Based upon global data and following on from Lockdown: Social Harm in the COVID-19 Era, this book discusses the rise of surveillance capitalism and new forms of control and exclusion throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. It particularly addresses the use of vaccine passports, mandates and the new forms of capital extraction and political control that emerged throughout the pandemic. The book also explicates how the ‘vaccine hesitant’ became marginalized in both mainstream discourse and through regulatory interventions. Whilst the book addresses the wider political economy within which so-called ‘anti-vaxxers’ were ostracized, it also explores the complex nature of their sentiments. The book closes by considering The New Futures of Exclusion, outlining the forms of surveillance and control that may be implemented in the future particularly in light of the challenges brought by global warming and the energy transition. It is a broadly accessible text, particularly appealing to policymakers, general readers and academics in sociology, political sociology, politics, human geography, political economy, criminology, social policy, psychology, history, and infectious diseases and medicine.

Experts review leading social policy scholarship from across the globe in this new volume in the Social Policy Review series. Published in association with the Social Policy Association, this book will be essential reading for students and academics in social policy, social welfare and related disciplines.

Set within the context of current and recent policy and political response, this study considers the way in which policy has been formulated and implemented with reference to a range of substantive and theoretical areas.

This book provides an overview and analysis of current tensions, debates and key issues within OECD nations, particularly Australia, the USA, Canada and the UK, with regard to where education is and should be going. Using a broad historical analysis, it investigates ideas and visions about the future that are increasingly evoked to support arguments about the imminent demise of the dominant modern educational model. Focusing neither on prediction nor prescription, this text suggests the goal is an analysis of the ways in which the notion of the future circulates in contemporary discourse. Five specific discourses are explored: globalisation; new information and communications technologies; feminist; indigenous; and spiritual. The book demonstrates the connections between particular approaches to time, visions of the future, and educational visions and practices. The author asserts that every approach to educational change is inherently based on an underlying image of the future.

Originally published in 1985. This book explores issues around education for women and uses the British experience as an example of what adult education in its variety can offer to women in breaking traditional moulds. The text raises questions about where women are, where they might be, and how education as a whole can be used by women, for women. The critique of adult education is both theoretical and useful for practice, including many case studies from areas as diverse as the education of minority women, setting up of women’s education centres, working with childminders, and courses at the Open University.

This book is a comprehensive examination of the society, polity and economy of South Asian countries and their future trajectories. The chapters included in the volume present key insights into the geopolitical dynamics of the region. New Futures for South Asia: draws on case studies from the region to discuss how democracy has fared in terms of state-society linkages, transformational possibilities and the globalization and radicalization of politics; studies possibilities of economic cooperation in South Asia, including common currency, regional imbalances and aid, transport connectivity and electricity consumption; examines the crucial role of SAARC and bilateralism in forging connectivities across the diverse geographies of the region. A major intervention in re-shaping South Asian studies, this book will be a great resource for scholars and researchers of security studies, strategic affairs, international relations, development studies and politics.

Will tomorrow's wars be dominated by autonomous drones, land robots and warriors wired into a cybernetic network which can read their thoughts? Will war be fought with greater or lesser humanity? Will it be played out in cyberspace and further afield in Low Earth Orbit? Or will it be fought more intensely still in the sprawling cities of the developing world, the grim black holes of social exclusion on our increasingly unequal planet? Will the Great Powers reinvent conflict between themselves or is war destined to become much 'smaller' both in terms of its actors and the beliefs for which they will be willing to kill? In this illuminating new book Christopher Coker takes us on an incredible journey into the future of warfare. Focusing on contemporary trends that are changing the nature and dynamics of armed conflict, he shows how conflict will continue to evolve in ways that are unlikely to render our century any less bloody than the last. With insights from philosophy, cutting-edge scientific research and popular culture, Future War is a compelling and thought-provoking meditation on the shape of war to come.

This book, written decades into the HIV epidemic, reflects critically on the idea that the socially excluded populations often focused on in HIV research are in fact difficult to access and reach. The author broadly applies the concept ‘hard to reach’ to characterize populations that researchers find difficult to engage with. Social factors that produce marginalization and ultimately result in people choosing not to engage in research are not captured by the concept of ‘hard to reach’. Limited attention has focused on how researchers can address the social factors that result in decisions to not engage in research. Disrupting the ways in which people are conceptualized as ‘hard to reach’ so as to refocus on transforming social systems and personal values, beliefs and approaches is understudied. This book uses case examples based on HIV research with Indigenous youth, internally displaced women, LGBTQ communities in the Global North and Global South, and persons at the intersection of these identities, to identify successful approaches to working with marginalized and often vulnerable communities and groups. The chapters signal the need for attention to five key social factors when developing successful approaches: context and storytelling; cultural humility; critical hope; imagination and possibility; and love, intimate inquiry, and the beloved community, if nations, individuals and communities are to address the epidemic in a sustainable and impactful way.

Machines are being systematically empowered to be interactive and intelligent in their operations, offerings. and outputs. There are pioneering Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies and tools. Machine and Deep Learning (ML/DL) algorithms, along with their enabling frameworks, libraries, and specialized accelerators, find particularly useful applications in computer and machine vision, human machine interfaces (HMIs), and intelligent machines. Machines that can see and perceive can bring forth deeper and decisive acceleration, automation, and augmentation capabilities to businesses as well as people in their everyday assignments. Machine vision is becoming a reality because of advancements in the computer vision and device instrumentation spaces. Machines are increasingly software-defined. That is, vision-enabling software and hardware modules are being embedded in new-generation machines to be self-, surroundings, and situation-aware. Machine Intelligence: Computer Vision and Natural Language Processing emphasizes computer vision and natural language processing as drivers of advances in machine intelligence. The book examines these technologies from the algorithmic level to the applications level. It also examines the integrative technologies enabling intelligent applications in business and industry. Features: Motion images object detection over voice using deep learning algorithms Ubiquitous computing and augmented reality in HCI Learning and reasoning in Artificial Intelligence Economic sustainability, mindfulness, and diversity in the age of artificial intelligence and machine learning Streaming analytics for healthcare and retail domains Covering established and emerging technologies in machine vision, the book focuses on recent and novel applications and discusses state-of-the-art technologies and tools.