Visions Of A New Industrial Order

Examines the twenty-year debate on labor-relations and the rapid development of social science it generated at the beginning of the corporatist era in the US, focusing on the dire warnings and recommendations by economic reformer John R. Commons in 1915. Shows how many of his ideas were incorporated into government policy, and contributed to the New Deal 20 years later. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

In this much needed comprehensive study of the Progressivemovement, its reformers, their ideology, and the social circumstancesthey tried to change, Shelton Stromquist contends that the persistenceof class conflict in America challenged the very defining feature ofProgressivism: its promise of social harmony through democraticrenewal. Profiling the movement's work in diverse arenas of socialreform, politics, labour regulation and race improvement, Stromquistargues that while progressive reformers may have emphasized differentprograms, they crafted a common language of social reconciliation inwhich an imagined civic community (the People) would transcendparochial class and political loyalties.

This exciting new book from Geoffrey Hodgson is eagerly awaited by social scientists from many different backgrounds. This book charts the rise, fall and renewal of institutional economics in the critical, analytical and readable style that Hodgson's fans have come to know and love, and that a new generation of readers will surely come to appreciat

The Populist Vision is about how Americans responded to wrenching changes in the national and global economy. In the late nineteenth century, the telegraph and steam power made America and the world a much smaller place. The new technologies also made possible large-scale bureaucratic organization and centralization. Corporations grew exponentially and the rich amassed great fortunes. Those on the short end of these changes responded in the Populist revolt, one of the most effective challenges to corporate power in American history. But what did Populism represent? Half a century ago, scholars such as Richard Hofstadter portrayed the Populist movement as an irrational response of backward-looking farmers to the challenges of modernity. Since then, historians have largely restored Populism's good name. But in so doing, they have sustained a romantic notion of Populism as the resistance movement of tradition-based and pre-modern communities to a modern and commerical society, or even a counterforce to the Enlightenment ideals of innovation and progress. Postel's work marks a departure. He argues that the Populists understood themselves as, and were in fact, modern people. Farmer Populists strove to use the new innovations for their own ends. They sought scientific and technical knowledge, formed highly centralized organizations, launched large-scale cooperative businesses, and pressed for state-centered reforms on the model of the nation's most elaborate bureaucracy--the Postal Service. Hundreds of thousands of Populist farm women sought education, employment in schools and offices, and a more modern life. Miners, railroad workers, and other labor Populists joined with farmers to give impetus to the regulatory state. Activists from Chicago, San Francisco, and other urban centers lent the movement an especially modern tone. Modernity was also menacing, as the ethos of racial progress influenced white Populists in their pursuit of racial segregation and Chinese exclusion. The Populist Vision offers a broad reassessment. Working extensively with primary sources, it looks at Populism as a national movement, taking into account both the leaders and the led. It focuses on farmers but also wage-earners and bohemian urbanites. It examines topics from technology, business, and women's rights, to government, race, and religion. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, business and political leaders are claiming that critics of their new structures of corporate control represent anti-modern attitudes towards the new realities of globalization. The Populist experience puts into question such claims about who is modern and who is not. And it suggests that modern society is not a given but is shaped by men and women who pursue alternative visions of what the modern world should be.

The book presents a collection of practical applications of image processing and analysis. Different vision systems are more often used among others in the automotive industry, pharmacy, military and police equipment, automated production and measurement systems. In each of these fields of technology, digital image processing and analysis module is a critical part of the process of building this type of system. The majority of books in the market deal with theoretical issues. However, this unique publication specially highlights industrial applications, especially industrial measurement applications. Along with its wide spectrum of image processing and analysis applications, this book is an interesting reference for both students and professionals. Contents:Theoretical Introduction to Image Reconstruction and Processing:Data Set Preparation for k-NN Classifier Using the Measure of Representativeness (Marcin Raniszewski)Segmentation Methods in the Selected Industrial Computer Vision Application (Anna Fabijanska and Dominik Sankowski)Line Fractional-Order Difference/Sum, Its Properties and an Application in Image Processing (Piotr Ostalczyk)Computer Vision in Robotics:Management Software for Distributed Mobile Robot System (Maciej Łaski, Sylwester Błaszczyk, Piotr Duch, Rafał Jachowicz, Adam Wulkiewicz, Dominik Sankowski and Piotr Ostalczyk)Advanced Vision Systems in Detection and Analysis of Characteristic Features of Objects (Adam Wulkiewicz, Rafał Jachowicz, Sylwester Błaszczyk, Piotr Duch, Maciej Łaski, Dominik Sankowski and Piotr Ostalczyk)Pattern Recognition Algorithms for the Navigation of Mobile Platform (Rafał Jachowicz, Sylwester Błaszczyk, Piotr Duch, Maciej Łaski, Adam Wulkiewicz, Dominik Sankowski and Piotr Ostalczyk)Partial Fractional-Order Difference in the Edge Detection (Piotr Duch, Rafał Jachowicz, Sylwester Błaszczyk, Maciej Łaski, Adam Wulkiewicz, Piotr Ostalczyk and Dominik Sankowski)Application of Fractional-Order Derivative for Edge Detection in Mobile Robot System (Sylwester Błaszczyk, Rafał Jachowicz, Piotr Duch, Maciej Łaski, Adam Wulkiewicz, Piotr Ostalczyk and Dominik Sankowski)Vision Based Human-Machine Interfaces: Visem Recognition (Krzysztof Ślot, Agnieszka Owczarek and Maria Janczyk)Industrial Applications of Computer Vision in Process Tomography, Material Science and Temperature Control:Hybrid Boundary Element Method Applied for Diffusion Tomography Problems (Jan Sikora, Maciej Pańczyk and Paweł Wieleba)Two-phase Gas-Liquid Flow Structures and Phase Distribution Determination Based on 3D Electrical Capacitance Tomography Visualization (Robert Banasiak, Radosław Wajman, Tomasz Jaworski, Paweł Fiderek, Jacek Nowakowski and Henryk Fidos)Tomographic Visualization of Dynamic Industrial Solid Transporting and Storage Systems (Zbigniew Chaniecki, Krzysztof Grudzień and Andrzej Romanowski)Tomography Data Processing for Multiphase Industrial Process Monitoring (Krzysztof Grudzień, Zbigniew Chaniecki, Andrzej Romanowski, Jacek Nowakowski and Dominik Sankowski)Dedicated 3D Image Processing Methods for the Analysis of X-Ray Tomography Data: Case Study of Materials Science (Laurent Babout and Marcin Janaszewski)Selected Algorithms of Quantitative Image Analysis for Measurements of Properties Characterizing Interfacial Interactions at High Temperatures (Krzysztof Strzecha, Anna Fabijańska, Tomasz Koszmider and Dominik Sankowski)Theoretical Introduction to Image Reconstruction for Capacitance Process Tomography (Radosław Wajman, Krzysztof Grudzien, Robert Banasiak, Andrzej Romanowski, Zbigniew Chaniecki and Dominik Sankowski)Infra-Red Thermovision in Surface Temperature Control System (Jacek Kucharski, Tomasz Jaworski, Andrzej Frączyk and Piotr Urbanek)Medical and Other Applications of Computer Vision:The Computer Evaluation of Surface Color Changes in Cultivated Plants Influence by Different Environmental Factors (Joanna Sekulska-Nalewajko and Jarosław Gocławski)Various Approaches to Processing and Analysis of Images Obtained from Immunoenzymatic Visualization of Secretory Activity with ELISPOT Method (Wojciech Bieniecki and Szymon Grabowski)Image Processing and Analysis Algorithms for Assessment and Diagnosis of Brain Diseases (Anna Fabijanska and Tomasz Węglinski)Computer Systems for Studying Dynamic Properties of Materials at High Temperatures (Marcin Bąkała, Rafał Wojciechowski and Dominik Sankowski) Readership: Researchers, professionals and academics in image analysis, machine perception/computer vision, software engineering and fuzzy logic. Keywords:Image Processing;Computer Vision;Robotics;Pattern Recognition;Fuzzy Logic;Process Tomography;Mobile Robots

This pioneering text/reference presents a detailed focus on the use of machine vision techniques in industrial inspection applications. An internationally renowned selection of experts provide insights on a range of inspection tasks, drawn from their cutting-edge work in academia and industry, covering practical issues of vision system integration for real-world applications. Topics and features: presents a comprehensive review of state-of-the-art hardware and software tools for machine vision, and the evolution of algorithms for industrial inspection; includes in-depth descriptions of advanced inspection methodologies and machine vision technologies for specific needs; discusses the latest developments and future trends in imaging and vision techniques for industrial inspection tasks; provides a focus on imaging and vision system integration, implementation, and optimization; describes the pitfalls and barriers to developing successful inspection systems for smooth and efficient manufacturing process.

`It is a clich [ac]e but this book is timely, welcome and indeed a breath of fresh air....It is of particular value for people concerned with public communications, political economy, economics and the relationship between society and technology. Moreover, this book powerfully dispels the tacit assumption, prevalent in business, politics, media and academia that a combination of technical fixes and the free market can right all social problems′ - Irish Journal of Sociology Thirty years ago, one writer complained that ′to admire technology is all out of fashion′. Today excited claims are made for the impact that these technologies are having on social, political and economic life. But how are we to assess these claims? This book critically interrogates many of the prevailing ideas offers a fresh perspective on this new`digital age′. Reshaping Communications: · Provides an alternative and more grounded account of the complex interplay between new technology and information structures and changes in society · Illuminates the fundamental continuities as well as changes in socioeconomic and political processes · Draws on an interdisciplinary perspective and original empirical research. The book will be essential reading for all those concerned with the new communication technologies, including students of media and communications as well as policy-makers.