"Pillars of Society" by Henrik Ibsen explores the hypocrisy and moral decay of a small Norwegian town. The story follows Karsten Bernick, a respected businessman hiding a dark secret. As Bernick's past threatens to unravel, the facade of respectability crumbles, revealing the corruption beneath. Ibsen's play critiques societal structures and the pursuit of wealth at the expense of integrity, offering a compelling commentary on the human condition.
Pillars of the Republic is a pioneering study of common-school development in the years before the Civil War. Public acceptance of state school systems, Kaestle argues, was encouraged by the people's commitment to republican government, by their trust in Protestant values, and by the development of capitalism. The author also examines the opposition to the Founding Fathers' educational ideas and shows what effects these had on our school system.
The younger generation - those under the age of 25 - account for more than a quarter of Hong Kong's population. A much misunderstood group, these people have special characteristics and needs, and some are particularly vulnerable. Substance abuse among young people is on the rise, and juveniles make up a third of total arrests every year. Extra effort and attention is required of policy-makers, educators, and social workers to help this group make a positive contribution to society. This book seeks to promote understanding of Hong Kong's younger generation and offers strategies for working with them and their families towards healthy and productive development. Divided into three parts - youth in general, youth-at-risk, and young offenders - the book draws on international literature and empirical studies from within Hong Kong. Its focus is on action, always stressing the practical question of how to build a new model for working effectively with them. This book will be essential reading for seasoned professionals as well as undergraduate students in criminology, social policy, and social work, and postgraduates intending to practise in these areas. Francis Wing-lin Leeis an associate professor in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration in the University of Hong Kong. "The younger generation today has to face complex and diverse life challenges, ranging from dysfunctional family systems, unemployment, hurdles of social mobility, stressful school life and the bombardments of the new social media. To help young people cope with these challenges, they have to be given opportunities and choices for holistic growth, and to acquire independent thinking and global vision. This book provides thorough analysis and practical reference for youth workers that can enhance their understanding to work with our young people." - Christine Fang, Chief Executive, The Hong Kong Council of Social Service
Revised and updated Shortlisted for the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award From one of the most important economic thinkers of our time, a brilliant and far-seeing analysis of the current populist backlash against globalization. Raghuram Rajan, distinguished University of Chicago professor, former IMF chief economist, head of India's central bank, and author of the 2010 FT-Goldman-Sachs Book of the Year Fault Lines, has an unparalleled vantage point onto the social and economic consequences of globalization and their ultimate effect on our politics. In The Third Pillar he offers up a magnificent big-picture framework for understanding how these three forces--the state, markets, and our communities--interact, why things begin to break down, and how we can find our way back to a more secure and stable plane. The "third pillar" of the title is the community we live in. Economists all too often understand their field as the relationship between markets and the state, and they leave squishy social issues for other people. That's not just myopic, Rajan argues; it's dangerous. All economics is actually socioeconomics - all markets are embedded in a web of human relations, values and norms. As he shows, throughout history, technological phase shifts have ripped the market out of those old webs and led to violent backlashes, and to what we now call populism. Eventually, a new equilibrium is reached, but it can be ugly and messy, especially if done wrong. Right now, we're doing it wrong. As markets scale up, the state scales up with it, concentrating economic and political power in flourishing central hubs and leaving the periphery to decompose, figuratively and even literally. Instead, Rajan offers a way to rethink the relationship between the market and civil society and argues for a return to strengthening and empowering local communities as an antidote to growing despair and unrest. Rajan is not a doctrinaire conservative, so his ultimate argument that decision-making has to be devolved to the grass roots or our democracy will continue to wither, is sure to be provocative. But even setting aside its solutions, The Third Pillar is a masterpiece of explication, a book that will be a classic of its kind for its offering of a wise, authoritative and humane explanation of the forces that have wrought such a sea change in our lives.
Calamity strikes when Bernick's business reputation is threatened by the revelation of a long-buried secret. He devises a plan which risks the one life he holds dear. This work is set amid a society struggling against the rush of capitalism, the lure of America and the passionate beginnings of the fight for female emancipation.
Henrik Johan Ibsen (1828-1906) was a major Norwegian playwright largely responsible for the rise of modern realistic drama. He is often referred to as the "father of modern drama."
