Callaway and Creevey explore the impact of Islam on the lives of West African women, particularly (but not exclusively) in Nigeria and Senegal. Focusing on whether Islam acts as a barrier to women in the process of social change and development, they address a series of important questions: Is the pattern of training and education different for Muslim and non-Muslim girls? Comparatively, what is    More >

The Hidden Assembly Line demonstrates how the impact of current global economic trends—changing production patterns, dictated by multinational corporations and IMF-influenced macroeconomic policies—form the economic reality of many women workers in Asia. Presenting case studies from India, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka, the contributors analyze household-level changes in    More >

Why do well-educated young professionals engage in frequent and intensive drug use at dance clubs? And how do they protect themselves from drug-related illnesses and involvement with the criminal justice system? Dina Perrone's vivid ethnographic research on New York City "club kids" illuminates their distinctive subculture, describes their patterns of drug use, and explores the    More >

Homelessness once was considered an aberration. Today it is a normalized feature of US society.  It is also, argue Elizabeth Beck and Pamela Twiss, an industry: the embrace of neoliberal policies and piecemeal efforts to address the problem have ensured a steady production of homeless people, as well as a plethora of disjointed social services that often pathologize individuals instead of    More >

Katie Smith tells the unforgettable story of a group of Honduran peasants who—as they learn to renew their fields and enhance their harvests—also learn lessons that renew their hopes and lead to a new sense of community. Smith's engaging and enlightening narrative follows the peasants as, under the leadership of the inspirational José Elías Sánchez, they carve    More >

With a particular (though not exclusive) focus on the complex links between humanitarian action and the worlds of politics and military engagement, Larry Minear explores what international actors—from the UN and national governments to the many private relief and development agencies—have learned about doing humanitarian work.    More >

Positing an "insecurity dilemma," in which national security, defined as regime security by state authorities, becomes pitted against the incompatible demands of ethnic, social, and religious forces, this book addresses the problems and prospects for security in the Third World in the 1990s. The authors advance four lines of argument: First, there is a need to rethink the traditional    More >

When considering the nature of environmental problems, many scholars and practitioners assume that—while there may be disagreement about solutions—we know what the problems are. In contrast, the authors of this volume investigate the framing of both problems and solutions to clarify the particular political dynamics and preferences that they reflect and legitimate. They test their    More >

While the war in Afghanistan saw most industrial countries back the US-led campaign, the subsequent war in Iraq profoundly divided international opinion—and likely represents a watershed in the post-Cold War international order. The Iraq War examines the full range of explanations of the conflict, as well as its significance for the Middle East, for key international relationships, and for    More >

Opinion surveys show that what the public assumes it knows about terrorism is at best a badly distorted view. Recalling the "Flat Earth" phenomenon, early misconceptions have become solidified, despite new evidence refuting them. The authors of The Irrational Terrorist discredit these popular myths and misconceptions, providing an accessible overview of the realities of terrorism and    More >