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Blind to Sameness: Sexpectations and the Social Construction of Male and Female Bodies
by Asia FriedmanWhat is the role of the senses in how we understand the world? Cognitive sociology has long addressed the way we perceive or imagine boundaries in our ordinary lives, but Asia Friedman pushes this question further still. How, she asks, did we come to blind ourselves to sex sameness? Drawing on more than sixty interviews with two decidedly different populations—the blind and the transgendered—Blind to Sameness answers provocative questions about the relationships between sex differences, biology, and visual perception. Both groups speak from unique perspectives that magnify the social construction of dominant visual conceptions of sex, allowing Friedman to examine the visual construction of the sexed body and highlighting the processes of social perception underlying our everyday experience of male and female bodies. The result is a notable contribution to the sociologies of gender, culture, and cognition that will revolutionize the way we think about sex.
Blind to Sameness: Sexpectations and the Social Construction of Male and Female Bodies
by Asia FriedmanWhat is the role of the senses in how we understand the world? Cognitive sociology has long addressed the way we perceive or imagine boundaries in our ordinary lives, but Asia Friedman pushes this question further still. How, she asks, did we come to blind ourselves to sex sameness? Drawing on more than sixty interviews with two decidedly different populations—the blind and the transgendered—Blind to Sameness answers provocative questions about the relationships between sex differences, biology, and visual perception. Both groups speak from unique perspectives that magnify the social construction of dominant visual conceptions of sex, allowing Friedman to examine the visual construction of the sexed body and highlighting the processes of social perception underlying our everyday experience of male and female bodies. The result is a notable contribution to the sociologies of gender, culture, and cognition that will revolutionize the way we think about sex.
The Bling Dynasty: Why the Reign of Chinese Luxury Shoppers Has Only Just Begun (Wiley Finance)
by Erwan RambourgWhy the luxury market's fate rests in Chinese wallets The media has negatively focused on the Chinese political administration clamping down on gifting. Observers have come to doubt the strength of Chinese consumption as the key driver for luxury. The Bling Dynasty illustrates how doubts about Chinese consumption are ill-founded and Chinese luxury demand is on the cusp of becoming dominant. This book contains the research and expert views companies need to understand and address the new challenges posed by this dominance. Each chapter brings a different perspective, covering complex aspects of luxury consumption, with illustrations and real-world examples that support the research. Readers will gain insights through interviews with brand executives, retailers, experts, and consumers. As an economic heavyweight, China is fast realizing its role in the luxury market. Chinese consumers should be accounting for more than a third of the global luxury market today, and half, if not more, in ten year's time. The Bling Dynasty runs counter to the conventional wisdom that expanding sectors become more global. Luxury is actually becoming over-dependent on Chinese sales. Readers will: Understand how Western brands developed in Asia and the challenges they are met with, notably ubiquity Learn why Chinese are purchasing luxury items abroad and what it means for the future of the sector Gain insights on why there are no Chinese luxury brands challenging Western models Realize that Chinese consumers are becoming similar to their American peers and that luxury competition goes way beyond pre-conceptions China's big spenders are increasingly mobile and this is affecting key markets. The Bling Dynasty provides new research and a comprehensive look at the booming business of luxury and the Chinese wallet.
The Bling Dynasty: Why the Reign of Chinese Luxury Shoppers Has Only Just Begun (Wiley Finance)
by Erwan RambourgWhy the luxury market's fate rests in Chinese wallets The media has negatively focused on the Chinese political administration clamping down on gifting. Observers have come to doubt the strength of Chinese consumption as the key driver for luxury. The Bling Dynasty illustrates how doubts about Chinese consumption are ill-founded and Chinese luxury demand is on the cusp of becoming dominant. This book contains the research and expert views companies need to understand and address the new challenges posed by this dominance. Each chapter brings a different perspective, covering complex aspects of luxury consumption, with illustrations and real-world examples that support the research. Readers will gain insights through interviews with brand executives, retailers, experts, and consumers. As an economic heavyweight, China is fast realizing its role in the luxury market. Chinese consumers should be accounting for more than a third of the global luxury market today, and half, if not more, in ten year's time. The Bling Dynasty runs counter to the conventional wisdom that expanding sectors become more global. Luxury is actually becoming over-dependent on Chinese sales. Readers will: Understand how Western brands developed in Asia and the challenges they are met with, notably ubiquity Learn why Chinese are purchasing luxury items abroad and what it means for the future of the sector Gain insights on why there are no Chinese luxury brands challenging Western models Realize that Chinese consumers are becoming similar to their American peers and that luxury competition goes way beyond pre-conceptions China's big spenders are increasingly mobile and this is affecting key markets. The Bling Dynasty provides new research and a comprehensive look at the booming business of luxury and the Chinese wallet.
Block by Block: Neighborhoods and Public Policy on Chicago's West Side (Historical Studies of Urban America)
by Amanda I. SeligmanIn the decades following World War II, cities across the United States saw an influx of African American families into otherwise homogeneously white areas. This racial transformation of urban neighborhoods led many whites to migrate to the suburbs, producing the phenomenon commonly known as white flight. In Block by Block, Amanda I. Seligman draws on the surprisingly understudied West Side communities of Chicago to shed new light on this story of postwar urban America. Seligman's study reveals that the responses of white West Siders to racial changes occurring in their neighborhoods were both multifaceted and extensive. She shows that, despite rehabilitation efforts, deterioration in these areas began long before the color of their inhabitants changed from white to black. And ultimately, the riots that erupted on Chicago's West Side and across the country in the mid-1960s stemmed not only from the tribulations specific to blacks in urban centers but also from the legacy of accumulated neglect after decades of white occupancy. Seligman's careful and evenhanded account will be essential to understanding that the "flight" of whites to the suburbs was the eventual result of a series of responses to transformations in Chicago's physical and social landscape, occurring one block at a time.
Block, Delete, Move On: It's not you, it's them
by LalalaLetMeExplain*One of Cosmopolitan's 2022 hot new releases*'This book will change lives' - Tracey Cox'Possibly the best book on relationships I have ever read' - Jess MeganHave you ever been on a disastrous date and vowed never to use apps again?Are you blaming yourself for the things going wrong in your love life?Do you always seem to become attached to people who treat you badly?The sad truth is that when it comes to modern dating, there are a whole host of challenges and hurdles to overcome. From ghosting and negging to gaslighting and abuse, this book teaches you what to look out for, to make sure that you're not accidentally dating men with toxic traits who secretly hate women, or who just want to have sex and run.It will empower you to use your voice and walk away if you spot warning signs in relationships, by highlighting the red flags and the types of fuckboy that you might run into when dating, as well as the green flags and signs that indicate a healthy partnership.This is not a dating book that promises to find you a person to love; instead, it will help you spot the troublesome ones before it is too late. It will help you to recognise that you possess spectacular buff ting energy and that it's perfectly possible to be contentedly single.Most importantly, this book will give you the power to BLOCK, DELETE and MOVE ON with living your best life.
A Block in Time: A New York City History at the Corner of Fifth Avenue and Twenty-Third Street
by Christiane BirdGotham meets The Island at the Center of the World in this dazzling history of a single block in Manhattan from the Age of Exploration to the present. This is the story of New York City, told through the prism of one block, bordered by Twenty-third Street to the south, Twenty-fourth Street to the north, Fifth Avenue and Broadway to the east, and Sixth Avenue to the west. It's a story of forest and cement, bird cries and taxi horns, theaters and factories, gambling dens and gourmet foods. It's also the story of high life and low life, immigrants and tourists, farmers and aristocrats, crooked cops and moral reformers, toy stores and social climbers--from Solomon Pieters, a former slave who was the first owner of the block, to Alexander “Clubber” Williams, the notorious police officer of the 1870s who accepted bribes and wielded his club with equal impunity, to Marietta Stevens, whose Sunday-night socials and scheming became the stuff of legend. Greed and generosity, guilt and innocence, extravagance and degradation--all have flourished on this one Manhattan block, emblematic of the city as a whole. Venturing from the opulent halls of the Fifth Avenue Hotel to grimy Sixth Avenue brothels, from the era of the Lenape to that of the Dutch, from the Gilded Age to the twentieth century, when the block and the city were transformed into something closely resembling the Manhattan we know today, A Block in Time takes us on a dynamic, exhilarating tour of history. Welcome to New York, past and present, and hear all the sordid and edifying stories this small patch of land has to tell.
Blockchain: Hype or Innovation
by Tatiana Gayvoronskaya Christoph MeinelThis book focuses on the innovation of blockchain technology and the advantages it offers. It provides a clear and comprehensive overview of blockchain technology and its possibilities, and thereby helps readers to form an opinion and draw their own conclusions about its potential exploitations.The book begins with a chapter on the topic of decentralized networks, which familiarizes readers with their challenges by using the example of an online trading platform. Hereinafter, it is then detailed what blockchain technology is, where it comes from, and how it works. The necessary underlying technologies are explained, and various individual approaches as well as their composition are presented. Using well-known examples such as Bitcoin and Ethereum as an illustration, the book looks at the architecture of blockchain technology and focuses on the challenges such as security and scalability. The options available when introducing blockchain technology are also outlined, and best-practice examples are presented to get a better idea of what areas benefit from this technology.Numerous examples and detailed explanations will accompany the readers throughout the book. By the time they have reached the end, they will be able to decide for themselves what is truly innovative about blockchain technology and what is nothing more than hype.
Blockchain: Grundlagen, Anwendungsszenarien und Nutzungspotenziale (Edition HMD)
by Andreas Meier Hans-Georg FillSowohl in der Praxis als auch der wissenschaftlichen Forschung ist das Thema "Blockchain" aktuell von großem Interesse. Noch scheint sich die Technologie am Anfang ihrer Entwicklung zu befinden: Plattformen wie Bitcoin, Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, Libra, TradeLens oder andere weisen bereits einen beeindruckenden Reifegrad in ihrer technischen Entwicklung auf. Dennoch befinden sich erst wenige von ihnen bzw. darauf aufbauende Applikationen im produktiven Einsatz bei Unternehmen. Hier können nicht nur Forschende optimal dazu beitragen, neue Ideen zu entwickeln, noch nicht betrachtete Anwendungsfälle und -domänen zu untersuchen und erste Prototypen für den konkreten Einsatz zu entwickeln. Die Beiträge der vorliegenden Edition HMD bieten dazu einen umfassenden Überblick und zeigen die große Bandbreite an möglichen Anwendungsfeldern für Blockchains. Das Herausgeberwerk vermittelt somit die Grundlagen zur Blockchain-Technologie, widmet sich den Smart Contracts und beschreibt wichtige Anwendungsszenarien, erste Fallbeispiele und rechtliche Aspekte. Wie typisch für die Fachbuchreihe Edition HMD greifen die Beitragsautoren das Thema aus Sicht von Forschung und Praxis gleichermaßen auf. Ein Glossar mit den wichtigsten Begriffen rundet das Buch ab.
Blockchain – ICBC 2018: First International Conference, Held as Part of the Services Conference Federation, SCF 2018, Seattle, WA, USA, June 25-30, 2018, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #10974)
by Shiping Chen Harry Wang Liang-Jie ZhangThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the First International Conference on Blockchain, ICBC 2018, held as part of the Services Conference Federation, SCF 2018, in Seattle, USA, in June 2018. The 16 full papers and 7 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 36 submissions. The papers cover a wide range of topics in blockchain technologies, platforms, solutions and business models such as new blockchain architecture, platform constructions, blockchain development and blockchain services technologies as well as standards, and blockchain services innovation lifecycle including enterprise modeling, business consulting, solution creation, services orchestration, services optimization, services management, services marketing, business process integration and management.
Blockchain and Other Emerging Technologies for Digital Business Strategies (Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications)
by Hamid Jahankhani Stefan Kendzierskyj David V. KilpinThis book aims to explore the aspects of strategic leadership in a digital context together with the cyber-physical relationships whilst performing business activities. Furthermore, this book looks to investigate the interactions from both the organization strategy including the cross-functional actors/stakeholders whom are operating within the organization and the various characteristics of operating in a cyber secure ecosystem. The book provides a valuable reference for IT directors, strategic leaders, cybersecurity experts, network security professionals. It is also aimed at researchers seeking to obtain a more profound knowledge of machine learning and deep learning in the context of cybersecurity. Furthermore, the book is an exceptional advanced text for Ph.D. and master’s degree programs in cybersecurity, network security and computer science. Each chapter is written by an internationally renowned expert who has extensive experience in law enforcement, industry or academia. Furthermore, this book blends advanced research findings with practice-based methods to provide the reader with advanced understanding and relevant skills.
Blockchain and Web 3.0: Social, Economic, and Technological Challenges (Routledge Studies in Science, Technology and Society)
by Massimo Ragnedda Giuseppe DestefanisBlockchain is no longer just about bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general. Instead, it can be seen as a disruptive, revolutionary technology which will have major impacts on multiple aspects of our lives. The revolutionary power of such technology compares with the revolution sparked by the World Wide Web and the Internet in general. Just as the Internet is a means of sharing information, so blockchain technologies can be seen as a way to introduce the next level: sharing value. Blockchain and Web 3.0 fills the gap in our understanding of blockchain technologies by hosting a discussion of the new technologies in a variety of disciplinary settings. Indeed, this volume explains how such technologies are disruptive and comparatively examines the social, economic, technological and legal consequences of these disruptions. Such a comparative perspective has previously been underemphasized in the debate about blockchain, which has subsequently led to weaknesses in our understanding of decentralized technologies. Underlining the risks and opportunities offered by the advent of blockchain technologies and the rise of Web 3.0, Blockchain and Web 3.0 will appeal to researchers and academics interested in fields such as sociology and social policy, cyberculture, new media and privacy and data protection.
Blockchain and Web 3.0: Social, Economic, and Technological Challenges (Routledge Studies in Science, Technology and Society)
by Massimo Ragnedda Giuseppe DestefanisBlockchain is no longer just about bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general. Instead, it can be seen as a disruptive, revolutionary technology which will have major impacts on multiple aspects of our lives. The revolutionary power of such technology compares with the revolution sparked by the World Wide Web and the Internet in general. Just as the Internet is a means of sharing information, so blockchain technologies can be seen as a way to introduce the next level: sharing value. Blockchain and Web 3.0 fills the gap in our understanding of blockchain technologies by hosting a discussion of the new technologies in a variety of disciplinary settings. Indeed, this volume explains how such technologies are disruptive and comparatively examines the social, economic, technological and legal consequences of these disruptions. Such a comparative perspective has previously been underemphasized in the debate about blockchain, which has subsequently led to weaknesses in our understanding of decentralized technologies. Underlining the risks and opportunities offered by the advent of blockchain technologies and the rise of Web 3.0, Blockchain and Web 3.0 will appeal to researchers and academics interested in fields such as sociology and social policy, cyberculture, new media and privacy and data protection.
Blockchain Enabled Applications: Understand the Blockchain Ecosystem and How to Make it Work for You
by Vikram Dhillon David Metcalf Max HooperWork with blockchain and understand its potential application beyond cryptocurrencies in the domains of healthcare, Internet of Things, finance, decentralized organizations, and open science. Featuring case studies and practical insights generated from a start-up spun off from the author’s own lab, this book covers a unique mix of topics not found in others and offers insight into how to overcome real hurdles that arise as the market and consumers grow accustomed to blockchain based start-ups. You'll start with a review of the historical origins of blockchain and explore the basic cryptography needed to make the blockchain work for Bitcoin. You will then learn about the technical advancements made in the surrounded ecosystem: the Ethereum virtual machine, Solidity, Colored Coins, the Hyperledger Project, Blockchain-as-a-service offered through IBM, Microsoft and more. This book looks at the consequences of machine-to-machine transactions using the blockchain socially, technologically, economically and politically. Blockchain Enabled Applications provides you with a clear perspective of the ecosystem that has developed around the blockchain and the various industries it has penetrated. What You’ll LearnImplement the code-base from Fabric and Sawtooth, two open source blockchain-efforts being developed under the Hyperledger ProjectEvaluate the benefits of integrating blockchain with emerging technologies, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence in the cloudUse the practical insights provided by the case studies to your own projects or start-up ideasSet up a development environment to compile and manage projects Who This Book Is For Developers who are interested in learning about the blockchain as a data-structure, the recent advancements being made and how to implement the code-base. Decision makers within large corporations (product managers, directors or CIO level executives) interested in implementing the blockchain who need more practical insights and not just theory.
Blockchain und maschinelles Lernen: Wie das maschinelle Lernen und die Distributed-Ledger-Technologie voneinander profitieren
by Sigurd Schacht Carsten LanquillonDurch Bitcoin wurde die Blockchain als zugrundeliegende Technologie bekannt. Sie zählt zu den Distributed-Ledger-Technologien, die zukünftig viele Bereiche des wirtschaftlichen Handels beeinflussen werden. So bergen dezentrale autonome Anwendungen enormes Potenzial, nicht nur Prozesse, sondern auch Vertragsabstimmungen zu automatisieren. Beispielsweise kann ein automatisiertes wirtschaftliches Handeln zwischen Maschinen ermöglicht werden. Um einen derart hohen Automatisierungsgrad zu erreichen, müssen datenbasierte Entscheidungen autonom – ohne menschliches Zutun – getroffen werden. Maschinelle Lernverfahren können dabei eine zentrale Komponente bei der Entscheidungsfindung einnehmen. Das Buch stellt erstmalig die komplementären Themengebiete Distributed-Ledger-Technologie und maschinelles Lernen gegenüber und zeigt auf, welches Potenzial freigesetzt werden kann, wenn beide Technologien zielführend miteinander verbunden werden. Das Buch ist eine unverzichtbare Lektüre für diejenigen, die sich tiefgreifendes Wissen in der Kombination beider Themengebiete aufbauen wollen, indem einerseits die theoretischen Grundlagen und andererseits auch mögliche Anwendungsszenarien dargestellt werden.
Blogging All-in-One For Dummies
by Amy Lupold BairBlog with the best of ‘em! If you’re looking for a complete guide to creating and solidifying your place in the blogosphere, you’ve come to the right place! With 8 books in one, Blogging All-in-One For Dummies is the only resource you’ll need to get started or to improve your existing blog. Learn about the most popular blogging platforms, creating content worth reading, and methods for driving traffic to your blog. Cut through the confusion and find the facts about monetizing your blog, using the best blogging tools for you, and increasing reader engagement to become an active, successful member of the blogging community. You're ready to start blogging, so let Dummies show you the way! Perfect your blog idea and choose the best platform for you Get people to read your blog through search engine optimization and social media promotion Learn about the latest trends in the blogosphere Make money from your blog with creative monetization ideasBloggers of all skill and experience levels will find valuable information in Blogging All-in-One For Dummies.
Blogging All-in-One For Dummies: A Wiley Brand
by Amy Lupold BairBlog with the best of ‘em! If you’re looking for a complete guide to creating and solidifying your place in the blogosphere, you’ve come to the right place! With 8 books in one, Blogging All-in-One For Dummies is the only resource you’ll need to get started or to improve your existing blog. Learn about the most popular blogging platforms, creating content worth reading, and methods for driving traffic to your blog. Cut through the confusion and find the facts about monetizing your blog, using the best blogging tools for you, and increasing reader engagement to become an active, successful member of the blogging community. You're ready to start blogging, so let Dummies show you the way! Perfect your blog idea and choose the best platform for you Get people to read your blog through search engine optimization and social media promotion Learn about the latest trends in the blogosphere Make money from your blog with creative monetization ideasBloggers of all skill and experience levels will find valuable information in Blogging All-in-One For Dummies.
Blogging My Religion: Secular, Muslim, and Catholic Media Spaces in Europe (Routledge Studies in Religion and Digital Culture)
by Giulia EvolviReligion in Europe is currently undergoing changes that are reconfiguring physical and virtual spaces of practice and belief, and these changes need to be understood with regards to the proliferation of digital media discourses. This book explores religious change in Europe through a comparative approach that analyzes Atheist, Catholic, and Muslim blogs as spaces for articulating narratives about religion that symbolically challenge the power of religious institutions. The book adds theoretical complexity to the study of religion and digital media with the concept of hypermediated religious spaces. The theory of hypermediation helps to critically discuss the theory of secularization and to contextualize religious change as the result of multiple entangled phenomena. It considers religion as being connected with secular and post-secular spaces, and media as embedding material forms, institutions, and technologies. A spatial perspective contextualizes hypermediated religious spaces as existing at the interstice of alternative and mainstream, private and public, imaginary and real venues. By offering the innovative perspective of hypermediated religious spaces, this book will be of significant interest to scholars of religious studies, the sociology of religion, and digital media.
Blogging My Religion: Secular, Muslim, and Catholic Media Spaces in Europe (Routledge Studies in Religion and Digital Culture)
by Giulia EvolviReligion in Europe is currently undergoing changes that are reconfiguring physical and virtual spaces of practice and belief, and these changes need to be understood with regards to the proliferation of digital media discourses. This book explores religious change in Europe through a comparative approach that analyzes Atheist, Catholic, and Muslim blogs as spaces for articulating narratives about religion that symbolically challenge the power of religious institutions. The book adds theoretical complexity to the study of religion and digital media with the concept of hypermediated religious spaces. The theory of hypermediation helps to critically discuss the theory of secularization and to contextualize religious change as the result of multiple entangled phenomena. It considers religion as being connected with secular and post-secular spaces, and media as embedding material forms, institutions, and technologies. A spatial perspective contextualizes hypermediated religious spaces as existing at the interstice of alternative and mainstream, private and public, imaginary and real venues. By offering the innovative perspective of hypermediated religious spaces, this book will be of significant interest to scholars of religious studies, the sociology of religion, and digital media.
Blogistan: The Internet and Politics in Iran
by Annabelle Sreberny Gholam KhiabanyThe protests unleashed by Iran's disputed presidential election in June 2009 brought the Islamic Republic's vigorous cyber culture to the world's attention. Iran has an estimated 700,000 bloggers, and new media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were thought to have played a key role in spreading news of the protests. The internet is often celebrated as an agent of social change in countries like Iran, but most literature on the subject has struggled to grasp what this new phenomenon actually means. How is it different from print culture? Is it really a new public sphere? Will the Iranian blogosphere create a culture of dissidence, which eventually overpowers the Islamist regime? In this groundbreaking work, the authors give a flavour of contemporary internet culture in Iran and analyse how this new form of communication is affecting the social and political life of the country. Although they warn against stereotyping bloggers as dissidents, they argue that the internet is changing things in ways which neither the government nor the democracy movement could have anticipated."Blogistan" offers both a new reading of Iranian politics and a new conceptual framework for understanding the politics of the internet, with implications for the wider Middle East, China and beyond.
Blogosphere and its Exploration
by Christoph Meinel Justus Broß Philipp Berger Patrick HennigThis book represents an attempt to fully review the phenomenon of the blogosphere. The intention is to provide a reliable guide to understanding and analyzing the world of the unimaginable number of diverse blogs, each consisting of innumerable posts, which in their entirety form the blogosphere. We go on to answer the questions of how to grasp the complexity of the blogosphere and extract useful knowledge from it. In setting out to write this book, our central aim was to increase the reader’s awareness and understanding of the blogosphere phenomenon, including its structure and characteristics. This can be achieved through a better understanding of individual blogs and their particular technical characteristics, as well as a deeper knowledge of how a single blog is embedded and interconnected within the entire blogosphere. The shape and form of the blogosphere can be described using the analogy of different continents. In our description the defining features and characteristics of the continents are illustrated by paradigmatic example blogs. Following on from the structural analysis we provide details of the available methods and describe the complex challenge of automatically retrieving information from the abundance of data contained in the blogosphere. Finally, we present our blog search platform, called BLOGINTELLIGENCE and describe all the tools and features we have developed during the last couple of years to explore the blogosphere.
Blood and Oranges: Immigrant Labor and European Markets in Rural Greece (Dislocations #2)
by Christopher LawrenceA compelling account of the intersection of globalization and neo-racism in a rural Greek community, this book describes the contradictory political and economic development of the Greek countryside since its incorporation into the European Union, where increased prosperity and social liberalization have been accompanied by the creation of a vulnerable and marginalized class of immigrant laborers. The author analyzes the paradoxical resurgence of ethnic nationalism and neo-racism that has grown in the wake of European unification and addresses key issues of racism, neoliberalism and nationalism in contemporary anthropology.
Blood Entanglements: Evangelicals and Gangs in El Salvador
by Stephen OffuttIn many low-income neighborhoods in El Salvador, two groups have significant influence over the public sphere: gangs and evangelical churches. Members of both groups often belong to the same families, use similar organizational strategies, and engage each other in local marketplaces. Pastors and gang leaders compete for power within communities while informally sharing community governance. Entanglements even occur within formal organizations: Gang members can be found in churches and faith-based organizations, while an evangelical presence exists within prisons and other gang-controlled spaces. Blood Entanglements shows the importance of religion in gang-controlled neighborhoods in El Salvador through extensive empirical data and the personal stories of people who live there. Stephen Offutt uses the notion of "entanglement" to explain how and why evangelicals have such frequent and often intimate interactions with gangs, which are groups that many evangelicals believe are evil. Entanglement, he shows, also sheds light on how evangelicals engage with Latin American society and social problems more generally. The book concludes with policy recommendations for reducing gang prevalence and violence in areas with a prominent evangelical presence.
Blood Entanglements: Evangelicals and Gangs in El Salvador
by Stephen OffuttIn many low-income neighborhoods in El Salvador, two groups have significant influence over the public sphere: gangs and evangelical churches. Members of both groups often belong to the same families, use similar organizational strategies, and engage each other in local marketplaces. Pastors and gang leaders compete for power within communities while informally sharing community governance. Entanglements even occur within formal organizations: Gang members can be found in churches and faith-based organizations, while an evangelical presence exists within prisons and other gang-controlled spaces. Blood Entanglements shows the importance of religion in gang-controlled neighborhoods in El Salvador through extensive empirical data and the personal stories of people who live there. Stephen Offutt uses the notion of "entanglement" to explain how and why evangelicals have such frequent and often intimate interactions with gangs, which are groups that many evangelicals believe are evil. Entanglement, he shows, also sheds light on how evangelicals engage with Latin American society and social problems more generally. The book concludes with policy recommendations for reducing gang prevalence and violence in areas with a prominent evangelical presence.
Blood Libel and Its Derivatives: The Scourge of Anti-Semitism
by Raphael IsraeliAt the doorstep of the twenty-first century, one would expect that medieval concepts such as blood libel—the accusation that Jews kill children to use their blood in religious ritual—would have been discarded by any civilized human being. Certainly in the Christian world, where the story originated and endured for centuries, modern attitudes have nearly erased these barbaric accusations. But in Arab and Islamic worlds, where enmity towards Israel and Zionism has conditioned beliefs, attitudes, positions, and fantasies, blood libel and similar charges are still part of life.Most people are unaware of the history of blood libel and do not perceive links between it and many of the false accusations currently hurled against the state of Israel. Raphael Israeli argues that individuals and organizations guilty of human rights crimes project crimes onto Israel to avoid awareness of their own guilt. Certainly when countries ruled by dictators set the agenda of the UN Council for human rights, Israel is consistently censured and condemned.Accusations of "apartheid" and charges of discrimination against Muslims are frequently made. Israel is accused of plots against Muslims in order to harm their productive sectors, of using weapons of mass destruction to commit "genocide" against Arabs, of injecting poisonous substances into Palestinian children, of poisoning Arab lands under the guise of "agricultural aid," and of laying siege to peaceful citizens. All of these charges are derivatives of blood libel and have been adopted by Middle East Jihadists in their struggle against Israel. This volume aims to explain the origins of the charge of blood libel and define the ways its derivatives have achieved acceptance in certain parts of the world today.