The volume examines the risks and opportunities of a digital society characterized by the increasing importance of knowledge and by the incessant rise and pervasiveness of information and communication technologies (ICTs). At a global level, the pivotal role of ICTs has made it necessary to rethink ways to avoid forms of digital exclusion or digital discrimination. This edited collection comprises of chapters written by respected scholars from a variety of countries, and brings together ne...

This book identifies the strengths and weaknesses of different methodological approaches to research in communication and social change. It examines the methodological opportunities and challenges occasioned by rapid technological affordances and society-wide transformations. This study provides grounded insights on these issues from a broad range of proficient academics and experienced practitioners.Overall, the different contributions address four key themes: a critical evaluatio...

Numbers dominate global politics and, as a result, our everyday lives. Credit ratings steer financial markets and can make or break the future of entire nations. GDP drives our economies. Stock market indices flood our media and national debates. Statistical calculations define how we deal with climate change, poverty and sustainability. But what is behind these numbers?In How Numbers Rule the World, Lorenzo Fioramonti reveals the hidden agendas underpinning the use of statistics a...

Despite the vast wealth generated in the last half century, in today’s world inequality is worsening and poverty is becoming increasingly chronic. Hundreds of millions of people continue to live on less than $2 per day and lack basic human necessities such as nutritious food, shelter, clean water, primary health care, and education.Innovating for the Global South offers fresh solutions for reducing poverty in the developing world. Highlighting the multidisciplinary experti...

The added value of mixed methods research in poverty and vulnerability is now widely established. Nevertheless, gaps and challenges remain. This volume shares experiences from research in developed and developing country contexts on how mixed methods approaches can make research more credible, usable and responsive to complexity.

This book presents the methodology and results of a three-year, eleven-country science-to-policy research project – Toward a Policy Model of Multifunctional Agriculture and Rural Development – undertaken between 2005 and 2008 and financed under the European Union's Sixth Framework program. It deals with an important contemporary policy issue: how best to ensure that an agriculturally-based policy can contribute to the development of rural regions. It tackles this problem in a number of dif...

Religion-based educational disparities, especially relative educational backwardness amongst the Muslims in India, are the focus of serious debate. The 2006 Sachar Committee Report rekindled public interest and attention in this important issue. Yet, considerable gaps exist in our understanding of the dynamics of religion and access to education. In Religion, Community, and Education, Alam uses a spatial approach and multilayered analytical framework to understand educational disparities i...

By conservative estimates about 50 million migrants are currently living outside of their home communities, forced to flee to obtain some measure of safety and security. In addition to persecution, human rights violations, repression, conflict, and natural and human-made disasters, current causes of forced migration include environmental and development-induced factors. Today's migrants include the internally displaced, a category that has only recently entered the international lexicon. B...

This book presents the findings of research projects conducted by CREA (Community of Researchers on Excellence for all), a research community based in Barcelona, showing how social transformation combines scientific excellence with the political and social impact of the research. Analyzing the impact of pursuing social sciences research by providing examples of achievements and opportunities despite barriers and obstacles encountered along the way, it is of interest for a broad spectrum of...

The authors challenge psychological perspectives on happiness and subjective wellbeing. Highlighting the politics of quantitative and qualitative methodologies, case studies across continents explore wellbeing in relation to health, children and youth, migration, economics, religion, family, land mines, national surveys, and indigenous identities.

The author examines social mobility in the enlarged EU by analysing the work sequences of 1865 movers and stayers in Poland. Using indicators of upward and downward social mobility, she explores the role of migration in careers. Her research shows that migration adds dynamism to work paths and contributes to the improvement of people’s working lives. It also suggests that agency and reflexivity guide the acquisition of tacit skills during migration, resulting in various patterns of social ...

The most serious environmental problems of the twenty-first century have the potential to alter the course of life on this planet. Global warming, toxic waste, water and air pollution, acid rain, and shrinking energy supplies are frightening challenges that may threaten our future if we do not face up to them. Global Environmental Challenges provides important information and gives us hope about the environment. This book first helps us to grasp these difficulties, then shows us the choice...