The rationalists

Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz

Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz stand out among their seventeenth- century contemporaries as the great rationalist philosophers.Each sought to construct a philosophical system in which theological and philosophical foundations serve to explain the physical, mental and moral universe. Though a careful analysis of their work ...

Liberal order and imperial ambition

essays on American power and world politics

The United States dominates the world as no state has. It emerged from the Cold War as the world's only superpower and no geopolitical or ideological contenders are in view. Its dynamic bundle of oversized capacities, interests, and ideals together constitute an "American project ...

The gun that changed the world

The Russian word that is most frequently spoken throughout the world isn't Lenin, gulag or perestroika, it's 'Kalashnikov'. The reason for this is simple: there are 80 million Kalashnikovs in circulation on five continents. Once invented, the AK-47 assault rifle became the most ...

Just wars

from Cicero to Iraq

In what circumstances is it legitimate to use force? How should force be used? These are two of the most crucial questions confronting world politics today. The Just War tradition provides a set of criteria which political leaders and soldiers use to defend and rationalize ...

What is environmental history?

What is environmental history? It is a kind of history that seeks understanding of human beings as they have lived, worked and thought in relationship to the rest of nature through the changes brought by time. In this seminal student textbook, J. Donald Hughes provides ...

Cultural studies

What has the death Corporal Patrick D. Tillman of the US Army Rangers in an incident of 'friendly fire' in Afghanistan in 2004 got to do with culture? How has the study of ideology, coding, theming and representation by Cultural Studies helped us to understand ...

Asymmetric warfare

threat and response in the 21st century

In recent years, the nature of conflict has changed. Through 'asymmetric warfare' radical groups and weak state actors are using unexpected means to deal stunning blows to more powerful opponents in the West. From terrorism to information warfare, the West's air power, sea power ...

Liberalism

Liberalism is an innovative introductory textbook exploring the dominant discourse of contemporary political theory and the core ideas that underpin it. Despite the ubiquity of liberalism there remains considerable disagreement about what contemporary political liberals believe. This book distinguishes modern political liberalism from earlier manifestations ...

Sport

a critical sociology

In this lively new book, Richard Giulianotti provides a critical sociological interpretation of modern sport. As global festivals such as the Olympic games and football's World Cup demonstrate, sport's social, political, economic and cultural significance is becoming increasingly apparent across the world. Its ...

What is medical History

The sociology of work

introduction

This successful textbook on the sociology of work is now available in a new and updated edition. In addition to the wide range of contemporary and historical material, the second edition now has a number of new sections including a chapter on work in the ...

Books in the digital age

the transformation of academic and higher education publishing in Britain and the United States

The book publishing industry is going through a period of profound and turbulent change brought about in part by the digital revolution. What is the role of the book in an age preoccupied with computers and the internet? How has the book publishing industry been ...

The new western way of war

risk-transfer war and its crisi in Iraq

In this seminal new work, Martin Shaw, a leading expert on the sociology of war, argues that the new Western way of war is in crisis. He charts the development of a new warfare, after Vietnam, through the Falklands, the Gulf, Kosovo and Afghanistan. He ...

The new egalitarianism

Reimagining growth

towards a renewal of development theory

For the past two decades,development theory has been trumped by development economics,while within economics itself the simplistic notions of neoclassical theory have prevailed with their assumption thet markets,freed up from all institutional restraints(including the state), will automatically deliver much higher rates ...

Resurgent Islam a sociological approach

The contemporary resurgence of Islam in all of its varied manifestations demands the attention of social scientists. This ground- breaking book provides a unique insight into resurgent Islam from the standpoint of sociology. Clearly written, and jargon free, the book aims to create a more ...

Race and the Third Reich

linguistics, racial anthropology and genetics in the dialectic of Volk

This book aims to set out the key concepts, debates and controversies that marked the academic study of race in Nazi Germany. It looks in particular at the discipline of racial anthropology and its relationship to linguistics and human biology. Christopher Hutton identifies the central ...

History of political thought

1789 to the present

Bruce Haddock's lucid and original textbook combines historical and theoretical analysis, setting political thought in the context of the emerging institutional, cultural and economic framework of the modern world. From the colossal impact of the French and American revolutions, through reaction and constitutional consolidation ...

Philosophy of the social sciences

towards pragmatism

In this ground-breaking new text, Patrick Baert analyses the central perspectives in the philosophy of social science, critically investigating the work of Durkheim, Weber, Popper, critical realism, critical theory, and Rorty's neo pragmatism. His lively account places key intellectual figures within the social and ...

Reflections on America

Tocqueville, Weber and Adorno in the United States

INDEX: Abbreviations. Acknowledgements. Introduction. Alexis de Tocqueville or the Tyranny of the Middle Class. Max Webber: American escape routes from th iron cage?. Theodor W. Adorno: "culture industry" and other views of the "american Century". The United States in the twenty-first century: traditions of religious ...