Jack Mezirow, a leader in education theory, suggests that all transformative learning begins with a 'disorienting dilemma': an idea or experience that challenges or shifts fundamental values and assumptions. Gary Nelson and Peter Dickens, pastors and teachers with vast experience working with congregations and organizations, believe it is time for Christian leaders to be 'disoriented,' for the fundamental values and assumptions of Christian leadership to be reframed and broken down so they...

From 1963 to 1966 Britain successfully waged a secret war to keep the Federation of Malaysia free from domination by Soekarno's Indonesia and by Chinese Communists. At the forefront of this campaign were the men of the Special Air Service the SAS an elite branch of the British military whose essence is secrecy and whose tools are boldness, initiative, surprise, and high skill.Working in four-man patrols, the SAS teams first made friends with the head-hunting border tribes and even trained ...

A highly decorated Royal Navy officer recounts his experiences at the command of a motor torpedo boat in the North Sea during WWII.In 1942-43, Captain Peter Dickens commanded the 21st MTB Flotilla, mainly in the North Sea and the English Channel. In Night Action, he vividly recounts his experiences performing daring missions amid storms of gunfire, usually under the cover of darkness. Dickens and his crew managed to closely engage enemy convoys and escorts...

A continual problem in modern societies is how housing of a good standard can be provided for all those who need it. Some countries, and some local areas within any one country, have clearly succeeded better than others. Originally published in 1985, Housing, States and Localities shows how and why success and failure in housing provision come about. It does this using comparative analysis of two countries – Britain and Sweden – and four localities within Britain – Sheffield, rura...

This book offers a new understanding of society’s relations with the cosmos. Entrepreneurs such as Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk receive a great deal of publicity, but offer unlikely and implausible visions of space tourism for the general public. Meanwhile, asteroids are seen as ‘rare materials’ which will be extracted and used to produce untold riches for earthbound citizens.The reality is rather different. First, there is no evidence that owners of capital are attempting to extract ‘...

Sociological Theory and the Environment is a comprehensive survey and assessment of sociological theories of the relations between societies and their 'natural' biophysical environment. This book touches on and addresses virtually all of the major perspectives, focal points, and debates in environmental sociology today-classical and twentieth century social theories, macro-micro linkage issues, globalization and development, reflexive modernization, ecological modernization vs. 'limits' vi...

This assured and powerful study explores the condition of the middle classes in Britain today. The authors outline a new theoretical perspective for exploring the middle classes and provide the reader with up-to-date empirical information on the class structure.

Global Shift is - quite simply - the definitive work on economic globalization. The extensive use of graphics, lack of jargon, and clear definition of terms has made it the standard work for the social sciences.The Seventh Edition has been completely updated using the latest available sources. It maps the changing centres of gravity of the global economy and explains the global financial crisis. Each chapter has been extensively rewritten and new material introduce...

Most books that analyse the crucial subject of globalisation only look at it from a western perspective. This is the first detailed study to look at globalisation specifically in the Asia-Pacific region. An impressive collection of leading, interdisciplinary scholars explore various dimensions of globalisation and their relationship to development processes in the region.

One of the main features of the contemporary environmental crisis is that no one has a clear idea of what is going on. The author uses an extension of Marx's theory of alienation to explain why people find it so difficult to relate their different knowledges of the natural and social world. He argues that nevertheless it is possible to relate these to the abstractions of ecological discourse. Emancipation can come only through embracing science and rationality rather than rejecting them an...

Space weaponry, satellite surveillance and communications, and private space travel are all means in which outer space is being humanized: incorporated into society’s projects. But what are the political implications of society not only being globalized, but becoming ‘cosmic’?Our ideas about society have long affected, and been affected by, our understanding of the universe: large sections of our economy and society are now organized around humanity’s use of outer space. Our view o...

The Laforays were the largest, most powerfully armed and successful ships of this type to see frontline action with the Royal Navy in WWII. They were also the handsomest warships to see service and presented a perfect combination of power and speed. They were assigned to the most dangerous theaters of war including Force H, sailing between Gibraltar and Malta, from where they operated against the German supply lines to North Africa. They escorted minelayers into the German backyard in the ...