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Revolutionizing the AI-Digital Landscape: A Guide to Sustainable Emerging Technologies for Marketing Professionals
by Alex Khang, Pushan Kumar Dutta, Sachin Gupta, Nishu Aayedee, and Sandeep ChatterjeeThis book investigates the growing influence of artificial intelligence in the marketing sphere, providing insights into how AI can be harnessed for developing more effective and efficient marketing strategies. In addition, the book will also offer a comprehensive overview of the various digital marketing tools available to entrepreneurs, discussing their features, benefits, and potential drawbacks. This will help entrepreneurs make well-informed decisions when selecting the tools most suited to their needs and objectives. It is designed to help entrepreneurs develop and implement successful strategies, leveraging the latest tools and technologies to achieve their business goals. As the digital landscape continues to evolve rapidly, this book aims to serve as a valuable resource for entrepreneurs looking to stay ahead of the curve and capitalize on new opportunities. The book's scope encompasses a wide range of topics, including customer experience, content marketing, AI strategy, and digital marketing tools.
Still the Age of Populism?: Re-examining Theories and Concepts
Still the Age of Populism? investigates current conceptions of populism and its relevance across the globe. Using contextualized case studies, cross-national comparisons, and theoretical interventions, this volume addresses key conceptual debates in comparative politics and political sociology.This essential volume brings together scholars from different traditions in political sociology, political science and cultural studies, and comparativists and area experts working on Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, and the US. Chapters in the book employ innovative theoretical approaches to study aspects of populism in global comparative perspective whilst regional case studies, including Brazil, Venezuela, Germany, and the US, are utilised to explore populism in geographically specific contexts. In doing so, the volume addresses the key issues for those seeking to understand contemporary populism. What are the advantages and limits of the category of populism to understand contemporary debates on democratization and processes of democratic erosion? Under what structural, institutional, and cultural conditions does populism emerge? Is populism the nemesis of democracy, its shadow, or a path to move beyond “liberal democracy” towards “real democracy”? What lessons does the history of past populist moment hold for our understanding of contemporary populist governance? Under what conditions have populists in office led to political polarization and democratic erosion? What comes after populism, and how do societies deal with its legacies?Still the Age of Populism? will be of interest to a broad audience of students and scholars of political sociology and comparative politics.
Still the Age of Populism?: Re-examining Theories and Concepts
by Michael Bernhard Amie Kreppel de la Torre, CarlosStill the Age of Populism? investigates current conceptions of populism and its relevance across the globe. Using contextualized case studies, cross-national comparisons, and theoretical interventions, this volume addresses key conceptual debates in comparative politics and political sociology.This essential volume brings together scholars from different traditions in political sociology, political science and cultural studies, and comparativists and area experts working on Latin America, Western and Eastern Europe, and the US. Chapters in the book employ innovative theoretical approaches to study aspects of populism in global comparative perspective whilst regional case studies, including Brazil, Venezuela, Germany, and the US, are utilised to explore populism in geographically specific contexts. In doing so, the volume addresses the key issues for those seeking to understand contemporary populism. What are the advantages and limits of the category of populism to understand contemporary debates on democratization and processes of democratic erosion? Under what structural, institutional, and cultural conditions does populism emerge? Is populism the nemesis of democracy, its shadow, or a path to move beyond “liberal democracy” towards “real democracy”? What lessons does the history of past populist moment hold for our understanding of contemporary populist governance? Under what conditions have populists in office led to political polarization and democratic erosion? What comes after populism, and how do societies deal with its legacies?Still the Age of Populism? will be of interest to a broad audience of students and scholars of political sociology and comparative politics.
Digital Transformation in Educational Organizations: Leadership, Innovation and Industry 4.0 (Routledge Open Business and Economics)
by Paweł PoszytekTechnological transformation should lead to enhance people’s potential and the development of their cognitive and social competences, especially those connected with effective communication on different levels. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified all these processes and, for better resilience and effectiveness at work, it requires now different sets of competences. This book gives direct insight into changes that take place in education in the context of an unprecedented and rapid technological advancement, which requires the reorientation of goals and functions based on innovative, adaptive and flexible solutions – in most cases driven by individual leadership. It describes the way to reach this reorientation and shows through thorough research how educational leaders position themselves on this way in this fast-changing ecosystem. Exploring how educational leaders manage the challenges of digital transformation, using European collaborative projects, this research volume discusses how this process impacts the effectiveness and sustainability of organizational activities. Establishing a model for assessing digital transformation in educational organizations and evaluating the effectiveness of their leaders, it will be of value to researchers, academics, practitioners, and advanced students in the fields of leadership, organizational change, management of technology and innovation, and those interested in the development of education and the utilization of digitalization.
Digital Transformation in Educational Organizations: Leadership, Innovation and Industry 4.0 (Routledge Open Business and Economics)
by Paweł PoszytekTechnological transformation should lead to enhance people’s potential and the development of their cognitive and social competences, especially those connected with effective communication on different levels. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified all these processes and, for better resilience and effectiveness at work, it requires now different sets of competences. This book gives direct insight into changes that take place in education in the context of an unprecedented and rapid technological advancement, which requires the reorientation of goals and functions based on innovative, adaptive and flexible solutions – in most cases driven by individual leadership. It describes the way to reach this reorientation and shows through thorough research how educational leaders position themselves on this way in this fast-changing ecosystem. Exploring how educational leaders manage the challenges of digital transformation, using European collaborative projects, this research volume discusses how this process impacts the effectiveness and sustainability of organizational activities. Establishing a model for assessing digital transformation in educational organizations and evaluating the effectiveness of their leaders, it will be of value to researchers, academics, practitioners, and advanced students in the fields of leadership, organizational change, management of technology and innovation, and those interested in the development of education and the utilization of digitalization.
Transcending Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Work: A Self-Critical Engagement (Routledge Studies in Management, Organizations and Society)
by Hugo Gaggiotti Marguerite L WeberThe book reflects on ways of transcending Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) by establishing a dialogue between the professional experience of the authors and experts from academia and practitioners from financial services and executive search. The book emphasises the link and impact between what is taught and what is learned about EDI and how this reflects on later choices in career and workplace status. The book offers a critical and global perspective, emphasizing the multilocality and intersectionality dimension of diversity and unpicks key insights from different conceptualizations, like class, gender and postcolonialism and their relationship with the current paradigm of diversity and how people identify and communicate. With an extensive collection of testimonies and invitations for reflection, the book doesn’t limit the analysis to the influences of historical power relations in the workplace, but investigates at what stage multicultural power structures start developing a compulsory inclination to create “differences” and how this can influence hiring decision making and management in the workplace. In the book, academics and practitioners provide illumination and insights gleaned from their own personal experiences and perspectives. Whilst the research targeted financial services and executive search, the book's findings will appeal globally to individuals of all age groups regardless of educational status, seniority or in which industry they are employed, particularly those who are aware of how each one expresses similarity and differences sometimes in not obvious ways.
Transcending Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at Work: A Self-Critical Engagement (Routledge Studies in Management, Organizations and Society)
by Hugo Gaggiotti Marguerite L WeberThe book reflects on ways of transcending Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) by establishing a dialogue between the professional experience of the authors and experts from academia and practitioners from financial services and executive search. The book emphasises the link and impact between what is taught and what is learned about EDI and how this reflects on later choices in career and workplace status. The book offers a critical and global perspective, emphasizing the multilocality and intersectionality dimension of diversity and unpicks key insights from different conceptualizations, like class, gender and postcolonialism and their relationship with the current paradigm of diversity and how people identify and communicate. With an extensive collection of testimonies and invitations for reflection, the book doesn’t limit the analysis to the influences of historical power relations in the workplace, but investigates at what stage multicultural power structures start developing a compulsory inclination to create “differences” and how this can influence hiring decision making and management in the workplace. In the book, academics and practitioners provide illumination and insights gleaned from their own personal experiences and perspectives. Whilst the research targeted financial services and executive search, the book's findings will appeal globally to individuals of all age groups regardless of educational status, seniority or in which industry they are employed, particularly those who are aware of how each one expresses similarity and differences sometimes in not obvious ways.
Purpose-driven Innovation Leadership for Sustainable Development: A Qualitative Case Study Approach (ISSN)
by Gaia GrantPurpose-driven Innovation Leadership for Sustainable Development presents invaluable insights into how leaders can balance competing innovation demands. The book reports on research from an in-depth case study, which reveals the importance of developing highly adaptative and innovative responses through periods of rapid growth – while simultaneously ensuring organisational stability grounded in a clear core purpose. ‘Paradox’ theory is introduced as a constructive theoretical lens for exploring these complexities of leadership sensemaking in innovation contexts. The findings demonstrate how to incorporate both perspectives to establish a robust innovation culture.This book aims to equip readers with evidence-based principles that can be readily applied in practice. The qualitative methodology, which includes case studies and interviews conducted with global innovation leaders, uncovers powerful strategies from relevant real-world experiences. Targeted ‘Reflection and Action’ questions are also included to guide implementation.Purpose-driven Innovation Leadership for Sustainable Development will support researchers, educators, and students in the higher education sector who would like to investigate contemporary innovation leadership principles and practices. The book will also interest business leaders hoping to access rigorous research studies on the topic presented in an effective actionable format.
Purpose-driven Innovation Leadership for Sustainable Development: A Qualitative Case Study Approach (ISSN)
by Gaia GrantPurpose-driven Innovation Leadership for Sustainable Development presents invaluable insights into how leaders can balance competing innovation demands. The book reports on research from an in-depth case study, which reveals the importance of developing highly adaptative and innovative responses through periods of rapid growth – while simultaneously ensuring organisational stability grounded in a clear core purpose. ‘Paradox’ theory is introduced as a constructive theoretical lens for exploring these complexities of leadership sensemaking in innovation contexts. The findings demonstrate how to incorporate both perspectives to establish a robust innovation culture.This book aims to equip readers with evidence-based principles that can be readily applied in practice. The qualitative methodology, which includes case studies and interviews conducted with global innovation leaders, uncovers powerful strategies from relevant real-world experiences. Targeted ‘Reflection and Action’ questions are also included to guide implementation.Purpose-driven Innovation Leadership for Sustainable Development will support researchers, educators, and students in the higher education sector who would like to investigate contemporary innovation leadership principles and practices. The book will also interest business leaders hoping to access rigorous research studies on the topic presented in an effective actionable format.
The Other Olympians: A True Story of Gender, Fascism and the Making of Modern Sport
by Michael WatersIn December 1935, Zdenek Koubek, one of the most famous sprinters in European women’s sports, declared he was now living as a man. Around the same time, the celebrated British field athlete Mark Weston, also assigned female at birth, announced that he, too, was a man. Periodicals and radio programs across the world carried the news; both became global celebrities. A few decades later, they were all but forgotten. And in the wake of their transitions, what could have been a push toward equality became instead, through a confluence of bureaucracy, war, and sheer happenstance, the exact opposite: the now all-too-familiar panic around trans, intersex, and gender nonconforming athletes.In The Other Olympians, Michael Waters uncovers, for the first time, the gripping true stories of Koubek, Weston, and other pioneering trans and intersex athletes from their era. With dogged research and cinematic flair, Waters also tracks how International Olympic Committee members ignored Nazi Germany’s atrocities in order to pull off the Berlin Games, a partnership that ultimately influenced the IOC’s nearly century-long obsession with surveilling and cataloging gender.Immersive and revelatory, The Other Olympians is a groundbreaking, hidden-in-the-archives marvel, an inspiring call for equality, and an essential contribution toward understanding the contemporary culture wars over gender in sports.
Adaptive On- and Off-Earth Environments (Springer Series in Adaptive Environments)
by Henriette Bier Angelo Cervone Advenit MakayaThis volume investigates the challenges and opportunities for designing, manufacturing and operating off-Earth infrastructures in order to establish adaptive human habitats. The adaptive aspects are considered with respect to the development of adequate infrastructures designed to support human activities. Given the limitations in bringing materials from Earth, utilisation of in-situ resources is crucial for establishing and maintaining these infrastructures.Adaptive on-and off-Earth Environments focuses, among other aspects, on the design, production, and operation processes required to build and maintain such off-Earth infrastructures, while heavily relying on In-Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU). Such design, production, and operation processes integrate cyber-physical approaches developed and tested on Earth. The challenge is to adapt on-Earth approaches to off-Earth applications aiming at technology advancement and ultimately transfer from on- to off-Earth research. Thischallenge is addressed with contributions from various disciplines ranging from power generation to architecture, construction, and materials engineering involving ISRU for manufacturing processes. All chapters, related to these disciplines, are structured with an emphasis on computing and adaptivity of on-Earth technology to off-Earth applications and vice versa to serve society at large.
All the News That’s Fit to Click: How Metrics Are Transforming the Work of Journalists
by Caitlin PetreFrom the New York Times to Gawker, a behind-the-scenes look at how performance analytics are transforming journalism today—and how they might remake other professions tomorrowJournalists today are inundated with data about which stories attract the most clicks, likes, comments, and shares. These metrics influence what stories are written, how news is promoted, and even which journalists get hired and fired. Do metrics make journalists more accountable to the public? Or are these data tools the contemporary equivalent of a stopwatch wielded by a factory boss, worsening newsroom working conditions and journalism quality? In All the News That's Fit to Click, Caitlin Petre takes readers behind the scenes at the New York Times, Gawker, and the prominent news analytics company Chartbeat to explore how performance metrics are transforming the work of journalism.Petre describes how digital metrics are a powerful but insidious new form of managerial surveillance and discipline. Real-time analytics tools are designed to win the trust and loyalty of wary journalists by mimicking key features of addictive games, including immersive displays, instant feedback, and constantly updated “scores” and rankings. Many journalists get hooked on metrics—and pressure themselves to work ever harder to boost their numbers.Yet this is not a simple story of managerial domination. Contrary to the typical perception of metrics as inevitably disempowering, Petre shows how some journalists leverage metrics to their advantage, using them to advocate for their professional worth and autonomy.An eye-opening account of data-driven journalism, All the News That's Fit to Click is also an important preview of how the metrics revolution may transform other professions.
The Talent Powered Organization: Strategies for Globalization, Talent Management and High Performance
by Elizabeth Craig Peter Cheese Robert J ThomasEvery day, workforce talent is becoming harder to gain and easier to lose. A potentially lethal mix of changing workforce demographics, reduced workforce engagement and alignment, and the need for new skills are forcing organizations to look anew at their recruitment and retention strategies. Crucially, organizations that neglect to manage and grow their talent are destined to suffer a dramatic decline in business performance.The Talent Powered Organization combines a strategic and robust analysis of the dominant issues with a practical approach to reveal the best ways for you to recruit, manage, engage and retain people in your organization. The authors, leading experts on talent management within global consultancy Accenture, draw on a rich pool of international research and analysis to reveal key trends affecting recruitment and retention. Their findings provide you with the insight you need to ensure your organization doesn't lose out in the fight to attract and retain the right people.With the help of the information provided in this book, you will be able to:* Place talent at the heart of your business strategy* Make leaders and line managers accountable for engaging employees* Build organizational capabilities in learning and skills development* Establish diversity as a key strategic asset for success* Enlist your entire organization in identifying and nurturing talentContaining case studies, international research findings, and practical tools, this book provides you with an objective platform for reviewing talent in your company. It will empower you to understand the forces affecting recruitment and retention and harness them for the long term good of your organization and customers.
The Oxford Handbook Of Criminology
by Shadd Maruna Alison Liebling Lesley McAraWith contributions from leading authorities, this is the definitive guide to current criminological theory, research, and policy. The Oxford Handbook of Criminology provides a comprehensive collection of chapters covering the core and emerging topics studied on criminology courses, indispensable to students, academics, and professionals alike. · 43 chapters written by over 85 leading academics exploring relevant theory, cutting-edge research, policy developments, and current debates, encouraging students to appreciate the diverse and interdisciplinary nature of criminological discourse · Includes detailed references to aid further research · Chapters updated to reflect recent cases, statistics, and scholarship, as well as significant current events such as Covid-19 and social justice movements. · New chapters added presenting research on topical issues including victimology, hate crime, desistance, cybercrime, atrocity crimes, convict criminology, security and smart cities, prison abolitionism, comparative criminology, sex offending, and network criminology. Digital formats and resources The seventh edition is available for students and institutions to purchase in a variety of formats, and is supported by online resources. - The e-book offers a mobile experience and convenient access along with functionality tools, navigation features and links that offer extra learning support: www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/ebooks - The accompanying online resources include essay questions and links to useful websites for each chapter, along with guidance on answering essay questions and access to chapters from previous editions.
Crime, shame and reintegration
by John BraithwaiteCrime, Shame and Reintegration is a contribution to general criminological theory. Its approach is as relevant to professional burglary as to episodic delinquency or white collar crime. Braithwaite argues that some societies have higher crime rates than others because of their different processes of shaming wrongdoing. Shaming can be counterproductive, making crime problems worse. But when shaming is done within a cultural context of respect for the offender, it can be an extraordinarily powerful, efficient and just form of social control. Braithwaite identifies the social conditions for such successful shaming. If his theory is right, radically different criminal justice policies are needed - a shift away from punitive social control toward greater emphasis on moralizing social control. This book will be of interest not only to criminologists and sociologists, but to those in law, public administration and politics who are concerned with social policy and social issues.
Two Tales of the Death of God
by Stephen LeDrewIn the 19th century Friedrich Nietzsche infamously declared that "God is dead." It turns out he was on to something. Across the western world, churches are emptying out and closing their doors, and more and more people are rejecting organized religion. In the early 2000s a group of intellectuals who collectively came to be known as the "new atheists" capitalized on this fact, capturing the imagination of young skeptics and igniting a movement for secularism by arguing that religion is the source of most of our social ills. They believed that the decline of religious belief could be attributed to the rise of modern science. This was only the most recent incarnation of a story that has been told since the 18th century Enlightenment, which forged a myth of social progress and western cultural supremacy that has lent legitimacy to the projects of imperialism and global capitalism ever since. The social sciences have another story to tell. It is the story of secularization: a theory that grapples with the astonishing fact of Christianity's fall from its position at the center of western culture. In this version of the story, God was not killed by science, but by a complex set of social and economic changes that have produced greater overall well-being and equality, and by shifting moral values that lead people to view religious ethics as a relic of a bygone era. Stephen LeDrew argues that only the social sciences can explain religion's fall from grace--and the dangers of its resurgence. A coalition of far-right religious extremists is currently working to dismantle democracy in order to preserve white Christian privilege. The evidence from secularization shows that only by working to achieve greater security and equality for all can we halt a descent into an abyss of nihilistic greed and intolerance.
Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation
by R. Keith Sawyer Danah HenriksenExplaining Creativity is an accessible introduction to the latest scientific research on creativity. The book summarizes and integrates a broad range of research in psychology and related scientific fields. In the last 50 years, psychologists, anthropologists, and sociologists have devoted increased attention to creativity; we now know more about creativity than at any point in history. Explaining Creativity examines research on thinking processes, personality, culture, mental health, groupwork, technology, self-beliefs, and more. It also reviews creativity across fields such as the arts, science, theater, music, and writing. This new edition maintains the broad and practical, yet still detailed approach of the previous editions, but it features updated coverage on the full landscape of creative cognition, creative practice, and social and cultural contexts for creativity. With three new chapters on Creativity and Technology, Creativity and Wellbeing, and Creativity and Self, this third edition provides a comprehensive understanding of creativity for anyone interested in the topic.
The Social Science of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Call to Action for Researchers
Although the world has experienced many epidemics, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is exactly that--novel. The impacts on society's way of life, education, family, and economy are drastic. As a result, people seek explanations that have answers rooted in social science. The Social Science of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Call to Action for Researchers draws on theories derived from the social sciences to address the multitude of questions raised by the pandemic and to inspire a future generation of researchers. This book focuses specifically on the social science of a pandemic. While medical, health, and other sciences are critical to understanding a pandemic, so, too, is understanding the role of society and person. Together, psychology and society shape every aspect of life, and the COVID-19 pandemic is no exception to this pattern. Parts of society--and science--will be forever affected. Edited by Monica K. Miller, The Social Science of the COVID-19 Pandemic is a collection of academic essays written by a group of international authors. The book begins by overviewing the timeline of the pandemic and how it affected life. It then discusses behaviors and experiences during the pandemic, followed by sections on outcomes after the pandemic and best practices for conducting future studies during or about the pandemic. This book is an expansive, go-to text designed to help promote recovery from the pandemic, to minimize the negative effects of similar events in the future, and to inform social science research going forward.
The Oxford Handbook of Gangs and Society (Oxford Handbooks)
by John LeversoThe Oxford Handbook of Gangs and Society is the premier reference book on gangs for practitioners, policymakers, students, and scholars. This carefully curated volume contains 43 chapters written by the leading experts in the field, who advance a central theme of "looking back, moving forward" by providing state-of-the-art reviews of the literature they created, shaped, and (re)defined. This international, interdisciplinary collective of authors provides readers with a rare tour of the field in its entirety, expertly navigating thorny debates and the at-times contentious history of gang research, while simultaneously synthesizing flourishing areas of study that advance the field into the 21st century. The volume is divided into six cohesive sections that reflect the diverse field of gang studies and capture the large-scale cultural, economic, political, and social changes occurring within the world of gangs in the last century; anticipating immense changes on the horizon. From definitions to history to theory to epistemology to technology to policy and practice, this unprecedented volume captures the most timely and important topics in the field. From curious outsiders to longstanding insiders, this volume will appeal to anyone with an interest in gangs. The editors assembled a cast of the best scholars shaping how the field thinks about gangs. The content is fresh, timely, and informative, appealing to everyone from the armchair theorist to the federal policymaker. It is truly a one-stop shop for anyone seeking the most up-to-date information on gangs, written by experts who approach the topic from very different disciplinary orientations, methodological approaches, and theoretical perspectives. When readers finish this book, they will be more confident in what we know and do not know about gangs in our society.
Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation
by R. Keith Sawyer Danah HenriksenExplaining Creativity is an accessible introduction to the latest scientific research on creativity. The book summarizes and integrates a broad range of research in psychology and related scientific fields. In the last 50 years, psychologists, anthropologists, and sociologists have devoted increased attention to creativity; we now know more about creativity than at any point in history. Explaining Creativity examines research on thinking processes, personality, culture, mental health, groupwork, technology, self-beliefs, and more. It also reviews creativity across fields such as the arts, science, theater, music, and writing. This new edition maintains the broad and practical, yet still detailed approach of the previous editions, but it features updated coverage on the full landscape of creative cognition, creative practice, and social and cultural contexts for creativity. With three new chapters on Creativity and Technology, Creativity and Wellbeing, and Creativity and Self, this third edition provides a comprehensive understanding of creativity for anyone interested in the topic.
The Oxford Handbook of Gangs and Society (Oxford Handbooks)
by John LeversoThe Oxford Handbook of Gangs and Society is the premier reference book on gangs for practitioners, policymakers, students, and scholars. This carefully curated volume contains 43 chapters written by the leading experts in the field, who advance a central theme of "looking back, moving forward" by providing state-of-the-art reviews of the literature they created, shaped, and (re)defined. This international, interdisciplinary collective of authors provides readers with a rare tour of the field in its entirety, expertly navigating thorny debates and the at-times contentious history of gang research, while simultaneously synthesizing flourishing areas of study that advance the field into the 21st century. The volume is divided into six cohesive sections that reflect the diverse field of gang studies and capture the large-scale cultural, economic, political, and social changes occurring within the world of gangs in the last century; anticipating immense changes on the horizon. From definitions to history to theory to epistemology to technology to policy and practice, this unprecedented volume captures the most timely and important topics in the field. From curious outsiders to longstanding insiders, this volume will appeal to anyone with an interest in gangs. The editors assembled a cast of the best scholars shaping how the field thinks about gangs. The content is fresh, timely, and informative, appealing to everyone from the armchair theorist to the federal policymaker. It is truly a one-stop shop for anyone seeking the most up-to-date information on gangs, written by experts who approach the topic from very different disciplinary orientations, methodological approaches, and theoretical perspectives. When readers finish this book, they will be more confident in what we know and do not know about gangs in our society.
Two Tales of the Death of God
by Stephen LeDrewIn the 19th century Friedrich Nietzsche infamously declared that "God is dead." It turns out he was on to something. Across the western world, churches are emptying out and closing their doors, and more and more people are rejecting organized religion. In the early 2000s a group of intellectuals who collectively came to be known as the "new atheists" capitalized on this fact, capturing the imagination of young skeptics and igniting a movement for secularism by arguing that religion is the source of most of our social ills. They believed that the decline of religious belief could be attributed to the rise of modern science. This was only the most recent incarnation of a story that has been told since the 18th century Enlightenment, which forged a myth of social progress and western cultural supremacy that has lent legitimacy to the projects of imperialism and global capitalism ever since. The social sciences have another story to tell. It is the story of secularization: a theory that grapples with the astonishing fact of Christianity's fall from its position at the center of western culture. In this version of the story, God was not killed by science, but by a complex set of social and economic changes that have produced greater overall well-being and equality, and by shifting moral values that lead people to view religious ethics as a relic of a bygone era. Stephen LeDrew argues that only the social sciences can explain religion's fall from grace--and the dangers of its resurgence. A coalition of far-right religious extremists is currently working to dismantle democracy in order to preserve white Christian privilege. The evidence from secularization shows that only by working to achieve greater security and equality for all can we halt a descent into an abyss of nihilistic greed and intolerance.
The Social Science of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Call to Action for Researchers
by Monica K. MillerAlthough the world has experienced many epidemics, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is exactly that--novel. The impacts on society's way of life, education, family, and economy are drastic. As a result, people seek explanations that have answers rooted in social science. The Social Science of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Call to Action for Researchers draws on theories derived from the social sciences to address the multitude of questions raised by the pandemic and to inspire a future generation of researchers. This book focuses specifically on the social science of a pandemic. While medical, health, and other sciences are critical to understanding a pandemic, so, too, is understanding the role of society and person. Together, psychology and society shape every aspect of life, and the COVID-19 pandemic is no exception to this pattern. Parts of society--and science--will be forever affected. Edited by Monica K. Miller, The Social Science of the COVID-19 Pandemic is a collection of academic essays written by a group of international authors. The book begins by overviewing the timeline of the pandemic and how it affected life. It then discusses behaviors and experiences during the pandemic, followed by sections on outcomes after the pandemic and best practices for conducting future studies during or about the pandemic. This book is an expansive, go-to text designed to help promote recovery from the pandemic, to minimize the negative effects of similar events in the future, and to inform social science research going forward.
The Routledge International Handbook of Positioning Theory (Routledge International Handbooks)
This handbook is the first of its kind to explore Positioning Theory. Taking inspiration from the groundwork set by Rom Harré and collaborators such as Bronwyn Davies, Fathali Moghaddam, Luk Van Langenhove, and others the book explores the emergence, historical context, and disciplinary applications of Positioning Theory and its basic precepts as a social psychological theory.This volume encompasses over 20 chapters across four sections, assimilating cross-disciplinary insights that try to understand the theoretical underpinnings, methodological applications, and contemporary relevance of Positioning Theory. Part 1 explores the movement of scholarly figures and their numerous works on the subject. It discusses the foundational origins and the historical contexts of the existing theories on positioning and new directions for scholarship. Part 2 examines the methodological and narrative investigations used for data analysis in positioning research, navigating through the epistemological orientations and theoretical landscapes of Positioning Theory. Part 3 explores numerous applications across disciplines to consider the reach and influence of positioning within and across multiple disciplines. Lastly, the authors contemplate the future directions for Positioning Theory.Featuring researchers from leading research institutions from across the globe, the book is important reading for scholars interested in positioning and Positioning Theory. We recommend this handbook for graduate-level courses in social psychology, communication, discourse studies and related disciplines.