Social Change

The global story is one that is 7.6 billion authors strong. It is rich and complex, and as of today, it is also perilously close to bringing about the destruction of our planet. Why do we continue to live in a bad story? In his latest work, Moritz Davidesko presents a compelling analysis of human storytelling and explores how that behavior has informed our present understanding of the world. In chronicling our species’ collective powers of narration, Davidesko ushers us from the distant past, to the present state of global affairs—the story of our world as we know it!

Winchester, Virginia, is an emblematic American town. As the US economy and American culture have transformed in recent decades, the ground under centuries-old social codes has shifted, throwing old folkways into chaos. Homeplace teases apart the tangle of class, race, and family origin that still defines the town and illuminates questions that now dominate our national conversation - about how we move into the future without pretending our past doesn't exist, about what we salvage, and what we leave behind.

Desde la Colonia y las tropelías de Hernán Cortés, hasta nuestros muyaciagos días de señores de las ligas, casas blancas, estafas maestras y presidentes impresentables, Juan Antonio Cepeda—especialista en corrupción y Estado de derecho—reconstruye elrompecabezas histórico, social, político y cultural de la corrupción en México para mostrar cómo hemos sido proclives a perpetuarla. Pero que hayamos privilegiado elgatopardismo por encima de una transformación genuina, nos dice, no significa que estemos condenados a padecerlo por siempre.

From a 2017 Pulitzer-winning newspaperman, an unsentimental ode to America's heartland as seen in small-town Iowa—a story of reinvention and resilience, environmental and economic struggle, and surprising diversity and hope.

Here, political scientist Jakub J. Grygiel brings to light the importance of incorporating geography into grand strategy. He argues that states can increase and maintain their position of power by pursuing a geostrategy that focuses on control of resources and lines of communication.

Authentic, hard-hitting, and profoundly thought-provoking, this riveting real-life legal thriller offers an incendiary exposé of the turmoil and hidden dangers behind the trailblazing legalization of the cannabis industry. As the first-ever memoir of its kind, van Leynseele’s story provides a cautionary tale, pulling back the curtain on the systemic problems within legal marijuana, the institutional sexism still lurking in the legal profession, and the biases that lead to white-collar criminals exploiting the system and getting away with it.

Dieser Band versammelt einige der klügsten und engagiertesten Köpfe aus den gesellschaftlichen Bereichen, über die sie schreiben. Jeder Beitrag zeichnet nach, welche Spuren die neoliberale Spielart des Kapitalismus dort hinterlassen hat, aber auch die Stellschrauben, die uns zur Verfügung stehen, um mit dieser Logik zu brechen.

Drawing from an incredibly rich trove of global data, this groundbreaking book reveals that human progress has been slowing down since the early 1970s. Danny Dorling uses compelling visualizations to illustrate how fertility rates, growth in GDP per person, increases in life expectancy, and even the frequency of new social movements have all steadily declined over the last few generations.

Today's ways of working are not working - even for professionals in "good" jobs. Responding to global competition and pressure from financial markets, companies are asking employees to do more with less, even as new technologies normalize 24/7 job expectations. In Overload, Erin Kelly and Phyllis Moen document how this new intensification of work creates chronic stress, leading to burnout, attrition, and underperformance. "Flexible" work policies and corporate lip service about "work-life balance" don't come close to fixing the problem.

Neither an advocate nor a critic of cultured meat, Benjamin Aldes Wurgaft spent five years researching the phenomenon. In Meat Planet, he reveals how debates about lab-grown meat reach beyond debates about food, examining the links between appetite, growth, and capitalism. Could satiating the growing appetite for meat actually lead to our undoing? Are we simply using one technology to undo the damage caused by another? Like all problems in our food system, the meat problem is not merely a problem of production. It is intrinsically social and political.

This timely new book, edited by celebrated scholar Daniel C. Esty, offers fresh thinking and forward-looking solutions from environmental thought leaders across the political spectrum. The book’s 40 essays cover such subjects as ecology, environmental justice, Big Data, public health, and climate change, all with an emphasis on sustainability. This book focuses on moving toward sustainability through actionable, bipartisan approaches based on rigorous analytical research.

America is at a crossroads. We are alienated from civic engagement, and our democracy is in doubt. Yet there is a new energy in the air. Young people are again taking up the role they've often held: as leaders of change, demanding a better future, wielding their votes to uphold democracy and lead the country forward. Enter Generation Citizen, an organization dedicated to empowering youth through revitalizing civics education across America.

Transgender men comprise a large, growing proportion of the trans population, yet they remain largely invisible. In this powerful, timely, and eye-opening account, award-winning sociologist Arlene Stein draws from dozens of interviews with transgender people and their friends and families, as well as with activists and medical and psychological experts. Unbound documents the varied ways younger trans men see themselves and how they are changing our understanding of what it means to be male and female in America.

The food system is broken, but there is a revolution underway to fix it. Bite Back presents an urgent call to action and a vision for disrupting corporate power in the food system, a vision shared with countless organizers and advocates worldwide.

The World We Need provides a vivid introduction to America's largely unsung grassroots environmental groups - often led by activists of color and the poor - valiantly fighting back in America's so-called sacrifice zones against industries poisoning our skies and waterways and heating our planet. Through original reporting, profiles, and interviews, we learn how these activist groups, almost always working on shoestring budgets, are devising creative new tactics.

With the help of God, her family, and many other people along the way, Diane's Kids off the Block morphed from a personal crusade to do what she could into a nationally known program that has helped more than 3,000 at-risk Chicago teens. In this powerful, energizing book, she tells her incredible story to men and women who are sick of sitting behind their keyboards watching the world crumble and are ready to do something to make a difference.

Even if you're not an activist (yet), at a time when the news is written for clicks and elections are fought with three-word slogans, it's crucial to preserve some record of events that isn't 'fake news' or political spin. In part, this book is my attempt to counter the re-writing of how Australia achieved one of the most significant social changes in a generation. Sally Rugg is one of Australia's most influential campaigners for social change. How Powerful We Are is her manifesto for championing what you believe is right.

As a preteen or young teen girl, you're changing more than ever before—and it's natural to feel a mix of excitement and worry. You're seeing the world in new ways. Your social life has gotten a lot more complicated. And whether you're experiencing the onset of puberty, or have already begun menstruation, the physical changes you're going through can also feel overwhelming. Written by a teen mental health expert, The Middle School Survival Guide for Girls is packed with tips and tools to help you adjust to the pressures of middle school—as well as to your changing mind and body.

Warum wir zynische Geldmacher, egomane Politiker und deren Lügen bekämpfen müssen. Die Welt steckt in der Endphase eines Kulturkampfs: Gier gegen Gerechtigkeit, Zerstörung gegen Nachhaltigkeit, Zynismus gegen Empathie. Nichts zeigt dies deutlicher als die Reaktionen auf die Klimakatastrophe: Hier jene, die versuchen, das Schlimmste zu verhindern, dort jene, die alles tun, um aus dem Verbrennen fossiler Stoffe Profit zu ziehen.

Natural disasters and the dire effects of climate change cause massive population displacements and lead to some of the most intractable political and humanitarian challenges seen today. Yet, as Maria Cristina Garcia observes in this critical history of U.S. policy on migration in the Global South, there is actually no such thing as a "climate refugee" under current U.S. law. Most initiatives intended to assist those who must migrate are flawed and ineffective from inception because they are derived from outmoded policies. In a world of climate change, U.S. refugee policy simply does not work.