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World Prehistory: The Basics (The Basics)
by Brian M. Fagan Nadia DurraniWorld Prehistory: The Basics tells the compelling story of human prehistory, from our African origins to the spectacular pre-industrial civilizations and cities of the more recent past. Written in a non-technical style by two archaeologists and experienced writers about the past, the story begins with human origins in Africa some 6 million years ago and the spread of our remote ancestors across the Old World. Then we return to Africa and describe the emergence of Homo sapiens (modern humans) over 300,000 years ago, then, much later, their permanent settlement of Europe, Eurasia, Asia, and the Americas. From hunters and foragers, we turn to the origins of farming and animal domestication in different parts of the world after about 11,000 years ago and show how these new economies changed human existence dramatically. Five chapters tell the stories of the great pre-industrial civilizations that emerged after 5000 years before present in the Old World and the Americas, their strengths, volatility, and weaknesses. These chapters describe powerful rulers and their ideologies, also the lives of non-elites. The narratives chronicle the rise and fall of civilizations, and the devastating effects of long droughts on many of them. The closing chapter poses a question: Why is world prehistory important in the modern world? What does it tell us about ourselves? Providing a simple, but entertaining and stimulating, account of the prehistoric past from human origins to today from a global perspective, World Prehistory: The Basics is the ideal guide to the story of our early human past and its relevance to the modern world.
The Politics of Food Provisioning in Colombia: Agrarian Movements and Negotiations with the State (Earthscan Food and Agriculture)
by Felipe Roa-ClavijoThis book explores food provisioning in Colombia by examining the role and impact of the agrarian negotiations which took place in the aftermath of the 2013–2014 national strikes. Most of the research in the field of agrarian studies in Colombia has focused on inequalities in land distribution, the impacts of violent conflict, and most recently, the first phase of the peace agreement implementation. This book links and complements these literatures by critically engaging with an original framework that uncovers the conflicts and politics of food provisioning: who produces what and where, and with what socio-economic effects. This analytical lens is used to explain the re-emergence of national agrarian movements, their contestation of the dominant development narratives and their engagement in discussions about food sovereignty with the state. The analysis incorporates a wide range of voices from high-level government representatives and leaders from national agrarian movements. Their narratives of food provisioning and the broader role of the food industry are reviewed and the key findings show an underlying conflict within food provisioning based on the struggle of marginalised smallholders to develop alternative agri-food systems that can be included in the local and domestic food markets in the context of a state dominated by an export and import approach. Overall, the book argues that the battle ground of agrarian conflicts has moved to the field of food provisioning and using this approach has the potential to reframe the debate about the future of food and agriculture in Colombia and beyond. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of food and agriculture, rural development, peasant studies and Latin American Studies.
World Prehistory: The Basics (The Basics)
by Brian M. Fagan Nadia DurraniWorld Prehistory: The Basics tells the compelling story of human prehistory, from our African origins to the spectacular pre-industrial civilizations and cities of the more recent past. Written in a non-technical style by two archaeologists and experienced writers about the past, the story begins with human origins in Africa some 6 million years ago and the spread of our remote ancestors across the Old World. Then we return to Africa and describe the emergence of Homo sapiens (modern humans) over 300,000 years ago, then, much later, their permanent settlement of Europe, Eurasia, Asia, and the Americas. From hunters and foragers, we turn to the origins of farming and animal domestication in different parts of the world after about 11,000 years ago and show how these new economies changed human existence dramatically. Five chapters tell the stories of the great pre-industrial civilizations that emerged after 5000 years before present in the Old World and the Americas, their strengths, volatility, and weaknesses. These chapters describe powerful rulers and their ideologies, also the lives of non-elites. The narratives chronicle the rise and fall of civilizations, and the devastating effects of long droughts on many of them. The closing chapter poses a question: Why is world prehistory important in the modern world? What does it tell us about ourselves? Providing a simple, but entertaining and stimulating, account of the prehistoric past from human origins to today from a global perspective, World Prehistory: The Basics is the ideal guide to the story of our early human past and its relevance to the modern world.
Routledge Handbook of Media Geographies
by Paul C. Adams Barney WarfThis Handbook offers a comprehensive overview of media geography, focusing on a range of different media viewed through the lenses of human geography and media theory. It addresses the spatial practices and processes associated with both old and new media, considering "media" not just as technologies and infrastructures, but also as networks, systems and assemblages of things that come together to enable communication in the real world. With contributions from academics specializing in geography and media studies, the Routledge Handbook of Media Geographies summarizes the recent developments in the field and explores key questions and challenges affecting various groups, such as women, minorities, and persons with visual impairment. It considers geographical aspects of disruptive media uses such as hacking, fake news, and racism. Written in an approachable style, chapters consider geographies of users, norms, rules, laws, values, attitudes, routines, customs, markets, and power relations. They shed light on how mobile media make users vulnerable to tracking and surveillance but also facilitate innovative forms of mobility, space perception and placemaking. Structured in four distinct sections centered around "control and access to digital media," "mass media," "mobile media and surveillance" and "media and the politics of knowledge," the Handbook explores digital divides and other manifestations of the uneven geographies of power. It also includes an overview of the alternative social media universe created by the Chinese government. Media geography is a burgeoning field of study that lies at the intersections of various social sciences, including human geography, political science, sociology, anthropology, communication/media studies, urban studies, and women and gender studies. Academics and students across these fields will greatly benefit from this Handbook.
Strategic Planning in the Humanitarian Sector: A Manual to Foresight and Futures-Focused Thinking
by Eilidh Kennedy Michel MaiettaThis book provides humanitarian practitioners and policy makers with a manual for how to apply foresight and strategy in their work. Drawing on extensive research, the book demonstrates in practical terms how embedding futures-focused thinking into practice can help humanitarian actors to enhance their impact and fit for the future. The book provides readers with a step-by-step guide to an innovative combination of tools and methods tested and refined over the course of several years. However, it also goes beyond this, by grounding the approach within the broader ambition of making humanitarian action more effective. Overall, the analytical and strategic processes outlined in this book will accompany a decision maker through every stage of creating a robust, agile and impactful long-term strategy. This accessible guide will be an essential point of reference for practitioners and decision makers in the humanitarian ecosystem, as well as students studying humanitarian affairs, global development, conflict studies and international relations.
Routledge Handbook of Media Geographies
by Paul C. AdamsThis Handbook offers a comprehensive overview of media geography, focusing on a range of different media viewed through the lenses of human geography and media theory. It addresses the spatial practices and processes associated with both old and new media, considering "media" not just as technologies and infrastructures, but also as networks, systems and assemblages of things that come together to enable communication in the real world. With contributions from academics specializing in geography and media studies, the Routledge Handbook of Media Geographies summarizes the recent developments in the field and explores key questions and challenges affecting various groups, such as women, minorities, and persons with visual impairment. It considers geographical aspects of disruptive media uses such as hacking, fake news, and racism. Written in an approachable style, chapters consider geographies of users, norms, rules, laws, values, attitudes, routines, customs, markets, and power relations. They shed light on how mobile media make users vulnerable to tracking and surveillance but also facilitate innovative forms of mobility, space perception and placemaking. Structured in four distinct sections centered around "control and access to digital media," "mass media," "mobile media and surveillance" and "media and the politics of knowledge," the Handbook explores digital divides and other manifestations of the uneven geographies of power. It also includes an overview of the alternative social media universe created by the Chinese government. Media geography is a burgeoning field of study that lies at the intersections of various social sciences, including human geography, political science, sociology, anthropology, communication/media studies, urban studies, and women and gender studies. Academics and students across these fields will greatly benefit from this Handbook.
Strategic Planning in the Humanitarian Sector: A Manual to Foresight and Futures-Focused Thinking
by Eilidh Kennedy Michel MaiettaThis book provides humanitarian practitioners and policy makers with a manual for how to apply foresight and strategy in their work. Drawing on extensive research, the book demonstrates in practical terms how embedding futures-focused thinking into practice can help humanitarian actors to enhance their impact and fit for the future. The book provides readers with a step-by-step guide to an innovative combination of tools and methods tested and refined over the course of several years. However, it also goes beyond this, by grounding the approach within the broader ambition of making humanitarian action more effective. Overall, the analytical and strategic processes outlined in this book will accompany a decision maker through every stage of creating a robust, agile and impactful long-term strategy. This accessible guide will be an essential point of reference for practitioners and decision makers in the humanitarian ecosystem, as well as students studying humanitarian affairs, global development, conflict studies and international relations.
Data Analytics for the Social Sciences: Applications in R
by G. David GarsonData Analytics for the Social Sciences is an introductory, graduate-level treatment of data analytics for social science. It features applications in the R language, arguably the fastest growing and leading statistical tool for researchers. The book starts with an ethics chapter on the uses and potential abuses of data analytics. Chapters 2 and 3 show how to implement a broad range of statistical procedures in R. Chapters 4 and 5 deal with regression and classification trees and with random forests. Chapter 6 deals with machine learning models and the "caret" package, which makes available to the researcher hundreds of models. Chapter 7 deals with neural network analysis, and Chapter 8 deals with network analysis and visualization of network data. A final chapter treats text analysis, including web scraping, comparative word frequency tables, word clouds, word maps, sentiment analysis, topic analysis, and more. All empirical chapters have two "Quick Start" exercises designed to allow quick immersion in chapter topics, followed by "In Depth" coverage. Data are available for all examples and runnable R code is provided in a "Command Summary". An appendix provides an extended tutorial on R and RStudio. Almost 30 online supplements provide information for the complete book, "books within the book" on a variety of topics, such as agent-based modeling. Rather than focusing on equations, derivations, and proofs, this book emphasizes hands-on obtaining of output for various social science models and how to interpret the output. It is suitable for all advanced level undergraduate and graduate students learning statistical data analysis.
Political Communication in the Time of Coronavirus
by Peter Van Aelst Jay G. BlumlerThis book examines how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the flows of communication between politicians, journalists, and citizens. Distinguished contributors grapple with how the pandemic, as a global unexpected event, disrupted the communication process and changed the relationships between politics, media, and publics, the three central players of political communication. Using different methodologies, they scrutinize changes in government communication, (new) media coverage, and public opinion during this crisis. The book moves beyond the USA and Western Europe to include cases from Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia, taking into account how variations in the political context, the media system and personal leadership can influence how the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the political communication process. It is an ideal text for advanced students and scholars of political communication, political science, and media studies.
Data Analytics for the Social Sciences: Applications in R
by G. David GarsonData Analytics for the Social Sciences is an introductory, graduate-level treatment of data analytics for social science. It features applications in the R language, arguably the fastest growing and leading statistical tool for researchers. The book starts with an ethics chapter on the uses and potential abuses of data analytics. Chapters 2 and 3 show how to implement a broad range of statistical procedures in R. Chapters 4 and 5 deal with regression and classification trees and with random forests. Chapter 6 deals with machine learning models and the "caret" package, which makes available to the researcher hundreds of models. Chapter 7 deals with neural network analysis, and Chapter 8 deals with network analysis and visualization of network data. A final chapter treats text analysis, including web scraping, comparative word frequency tables, word clouds, word maps, sentiment analysis, topic analysis, and more. All empirical chapters have two "Quick Start" exercises designed to allow quick immersion in chapter topics, followed by "In Depth" coverage. Data are available for all examples and runnable R code is provided in a "Command Summary". An appendix provides an extended tutorial on R and RStudio. Almost 30 online supplements provide information for the complete book, "books within the book" on a variety of topics, such as agent-based modeling. Rather than focusing on equations, derivations, and proofs, this book emphasizes hands-on obtaining of output for various social science models and how to interpret the output. It is suitable for all advanced level undergraduate and graduate students learning statistical data analysis.
Political Communication in the Time of Coronavirus
by Peter Van AelstThis book examines how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the flows of communication between politicians, journalists, and citizens. Distinguished contributors grapple with how the pandemic, as a global unexpected event, disrupted the communication process and changed the relationships between politics, media, and publics, the three central players of political communication. Using different methodologies, they scrutinize changes in government communication, (new) media coverage, and public opinion during this crisis. The book moves beyond the USA and Western Europe to include cases from Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia, taking into account how variations in the political context, the media system and personal leadership can influence how the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the political communication process. It is an ideal text for advanced students and scholars of political communication, political science, and media studies.
Ethnodramatherapy: Integrating Research, Therapy, Theatre and Social Activism into One Method
by Stephen SnowEthnodramatherapy explores the integration of the performance ethnography method, known as ethnodrama, with the principles and practices of drama therapy to establish a sound theoretical formulation for ethnodramatherapy, and considers its use as art, as therapy, as research and as a vehicle for social justice. The book begins by defining ethnodramatherapy – an original synthesis created by the author through deep study and practice of Mienczakowski’s enthnodrama, combined with 35 years of his own practice and research in drama therapy, creative arts therapies and therapeutic theatre. The book describes the origins of ethnodramatherapy, along with its evolution and method. It then delves into applications of the practice highlighted by five case studies with different audiences in different settings. Subjects include adults with developmental disabilities, female adolescents in youth protection, caregivers for loved ones with mental illnesses and Chinese students exploring controversial issues of oppression in China. Complex ethical issues are reviewed and suggestions are made on how to deal with some of the challenging ethical situations that are likely to arise in the ethnodramatherapy process. What emerges is a powerful tool that harnesses theatrical art, ethnographic research and the clinical techniques of drama therapy to create a potential for emancipatory experience for both performers and audiences. This exciting and dynamic synthesis of drama therapy, performance ethnography, theatrical art and social activism will be of interest to the whole community of theatre practitioners and scholars who use theatre to effect individual and social change, including the disciplines of applied theatre, theatre education, experimental theatre, performance studies, and, of course, drama therapy, psychodrama and the other creative arts therapies.
Ethnodramatherapy: Integrating Research, Therapy, Theatre and Social Activism into One Method
by Stephen SnowEthnodramatherapy explores the integration of the performance ethnography method, known as ethnodrama, with the principles and practices of drama therapy to establish a sound theoretical formulation for ethnodramatherapy, and considers its use as art, as therapy, as research and as a vehicle for social justice. The book begins by defining ethnodramatherapy – an original synthesis created by the author through deep study and practice of Mienczakowski’s enthnodrama, combined with 35 years of his own practice and research in drama therapy, creative arts therapies and therapeutic theatre. The book describes the origins of ethnodramatherapy, along with its evolution and method. It then delves into applications of the practice highlighted by five case studies with different audiences in different settings. Subjects include adults with developmental disabilities, female adolescents in youth protection, caregivers for loved ones with mental illnesses and Chinese students exploring controversial issues of oppression in China. Complex ethical issues are reviewed and suggestions are made on how to deal with some of the challenging ethical situations that are likely to arise in the ethnodramatherapy process. What emerges is a powerful tool that harnesses theatrical art, ethnographic research and the clinical techniques of drama therapy to create a potential for emancipatory experience for both performers and audiences. This exciting and dynamic synthesis of drama therapy, performance ethnography, theatrical art and social activism will be of interest to the whole community of theatre practitioners and scholars who use theatre to effect individual and social change, including the disciplines of applied theatre, theatre education, experimental theatre, performance studies, and, of course, drama therapy, psychodrama and the other creative arts therapies.
Public Participation Process in Urban Planning: Evaluation Approaches of Fairness and Effectiveness Criteria of Planning Advisory Committees (Routledge Studies in Urbanism and the City)
by Kamal Uddin Bhuiyan Monwar AlamThis book critically examines the public participation processes in urban planning and development by evaluating the operations of Planning Advisory Committees (PACs) through two meta-criteria of fairness and effectiveness. Traditional models of public participation in planning have long been criticized for separating planners from the public. This book proposes a novel conceptual model to address the gaps in existing practices in order to encourage greater public involvement in planning decisions and policymaking. It assesses the application of the evaluative framework for PACs as a new approach to public participation evaluation in urban planning. With a case study focused on the PACs in Inner City area of Canberra, Australia, the book offers a conceptual framework for evaluating fairness and effectiveness of the public participation processes that can also be extended to other countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, Scandinavian countries, the European Union, and some Asian countries such as India. Offering valuable insights on how operational processes of PACs can be re-configured, this book will be a useful guide for students and academics of planning and public policy analysis, as well as the planning professionals in both developed and developing countries.
Public Participation Process in Urban Planning: Evaluation Approaches of Fairness and Effectiveness Criteria of Planning Advisory Committees (Routledge Studies in Urbanism and the City)
by Kamal Uddin Bhuiyan Monwar AlamThis book critically examines the public participation processes in urban planning and development by evaluating the operations of Planning Advisory Committees (PACs) through two meta-criteria of fairness and effectiveness. Traditional models of public participation in planning have long been criticized for separating planners from the public. This book proposes a novel conceptual model to address the gaps in existing practices in order to encourage greater public involvement in planning decisions and policymaking. It assesses the application of the evaluative framework for PACs as a new approach to public participation evaluation in urban planning. With a case study focused on the PACs in Inner City area of Canberra, Australia, the book offers a conceptual framework for evaluating fairness and effectiveness of the public participation processes that can also be extended to other countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, Scandinavian countries, the European Union, and some Asian countries such as India. Offering valuable insights on how operational processes of PACs can be re-configured, this book will be a useful guide for students and academics of planning and public policy analysis, as well as the planning professionals in both developed and developing countries.
Advertising and Consumption: Anthropological Studies in Brazil (Anthropology and Business)
by Everardo RochaThis book argues for the study of consumption and its relationship with media images, particularly advertising, from a cultural perspective. Focused on Brazil, it draws on decades of research by the author and engages with theory and concepts from a range of classic anthropological works. The chapters examine how advertising professionals view their craft, the resistance to capitalism amongst native Brazilians, images of women and their bodies in magazines, and the case of the first soccer player to become a national media celebrity. Rocha supports the study of consumption as a classification system that materializes culture and creates relations between people and goods. The book presents advertising as a mode of magical thinking that mediates the passage from the machine-driven sphere of production to the humanized sphere of consumption, converting meaningless impersonal things into goods that have name, origin, identity and purpose. It will be of interest to anthropologists, sociologists and others working on advertising, marketing, communications, and consumer research.
Advertising and Consumption: Anthropological Studies in Brazil (Anthropology and Business)
by Everardo RochaThis book argues for the study of consumption and its relationship with media images, particularly advertising, from a cultural perspective. Focused on Brazil, it draws on decades of research by the author and engages with theory and concepts from a range of classic anthropological works. The chapters examine how advertising professionals view their craft, the resistance to capitalism amongst native Brazilians, images of women and their bodies in magazines, and the case of the first soccer player to become a national media celebrity. Rocha supports the study of consumption as a classification system that materializes culture and creates relations between people and goods. The book presents advertising as a mode of magical thinking that mediates the passage from the machine-driven sphere of production to the humanized sphere of consumption, converting meaningless impersonal things into goods that have name, origin, identity and purpose. It will be of interest to anthropologists, sociologists and others working on advertising, marketing, communications, and consumer research.
Critical Mass: Understanding and Fixing the Social Roots of Mass Shootings in the United States
by Dinur Blum Christian Gonzalez JaworskiThis book examines social patterns in 2,000 mass shootings in the United States between 2013 through 2020. While mass shootings are often described as psychological, the authors show that there are social factors that produce the anger needed to commit a mass shooting. These factors are fairly common and can be addressed to stem the anger earlier. The factors include chronic poverty, sudden unemployment, relationship problems, domestic violence, social isolation, and alcohol. Common social strains can metastasize and be lethally dangerous. By understanding the social factors, we can reduce the anger and frustration people feel that would drive them to killing others.
Critical Mass: Understanding and Fixing the Social Roots of Mass Shootings in the United States
by Dinur Blum Christian Gonzalez JaworskiThis book examines social patterns in 2,000 mass shootings in the United States between 2013 through 2020. While mass shootings are often described as psychological, the authors show that there are social factors that produce the anger needed to commit a mass shooting. These factors are fairly common and can be addressed to stem the anger earlier. The factors include chronic poverty, sudden unemployment, relationship problems, domestic violence, social isolation, and alcohol. Common social strains can metastasize and be lethally dangerous. By understanding the social factors, we can reduce the anger and frustration people feel that would drive them to killing others.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Affairs in the British Press: An Ecofeminist Critique of Neoliberalism (Routledge New Directions in PR & Communication Research)
by Martina TopićAn ecofeminist criticism of neoliberalism, this book uses economic growth, CSR and the press coverage of environmental affairs as a case study. The author argues that CSR is part of a wheel of neoliberalism that continually perpetuates inequality and the exploitation of women and Nature. Using an ecofeminist sense-making analysis of media coverage of food waste, global warming, plastic, economic growth and CSR, the author shows how the press discourse in writing is always similar and serves to preserve the status quo with CSR being just a smokescreen that saved capitalism and just one cog in the wheel of neoliberalism. While available research offers perspectives from business and public relations studies, looking at how CSR is implemented and how it contributes towards the reputation of businesses, this book explores how the media enforce CSR discourse while at the same time arguing for environmental preservation. The book presents a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to explain how and why CSR is being pushed forward by the news media, and how the media preserves the status quo by creating moral panic on environmental issues while at the same time pushing for CSR discourse and economic growth, which only contributes towards environmental degradation. The original research presented in the book looks at how the media write about economic growth, plastics, food waste, CSR and global warming. This interdisciplinary study draws on ecofeminist theory and media feminist theory to provide a novel analysis of CSR, making the case that enforcing CSR as a way to do business damages the environment and that the media enforce a neoliberal discourse of promoting both economic growth and environmentalism, which does not go together. Examining the UK media as a case study, a detailed methodological account is provided so that the study can be repeated and compared elsewhere. The book is aimed at academics and researchers in business and media studies, as well as those in women’s studies. It will also be relevant to scholars in business management and marketing.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Affairs in the British Press: An Ecofeminist Critique of Neoliberalism (Routledge New Directions in PR & Communication Research)
by Martina TopićAn ecofeminist criticism of neoliberalism, this book uses economic growth, CSR and the press coverage of environmental affairs as a case study. The author argues that CSR is part of a wheel of neoliberalism that continually perpetuates inequality and the exploitation of women and Nature. Using an ecofeminist sense-making analysis of media coverage of food waste, global warming, plastic, economic growth and CSR, the author shows how the press discourse in writing is always similar and serves to preserve the status quo with CSR being just a smokescreen that saved capitalism and just one cog in the wheel of neoliberalism. While available research offers perspectives from business and public relations studies, looking at how CSR is implemented and how it contributes towards the reputation of businesses, this book explores how the media enforce CSR discourse while at the same time arguing for environmental preservation. The book presents a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to explain how and why CSR is being pushed forward by the news media, and how the media preserves the status quo by creating moral panic on environmental issues while at the same time pushing for CSR discourse and economic growth, which only contributes towards environmental degradation. The original research presented in the book looks at how the media write about economic growth, plastics, food waste, CSR and global warming. This interdisciplinary study draws on ecofeminist theory and media feminist theory to provide a novel analysis of CSR, making the case that enforcing CSR as a way to do business damages the environment and that the media enforce a neoliberal discourse of promoting both economic growth and environmentalism, which does not go together. Examining the UK media as a case study, a detailed methodological account is provided so that the study can be repeated and compared elsewhere. The book is aimed at academics and researchers in business and media studies, as well as those in women’s studies. It will also be relevant to scholars in business management and marketing.
Hegemony, Security Infrastructures and the Politics of Crime: Everyday Experiences in South Africa (Routledge Studies in Urbanism and the City)
by Gideon van RietThis book examines the politics of crime and the response to it in Potchefstroom, a small settler colonial city in South Africa. It draws on the city’s everyday practices and experiences to offer local bottom-up insights into security beyond the state. The book provides a comprehensive understanding of security beyond the state and how security workers and residents experience and perceive their own security practices, their daily interactions with other security providers which influences power dynamics between those who express fear through various platforms and those deemed potential criminals.. It aids in re-conceptualising violence and security governance in South Africa with a view to analysing the processes of crime prevention and management, the changing nature of public and private spaces and how these spaces interact with state and local authorities. In a rigorous exploration of the ways to tackle the complex problem of crime, the book critiques and overreliance on security infrastructures such as, social media, gated barriers, neighbourhood residents’ associations and private security companies. It also looks at how crime is treated as an individual as opposed to a societal problem. The book addresses the urgent need for collaboration across these fault lines to promote a more inclusive security in a broader fragmented social and political context. With a novel analytical approach based on the twin optics of infrastructure and post-structural hegemony, the book will be relevant to scholars and students of South African politics and critical security studies, as well as international audience interested in crime and private security.
Hegemony, Security Infrastructures and the Politics of Crime: Everyday Experiences in South Africa (Routledge Studies in Urbanism and the City)
by Gideon van RietThis book examines the politics of crime and the response to it in Potchefstroom, a small settler colonial city in South Africa. It draws on the city’s everyday practices and experiences to offer local bottom-up insights into security beyond the state. The book provides a comprehensive understanding of security beyond the state and how security workers and residents experience and perceive their own security practices, their daily interactions with other security providers which influences power dynamics between those who express fear through various platforms and those deemed potential criminals.. It aids in re-conceptualising violence and security governance in South Africa with a view to analysing the processes of crime prevention and management, the changing nature of public and private spaces and how these spaces interact with state and local authorities. In a rigorous exploration of the ways to tackle the complex problem of crime, the book critiques and overreliance on security infrastructures such as, social media, gated barriers, neighbourhood residents’ associations and private security companies. It also looks at how crime is treated as an individual as opposed to a societal problem. The book addresses the urgent need for collaboration across these fault lines to promote a more inclusive security in a broader fragmented social and political context. With a novel analytical approach based on the twin optics of infrastructure and post-structural hegemony, the book will be relevant to scholars and students of South African politics and critical security studies, as well as international audience interested in crime and private security.
Nicole Rafter (Routledge Key Thinkers in Criminology)
by Chase BurtonThis book is a critical summary and exegesis of the work of Nicole Rafter, who was a leading scholar of the history of biological theories of crime causation as well as a profound theorist of the role of history within criminology. It introduces Rafter’s key works and assesses her contributions to the fields of feminist criminology, cultural criminology, visual criminology and historical criminology. It also explores her theorization of criminology’s identity, scientific status, and possible futures. While many books on criminological theory explain and historically contextualize theory, they do not interrogate the production of theory or the epistemological assumptions behind it. Drawing on the world of Nicole Rafter, this book offers an accessible handbook to her extensive historical studies and to how her work demonstrated the importance of historical theory to criminological knowledge. Furthermore, the author brings Rafter’s historical research to life and shows how it speaks to contemporary issues in criminology and punishment. Written in a clear and direct style, this book will appeal to students and scholars of criminological theory, intellectual history, sociology, comparative criminology, and feminist criminology.
Political Advertising in the United States
by Michael M. Franz Travis N. Ridout Erika Franklin FowlerPolitical Advertising in the United States examines the volume, distribution, content, and effects of political advertising in congressional and presidential elections. The book considers the role of television ads using extensive data on ad airings on local broadcast stations. It also analyzes newly available data on paid digital ads, including ads on Facebook, Instagram, Google, and YouTube. The book covers the role of outside groups in airing ads, including the rise of dark money groups and gaps in existing federal campaign finance laws around transparency of outside group spending. The authors consider how ad sponsors design and target ads. They also review the positive and negative implications of an electoral system where billions are spent on paid advertising. With detailed analysis of presidential and congressional campaign ads and discussion questions in each chapter, this accessibly written book is a must-read for students, scholars, and practitioners who want to understand the ins and outs of political advertising. New to the Second Edition • Covers the spending, content, and tone of political advertising in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections and the 2018 midterms, looking ahead to 2022 and 2024. • Addresses the interference of foreign actors in elections and their connection to political advertising. • Expands the discussion of digital political advertising and incorporates this topic into every chapter. • Adds a new chapter specifically addressing digital ad content and spending. • Includes data from the Facebook, Google, and Snapchat ad libraries and explores the role of these companies in regulating the sale of political advertising. • Incorporates new data on the effects of race and gender in advertising, including what is known about the way in which advertising may activate prejudicial attitudes.