The proposal of this second volume of Leituras is to address the debate on the global South from other models of constructing reality and to speculate on the potential impact of alternative forms of organization on current times. To this end, it compiles a series of non-Western cosmologies which, while not new, present renewed interest and originality for their reduced visibility. Such forms of organization condense a more integrated kind of involvement of the individual with the collective, but also with his symbolic and natural environment; therefore, they have a direct impact on how reality is understood and constructed. This e-book features images that are best viewed on tablets.

Living Earth Community: Multiple Ways of Being and Knowing is a celebration of the diversity of ways in which humans can relate to the world around them, and an invitation to its readers to partake in planetary coexistence. Innovative, informative, and highly accessible, this interdisciplinary anthology of essays brings together scholars, writers and educators across the sciences and humanities, in a collaborative effort to illuminate the different ways of being in the world and the different kinds of knowledge they entail – from the ecological knowledge of Indigenous communities, to the scientific knowledge of a biologist and the embodied knowledge communicated through storytelling. This anthology examines the interplay between Nature and Culture in the setting of our current age of ecological crisis, stressing the importance of addressing these ecological crises occurring around the planet through multiple perspectives. These perspectives are exemplified through diverse case studies – from the political and ethical implications of thinking with forests, to the capacity of storytelling to motivate action, to the worldview of the Indigenous Okanagan community in British Columbia. Living Earth Community: Multiple Ways of Being and Knowing synthesizes insights from across a range of academic fields, and highlights the potential for synergy between disciplinary approaches and inquiries. This anthology is essential reading not only for researchers and students, but for anyone interested in the ways in which humans interact with the community of life on Earth, especially during this current period of environmental emergency.

How can we build a sustainable, moneyless, world?How can we balance our needs with those of the eco-system?How would a moneyless society work?

The Real Mound Builders of North America contrasts the evolutionary view that emphasizes abrupt discontinuities with the Hopewellian ceremonial assemblage and mounds. Byers argues that these communities persisted unchanged in terms of their essential structures and traditions, varying only in ceremonial practices that manifested these structures.

Recognising the great legacy of women's life writings, this book draws on a wealth of sources to critically examine the impact of these writings on our communities.

The concept of aware systems is among the most exciting trends in computing today, fueled by recent developments in pervasive computing, including new computers worn by users, embedded devices, smart appliances, sensors, and varieties of wireless networking technology. Context-Aware Pervasive Systems: The Architecture of a New Breed of Applications introduces a diverse set of application areas and provides blueprints for building context-aware behavior into applications. Reviewing the anatomy of context-aware pervasive applications, this resource covers abstract architecture. It examines mobile services, appliances, smart devices, software agents, electronic communication, sensor networks, security frameworks, and intelligent software agents. The book also discusses the use of context awareness for communication among people, devices, and software agents and how sensors can be aware of their own situations. Exploring the use of physical context for controlling and enhancing security in pervasive computing environments, this guide addresses mirror worlds and elucidates design perspectives based on a declarative programming language paradigm. This carefully paced volume presents a timely and relevant introduction to the emergence of context-aware systems and brings together architectures and principles of context-aware computing in one source.

These essays explore the theory, politics and practice associated with the changing nature of crime prevention, disorder and community safety and assess their significance in relation to a number of specific groups, such as women.

Technically Together takes the reader on a thoughtful tour of the key writings on community and technology and the current debates that surround them to provide a clear understanding of the challenges new technologies present for theories of social interaction.

Presenting the concept and design and implementation of configurable intelligent optimization algorithms in manufacturing systems, this book provides a new configuration method to optimize manufacturing processes. It provides a comprehensive elaboration of basic intelligent optimization algorithms, and demonstrates how their improvement, hybridization and parallelization can be applied to manufacturing. Furthermore, various applications of these intelligent optimization algorithms are exemplified in detail, chapter by chapter. The intelligent optimization algorithm is not just a single algorithm; instead it is a general advanced optimization mechanism which is highly scalable with robustness and randomness. Therefore, this book demonstrates the flexibility of these algorithms, as well as their robustness and reusability in order to solve mass complicated problems in manufacturing. Since the genetic algorithm was presented decades ago, a large number of intelligent optimization algorithms and their improvements have been developed. However, little work has been done to extend their applications and verify their competence in solving complicated problems in manufacturing. This book will provide an invaluable resource to students, researchers, consultants and industry professionals interested in engineering optimization. It will also be particularly useful to three groups of readers: algorithm beginners, optimization engineers and senior algorithm designers. It offers a detailed description of intelligent optimization algorithms to algorithm beginners; recommends new configurable design methods for optimization engineers, and provides future trends and challenges of the new configuration mechanism to senior algorithm designers.

This wide-ranging introductory text looks at the virtual community of cyberspace and analyses its relationship to real communities lived out in today's societies. Issues such as race, gender, power, economics and ethics in cyberspace are grouped under four main sections and discussed by leading experts: * identity * social order and control * community structure and dynamics * collective action. This topical new book displays how the idea of community is being challenged and rewritten by the increasing power and range of cyberspace. As new societies and relationships are formed in this virtual landscape, we now have to consider the potential consequences this may have on our own community and societies. Clearly and concisely written with a wide range of international examples, this edited volume is an essential introduction to the sociology of the internet. It will appeal to students and professionals, and to those concerned about the changing relationships between information technology and a society which is fast becoming divided between those on-line and those not.