Challenges Of 21st Century

Despite prognostications of the "end of history," the 21st century has posed new challenges and a host of global crises. This book takes up the current global economic crisis in relation to new and changing dynamics of territory, authority, and rights in today's global system. The authors explore long simmering conflicts in comparative perspective, including settler colonialism in South Africa, Northern Ireland and Israel/Palestine. They discuss indigenous struggles against environmental land grabs and related destruction of indigenous lands by the US nuclear weapons complex. The book uniquely considers the sacred in the context of the global system, including struggles of Latina/o farm workers in the U.S. for social justice and for change in the Catholic Church. Other chapters examine questions of civilizations and identity in the contemporary global system, as well as the role of world-regions.

This exciting new book addresses how governments are now seeking to drive innovation through new forms of R&D policies, through public procurement, skills development, entrepreneurship and innovation culture to name but a few of the approaches. The volume debates and presents scattered and anonymous material in a coherent way, with a particular focus is on 'hot topics' in the field of innovation studies that have been previously under-researched. The book is divided into four key themes: government as a key actor in the innovation process, entrepreneurs as innovators, skills and competences required to maintain and improve innovation performance in Europe and finally, the wider context in which innovation policy develops.

This wide-ranging, future-oriented book is sure to number among the most important and influential business books of the decade. Drucker writes with penetrating insight about the critical issues facing managers in the 1990s: the world economic order; people at work; new trends in management and the governance of organizations.

What issues, challenges and problems do young people face in 21st century society? How do they make sense of their lifeworlds? Are they proactive or reactive when it comes to dealing with the multiple pressures they face? This book brings together a variety of real life accounts, many of which were assembled from empirical research, that provide an important lens through which to view what it means to be a young person in today's world. One of the main purposes of the book is to challenge dominant and 'taken for granted' assumptions about the young. You will find discussions of the ways in which young people's lives are consistently problematised; how some are denied basic human rights; the way that education systems consistently fail them; and how for some the threat or experience of violence and aggression can come to dominate their lives. This book has been written from a global perspective - it brings together contributors who share an academic interest and professional concern to improve outcomes for young people. Space is given to understanding the importance of developing a human rights framework that will foster young people's potential. We foreground the importance of listening to young people because they have important things to say. The reader will be invited to reflect on: what can happen when young people become politically motivated; the challenges associated with 'super complexity', education and globalisation; the ways in which some young people are exposed to high levels of vulnerability and risk; and how information technology is utilised to secure peer and professional support. This book draws on a range of social science disciplines - psychology, sociology, political science, education studies and social policy. It will be of interest to academics, students and those with the responsibility of developing and delivering services for young people. The contributors hope it will add knowledge, understanding and awareness of the issues, problems and challenges young people face in 21st century society.

This book is unique in that it brings forth the nature and characteristics of 21st century Asian urbanization. It provides a basic framework, particularly as it relates to the patterns, characteristics and problems associated with urbanization. Urban structural models are discussed in relation to their applicability and non-applicability. It is of relevance to researchers and students working in the fields of social geography, Asian studies, urban economies, urban and regional planning and social issues.

The book explores the central question facing humanity today: how can we best survive the ten great existential challenges that are now coming together to confront us? Besides describing these challenges from the latest scientific perspectives, it also outlines and integrates the solutions, both at global and individual level and concludes optimistically. This book brings together in one easy-to-read work the principal issues facing humanity. It is written for the two next generations who will have to deal with the compounding risks they inherit, and which flow from overpopulation, resource pressures and human nature. The author examines ten intersecting areas of activity (mass extinction, resource depletion, WMD, climate change, universal toxicity, food crises, population and urban expansion, pandemic disease, dangerous new technologies and self-delusion) which pose manifest risks to civilization and, potentially, to our species’ long-term future. This isn’t a book just about problems. It is also about solutions. Every chapter concludes with clear conclusions and consensus advice on what needs to be done at global level —but it also empowers individuals with what they can do for themselves to make a difference. Unlike other books, it offers integrated solutions across the areas of greatest risk. It explains why Homo sapiens is no longer an appropriate name for our species, and what should be done about it.

The effectiveness and capacity of survival of democratic regimes has been recently and widely questioned in the public and political debate. Both democratic institutions and political actors are increasingly confronted with rapid economic and societal transformations that, at least according to some observers and commentators, they not seem to be ready or equipped to manage effectively. This book evaluates and challenges recent scholarly literature on the quality of democracy. It provides a critical assessment of the current state of the studies on the subject, identifying the key questions and discussing open issues, alternative approaches, problems and future developments. Bringing together some of the most prominent and distinguished scholars who have developed and discussed the topic of the quality of democracy during the last decade, it deals with a highly relevant topic in political science and extremely sensitive subject for our democratic societies. This text will be of key interest to scholars of democracy and democratization and more broadly to comparative politics, electoral studies, political theory, power and comparative political institutions.

Many teens today who use the Internet are actively involved in participatory cultures—joining online communities (Facebook, message boards, game clans), producing creative work in new forms (digital sampling, modding, fan videomaking, fan fiction), working in teams to complete tasks and develop new knowledge (as in Wikipedia), and shaping the flow of media (as in blogging or podcasting). A growing body of scholarship suggests potential benefits of these activities, including opportunities for peer-to-peer learning, development of skills useful in the modern workplace, and a more empowered conception of citizenship. Some argue that young people pick up these key skills and competencies on their own by interacting with popular culture; but the problems of unequal access, lack of media transparency, and the breakdown of traditional forms of socialization and professional training suggest a role for policy and pedagogical intervention. This report aims to shift the conversation about the "digital divide" from questions about access to technology to questions about access to opportunities for involvement in participatory culture and how to provide all young people with the chance to develop the cultural competencies and social skills needed. Fostering these skills, the authors argue, requires a systemic approach to media education; schools, afterschool programs, and parents all have distinctive roles to play. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning