The key arguments and debates about globalization have raised searching questions about the significance of national and regional borders for the competitive strategies of individuals, firms and industries. Global Competitiveness and Innovation seeks to address these issues by exploring four key topics: The status of economic agents in the emerging global economy; the limits of path dependence and the scope of agent action; the relationship between agents' decision-making and their environments; and agents' learning capacities in a world of information and knowledge creation.

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Stuart A. Kauffman - Reinventing the Sacred; A New View of Science, Reason, and Religion.jpg

Kauffman, a complexity theorist at the University of Calgary, sets a huge task for himself in this provocative but difficult book: to find common ground between religion and science by redefining God as not a supernatural Creator but as the natural creativity in the universe. That creativity, says Kauffman, defies scientific assumptions that the biosphere's evolution and human activity can be reduced to physics and are fully governed by natural laws. Kauffman (At Home in the Universe) espouses emergence, the theory of how complex systems self-organize into entities that are far more than the sum of their parts. To bolster the idea of this ceaselessly creative and unpredictable nature, Kauffman draws examples from the biosphere, neurobiology and economics. His definition of God as the fully natural, awesome, creativity that surrounds us is unlikely to convince those with a more traditional take on religion. Similarly, Kauffman's detailed discussions of quantum mechanics to explain emergence are apt to lose all but the most technically inclined readers. Nonetheless, Kauffman raises important questions about the self-organizing potential of natural systems that deserve serious consideration.

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Stuart A. Kauffman - Reinventing the Sacred; A New View of Science, Reason, and Religion.pdf

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Rob Nagel - UXL Encyclopedia of Science (10 Vol. S et) (2001).jpg

Entries vary in length from 250 to 2,500 words. Longer articles are divided by subheadings, adding to clarity. As is common format for UXL publications, extensive cross-referencing directs users to related articles, and sidebars define "Words to Know." Most of the photographs and technical diagrams are in color, a definite improvement over the previous edition's all black-and-white illustrations. Among the new entries are DVD technology and Internet.
It difficult to find fault with this clearly written resource that uses simple, nontechnical terms to explain scientific concepts at a basic level. Its A-Z format distinguishes it from other multivolume science sets for a similar age group, such as The New Book of Popular Science (Grolier, 2000) and The World Book Encyclopedia of Science (World Book, 2001), which have a topical arrangement. Visually appealing and user-friendly, UXL Encyclopedia of Science is sure to find success with beginning researchers and is recommended for middle-school and junior-high-school students and the libraries that serve them.

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Sotaro Kita - Pointing; Where Language, Culture, a nd Cognition Meet (2003).jpg

Pointing has captured the interest of scholars from various fields who study communication. However, ideas and findings have been scattered across diverse publications in different disciplines, and opportunities for interdisciplinary exchange have been very limited. The editor's aim is to provide an arena for such exchange by bringing together papers on pointing gestures from disciplines, such as developmental psychology, psycholinguistics, sign-language linguistics, linguistic anthropology, conversational analysis, and primatology.
Questions raised by the editors include:
*Do chimpanzees produce and comprehend pointing gestures in the same way as humans?
*What are cross-cultural variations of pointing gestures?
*In what sense are pointing gestures human universal?
*What is the relationship between the development of pointing and language in children?
*What linguistic roles do pointing gestures play in signed language?
*Why do speakers sometimes point to seemingly empty space in front of them during conversation?
*How do pointing gestures contribute to the unfolding of face-to-face interaction that involves objects in the environment?
*What are the semiotic processes that relate what is pointed at and what is actually "meant" by the pointing gesture (the relationship between the two are often not as simple as one might think)?
*Do pointing gestures facilitate the production of accompanying speech?

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Sotaro Kita - Pointing; Where Language, Culture, a nd Cognition Meet (2003).pdf

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Thomas Bartscherer - Switching Codes; Thinking Thr ough Digital Technology in the Humanities and the Arts (2011).jpg

Geopolitics Soci... - Thomas Bartscherer - Switching Codes Thinking Thr...l Technology in the Humanities and the Arts 2011.jpg

Half a century into the digital era, the profound impact of information technology on intellectual and cultural life is universally acknowledged but still poorly understood. The sheer complexity of the technology coupled with the rapid pace of change makes it increasingly difficult to establish common ground and to promote thoughtful discussion. Responding to this challenge, Switching Codes brings together leading American and European scholars, scientists, and artists—including Charles Bernstein, Ian Foster, Bruno Latour, Alan Liu, and Richard Powers—to consider how the precipitous growth of digital information and its associated technologies are transforming the ways we think and act. Employing a wide range of forms, including essay, dialogue, short fiction, and game design, this book aims to model and foster discussion between IT specialists, who typically have scant training in the humanities or traditional arts, and scholars and artists, who often understand little about the technologies that are so radically transforming their fields. Switching Codes will be an indispensible volume for anyone seeking to understand the impact of digital technology on contemporary culture, including scientists, educators, policymakers, and artists, alike.

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Garnett P. Williams - Chaos theory tamed (1997).jpg

What is this business called 'chaos'? What does it deal with? Why do people think it's important? And how did the term 'chaos' - long associated with disorder - come to signify a new paradigm in the orderly realm of mathematics? The concept of chaos is one of the most exciting and rapidly expanding research topics of recent decades. Chaos might underlie many kinds of well-known processes - the performance of the stock market, the weather, the cries of newborn babies, the dripping of a leaky faucet, and more.In "Chaos Theory Tamed", scientist Garnett P. Williams walks the reader through this exciting territory, building an understanding of chaos and its significance in our lives. "Chaos" is a mathematical subject. If you seek bodice-ripping romance, this book is not for you. But if you are a researcher working with data...a scientist, engineer, or economist who has specialized outside the field of mathematics...or an interested person with a bit of background in algebra and statistics...then "Chaos Theory Tamed" can help you understand the basic concepts of this relatively new arm of science.Williams explains the terms necessary for an understanding of chaos theory. He discusses 'sensitive dependence on initial conditions' and what that means for long-term predictions. He explores the role of the chaotic or 'strange' attractor, order within chaos, fractal structure, and the emerging concepts of self-organization and complexity. Drawing from mathematics, physics, and statistics, the book provides a toolkit for readers, including vectors, phase space, Fourier analysis, time-series analysis, and autocorrelation.Williams describes routes that systems may take from regular behavior to chaos - period doubling, intermittency, and quasiperiodicity - and discusses nonlinear equations that can give rise to chaos. Dimension is a basic ingredient of chaos, and Williams brings clarity to the many ways in which this term is used by specialists in the field. And he explains how the magnitude of chaos may be gauged by Lyapunov exponents, Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy, and mutual information - mysterious terms that 'aren't all that difficult once we pick them apart,' says Williams. "Chaos Theory Tamed" makes generous use of lists, graphs, field examples, summaries, and - perhaps most important - friendly language to help the reader learn and use the vocabulary of chaos. It will help scientists, students, and others outside mathematics to use the concepts of chaos in working with data, and it will give the interested lay reader a foothold on the fundamentals of this new realm of thought.

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Garnett P. Williams - Chaos theory tamed (1997).pdf

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Leo Groarke - The Ethics of the New Economy; Restr ucturing and Beyond (1998).jpg

Is restructuring an underhanded way to make the rich richer and the poor poorer? Or is it necessary, although bitter, medicine for an ailing economy?

In The Ethics of the New Economy: Restructuring and Beyond, professionals from the fields of philosophy, ethics, management, as well as those representing the groups affected by restructuring, tackle thorny ethical issues. Referring to concrete case studies, these timely essays discuss a variety of topics, including justified and unjustified restructuring; employers’ obligations during the restructuring process; equity issues; the rise of part-time employment; the effects of restructuring on communities; the internal risks faced by restructuring corporations; deprofessionalization in health care; the consequences of restructuring in the developing world; philanthropy and cause-related marketing; corporate “judo” and restructuring; and responsible and irresponsible restructuring.

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Leo Groarke - The Ethics of the New Economy; Restr ucturing and Beyond (1998).pdf

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DK Essential Managers - Linda Ferrell and O.C. Fer rell - Ethical Business (2009).jpg

Ethical Business gives you the know-how to get results without getting ruthless. This book will teach you how to improve your bottom line and employee morale while listening to your conscience.

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John Cockburn - Child Welfare in Developing Countr ies (2010).jpg

What factors affect child welfare? How can policy improve child welfare? In developing countries, there has been relatively little empirical work on the analysis and measurement of child poverty. Further, poverty has many dimensions, including mortality, morbidity, hunger, illiteracy, lack of fixed housing and lack of resources, and cannot be assessed with a single measurement method. Based on original research in Africa and South America, and using a multidimensional poverty indicator approach, this book identifies the existence of inequalities in child welfare, analyzes their sources, and evaluates the impacts of policy responses to those inequalities. Topics considered include monetary poverty, asset poverty, nutrition, mortality, access to education and school attendance, child labor and access to health services. The book’s findings demonstrate that while current government programs offering financial assistance, supplementary food, and free or subsidized education and health care have a positive impact on child welfare, these outcomes can still improve, and proposes policy prescriptions towards this end. The book will be of use to poverty and policy researchers, professionals in international development, and graduate students interested in poverty and inequality.

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John Cockburn - Child Welfare in Developing Countr ies (2010).pdf

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Francisco E. González - Dual Transitions from Auth oritarian Rule; Institutionalized Regimes in Chile and Mexico 1970--2000 (2008).jpg

Geopolitics Soci... - Francisco E. Gonzlez - Dual Transitions from Aut...ized Regimes in Chile and Mexico 1970--2000 2008.jpg

Latin America's region-wide 1982 economic collapse had a drastic effect on governments throughout Central and South America, leading many to the verge of failure and pushing several of the most stridently authoritarian -- Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Uruguay -- over the brink. Surprisingly though, Chile's repressive military dictatorship and Mexico's hegemonic civilian regime endured amid the economic chaos that rocked the region. Dual Transitions from Authoritarian Rule explains why the regimes in these two nations survived the financial upheaval of the early 1980s and how each progressed toward a more open, democratic, market-driven system in later years. Using an in-depth comparative analysis of Chile and Mexico, Francisco González explains that the two governments -- though quite different ideologically -- possessed a common type of institutionalized authoritarian rule that not only served to maintain the political status quo but, paradoxically, also aided proponents of political and economic liberalization.

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Margaret M. Pearson - Joint Ventures in the People 's Republic of China; The Control Of Foreign Direc t Investment Under Socialism (1992).jpg

Geopolitics Soci... - Margaret M. Pearson - Joint Ventures in the Peop...f Foreign Direct Investment Under Socialism 1992.jpg

In a dramatic shift if foreign economic policy, the Chinese leadership, in late 1978, announced that China would 'open to the outside world.'As part of this new 'open' policy, China embarked on a strategy to use private foreign capital to spur economic development.

When Chinese leaders announced in late 1978 that China would "open to the outside world," they embarked on a strategy for attracting private foreign capital to spur economic development. At the same time, they were concerned about possible negative repercussions of this policy. Margaret Pearson examines government efforts to control the terms of foreign investment between 1979 and 1988 and, more broadly, the abilities of socialist states in general to establish the terms of their own participation in the world economy. Drawing on interviews with Chinese and foreigners involved in joint ventures, Pearson focuses on the years from 1979 through 1988, but she also comments on the fate of the "open" policy following the economic retrenchment and political upheavals of the late 1980s. "Since the policy of opening' was launched in Beijing in 1979 some Chinese leaders have favoured foreign investment, while others have feared that it would carry ideas and institutions that would corrupt Chinese socialism. This study of Chinese policies toward foreign-invested enterprises (FIFs) during the 1980s broadly charts significant changes in the impact of these competing views on policy. . . . Pearson's overview and analysis provide thought-provoking perspectives. . . . Pearson furnishes excellent evidence that throughout the 1980s the pressure for reform was so great that the conservatives had to retreat repeatedly, despite their concerns about the decline of collectivist values and the Maoist dream."--Stanley Lubman, The China Quarterly

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Margaret M. Pearson - Joint Ventures in the People 's Republic of China; The Control Of Foreign Direc t Investment Under Socialism (1992).pdf

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Doug Guthrie - Dragon in a Three-Piece Suit; The E mergence of Capitalism in China (1999).jpg

Dragon in a Three-Piece Suit is an innovative sociological examination of what is perhaps the main engine of economic reform in China, the large industrial firm. Doug Guthrie, who spent more than a year in Shanghai studying firms, interviewing managers, and gathering data on firms' performance and practices, provides the first detailed account of how these firms have been radically transformed since the mid-1980s.

Guthrie shows that Chinese firms are increasingly imitating foreign firms in response both to growing contact with international investors and to being cut adrift from state support. Many firms, for example, are now less likely to use informal hiring practices, more likely to have formal grievance filing procedures, and more likely to respect international institutions, such as the Chinese International Arbitration Commission. Guthrie argues that these findings support the de-linking of Western trade policy from human rights, since it is clear that economic engagement leads to constructive reform. Yet Guthrie also warns that reform in China is not a process of inevitable Westernization or of managers behaving as rational, profit-maximizing agents. Old habits, China's powerful state administration, and the hierarchy of the former command economy will continue to have profound effects on how firms act and how they adjust to change.

With its combination of rigorous argument and uniquely rich detail, this book gives us the most complete picture yet of Chinese economic reform at the crucial level of the industrial firm.

Reviews:

"[Guthrie] provides an admirably clear and detailed exposition of who runs what in reformera industry in China, complete with diagrams. . . . This book is essential reading for anyone interested in China's economic reforms and in transition economies more generally, and it will stand comparison with anything else in the field."--Jackie Sheehan, The Times Higher Education Supplement

"A splendid book. . . . Dragon in a Three-Piece Suit provides a comprehensive examination of an important and timely phenomenon. The question is important. The data are not only unique, they are also remarkably comprehensive. . . . [It is] likely to stimulate both discussion and additional research."--Lisa A. Keister, Contemporary Sociology

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Richard H. Jones - Mysticism Examined; Philosophic al Inquiries into Mysticism (1993).jpeg

In discussing mysticism, the first thing one must do is specify exactly what phenomenon is being talked about. The term "mysticism" has been used to refer to any religious experience, mythology, miracles, schizophrenia, hallucinations, trances, any altered state of consciousness, alleged psychic powers such as levitation, visions, parapsychology, and in general anything considered irrational, unintelligible, or occult. But the term "mysticism" for purposes of this book will refer only to two types of experiences, knowledge-claims centered upon such experiences, and ways of life in which these experiences figure centrally. Mystical experiences result from a process of turning one's attention inward and stilling all normal cognitive and emotional activities. It is a process of "forgetting," to use the medieval Christian term, or "fasting of the mind,'' to use a phrase from many mystical traditions. Meister Eckhart speaks of ''unknowing"the withdrawal of all powers of the mind from all objects. The Yoga Sutras describe the process as the removal by concentration (samadhi) of all obscuring and distorting memory traces (samskaras) accumulated over this and previous lives until the mind is completely clear and discriminating.

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Richard H. Jones - Mysticism Examined; Philosophic al Inquiries into Mysticism (1993).pdf

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Francis Frascina, Charles Harrison - Modern Art And Modernism; A Critical Anthology (1983).jpg

Modern Art and Modernism offers firsthand material for the study of issues central to the development of modern art, its theory, and criticism. The history of modern art is not simply a history of works of art, it is also a history of ideas interpretations. The works of critics and theorists have not merely been influential in deciding how modern art is to be seen and understood, they have also influenced the course it has taken. The nature of modern art cannot be understood without some analysis of the concept of Modernism itself.Modern Art and Modernism presents a selection of texts by the major contributors to debate on this subject, from Baudelaire and Zola in the nineteenth century to Greenberg and T. J. Clark in our own times. It offers a balanced section of essays by contributors to the mainstream of Modernist criticism, representative examples of writing on the themes of abstraction and expression in modern art, and a number of important contributions to the discussion of aesthetics and the social role of the artist. Several of these are made available in English translation for the first time, and others are brought together from a wide range of periodicals and specialized collections.This book will provide an invaluable resource for teachers and students of modern art, art history, and aesthetics, as well as for general readers interested in the place of modern art in culture and history.

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Francis Frascina, Charles Harrison - Modern Art And Modernism; A Critical Anthology (1983).pdf

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Alberto Toscano - Fanaticism; On the Uses of an Id ea (2010).jpg

A genealogy of fanaticism—unearthing its long history, before it became a tool in the Clash of Civilizations. The idea of fanaticism as a deviant or extreme variant of an already irrational set of religious beliefs is today invoked by the West in order to demonize and psychologize any non-liberal politics. Alberto Toscano’s compelling and erudite counter-history explodes this accepted interpretation in exploring the critical role fanaticism played in forming modern politics and the liberal state. Tracing its development from the traumatic Peasants’ War of early sixteenth-century Germany to contemporary Islamism, Toscano tears apart the sterile opposition of ‘reasonableness’ and fanaticism. Instead, in a radical new interpretation, he places the fanatic at the very heart of politics, arguing that historical and revolutionary transformations require a new understanding of his role. Showing how fanaticism results from the failure to formulate an adequate emancipatory politics, this illuminating history sheds new light on an idea that continues to dominate debates about faith and secularism.

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Alberto Toscano - Fanaticism; On the Uses of an Id ea (2010).pdf

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Global Viewpoints - Noah Berlatsky - Abortion (201 0).jpg

Each anthology in the new Global Viewpoints series (which does not duplicate any material in the Opposing Viewpoints series) delivers contemporary perspectives on the featured issue -- with the majority of the material reflecting stances of countries other than the United States. Primary sources, including speeches and government documents, join essays from international magazines and news sources for a truly panoramic view. Helpful features include an annotated table of contents, a world map and country index, a bibliography and a subject index.

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Dietmar Braun, Fabrizio Gilardi - Delegation in Co ntemporary Democracies (2006).jpg

Delegation is an ubiquitous social phenomenon linked to the growing differentiation of modern societies. Delegation is one of several different modes of organisation that exist to make collective action successful, but has been overlooked and under-researched.Using a rational choice institutional analysis and principal agent models, this book brings literature on delegation to bureaucracy, electorate to legislature to government within representative democracy together with literature on new forms of delegation such as non-majoritarian institutions, to provide a more complete and synthetic analysis of delegation in political systems.

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Dietmar Braun, Fabrizio Gilardi - Delegation in Co ntemporary Democracies (2006).pdf

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Mel Gray - Indigenous Social Work around the World ; Towards Culturally Relevant Education and Practi ce (2008).jpg

Geopolitics Soci... - Mel Gray - Indigenous Social Work around the Worl... Culturally Relevant Education and Practice 2008.jpg

How can mainstream Western social work learn from and in turn help advance indigenous practice? This volume brings together prominent international scholars involved in both Western and indigenous social work across the globe - including James Midgley, Linda Briskman, Alean Al-Krenawi and John R. Graham - to discuss some of the most significant global trends and issues relating to indigenous and cross-cultural social work. The contributors identify ways in which indigenization is shaping professional social work practice and education, and examine how social work can better address diversity in international exchanges and cross-cultural issues within and between countries. Key theoretical, methodological and service issues and challenges in the indigenization of social work are reviewed, including the way in which adaptation can lead to more effective practices within indigenous communities and emerging economies, and how adaptation can provide greater insight into cross-cultural understanding and practice.

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Jeffrey Denys Goldsworthy - Parliamentary Sovereig nty; Contemporary Debates (2010).jpg

This book has four main themes: (1) a criticism of 'common law constitutionalism', the theory that Parliament's authority is conferred by, and therefore is or can be made subordinate to, judge-made common law; (2) an analysis of Parliament's ability to abdicate, limit or regulate the exercise of its own authority, including a revision of Dicey's conception of sovereignty, a repudiation of the doctrine of implied repeal and the proposal of a novel theory of 'manner and form' requirements for law-making; (3) an examination of the relationship between parliamentary sovereignty and statutory interpretation, defending the reality of legislative intentions, and their indispensability to sensible interpretation and respect for parliamentary sovereignty; and (4) an assessment of the compatibility of parliamentary sovereignty with recent constitutional developments, including the expansion of judicial review of administrative action, the Human Rights and European Communities Acts and the growing recognition of 'constitutional principles' and 'constitutional statutes'.

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