Age of System

Age of System

Author: Hunter Heyck

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2015-09

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1421417103

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In the years after World War II, a new generation of scholars redefined the central concepts and practices of social science in America. Before the Second World War, social scientists struggled to define and defend their disciplines. After the war, “high modern” social scientists harnessed new resources in a quest to create a unified understanding of human behavior—and to remake the world in the image of their new model man. In Age of System, Hunter Heyck explains why social scientists—shaped by encounters with the ongoing “organizational revolution” and its revolutionary technologies of communication and control—embraced a new and extremely influential perspective on science and nature, one that conceived of all things in terms of system, structure, function, organization, and process. He also explores how this emerging unified theory of human behavior implied a troubling similarity between humans and machines, with freighted implications for individual liberty and self-direction. These social scientists trained a generation of decision-makers in schools of business and public administration, wrote the basic textbooks from which millions learned how the economy, society, polity, culture, and even the mind worked, and drafted the position papers, books, and articles that helped set the terms of public discourse in a new era of mass media, think tanks, and issue networks. Drawing on close readings of key texts and a broad survey of more than 1,800 journal articles, Heyck follows the dollars—and the dreams—of a generation of scholars that believed in “the system.” He maps the broad landscape of changes in the social sciences, focusing especially intently on the ideas and practices associated with modernization theory, rational choice theory, and modeling. A highly accomplished historian, Heyck relays this complicated story with unusual clarity.


A Vulnerable System

A Vulnerable System

Author: Andrew J. Stewart

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2021-09-15

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 1501759043

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As threats to the security of information pervade the fabric of everyday life, A Vulnerable System describes how, even as the demand for information security increases, the needs of society are not being met. The result is that the confidentiality of our personal data, the integrity of our elections, and the stability of foreign relations between countries are increasingly at risk. Andrew J. Stewart convincingly shows that emergency software patches and new security products cannot provide the solution to threats such as computer hacking, viruses, software vulnerabilities, and electronic spying. Profound underlying structural problems must first be understood, confronted, and then addressed. A Vulnerable System delivers a long view of the history of information security, beginning with the creation of the first digital computers during the Cold War. From the key institutions of the so-called military industrial complex in the 1950s to Silicon Valley start-ups in the 2020s, the relentless pursuit of new technologies has come at great cost. The absence of knowledge regarding the history of information security has caused the lessons of the past to be forsaken for the novelty of the present, and has led us to be collectively unable to meet the needs of the current day. From the very beginning of the information age, claims of secure systems have been crushed by practical reality. The myriad risks to technology, Stewart reveals, cannot be addressed without first understanding how we arrived at this moment. A Vulnerable System is an enlightening and sobering history of a topic that affects crucial aspects of our lives.


The Pastoral Continuum

The Pastoral Continuum

Author: Paul Spencer

Publisher: Clarendon Press

Published: 1998-01-29

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 0191583448

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Paul Spencer presents the definitive study of the ways of life of the cattle-herding peoples of East Africa, drawing on many years of research. This region has offered a prime example of a traditional culture resisting the inevitability of change; it provides the best-known and most extensive instance both of cattle-pastoralist society and of social organization based primarily on age. Pastoral peoples were once dominant in the East African interior, but development of the market economy has progressively polarized the region and forced them into the most marginal, drought-ridden areas; in this ecological trap they have become a peripheral underclass. The Pastoral Continuum examines the richness and resilience of their cultures and illuminates the role of indigenous practices and institutions in adaptation and survival. The pastoralists' systems of age organization in particular are notable for their resilience: it is demonstrated that these are bound up with problems of growth and succession in family enterprises, and that marriage is a critical link in the web of alliance that governs the problematic relations between old and young. Spencer's exploration of the development of the pastoralist phenomenon yields a unique view of its place in the modern world and its prospects for the future. This landmark work by a leading authority will be of lasting value to any reader interested in traditional social systems of this kind.


On Their Own

On Their Own

Author: Martha Shirk

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2006-08-08

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 0786722029

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Each year, as many as 25,000 teenagers "age out" of foster care, usually when they turn eighteen. For years, a government agency had made every important decision for them. Suddenly, they are on their own, with no one to count on. What does it mean to be eighteen and on your own, without the family support and personal connections that most young people rely on? For many youth raised in foster care, it means largely unhappy endings, including sudden homelessness, unemployment, dead-end jobs, loneliness, and despair. On Their Own tells the compelling stories of ten young people whose lives are full of promise, but who face economic and social barriers stemming from the disruptions of foster care. This book calls for action to provide youth in foster care the same opportunities on the road to adulthood that most of our youth take for granted-access to higher education, vocational training, medical care, housing, and relationships within their communities. On Their Own is meant to serve as a clarion call not only to policymakers, but to all Americans who care about the futures of our young people.


Age Studies

Age Studies

Author: Susan Pickard

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2016-04-24

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 1473958970

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"With great rigour, yet an enviable lightness of touch, Susan Pickard has written an engaging and accessible book that students will love." - Rosaline Gill, City University London "A scholarly tour de force that brings into focus the various disciplines, histories, literatures and knowledges that have transformed us into modern subjects of age." - Stephen Katz, Trent University Age Studies takes an invigorating approach to the study of age and ageing in contemporary society. Encompassing ageing throughout the life course, taking in childhood, adolescence, mid-life and older age, and situated explicitly within a sociological disciplinary framework, Age Studies: Explores current social science debates on the study of ageing linking these to core sociological concepts. Links theory and application, using a variety of examples and international case studies Includes chapter summaries, further reading and guided questions. A thought-provoking companion to advanced undergraduates and postgraduate student studying ageing, older people, social gerontology and related courses.


Age-Friendly Health Systems

Age-Friendly Health Systems

Author: Terry Fulmer

Publisher: Institute for Healthcare Improvement (Ihi)

Published: 2022-02

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781544527505

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According to the US Census Bureau, the US population aged 65+ years is expected to nearly double over the next 30 years, from 43.1 million in 2012 to an estimated 83.7 million in 2050. These demographic advances, however extraordinary, have left our health systems behind as they struggle to reliably provide evidence-based practice to every older adult at every care interaction. Age-Friendly Health Systems is an initiative of The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), in partnership with the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA), designed Age-Friendly Health Systems to meet this challenge head on. Age-Friendly Health Systems aim to: Follow an essential set of evidence-based practices; Cause no harm; and Align with What Matters to the older adult and their family caregivers.


Time, Space and the Unknown

Time, Space and the Unknown

Author: Paul Spencer

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2004-02-24

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1134371608

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First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.


The House of the Father As Fact and Symbol

The House of the Father As Fact and Symbol

Author: J. David Schloen

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2018-07-17

Total Pages: 430

ISBN-13: 9004369848

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The first two volumes on patrimonialism in Ugarit and the ancient Near East, this book opens with a lengthy introduction on the interpretation of social action and households in the ancient world. Following this foundation, Schloen embarks on a societal and domestic study of the Late Bronze Age kingdom of Ugarit in its wider Near Eastern context.


Dictionary of Artifacts

Dictionary of Artifacts

Author: Barbara Ann Kipfer

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2008-04-15

Total Pages: 363

ISBN-13: 0470766190

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Containing close to 3,000 words and definitions, Dictionary ofArtifacts is an indispensable reference for anyone workingwithin the field of archaeology. Entries detail artifact’s classification and typology;raw materials; methods and techniques of creation; principles andtechniques of examination and identification; and instructions forthe care and preservation of specimens. Along with a headword and definition, pronunciations, synonyms,cross-references, and the category/categories also accompany eachentry Drawings, photographs, and extensive annnotated bibliographyare included for more complete comprehension