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Social science

  • Author:
    Dorling, Danny
    Summary:

    A wide-ranging exploration of why inequality persists and what can be done about it, the No-Nonsense Guide to Equality discusses the positive effects that equality can have, using examples and case studies from across the globe. It examines the lessons of history and covers race, gender and ethnicity, age, and wealth. Danny Dorling considers, realistically, just how equal it is possible to be, the challenges we face, and the factors that will lead to greater equality for all.

  • Author:
    Lee, Philip
    Summary:

    Canadian journalist and political insider Dalton Camp left behind a powerful legacy, including books, essays, and newspaper columns on Canadian politics and public policy. To both celebrate his career and continue his passionate efforts to encourage and support the practice of journalism, St. Thomas University has held the annual Dalton Camp Lecture in Journalism since 2002. In cooperation with CBC Radio's Ideas, the series has become an annual highlight for listeners across the country. Now, for the first time, the Dalton Camp Lectures have been gathered together in one remarkable compilation. Commencing with the foundational address "The Best Game in Town" by journalist and social activist June Callwood, about her love affair with journalism, and ending with the 2013 lecture "The Next Big Thing Has Finally Arrived" by New York Times business, media, and culture writer David Carr, the contributors collectively forecast the future of news and the public discussion of ideas in a vastly changing world. Featuring contributions by Callwood and Carr as well as Nahlah Ayed, Sue Gardner, Chantal Hébert, Naomi Klein, Roy MacGregor, Stephanie Nolen, Neil Reynolds, Joe Schlesinger, and Ken Whyte, The Next Big Thing addresses the contemporary practice of journalism like no other book.

  • Author:
    Steven, Peter, Springer, Jane
    Summary:

    "[The Groundwork Guides] are excellent books, mandatory for school libraries and the increasing body of young people prepared to take ownership of the situations and problems previous generations have left them." -- Globe and Mail Too many of us have no choice about the type of news we receive. Too many of us remain ignorant of major issues and diverse opinions because the news isn't providing them. Over the past twenty years the news media has become more restricted, less diverse and of steadily declining quality. Fewer owners and managers control editorial policies, journalists have been sacked, and those who remain find themselves working at a faster pace on more superficial stories. Most of us rely on a dominant media, controlled by a few globalized giants. These groups have attained enormous financial and political power. But as this book shows, the trends are not all bad. Outside the West, particularly in Asia, citizens receive better and more diverse news than ever before. Rising levels of literacy and education in India, Korea, Indonesia and China have fostered vastly increased newspaper circulations, and the Internet has brought a much broader world to some restricted societies.

  • Author:
    Strowbridge, Nellie P.
    Summary:

    You think you’ve heard everything about Newfoundland and Labrador, but…

    Have you had a meal of padre?

    Have you ever seen a shalandi?

    Have you heard of basket soup?

    Would you find the term dry dough offensive?

    You’ve tried figgy duff, but have you eaten cod sounds?

    Work your tongue through conversational one-liners and much more! This book is a tribute to Newfoundland’s unique culture and way of life. It explores the province’s history and folklore, placing a particular emphasis on traditional language, speech, expressions, and dialect. Read, and experience Newfoundland’s Old English and Irish roots as they come to the fore!

  • Author:
    Cravit, David
    Summary:

    The oldest Baby Boomers have turned 60 so everybody’s starting to talk about the “aging of the population.”

    But most of the talk is about numbers: what percentage of the population will be how old in what year, what it will mean for welfare rates or health-care costs, etc. But what’s missing is the qualitative story. It’s not there are more “older people” out there. It’s that they are not the same as the older people of any previous generation.

    This book will explore how the Baby Boomer generation is permanently destroying the previous meanings of: Aging, Retirement, Seniors, And even…maybe… Death.

    The New Old shows how the Boomers’ simple act of refusing to age is creating a revolution – in everything from education to employment to housing to health and beauty and, of course, to sex.

    The book is be backed up with solid statistical support, but it is not primarily about numbers – it’s about people. It’s about new ground being broken, new ways of thinking, new kinds of social and work relationships, new products that can reduce or even eliminate the effects of aging. It will offer a sneak preview of an entirely new society that is coming – a society in which getting your gold watch at the age of 65 will simply mean the first half of your life is over.

    The book will also lay out specific strategies organizations must follow to take advantage of the opportunities – and avoid being rendered irrelevant and uncompetitive in the new order.

  • Author:
    Alexander, Michelle
    Summary:

    Once in a great while a book comes along that changes the way we see the world and helps to fuel a nationwide social movement. The New Jim Crow is such a book. Praised by Harvard Law professor Lani Guinier as "brave and bold," this book directly challenges the notion that the election of Barack Obama signals a new era of colorblindness. With dazzling candor, legal scholar Michelle Alexander argues that "we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it." By targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control-relegating millions to a permanent second-class status-even as it formally adheres to the principle of colorblindness. In the words of Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, this book is a "call to action." Called "stunning" by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Levering Lewis, "invaluable" by the Daily Kos, "explosive" by Kirkus, and "profoundly necessary" by the Miami Herald, this updated and revised paperback edition of The New Jim Crow, now with a foreword by Cornel West, is a must-read for all people of conscience.

  • Author:
    Peter Joseph
    Summary:

    Peter Joseph speaks on the critical importance of a unified activism working to overcome the inherent injustice of our system, and warns us to not ignore its flaws, or face ecological collapse.

  • Author:
    Friend, David
    Summary:

    David Friend examines the scandal-strafed decade when our public and private lives began to blur due to the rise of the web, reality television, and the tabloidization of pop culture.

  • Author:
    Garlick, Steve
    Summary:

    This analysis of the relationship between gender and nature proposes that masculinity is a technology that shapes both our engagement with the natural world and how we define freedom. As the complexity of our ecosystems becomes more apparent, the line between nature and culture, human and nonhuman, and technology and bodies becomes less distinct. Yet contemporary masculinity studies has generally failed to incorporate this new way of thinking. Drawing on the work of the Frankfurt School, Heidegger, and new materialist theories, Steve Garlick reassesses the relationship between masculinity, nature, and embodiment to advance a new critical theory of masculinity.

  • Author:
    Donato-McConnell, Denise
    Summary:

    A collection of stories about unique animal friendships and families. They illustrate how to move beyond supposed primal instincts of fear and mistrust and explore what happens when you substitute love and compassion. Reading these funny and heartwarming tales, you may come to experience a change in perspective that can bring about your own healthy, joyful, relationships.

  • Author:
    Coates, Colin M., Wynn, Graeme
    Summary:

    Intended to delight and provoke, these short, beautifully crafted essays, enlivened with photos and illustrations, explore how humans have engaged with the Canadian environment and what those interactions say about the nature of Canada. Tracing a path from the Ice Age to the Anthropocene, some of the foremost stars in the field of environmental history reflect on how we, as a nation, have idolized and found inspiration in nature even as fishers, fur traders, farmers, foresters, miners, and city planners have commodified it or tried to tame it. Their insights are just what we need as Canada attempts to reconcile the opposing goals of prosperity and preservation.

  • Author:
    Truth, Sojourner
    Summary:

    From slavery to liberation to life as an abolitionist, feminist, orator, and preacher-the autobiography of a woman who refused to be anything but free. Born into slavery in New York around 1797, then sold from master to master, Sojourner Truth spent her formative years witnessing the cruelty inherent in the institution of slavery. Escaping to a friendly household before emancipation, she learned that her young son had been sold illegally and launched a lawsuit that would end with his release-the first time in America that a black woman went to court against a white man and won. But Truth hadn't even begun her work. She made it her life's mission to free all those who were considered less than equal-both those in chains and those held down because of their gender-ultimately inspiring her friends and followers with the legendary speech that came to be known as "Ain't I a Woman'" So great was Truth's renown and respect that she met with President Abraham Lincoln in 1864. She was later named one of the 100 Most Significant Americans of All Time by Smithsonian magazine. Published in 1850, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth was spoken aloud to Truth's friend and neighbor Olive Gilbert, as she herself was illiterate. Along with The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, it remains one of the most moving and eloquent slave narratives-a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

  • Author:
    Davis, Steven L., Minutaglio, Bill
    Summary:

    Based on freshly uncovered primary sources and new firsthand interviews, this book takes readers along for the gonzo ride of a lifetime. Spanning twenty-eight months, President Nixon's careening, global manhunt for Dr. Timothy Leary winds its way among homegrown radicals, European aristocrats, a Black Panther outpost in Algeria, an international arms dealer, hash-smuggling hippies from the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, and secret agents on four continents, culminating in one of the trippiest journeys through the American counterculture.

  • Author:
    Morris, Lydia
    Summary:

    Britain's coalition government of 2010-2015 ushered in an enduring age of austerity and a "moral mission" of welfare reform as part of a drive for deficit reduction. Stricter controls were applied to both domestic welfare and international migration and asylum, which were presented as two sides of the same coin. Policy in both areas has engaged a moral message of earned entitlement and invites a sociological approach that examines such policies in combination, alongside their underpinning moral economy.Exploring the idea of a moral economy - from its original focus on popular rebellion at the rising price of corn to more contemporary analysis of measures that seek to impose moral values from above - Lydia Morris examines Britain's reconfigured pattern of rights in the fields of domestic welfare and migration. Those in power have claimed that heightened conditions and sanctions for the benefit-dependent domestic population, both in and out of work, will promote labour market change and reduce demand for low-skilled migrant workers, often EU citizens, whose own access to benefits was curtailed prior to Brexit. Morris traces related political discourse through to the design and implementation of concrete policy measures and maps the diminished access to rights that has emerged, paying particular attention to the boundaries drawn in defining target groups, and the resistance this has provoked.The Moral Economy of Welfare and Migrationconsiders the topology of the whole system to highlight cross-cutting devices of control that have far-reaching implications for how we are governed as a total population.

  • Author:
    Gates, Melinda
    Summary:

    For the last twenty years, Melinda Gates has been on a mission to find solutions for people with the most urgent needs, wherever they live. Throughout this journey, one thing has become increasingly clear to her: If you want to lift a society up, you need to stop keeping women down. In this moving and compelling book, Melinda shares lessons she's learned from the inspiring people she's met during her work and travels around the world. As she writes in the introduction, 'That is why I had to write this book -- to share the stories of people who have given focus and urgency to my life. I want all of us to see ways we can lift women up where we live.' Melinda provides an unforgettable narrative backed by startling data as she presents the issues that most need our attention -- from child marriage to lack of access to contraceptives to gender inequity in the workplace. And, for the first time, she writes about her personal life and the road to equality in her own marriage. Throughout, she shows how there has never been more opportunity to change the world -- and ourselves. Writing with emotion, candor, and grace, she introduces us to remarkable women and shows the power of connecting with one another. When we lift others up, they lift us up, too.

  • Author:
    Lamwaka, Beatrice, Allfrey, Ellah Wakatama
    Summary:

    Illuminating African narratives for readers both inside and outside the continent. Representing the very best of African creative nonfiction, Safe House brings together works from Africa's contemporary literary greats. In a collection that ranges from travel writing and memoir to reportage and meditative essays, editor Ellah Wakatama Allfrey has brought together some of the most talented writers of creative nonfiction from across Africa. This creative nonfiction single from the Safe House anthology is Beatrice Lamwaka’s memoir of conflict in northern Uganda.

  • Author:
    Keyes, Edward
    Summary:

    Edgar Award Finalist: The terrifying true story of savage murders, a terrorized midwestern town, and the serial killer who could have lived next door In 1967, during the time of peace, free love, and hitchhiking, nineteen-year-old Mary Terese Fleszar was last seen alive walking home to her apartment in Ypsilanti, Michigan. One month later, her naked body'stabbed over thirty times and missing both feet and a forearm'was discovered, partially buried, on an abandoned farm. A year later, the body of twenty-year-old Joan Schell was found, similarly violated. Southeastern Michigan was terrorized by something it had never experienced before: a serial killer. Over the next two years, five more bodies were uncovered around Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, Michigan. All the victims were tortured and mutilated. All were female students. After multiple failed investigations, a chance sighting finally led to a suspect. On the surface, John Norman Collins was an all-American boy'a fraternity member studying elementary education at Eastern Michigan University. But Collins wasn't all that he seemed. His female friends described him as aggressive and short tempered. And in August 1970, Collins, the "Ypsilanti Ripper," was arrested, found guilty, and sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole. Written by the coauthor of The French Connection, The Michigan Murders delivers a harrowing depiction of the savage murders that tormented a small midwestern town.

  • Author:
    Ansloos, Jeffrey Paul
    Summary:

    "In The Medicine of Peace, Jeffrey Ansloos explores the complex intersections of colonial violence, the current status of Indigenous youth in Canada in regards to violence and the possibilities of critical-Indigenous psychologies of nonviolence. Indigenous youth are disproportionately at risk for violent victimization and incarceration within the justice system. They are also marginalized and oppressed within our systems of academia, mental health and social work. By linking the contemporary experiences of Indigenous youth with broader contexts of intergenerational colonial violence in Canadian society and history, Ansloos highlights the colonial nature of current approaches to Indigenous youth care. Using a critical-Indigenous discourse to critique, deconstruct and de-legitimize the hegemony of Western social science, Ansloos advances an Indigenous peace psychology to promote the revitalization of Indigenous identity for these youth."--

  • Author:
    de la Roche, Mazo, Kirk, Heather
    Summary:

    Mazo de la Roche, author of the acclaimed Jalna series, is revealed in the writings of two luminaries on the subject: author Heather Kirk, and Mazo herself. This bundle unites Kirk’s groundbreaking biography of de la Roche with the great Canadian author’s memoirs, rereleased now after their original 1957 publication. Includes: Ringing the Changes First published in 1957, Mazo de la Roche’s last autobiography is a vivid look at her life in Ontario, and a parting shot at her critics. A rare insight into the intimate thoughts of Mazo de la Roche, and the private life she normally kept hidden. The author confesses how strongly she connected with her character Finch Whiteoak, her struggles with wanting to be a boy, and her complicated relationship with her cousin and adoptive sibling, Caroline. Mazo de la Roche After the spectacular success of her novel Jalna in 1927, Mazo de la Roche went on to the top of bestseller lists with a series of sixteen novels expanding the story of a Canadian family named the Whiteoaks, living in a house called Jalna. Her success allowed her to travel the world and live in a mansion near Windsor Castle. Mazo created unforgettable characters who come to life for her readers, but she was secretive about her own life and tried to escape the public attention her fame brought.

  • Author:
    Boyer, Patricia M., Wallin, Pamela
    Summary:

    Although Patricia M. Boyer won a scholarship to McMaster University with the highest mathematics marks in Ontario and graduated at age 19, literature and languages were her specialty. She first worked as a public librarian, next as a secondary school teacher, then as a newspaper editor. A community leader in arts and theatre, Patricia was devoted to human rights action in her local community and around the world, church work, drama, the education of children with disabilities and music. Each week she wrote a newspaper column inspired by episodes in the world around her, both local and global. She rewarded readers through articles infused with learning from literature, astute sensibility to human psychology and balanced insights on the tragedies and comedies of life's passing parade. Patricia Boyer summed up her approach to life as "optimistic realism". This collection of the best of her celebrated columns, organized through the 12 months of the year, or "the march of days," includes reflections on seasonal celebrations, changing atmospheres of nature and calendar milestones in the human cycle. A number of these concise yet poignant writings will move many readers with nostalgia as they evoke the happy events and tragic developments of the 60s and 70s. All of them, however, convey the wisdom of a woman whose message of optimistic realism endures like a timeless guide to living a satisfying life in the real world today.

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