The book delineates how the quest for wealth and belief manifests itself in contemporary Vietnam. Based on multi-local and longitudinal ethnographic research, the author examines how wealth is pursued by household members and entrepreneurs. The quest for belief is brought into relief through inquiry into how norms and values have been re-evaluated, altered, subverted or restored. Focusing on the taboo topic of female feticide, The study elucidates why some parents ultimately decide to commit feticide, and why others, especially entrepreneurs, refrain from it. The case of the entrepreneurs shows a possible way out of the "vicious circle" that leads to female feticide and perpetuates gender inequality.

The world is shrinking faster than ever. Goods, money, microbes, pollution, people and ideas are crossing boundaries ever more frequently. The implications for our future and for the health of the planet are profound. Vanishing Borders outlines the ecological challenges posed and then goes on to define the necessary strategies for tackling them. Presently, national governments are singularly ill-equipped for tackling transitional environmental problems-from ozone depletion to soaring trade in commodities such as timbre- problems which are climbing ever higher on the international political agenda. Industrial and developing countries are on a collision course over climate change, and water shortages are creating tensions in several parts of the world. The author argues that only a worldwide commitment to strengthening treaties and institutions needed to integrate ecological considerations into the rules of global commerce holds out hope. Over 200 international environmental treaties exist but most need more stringent conditions and enforcement, and continuing support from NGO and business communities. Significantly, the digital revolution, integral in itself to processes to globalization, offers channels through which powerful coalitions can effect change. The book provides a compelling and accessible analysis and a clear plan of action in pursuit of environmental stability. Originally published in 2000

__________________ Our Earth is more beautiful and more diverse than we can possibly conceive of. The Book of Vanishing Species is a stunning homage to the planet's most mysterious, bizarre and wondrous creatures and plants. Their stories are captivating, from the eyeless and tiny dragonlike olm to the hawksbill turtle, whose gender will be determined by the temperature of the sand it is born in. These species may have survived for hundreds of thousands of years by cleverly adapting to their environments, but their future remains far from certain. The book brings to life red cranes as they dance and bow for the sheer joy of movement, trees that breathe out a haze of misty atmosphere for insects that only feast on one kind of flower, a deep-ocean snail quietly building its shell from iron... and each one of them is illuminated with an exquisite illustration. As you turn the pages, there emerges a network of life that stretches across and around the planet in a dazzling web of existence. This is both a love letter to life on Earth, and an urgent summons to protect what is precious and lovely in this world.

This is a work of fiction based on my childhood memories growing up in a farming village in Capul Island in Northern Samar, Philippines. Most of the stories are based on my own experiences and of the people I grew up with. So if the reader could identify themselves in these pages, I may have been inspired by them. I have long wanted to document the colourful traditions of my hometown as I have written them in my journals. I believe I have written a collective experience of my people in these stories that took me several years to print.

A photographic exploration of the cycles of traditional Balinese rice farming, a dynamic model of earth-friendly agriculture that connects a unique culture with the natural world.

This is a 3-volume set of oversize books that span the continent of Asia. Ancient and beautiful traditions in Asia that are rapidly disappearing are recorded here in 9,000 images on 1,000 pages. The author has visited 35 countries in Asia and has travelled to the end of the road in its most remote places to capture the costumes, architecture, festivals, and lifestyles that are vanishing. The diverse cultures range from Turkey in the west to Japan in the east, from Siberia in the north to Indonesia in the south, and everything in between. Volume 1 covers West Asia, Volume 2 Central Asia, and Volume 3 East Asia. Every one of its 1,000 pages is uniquely designed, and every one of its 9,000 images is captioned. This is an ambitious and extreme passion project that the author/photographer has worked on for 49 years. Many of the scenes depicted in the book are now gone from the world, and others are becoming rarer by the day. There is no other book like it.

A tour of selected endangered natural and cultural sites profiles each for their extraordinary natural attributes, the human-driven and natural disasters that are threatening them, and the restoration efforts that are preserving some.