This book focuses on the interrelations between nature and humans, in particular on those segments of societies that have been left behind (marginal groups). Nature is both the friend of humans and their adversary, depending on the way people treat and use it. Consequently, the book adopts a wide perspective of marginality: nature that has been marginalized by man (ecological marginality), but also social groups marginalized by politics, economic interests, and value judgements imbedded in culture. Many chapters deal specifically with issues in Nepal, but along with the other chapters with case studies from Southeast Asia and other regions, they demonstrate that the major man-nature problems are the same everywhere and can only be solved by constructive politics through clear regulations, convincing actions and general acceptance.
Throughout the world, policy makers argue that they develop and implement policies to benefit all members of their society. Marginalized Groups in the Caribbean argues that the policies introduced by several governments in the Caribbean lead to the exclusion of groups within these societies. Using both research and interviews, the authors explore how certain groups are excluded from the policy-making process and do not have a voice. The groups highlighted in this book include criminal deportees, women, children, first peoples, refugees, and victims of floods. The three authors in this book are experts in separate disciplines: policy making, social work, as well as gender and development. They bring their respective experiences to bear in their arguments, showing many sides to the exclusionary effects of laws and promoting strategies for change.
This book provides an overview of marginality or marginalization, as a concept, characterizing a situation of impediments – social, political, economic, physical, and environmental – that impact the abilities of many people and societies to improve their human condition. It examines a wide range of examples and viewpoints of societies struggling with poverty, social inequality and marginalization. Though the book will be especially interesting for those looking for insights into the situation and position of ethnic groups living in harsh mountainous conditions in the Himalayan region, examples from other parts of the world such as Kyrgyzstan, Israel, Switzerland and Finland provide an opportunity for comparison of marginality and marginalization from around the world. Also addressed are issues such as livelihood, outmigration and environmental threats, taking into account the conditions, scale and perspective of observation. Throughout the text, particular attention is given to the context and concept of ‘marginalization’, which sadly remains a persistent reality of human life. It is in this context that this book seeks to advance our global understanding of what marginalization is, how it is manifested and what causes it, while also proposing remedial strategies.
This book takes a new approach on understanding causes of extreme poverty and promising actions to address it. Its focus is on marginality being a root cause of poverty and deprivation. “Marginality” is the position of people on the edge, preventing their access to resources, freedom of choices, and the development of capabilities. The book is research based with original empirical analyses at local, national, and local scales; book contributors are leaders in their fields and have backgrounds in different disciplines. An important message of the book is that economic and ecological approaches and institutional innovations need to be integrated to overcome marginality. The book will be a valuable source for development scholars and students, actors that design public policies, and for social innovators in the private sector and non-governmental organizations.
The New York Times–bestselling author describes how current trends will create an era when anything and everything is available for almost nothing. In The Zero Marginal Cost Society, New York Times–bestselling author Jeremy Rifkin uncovers a paradox at the heart of capitalism that has propelled it to greatness but is now taking it to its death—the inherent entrepreneurial dynamism of competitive markets that drives productivity up and marginal costs down, enabling businesses to reduce the price of their goods and services in order to win over consumers and market share. (Marginal cost is the cost of producing additional units of a good or service, if fixed costs are not counted.) While economists have always welcomed a reduction in marginal cost, they never anticipated the possibility of a technological revolution that might bring marginal costs to near zero, making goods and services priceless, nearly free, and abundant, and no longer subject to market forces. Now, a formidable new technology infrastructure—the Internet of things (IoT)—is emerging with the potential of pushing large segments of economic life to near zero marginal cost in the years ahead. Rifkin describes how the Communication Internet is converging with an Energy Internet and Logistics Internet to create a new technology platform that connects all. There are billions of sensors feeding Big Data into an IoT global neural network. Prosumers can connect to the network and use Big Data, analytics, and algorithms to accelerate efficiency, dramatically increase productivity, and lower the marginal cost of producing and sharing a wide range of products and services to near zero, just like they now do with information goods. The plummeting of marginal costs is spawning a hybrid economy—part capitalist market and part Collaborative Commons—with far reaching implications for society, according to Rifkin. Hundreds of millions of people are already transferring parts of their economic lives to the global Collaborative Commons. Prosumers are plugging into the IoT and making and sharing their own information, entertainment, green energy, and 3D-printed products at near zero marginal cost. Students are enrolling in free massive open online courses (MOOCs) that operate at near zero marginal cost. Social entrepreneurs are even bypassing the banking establishment and using crowdfunding to finance startup businesses as well as creating alternative currencies in the fledgling sharing economy. In this new world, social capital is as important as financial capital, access trumps ownership, sustainability supersedes consumerism, cooperation ousts competition, and “exchange value” in the capitalist marketplace is increasingly replaced by “sharable value” on the Collaborative Commons. Rifkin concludes that capitalism will remain with us, albeit in an increasingly streamlined role, primarily as an aggregator of network services and solutions, allowing it to flourish as a powerful niche player in the coming era. We are, however, says Rifkin, entering a world beyond markets where we are learning how to live together in an increasingly interdependent global Collaborative Commons.
Bioarchaeology of Marginalized People amplifies the voices of marginalized or powerless individuals. Following previous work done by physical anthropologists on the biology of poverty, this volume focuses on the voices of past actors who would normally be subsumed within a cohort or whose stories represent those of the minority. The physical effects of marginalization – manifest as skeletal markers of stress and disease – are read in their historical contexts to better understand vulnerability and the social determinants of health in the past. Bioarchaeological, archaeological, and historical datasets are integrated to explore the varied ways in which individuals may be marginalized both during and after their lifespan. By focusing on previously excluded voices this volume enriches our understanding of the lived experience of individuals in the past. This volume queries the diverse meanings of marginalization, from physical or social peripheralization, to identity loss within a majority population, to a collective forgetting that excludes specific groups. Contributors to the volume highlight the histories of individuals who did not record their own stories, including two disparate Ancient Egyptian women and individuals from a high-status Indigenous cemetery in British Columbia. Additional chapters examine the marginalized individuals whose bodies comprise the Robert J. Terry anatomical collection and investigate inequalities in health status in individuals from Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Modern clinical population health research is examined through a historical lens, bringing a new perspective to the critical public health interventions occurring today. Together, these papers highlight the role that biological anthropologists play both in contributing to and challenging the marginalization of past populations. - Highlights the histories and stories of individuals whose voices were silenced, such as workhouse inmates, migrants, those of low socioeconomic status, the chronically ill, and those living in communities without a written language - Provides a holistic and more complete understanding of the lived experiences of the past, as well as changes in populations through time - Offers an interdisciplinary discussion with contributions from a wide variety of international authors
This book considers de-marginalization attesting that marginal regions have the potential for de-marginalization and are anchored in developmental terms on the following core themes: nature; tourism; ethnicity and general factors including migration. Adding to the discussion on marginality and sustainability this book contributes a number of case studies on a diverse selection of topics and regions in which these crucial issues connect. It delivers a reflection of (de)marginalizing processes in today’s globalized world where an increasing number of people, groups, societies and regions are marginalized and vulnerable not only from social and economic factors, but also from natural causes such as natural hazards. This book addresses the unsustainable practices in the past that have often generated difficult conditions for sustainable development in the future. Marginal regions that have not been developed are given much needed consideration as they may now enjoy the benefits of having not been exploited in the past to their present-day developmental advantage. The overview offered by this book is significant in that marginal regions with relatively unspoiled and attractive natural (and cultural) landscapes have a great potential for sustainable tourism. Contributions include the (de)marginalization of ethnic groups, the role of education and migration in the process, and different economic and political perspectives. Considering the topics covered, the book should be appreciated by all those involved in creation of social policies, urban and regional planning – coordinating economic with spatial and social development and by those studying in the fields were competencies for such activities are important part of the study program.
With the newly inaugurated US Presidential Administration signing several orders to mitigate discrimination and racism within the United States government, attentions globally are once again brought to the Black Lives Matter campaign, and its message. Discrimination in business contexts, social interactions, and educational institutions remains a concern for leaders today. The empowerment of marginalize communities has been rapidly spreading through societies, thanks to the platforms that social media now offer. The Research Anthology on Empowering Marginalized Communities and Mitigating Racism and Discrimination is a three-volume, hand-selected compilation of the highest quality research on the empowerment of marginalized communities that have been experiencing ongoing discrimination. To shed light on the underpinnings of disparities between marginalized groups and overreaching society, this text explores social justice applications and practices and the changes being made or pushed for around the globe that promote equality, fair treatment, and inclusivity. This book is ideal for sociologists, teachers, activists, practitioners, managers, administrators, policymakers, government officials, researchers, academicians, and students working in fields such as gender studies, race studies, social justice, behavioral studies, history, sociology, anthropology, psychology, law, as well as anyone interested in the current practices and advances in mitigating racism and discrimination in society.
**Includes test bank and PowerPoint slides for professors who have adopted the text in their course. Contact [email protected] for more information. ** This well-received criminology textbook, now in its third edition, argues that crime must be understood as both a social and a political phenomenon. Using this lens, Marginality and Condemnation contends that what is defined as criminal, how we respond to “crime” and why individuals behave in anti-social ways are often the result of individual and systemic social inequalities and disparities in power. Beginning with an overview of criminological discourse, mainstream approaches and new directions in criminological theory, the book is then divided into sections, based on key social inequalities of class, gender, race and age, each of which begins with an outline of the general issues for understanding crime and an introduction that guides readers through the empirical chapters that follow. The studies provide insights into general issues in criminology, ranging from the historical and current nature of crime and criminal justice to the various responses to criminality. Readers are encouraged and challenged to understand crime and justice through concrete analyses rather than abstract argumentation. In addition to a new introductory chapter that confronts how we define crime, measure crime, and understand and use criminology in this millennium, the third edition provides new chapters examining crime in relation to the environment, terrorism, masculinity, children and youth, and Aboriginal gangs and the legacy of colonialism.
