Reconstructing The World

"The unending tragedy of Reconstruction," wrote W. E. B. Du Bois, "is the utter inability of the American mind to grasp its... national and worldwide implications." And yet the long shadow of Reconstruction's failure has loomed large in the American imagination, serving as a parable of race and democracy both at home and abroad. In Reconstructing the World Harilaos Stecopoulos looks at an array of American writers who, over the course of the twentieth century, used the South as a touchstone for thinking about the nation's global ambitions. Focusing on the lives and writings of Charles Chesnutt, Thomas Dixon, James Weldon Johnson, W. E. B. Du Bois, Carson McCullers, William Faulkner, Richard Wright, and Alice Walker, he shows the ways in which these public intellectuals viewed the U.S. South in international terms and questioned the relationship between domestic inequality and a quest for global power.By examining "big stick" diplomacy, World War II, and the Vietnam War in light of regional domestic concerns, Stecopoulos urges a reassessment of the American Century. Providing new interpretations of literary works both well-known (Johnson's The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, McCullers's The Member of the Wedding) and marginal (Dixon's The Leopard's Spots, Du Bois's Dark Princess), Stecopoulos argues that the South played a crucial role in mediating between the national and imperial concerns of the United States. That intersection of region and empire, he contends, profoundly influenced how Americans understood not only cultural and political geographies but also issues of race and ethnicity.

An argument for a non-Cartesian philosophical foundation for cognitive science that combines elements of Heideggerian phenomenology, a dynamical systems approach to cognition, and insights from artificial intelligence-related robotics.

The Volume Examines The Ambedkar`S Sociology Of Religion And Highlights The Influences Which Have Shaped His Ideas. Brings Ambedkar`S Views Which Are Significant In Present Times-Shows His Treatment Of Buddhist Scriptures And How He Innovated Buddhism-Also Discusses What Shape The Movement Has Taken And The Direction In Which It Is Headed. Collects Fifteen Papers On The Subject.

The Earth's biological, chemical, and physical systems are increasingly shaped by the activities of one species-ours. In our decisions about everything from manufacturing technologies to restaurant menus, the health of the planet has become a product of human choice. Environmentalism, however, has largely failed to adapt to this new reality. Reconstructing Earth offers seven essays that explore ways of developing a new, more sophisticated approach to the environment that replaces the fantasy of recovering pristine landscapes with a more grounded viewpoint that can foster a better relationship between humans and the planet. Braden Allenby, a lawyer with degrees in both engineering and environmental studies, explains the importance of technological choice, and how that factor is far more significant in shaping our environment (in ways both desirable and not) than environmental controls. Drawing on his varied background and experience in both academia and the corporate world, he describes the emerging field of "earth systems engineering and management," which offers an integrated approach to understanding and managing complex human/natural systems that can serve as a basis for crafting better, more lasting solutions to widespread environmental problems. Reconstructing Earth not only critiques dysfunctional elements of current environmentalism but establishes a foundation for future environmental management and progress, one built on an understanding of technological evolution and the cultural systems that support modern technologies. Taken together, the essays offer an important means of developing an environmentalism that is robust and realistic enough to address the urgent realities of our planet. Reconstructing Earth is a thought-provoking new work for anyone concerned with the past or future of environmental thought, including students and teachers of environmental studies, environmental policy, technology policy, technological evolution, or sustainability.

Jones examines the difficulties of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in completing multilateral trade negotiations and possible ways to improve the situation. The problem lies in the institutional structure it inherited from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was designed for a more limited scope of trade negotiations among wealthier, industrialized countries. The book presents a model of the GATT/WTO system as a global institution, based on the accepted goals, rules, and obligations of the members, as well as the output the institution is expected to generate.

Reconstructing Value prepares contemporary business leaders for the increasingly important task of developing a sustainability vision and translating it across levels in an organization. The book is based on insights gained over the past decade from research involving hundreds of practitioners, front line managers to senior executives, who have been working to integrate sustainability within their organizations. It illustrates how building capacity for managing the complex issues of sustainability requires key process skills that leaders need to develop. This book equips readers to respond to the risks and opportunities presented by global sustainability issues and reinvent new ways of doing business that will enhance organizational effectiveness while also building a more sustainable world. Each chapter includes process questions to guide reflective practice and to build the requisite leadership capabilities for turning a sustainability vision into a value-added organizational strategy. Reconstructing Value helps readers to build integrative thinking skills – such as how to engage critical, complexity, strategic and design thinking capabilities to enable organizational change – that can assist them with becoming successful sustainability champions within their organizations.

Questions of survival and loss bedevil the study of early printed books. Many early publications are not particularly rare, but many have disappeared altogether. Here leading specialists in the field explore different strategies for recovering this lost world of print.

The World Religions Paradigm has been the subject of critique and controversy in Religious Studies for many years. After World Religions provides a rationale for overhauling the World Religions curriculum, as well as a roadmap for doing so. The volume offers concise and practical introductions to cutting-edge Religious Studies method and theory, introducing a wide range of pedagogical situations and innovative solutions. An international team of scholars addresses the challenges presented in their different departmental, institutional, and geographical contexts. Instructors developing syllabi will find supplementary reading lists and specific suggestions to help guide their teaching. Students at all levels will find the book an invaluable entry point into an area of ongoing scholarly debate.