Pan-Slavism and Slavophilia in Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe


Book Description

This book explores origins, manifestations, and functions of Pan-Slavism in contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, arguing that despite the extinction of Pan-Slavism as an articulated Romantic-era geopolitical ideology, a number of related discourses, metaphors, and emotions have spilled over into the mainstream debates and popular imagination. Using the term Slavophilia to capture the range of representations, the volume analyses how geopolitical discourses shape the identity and policies of a community, providing a comparative analysis that covers a range of Slavic countries in order to understand how Pan-Slavism works and resonates across geographic and political contexts.




Dirty Assets


Book Description

Adopting a multi-disciplinary and comparative approach, this book focuses on the emerging and innovative aspects of attempts to target the accumulated assets of those engaged in criminal and terrorist activity, organized crime and corruption. It examines the ’follow-the-money’ approach and explores the nature of criminal, civil and regulatory responses used to attack the financial assets of those engaged in financial crime in order to deter and disrupt future criminal activity as well as terrorism networks. With contributions from leading international academics and practitioners in the fields of law, economics, financial management, criminology, sociology and political science, the book explores law and practice in countries with significant problems and experiences, revealing new insights into these dilemmas. It also discusses the impact of the ’follow-the-money’ approach on human rights while also assessing effectiveness. The book will appeal to academics and researchers of financial crime, organized crime and terrorism as well as practitioners in the police, prosecution, financial and taxation agencies, policy-makers and lawyers.




Using Transparency Against Corruption in Public Procurement


Book Description

This book examines corruption in public procurement in three Member States of the EU, reviewing their different approaches to combating corruption, and the extent to which the transparency principle is applied in their procurement systems. The focus of the work is on the contrast between the unsuccessful procurement legislation of a relatively young Member State (Bulgaria) and its attempt to curb corruption by expanding the scope of application of the transparency principle, and two examples of procurement systems where corruption is limited adequately, without an excess of information procedural requirements (Germany and Austria). The book scrutinizes the transparency rules, procurement participants, and responsible institutions in the award of procurements in these countries. It discusses in detail the types of infringements involving corruption as well as their link to infringements of the transparency principle. It compares and examines the systems of control and appeal against a contracting authority's actions within the various legislative schemes, and highlights the legislative weaknesses which fail to reduce corruption. The comparative analysis between the Bulgarian public procurement system and the German and Austrian systems is carried out through detailed research not only with regard to adherence to the transparency principle, but also to the use of other mechanisms to limit corruption, insofar as these solutions are appropriate and could be adapted in other countries currently lacking sufficient anti-corruption measures.




Toward a Livable Life


Book Description

Toward a Livable Life explores many of today's most critical issues facing both the United States and the profession of social work (i.e., poverty, inequality, disparities in health, discrimination, and several other areas). The volume enlists the insights of leading social work scholars in order to assess the causes behind these problems and identify innovative solutions.




Social Work and Social Welfare


Book Description

Social Work and Social Welfare: An Invitation is a best-selling text and website for introductory courses in social work. It provides students with the knowledge, skills, and values that are essential for working with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities, in a variety of practice settings. The sixth edition has been updated to reflect the contemporary world in which today’s social workers practice, with current demographic, statistical, legislative, policy, and research information; sensitive discussions of ethical dilemmas; and fresh profiles of social workers with first-person narratives to demonstrate the dynamic fi eld students will be joining. To address the dramatic changes in the world in which social workers practice since the fifth edition was released, we have revised and added content: Centering diversity, equity, and inclusion to elevate anti-racist and anti-oppressive practice, including a critical review of our profession’s history. Demonstrating how the COVID-19 pandemic exposed and intensified inequities as well as ways in which social workers responded to the needs of their clients, organizations, and communities. Updating language to reflect commitment to and respect for inclusivity, gender identity, and nongendered identities. The content in this text is supported by a range of fully updated instructor led and student resources that are available on its companion website, www. routledgesw.com. Assignments, exercises, and readings that help instructors and students apply the concepts and theories the textbook reviews may be found there, as well as extensive interactive case studies to engage students in some of society’s most challenging issues.




The Political Economy of Coal


Book Description

This volume provides an overview of the political economy of coal in diverse country contexts. Coal is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions globally, accounting for about 40 percent of energy-related CO2 emissions. Continued construction of coal-fired power plants could make the climate targets of the Paris Agreement infeasible to achieve. In spite of sharply declining costs for renewable energy sources, many countries still heavily rely on coal to meet their energy demand. The predominance of coal can only be adequately understood in light of the political factors that determine energy policy formulation. To this end, this edited volume assembles a wide variety of case studies exploring the political economy of coal for across the globe. These includes industrial and developing nations, coal importers and exporters as well as countries that are either substantial coal users, are just beginning to ramp up their capacities, or have already initiated a coal phase-out. Importantly, all case studies are structured along a unifying framework that focuses on the central actors driving energy policy formulation, their main objectives as well as the context that determines to what extent they can influence policy making. This large set of comparable studies will permit drawing conclusions regarding key similarities as well as differences driving coal use in different countries. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of energy, climate change, resource management, and sustainable development. It will also appeal to practitioners and policymakers involved in sustainable development. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution- Non Commercial- No Derivatives 4.0 license.




Making Education Work for the Poor


Book Description

Making Education Work for the Poor identifies wealth inequality as the gravest threat to the endangered American Dream. Though studies have clearly illustrated that education is the primary path to upward mobility, today, educational outcomes are more directly determined by wealth than innate ability and exerted effort. This accounting directly contradicts Americans' understanding of the promise the American Dream is supposed to offer: a level playing field and a path towards a more profitable future. In this book, the authors share their own stories of their journeys through the unequal U.S. education system. One started from relative privilege and had her way to prosperity paved and her individual efforts augmented by institutional and structural support. The other grew up in poverty and had to fight against currents to complete higher education, only to find his ability to profit from that degree compromised by student debt. To directly counter wealth inequality and make education the 'great equalizer' that Americans believe it to be, this book calls for a revolution in financial aid policy, from debt dependence to asset empowerment. The book examines the evidence base supporting Children's Savings Accounts, including CSAs' demonstrated potential to improve children's outcomes all along the 'opportunity pipeline': early education, school achievement, college access and completion, and post-college financial health. It then outlines a policy that builds on CSAs to incorporate a sizable, progressive wealth transfer. This new policy, Opportunity Investment Accounts, is framed as the cornerstone of the wealth-building agenda the nation needs in order to salvage the American Dream. Written by leading CSA researchers, the book includes overviews of the major children's savings legislation proposed in Congress and the key features of prominent CSA programs in operation around the country today, as well as new qualitative and quantitative CSA research. The book ultimately presents a critical development of the theories that, together, explain how universal, progressive, asset-based education financing could make education work equitably for all American children.




Comparing Police Corruption


Book Description

This book analyses police corruption across four country case studies, exploring how the problem manifests in each country and how it can be reduced. The problem of police corruption ranges from having to pay a bribe to a traffic cop to avoid a speeding fine, right up to more serious forms, such as collusion with organised crime groups and terrorists. The issue therefore constitutes a significant security threat and a human rights issue, but it is often difficult to understand the extent of the problem, and how it varies across contexts. This book analyses the corruption situation in Bulgaria, Germany, Russia and Singapore, identifies similarities and differences across them, and analyses the various means of addressing the problem: punitive, incentivising, technological, administrative and imaging, and the role of civil society. Drawing on existing literature and research, the book also makes extensive use of local sources and original survey data across the four countries. As comparative literature on police corruption remains rare, this book’s survey of the situation in two developed states and two post-communist transition states will be of considerable interest to students and researchers across corruption studies, criminology, police studies and security studies, as well as practitioners working in anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies.