Much has been written about how civil society challenges authoritarian governments and helps lead the way to democratization. These studies show that neoliberal economic policies have harmed many sectors of society, weakening the state and undermining clientelistic relationships that previously provided material benefits to middle- and low-income citizens, who are then motivated to organize coalitions to work for greater social justice and equality. Recognizing this important role played b...

Several nations in the Global North have turned to austerity policies in an effort to resolve recent financial ills. What many failed to recognize is the longer history and varied pattern of such policies in the Global South over preceding decades – policies which had largely proven to fail.Shefner and Blad trace the 45-year history of austerity and how it became the go-to policy to resolve a host of economic problems. The authors use a variety of international cases to address how...

The Global Agenda for Social Justice provides accessible insights into some of the world’s most pressing social problems and proposes international public policy responses to those problems. Written by a highly respected team of authors brought together by the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP), chapters examine topics such as criminal justice, media concerns, environmental problems, economic problems, and issues concerning sexualities and gender. They offer recommendations fo...

Many sociologists enter their discipline motivated to make a living doing intellectual labor in a way that also will make the world a more just place, only to find that academic institutional constraints routinely impede their pursuit of that original goal.Sociologists Making Change gathers more than a dozen examples of the real-world activism of US sociologists, who confront those constraints and get involved in political and social change efforts in addit...

“Through its close study of immigration in an area of the United States that had until recent years largely been insulated from newcomers, this book opens a window onto a phenomenon that is both deeply local and entirely global. Profoundly insightful on both levels, it deserves to be read by scholars, activists, and human beings everywhere who seek to understand the potential for conflict and for constructive change in communities receiving new immigrants today.”—Jennifer Gordon, Fordham L...

Globalization has been subjected to a variety of analyses over the past thirty years, ranging from examinations of homogenizing cultural trends to the pressures of economic austerity and trade relations to the declining influence of states. This volume examines how states and citizens have been able to address globalization in different ways across the Global North and South. Authors examine the state as it forms policies in agro-production, contends with critical constituencies, and rebui...

The Agenda for Social Justice: Solutions for 2016 provides accessible insights into some of the most pressing social problems in the United States and proposes public policy responses to those problems. Written by a highly respected team of authors brought together by the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP), it offers recommendations for action by elected officials, policy makers, and the public around key issues for social justice, including a discussion of the role of key iss...