Work-Lifestyle Choices in the 21st Century


Book Description

In this book, Hakim presents a new, multi-disciplinary theory for explaining and predicting current and future patterns of women's choice between employment and family work. Preference theory is the first theory developed specifically to explain women's behaviour and choices. As such, it constitutes a major break from male-centred theorizing to date in sociology and economics. Preference theory is grounded on the substantial body of new research on women's work and fertility that has flourished within feminist scholarship. It identifies five major historical changes that collectively are producing a qualitatively new scenario for women in prosperous societies in the 21st century. Throughout the analysis, the USA and Britain illustrate what the new scenario means for women, how it alters their preferences and work-lifestyles choices. Hakim also reviews research evidence on contemporary developments across Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan, and the far East to develop a new theory that is genuine international in perspective.




21 Lessons for the 21st Century


Book Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In Sapiens, he explored our past. In Homo Deus, he looked to our future. Now, one of the world’s most innovative thinkers explores what it means to be human in an age of bewilderment. “Fascinating . . . a crucial global conversation about how to take on the problems of the twenty-first century.”—Bill Gates, The New York Times Book Review A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR How can we protect ourselves from nuclear war or ecological catastrophe? What do we do about the epidemic of fake news or the threat of terrorism? How should we prepare our children for the future? 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is a probing and visionary investigation into today’s most urgent issues as we move into the future. As technology advances faster than our understanding of it, hacking becomes a tactic of war, and the world feels more polarized than ever, Harari addresses the challenge of navigating life in the face of constant and disorienting change and raises the important questions we need to ask ourselves in order to survive. In twenty-one accessible chapters that are both provocative and profound, Harari untangles political, technological, social, and existential issues and offers advice on how to prepare for a very different future from the world we now live in: How can we retain freedom of choice when Big Data is watching us? What will the future workforce look like, and how should we ready ourselves for it? Why is liberal democracy in crisis? Harari’s unique ability to make sense of where we have come from and where we are going has captured the imaginations of millions of readers. Here he invites us to consider values, meaning, and personal engagement in a world full of noise and uncertainty. When we are deluged with irrelevant information, clarity is power. Presenting complex contemporary challenges clearly and accessibly, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is essential reading.




Nuclear Choices


Book Description

background needed to make informed choices about nuclear technologies, introducing concepts that can be used for evaluating the claims of both proponents and opponents




Energizing Our Future


Book Description

This important new book presents a comprehensive review of practical alternative energy choices for the twenty-first century. It addresses three critical energy-related topics that are causing great confusion in public debate—global warming, the hydrogen economy, and nuclear power—and gives readers an opportunity to form a grounded, factually correct foundation for understanding the energy challenge and develop their own informed and actionable opinion.







Responsible Reproductive Choice in the 21st Century


Book Description

This book systematically traces the development, significance, and implications of female reproductive choice. Paramount is the right to safe termination of pregnancy (TOP). In the USA, these rights are under threat after the reversal of Roe v Wade (1973), confirming the eternally contested nature of the pro-life/pro-choice standoff. The approach is unique and from all angles – historical, social, emotional, and legal. South African experience is evaluated against a global backdrop. Arguing from an ethics of responsibility, the book presents a justified, balanced, rational, and moderate position on the moral acceptability of TOP. It proposes that the morality TOP be evaluated by balancing inherent foetal moral significance against contingent potentiality: context and circumstance that may determine foetal development. TOP is a choice a woman faces with each pregnancy. It always has moral implications – exclusive to the life of the woman. So, too, do continued pregnancy and parenthood, but these are of greater magnitude and duration.







The 21st-century Singer


Book Description

Young classical singers, particularly recent graduates of music programs, need not only considerable artistic ability but also intelligence and an acute business sense to navigate the world of professional singing. In this book, author Susan Mohini Kane has created a user-friendly guide for these recent graduates. Kane combines the benefits of an instructional manual with those of a self-reflective workbook to provide emerging classical singers with both practical and inspirational advice.




Choice


Book Description

We make decisions every day. Yet we are sometimes perplexed by these decisions and the decisions of others. To complicate things further, we live in an age where there are more things to choose from than ever before the Internet is transforming our choices and making us more accountable for them: what we choose is recorded, modelled and used to predict our future behaviour. So are we in a position to make better choices today than we were a decade ago? Certainly there are some who believe so. Psychologists claim we are subject to hidden mental processes that lead us to one thing rather than another; economists offer predictions about what people will buy; and some philosophers claim that our choices echo our evolutionary past. Are these claims merited? Do they reflect the beginnings of a new science of choice? This book offers a critical overview of these and other claims, showing where they are justified and where they are exaggerated. It will be an essential reference for anyone interested in whether science can help us to understand both the ways people make choices in their everyday lives and how these may be changing.




Choices and Challeges


Book Description