A state-of-the-art anthology of postcolonial theory and practice in the Latin American context.

"A brilliant treasury of wisdom and insight drawn from leading sociologists throughout the world...It is a striking achievement, of which the International Sociological Association can be very proud, to have brought so many independent-minded scholars into so productive a dialogue." - Dennis Smith, Professor of Sociology, Loughborough University Twenty-nine chapters from prominent international contributors discuss, challenge and re-conceptualise the global discipline of sociology, evaluating the diversities within and between sociological traditions of many regions and nation-states. They assess all aspects of the discipline: ideas and theories; scholars and scholarship; practices and traditions; and ruptures and continuities through an international perspective. The Handbook argues that diversities in sociological traditions can be studied at three levels. First, they need to be studied from multiple spatial locations: within localities, within nation-states, within regions and the globe. Second, they need to be discussed in terms of their sociological moorings in distinct philosophies, epistemologies and theoretical frames, cultures of science and languages of reflection. Third, the intellectual moorings of sociological practices are extensive. The papers discuss the diverse and comparative sites of knowledge production and its transmission.

This is the first volume addressing the importance of teaching quality of life theory and methodology in different domains: social sciences, philosophy, sociology, political science, marketing, education, urbanism, statistics, economics, online learning, public health, sports, and constraint contexts in terms of their relationship with the Capability Approach. The chapters are written by important authors from Europe, North America, Asia, Latin America, Africa and Oceania, and present the syllabus and references of courses, making this volume important and necessary to university professors, students as well as teachers in general.

The Palgrave Encyclopedia of the Possible represents a comprehensive resource for researchers and practitioners interested in an emerging multidisciplinary area within psychology and the social sciences: the study of how we engage with and cultivate the possible within self, society and culture. Far from being opposed either to the actual or the real, the possible engages with concrete facts and experiences, with the result of transforming them. This encyclopedia examines the notion of the possible and the concepts associated with it from standpoints within psychology, philosophy, sociology, neuroscience and logic, as well as multidisciplinary fields of research including anticipation studies, future studies, complexity theory and creativity research. Presenting multiple perspectives on the possible, the authors consider the distinct social, cultural and psychological processes - e.g., imagination, counterfactual thinking, wonder, play, inspiration, and many others - that define our engagement with new possibilities in domains as diverse as the arts, design and business.

This book examines the concept of dignity from a variety of global perspectives. It scrutinizes how dignity informs policy and practice, and is influenced by international and domestic law, human rights values, and domestic politics. An exciting collection of essays, this edited volume provides an analysis of human rights as they are experienced by real people who have in many cases been forced to take action to further their own interests. Readers will discover an extensive range of issues discussed, from the internet, climate change and disabilities, to globalization, old-age, and migrants' rights. The last section deals with the impact of various issues on indigenous and migrant populations, specifically violence in Columbia, border issues in Tijuana, women's and children's rights violations, and the complex problems experienced by refugees, particularly in regards to citizenship. The interdisciplinary nature of this work makes it an invaluable read for scholars of Health Studies, Law, Human Rights, Sociology and Politics.

This book offers insights on the study of natural language as a complex adaptive system. It discusses a new way to tackle the problem of language modeling, and provides clues on how the close relation between natural language and some biological structures can be very fruitful for science. The book examines the theoretical framework and then applies its main principles to various areas of linguistics. It discusses applications in language contact, language change, diachronic linguistics, and the potential enhancement of classical approaches to historical linguistics by means of new methodologies used in physics, biology, and agent systems theory. It shows how studying language evolution and change using computational simulations enables to integrate social structures in the evolution of language, and how this can give rise to a new way to approach sociolinguistics. Finally, it explores applications for discourse analysis, semantics and cognition.

This anthology is a collection of essays on international relations, with particular emphasis on Latin America and its place on the world stage, and includes a wide range of research chapters, either presented at, or in accordance with, the 25th and 26th annual Eugene Scassa Mock OAS Program Summit of the Americas Conference. Featuring contributions by recognized authorities and new scholars alike in a broad range of related fields, the anthology provides a global view of the intricacies of international and national relationships, with a special focus on the countries of Latin America and the cultural backgrounds of the Americas, and their relationship to the global fabric of politics and society.