Disinherited Majority

Thomas Piketty's blockbuster 2014 book, Capital in the 21st Century, may prove to be a game-changer, one of those rare books such as Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, which helped spark a new feminist movement. The world-wide flood of commentary suggests Piketty's book has already opened a new conversation not only about inequality, but about class, capitalism and social justice. Inherited wealth is at the heart of Capital in the 21st Century, and Derber shows how the 'disinherited majority' is likely to affect the future. In his new book, Derber shows that there are actually 'two Pikettys' - different voices of the author on the 1%, inheritance, and capitalism itself - that create a fascinating and unacknowledged hidden debate and conversation within the book. Drawing on Piketty's discussion, Derber raises fourteen 'capital questions' - with new perspectives on caste and class warfare, the Great Recession, the decline of the American Dream and the Occupy movement - that can guide a new conversation about the past and future of capitalism. The Disinherited Majority will catalyse a conversation beyond Piketty already emerging in colleges and universities, town halls, coffee shops, workplaces and political parties and social movements; an essential class for all Americans.

Thomas Piketty's blockbuster 2014 book, Capital in the 21st Century, may prove to be a game-changer, one of those rare books such as Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, which helped spark a new feminist movement. The world-wide flood of commentary suggests Piketty's book has already opened a new conversation not only about inequality, but about class, capitalism and social justice. Inherited wealth is at the heart of Capital in the 21st Century, and Derber shows how the 'disinherited majority' is likely to affect the future. In his new book, Derber shows that there are actually 'two Pikettys' - different voices of the author on the 1%, inheritance, and capitalism itself - that create a fascinating and unacknowledged hidden debate and conversation within the book. Drawing on Piketty's discussion, Derber raises fourteen 'capital questions' - with new perspectives on caste and class warfare, the Great Recession, the decline of the American Dream and the Occupy movement - that can guide a new conversation about the past and future of capitalism. The Disinherited Majority will catalyse a conversation beyond Piketty already emerging in colleges and universities, town halls, coffee shops, workplaces and political parties and social movements; an essential class for all Americans.

Two sociologists and a lawyer examine here the attitudes of both survivors and attorney on various problems surrounding inheritance—from will-making through estate settlement. Within a legal frame of reference, this book is a study of what happens within a family at death—and why. The authors use the "inheritance unit" as the basis for looking at the functions of inheritance in intergenerational family continuity and the general patterns of family relationship.

It's not just the bully in the schoolyard that we should be worried about. The one-on-one bullying that dominates the national conversation, this timely book suggests, is actually part of a larger problem—a natural outcome of the bullying nature of our national institutions. And as long as the United States embraces militarism and aggressive capitalism, systemic bullying and all its impacts—at home and abroad—will persist as a major crisis. Bullying looks very similar on the personal and institutional levels: it involves an imbalance of power and behavior that consistently undermines its victim, securing compliance and submission and reinforcing the bully's sense of superiority and legitimacy. The similarity, this book tells us, is not a coincidence. Applying the concept of the “sociological imagination,” which links private problems and public issues, authors Charles Derber and Yale Magrass argue that individual bullying is an outgrowth—and a necessary function—of a larger social phenomenon. Bullying is seen here as a structural problem arising from systems organized around steep power hierarchies—from the halls of the Pentagon, Congress, and corporate offices to classrooms and playing fields and the environment. Dominant people and institutions need to create a culture in which violence and aggression are seen as natural and just: one where individuals compete over who will be bully or victim, and each is seen as deserving their fate within this hierarchy. The larger the inequalities of power in society, or among nations, or even across species, the more likely it is that both institutional and personal bullying will become commonplace. The authors see the life-long psychological scars interpersonal bullying can bring, but believe it is almost impossible to reduce such bullying without first challenging the institutions that breed and encourage it. In the United States a system of intertwined corporations, governments, and military institutions carries out “systemic bullying” to create profits and sustain its own power. While acknowledging the diversity and savagery of many other bully nations, the authors contend that America, as the most powerful nation in the world—and one that aggressively promotes its system as a model—merits special attention. It is only by recognizing the bullying built into this model that we can address the real problem, and in this, Bully Nation makes a hopeful beginning.

Robin Gill's Textbook of Christian Ethics has been a popular course book with students and lecturers for over 20 years. Now in its third edition this classic textbook has been completely revised to bring it up to date with recent developments in the field of Christian Ethics. All the popular features of the previous editions have been retained in this new edition. The book's main strength has always been its layout and structure. Integrating primary texts with explanatory material from the author, the book provides the student with a reader and textbook combined. The new edition focuses more strongly on current debates in all sections and expands on a variety of topics, with contributions on natural law approaches, virtue ethics in a pluralistic/postmodern world, the influential notion of the 'common good', just war theory, genetics and biotechnology, euthanasia and global justice, and sex and gender issues. Important modern contributions to Christian ethics are set out alongside classical texts from Augustine, Aquinas and Luther. The modern writers range from thinkers such as Niebuhr, Barth and Bonhoeffer to recent liberation and Third World theologians. Each series of texts is systematically analysed. The differing ethical positions and arguments are examined together with the social and historical factors which shaped them.

Robin Gill's A Textbook of Christian Ethics continues to be popular with students and lecturers - it is difficult to find another textbook in the field that combines primary texts with extensive analysis and commentary. This 4th edition has been extensively revised and it incorporates up-to-date developments in the field of Christian ethics. Gill retains all the popular features of the previous editions, including its layout and structure, and in this new edition he also focuses on current debates, including such topics as global Christianity, global economics, euthanasia and global justice and the environment.

A new, updated third edition of the most successful and widely used textbook on Christian ethics.