Restless Ideas

How do we make sense of the rise of political strongmen like Trump and Erdoğan, or the increase in hate crimes and terrorism? How can we understand Brexit and xenophobic, anti-immigrant sentiments and policies? More importantly, what can we do to make it all stop? In Restless Ideas, Tony Simmons illustrates how social theory provides us with the skills for more informed observation, analysis and empathic understanding of social behaviour and social interaction. Social theory deepens our understanding of the world around us by empowering us to become practical theorists in our own lives. Simmons traces the roots of contemporary social theory back to the works of the early structural functionalists, systems theorists, conflict theorists, symbolic interactionists, and ethnomethodologists, and incorporates contemporary social thinkers theorizing from the margins who are redefining the canon. Later chapters focus on the current influence of structuration theory, feminist and queer theory, Indigenous theory, third wave critical theory, postmodernism and poststructuralism, and liquid and late modernity theories and globalization theories.

How do we make sense of the rise of political strongmen like Trump and Erdoğan, or the increase in hate crimes and terrorism? How can we understand Brexit and xenophobic, anti-immigrant sentiments and policies? More importantly, what can we do to make it all stop? In Restless Ideas, Tony Simmons illustrates how social theory provides us with the skills for more informed observation, analysis and empathic understanding of social behaviour and social interaction. Social theory deepens our understanding of the world around us by empowering us to become practical theorists in our own lives. Simmons traces the roots of contemporary social theory back to the works of the early structural functionalists, systems theorists, conflict theorists, symbolic interactionists, and ethnomethodologists, and incorporates contemporary social thinkers theorizing from the margins who are redefining the canon. Later chapters focus on the current influence of structuration theory, feminist and queer theory, Indigenous theory, third wave critical theory, postmodernism and poststructuralism, and liquid and late modernity theories and globalization theories.

From the New Yorker “20 Under 40” author of Atmospheric Disturbances comes a brain-twisting adventure story of a girl named Fred on a quest through a world of fantastical creatures, strange logic, and a powerful prejudice against growing up. Fred and her math-teacher mom are always on the move, and Fred is getting sick of it. She’s about to have yet another birthday in a new place without friends. On the eve of turning thirteen, Fred sees something strange in the living room: her mother, dressed for a party, standing in front of an enormous paper lantern—which she steps into and disappears. Fred follows her and finds herself in the Land of Impossibility—a loopily illogical place where time is outlawed, words carry dire consequences, and her unlikely allies are a depressed white elephant and a pugnacious mongoose mother of seventeen. With her new friends, Fred sets off in search of her mom, braving dungeons, Insult Fish, Fearsome Ferlings, and a mad Rat Queen. To succeed, the trio must find the solution to an ageless riddle. Gorgeously illustrated and reminiscent of The Phantom Tollbooth and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Rivka Galchen’s Rat Rule 79 is an instant classic for curious readers of all ages.

From the contents:00I. Participatory art now01. The normalisation of participatory art 0II. What is participatory art?02. Concepts03. Defnitions04. The intentions of participatory art 05. The art of participatory art 06. The ethics of participatory art 0III. Where does participatory art come from?07. Making history 08. Deep roots 09. Community art and the cultural revolution (1968 to 1988) 010. Participatory art and appropriation (1988 to 2008).

KIDFUN: 401 Easy Ideas for Play Ages 2 to 8 is just what every adult has been searching for. Filled with hundreds of ideas for good, creative play for children that requires no use of electronics, it is the ultimate imagination builder. Great for playtime; rainy days; car trips; waiting in line; classrooms or any other time when kids need to have a creative activity that is old-fashioned FUN AND PLAY at its best! This easy to follow, step by step guide for play is great for parents, grandparents, caregivers, teachers, and anyone who loves children. This all-new version of KIDFUN, a beloved concept for over forty years, is written by play expert, Sharla Feldscher, and encourages imagination, creativity, and the delight of playful interaction.21

The giant city of today is a unique phenomenon. Never before have such acute problems of government, the provision of essential services, planning, social life, and civilized living arisen from uncontrolled urbanization. In the West and in the East, in the more developed and in the less developed countries, in capitalist and communist states, the great metropolis represents a problem of the first importance which challenges the statesman, the official, the town planner, the political scientist, the sociologist and, above all, the intelligent citizen. The editor has here assembled an authoritative series of studies describing the growth, significance, government, politics adn planning of twenty-four great cities of the world. They show how these widely scattered cities faced essentially similar problems. Each study deals with the actual working of one city in the 1950s, how its elective adn executive bodies are organized, the kind of political forces which motivate their activities, the scope and character of the municipal services, how they are finiance. The cities dealt with include Bombay, Amsterdam, Moscow, Montreal, Stockholm, Rome, New York, London, Sydney and Tokyo. This book was first published in 1954.