Why are poor countries poor and rich countries rich? How are wealth and poverty related to changes in nutrition, health, life expectancy, education, population growth and politics? This modern, non-technical 2005 introduction to development studies explores the dynamics of socio-economic development and stagnation in developing countries. Taking a quantitative and comparative approach to contemporary debates within their broader context, Szirmai examines historical, institutional, demographic, sociological, political and cultural factors. Key chapters focus on economic growth, technological change, industrialisation, agricultural development, and consider social dimensions such as population growth, health and education. Each chapter contains comparative statistics on trends from a sample of twenty-nine developing countries. This rich statistical database allows students to strengthen their understanding of comparative development experiences. Assuming no prior knowledge of economics the book is suited for use in inter-disciplinary development studies programmes as well as economics courses, and will also interest practitioners pursuing careers in developing countries.

he debate on 'The Dynamics of Wage Relations in the New Europe' is an T offspring of a research project on 'Disparities in Wage Relations and the Reproduction of Skills in Europe'. At a meeting of the advisory committee for this research held at the University of Westminster in London on 14th November 1994, it was decided (by Linda Clarke,]orn]anssen, Henryk Lewandowski, Philippe Mehaut, Patrick Rozenblatt and Frank Wilkinson) to set up a larger international committee to develop a programme and seek funding from the European Commission for a symposium of experts on wage relations. This committee of ten scientific experts was formed and invited to a number of meetings throughout 1995 and 1996 by DG V of the European Commission in order to develop a programme and proposal for a symposium to take place in 1997. Eventually the proposal, formally submitted by University of Westminster/London, University ofMaastrichti Netherlands, Fachhochschule Dortmund/Germany and University of Osnabriick/ Germany was accepted by the European Commission in May 1996. Additional funding was then obtained from the Hans-Bockler-Stiftung and the Dutch Organisation for Scientific Research allowing, in particular, participants from Central and East European countries to be invited. The subject of wage relations, as a central issue of European social policy, was intended to be tackled in an open debate between scientists and policy makers, the latter as individual experts rather than representatives.

Get the best instruction on occupational analysis, group process, and therapeutic media - all from one book! Using a matter-of-fact style to share their experiences, successes, and failures, expert authors Jane Clifford O’Brien and Jean W. Solomon provide you with effective therapeutic media; sample activity analyses useful in current health care contexts; practical guidance in play, leisure, and social participation areas of occupation; strategies for effective group management and processes; and overviews of theories supporting best practice. Comprehensive content covers the material taught in group process and occupational analysis courses thoroughly and completely for the OTA. Logically organized content that’s written in a matter-of-fact style helps you better understand and retain information. Clinical pearls emphasize the practical application of the information. Therapeutic Media are tried-and-true methods pulled from the author’s extensive experience.

Changes in technology and demand require firms to learn how to continuously reshape unique and non-imitable resources and competences. A firm‘s capacity to achieve this is captured by the concept of dynamic capabilities. This book offers an analysis of how firms manage to reconfigure their pool of idiosyncratic resources, skills and competencies to

Collects 381 entries that discuss political science, international relations, and sociology.

Jazz is one of the most influential American art forms of our times. It shapes our ideas about musical virtuosity, human action and new forms of social expression. In Going for Jazz, Nicholas Gebhardt shows how the study of jazz can offer profound insights into American historical consciousness. Focusing on the lives of three major saxophonists—Sidney Bechet, Charlie Parker, and Ornette Coleman—Gebhardt demonstrates how changing forms of state power and ideology framed and directed their work. Weaving together a range of seemingly disparate topics, from Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier thesis to the invention of bebop, from Jean Baudrillard's Seduction to the Cold War atomic regime, Gebhardt addresses the meaning and value of jazz in the political economy of American society. In Going for Jazz, jazz musicians assume dynamic and dramatic social positions that demand a more conspicuous place for music in our understanding of the social world.