> Books > ^Comparative Study

Through a series of 12 original case studies, prepared by 1 ... Read more

Through a series of 12 original case studies, prepared by 19 international, multidisciplinary experts, Farming Systems offers a comprehensive comparative examination of world agriculture. The 12 farming systems explored here encompass the broad array of environmental, demographic, and socioeconomic conditions in which agriculture exists--from Amazonian swidden to Hungarian cooperative farms. B.L. Turner II and Stephen B. Brush have provided a three-part classification of the systems based on output intensity, technology employed, and production goals. The contributors bring to their case studies the perspectives of anthropology, economics, geography, and rural sociology. Minimize

This book offers a timely account of health reform struggle ... Read more

This book offers a timely account of health reform struggles in developed democracies.  The editors, leading experts in the field, have brought together a group of distinguished scholars to explore the ambitions and realities of health care regulation, financing, and delivery across countries. These wide-ranging essays cover policy debates and reforms in Canada, Germany, Holland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as separate treatments of some of the most prominent issues confronting policy makers.  These include primary care, hospital care, long-term care, pharmaceutical policy, and private health insurance. The authors are attentive throughout to the ways in which cross-national, comparative research may inform national policy debates not only under the Obama administration but across the world. Minimize

Free Worldwide Delivery : Comparative and International Edu ... Read more

Free Worldwide Delivery : Comparative and International Education : Paperback : Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd. : 9781847060594 : 1847060595 : 20 Mar 2008 : Combines introductory coverage of both 'comparative' and 'international' education for Masters and PhD students. This book provides an overview of the themes, including defining comparative and international education; how comparative studies in education have developed; and the relationship between education and national development. Minimize

This volume explores the subject of religious conversion ov ... Read more

This volume explores the subject of religious conversion over broad expanses of time and space, considering cases from the thirteenth through the twentieth centuries and from settings across the world. Leading scholars from a variety of historical sub-fields address the theme at a moment when the utility of the concept of conversion is vigorously debated. The historical settings treated here stretch from thirteenth-century England to sixteenth-century southern India and Andean Peru, from Bohemia to China during the age of the Reformations, from the fifteenth-century Low Countries to seventeenth-century New France and from the nineteenth-century Minnesota borderlands to late colonial Zimbabwe and modern India. The book's broad mixture of examples and approaches will both encourage a deepening of specialist knowledge about particular places and times, and spark new thinking about religious change, cultural appropriations, and interactive emergence across discipline and fields. This book is one of two collections of essays on religious conversion drawn from the activities of the Shelby Cullum Davis Center for Historical Studies at Princeton University between 1999 and 2001. The other volume, Conversion in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, is also published by the University of Rochester Press. Minimize

Higher education is increasingly international. The issues ... Read more

Higher education is increasingly international. The issues that affect universities in one country are important globally. There are a myriad of links among academic systems worldwide. Comparative Higher Education is the first book to systematically explore many of the most important implications of the globalization of higher education. It explores the links among universities, including foreign students and scholars, the impact of the Western higher education idea on universities throughout the world, and especially the current importance of American academic ideas worldwide, and the patterns of inequality among academic systems. Teachers and students are at the heart of the academic systems. Comparative Higher Education focuses on professors and students-especially the political involvement of both professors and students-and seeks to understand their roles in a comparative framework. The book concludes with a discussion of higher education development in the newly industrializing countries. These Pacific Rim nations are examples of how higher education has been used in the process of development. Comparative Higher Education reflects more than three decades of research in the field, and places key elements in the globalization of higher education in a useful framework. Worldwide examples are used to illustrate analyses of such key topics as international exchange, future trends in university development, the complex relationships among academic systems in the industrialized and developing countries, and related issues. Minimize

The preparation, serving and eating of food are common feat ... Read more

The preparation, serving and eating of food are common features of all human societies, and have been the focus of study for numerous anthropologists - from Sir James Frazer onwards - from a variety of theoretical and empirical perspectives. It is in the context of this previous anthropological work that Jack Goody sets his own observations on cooking in West Africa. He criticises those approaches which overlook the comparative historical dimension of culinary, and other, cultural differences that emerge in class societies, both of which elements he particularly emphasises in this book. The central question that Professor Goody addresses here is why a differentiated 'haute cuisine' has not emerged in Africa, as it has in other parts of the world. His account of cooking in West Africa is followed by a survey of the culinary practices of the major Eurasian societies throughout history - ranging from Ancient Egypt, Imperial Rome and medieval China to early modern Europe - in which he relates the differences in food preparation and consumption emerging in these societies to differences in their socio-economic structures, specifically in modes of production and communication. He concludes with an examination of the world-wide rise of 'industrial food' and its impact on Third World societies, showing that the ability of the latter to resist cultural domination in food, as in other things, is related to the nature of their pre-existing socio-economic structures. The arguments presented here will interest all social scientists and historians concerned with cultural history and social theory. Minimize

Arising independently in various parts of the world, early ... Read more

Arising independently in various parts of the world, early civilizations--the first class-based societies in human history--are of importance to social scientists interested in the development of complexity, while their cultural productions fascinate both humanists and the general public. This book offers the first detailed comparative study of the seven most fully documented early civilizations: ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, Shang China, the Aztecs and their neighbors, the Classic Maya, the Inca, and the Yoruba. Unlike previous studies, equal attention is paid to similarities and differences in their sociopolitical organization, their economic systems, and their religious beliefs, knowledge, art, and values. Many of this study's findings are surprising and provocative. They challenge not only current understandings of early civilizations but also the theoretical foundations of modern archaeology and anthropology. Rival cultural and ecological approaches are demonstrated to be complimentary to one another, while a comprehensive understanding of human behavior is shown to require that more attention be paid to psychology and the neurosciences. Bruce G. Trigger is James McGill Professor in the Department of Anthropology at McGill University. He received his PhD from Yale University and has carried out archaeological research in Egypt and the Sudan. His current interests include the comparative study of early civilizations, the history of archaeology, and archaeological and anthropological theory. He has received various scholarly awards, including the Prix Leon-Gerin from the Quebec government, for his sustained contributions to the social sciences. He is an honarary fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and an honarary member of the Prehistoric Society (U.K.). His numerous books include Sociological Evolution (Blackwell, 1998), Early Civilizations: Ancient Egypt in Context (Amer. Univ in Cairo, 1993), A History of Archaeological Thought (Cambridge, 1989), and The Children of Aataentsic: A History of the Huron People to 1660 (McGill-Queens Univ., 1976). Minimize

A new examination of contemporary federalism and federation ... Read more

A new examination of contemporary federalism and federation, which delivers a detailed theoretical study underpinned by fresh case studies. It is grounded in a clear distinction between 'federations', particular kinds of states, and 'federalism', the thinking that drives and promotes them. It also details the origins, formation, evolution and operations of federal political interests, through an authoritative series of chapters that: analyze the conceptual bases of federalism and federation through the evolution of the intellectual debate on federalism; the American Federal experience; the origins of federal states; and the relationship between state-building and national integration explore comparative federalism and federation by looking at five main pathways into comparative analysis with empirical studies on the US, Canada, Australia, India, Malaysia, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the EU explore the pathology of federations, looking at failures and successes, the impact of globalization. The final chapter also presents a definitive assessment of federal theory. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers of federalism, devolution, comparative politics and government. Minimize

This book has been written taking into consideration that t ... Read more

This book has been written taking into consideration that the study of the anatomy of vertebrates has changed drastically in recent years. Previously it was customary to make a classical study of only a few commonly available representative examples. Now it is necessary to also give detailed comparative accounts of organs and organ systems present in all extant forms.The Drs Saxena have introduced the structure-function concept at the level of organs and organ systems, thus providing the reader with a fundamental understanding of the synthesis of comparative anatomy, and in consequence with an understanding of comparative evolutionary morphology. They have presented the diversity of vertebrate organisation of each organ system in 12 chapters, each one containing outstanding, clear, student-friendly line drawings - easy to understand and to reproduce.'Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates' is a welcome new title in the fields of biology, animal science and evolutionary science, and will be an excellent textbook for students on such courses.ContentsCharacteristics of ChordatesReproductive System Integumentary SystemNervous SystemSkeletal SystemReceptor SystemMuscular SystemEndocrine SystemDigestive SystemRespiratory SystemCirculatory SystemExcretory SystemAlso available: Step by Step Cross Sectional Anatomy - ISBN 1904798802 Atlas of Human Anatomy - ISBN 1904798284Anshan Publishers is a publisher of fine medical, scientific, and technical books. We find the best titles from our worldwide publishing partners and bring them to the global marketplace. We publish in a wide range of fields, including:- Biological Sciences Biotechnology Chemistry Engineering Material Science Microbiology Pure and Applied Physics Pure and Applied Mathematics Statistics Minimize

Cultural law is a new and exciting field of study and pract ... Read more

Cultural law is a new and exciting field of study and practice. The core themes of linguistic and other cultural rights, cultural heritage, traditional crafts and knowledge, the performing arts, sports, and religion are of fundamental importance to people around the world, engaging them at the grass roots and often commanding their daily attention. The related legal processes are both significant and complex. This unique collection of materials and commentary on cultural law covers a broad range of themes. Opening chapters explore critical issues involving cultural activities, artifacts, and status as well as the fundamental concepts of culture and law. Subsequent chapters examine the dynamic interplay of law and culture with respect to each of the core themes. The materials demonstrate the reality and efficacy of comparative, international, and indigenous law and legal practices in the dynamic context of culture-related issues. Throughout the book, these issues are presented at multiple levels of legal authority: international, national, and subnational. Minimize

Free Worldwide Delivery : Comparative Theology : Paperback ... Read more

Free Worldwide Delivery : Comparative Theology : Paperback : John Wiley and Sons Ltd : 9781405179744 : 1405179740 : 16 Mar 2010 : Drawing upon the author's three decades of work in comparative theology, this is a pertinent and comprehensive introduction to the field, which offers a clear guide to the reader, enabling them to engage in comparative study. Minimize

With a foreword by Professor Erwin H. Epstein.A unique intr ... Read more

With a foreword by Professor Erwin H. Epstein.A unique introduction to this important field, providing a comprehensive overview of the key themes, including:- defining comparative and international education- how comparative studies in education have developed- methodological approaches to comparative and international education research- the relationship between education and national development- the power of comparative studies in investigating student achievement and school effectiveness- what comparative studies have taught us about educational issues such as policy borrowing, processes of transition, post-conflict education, education in small states, pedagogy, and citizenship. Minimize

Comparative Criticism addresses itself to the questions of ... Read more

Comparative Criticism addresses itself to the questions of literary theory and criticism, to comparative studies in terms of theme, genre movement and influence, and to interdisciplinary perspectives. This new volume takes 'Myth and mythologies' as its central theme. Articles include: the Shadow of Ulysses beyond 2001; Genesis: a tale of a heel and a hip; Myths of 'High' and 'Low': the Lyrical Ballads 1798-1998 and Myths of the Indies: Jane Austen and the British Empire. The winning entries in the 1997/8 BCLA/BCLT translation competition are published, as well as a special bibliography on the works of H. G. Adler. Minimize

For many Westerners, the term sacrifice is associated with ... Read more

For many Westerners, the term sacrifice is associated with ancient, often primitive ritual practices. It suggests the death—frequently violent, often bloody—of an animal victim, usually with the aim of atoning for human guilt. Sacrifice is a serious ritual, culminating in a dramatic event. The reality of religious sacrificial acts across the globe and throughout history is, however, more expansive and inclusive.In Beyond Sacred Violence, Kathryn McClymond argues that the modern Western world’s reductive understanding of sacrifice simplifies an enormously broad and dynamic cluster of religious activities. Drawing on a comparative study of Vedic and Jewish sacrificial practices, she demonstrates not only that sacrifice has no single, essential, identifying characteristic but also that the elements most frequently attributed to such acts—death and violence—are not universal. McClymond reveals that the world of religious sacrifice varies greatly, including grain-based offerings, precious liquids, and complex interdependent activities. Engagingly argued and written, Beyond Sacred Violence significantly extends our understanding of religious sacrifice and serves as a timely reminder that the field of religious studies is largely framed by Christianity. (2008) Minimize

Notions of history and the past contained in literature of ... Read more

Notions of history and the past contained in literature of the Karaite Jewish sect offer insight into the relationship of Karaism to mainstream rabbinic Judaism and to Islam and Christianity. Karaite Judaism and Historical Understanding describes how a minority sectarian religious community constructs and uses historical ideology. It investigates the proportioning of historical ideology to law and doctrine and the influence of historical setting on religious writings about the past. Fred Astren discusses modes of representing the past, especially in Jewish culture, and then poses questions about the past in sectarian—particularly Judaic sectarian—contexts. He contrasts early Karaite scripturalism with the literature of rabbinic Judaism, which, embodying historical views that carry a moralistic burden, draws upon the chain of tradition to suppose a generation-to-generation transmission of divine knowledge and authority. Karaites in the medieval Islamic world eschewed historical thinking, in concert with their rejection of the rabbinic concept of tradition. One important medieval Karaite, al-Qirqisani, however, constructed a sophisticated historical argument as part of his philosophical exposition of Karaism, demonstrating theological and philosophical strategies common in Islam and Christianity. The center of Karaism shifted to the Byzantine-Turkish world during the twelfth through sixteenth centuries, when a new historical outlook unoblivious of the past accommodated legal developments influenced by rabbinic thought. Reconstructing Karaite historical expression from both published works and previously unexamined manuscripts, Astren shows that Karaites relied on rabbinic literature to extract and compile historical data for their own readings of Jewish history, which they recorded in an encyclopedic literature similar to contemporary Byzantine Christian Orthodox writing. Astren documents how as the Karaites moved toward a concept of tradition and echoed rabbinic historical formulations, they developed a version of the chain of tradition to link archaic biblical history to their own community. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Karaite scholars in Poland and Lithuania collated and harmonized historical materials inherited from their Middle Eastern predecessors. Astren portrays the way that Karaites, with some influence from Jewish Renaissance historiography and impelled by features of Protestant-Catholic discourse, prepared complete literary historical works that maintained their Jewishness while offering a Karaite reading of Jewish history. Minimize

From the American Revolution to the conflicts in Afghanista ... Read more

From the American Revolution to the conflicts in Afghanistan, revolutions have played a critical role in the course of history. Insight into the causes of revolutions and the factors that shape their outcomes is critical to understanding politics and world history--and REVOLUTIONS is a reader designed to address this need. Part One offers a combination of classic treatises and late-breaking scholarship that develops students' theoretical understanding of revolutionary movements. Part Two shows students how these theories play out in real life through rich, accessible accounts of major revolutionary episodes in modern history. Minimize

German criminal law doctrine — as one of the more influen ... Read more

German criminal law doctrine — as one of the more influential over time and on a global scale — takes rather different approaches to many of the problems of substantive law when compared with those of the common law family of countries like the UK, the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, etc. German criminal law doctrine also differs markedly from the system which is most often used in Anglophone writing as a civil law comparison — the French law. German criminal law is a code-based model and has been for centuries. The influence of academic writing on its development has been far greater than in the judge-oriented common law models. This book will serve as a useful aid to debates about codification efforts in countries that are mostly based on a case law system, but wish to re-structure their law in one or several criminal codes. The comparison will show that similar problems occur in all legal systems regardless of their provenance, and the attempts of individual systems at solving them — their successes and their failures — can provide a rich experience from which other countries can draw and build upon. The book provides an outline of the principles of German criminal law, mainly the so-called 'General Part' (e.g. actus reus, mens rea, defenses, participation) and the core offense categories (e.g. homicide, offenses against property, sexual offenses). It sets out the principles and their development under the influence of academic writing and judicial decisions. Wherever it is apt and feasible, comparison is offered to the approaches of English criminal law and the legal systems of other common and civil law countries in order to allow common lawyers to draw the pertinent parallels to their own jurisdictions. Minimize

This core text meets the needs of those involved in courses ... Read more

This core text meets the needs of those involved in courses relating to the British political system. The author examines the institutions and practices of British government and politics and makes selective comparisons with the experience of other countries, mainly liberal democracies.In each chapter, there is a general comparative analysis of the theme, followed by a thorough examination of the situation in Britain. Three examples from overseas are then briefly explored.Key Features:• accessibly written, reliable and up-to-date• offers an interesting and penetrating analysis of the political scene in Britain• uses information and examples derived from the 2005 election• informs the discussion of British politics by making appropriate international comparisons (July 2010) Minimize

Revolutions : Theoretical, Comparative, and Historical Stud ... Read more

Revolutions : Theoretical, Comparative, and Historical Studies, GOLDSTONE, 015506679X, 9780155066793, New, Brand New Minimize

Americans like to believe that theirs is the land of opport ... Read more

Americans like to believe that theirs is the land of opportunity, but the hard facts are that children born into poor families in the United States tend to stay poor and children born into wealthy families generally stay rich. Other countries have shown more success at lessening the effects of inequality on mobility possibly by making public investments in education, health, and family well-being that offset the private advantages of the wealthy. What can the United States learn from these other countries about how to provide children from disadvantaged backgrounds an equal chance in life? Making comparisons across ten countries, Persistence, Privilege, and Parenting brings together a team of eminent international scholars to examine why advantage and disadvantage persist across generations. The book sheds light on how the social and economic mobility of children differs within and across countries and the impact private family resources, public policies, and social institutions may have on mobility. In what ways do parents pass advantage or disadvantage on to their children? Persistence, Privilege, and Parenting is an expansive exploration of the relationship between parental socioeconomic status and background and the outcomes of their grown children. The authors also address the impact of education and parental financial assistance on mobility. Contributors Miles Corak, Lori Curtis, and Shelley Phipps look at how family economic background influences the outcomes of adult children in the United States and Canada. They find that, despite many cultural similarities between the two countries, Canada has three times the rate of intergenerational mobility as the United States possibly because Canada makes more public investments in its labor market, health care, and family programs. Jo Blanden and her colleagues explore a number of factors affecting how advantage is transmitted between parents and children in the United States and the United Kingdom, including education, occupation, marriage, and health. They find that despite the two nations having similar rates of intergenerational mobility and social inequality, lack of educational opportunity plays a greater role in limiting U.S. mobility, while the U.K. s deeply rooted social class structure makes it difficult for the disadvantaged to transcend their circumstances. Jane Waldfogel and Elizabeth Washbrook examine cognitive and behavioral school readiness across income groups and find that pre-school age children in both the United States and Britain show substantial income-related gaps in school readiness driven in part by poorly developed parenting skills among overburdened, low-income families. The authors suggest that the most encouraging policies focus on both school and home interventions, including such measures as increases in federal funding for Head Start programs in the United States, raising pre-school staff qualifications in Britain, and parenting programs in both countries.A significant step forward in the study of intergenerational mobility, Persistence, Privilege, and Parenting demonstrates that the transmission of advantage or disadvantage from one generation to the next varies widely from country to country. This striking finding is a particular cause for concern in the United States, where the persistence of disadvantage remains stubbornly high. But, it provides a reason to hope that by better understanding mobility across the generations abroad, we can find ways to do better at home. Minimize

Four popular translations in one convenient volume * NIV, ... Read more

Four popular translations in one convenient volume * NIV, King James Version, NASB Updated, and Amplified side-by-side * A powerful resource for studying God's word * Clear, easy-to-read print When you don't want to lose anything in the translation, the Comparative Study Bible is a tool that lets you explore all the rich nuances and shades of meaning in the Bible text without having to learn the original biblical languages. It sets four popular translations side-by-side for you to compare and contrast: the trustworthiness and versatility of the New International Version, the time-honored authority of the King James Version, the word-for-word accuracy of the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition, and the scholarly detail of the Amplified Bible. Passages and verses from the four versions are aligned in parallel columns on facing pages for ease of study. Each translation offers insight on different facets of meaning in the text, giving you the benefit of the work of different groups of scholars to help you understand and interpret the Bible for yourself. The Amplified Bible helps you take your study a step further, offering a format that gives you access to the shades of meaning in the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. A valuable resource for gaining insight into scriptural truths, the Comparative Study Bible helps you compare translations at a glance and is an excellent resource for in-depth Bible study. Bringing New Meaning To Your Bible Study Features include: Each two-page spread contains a complete Scripture portion from these versions: New International Version King James Version New American Standard Bible, Updated Amplified Bible Double-column format 8-point type You don't have to take a Greek or Hebrew class to enjoy the benefits of understanding the nuances and meanings of biblical words and phrases. The Comparative Study Bible brings four popular translations together into one convenient volume. Featuring the bestselling New International version, the classic King James Version, the 1995 New American Standard Bible, Updated, and the Amplified Bible, this parallel Bible helps you compare and contrast the strengths of four of the most trusted translations. And the special features of the Amplified Bible help you unlock the original meaning of key words and phrases. When you want to study the Bible in depth, comparing different Bible translations helps you discover the different nuances of meaning in the text. The translation committees for each Bible version chose different ways of translating the original Scripture texts into English. By comparing them, you can get a more complete understanding of what the original writers intended without having to learn Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek. Emphasizing the importance of the words the original writers used, as well as their context, the Comparative Study Bible gives you access to translations that allow you to read the Bible without commentary, yet enables you to compare key words that expand on what the text is saying. The word-for-word translations of the King James Version and the New American Standard Bible, Updated, let you see English rendering of the words the original Bible authors used, while the New International Version represents the best balance of word-for-word and thought-for-thought translation, communicating the meaning more clearly to modern readers. And the Amplified Bible's unique system of punctuation, italics, and references helps you take your study a step further, allowing you to unlock subtle shades of meaning found in the original languages. The Comparative Study Bible offers easy access to four distinctive translations in clear, easy-to-read print. Comparative Study Bible includes: New International Version: Today's bestselling translation, offering a unique combination of scholarly accuracy and easy readability. The balance of word-for-word and thought-for-thought approach to translation allows today's r Minimize

Watson presents five sieges for detailed analysis. The auth ... Read more

Watson presents five sieges for detailed analysis. The author utilizes the methodology John Keegan developed to define sieges as a form of battle and to explore the "categories of combat"--those relationships of men versus weapons and the commitment to battle on the part of the contestants--which determined the outcome of battles and wars. Watson's unique study is a contribution to the study of siege warfare and provides a background for understanding the Gulf War--which, Watson shows, was a siege--as well as contemporary global conflict. The sieges--Jerusalem, Malta, Sebastopol, Kut-al-Amara, and Singapore--are analyzed in great detail. From his analysis, Watson developes a set of characteristics of sieges that is useful for understanding the siege--a form of battle that has been with us for a long time and that will remain a major element of modern warfare. Students of military history and tactics--buffs and professionals--will find value and entertainment in this provocative study. Minimize

For a range of reasons - including internal and external pr ... Read more

For a range of reasons - including internal and external pressures - the constitutional arrangements in many countries are changing. Constitutional change may be: formal, involving amendments to the texts of Constitutions or the passage of legislation of a clearly constitutional kind; or informal and organic, as where court decisions affect the operation of the system of government, or where new administrative and other arrangements (e.g. agencification) affect or articulate or alter the operation of the Constitution of the country, without the need for government to resort to legislation. This book explores how Constitutions change and are changed in a number of countries, and how the 'Constitution' of the EU changes and is changed. The countries in this study include - from the EU - a common law country, a Nordic one, a former communist state, several civil law systems, parliamentary systems, and a hybrid one (France). Chapters on non-EU countries include two on developing countries (India and South Africa), two on common law countries without written constitutions (Israel and New Zealand), a presidential system (the US), and three federal ones (the US, Canada, and Switzerland). In the final chapter, the editors conduct a detailed comparative analysis of the jurisdiction-based chapters and explore the question whether any overarching theory or theories about constitutional change in liberal democracies emerge from the study. Minimize