed even today.
Conjuring Culture: Biblical Formations of Black America (Religion In America Ser.)
by Theophus H. SmithThis book provides a sophisticated new interdisciplinary interpretation of the formulation and evolution of African American religion and culture. <p><p>Theophus Smith argues for the central importance of "conjure"—a magical means of transforming reality—in black spirituality and culture. Smith shows that the Bible, the sacred text of Western civilization, has in fact functioned as a magical formulary for African Americans. <p><p>Going back to slave religion, and continuing in black folk practice and literature to the present day, the Bible has provided African Americans with ritual prescriptions for prophetically re-envisioning, and thereby transforming, their history and culture. In effect, the Bible is a "conjure book" for prescribing cures and curses, and for invoking extraordinary and Divine powers to effect changes in the conditions of human existence—and to bring about justice and freedom. Biblical themes, symbols, and figures like Moses, the Exodus, the Promised Land, and the Suffering Servant, as deployed by African Americans, have crucially formed and reformed not only black culture but American society as a whole. <p><p>Smith examines not only the religious and political uses of conjure, but its influence on black aesthetics, in music, drama, folklore, and literature. The concept of conjure, he shows, is at the heart of indigenous and still vital spirituality, with exciting implications for reformulating the next generation of black studies and black theology. Even more broadly, Smith proposes, "conjuring culture" can function as a new paradigm for understanding Western religious and cultural phenomena generally.
Conjuring the Calabash: Empowering Women with Hoodoo Spells & Magick
by Kai EL-Jamah Bomani"This book is about Black girl magick, queer girl magick, straight girl magick, trans magick, bisexual magick. It's about giving yourself the power to be fierce...Black women are Hierophants, Magicians, Empresses, and High Priestesses."—Mawiyah Kai El-Jamah Bomani Authentic and unapologetic, this guide to magical spirituality empowers you to take back the power to heal and shine under your own strength. Written by an accomplished Hoodoo practitioner, Conjuring the Calabash features spells, recipes, and rituals that help you rise out of the constrictions around you.Mawiyah Kai El-Jamah Bomani shows you how to bless your calabash (sacred womb) with love and reawaken your fullest potential through folk traditions, personal stories, and her favorite songs and pop stars. An inclusive and intersectional voice in contemporary Hoodoo, Mawiyah will help you become your fiercest self.
Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends, and Colleagues
by David Bradford Carole RobinA transformative guide to building more fulfilling relationships with colleagues, friends, partners, and family, based on the landmark Interpersonal Dynamics (&“Touchy-Feely&”) course at Stanford&’s Graduate School of Business&“Carole Robin and David Bradford are masters at helping people bring IQ and EQ together to satisfy both and be successful.&”—Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater and author of Principles: Life and WorkThe ability to create strong relationships with others is crucial to living a full life and becoming more effective at work. Yet many of us find ourselves struggling to build solid personal and professional connections or unable to handle challenges that inevitably arise when we grow closer to others. When we find ourselves in an exceptional relationship—the kind of relationship in which we feel fully understood and supported for who we are—it can seem like magic. But the truth is that the process of building and sustaining these relationships can be described, learned, and applied.David Bradford and Carole Robin taught interpersonal skills to MBA candidates for a combined seventy-five years in their legendary Stanford Graduate School of Business course Interpersonal Dynamics (affectionately known to generations of students as &“Touchy-Feely&”) and have coached and consulted hundreds of executives for decades. In Connect, they show readers how to take their relationships from shallow to exceptional by cultivating authenticity, vulnerability, and honesty, while being willing to ask for and offer help, share a commitment to growth, and deal productively with conflict.Filled with relatable scenarios and research-backed insights, Connect is an important resource for anyone hoping to improve existing relationships and build new ones at any stage of life.
Connected Capitalism: How Jewish Wisdom Can Transform Work
by David WeitznerIn our present state of disconnect and loss, Connected Capitalism offers us a deeper and more satisfying approach to both work and life. What should our post-COVID work world look like? In Connected Capitalism, David Weitzner shows us how to draw from the classic teachings of Judaism in order to positively transform our workplaces and our working lives. He outlines a philosophy that will empower the disenchanted to build a stable future in a world of crony capitalism, global pandemics, racial injustice, and social disconnect. Weitzner, a professor of management who chooses to look beyond management and mindfulness, envisions a workplace based on the ancient Jewish practices of mitzvah, creating a space for meaningful moments with other people, and chavrusa, co-creating and working on endeavors together. Combining these spiritual concepts with the voices of today’s political strategists, business leaders, and artists, Connected Capitalism inspires us to approach our work with curiosity, engage with those who were once strangers, and tap into a hopeful and meaningful future.
Connected Code
by Yasmin B. Kafai Mitchel Resnick Quinn BurkeCoding, once considered an arcane craft practiced by solitary techies, is now recognized by educators and theorists as a crucial skill, even a new literacy, for all children. Programming is often promoted in K-12 schools as a way to encourage "computational thinking" -- which has now become the umbrella term for understanding what computer science has to contribute to reasoning and communicating in an ever-increasingly digital world.In Connected Code, Yasmin Kafai and Quinn Burke argue that although computational thinking represents an excellent starting point, the broader conception of "computational participation" better captures the twenty-first-century reality. Computational participation moves beyond the individual to focus on wider social networks and a DIY culture of digital "making." Kafai and Burke describe contemporary examples of computational participation: students who code not for the sake of coding but to create games, stories, and animations to share; the emergence of youth programming communities; the practices and ethical challenges of remixing (rather than starting from scratch); and the move beyond stationary screens to programmable toys, tools, and textiles.
Connected Code: Why Children Need to Learn Programming (The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning)
by Yasmin B. Kafai Quinn BurkeWhy every child needs to learn to code: the shift from “computational thinking” to computational participation.Coding, once considered an arcane craft practiced by solitary techies, is now recognized by educators and theorists as a crucial skill, even a new literacy, for all children. Programming is often promoted in K-12 schools as a way to encourage “computational thinking”—which has now become the umbrella term for understanding what computer science has to contribute to reasoning and communicating in an ever-increasingly digital world.In Connected Code, Yasmin Kafai and Quinn Burke argue that although computational thinking represents an excellent starting point, the broader conception of “computational participation” better captures the twenty-first-century reality. Computational participation moves beyond the individual to focus on wider social networks and a DIY culture of digital “making.”Kafai and Burke describe contemporary examples of computational participation: students who code not for the sake of coding but to create games, stories, and animations to share; the emergence of youth programming communities; the practices and ethical challenges of remixing (rather than starting from scratch); and the move beyond stationary screens to programmable toys, tools, and textiles.
Connected Community: Discovering the Health, Wealth, and Power of Neighborhoods
by Cormac RussellFind out how to uncover the hidden talents, assets, and abilities in your neighborhood and bring them together to create a vibrant and joyful community. It takes a village! We may be living longer, but people are more socially isolated than ever before. As a result, we are hindered both mentally and physically, and many of us are looking for something concrete we can do to address problems like poverty, racism, and climate change. What if solutions could be found on your very doorstep or just two door knocks away? Cormac Russell is a veteran practitioner of asset-based community development (ABCD), which focuses on uncovering and leveraging the hidden resources, skills, and experience in our neighborhoods. He and John McKnight, the cooriginator of ABCD, show how anyone can discover this untapped potential and connect with his or her neighbors to create healthier, safer, greener, more prosperous, and welcoming communities. They offer a wealth of illustrative examples from around the world that will inspire you to explore your own community and discover its hidden treasures. You will learn to take action on what you already deeply know-that neighborliness is not just a nice-to-have personal characteristic but essential to living a fruitful life and a powerful amplifier of community change and renewal.
Connected Gaming: What Making Video Games Can Teach Us about Learning and Literacy (The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning)
by Yasmin B. Kafai Quinn BurkeHow making and sharing video games offer educational benefits for coding, collaboration, and creativity.Over the last decade, video games designed to teach academic content have multiplied. Students can learn about Newtonian physics from a game or prep for entry into the army. An emphasis on the instructionist approach to gaming, however, has overshadowed the constructionist approach, in which students learn by designing their own games themselves. In this book, Yasmin Kafai and Quinn Burke discuss the educational benefits of constructionist gaming—coding, collaboration, and creativity—and the move from “computational thinking” toward “computational participation.” Kafai and Burke point to recent developments that support a shift to game making from game playing, including the game industry's acceptance, and even promotion, of “modding” and the growth of a DIY culture. Kafai and Burke show that student-designed games teach not only such technical skills as programming but also academic subjects. Making games also teaches collaboration, as students frequently work in teams to produce content and then share their games with in class or with others online. Yet Kafai and Burke don't advocate abandoning instructionist for constructionist approaches. Rather, they argue for a more comprehensive, inclusive idea of connected gaming in which both making and gaming play a part.
Connected Play: Tweens in a Virtual World
by Yasmin B. Kafai Deborah A. FieldsMillions of children visit virtual worlds every day. In such virtual play spaces as Habbo Hotel, Toontown, and Whyville, kids chat with friends from school, meet new people, construct avatars, and earn and spend virtual currency. In "Connected Play," Yasmin Kafai and Deborah Fields investigate what happens when kids play in virtual worlds, how this matters for their offline lives, and what this means for the design of educational opportunities in digital worlds. Play is fundamentally important for kids development, but, Kafai and Fields argue, to understand play in virtual worlds, we need to connect concerns of development and culture with those of digital media and learning. Kafai and Fields do this through a detailed study of kids play in Whyville, a massive, informal virtual world with educational content for tween players. Combining ethnographic accounts with analysis of logfile data, they present rich portraits and overviews of how kids learn to play in a digital domain, developing certain technological competencies; how kids learn to play well -- responsibly, respectfully, and safely; and how kids learn to play creatively, creating content that becomes a part of the virtual world itself.
Connected Play: Tweens in a Virtual World (The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning)
by Yasmin B. Kafai Deborah A. FieldsHow kids play in virtual worlds, how it matters for their offline lives, and what this means for designing educational opportunities.Millions of children visit virtual worlds every day. In such virtual play spaces as Habbo Hotel, Toontown, and Whyville, kids chat with friends from school, meet new people, construct avatars, and earn and spend virtual currency. In Connected Play, Yasmin Kafai and Deborah Fields investigate what happens when kids play in virtual worlds, how this matters for their offline lives, and what this means for the design of educational opportunities in digital worlds. Play is fundamentally important for kids' development, but, Kafai and Fields argue, to understand play in virtual worlds, we need to connect concerns of development and culture with those of digital media and learning. Kafai and Fields do this through a detailed study of kids' play in Whyville, a massive, informal virtual world with educational content for tween players. Combining ethnographic accounts with analysis of logfile data, they present rich portraits and overviews of how kids learn to play in a digital domain, developing certain technological competencies; how kids learn to play well—responsibly, respectfully, and safely; and how kids learn to play creatively, creating content that becomes a part of the virtual world itself.
Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives
by Nicholas A. Christakis James H. FowlerYour colleague's husband's sister can make you fat, even if you don't know her. A happy neighbor has more impact on your happiness than a happy spouse. These startling revelations of how much we truly influence one another are revealed in the studies of Drs. Christakis and Fowler, which have repeatedly made front-page news nationwide. In CONNECTED, the authors explain why emotions are contagious, how health behaviors spread, why the rich get richer, even how we find and choose our partners. Intriguing and entertaining, CONNECTED overturns the notion of the individual and provides a revolutionary paradigm-that social networks influence our ideas, emotions, health, relationships, behavior, politics, and much more. It will change the way we think about every aspect of our lives.
Connectedness, Resilience and Empowerment: Perspectives on Community Development (Community Quality-of-Life and Well-Being)
by Rhonda Phillips Daniel MuiaThis book discusses how aspects of connectedness, resilience and empowerment are intertwined in community development processes. It explicitly brings together these elements in the context of community development and well-being, helping foster an understanding of how each influences the other. With chapters contributed by scholars from around the globe, this volume provides insights into how these elements of community influence and support the quality of life of communities. While several of the chapters address the foundational and theoretical bases of community development as well as community well-being, others address topical and emergent areas of interest in community development practice and scholarship. Underscoring the chapters is an awareness of the importance of the community spirit, which is the voice and agency of people coming together to encourage social transformation. A key element of the book is also to help foster change for the better in communities. This book is of interest to researchers and professionals working in the area of community engagement and development, particularly those in resource-poor countries.
Connectedness: How the Best Leaders Create Authentic Human Connection in a Disconnected World
by Des Dearlove Lisa HumphriesImprove talent retention and employee productivity by encouraging connectedness in your firm In Connectedness, British business journalist and management theorist Des Dearlove delivers an insightful and practical discussion of how firms can build meaningful and authentic connections with their employees, encouraging productivity, improving talent retention, and creating an enduring competitive advantage. You’ll find out why the latest peer-reviewed research lends support to the notion that it is the nature of interpersonal environments – and not compensation – that many employees consider to be the most impactful when they’re deciding whether to exit a job. In the book, you’ll: Explore the most important factors that determine the connectedness of a healthy working environment Common mistakes and myths about employee wellbeing that sidetrack managerial efforts to improve working culture at a firm Examples and case studies that demonstrate the real-world impact of the ideas discussed in the book Perfect for managers, executives, directors, and other business leaders seeking to improve employee retention, productivity, engagement, and health, Connectedness is also a must-read resource for employees, human resources professionals, consultants, and everyone else with an interest in employee wellbeing and workplace productivity and safety.
Connecting Adult Learning and Knowledge Management: Strategies for Learning and Change in Higher Education and Organizations (Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning #8)
by Laura L. Bierema Monica FedeliThis multidisciplinary book represents an initial attempt to connect adult learning and knowledge management in theory and practice. It provides educators, learners and organizational development professionals with new strategies and resources for developing active and effective pedagogies, which in turn prepare learners and practitioners to manage knowledge in organizations and higher education. To do so, it gathers contributions and case studies from a diverse, global team of authors and provides a theoretical and practical outline of new strategies and methods for facilitating adult teaching and learning. It also provides a fresh reading of active learning methods, by adopting a knowledge management viewpoint that is broadly applicable, whether helping students master content in university courses, or helping organizations learn and change.The book is divided into three main sections: a) methods and theories for adult teaching and learning; b) knowledge management in education; and c) case studies and best practices that consider classroom learning, higher education change, and organization development.
Connecting Arts and Place: Cultural Policy and American Cities (Sociology of the Arts)
by Eleonora RedaelliIn this book, Eleonora Redaelli investigates the arts in American cities, providing insight into urban cultural policy discourse through the lens of space. By unpacking the ways in which scholars and policymakers account for geographic configuration and spatial relation, this monograph presents a unique approach to the arts and public policy. Redaelli analyses five main concepts of the international discourse in cultural policy — cultural planning, cultural mapping, creative industries, cultural districts and creative placemaking — highlighting how each of them contributes to the understanding of how the arts connect with place. Employing a selection of American cities as case, this book is an essential contribution to our understanding of cultural policy and its effects. It will be of interest to students and scholars of sociology, public policy, urban studies, arts management and cultural studies.
Connecting Ecologies: Integrating Responses to the Global Challenge (Routledge Studies in Religion and Environment)
by Gavin Flood Patrick RiordanConnecting Ecologies focuses on the environmental aspects of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ and the challenge to care for our common home. It considers how best to devise and implement the new societal models needed to tackle the ecological problems facing the world today. The book addresses the need for and complexity of an integral ecology, one that looks not only at physical and biological processes but also allows for the contributions of theology, philosophy, spirituality, and psychology, including the implications for the human and social sciences. The contributions document four categories of resonances, resources, requirements, and responses evoked by a reading of Laudato Si’ and include consideration of other faith traditions. They reflect on how care for our common home motivates people in different places, cultures, and professions to cooperate for myriad goods in common. The volume is particularly relevant for scholars working in religious studies and theology with an interest in ecology, the environment, and the Anthropocene.
Connecting Families: The Impact of New Communication Technologies on Domestic Life (Computer Supported Cooperative Work Ser.)
by Carman Neustaedter Steve Harrison Abigail SellenNew technologies are radically changing the way that families connect with one another: we can text our teenagers from work, eat dinner with far-away parents via video link, and instantly upload and share photos after a family day out. Whether we are bridging time or distance, and whether we are enhancing our closest relationships or strengthening the bonds of extended family, as computer technologies alter the communication landscape, they in turn are changing the way we conduct and experience family life. This state of the art volume explores the impact of new communication systems on how families interact - how they share their lives and routines, engage in social touch, and negotiate being together or being apart - by considering a range of different family relationships that shape the nature of communication. Composed of three sections, the first looks at what is often the core of a 'family', the couple, to understand the impact of technology on couple relationships, communication, and feelings of closeness. The second section studies immediate families that have expanded beyond just the individual or couple to include children. Here, the emphasis is on connection for communication, coordination, and play. The third section moves beyond the immediate family to explore connections between extended, distributed family members. This includes connections between adult children and their parents, grandparents and grandchildren, and adult siblings. Here family members have grown older, moved away from 'home', and forged new families. Researchers, designers and developers of new communication technologies will find this volume invaluable. Connecting Families: The Impact of New Communication Technologies on Domestic Life brings together the most up-to-date studies to help in understanding how new communication technologies shape - and are shaped by - family life, and offers inspiration and guidance for design by making clear what families need and value from technological systems.