This book, grounded in a human rights framework, takes a close look at social work approaches and practices in Southeast Europe. Human rights are central in today's understanding of social work as an academic discipline and as a professional practice. Looking at social work through a human rights lens unmasks inequality and discrimination, promotes ethical engagements, and contributes to the social, political, and economic betterment of society. Moreover, human rights and social work are interdependent and have far-reaching implications at macro, mezzo, and micro levels both in the realm of social policy and in professional practice. This collection of eight chapters provides an overview of human rights practices in social work in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Romania, and Slovenia. It presents state-of-the-art research on human rights and social work through individual country-focused chapters. In addition, it includes an integrative introductory chapter that identifies and discusses the commonalities and differences across the region as well as future directions. The book takes an integrated approach with conversations among the contributors on three main questions: What is the state of human rights in social work? How are human rights practiced in social work? What are the prospects for an integrated approach to human rights in social work in contemporary Southeast Europe? Human Rights in this Age of Uncertainty is essential reading for social work academics and practitioners in Southeast Europe due to its geographic focus and standpoints from the specific countries of the region. The book also should appeal to a wider European audience (especially as the book features chapters from both inside and outside of the European Union), as well as to an international audience of social work scholars. In addition, policy-makers may find the book a useful resource because human rights discourse features prominently in the international approaches to welfare systems across Southeast Europe as part of the Europeanisation processes currently at play.

Work plays an essential role in how we engage with the world, reflecting our desire to be productive, creative, and connected to others. By exploring the inner experiences of people at work, people seeking work, and people transitioning in and out of work, this book provides a rich and complex picture of the contemporary work experience. Drawing from extensive interviews with working people across the US, as well as insights from psychological research on work and careers, the book provides compelling evidence that the nature of work in the US is eroding-- and with powerful psychological and social consequences. From this conclusion, the book also illustrates the rationale and roadmap for a renewed agenda toward full employment and toward fair and dignified jobs for all who want to work. The emotional insights complement the conclusions of the best science and policy analyses on working, culminating in a powerful call for policies that attend to the real lives of individuals in 21st century America. By weaving these various sources together, Blustein delineates a conception of working that conveys its complexity, richness, and capacity for both joy and despair.

A timeless classic of economic theory that remains fascinating and pertinent today, this is Frank Knight's famous explanation of why perfect competition cannot eliminate profits, the important differences between "risk" and "uncertainty," and the vital role of the entrepreneur in profitmaking. Based on Knight's PhD dissertation, this 1921 work, balancing theory with fact to come to stunning insights, is a distinct pleasure to read. FRANK H. KNIGHT (1885-1972) is considered by some the greatest American scholar of economics of the 20th century. An economics professor at the University of Chicago from 1927 until 1955, he was one of the founders of the Chicago school of economics, which influenced Milton Friedman and George Stigler.

All aspire to liberty and security in their lives but few people truly enjoy them. This book explains why this is so. In what Conor Gearty calls our 'neo-democratic' world, the proclamation of universal liberty and security is mocked by facts on the ground: the vast inequalities in supposedly free societies, the authoritarian regimes with regular elections, and the terrible socio-economic deprivation camouflaged by cynically proclaimed commitments to human rights. Gearty's book offers an explanation of how this has come about, providing also a criticism of the present age which tolerates it. He then goes on to set out a manifesto for a better future, a place where liberty and security can be rich platforms for everyone's life. The book identifies neo-democracies as those places which play at democracy so as to disguise the injustice at their core. But it is not just the new 'democracies' that have turned 'neo', the so-called established democracies are also hurtling in the same direction, as is the United Nations. A new vision of universal freedom is urgently required. Drawing on scholarship in law, human rights and political science this book argues for just such a vision, one in which the great achievements of our democratic past are not jettisoned as easily as were the socialist ideals of the original democracy-makers.

2020 PROSE Award Finalist This book explores the recent international decline in democracy and the psychological appeal of authoritarianism in the context of rapid globalization. The rise of populist movements and leaders across the globe has produced serious and unexpected challenges to human rights and freedoms. By understanding the psychological foundations of the surge in populism and authoritarian leadership, we can better develop ways to nurture and safeguard democracy. Why and how do authoritarian leaders gain popular support? In this book, social psychologist Fathali M. Moghaddam discusses the stages of political development on the continuum from absolute dictatorship to the ideal of actualized democracy. He explains how "fractured globalization" - by which technological and economic forces push societies toward greater global unification, while social identity needs pull individuals back into tribal identification - can produce a turn toward dictatorship, even in previously democratic societies. The book concludes with potential solutions to the rise of authoritarian leaders and ways to strengthen democracy.

This book examines the issue of environmental justice across 11short chapters, with the aim of creating a resilient society. Starting with a history of the environmental justice movement, the book then moves on to focus on various current environmental issues, analyzing how these issues impact low-income and minority communities. Topics covered include smart cities and environmental justice, climate change and health equity, the Flint Water Crisis, coastal resilience, emergency management, energy justice, procurement and contract management, public works projects, and the impact of COVID-19. Each chapter provides a unique perspective on the issues covered, offering practical strategies to create a more resilient society that can be applied by practitioners in the field. Environmental Justice and Resiliency in an Age of Uncertainty will be of interest to upper level undergraduate and graduate students studying race relations, environmental politics and policy, sustainability, and social justice. It will also appeal to practitioners working at all levels of government, and anyone with an interest in environmental issues, racial justice, and the construction of resilient communities.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 SHAUGHNESSY COHEN PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING • SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 DONNER PRIZE “The Next Age of Uncertainty combines invaluable historical insights with provocative reflections on the economy of the future—a must read.” —Thomas d’Aquino C.M., LL.D., founding CEO of the Business Council of Canada, and author of Private Power Public Purpose From the former Governor of the Bank of Canada, a far-seeing guide to the powerful economic forces that will shape the decades ahead. The economic ground is shifting beneath our feet. The world is becoming more volatile, and people are understandably worried about their financial futures. In this urgent and accessible guide to the crises and opportunities that lie ahead, economist and former Governor of the Bank of Canada Stephen Poloz maps out the powerful tectonic forces that are shaping our future and the ideas that will allow us to master them. These forces include an aging workforce, mounting debt, and rising income inequality. Technological advances, too, are adding to the pressure, putting people out of work, and climate change is forcing a transition to a lower-carbon economy. It is no surprise that people are feeling uncertain. The implications of these tectonic tensions will cascade throughout every dimension of our lives—the job market, the housing market, the investment climate, as well as government and central bank policy, and the role of the corporation within society. The pandemic has added momentum to many of them. Poloz skillfully argues that past crises, from the Victorian Depression in the late 1800s to the more recent downturn in 2008, give a hint of what is in store for us in the decades ahead. Unlike the purely destructive power of earthquakes, the upheaval that is sure to come in the decades ahead will offer unexpected opportunities for renewal and growth. Filled with takeaways for employers, investors, and policymakers, as well as families discussing jobs and mortgage renewals around the kitchen table, The Next Age of Uncertainty is an indispensable guide for those navigating the fault lines of the risky world ahead.

This book explores how the uncertainties of the 21st century present existential challenges to civil society. Presenting original empirical findings, it highlights transferable lessons that will inform policy and practice in today’s age of uncertainty.

What does it mean to grow up today as working-class young adults? How does the economic and social instability left in the wake of neoliberalism shape their identities, their understandings of the American Dream, and their futures? Coming Up Short illuminates the transition to adulthood for working-class men and women. Moving away from easy labels such as the "Peter Pan generation," Jennifer Silva reveals the far bleaker picture of how the erosion of traditional markers of adulthood-marriage, a steady job, a house of one's own-has changed what it means to grow up as part of the post-industrial working class. Based on one hundred interviews with working-class people in two towns-Lowell, Massachusetts, and Richmond, Virginia-Silva sheds light on their experience of heightened economic insecurity, deepening inequality, and uncertainty about marriage and family. Silva argues that, for these men and women, coming of age means coming to terms with the absence of choice. As possibilities and hope contract, moving into adulthood has been re-defined as a process of personal struggle-an adult is no longer someone with a small home and a reliable car, but someone who has faced and overcome personal demons to reconstruct a transformed self. Indeed, rather than turn to politics to restore the traditional working class, this generation builds meaning and dignity through the struggle to exorcise the demons of familial abuse, mental health problems, addiction, or betrayal in past relationships. This dramatic and largely unnoticed shift reduces becoming an adult to solitary suffering, self-blame, and an endless seeking for signs of progress. This powerfully written book focuses on those who are most vulnerable-young, working-class people, including African-Americans, women, and single parents-and reveals what, in very real terms, the demise of the social safety net means to their fragile hold on the American Dream.