Author: Armine Ishkanian
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1781002088
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 238
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Book Description
'Before the 2010 General Election, David Cameron placed the "Big Society" at the heart of his efforts to rebuild Britain's "broken society". The essays in this volume probe the historical origins of the concept and seek to evaluate it in the light of both historical and contemporary evidence. They raise profound questions about the provenance of the "Big Society" and its relevance to contemporary social concerns. They should be of interest to anyone who cares about the past, present or future of British social policy.' Bernard Harris, University of Southampton, UK'There is nothing new about the notion of a Big Society. This book combines historical scholarship, international research and grassroots experience to shine a critical spotlight on the rhetoric behind the coalition government's big idea.' Bill Jordan, University of Plymouth, UK'Armine Ishkanian and Simon Szreter's fascinating book provides important insights into the way political elites use slogans and imagery to sway public opinion on social policy issues. This highly original work will be a major scholarly resource for years to come.' James Midgley, University of California, Berkeley, USThe expert contributors to this detailed yet concise book collectively raise questions about the novelty of the Big Society Agenda, its ideological underpinnings, and challenges it poses for policymakers and practitioners.The book is divided into two sections, history and policy, which together provide readers with a historically grounded, internationally informed, and multidisciplinary analysis of the Big Society policies. The introduction and conclusion tie the strands together, providing a coherent analysis of the key issues in both sections. Various chapters in this study examine the limitations and consider the challenges involved in translating the ideas of the Big Society agenda into practice.By drawing on international examples, from developed and developing countries in order to analyse and discuss Big Society policies, this book will prove invaluable for students, academics and policymakers.
Author: Jesse Norman
Publisher: Legend Press Ltd
ISBN: 0956395201
Category : Conservatism
Languages : en
Pages : 248
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Book Description
This hugely important book provides a most timely and important answer to a question perhaps best described as rhetorical: it is essential reading for politicians, economists, social commentators - and the voting public.
Author: Howard A. Husock
Publisher: Encounter Books
ISBN: 1641770597
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 180
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Book Description
Billions of American tax dollars go into a vast array of programs targeting various social issues: the opioid epidemic, criminal violence, chronic unemployment, and so on. Yet the problems persist and even grow. Howard Husock argues that we have lost sight of a more powerful strategy—a preventive strategy, based on positive social norms. In the past, individuals and institutions of civil society actively promoted what may be called “bourgeois norms,” to nurture healthy habits so that social problems wouldn’t emerge in the first place. It was a formative effort. Today, a massive social service state instead takes a reformative approach to problems that have already become vexing. It offers counseling along with material support, but struggling communities have been more harmed than helped by government’s embrace. And social service agencies have a vested interest in the continuance of problems. Government can provide a financial safety net for citizens, but it cannot effectively create or promote healthy norms. Nor should it try. That formative work is best done by civil society. This book focuses on six key figures in the history of social welfare to illuminate how a norm-promoting culture was built, then lost, and how it can be revived. We read about Charles Loring Brace, founder of the Children’s Aid Society; Jane Addams, founder of Hull House; Mary Richmond, a social work pioneer; Grace Abbott of the federal Children’s Bureau; Wilbur Cohen of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare; and Geoffrey Canada, founder of the Harlem Children’s Zone—a model for bringing real benefit to a poor community through positive social norms. We need more like it.
Author: Powell, Fred
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN: 1447309499
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248
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Book Description
The politics of civil society is an original, thought provoking analysis which challenges one-dimensional neoliberal thinking about civil society, and seeks to rediscover its radical roots. The original edition shifted the scholarly debate onto the new ground, offering an accessible and compelling analysis of one of the central issues of our times. In the second, revised edition of this indispensable book, the author looks behind 'the mirror of power' to discover the reality of civil society - or 'Big Society', as it has become known. He finds not one but three forms of civil society: radical, liberal and conservative. In complex interplay between state and civil society, the author argues that citizens contend for power through civil society. This is both an age-long pursuit dating from antiquity and a contemporary democratic struggle between competing visions of modernity that determines the 'real' in politics, as experienced by the citizens. The book will have wide appeal to a broad cross-disciplinary audience.
Author: Frank Pasquale
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674967100
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 320
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Book Description
Every day, corporations are connecting the dots about our personal behavior—silently scrutinizing clues left behind by our work habits and Internet use. The data compiled and portraits created are incredibly detailed, to the point of being invasive. But who connects the dots about what firms are doing with this information? The Black Box Society argues that we all need to be able to do so—and to set limits on how big data affects our lives. Hidden algorithms can make (or ruin) reputations, decide the destiny of entrepreneurs, or even devastate an entire economy. Shrouded in secrecy and complexity, decisions at major Silicon Valley and Wall Street firms were long assumed to be neutral and technical. But leaks, whistleblowers, and legal disputes have shed new light on automated judgment. Self-serving and reckless behavior is surprisingly common, and easy to hide in code protected by legal and real secrecy. Even after billions of dollars of fines have been levied, underfunded regulators may have only scratched the surface of this troubling behavior. Frank Pasquale exposes how powerful interests abuse secrecy for profit and explains ways to rein them in. Demanding transparency is only the first step. An intelligible society would assure that key decisions of its most important firms are fair, nondiscriminatory, and open to criticism. Silicon Valley and Wall Street need to accept as much accountability as they impose on others.
Author: Robert J. Shiller
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 140084617X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 312
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Book Description
Nobel Prize-winning economist explains why we need to reclaim finance for the common good The reputation of the financial industry could hardly be worse than it is today in the painful aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. New York Times best-selling economist Robert Shiller is no apologist for the sins of finance—he is probably the only person to have predicted both the stock market bubble of 2000 and the real estate bubble that led up to the subprime mortgage meltdown. But in this important and timely book, Shiller argues that, rather than condemning finance, we need to reclaim it for the common good. He makes a powerful case for recognizing that finance, far from being a parasite on society, is one of the most powerful tools we have for solving our common problems and increasing the general well-being. We need more financial innovation—not less—and finance should play a larger role in helping society achieve its goals. Challenging the public and its leaders to rethink finance and its role in society, Shiller argues that finance should be defined not merely as the manipulation of money or the management of risk but as the stewardship of society's assets. He explains how people in financial careers—from CEO, investment manager, and banker to insurer, lawyer, and regulator—can and do manage, protect, and increase these assets. He describes how finance has historically contributed to the good of society through inventions such as insurance, mortgages, savings accounts, and pensions, and argues that we need to envision new ways to rechannel financial creativity to benefit society as a whole. Ultimately, Shiller shows how society can once again harness the power of finance for the greater good.
Author: Erin La Rosa
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN: 1250110521
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 240
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Book Description
A humorous guide to everything redhead, from pop culture to history to fashion.
Author: Harrison, Malcolm
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN: 1447310756
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 284
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Book Description
This book offers an innovative account of social-control and behaviorist thinking in social policies and welfare systems and the impact it has had on disadvantaged groups. The contributors review how controls have been applied to individuals and households and how these interventions have narrowed social rights. They illuminate the links between social control developments, welfare systems, and the liberalization of economics, and they highlight the negative impact that behaviorist assumptions—and the subsequent strategies that have grown out of them—have had on the disadvantaged. Overall the volume provides a cutting-edge critical engagement with contemporary policy developments.
Author: Bill Bishop
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0547525192
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 478
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Book Description
The award-winning journalist reveals the untold story of why America is so culturally and politically divided in this groundbreaking book. Armed with startling demographic data, Bill Bishop demonstrates how Americans have spent decades sorting themselves into alarmingly homogeneous communities—not by region or by state, but by city and neighborhood. With ever-increasing specificity, we choose the communities and media that are compatible with our lifestyles and beliefs. The result is a country that has become so ideologically inbred that people don't know and can't understand those who live just a few miles away. In The Big Sort, Bishop explores how this phenomenon came to be, and its dire implications for our country. He begins with stories about how we live today and then draws on history, economics, and our changing political landscape to create one of the most compelling big-picture accounts of America in recent memory.
Author: Jonathan Bishop
Publisher: Information Science Reference
ISBN: 9781799868781
Category : Computer conferencing in education
Languages : en
Pages : 315
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Book Description
"This book presents case studies from those involved in Classroom 2.0 (networking of education institutions and learners), School 3.0 (situated learning in community venues beyond the classroom), Society 4.0 (sharing education practice and delivering learning remotely) and Society 5.0 (ubiquitous education in smart cities, towns and villages)"--
