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Challenging the Deprofessionalisation of Teaching and Teachers: Claiming and Acclaiming the Profession
by John BuchananThis book explores how best to invest in and nurture teachers. It examines deprofessionalisation and reprofessionalisation in the recent developments in the understanding of teaching and learning, including the effects of standardizing teaching, education shaped by student satisfaction data and basic skills tests. The book focuses on Australian context and takes on an international perspective. It investigates fundamental issues affecting teacher quality, morale, attrition and retention, learner and teacher autonomy, and assessment and evaluation. It encourages teachers and teacher educators to assert centrality to teachers and question and challenge outside forces that suppress teacher autonomy and associated agency and creativity. It challenges administrators and educational jurisdictions to rethink their assumptions on their own capacities and limitations and teachers' capabilities to shape education in optimal ways and the impact of outcomes of the decisions they make.
Internet of Things: Enabling Technologies, Security and Social Implications (Services and Business Process Reengineering)
by Santosh Kumar Pani Manjusha PandeyThis edited book presents point of view and the work being undertaken by active researchers in the domain of IOT and its applications with societal impact. The book is useful to other researchers for the understanding of the research domain and different points of views expressed by the experts in their contributed chapters. The contributions are from both industry and academia; hence, it provides a rich source of both theoretical and practical work going on in the research domain of IOT.
Decision Science for Future Earth: Theory and Practice
by Tetsukazu YaharaThis open access book provides a theoretical framework and case studies on decision science for regional sustainability by integrating the natural and social sciences. The cases discussed include solution-oriented transdisciplinary studies on the environment, disasters, health, governance and human cooperation. Based on these case studies and comprehensive reviews of relevant works, including lessons learned from past failures for predictable surprises and successes in adaptive co-management, the book provides the reader with new perspectives on how we can co-design collaborative projects with various conflicts of interest and how we can transform our society for a sustainable future. The book makes a valuable contribution to the global research initiative Future Earth, promoting transdisciplinary studies to bridge the gap between science and society in knowledge generation processes and supporting efforts to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Compared to other publications on transdisciplinary studies, this book is unique in that evolutionary biology is used as an integrator for various areas related to human decision-making, and approaches social changes as processes of adaptive learning and evolution. Given its scope, the book is highly recommended to all readers seeking an integrated overview of human decision-making in the context of social transformation.
Disputes Resolution in Urban Communities in Contemporary China
by Jieren HuThis book explains the causes, process, and results of group disputes in urban communities (the empirical experiences from Shanghai) in China. It explores the means and characteristics of as well as the differences in conflict resolution in various forms of state–society relations, particularly the ways of dealing with and resolving disputes concerning mass incidents involving government interests in China’s current social transformation period. It also analyzes how people’s mediation organizations interact with the local government when managing and defusing collective disputes.Combining the relevant theories and five conflict resolution measurement models created by Blake and Mouton (1964), this book explains the current interaction model and cooperation mechanism between the state and social organizations in China. To do so, it examines the role of the Lin Le People’s Mediation Workroom in dealing with community collective disputes and the respective action strategies and constraints. The book argues that the current state–social relations in China are not centered on society or the state, but on “state-led social pluralism.”
Risks and Regulation of New Technologies (Kobe University Monograph Series in Social Science Research)
by Tsuyoshi Matsuda Jonathan Wolff Takashi YanagawaHow should we proceed with advanced research of humanities and social sciences in collaboration? What are the pressing issues of this new trend in a cataclysmic time for civilization? This book, originated with a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Topic-Setting Program, addresses these challenging questions in four parts for innovating twenty-first-century humanities and social sciences. It broadens the horizon for reviewing multi-disciplinary landscapes of risks and regulation of new technologies by focusing on paradigmatic cases from the fields of life and environment. Here, genome editing for reproductive treatment and renewable energy under the constraint of climate change in Japanese and global contexts are involved. The volume comprises a combination of topics and aspects such as public policy and philosophy of science, medicine and law, climate ethics, and the economics of electricity. This edited collection will thus motivate forward-thinking readers across the diverse spectrum of social sciences and humanities to survey themes of their own interests in multi-disciplinary studies. In so doing, they can explore the evolving frontiers of those disciplines and the depths of individual contributions by experts in philosophy, ethics, law, economics, and science, technology, and society (STS), including bioscience.
Computer Vision, Pattern Recognition, Image Processing, and Graphics: 7th National Conference, NCVPRIPG 2019, Hubballi, India, December 22–24, 2019, Revised Selected Papers (Communications in Computer and Information Science #1249)
by R. Venkatesh Babu Mahadeva Prasanna Vinay P. NamboodiriThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th National Conference on Computer Vision, Pattern Recognition, Image Processing, and Graphics, NCVPRIPG 2019, held in Hubballi, India, in December 2019.The 55 revised full papers 3 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 210 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on vision and geometry, learning and vision, image processing and document analysis, detection and recognition.
Climate Change, Disaster Risks, and Human Security: Asian Experience and Perspectives (Disaster Risk Reduction)
by Juan M. Pulhin Makoto Inoue Rajib ShawThis book explores how climate change and disaster risks threaten human security in Asia. Climate change and disaster risks have emerged as major human security challenges in the twenty-first century, and are an imminent “threat multiplier” with the potential to harm the vital core of human life and curtail people’s freedom and ability to live with dignity. Climate change and disaster risks undermine the security of individuals, communities, nations, and the world, considering the increasing trend in the frequency and magnitude of hydro-meteorological disasters and the projections on their future adverse impacts. Despite recent advances in the literature, there is still a major gap in understanding the relationship and linkages between climate change, disaster risks, and human security, particularly as gleaned from the Asian experience. Asia is the world’s most vulnerable region in terms of the quantity and magnitude of impacts from various forms of disaster. At the same time, it has developed a number of innovative responses to address those risks, offering a wealth of experience. Exploring and capitalizing on the Asian perspective, this book provides valuable resource material for students, academics, researchers, policymakers, and development practitioners working in these areas.
Innovating Christian Education Research: Multidisciplinary Perspectives
by Johannes M. Luetz Beth GreenThis book reformulates Christian education as an interdisciplinary and interdenominational vocation for professionals and practitioners. It speaks directly to a range of contemporary contexts with the aim of encouraging conceptual, empirical and practice-informed innovation to build the field of Christian education research. The book invites readers to probe questions concerning epistemologies, ethics, pedagogies and curricula, using multidisciplinary research approaches. By helping thinkers to believe and believers to think, the book seeks to stimulate constructive dialogue about what it means to innovate Christian education research today.Chapters are organised into three main sections. Following an introduction to the volume's guiding framework and intended contribution (Chapter 1), Part 1 features conceptual perspectives and comprises research that develops theological, philosophical and theoretical discussion of Christian education (Chapters 2-13). Part 2 encompasses empirical research that examines data to test theory, answer big questions and develop our understanding of Christian education (Chapters 14-18). Finally, Part 3 reflects on contemporary practice contexts and showcases examples of emerging research agendas in Christian education (Chapters 19-24).
Reproduction of Inequality and Social Exclusion: A Study of Dalits in a Caste Society, Nepal (Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies #2)
by Uddhab PyakurelThis book is a detailed account of how hierarchy has been maintained historically by the Nepali state, affirming the uniqueness of a caste-based social order by bringing outsiders, especially ethnic groups and religious minorities, into the caste fold. Focusing on the contemporary state of Dalits, the community that was and is put at the bottom of a very hierarchical social order in Nepal, the author argues that the traditional caste-based social order is still prevalent in the “new” Nepal even after the recent socio-political and constitutional changes. Illustrated by scientifically employed and interpreted data mainly in the three sectors of education, politics and employment, the book postulates that people who were and are born into the “high caste” still have more access to the resources and opportunities available in society in comparison with those born into the “lower” caste. It further argues that although reservation policies are in place to address social exclusion, these could not bring expected outcomes mainly due to the lack of engagement, if not ignorance, of both dominant groups and the community in the margin. The absence of clarity among political actors on the positive discrimination and affirmative actions has contributed to backtracking the recently created space in line with “inclusive Nepal”.
Urban Village Renovation: The Stories of Yangcheng Village
by Peilin LiThis book addresses the mystery and diversity of urbanization in China, especially with regard to urban villages. The “village in the city” is a unique social phenomenon in the process of Chinese urbanization. A local village society composed of deep-rooted social networks linked by blood, geography, folk beliefs, and folk customs is the outcome of a complex social process, which is accompanied by changes in property rights, restructuring of social networks, and conflicting benefits and values. The end of the village is the epitome of social transformation, and for China as a whole, this change may take a very long time to complete. This book includes various examples of and stories on urban villages, offering readers a wealth of insights into the phenomenon and its significance.
Security and Privacy in Social Networks and Big Data: 6th International Symposium, SocialSec 2020, Tianjin, China, September 26–27, 2020, Proceedings (Communications in Computer and Information Science #1298)
by Yang Xiang Zheli Liu Jin LiThis book constitutes revised and selected papers from the 6th International Symposium on Security and Privacy in Social Networks and Big Data, SocialSec 2020, held in Tianjin, China, in September 2020. The 38 full papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 111 submissions. The papers are organized according to the topical sections on big data security; social networks; privacy-preserving and security.
Depopulation, Aging, and Living Environments: Learning from Social Capital and Mountainous Areas in Japan (Advances in Geographical and Environmental Sciences)
by Kenji TsutsumiThis book provides perspectives on depopulated areas and regional social capital from positivistic field surveys. Among the developed countries of the world, Japan has a very small amount of national land, with almost 70% of it being in mountainous locations. Concentration of populations and economic capital into large metropolitan areas along with many depopulated and population-aged regions in the mountainous parts can be seen in the country. A very clear regional disparity has arisen in Japan, especially since the era of its high economic growth. This book also offers critical suggestions for the shrinking societies of the developed world in the era of Society 5.0, the fifth stage of society where economic development is achieved and social issues are resolved by the fusion of cyber and physical space. To begin, the book refers to an outline of depopulation and depopulated areas in Japan. Then, it deals with issues of depopulation, out-migration from a mountainous village, revitalization of local industries, and maintenance of daily living functions in these areas. This book is suitable for students and scholars of the social sciences, regional planners, staffs of government offices, members of NPOs, general citizens, and the many other people who are interested in sustainability of a region and a community in a shrinking social environment.
Historic Monuments of Mount Songshan
by Wei Ren Yan HeThis book tells the story of the Mount Songshan area architecture in simple terms, while also providing detailed information on the history of Buddhist architecture. The history of the Mount Songshan area can be traced back to the Xia Dynasty in the 23rd century B.C. The heritage architecture in this area has seen the rise and fall of various powers – including the Han Dynasty, Northern Wei Dynasty, Tang and Song Empires, Jin Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, and the Ming and Qing Empires – and reflects the character of each historical period. Over the past 2,000 years, history has been continuously woven into the architecture. The Mount Songshan area is, therefore, a perfect representation of the perpetual Chinese civilization, and the most magnificent museum of ancient Chinese architecture. Most importantly, these various types of architecture offer valuable insights into the architectural design and technologies of each historical period. The products of ingenuity and innovation, they are marvellous creations that ancient Chinese people took great pride in.
Railways and Sustainable Low-Carbon Mobility in China
by Linna LiThis book explores the role of railways in developing sustainable low-carbon mobility by analyzing the intermodal relationship between railways and other transport modes. Focusing on geographical and governance perspectives, and taking China as a case study, it analyzes the competition and cooperation between and integration of railways and other transport modes, in order to provide guidance on future sustainable transport development. Firstly, the book examines the contribution of railways to low carbon emissions in China over recent decades by estimating the carbon dioxide emissions from various transport modes in China at national and regional levels using decomposition analysis. It then discusses the current competition and cooperation between railways and other transport modes, as well as their integration and the impact of their relationship on climate change. It also highlights how the competition between railways and other transport modes may change the passenger flows between city pairs and so alter transport carbon emissions and examines how cooperation and integration could improve passengers’ travel experience while at the same time reducing carbon emissions. Lastly, it addresses the implications for future sustainable transport development based on institutional analysis. Presenting multidisciplinary, sustainable transport research on the role of railways in reducing carbon emissions, and also offering policy recommendations for developing low-carbon, integrated transport in the future, this book is a valuable reference resource for graduates, researchers, and government managers responsible for transport development, urban planning and environmental policy.
Political Regimes and Neopatrimonialism in Central Asia: A Sociology of Power Perspective (The Steppe and Beyond: Studies on Central Asia)
by Ferran Izquierdo-Brichs Francesc Serra-MassansalvadorThis book is aimed both at researchers and advanced students of Central Asia, the space of the former USSR, and the foreign policy of Russia and China. The authors adopt a sociological approach in understanding how power structures emerged in the wake of the Soviet collapse. The independencies in Central Asia did not happen as a consequence of a nationalist struggle, but because the USSR imploded. Thus, instead of the elites being replaced, the same Soviet elites who had competed for power in the previous system continued to do so in the new one, which they had to build, adapting themselves and the system to their needs. Additionally, unlike in the immense majority of the independent states that emerged from decolonization, the social movements and capacity to mobilize the people were very weak in the new Central Asian states. For this reason, the configuration of the new systems was the product of a competition for power between a very small number of elites who did not have to answer to the people and their demands. Thus, the new power regimes acquired a strong neopatrimonial component. Analyzing the structure of societies, economies and polities of post-socialist states, this book will be of great interest to scholars of Central Asia, to sociologists, and to scholars of China's rise.
Security and Privacy in Digital Economy: First International Conference, SPDE 2020, Quzhou, China, October 30 – November 1, 2020, Proceedings (Communications in Computer and Information Science #1268)
by Shui Yu Peter Mueller Jiangbo QianThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the First International Conference on Security and Privacy in Digital Economy, SPDE 2020, held in Quzhou, China, in October 2020*.The 49 revised full papers and 2 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 132 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections: cyberspace security, privacy protection, anomaly and intrusion detection, trust computation and forensics, attacks and countermeasures, covert communication, security protocol, anonymous communication, security and privacy from social science.*The conference was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Education System in Saudi Arabia: Of Change and Reforms
by Md. Muddassir QuamarThis book is a comprehensive study on the education system of Saudi Arabia, placing the reforms and changes it has undergone in the past two decades within the context of the historical evolution of the education system. An education system cannot be seen in isolation of the society; it plays a significant role in shaping the individual, state and the society, that in turn, have a bearing on the education system and its evolution. Therefore, this book locates Saudi education in the backdrop of the changes in the society, how they have facilitated or hindered the education reforms and how the education reforms have impacted the society. The book does not ignore the immediate trigger for the beginning of a comprehensive reforms process but goes beyond it to find much deeper socio-political and economic rationales that paved the way for the reforms. It provides a nuanced understanding of the interplays of various socioeconomic as well as political factors that have shaped the education system in Saudi Arabia.
Irish and British Reflections on Catholic Education: Foundations, Identity, Leadership Issues and Religious Education in Catholic Schools
by Sean WhittleThis volume presents an interdisciplinary and systematic review of Catholic Education Studies across Ireland and Britain. Taken together, the chapters drill down to the foundations, identity and leadership matters in Catholic education and schools. It is in reading the complete volume that a more precise picture of Catholic education in Ireland and Britain develops into sharper focus. This is important because it reflects and crystallises the complexity which has almost organically developed within the field of Catholic Education Studies. It also provides a powerful antidote to the naïve reductionism that would boil Catholic education down to just one or two fundamental issues or principles. Contemporary Catholic education, perhaps globally but certainly in Ireland and Britain, is best depicted in terms of being a colourful kaleidoscope of differing perspectives. However this diversity is ultimately grounded in the underlying unity of purpose, because each of the contributors to this volume is a committed advocate of Catholic education.The volume brings together a rich range of scholars into one place, so that these voices can be listened to as a whole. It includes contributions from leading scholars, blended with a plethora of other voices who are emerging to become the next generation of leading researchers in Catholic education. It also introduces a number of newer voices to the academic context. They present fresh perspectives and thinking about matters relating to Catholic education and each of them confidently stand alongside the other contributors. Moreover, these reflections on Catholic education are important fruits to have emerged from the collaboration made possible through the creation of the Network for Researchers in Catholic Education, which was established in 2016 under the auspices of Heythrop College, University of London.
Managing Your Academic Research Project
by Jacqui Ewart Kate AmesThis book is an essential resource for academics managing a large and complex research project. It provides important practical insights into the processes that inform such research projects and delivers insights into the delicate balance between industry, stakeholder and academic needs. It gives practical advice about developing relationships with diverse partners and colleagues and managing the expectations of the various parties involved and on avoiding pitfalls. This book uses examples from Australian research projects, but it contains insights relevant to researchers all around the world.
The Social Lives of Numbers: Statistics, Reform and the Remaking of Rural Life in Turkey
by Brian SilversteinThis book examines the changing role of statistics in institutional reform in Turkey, and the unanticipated ways in which such changes transform livelihoods as well. Turkish agriculture is undergoing its most profound transformation since the establishment of the Republic in the 1920s. Seemingly minor technical adjustments in farmers’ reporting requirements and practices to collect better data on agriculture for statistics are also having a rapid and massive effect on farmers’ practices and livelihoods. The attempt to understand agriculture in Turkey in new ways is changing agriculture itself. The relationship between statistics and social and natural phenomena is thus performative, and such performativity undergirds a great deal of socio-technical change in the world. Drawing on fieldwork in Turkey with statisticians, farmers and agricultural extension technicians, the book shows how alongside deliberation about reforms, it is in and through this performativity that much of the work of institutional commensuration actually happens.
Organization Theory by Chester Barnard: An Introduction (SpringerBriefs in Business)
by Kazuhito IsomuraThis book helps undergraduate and graduate students understand Chester Barnard’s organization theory. Barnard’s book The Functions of the Executive is a classic that, along with Herbert Simon’s Administrative Behavior, is often considered to be essential reading for management students. However, it is well known to be difficult and abstract. Offering a systematic overview, this book provides an excellent introduction to Barnard’s organization theory.Chester Barnard’s concept of formal organization is often cited as a definitive opus on the subject of organization. However, he provided other concepts of organization, such as cooperative systems, complex formal organizations, and informal organizations. In his second book, Organization and Management, he added two more concepts, lateral organizations and status systems, allowing researchers to gain a better understanding of how Barnard developed his organization theory after his first publication.Barnard was a successful practitioner as well as a theorist, and his organization theory is full of practical insights gained from managing various types of organizations, including NGOs and NPOs. This book discusses how Barnard’s organization theory can be applied to business practices in the context of exploring a new style of management, and provides suggestions for business people seeking innovations for their own organizations.
Nationalism: Themes, Theories, and Controversies
by Lloyd CoxThis book provides a concise, critical analysis of the key themes, theories, and controversies in nationalism studies. It offers an historically informed and sophisticated overview of classical and contemporary approaches to nationalism, as well as setting out an agenda for future research on nationalism and the emotions. In so doing, the book illuminates nationalism’s contemporary power and resilience, as manifested in the growth of far-right nationalist populism in Europe, the white ethno-nationalism of Trump in the United States, the resurgence of great power nationalism and rivalry in Asia, and the resilience of national secessionist movements in diverse parts of the planet. The widespread nationalistic responses to the coronavirus pandemic provide further confirmation of the continuing power of nationalism. All of these developments are discussed in the book, which will be an invaluable resource for nationalism scholars and students in Sociology, Politics and History.
The Coronavirus: Human, Social and Political Implications
by James MillerThis book describes and analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on the relationship between the United States and China in its human, social and political dimensions. It does so through the experience of faculty and students at Duke University and Duke Kunshan University, a US-China joint venture university. The book reveals the intimate stories of Chinese people trapped in quarantine, situating these stories in a longer historical perspective of plagues and disease prevention in China. It describes the impact of the virus on the racialized perceptions of Chinese-Americans and Chinese students in America. Finally, it offers a preliminary assessment of the impact of the coronavirus on the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party, and on US-China relations. Featuring the work of artists, student journalists, historians, anthropologists and political scientists, this book presents a breadth of insights into the impact of COVID-19.
Regional Economic Communities and Integration in Southern Africa: Networks of Civil Society Organizations and Alternative Regionalism
by Leon Mwamba Tshimpaka Christopher Changwe Nshimbi Inocent MoyoThis book examines regional integration in Africa, with a particular focus on the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It argues that the SADC’s pursuit of a rationalist and state-centric form of integration for Southern Africa is limited, as it overlooks the contributory role and efficacy of non-state actors, who are relegated to the periphery. The book demonstrates that civil society networks in Southern Africa constitute well-governed, self-organised entities that function just like formal regional arrangements driven by state actors and technocrats. The book amplifies this point by deploying New Institutionalism and the New Regionalism Approach to examine the role and efficacy of non-state actors in building regions from below. The book develops a unique typology that shows how Southern African regional civil society networks adopt strategies, norms and rules to establish an efficient form of alternative integration in the region. Based on a critical analysis of this self-organised regionalism, the book projects the reality that alternative regionalism driven by non-state actors is possible. This book expands the study of regionalism in the SADC, and makes a significant and innovative contribution to the study of contemporary regionalism.
A Genealogy of Self-Interest in Economics
by Susumu Egashira Masanori Taishido D. Wade Hands Uskali MäkiThis is the first book to describe the entire developmental history of the human aspects of economics. The issue of “self-interest” is discussed throughout, from pre-Adam Smith to contemporary neuroeconomics, representing a unique contribution to economics. Though the notion of self-interest has been interpreted in several ways by various schools of economics and economists since Smith first placed it at the heart of the field, this is the first book to focus on this important but overlooked topic. Traditionally, economic theory has presupposed that the core of human behavior is self-interest. Nevertheless, some economists, e.g. recent behavioral economists, have cast doubt on this “self-interested” explanation. Further, though many economists have agreed on the central role of self-interest in economic behavior, each economist’s positioning of self-interest in economic theory differs to some degree. This book helps to elucidate the position of self-interest in economic theory. Given its focus, it is a must-read companion, not only on the history of economic thought but also on economic theory. Furthermore, as today’s capitalism is increasingly causing people to wonder just where self-interest lies, it also appeals to general readers.