Joel Best and Scott R. Harris, editors

Internet addiction. Cell-phone-distracted drivers. Teen suicide. Economic recession. The health risks of trans fats. The carefully selected collection of case studies in Making Sense of Social Problems is designed to help students understand and critically evaluate a wide range of contemporary social issues. The cases are organized to highlight a series of key elements:      More >

Shaazka Beyerle

How do citizens counter corruption and exact accountability from power holders? What strategic value does people power bring to the anticorruption struggle? Can bottom-up, citizen-based strategies complement and reinforce top-down anticorruption efforts? Addressing these questions—and demonstrating the critical role of grassroots efforts in the anticorruption/accountability  More >

Samson Abebe Bezabeh

Wedged between Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia, at the intersection of the world’s busiest shipping routes, Djibouti has long been a global geostrategic hub. Samson Bezabeh traces the tortuous political history of this tiny country since its independence from France in 1977. Bezabeh challenges much conventional wisdom as he dissects Djibouti's trials and tribulations. Focusing on the  More >

Michael V. Bhatia

War and Intervention explains how armed forces, aid agencies, and transitional adminsitrations in war-affected countries have adapted to the changing circumstances of modern war and conflict. It uses a broad range of cases to introduce the reader to the dynamics on the ground. Bhatia's analysis becomes all the more important at a time when the debate continues about the United States's  More >

Olga Bialostocka, editor

In New African Thinkers, young scholars from across Africa discuss their vision for the social, political, and economic future of their continent. A unifying element running throughout their work is the argument that culture—defined broadly as a way of life, system of values and controls, and modes of practice and expression—lies at the heart of a reimagined Africa: a place of  More >

Olga Bialostocka and Thokozani Simelane, editors

Emerging scholars from across Africa focus on the multiple innovative ways through which Africa has been confronting challenges. The chapters cover peace and security including democracy and governance, gender and global change, development for the people, as well as science and technology. The book grew out of the Ninth African Young Graduates and Scholars conference which is rooted in the  More >

Gisela Bichler and Aili E. Malm, editors

Tackling issues that range from disruptive street gangs to online illicit markets, the authors use the insights of network analysis—a sophisticated methodology for illuminating individual and group interconnections—to suggest practical, highly targeted ways to prevent criminal behavior.  More >

Mavis Hiltunen Biesanz, Richard Biesanz, and Karen Zubris Biesanz

This unparalleled social and cultural history traces the development of Costa Rica's culture and institutions. With the perspective of more than half a century of first-hand observation, the Biesanzes describe how Costa Rica's economy, government, educational and health-care systems, family structures, religion, and other institutions have evolved, and how this evolution has  More >

Shawn Chandler Bingham and Sara E. Green

Exploring a paradox, Shawn Bingham and Sara Green show how humor has been used both to challenge traditional views of disability and to reinforce negative stereotypes and social inequalities. Seriously Funny ranges from ancient Greek dramas to medieval court jesters to contemporary comedy, from stage performances to the experiences of daily life. Rich with insights into issues of identity and  More >

Sven Biscop and Johan Lembke, editors

What is the interplay between EU enlargement and a fluctuating transatlantic security partnership? Will the accession of new EU members reinforce this partnership, or instead increase the EU's assertiveness as an independent foreign policy actor? The authors of EU Enlargement and the Transatlantic Alliance find answers in an examination of broader EU security strategies, the foreign and  More >