Leslie Irvine

A weary-looking man stands at an intersection, backpack at his feet. Curled up nearby is a mixed-breed dog, unfazed by the passing traffic. The man holds a sign that reads, "Two old dogs need help. God bless." What's happening here?         Leslie Irvine breaks new ground in the study of homelessness by investigating the frequently noticed, yet  More >

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 >

Paul Aarts and Francesco Cavatorta, editors

What are the dynamics of civic activism in authoritarian regimes? How do new social actors—many of them informal, "below the radar" groups—interact with these regimes? What mechanisms do the power elite employ to deal with societal dissidence? The authors of Civil Society in Syria and Iran explore the nature of state-society relations in two countries that are experiencing  More >

Richard K. Ghere

Richard Ghere provides a comprehensive survey of NGO involvement in a human rights based approach to leadership, organization, management, and performance. Ghere points to how any NGO, regardless of its specific mission, can provide outlets for human rights activism. He also discusses the ways that NGOs have become increasingly concerned with human rights. Calling for leaders of human rights  More >

Joseph Hanlon, Jeannette Manjengwa, and Teresa Smart

Countering the dominant media narratives of economic stagnation, Zimbabwe Takes Back Its Land offers a more positive and nuanced assessment of the results of the contentious land reforms that were introduced in Zimbabwe in 2000. The authors do not minimize the depredations of the Mugabe regime. Rather, they show how "ordinary" Zimbabweans have taken charge of their destinies in  More >

Alan W. Cafruny and Herman M. Schwartz, editors

Did the financial crisis of 2008 and the subsequent recession rearrange the basic structures of the global economy? To answer that fundamental question, the authors of Exploring the Global Financial Crisis tackle a number of related questions: What has happened, for example, to global flows of people, goods, and capital? Will the euro and the dollar persist as global currencies? Can governments  More >

Krishna Kumar

With the international community providing billions of dollars each year to promote democratic institutions/cultures in transitional and developing countries, rigorous evaluations have become essential for determining the effectiveness, as well as the future direction, of democracy assistance programs. Krishna Kumar provides a unique, practical guide to the on-the-ground tasks of evaluating and  More >

Lori Latrice Martin

Choice Outstanding Academic Book! Claims of a postracial society notwithstanding, there are enormous and even expanding differences in the level of assets owned by various racial and ethnic groups—and black families are vastly overrepresented among the asset poor. Lori Martin provides an in-depth exploration of the causes and consequences of racial wealth inequality. Drawing on both  More >

Sara Newman

What accounts for the differing ways that individuals and cultures have tried to make sense of mental and physical disabilities? Can we see a pattern of change over time? Sara Newman examines personal narratives across a broad sweep of history—from ancient Greece to the present day—to reveal the interplay of dynamics that have shaped both personal and societal conceptions of mental and  More >

Jeff Unsicker

A grassroots citizens' group in Peru stops a multinational firm from digging a mine in the middle of  town. The research director of a think tank in Ghana helps convince the government to establish a national AIDS commission. An international NGO plays a key role in getting funding for climate-change adaptation included in a bill passed by the US Congress. All three are cases of the  More >