Mapping The Contours

"This is a forest measurements textbook written for field technicians. Silvicultural applications and illustrations are provided to demonstrate the relevance of the measurements. Special “technique tips” for each skill are intended to help increase data collection accuracy and confidence. These include how to avoid common pitfalls, effective short cuts, and essentials for recording field data correctly. The emphasis is on elementary skills; it is not intended to be a timber cruising guide"--BC Campus website.

Noting a phenomenon that might seem to recall a previous era, The New York Times Magazine recently portrayed women who leave their careers in order to become full-time mothers as "opting out." But, are high-achieving professional women really choosing to abandon their careers in order to return home? This provocative study is the first to tackle this issue from the perspective of the women themselves. Based on a series of candid, in-depth interviews with women who returned home after working as doctors, lawyers, bankers, scientists, and other professions, Pamela Stone explores the role that their husbands, children, and coworkers play in their decision; how women’s efforts to construct new lives and new identities unfold once they are home; and where their aspirations and plans for the future lie. What we learn—contrary to many media perceptions—is that these high-flying women are not opting out but are instead being pushed out of the workplace. Drawing on their experiences, Stone outlines concrete ideas for redesigning workplaces to make it easier for women—and men—to attain their goal of living rewarding lives that combine both families and careers.

The definitive text on globalization, this book provides an accessible, jargon-free analysis of how the world economy works and its effects on people and places. Peter Dicken synthesizes the latest ideas and empirical data to blaze a clear path through the thicket of globalization processes and debates. The book highlights the dynamic interactions among transnational corporations, nations, and other key players, and their role in shaping the uneven contours of development. Mapping the changing centers of gravity of the global economy, Dicken presents in-depth case studies of six major industries. Now in full color throughout, the text features 228 figures. Companion websites for students and instructors offer extensive supplemental resources, including author videos, applied case studies with questions, lecture notes with PowerPoint slides, discipline-specific suggested further reading for each chapter, and interactive flashcards. ÿ ÿ New to This Edition: *Every chapter thoroughly revised and updated. *All 228 figures (now in color) are new or redesigned. *Addresses the ongoing fallout from the recent global financial crisis. *Discussions of timely topics: tax avoidance and corporate social responsibility; global problems of unemployment, poverty, and inequality; environmental degradation; the Eurozone crisis; and more. *Enhanced online resources for instructors and students.

Contract work is more important than ever—for better or for worse, depending on one's perspective. The security once implied by a full-time job with a stable employer is becoming rarer, thereby erasing one of the major distinctions between "freelance work" and a "steady gig." Why hang on to a regular job for the sake of security if security can no longer be assumed? Instead, contractors, hired temporarily for specific knowledge and skills, market their expertise as they move from project to project. Even though their employment is precarious, a great many consider freelancing preferable to holding a "regular" job: the control they feel over their time and careers is well worth the risks that come with relatively uncertain cash flow. Freelancing Expertise is a qualitative study of decision making, work practices, and occupational processes among writers and editors who work in print and Web communications and programmers and engineers who work in software and systems development. Debra Osnowitz conducted sixty-eight extended interviews with representatives of both groups and twelve interviews with managers and recruiters, observed four different work settings in which contractors work alongside employees, and monitored blogs and online discussions among contractors. As a result, she provides a unique and sensitive assessment of a cultural shift in occupations and organizations. Osnowitz calls for a reconfiguration of the employer/employee relationship that accepts more variation and flexibility: just as "freelancing" has, over time, taken on many traits considered characteristic of traditional career paths, so might regular jobs make themselves more appealing to today's workforce by mimicking some of the positive aspects of transactions between clients and contract workers.