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Books in Arts and humanities

Elsevier's Arts and Humanities titles encompass a rich spectrum of scholarship that explores human culture, history, philosophy, and creative expression. These works offer deep insights into language, literature, visual arts, and critical theory, supporting the academic community in understanding diverse perspectives and cultural legacies. Designed for scholars, educators, and students, this collection bridges classic studies with contemporary issues, fostering a deeper appreciation and knowledge of the human experience.

  • Rural Change and Public Policy

    Eastern Europe, Latin America and Australia
    • 1st Edition
    • William P. Avery + 2 more
    • English
    Rural Change and Public Policy: Eastern Europe, Latin America and Australia examines rural change and related public policies in three contrasting areas of the world to identify common problems and gain insight and understanding of the change process. This book is organized into five parts encompassing 15 chapters. Part I provides a conceptual background useful in examining rural development issues in an international perspective, focusing on economic development, usually the central question in public policy deliberations on rural areas. This part also emphasizes the interdependence between rural and urban areas as well as the importance of rural-urban regional inequity considerations. Part II deals with the critical role of government in influencing and directing rural change, while Part III surveys some of the changing attitudes and attitudinal responses of rural residents experiencing social, political, educational, and/or economic change. Part IV considers the broad issue of rural workers and employment opportunities, a critical issue in rural societies. Part V looks into the problems of land utilization and land tenure.

  • The Ecology of Social Behavior

    • 1st Edition
    • C. N. Slobodchikoff
    • English
    The Ecology of Social Behavior explores the relationships between ecology and the origins and maintenance of social behavior. The chapters in this book suggest that a consideration of ecological factors is necessary to any paradigm that tries to explain the origins and maintenance of social behavior. Most also suggest that there are some trade-offs between ecology, genetics, and phylogeny in the development and persistence of specific social systems. The book is organized into five parts. Part I provides an overview of the main themes covered in the present volume. Part II contains papers on ecological interactions, including variation in group sizes of forest primates, group foraging, and the origin of monogamy in mammals and fishes. Part III examines the ecology of social mammals. These include the ecological conditions for philopatry and the relationship of habitat variability to sociality in yellow-bellied marmots. Part IV focuses on the ecology of social birds while Part V deals with the ecology of social arthropods.

  • Cooperation

    An Experimental Analysis
    • 1st Edition
    • Gerald Marwell + 1 more
    • English
    Cooperation: An Experimental Analysis presents the results of an experimental analysis that sought to identify the factors that inhibit, maintain, or promote cooperation. Two of these factors are given particular attention: inequity and interpersonal risk between potential cooperators. Using a molar approach, the book applies some of the key methodological and theoretical insights of behavioral analysis to a group response that reflects the main conceptual characteristics of cooperation. The extent to which this behavioral response could be controlled by relevant environmental contingencies is also examined. Comprised of nine chapters, this book begins with an overview of the concept of cooperation and the measurement and experimental design used in the study. It then summarizes the results of the first experiments that focus on the link between inequity and cooperation, followed by a discussion on the effect of interpersonal risk on cooperation. Subsequent chapters focus on the role of protection and communication in promoting cooperation despite the presence of risk; the effects of the relationships between partners on the likelihood of cooperating under risk; and how a strategy of "pacifism" could facilitate cooperation. The final chapter summarizes the results of the experiments. This monograph will be of interest to social psychologists and sociologists.

  • Growth Centres in Spatial Planning

    Pergamon Urban and Regional Planning
    • 1st Edition
    • Malcolm J. Moseley
    • English
    Growth Centres in Spatial Planning examines the role of growth centers in spatial planning in terms of achieving the intended objectives. Intended objectives include improving a region's potential for adopting innovations, a saving in public investment on infrastructure, a more efficient pattern of service provision, a dissemination of growth impulses throughout the problem region, and the interception of would-be migrants from the region. More specifically, this book analyzes the extent to which growth-center policies are likely to attain these objectives and how such policies might be modified accordingly. This text consists of eight chapters and begins with an appraisal of growth-center theory and growth-center policy, along with the fundamental issues that are involved in putting such policies into practice. This is followed by a discussion on regional policies with a clear growth-center element in Scotland, Ireland, and France. The reader is then introduced to the link between urban centers and the diffusion of innovations; the degree to which the spatial concentration of investment is desirable in order to achieve the most economic pattern of service provision; and the role of spatial agglomeration in stimulating economic growth. The spatial impact of growth centers and the role of growth centers in generating, intercepting, and attracting migrants are also considered. This text concludes with a chapter that proposes some policy guidelines and directions for research. This book will be of interest to planners and policymakers involved in urban planning and regional development more generally.

  • Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence

    • 1st Edition
    • John Billingham + 1 more
    • English
    Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence is devoted to the concepts and studies related to the science, technology, and observational techniques of communication with extraterrestrial intelligence (CETI). Topics covered range from the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) to the theory of interstellar communication; the problem of the origin of life; radio signals from extraterrestrial civilizations; and interstellar communication by neutrino beams. An infinitely expandable space radiotelescope is also described. This book is comprised of 21 chapters and opens with a discussion on the CETI activities of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) from 1965 to 1976 and describes the outlook for the IAA CETI Standing Committee. The following chapters sketch the background and rationale for a SETI program; the significance of the detection of signals and of information that may be contained in signals from extraterrestrial civilizations; an extended Drake's equation, the longevity-separation relation, equilibrium, inhomogeneities, and chain formation; and the physical and psychological basis for the belief that a band of frequencies called the water hole is a prime band for SETI. This monograph will appeal to practitioners in the fields of astrophysics, astronomy, planetary formation, exobiology, and biological evolution.

  • Religious Assortative Marriage

    in the United States
    • 1st Edition
    • Robert Alan Johnson
    • English
    Religious Assortative Marriage in the United States aims to formulate and apply to American religious data, macrosociological models of assortative marriage in pluralistic populations. These models postulate that the factors determining assortative marriage are population structure, social divisions, and norms of endogamy. An important application of these models is to counter the ideological assumption, implicit in the popular image of a ""melting pot of nations,"" that the amalgamation of groups in the marriage market is the inevitable outcome of a historical plan of assimilation. The book begins by establishing a demographic framework by embedding assortative marriage in a broader model of the replacement of religious composition. This is followed by separate chapters on specialized theories concerned with the social determinants of assortative marriage; available religious marital selection data in the United States; and regional, residential, and cohort differentials in assortative marriage. The final chapter discusses how the ""general marriage market model,"" that is sufficiently flexible to be broadly applicable to diverse structures of religious or other assortative marriage, can be mathematically manipulated to generate laws of social statics and dynamics.

  • The Summary Report

    Special Edition with the Environment Projections and the Government Projections and the Government's Global Model
    • 1st Edition
    • Gerald O. Barney
    • English
    The Global 2000 Report to the President of the U.S.: Entering the 21st Century, Volume I: The Summary Report focuses on the Global 2000 Study, particularly noting the issues on the environment, population, and natural resources. The book first offers information on the findings and conclusions of the study and environment projections. Topics include water, energy, and forestry projections and the environment; climate changes and the environment; and gross national product (GNP) projections and the environment. The manuscript then examines the “Government's Global Model,“ including the analysis of the foundation, interpretation of projections, and strengthening the foundation. The text examines the elements of the ""Government's Global Model."" These include population, GNP, climate, technology, food, fisheries, forestry, water, energy, and fuel minerals. The book also surveys some of the studies and task forces whose findings might be helpful to those trying to provide methods and instructions in support of decision-making for international efforts in population, resources, and the environment. The manuscript will surely serve readers interested in the study of international efforts on population, resources, and the environment.

  • Children's Social Behavior

    Development, Assessment, and Modification
    • 1st Edition
    • Phillip S. Strain + 2 more
    • English
    Children's Social Behavior: Development, Assessment, and Modification presents the principal aspects of social developmental study of children; assessment methodology and techniques; and changes in the behavioral targets of intervention and in the nature of interventions. The articles in the book deal with various subjects related to the study of children's social behavior. Topics discussed include the interdependence and interplay between biological and social forces on the child's developing social repertoire; causative factors that influence peer interaction deficits; sociometric procedures and direct observation assessment methods; and issues associated with target behavior selection and the selection of intervention tactics. Psychologists, educators, ethologists, anthropologists, psychiatrists, and sociologists will find the book invaluable.

  • Rural Community Studies in Europe

    Trends, Selected and Annotated Bibliographies, Analyses
    • 1st Edition
    • Jean-Louis Durand-Drouhin + 1 more
    • English
    Rural Community Studies in Europe presents a study of village societies of the different regions of Europe and their importance to the economic and social life of nations. The book seeks to describe and analyze the local economic and social systems, traditions, power structures, and other aspects of European rural communities, specifically in the countries of Great Britain, Ireland, Poland, Turkey, Romania, France, and Spain. The book is divided into four parts: a historical review of the main trends and developments of rural community studies; an annotated bibliography; analytical summaries; and a location map. Sociologists, economists, ethnologists, political scientists, and students in allied fields will find the book a good reference material.

  • The Urban Informal Sector

    Critical Perspectives on Employment and Housing Policies
    • 1st Edition
    • Ray Bromley
    • English
    The Urban Informal Sector is a collection of papers presented at a multi-disciplinary conference on ""The urban informal sector in the Third World,"" organized by the Developing Areas Study Group of the Institute of British Geographers in London on March 19, 1977. Contributors offer critical perspectives on the urban informal sector, with emphasis on employment and housing policies. Topics covered range from general reviews and national case studies to detailed studies of particular occupations in individual cities. This book is comprised of 12 chapters and begins by reviewing the relevance of dualist models of economic activities and enterprises, as applied to Third World countries, concentrating on the origins, diffusion, and deficiencies of the formal/informal dualist classification. Subsequent chapters explore the informal sector debate in studies of Third World poverty and employment; the nature of informal-formal sector relationships; the structure of the labor markets in the ""organized"" and ""unorganized"" sectors of urban economies in South India; and the problem of urban poverty, its relation to employment, and rising spatial inequalities in Brazil. Capitalist and petty commodity production in Nigeria is also discussed, along with John Turner's views on housing policy. The final chapter looks at the competition between the informal and formal sectors in the retail industry in Santiago, Chile. This monograph will be of interest to social and economic policymakers.

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