Wine, Society, and Globalization

Wine, Society, and Globalization

Author: G. Campbell

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2007-12-25

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 0230609902

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This collection of essays comprises a number of case studies from key wine-growing regions and countries around the world. Contributors focus on the development of the wine business and its overall importance and impact in terms of the regional and domestic economy and the international economy


The Political Economy of Water Pricing Reforms

The Political Economy of Water Pricing Reforms

Author: Ariel Dinar

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 9780195215946

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Lately our world has witnessed massive changes and reforms in various sectors in many countries, developing and developed alike. Institutional and pricing reforms in the water sector are also part of that recent trend. They are led by the recognition of a need to respond to increased scarcity and deteriorated quality. Is the water sector different than other sectors, as some claim? Should reforms in the water sector be designed and implemented differently than reforms of a similar type, in other sectors? The Political Economy of Water Pricing Reforms answers these questions by providing various analytical frameworks that allow comparison across various conditions, and by actually comparing reform processes under various conditions in different countries. This book demonstrates the common threads that characterize pricing reforms in the water sector by analyzing various aspects of the reforms in the irrigation and urban subsectors of 10 countries. Cases from Morocco, Senegal, Honduras, Belgium, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Pakistan, Yemen, and the United States illustrate the difficulties of designing and implementing "optimal" pricing reforms and explain how reform outcomes fall short of the original objective. "This book should be on the must reading list for anyone interested in water pricing and how to reform water rights systems to achieve increased economic efficiency as well as a legitimate and equitable system of property rights." Elinor Ostrom, Co-Director, Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis and Co-Director, Center for the Study of Institutions, Population, and Environmental Change, Indiana University


Search for a Rational Ethic

Search for a Rational Ethic

Author: George D. Snell

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 1461239044

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Knowledge we have in great abundance, and enough exists if wisely used to solve many of the most threatening problems of humanity. The key word is wisely; wisdom we sorely lack. There is a special role to be played by distinguished scholars who, having passed the most challenging tests of their specialized fields, are willing to confront the central questions of human existence. What is life (where is the boundary between life and non-life)? Why do we behave as we do? What is the meaning of human existence? Where do ethical precepts come from? What should be the goals of civilization, beyond mere survival and hedonic reward? These are the kinds of topics George Snell boldly addresses in Search for a Rational Ethic. Scientific knowledge is especially important in any such endeavor, because we are in the golden age of science, and scientific research increasingly impinges on the domain of philosophy. Indeed, it is not too much to say that philosophy has consisted to a large extent of failed neurological models. Much of its investigation pivots on how the mind works, that is, to what extent the mind can perceive reality, how concepts are formed, what is the source of moral reasoning, and so forth. In creasingly, scientific research is leading us to the physical basis of mind. If we are ever to create the correct neurological model, it will be through science.


Macrosocial Determinants of Population Health

Macrosocial Determinants of Population Health

Author: Sandro Galea

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2007-10-24

Total Pages: 491

ISBN-13: 038770812X

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This book explores social factors such as culture, mass media, political systems, and migration that influence public health while systematically considering how we may best study these factors and use our knowledge from this study to guide public health interventions. Throughout, contributors emphasize the potential of population strategies to influence traditional risk factors associated with health and disease. Each section ends with Galea’s integrative chapters, bringing the observations and conclusions from the chapters into clear, usable focus.


Australia and the United Nations

Australia and the United Nations

Author: James Cotton

Publisher: Longueville Books

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 608

ISBN-13:

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This landmark reference work is the first complete history of Australia and its relationship with, and role within, the United Nations. On 17 January 1946, when the United Nations Security Council held its inaugural session, an Australian representative, Norman Makin, presided.If all members adhered to the principles of the United Nations Charter, predicted Makin, the United Nations would become "a great power for the good of the world, bringing that freedom from fear, which is necessary before we can hope for progress and welfare in all lands". Australia and the United Nations traces how Australia committed itself to the United Nations project, from before the convening of the first United Nations Security Council until the eve of its election to a fifth term on that body. The book begins with Australian involvement with the organisation that preceded the United Nations, the League of Nations. It then analyses the role played by Australian Minister for External Affairs, HV Evatt, and his staff in framing the United Nations Charter at San Francisco in 1945. Three chapters analyse Australia's diplomacy towards the Security Council, its efforts in peacekeeping, and evolving policies and attitudes towards arms control and disarmament. Two chapters discuss Australia's engagement with the United Nations' manifold specialised agencies and the role of the broader UN family in development. Another two chapters are devoted to a study of Australia's role in areas of United Nations operation only dimly foreseen by its founders at San Francisco-decolonisation and the environment. The two final chapters examine Australia's contribution to the promotion of human rights and international law and the important role it has played seeking to improve the United Nations' performance to equip it to meet new challenges in global politics. Australia and the United Nations tells us what was done in the past, and why. It is essential reading for anyone who wants to better understand Australia's multilateral diplomacy, and our future choices.