Social sciences are made up of science disciplines that research humanity, society, and the world with a human dimension, and therefore its domain of influence is also serious and wide. Naturally, the social scientist has the power to influence society with his/her research and writing. This book aims to add the contributions of academicians from different disciplines to the social sciences fields they specialize in the academic literature and to give an idea about new researches. The book contains scientific articles on business, economics, public finance, tourism, and international relations.
Drawing on a wide range of social science disciplines and approaches, each chapter in this book offers a comprehensive analysis of social protest, political dissent and collective action. The distinguished scholars contributing to the book discuss some of the key theoretical and methodological issues in social protest research, and analyse recent instances of collective dissent around the globe, ranging from the 15M movement in Spain, to the 2011 Salford riots in the UK, to Pro-Palestinian activism in Jerusalem. The result of these contributions is a sophisticated and multifaceted collection that enriches our understanding of why, when, and how groups of people decide to act collectively in order to pursue political change. The book is a timely testament to the vitality of the field. This book was originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Social Science.
Although it is generally accepted that the climate is changing for the worse and that human activities are a major contributing factor in that change, there is still only marginal response to the challenge posed by climate change. The reasons behind this limited response are becoming clearer through the recognition that climate change is not just a set of physical science facts, but it is also part of a series of complex social processes. Consequently, this book is important in providing social science perspectives on a range of attempts to adjust human activity to reduce its environmental impact. These attempts vary from the changing of the dress code in Japanese offices to the creation of zero-carbon, gated communities in Bangalore, India. Taken together, the contributions to this book provide timely insights into the complexities of saving the planet through human endeavour. This book was originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Social Science.
The social sciences in the United Kingdom are extensive, diverse and influential. At any one time, more than four million students study the social sciences in schools; and about a half million students study social science in universities. Total university income from the social sciences is at the four billion dollar level. Beyond that, many social scientists hold key positions in government, business, the media, civil service, and the voluntary sector. Great Expectations reviews the status of the social sciences in Great Britain at the beginning of the twenty-first century. While making clear that work opportunities for social scientists are substantial and that levels of intellectual performance equal that of graduates in physics, it provides a hard hitting, empirically grounded examination of a near crisis situation. The report goes far beyond what one conventionally expects in commissioned reports, arguing that the academic treadmill, driven by excessive accountability burdens, reduces the originality and quality of much academic research. The report emphasizes the ideological and parochial nature of much British social research. As a result, there is little applicability internationally, even less interdisciplinary work, and at times, an outright bias against the market economy as such. The Commission Report, is even handed, tough minded, and frank in discussing how it is that social science and new social and technical forces do not always mesh. The optimism exuded is measured, but genuine. Great Expectations offers policy recommendations and scientific goals that can be serviceable not only in the United Kingdom, but in all advanced societies in which social research is a central component of economic stability and development. It is a superb reference volume enriched by original analysis and pungent, clear-headed writing. Members of the commission include: Professor David Rhind, Vice Chancellor of the City University served as Chairman of the Commission. Members included Huw Beynon (Cardiff), Patricia Broadbent (Bristol), Vicki Bruce (Edinburgh), Barry Buzzan (LSE), Sue Duncan (Government Researcher), Stuart Etherington (National Council for Voluntary Organizations), Janet Lewis (Oxford), Denise Lievesley (UNESCO), Richard Portes (LBS), Marc Renaud (Research Council of Canada), Michael Tonry (Cambridge), and David Walker (The Guardian).
Who am I? Or, even more curiously, who are you? These are questions about the self – that aspect of who we are that we believe defines, or at least describes, each of us. The self is not merely an internal creation, however. Family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances all contribute to who we are, and more importantly, they help to shape who we think we are. In this innovative and thought-provoking book, the various social aspects of the self and its construction are imaginatively explored. Such explorations can seem abstractly academic, but they carry great significance. Knowledge of how the self is constructed has many implications for most social processes, for example, understanding the volatility of the notion of self that can provide the basis for terrorist radicalisation, can generate destructive suicidal tendencies, or can foment aggressive national identities. This interdisciplinary collection is relevant not only for theoretical and methodological elaborations, but also for more practical considerations. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Social Science, and two articles from Self and Identity.
This open access volume makes an important contribution to the ongoing research on hope theory by combining insights from both its long history and its increasing multi-disciplinarity. In the first part, it recognizes the importance of the centuries-old reflection on hope by offering historical perspectives and tracing it back to ancient Greek philosophy. At the same time, it provides novel perspectives on often-overlooked historical theories and developments and challenges established views. The second part of the volume documents the state of the art of current research in hope across eight disciplines, which are philosophy, theology, psychology, economy, sociology, health studies, ecology, and development studies. Taken together, this volume provides an integrated view on hope as a multi-faced phenomenon. It contributes to the further understanding of hope as an essential human capacity, with the possibility of transforming our human societies.
"Cross border business transactions have become increasingly important due to new norms of doing business so this book captures the multi-faceted outlook on international business phenomena particularly when cross border businesses were severely affected by the worldwide pandemic"--
New media has been gaining importance in the academic world as well as the artistic world through the concept of new media art. As the connections between art and communication technologies grow and further embrace a wide range of concepts, interpretations, and applications, the number of disciplines that will be touched will likewise continue to expand. Multidisciplinary Perspectives on New Media Art is a collection of innovative research on the methods and intersections between new media, artistic practices, and digital technologies. While highlighting topics including audience relationship, digital art, and computer animation, this book is ideally designed for academicians, researchers, high-level art students, and art professionals.
This comprehensive collection provides an overview of social scientific perspectives on Olympic legacy, using specialist analyses and selected cases to illuminate the recurring anthropological, political, and sociological dimensions of the legacy debate. Drawing upon research conducted on the Beijing, Vancouver, Athens, London and Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, it identifies the recurrent rhetoric that has characterised the legacy debate, alongside the harsh realities that contradict many legacies and aspirations. Fifteen researchers from six countries contribute a range of critical analytical studies which explore macro-perspectives on the shifting political economy symbolized at Beijing or in an over-reaching Greece, the soft power benefits perceived by the Rio 2016 organizers, the anthropological study of neighbourhood spaces threatened by corporate branding, and the apparatus of surveillance surrounding an Olympic Games. The symbolic importance of the Games is also captured in studies of volunteer motivations, labour and work initiatives, and the introduction of women’s boxing at London 2012. In a comprehensive overview, Alan Tomlinson illuminates the rhetoric of successive Olympic cycles and the rise to prominence of the legacy question in that debate. This book was originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Social Science.
Economic growth is a key issue both in economic policy making and in economic research. In eastern nations of the world, the interest in economic growth has been in the centrestage in view of the persistently high rates of unemployment and resurgence of recessionary pressures on these economies due to spillover effects from other developed economies undergoing recessionary phases. Entrepreneurial activities not only open up new doorways of income generation for individuals residing in the economy but is also looked upon now as panacea to treat unemployment by most governments, provided such ventures turn out to be revenue generating for the entrepreneur after all the risk he is willing to undertake. Entrepreneurship contributes to the development of innovative technologies, processes as well as business systems which in turn influences the prevailing market structures in the economy disrupting the competition existing in the markets. Nonetheless it bound to impact the capital formation in the economy and thus the growth of the economy. The inter relations between credit extension by commercial banks, entrepreneurship and economic growth are investigated in this paper empirically using autoregressive models.
