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The Conservative Governments and Social Policy
by Hugh Bochel and Martin PowellFocusing on the policy approaches of Conservative governments since 2015, this book examines key social policy areas including education, health, housing, employment, children and young people, and more. Respected social policy researchers explore the degree to which the positions and policies of recent Conservative governments have differed from the previous Coalition government (2010–15). They consider the extent to which austerity has continued and the influence of other policy emphases, such as a ‘levelling up’ agenda. Reflecting on the rapid changes of Prime Minister, they compare the themes of the Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss and Sunak administrations, critically examine the impacts of the external shocks of Brexit and COVID-19, and the changing patterns of public expenditure.
The Constitution and Economic Regulation: Commerce Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment
by Michael ConantThis study uses basic economic analysis as a technique to comment critically on the original meaning and the interpretation of those clauses of the Constitution that have particular bearing on the economy. Many new conclusions are markedly different from those of the Supreme Court and earlier commentators. Conant's view is that the commerce clause and the equal protection clause, if they had been construed consistently with their comprehensive original meanings, would have given much greater federal protection against state laws that impaire free markets.Economic policy for the nation was vested in Congress. To the extent that special interests could buy congressional favor for their anticompetitive activities, free markets were impaired within constraints as interpreted by the court. These decisions have been criticized for their failure to incorporate the antimonopoly tradition in the Ninth Amendment and their failure to recognize equal protection of laws incorporated into the Fifth Amendment. Conant holds that statutory controls of the economy are justifiable in economic theory if they are designed to remedy market failures and thereby increase efficiency. If statutes are passed to interfere with markets and create market inefficiencies for the benefit of special interest groups, they should be condemned under the standards of normative microeconomics. There are four main classes of market failure: monopoly, externalities, public goods, and informational asymmetry. This masterful analysis examines all four reasons for market failure in depth.Litigation costs are analogous to transaction costs. If legal principles and rules are clearly and precisely defined by the Supreme Court when they are first appealed, litigation and its costs should be minimized. Conant claims that if legal principles or rules are uncertain because they lack definable standards, the number of legal actions filed and litigation costs will be much greater. This promotes additional litigation challenging the many statutes enacted to remedy asserted market failures in an expanding industrial economy. This work brilliantly addresses the danger to the economy in court rulings seeking to legislate standards of reasonableness.
The Constitution of Algorithms: Ground-Truthing, Programming, Formulating (Inside Technology)
by Florian JatonA laboratory study that investigates how algorithms come into existence.Algorithms--often associated with the terms big data, machine learning, or artificial intelligence--underlie the technologies we use every day, and disputes over the consequences, actual or potential, of new algorithms arise regularly. In this book, Florian Jaton offers a new way to study computerized methods, providing an account of where algorithms come from and how they are constituted, investigating the practical activities by which algorithms are progressively assembled rather than what they may suggest or require once they are assembled.
The Constitution of Social Practices (Philosophy and Method in the Social Sciences)
by Kevin McMillanPractices – specific, recurrent types of human action and activity – are perhaps the most fundamental "building blocks" of social reality. This book argues that the detailed empirical study of practices is essential to effective social-scientific inquiry. It develops a philosophical infrastructure for understanding human practices, and argues that practice theory should be the analytical centrepiece of social theory and the philosophy of the social sciences. What would social scientists’ research look like if they took these insights seriously? To answer this question, the book offers an analytical framework to guide empirical research on practices in different times and places. The author explores how practices can be identified, characterised and explained, how they function in concrete contexts and how they might change over time and space. The Constitution of Social Practices lies at the intersection of philosophy, social theory, cultural theory and the social sciences. It is essential reading for scholars in social theory and the philosophy of social science, as well as the broad range of researchers and students across the social sciences and humanities whose work stands to benefit from serious consideration of practices.
The Construction Precariat: Dependence, Domination and Labour in Dhaka (Routledge Studies in the Sociology of Work, Professions and Organisations)
by Selim RezaPositioned within the discourse of neoliberalism and precarious work, this book draws on Guy Standing’s notion of "the precariat" in an examination of the role of recruiting individuals as the key actors in labour recruitment and management practices that produce precarious work conditions. Based on extensive empirical work on migrant construction workers and their recruiters in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh and one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, it explores the ways in which exploitative employment relationships contribute to various pressures and insecurities amongst migrant workers and limit the scope for labour protection. Offering new insights into the field of labour migration by unpacking the interconnections between rural-urban labour migration, recruitment and precarious employment, The Construction Precariat conceptualises the domination of recruiters as producing "hyper-individualised employment", and sheds light on the manner in which this relationship of domination and dependence contributes heavily both to the conditions of precariousness and to the control and exploitation of migrant workers.
The Construction of Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men
by Tracy Luchetta Patricia L PardieDiscover new information and perspectives on why today’s culture holds prejudice toward gay men and lesbians!The Construction of Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men explores the pervasiveness and widespread social acceptance of heterosexism in the United States by analyzing existing social and political systems for their representative beliefs. As a scholar or student of psychology, sociology, women’s studies/gay & lesbian studies, or social work who is concerned with the need for positive change in attitudes toward same-sex relationships at cultural, this book is for you. You will learn more about current indicators of heterosexism and homonegativity at multiple levels of representation, and better understand the cultural obstacles and openings for attitudinal transformation.IIn The Construction of Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men, empirical research, critical social analysis, theoretical development, and case study applications are used to investigate negative attitudes toward homosexuals. Some of the individual, social, and cultural prejudices that you will examine include:HIV/AIDS stigma and HIV/AIDS knowledge negative legal imagery of homosexuals portrayed by courts, such as in the 1996 majority opinion in Romer v. Evans case the lack of civil rights for homosexuals, including laws forbidding homosexual marriage homophobia in academia based on institutional policies for spouse benefits Judeo-Christian mythologies stereotypical masculine and feminine images portrayed by the media sociocultural and historical origins of sexism The Construction of Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men is a critical investigation of representations of homonegativism in American culture. You will gain a deeper understanding of individual identities and relational behaviors within today’s dominant culture through an analysis of collective ideologies, institutional policies, and more. The immense research and knowledge contained in this book provides you with a multifaceted view of current indicators of heterosexism and homonegativity and works to eliminate anti-gay/lesbian prejudice.
The Construction of Corporate Identities by Chinese and American Airlines on Social Media: A Cross-Cultural Multimodal Study
by Ying HuaUsing top Chinese and American airlines as examples, this book approaches the construction of corporate identities on social media, a critical issue in corporate communication, from a cross-cultural multimodal perspective. Through a holistic and systematic multimodal analysis, it provides a comprehensive cross-cultural understanding of corporate identity construction on social media. By developing an integrated social semiotic framework based on registerial cartography in SFL, it investigates the airlines’ registerial activity patterns in terms of macro-level configuration and micro-level multimodal realizations, interprets their situated contextual patterns that delineate the construction of corporate identities and further explains the influence of cultural factors. Given that this book offers theoretical contributions to corporate identity and cross-cultural communication research, practical guidance on PR practices, especially in the context of Chinese enterprises going global, and pedagogical insights for business communication courses, this book will be of particular benefit to researchers in linguistics, management and communication studies, PR practitioners, and both lecturers and learners of business communication courses.
The Construction of Ecological Civilization in China (China Insights)
by Kaizhong YangThe book introduces China's ecological environmental protection in urban and rural areas. China's economic development and the achievements in alleviating poverty has been recognized by the international community. However, China's commitment in ecological and environmental protection has not gain equivalent attention.From cultural and ideological perspective, the book presents the basic connotation and historical significance of ecological civilization construction advocated by China. It shows a tangible and multi-dimensional process and China's ecological civilization construction over recent years, combining analysis of the cases of China’s ecological civilization construction.
The Construction of Environmental News: A Study of Scottish Journalism (Routledge Revivals)
by Fiona CampbellFirst published in 1999, this volume is drawn from a 1992-1996 study and seeks to explain the news process used to identify a newsworthy issue and its application to understanding the construction of environmental news. Drawing upon information retrieval and dissemination via journalists, newspapers, television and radio stations, Fiona Campbell examines the co-existence of two extreme, different professions for a common aim. She argues that environmental information is pluralistic and complex, holding information meanings inherent in it, and that environmental news is a version of interpreted environmental information. Campbell discusses the idea that information changes as journalists gather, interpret and disseminate environmental information. A model is included, which describes the flow of environmental information in the media and shows that journalists retrieve information from a complex range of sources and repackage it in a simplified format. Campbell investigates the ways in which reporters routines their work procedures and how they apply the rules implicit in the news process. It examines the techniques used by journalists to evaluate news potential in environmental issues, the practices used to gather information and the methods employed to construct the news.
The Construction of European Identity among Ethnic Minorities: ‘Euro-Minorities’ in Generational Perspective (Research in Migration and Ethnic Relations Series)
by Natalia WaechterThis book is concerned with European identities among ethnic minorities who live along the eastern border of the European Union. Based on findings from quantitative and qualitative empirical research conducted with minority groups in eight nation-states on both sides of the new eastern border of the EU, it investigates their attitudes and perceptions of the EU based on their constructions of European identity. Adopting a comparative approach, the author explores different processes of identity construction across several age and ethnic minority groups, to develop a theory of European identities in which ethnic identities can be seen as a missing link in explaining relationships between different national, regional and supranational identities. With new insights regarding the political, cultural and instrumental contents of European identity and its emergence, this volume will appeal to scholars of sociology and politics with interests in ethnic identity, European integration and identity research.
The Construction of Sexual and Cultural Identities: Greek-Cypriot Men in Britain (Routledge Revivals)
by Constantinos N. PhellasThis title was first published in 2002: Ethnicity, culture and sexual orientation are salient aspects of human identity. While diversity adds richness to the threads of our human tapestry, minorities often feel vulnerable with open disclosure and retreat from exposures they fear could leave them in jeopardy. This is especially so with gay men of colour. Xenophobia, homophobia and fear of HIV/AIDS combine to make our society a difficult one for gay men of colour. This book explores a broad range of culture-related topics specific to the experience of Anglo-Cypriot men resident in Britain who have sex with men. Along with empirical, clinical and theoretical discussions, the inclusion of personal accounts offers poignant insight into additional complexities, pressures and losses that gay men of colour must cope with in a world that often handles diversity with the closed fist of bigotry.
The Construction of Social Judgments (Cog Studies Grp of the Inst for Behavioral Research at UGA)
by Abraham Tesser Leonard L. MartinResearchers have been addressing social judgment from a cognitive perspective for more than 15 years. Within recent years, however, it has become increasingly clear that many of the models and assumptions initially adopted are in need of revision. The chapters in this volume point out where the original models and assumptions have fallen short, and suggest directions for future research and theorizing. The contributors address issues related to judgment, memory, affect, attitudes, and self-perception. In addition, many present theoretical frameworks within which these different issues can be integrated. As such, this volume represents the transition from one era of social cognition research to the next.
The Construction of Truth in Contemporary Media Narratives about Risk (Routledge Advances in Sociology)
by John GaffeyThe Construction of Truth in Contemporary Media Narratives about Risk provides a theoretical framework for how, in a post-truth era, media audiences are able to understand and navigate everyday risk. The book examines media risk narratives and explores forms of truth, experiential knowledge, and authority. Using the concept of parrhesia to show how we invest trust in various types of knowledge in a changing media environment, the book demonstrates how we choose between expert and non-expert information when navigating a seemingly risky world. It considers how news media formats have previously engaged audiences through risk narratives and examines how experiential knowledge has come to hold a valuable place for individuals navigating what we are often told is an increasingly risky and uncertain world. The book also examines the increasingly precarious position of expert knowledge and examines how contemporary truth-games play out between experts and non-experts, and considers how this extends into the world of online and social media. This book will be of interest to those researching or teaching in the areas of criminology, sociology, media and cultural studies, and of interest to readers in professional areas such as journalism and politics.
The Construction of Whiteness: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Race Formation and the Meaning of a White Identity
by David R. Roediger Stephen Middleton Donald M. ShafferA CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title, 2017This volume collects interdisciplinary essays that examine the crucial intersection between whiteness as a privileged racial category and the various material practices (social, cultural, political, and economic) that undergird white ideological influence in America. In truth, the need to examine whiteness as a problem has rarely been grasped outside academic circles. The ubiquity of whiteness--its pervasive quality as an ideal that is at once omnipresent and invisible--makes it the very epitome of the mainstream in America. And yet the undeniable relationship between whiteness and inequality in this country necessitates a thorough interrogation of its formation, its representation, and its reproduction. Essays here seek to do just that work. Editors and contributors interrogate whiteness as a social construct, revealing the underpinnings of narratives that foster white skin as an ideal of beauty, intelligence, and power.Contributors examine whiteness from several disciplinary perspectives, including history, communication, law, sociology, and literature. Its breadth and depth makes The Construction of Whiteness a refined introduction to the critical study of race for a new generation of scholars, undergraduates, and graduate students. Moreover, the interdisciplinary approach of the collection will appeal to scholars in African and African American studies, ethnic studies, cultural studies, legal studies, and more. This collection delivers an important contribution to the field of whiteness studies in its multifaceted impact on American history and culture.
The Constructive Mind: Bartlett's Psychology In Reconstruction
by Brady WagonerThe Constructive Mind is an integrative study of the psychologist Frederic Bartlett's (1886-1969) life, work and legacy. Bartlett is most famous for the idea that remembering is constructive and for the concept of schema; for him, 'constructive' meant that human beings are future-oriented and flexibly adaptive to new circumstances. This book shows how his notion of construction is also central to understanding social psychology and cultural dynamics, as well as other psychological processes such as perceiving, imagining and thinking. Wagoner contextualises the development of Bartlett's key ideas in relation to his predecessors and contemporaries. Furthermore, he applies Bartlett's constructive analysis of cultural transmission in order to chart how his ideas were appropriated and transformed by others that followed. As such this book can also be read as a case study in the continuous reconstruction of ideas in science.
The Consumer Co-operative Sector: International Perspectives on Strategic Renewal (Routledge Studies in International Business and the World Economy)
by John F. Wilson Anthony Webster Espen Ekberg Samuli SkurnikGlobally, consumer co-operation has experienced a difficult period since the 1970s. Large scale failures in France, Germany and Austria were accompanied by loss of market share in the UK (including the failure of the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society and its takeover by its English counterpart). Even in the Nordic countries, where consumer co-operation has always been more robust, new challenges from the non-co-operative sector had to be confronted. How did co-operative organizations in different countries cope with these challenges? What were the processes of strategic renewal that they undertook? How successful were they? These are the key questions that the collection will address, culminating in an analysis by the editors of the effectiveness of strategic renewal in the co-operative sector. This book is a study of strategic renewal in the consumer co-operative sector, using eleven international case-studies to demonstrate how the concept has been applied over the last fifty years.
The Consumer Co-operative Sector: International Perspectives on Strategic Renewal (Routledge Studies in International Business and the World Economy)
by John F. Wilson Anthony Webster Espen Ekberg Samuli SkurnikGlobally, consumer co-operation has experienced a difficult period since the 1970s. Large scale failures in France, Germany and Austria were accompanied by loss of market share in the UK (including the failure of the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society and its takeover by its English counterpart). Even in the Nordic countries, where consumer co-operation has always been more robust, new challenges from the non-co-operative sector had to be confronted. How did co-operative organizations in different countries cope with these challenges? What were the processes of strategic renewal that they undertook? How successful were they? These are the key questions that the collection will address, culminating in an analysis by the editors of the effectiveness of strategic renewal in the co-operative sector. This book is a study of strategic renewal in the consumer co-operative sector, using eleven international case-studies to demonstrate how the concept has been applied over the last fifty years.
The Consumer Society
by W. Duncan Reekie I. R. C. HirstTavistock Press was established as a co-operative venture between the Tavistock Institute and Routledge & Kegan Paul (RKP) in the 1950s to produce a series of major contributions across the social sciences. This volume is part of a 2001 reissue of a selection of those important works which have since gone out of print, or are difficult to locate. Published by Routledge, 112 volumes in total are being brought together under the name The International Behavioural and Social Sciences Library: Classics from the Tavistock Press. Reproduced here in facsimile, this volume was originally published in 1977 and is available individually. The collection is also available in a number of themed mini-sets of between 5 and 13 volumes, or as a complete collection.
The Consumer Society
by Jean BaudrillardNow available in English for the first time, Jean Baudrillard's classic text was one of the first to focus on the process and meaning of consumption in contemporary culture. Originally published in 1970, the book still makes a vital contribution to current debates on consumption. Many of the themes which would make Baudrillard famous appear here for the first time. The book includes Baudrillard's most organized discussion of mass media culture, the meaning of leisure and anomie in affluent society. A chapter on the body demonstrates Baudrillard's extraordinary prescience for flagging vital subjects in contemporary culture long before others. This English translation begins with an introductory essay by George Ritzer.
The Consumer Society Reader
by Juliet Schor D. B. HoltThe Consumer Society Reader features a range of key works on the nature and evolution of consumer society. Included here is much-discussed work by leading critics such as Jean Baudrillard, Susan Bordo, Dick Hebdige, bell hooks, and Janice Radway. Also included is a full range of classics, such as Frankfurt School writers Adorno and Horkheimer on the Culture Industry; Thorstein Veblen's oft-cited writings on "conspicuous consumption"; Betty Friedan on the housewife's central role in consumer society; John Kenneth Galbraith's influential analysis of the "affluent society"; and Pierre Bourdieu on the notion of "taste.""Consumer society--the 'air we breathe,' as George Orwell has described it--disappears during economic downtruns and political crises. It becomes visible again when prosperity seems secure, cultural transformation is too rapid, or enviornmental disasters occur. Such is the time in which we now find ourselves. As the roads clog with gas-guzzling SUVs and McMansions proliferate in the suburbs, the nation is once again asking fundamental questions about lifestyle. Has 'luxury fever,' to use Robert Frank's phrase, gotten out of hand? Are we really comfortable with the 'Brand Is Me' mentality? Have we gone too far in pursuit of the almighty dollar, to the detriment of our families, communities, and natural enviornment? Even politicians, ordinarily impermeable to questions about consumerism, are voicing doubts... [and] polls suggest majorities of Americans feel the country has become too materialistic, too focused on getting and spending, and increasingly removed from long-standing non-materialist values." -From the introduction by Douglas B. Holt and Juliet B. Schor
The Consumer Society Reader
by Juliet Schor D. B. HoltThe Consumer Society Reader features a range of key works on the nature and evolution of consumer society. Included here is much-discussed work by leading critics such as Jean Baudrillard, Susan Bordo, Dick Hebdige, bell hooks, and Janice Radway. Also included is a full range of classics, such as Frankfurt School writers Adorno and Horkheimer on the Culture Industry; Thorstein Veblen's oft-cited writings on "conspicuous consumption"; Betty Friedan on the housewife's central role in consumer society; John Kenneth Galbraith's influential analysis of the "affluent society"; and Pierre Bourdieu on the notion of "taste.""Consumer society--the 'air we breathe,' as George Orwell has described it--disappears during economic downtruns and political crises. It becomes visible again when prosperity seems secure, cultural transformation is too rapid, or enviornmental disasters occur. Such is the time in which we now find ourselves. As the roads clog with gas-guzzling SUVs and McMansions proliferate in the suburbs, the nation is once again asking fundamental questions about lifestyle. Has 'luxury fever,' to use Robert Frank's phrase, gotten out of hand? Are we really comfortable with the 'Brand Is Me' mentality? Have we gone too far in pursuit of the almighty dollar, to the detriment of our families, communities, and natural enviornment? Even politicians, ordinarily impermeable to questions about consumerism, are voicing doubts... [and] polls suggest majorities of Americans feel the country has become too materialistic, too focused on getting and spending, and increasingly removed from long-standing non-materialist values." -From the introduction by Douglas B. Holt and Juliet B. Schor
The Consumer Society Reader
by Juliet B. Schor Douglas B. HoltThis books features a range of key discussions about consumer society. Included are much-discussed work by leading ritics such as Jean Baudrillard, Susan Bordo, Dick hebdige, bell hooks, and Janice Radway. Also included are a full range of classics, such as Frankfurt School writers Adorno and Horkheimer on the Culture Industry; Thorstein Veblen's oft-cited writings on "conspicuous consumption"; Betty Friedan on the housewife's central role in consumer society; John K. Galbraith's influential analysis of the "affluent society"; and Pierre Bourdieu on the notion of "taste".
The Consumer Society Reader
by Douglas B. Holt Juliet SchorThe Consumer Society Reader features a range of key works on the nature and evolution of consumer society. Included here is much-discussed work by leading critics such as Jean Baudrillard, Susan Bordo, Dick Hebdige, bell hooks, and Janice Radway. Also included is a full range of classics, such as Frankfurt School writers Adorno and Horkheimer on the Culture Industry; Thorstein Veblen's oft-cited writings on "conspicuous consumption"; Betty Friedan on the housewife's central role in consumer society; John Kenneth Galbraith's influential analysis of the "affluent society"; and Pierre Bourdieu on the notion of "taste.""Consumer society--the 'air we breathe,' as George Orwell has described it--disappears during economic downtruns and political crises. It becomes visible again when prosperity seems secure, cultural transformation is too rapid, or enviornmental disasters occur. Such is the time in which we now find ourselves. As the roads clog with gas-guzzling SUVs and McMansions proliferate in the suburbs, the nation is once again asking fundamental questions about lifestyle. Has 'luxury fever,' to use Robert Frank's phrase, gotten out of hand? Are we really comfortable with the 'Brand Is Me' mentality? Have we gone too far in pursuit of the almighty dollar, to the detriment of our families, communities, and natural enviornment? Even politicians, ordinarily impermeable to questions about consumerism, are voicing doubts... [and] polls suggest majorities of Americans feel the country has become too materialistic, too focused on getting and spending, and increasingly removed from long-standing non-materialist values." -From the introduction by Douglas B. Holt and Juliet B. Schor
The Consumer Society Reader
by Martyn J. LeeThe Consumer Society Reader is the most substantial collection of classic and contemporary readings on consumption and consumer society for students of cultural studies and sociology of culture. From Karl Marx to Jean Baudrillard, the volume introduces students and researchers to the topics, themes, and preoccupations of twentieth-century consumer culture.
The Consumer Society: Myths and Structures (Published in association with Theory, Culture & Society)
by Professor Jean BaudrillardJean Baudrillard's classic text was one of the first to focus on the process and meaning of consumption in contemporary culture. Originally published in 1970, the book makes a vital contribution to current debates on consumption. The book includes Baudrillard's most organized discussion of mass media culture, the meaning of leisure, and anomie in affluent society. A chapter on the body demonstrates Baudrillard's extraordinary prescience for flagging vital subjects in contemporary culture long before others. This English translation begins with a new introductory essay.