Global Change and Challenge: Geography for the 1990s

Book Description

Examines the crucial issues facing society in the 1990s and how geography can contribute to their understanding and management.

Customer Reviews:

Thin Book, Thin Material.......2000-10-09

There is a genre of book by people who live in Japan, experience culture shock, then return home (or stay in Japan) and write about it. As far as I can tell, there don't seem to be many books similarly written about other countries or cultures. The quality of such books about Japan depend on three factors: the quality of the experience, the quality of the writing, and the candor of the author.

It's hard to be critical of Rhiannon Paine, when she has been so open in her book about her insecurities, the challenges she encountered in Japan, and how Japanese nipple covers aren't quite up to the task for her own requirements. She does write, however, about how she tends to live in her head and the tendency evidently limited her experiences in Japan. Paine also constructs her book from only 18 months in the country.

To be successful, a "Japan culture shock" book has to bring some quality of the experience that is unusual, a "hook" to grab the reader. Paine's hook should have been the Japanese business experience and cross-cultural communication and difficulties in the workplace. She might also have focused on the growing rivalry between Japan and the U.S. which existed then, and how the battle lines were being drawn in the information technology area. As it is, she is covering much the same ground as did Laura Kreska in her book, The Accidental Office Lady. Both are young American women working for Japanese. Both developed a greater appreciation of their own culture from the experience. Kreska, however, is the more interesting read.

don't blow your nose in japan.......2000-05-10

rhiannon-san has described a lonely life in japan with humor and honesty...her year as a salary-woman in tokyo was alleviated by her interests..language,customs,cooking,travels. She spares no feelings, even her own. When the end of the book comes(too soon) we want to know more.A few pictures would have added to the enjoyment. All in all,though, I don't want to loan it to anyone. Let them get their own copy.

Japan is more interesting. . ........2000-03-13

Japan is such an interesting country with an interesting culture, but you won't learn about it from this book. Try The Traveller's Tales of Japan for a fabulous sampler of all the wonderful things that have been written. This book is about Rhiannon Paine and her inability to connect with Japan. She uses nicknames for her co-workers which are derogatory and may or may not mean something to her, but they mean nothing to the reader. The people don't come alive because she never got to know them. She admits at her going away party, "Maybe I should have invited them over." She whines about her American co-workers and their petty feuds. Maybe it gets better, but life is short and I could only offer this book enough time to get half way through before tossing it.

Take it with you.......2000-03-11

Take this book with you on that next, long flight to Japan! Reading Paine's hilarious chronicle of her experience as an American "Salary Woman" will make the time fly. In fact, whether it's your first trip to Japan or your tenth, her account of the culture shock she experienced will serve to lessen your own. Her struggle to learn the Japanese language will be especially pleasing to Americans who have had similar struggles with that incomprehensible language. After all, here was a highly-intelligent, multi-linqual American author who couldn't master elementary Japanese. Hooray! We nihongo flunkers are not alone! Although some of Paine's feminist proclivities did find their way into the text, they were not offensive. The charm of Japan and its people can overcome anything.

Fitting In.......2000-02-28

Author Paine says something unintentionally funny at the end of her book. After returning to the United States after spending 1.5 years in Japan she finds that Americans do not want to hear anything about her experiences unless they can be stated in 25 words or yes. I spent 1.5 years living abroad, too, and also found Americans to be totally uninterested in even very brief recountings of adventures outside of the American territorial limits. So who is this book for? Well, if you are also a member of the one time expatriate club you will probably find this book quite amusing. Then there are the remaining 2% of Americans who have a curiosity about other cultures. They might enjoy curling up with this slim volume of goofs, gaffes, and good times in a foreign land.

Trying to fit into a foreign culture can be challenging, and attempting to fit into the daily life of the Japanese seems an especially daunting assignment. Ms. Paine relates her experiences with humility and humor. How was she to know that blowing your nose in public is one step below passing gas? She, as everyone else who has left the security of America, quickly learns that indeed there are no absolutes in this world.

On the negative side Ms. Paine seems to ration out her tales of cultural assimilation. She interjects them between traditional tourist stories, and some boring commentary on life on the Hewlett Packard payroll. I did learn one interesting thing about HP, though. They seem to have a penchant for wasting money. To me there is one great classic in the "funny times living abroad" oeuvre: Bill Bryson's "Notes From A Small Island", an hilarious account of his years living in Great Britain. One a one to ten scale I would give him a 10, and Ms. Paine a 5. Bryson's is also a standard width book (Paine's publisher gives us a very narrow book in order to increase the slim number of pages) at over 300 pages, thus giving much more good reading for the buck.

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Ciencia.(TT: Science.)(Artículo Breve): An article from: Siempre!
René Anaya
Manufacturer: Edicional Siempre
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008F3KCC
Release Date: 2005-07-30

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Siempre!, published by Edicional Siempre on January 23, 2002. The length of the article is 1213 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Ciencia.(TT: Science.)(Artículo Breve)
Author: René Anaya
Publication: Siempre! (Refereed)
Date: January 23, 2002
Publisher: Edicional Siempre
Volume: 48 Issue: 2536 Page: 64

Article Type: Artículo Breve

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Depresion En Internet, La
Mandel
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Spanish | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Few recent sociology books have succeeded in capturing the imagination more than George RitzerÆs The McDonaldization of Society, which has become an international bestseller and has been translated into eleven languages. The book stimulated thought and discussion throughout the sociological community. In this sequel, Ritzer moves on by examining how the thesis of McDonaldization should be adapted and extended. WeberÆs ideas provided the theoretical foundation for the thesis, but the ideas of Kurt Mannheim on rationalization are also useful and lead to some new perspectives on the process. The degree to which sociology and sociological theory have been McDonaldized are also assessed. In Part II, Ritzer discusses the process of McDonaldization. Areas scrutinized include the labor process and the degree to which it has been McDonaldized, the relationship between McDonaldization and processes such as globalization and Americanization, and the credit card. Part III presents the new means of consumption. These include fast-food restaurants, credit cards, shopping malls, and cybermalls. Ritzer introduces us to "McDisneyization," explaining the role of Disney in contemporary tourism. The modern universityùthe McUniversityùis also discussed as a new means of educational consumption. The book concludes with a reevaluation of the thesis and its future.

Customer Reviews:

Reject the telephone as a simulacra of communication!.......2001-06-23

In this second book, George Ritzer pushes his general thesis to extremes that become nearly absurd. To pretend that credit cards are a simulacra of money is true, but money is a simulacra of bartering. To reject credit cards because they are a simulacra is like rejecting the market place and that would make us go back to what ? When were commercial exchanges between people not using some tokens, some simulacra of the value of the exchanged goods ? But he even goes further : organized tourism or cruises are a simulacra of the discovery of a new territory. We can discuss the simplification such organized tourism brings, but should we go back to the old « tourism » of previous centuries and reintroduce colonialization, the genocide of encumbering populations, slavery, and some other side-effects (that were rather the direct objectives) of such adventures ? Same thing with Disneylands and other entertainment parks. They are only the development of the old fairs and festivals of previous centuries that took place on market day or on some special occasions, like carnivals and pilgrimages and some others. The only difference is that we can visit such parks all year around, and if some are intellectually limited, the number of those who go deeply into some topics are numerous, and, would I say, more and more numerous, presenting sciences, technology, history, geography, and many other topics. And the mass-basis of these make them cheap, a lot cheaper when we take into account the amount of subject matter. And we can have in a short period of time and in the same locale a tremendous amount of information that we could only have through long and tiresome research before. This leads us to the Internet. A simulacra of communication or research ? Certainly not. A new dimension of communication and research. It might be used in an underdeveloped way. But it does not have to be that and people are learning, provided schools, universities and social institutions lead them into it, incite them to do it. An interesting point of view but we must remain very alert not to be thrown into some kind of retrograde ideology. Would anyone ever think of rejecting the telephone as a simulacra of communication ? Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Paris Universities II and IX.

Applying the thesis to actual life.......2001-01-22

Ritzer has taken his popular McDonaldization theory and applied it to a host of specific topics, such as the university (and sociology in particular), the work force, leisure and other areas of life. He builds not just on his work but also on those who have taken his theory and built on it, as well as some of the masters in the social theory realm. For those who are interested in this theory, this is an invaluable addition to the body of work.

A great book, to read for all people!.......1999-04-19

As a student in Norway, going on the course sociology, this was a great book to read. I`m going to have a review of this book at my course, in front of my professor , and the rest of my class. And i will only say good things about that book. The book contains good things about Max Weber, Karl Mannheim.

A another thing whit this book, is that Georg Ritzer is using easy words, good langue and its easy to understand.

I requment this book to all, either you are a student in sociology, or regular student. Even so if you arent a student, it is a good book to read,for to understand what is the McDonaldization thesis.

Gaute Aadnesen

Good Ideas.......1999-01-21

This book contains a set of very nice ideas of the recent trends in the consumption of the American society. Very good study was done on the subject. I understand that this is not the first book on the subject by the authors, which makes it hard to comprehend a large number of references to the previous works. Also, the language of the book is way too "scientified".

The McDonaldization Thesis: Explorations and Extensions

Average customer rating:

The McDonaldization Thesis: Explorations and Extensions
George Ritzer
Manufacturer: Sage Pubns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MAYKX6

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2007/8 Guide to Association Web Sites: For Recruiters and Job Seekers (Weddle's Guide to Association Web Sites)
Peter Weddle
Manufacturer: WEDDLE's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Job Hunting | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Internet | Home Computing | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books | Internet & Education | Online Searching | Web Browsers | Web for Kids
Directories | Catalogs & Directories | Reference | Subjects | Books
General | Reference | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

2007/8 Directory of Employment-Related Sites on the Internet: For Recruiters and Job Seekers (Weddle's Directory of Employment Related Internet Sites for Recruiters and Job Seekers)

2007/8 Guide to Employment Sites on the Internet: For Corporate and Third Party Recruiters, Job Seekers, and Career Activists (Weddle's Recruiter's Guide to Employment Web Sites)

Postcards From Space: Being the Best in Online Recruitment & HR Management

Recruiting on the Web : Smart Strategies for Finding the Perfect Candidate

ASIN: 1928734413

Book Description

Job seekers and employers will benefit from this extensive directory of Web-based professional associations and societies. Research indicates that some of the best employees and exciting job opportunities can be found on websites dedicated to these associations and societies, and this guide's comprehensive list of more than 1,900 such associations from around the world ensures that readers can find them. Each listing indicates whether the association offers a job board, a resume database, and a discussion forum, and the sites are organized by career field, industry, and geographic location in order to maintain the searches' focus. This ideal resource for college career centers, recent college graduates, and mid-career professionals in transition also includes updated information provided at the WEDDLE's website.

WEDDLE's Guide to Association Web Sites: For Recruiters and Job Seekers (Weddle's Guide to Association Web Sites: For Recruiters & Job Seeker)

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WEDDLE's Guide to Association Web Sites: For Recruiters and Job Seekers (Weddle's Guide to Association Web Sites: For Recruiters & Job Seeker)
Peter Weddle
Manufacturer: WEDDLE's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Job Hunting | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Nonprofit Organizations & Charities | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Directories | Catalogs & Directories | Reference | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1928734294

Book Description

Job seekers and employers will benefit from this extensive directory of web-based professional associations and societies. Research indicates that some of the best employees and exciting job opportunities can be found on web sites dedicated to these associations and societies, and this guide's comprehensive list of more than 2,500 such associations from around the world ensures that readers can find them. Each listing indicates whether the association offers a job board, a resume database, and a discussion forum, and the sites are organized by career field, industry, and geographic location to ensure that searches remain focused. Additionally, updates to the guide's information are provided at the WEDDLE's web site. This is an ideal resource for college career centers and recent college graduates as well as mid-career professionals who are in transition.

Weddle's Recruiter's Guide to Association Web Sites

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Weddle's Recruiter's Guide to Association Web Sites
Peter Weddle
Manufacturer: Weddle's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Job Hunting | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1928734081

Customer Reviews:

I actually had to listen to these tapes once ..........2002-06-22

It was required for the first internship I ever got after high school. It may just be another Dummies product, but it does give clear, straightforward advice on finances, investing, and time management. And there's nothing wrong with shaving $50 or so off your personal expenses every now and then.

Book Description

This innovative book proposes a new institutional arrangement for government to fulfil the needs of its citizens as well as possible. Existing aspects of federalism and direct democracy in Europe are strengthened, and as a result future developments arising in the region are coped with better.

In this book Bruno Frey and Reiner Eichenberger propose a new model of federalism which includes new types of governmental units established by citizens from below. These units are called functional, overlapping and competing jurisdictions as they extend over task-specific areas and therefore overlap. They also provide competitive governance via direct and representative democratic institutions, and as jurisdictions they have independent power over taxation policy. This new model is more responsive to citizens' preferences and adjusts more dynamically to provide public services efficiently. The authors suggest that this new system should be allowed to develop in Europe to safeguard diversity and ensure that decentralization emerges effectively. It would also allow for the flexible integration of East European transition economies into the European Union and may also combine with traditional modes of government in developing countries.

This book will be warmly welcomed by economists, political scientists and sociologists interested in the future of the European Union, by all those studying federal systems of government, and by those interested in the prospects for improving democratic institutions throughout the world.

Customer Reviews:

A little book with a big idea.......2001-01-12

preliminary version, please do not quote in scholarly papers

comments are welcome to varadib@ceu.hu

It is rare that political economists should present radical political-institutional reforms that are novel, yet practically implementable, something you can feel a missionary's passion for, yet reasonably grounded in political and economic theory and empirical studies. It is even more unique that suggestions like that should have a non-zero chance to shape reality: the muddling-through EU marathon towards an adequate institutional framework presents the opportunity for a peaceful public debate about how sovereignty should be best distributed in Europe, in which Frey's and Eichenberger's proposal should be seriously considered. What is not surprising though is that something as inventive and down-to-earth as the plan in question should emerge from the political practice of the land of local patriotism, army-knifes and bankers, the home country of the authors, Switzerland.

But what do the authors propose?

The main idea of the book is that of Functional, Overlapping and Competing Jurisdictions (FOCJ). It works like this: individuals or small local communities are free to choose amongst competing FOCJ (which have their own constitutions, including democratic institutions for members and power to tax them) These concentrate on specific functions (e.g. schooling or "reducing utility losses due to fires"), have no monopoly whatsoever to supply the function in question for a certain geographic area. These FOCJ take over most of the services now provided by different levels of government.

The authors' claim that such a system would keep democratic decisions as close to people as possible, could make the quid-pro-quo between taxes and public services clearer, would make it possible for certain services to be provided for the economically optimally sized area, would open the floor to motivated "single-issue" individuals to enter active politics without getting mired in dozens of issues they don't care about, and would create flexible alternatives to the institutional strait-jackets that are nation-states.

They present and try to refute some of the most plausible counter-arguments. To quote some, they claim that quite some redistribution - the more, the less mobile the citizens - can take place in the rather decentralized system of local communities and FOCJ they propose, while larger FOCJ with appropriate entry and exit barriers could exclusively serve the function of large-scale redistribution. Further, they claim that the loss of internal coordination that is there within present regional, national, etc. governments may well be compensated for by the higher pressure on FOCJ leaders from their better informed constituents to come to agreements with other FOCJ. They also claim that the loss of opportunity to trade votes and thus reveal the intensity of preferences could be made up for by well designed constitutions for FOCJ and special FOCJ for those with especially intensive preferences about certain services.

In the rest of the pamphlet they first expand on their main idea: in the rest of part I, chapters 2-5, they compare FOCJ with political decentralization and strengthening direct democracy, arguing that FOCJ would produce advantages of both; they discuss the how-to of implementation, mentioning, if not solving, the possible problems of natural monopolies and discrimination; finally, they look for similar arrangements in history, and in the modern Switzerland and the USA. In part II they consider the role of FOCJ in Europe. They chastize the centralizing tendencies of the EU, which flies in the face of the declared European value of subsidiarity; they compare theirs with other constitutional proposals for Europe. They conclude that Europe-wide constitutional guarantee to form and run FOCJ and a prohibition of blocking FOCJ, especially of double taxation, by national governments could best contribute to European integration (by cross-border FOCJ) without further centralization. In the third part they look beyond Europe: they argue that the expansion of certain European FOCJ beyond the strict nation-state-based borders of the EU could ease the bitter yes-or-no nature of EU expansion: the Ukraine or Turkey or some of their regions could easily participate in certain European FOCJ without the Ukraine's or Turkey's accession. They also argue that FOCJ could solve many of the political and social problems of developing countries.

The presentation is easy to follow and clear of technicalities, set in the framework of mainstream political economy. The empirical parts are supported by apposite tables and relevant articles, and every chapter followed by suggested further reading.

My reference to the book as a pamphlet is not meant to disparage it: it is natural that it should be a pamphlet. When first presenting something fairly radical that one believes in, pledging for its being considered for public debate, when affirming its untried advantages over the many second-best existing institutional alternatives already in existence, the adequate genre is the pamphlet.

Of course such an unabashedly one-sided approach makes the reader prone to take up the role of the devil's advocate. And there is a host of considerations, even over and above the criticisms mentioned but not convincingly refuted in the book itself, that are not tackled in a convincing manner.

One is the question of residual responsibilities. What about the default of FOCJ? The moral hazard created by the threat of default? Who has the ultimate right to use legitimate force?

Another is the question of control of FOCJ. The status of FOCJ, with its internal democracy coupled with economic relations with its members (taxing and serving them) is a mixture of market and democratic-bureaucratic coordination, somewhat akin to cooperatives or employee-controled entreprises. Is a democratic control necessary? Is it efficient? Wouldn't FOCJ without democratic control be the same as privatizing services and the collection of taxes?

A third one is a lack of analysis of the political conditions that make such a system of FOCJ feasible. What changes would make it possible to establish such a system in regions where nothing like it has existed? If interests and path dependence have blocked the introduction of a socially better system of FOCJ, why would that change? In other words: why here and now? Is it that the shaping of the EU and the political reshuffling necessary for it simply puts major political-institutional changes on the agenda?

It is my tentative answer to the last question that explains why I like the pamphlet and accept it wholeheartedly as a direction of institutional development and as a reasearch agenda. I believe that the picture in The Sovereign Individual painted by Davidson and Reese-Mogg is essentially true: the technological development that makes advanced telecommunication and the Internet possible erodes the power of nation-states based on the tax-exploitation of low-mobility individuals and companies at their mercy. The long-run political-economic effects of that process have not been analyzed yet, however, at the minimum, that change forces nation-states to compete more and more with each other for retaining individuals and legal persons that are less and less physically localized.

If that is the direction in which technological developments drive political-institutional changes, then the system that the authors argue for, a framework of FOCJ backed up by a Europe-wide constitutional guarantee, could be an ideally flexible device for a relatively gradual and peaceful transition to the adequate political setup of the future, whatever it will be like. An intriguing institutional reform proposal with such a prospect should be enough to brighten up any political scientist's or political economist's eyes. But the lion's share of the job, a lot of analytical and modelling work to analyse the trade-offs between the traditional system, the book's suggestion and the market is still ahead.

Balázs Váradi,

www.cesa.hu

and

Department of Political Science, Central European University

the right to re-use all or parts of this review in scholarly papers is retained by the author

Book Description

The World Bank Research Program reports on research projects that were initiated, under way, or completed from July 2001 through June 2003 and, for the first time, it includes summaries of large research programs. These multiyear programs undertake analysis on several broad development related issues with the aim of providing strategic directions on critical problems facing Bank clients and operations. Each program centers on a theme giving coherence to the research and its outputs. This title addresses thematic programs such as investment climate, rural development, finance and trade.

Download Description

The World Bank's research program has four basic objectives: to broaden the understanding of development, to assist in developing research capacity in the Bank's member countries, to improve its capacity to advise its members, and to support all aspects of its own operations. Whether these aims are achieved depends in part on how extensively Bank research is used internally and externally. In early 2004, surveys were commissioned to assess the use of publications including Bank-wide research (annual flagship publications, Policy Research Reports, Policy Research Working Papers, and the two research journals) by Bank staff and by the Bank's clients. The findings lead to four main conclusions: clients use Bank research publications frequently, Bank research publications are influential, translations are important, and for external clients the Internet is an important source of information. The World Bank Research Program reports on research projects that were initiated, under way, or completed from July 2001 through June 2003 and, for the first time, it includes summaries of large research programs. These multiyear programs undertake analysis on several broad development related issues with the aim of providing strategic directions on critical problems facing Bank clients and operations. Each program centers on a theme giving coherence to the research and its outputs. This title addresses thematic programs such as investment climate, rural development, finance and trade.

Book Description

Ultimate directory for conducting export-import operations in the country. Largest exporters and importers, strategic government and business contacts, selected export-import regulations and more

Turkmenistan Industrial And Business Directory (World Business, Investment and Government Library)

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Turkmenistan Industrial And Business Directory (World Business, Investment and Government Library)
USA International Business Publications
Manufacturer: International Business Publications, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Exports & Imports | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | International | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Turkmenistan | Asia | Travel | Subjects | Books

Directories | Catalogs & Directories | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0739705431

Book Description

This law handbook contains information on basic business legislation, laws and regulatoins affecting export-import, business, foreign investments, property rights, taxation and banking.

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