ABSTRACT: The literature on sustainable development has neglected suburban regions. Through a cas... more ABSTRACT: The literature on sustainable development has neglected suburban regions. Through a case study ofsuburban Long Island, I examine the theoretical and empirical interactions between sustainable development and post-Fordism. Are these theories complements or competing altematives? As Long Island moves towards a high technology, infonnation-based economy, how are its environmental politics changing? Are sustainable development policies compatible with this new post-Fordist economy? JVhile there are some promising changes towards sustainability, regional policies continue to emphasize financial wealth at the expense of regional well-being and sustainability.
Il incombe a la societe civile d'experimenter les modeles de la citoyennete mondiale, de comp... more Il incombe a la societe civile d'experimenter les modeles de la citoyennete mondiale, de comprendre les peuples et la planete, de se soucier d eux et d’agir en leur nom en adoptant des principes et des pratiques ecologiques et socialement inclusifs. La citoyennete mondiale transforme le monde de l’art, celui des affaires, la culture, l’education, les droits de l’homme et les droits des travailleurs, la religion, la sante publique, la politique et notre relation a la nature.
It is the responsibility of civil society to experiment with models of effective global citizensh... more It is the responsibility of civil society to experiment with models of effective global citizenship, to understand, care and act on behalf of people and the planet through ecological and socially inclusive principles and practices. Global citizenship is transforming the worlds of art, business, culture, education, human and labour rights, religion, public health, politics and our relationship with nature.
Abstract The stories students tell about climate change will have a profound effect upon their li... more Abstract The stories students tell about climate change will have a profound effect upon their lives. Those stories reflect broader cultural values and environmental discourses. Therefore it is important that students think critically about the stories they learn and develop their own ...
Underneath the asphalt is a beach (Situationalist International Slogan) ... The 1990s appear to b... more Underneath the asphalt is a beach (Situationalist International Slogan) ... The 1990s appear to be the decade of the urban environment, or at least the decade wherein we abandon (once again?) the dualisms but not the dialectics of city/country, built environment/natural ...
The United Nation's Earth Summit in Rio De Janero placed sustainable development squarely on... more The United Nation's Earth Summit in Rio De Janero placed sustainable development squarely on the world agenda (Keating, 1993; McCormick, 1989; Middleton et al., 1993). National governments, rural and international development agencies, and cities have been ...
Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 2007
tual value. Fads are the product of an imbalance; something sounds good enough to get people on b... more tual value. Fads are the product of an imbalance; something sounds good enough to get people on board, but not good enough to keep them there. The author draws on his own experience to flesh out some of the motives that lead ideas to instant fame but an early grave. (Like most of the readers of Contemporary Sociology, Best has too much occupational experience with academic hoopla, as he notes in the foreword). He tartly describes the motives that propel fads in academe—the newly minted assistant professor’s need to align him or herself with a novel and obscure school of thought, the mid-career professor’s search for something to embrace, the provost’s discovery of a label under which a college’s poor record can shelter. Flavor of the Month also draws effectively on the faddishness of the medical community and of the business world. Joel Best effectively questions and complicates his own models. In a discussion of “fad purging,” for example, he considers how it is that some intrinsically ineffective innovations continue to maintain support over time. This poses a challenge for the model of fads that guides the book’s discussion, which generally looks to the weakness of an idea or practice as a fundamental cause of its demise. Best’s insight here is that practices may generate a constituency with an interest in their preservation. Despite evidence that Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) programs do little to lower drug use, for instance, these programs have strong proponents within police departments and schools. Beyond suggesting insights into the mechanisms involved in fads, Flavor of the Month is also ready to transcend the “fad framework” to think about other sorts of temporal trajectories. Best describes other models like pendulums, ratchets, and spirals. For example, technologies for learning how to read tend to move back and forth between letterbased approaches (like phonics) versus word based approaches (like word-recognition); American drug policy moves in a ratchet where new innovations generally extend and intensify the drug war. I found the book provocative and stimulating, though its easy movement from insight to insight makes one yearn for the disciplined development and test of the ideas that Joel Best sketches so gracefully. POPULATION, COMMUNITIES, AND THE ENVIRONMENT
NGOs have a powerful role to play in advancing the newly developed United Nations Sustainable Dev... more NGOs have a powerful role to play in advancing the newly developed United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Many NGOs find that global citizenship frameworks enhance their institutional effectiveness. For example, universities are increasingly pursuing global educational missions.
ABSTRACT: The literature on sustainable development has neglected suburban regions. Through a cas... more ABSTRACT: The literature on sustainable development has neglected suburban regions. Through a case study ofsuburban Long Island, I examine the theoretical and empirical interactions between sustainable development and post-Fordism. Are these theories complements or competing altematives? As Long Island moves towards a high technology, infonnation-based economy, how are its environmental politics changing? Are sustainable development policies compatible with this new post-Fordist economy? JVhile there are some promising changes towards sustainability, regional policies continue to emphasize financial wealth at the expense of regional well-being and sustainability.
Il incombe a la societe civile d'experimenter les modeles de la citoyennete mondiale, de comp... more Il incombe a la societe civile d'experimenter les modeles de la citoyennete mondiale, de comprendre les peuples et la planete, de se soucier d eux et d’agir en leur nom en adoptant des principes et des pratiques ecologiques et socialement inclusifs. La citoyennete mondiale transforme le monde de l’art, celui des affaires, la culture, l’education, les droits de l’homme et les droits des travailleurs, la religion, la sante publique, la politique et notre relation a la nature.
It is the responsibility of civil society to experiment with models of effective global citizensh... more It is the responsibility of civil society to experiment with models of effective global citizenship, to understand, care and act on behalf of people and the planet through ecological and socially inclusive principles and practices. Global citizenship is transforming the worlds of art, business, culture, education, human and labour rights, religion, public health, politics and our relationship with nature.
Abstract The stories students tell about climate change will have a profound effect upon their li... more Abstract The stories students tell about climate change will have a profound effect upon their lives. Those stories reflect broader cultural values and environmental discourses. Therefore it is important that students think critically about the stories they learn and develop their own ...
Underneath the asphalt is a beach (Situationalist International Slogan) ... The 1990s appear to b... more Underneath the asphalt is a beach (Situationalist International Slogan) ... The 1990s appear to be the decade of the urban environment, or at least the decade wherein we abandon (once again?) the dualisms but not the dialectics of city/country, built environment/natural ...
The United Nation's Earth Summit in Rio De Janero placed sustainable development squarely on... more The United Nation's Earth Summit in Rio De Janero placed sustainable development squarely on the world agenda (Keating, 1993; McCormick, 1989; Middleton et al., 1993). National governments, rural and international development agencies, and cities have been ...
Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 2007
tual value. Fads are the product of an imbalance; something sounds good enough to get people on b... more tual value. Fads are the product of an imbalance; something sounds good enough to get people on board, but not good enough to keep them there. The author draws on his own experience to flesh out some of the motives that lead ideas to instant fame but an early grave. (Like most of the readers of Contemporary Sociology, Best has too much occupational experience with academic hoopla, as he notes in the foreword). He tartly describes the motives that propel fads in academe—the newly minted assistant professor’s need to align him or herself with a novel and obscure school of thought, the mid-career professor’s search for something to embrace, the provost’s discovery of a label under which a college’s poor record can shelter. Flavor of the Month also draws effectively on the faddishness of the medical community and of the business world. Joel Best effectively questions and complicates his own models. In a discussion of “fad purging,” for example, he considers how it is that some intrinsically ineffective innovations continue to maintain support over time. This poses a challenge for the model of fads that guides the book’s discussion, which generally looks to the weakness of an idea or practice as a fundamental cause of its demise. Best’s insight here is that practices may generate a constituency with an interest in their preservation. Despite evidence that Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) programs do little to lower drug use, for instance, these programs have strong proponents within police departments and schools. Beyond suggesting insights into the mechanisms involved in fads, Flavor of the Month is also ready to transcend the “fad framework” to think about other sorts of temporal trajectories. Best describes other models like pendulums, ratchets, and spirals. For example, technologies for learning how to read tend to move back and forth between letterbased approaches (like phonics) versus word based approaches (like word-recognition); American drug policy moves in a ratchet where new innovations generally extend and intensify the drug war. I found the book provocative and stimulating, though its easy movement from insight to insight makes one yearn for the disciplined development and test of the ideas that Joel Best sketches so gracefully. POPULATION, COMMUNITIES, AND THE ENVIRONMENT
NGOs have a powerful role to play in advancing the newly developed United Nations Sustainable Dev... more NGOs have a powerful role to play in advancing the newly developed United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Many NGOs find that global citizenship frameworks enhance their institutional effectiveness. For example, universities are increasingly pursuing global educational missions.
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