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Elsevier

Books in Arts and humanities

Elsevier's Arts and Humanities titles encompass a rich spectrum of scholarship that explores human culture, history, philosophy, and creative expression. These works offer deep insights into language, literature, visual arts, and critical theory, supporting the academic community in understanding diverse perspectives and cultural legacies. Designed for scholars, educators, and students, this collection bridges classic studies with contemporary issues, fostering a deeper appreciation and knowledge of the human experience.

  • Language and Poverty

    Perspectives on a Theme
    • 1st Edition
    • Frederick Williams
    • English
    Language and Poverty: Perspectives on a Theme is a collection of papers that juxtaposes different perspectives on the definition of language and language behavior in relation to poverty. The book brings together a broad range of perspectives pertinent to language and poverty, specifically that of poor children. Topics on the language of the poor; how to construct effective language programs for the poverty child; biological and social factors in language development; and standardized assessment of the language of disadvantaged children are covered. Policy makers, social workers, language teachers, sociologists, psychologists, and educators will find the text invaluable.

  • By Bread Alone

    • 1st Edition
    • Lester R. Brown + 1 more
    • English
    By Bread Alone is an interdisciplinary analysis of the global food situation and food production prospects. It examines the problems posed by the new international order, as well as the policy alternatives open to mankind. It also discusses the role of the United States, the world's breadbasket, in addressing the food crisis, particularly in shaping the "rules of the game" for access to raw materials, for expanding production, and for establishing global reserves. Comprised of 17 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the changing face of food shortage, together with the history and geography of malnutrition. The evolution of agriculture and famine in human history are considered, along with the impact of population growth and rising affluence on food supply. Subsequent chapters explore how the world's food systems are being undermined by ecological events such as climate change, deforestation, and eutrophication of lakes and streams; the growing problem of food insecurity; and the global politics of food scarcity. The next section deals with four basic resources relevant to food supply: land, water, energy, and fertilizer. Finally, policy recommendations aimed at addressing the global food problem are given. This monograph will be of interest to politicians and policymakers.

  • Pain

    A Psychophysiological Analysis
    • 1st Edition
    • Richard A. Sternbach
    • English
    Pain: A Psychophysiological Analysis focuses on the processes, mechanisms, and approaches in studying pain. The book first offers information on the problems of experimental pain and neurological activity. Topics include anxiety as an experimental variable, implications for experimental pain, pain stimuli, receptors, and fibers, dorsal roots and spinal cord, and sensory nerves. The text also ponders on physiological responses and overt pain behavior. Discussions focus on perceptual, cognitive, personality, family, and ethnic factors, aggression, adaptation and rebound, stress, and pain-specific responses. The publication takes a look at affective descriptions and insensitivity to pain. Concerns include interpersonal aspects of pain, subjective responses to pain, psychodynamics of pain responses, personality development without pain, and possible neural defects. Phantom pain and hypnotic and placebo effects are also elaborated. The manuscript is a vital source of data for psychiatrists, neurologists, psychologists, and physiologists.

  • Introduction to Urban Economics

    • 1st Edition
    • Douglas M. Brown
    • English
    Introduction to Urban Economics offers a complete and self-contained coverage of urban economics. This book analyzes the economic rationale and growth and development of cities, theory and empirical analysis of urban markets, and problems and policies of urban economies. This text is divided into inter- and intra-urban analysis. Discussions on inter-urban analysis comprise Chapters 1 to 3 that include an introduction to urban economics, economic history of urban areas, and economics of urban growth. The rest of the chapters that cover intra-urban analysis describe the theories of urban markets, empirical tests of the theories, and implications of the empirical findings for policy decisions. This publication is valuable to students with a background in economic principles.

  • 3000 Years of Urban Growth

    • 1st Edition
    • Tertius Chandler + 1 more
    • H. H. Winsborough
    • English
    3000 Years of Urban Growth compiles urban population data acquired from large cities at different points in time throughout the centuries. This book describes the sources and methods used in historical urban studies, including an evaluation of the total size estimates, area, institutional factors, and volume of local activity. Illustrations of maps that locate large cities from several time tables and regions of the world are also provided. This text likewise covers the data sheets for ancient cities from 1360 B.C. to 200 B.C. and 100 A.D. to 622 A.D. The data sheets from 800 to 1850 A.D. provide estimates for countries such as Italy, Afghanistan, France, Brazil, India, and Russia. Other topics include the world's largest cities from 430 B.C. to200 B.C., top six cities in each continent from 800 to 1850, and whereabouts of unfamiliar cities not shown on the maps. This publication is a good source for sociologists, historians, and researchers interested in population studies.

  • Sexuality in the Later Years

    Roles and Behavior
    • 1st Edition
    • Ruth B. Weg
    • English
    Sexuality in the Later Years: Roles and Behavior pulls together evidence from the anthropological, psychological, social, and physiological disciplines and represents an effort to present a coherent picture of sexual roles and behavior in the later years. This work does not pretend to answer all questions that could be raised concerning sexuality and aging but attempts rather to concentrate on issues that have been relatively neglected, primarily options, potentials, and possibilities for the individualization and humanization of sex roles and sexual behavior of older persons. The book is organized into five parts. Part I examines concepts of sexuality in the later years, including cultural attitudes and behaviors towards sexuality, psychological and sociological perspectives, and a life-span model of sex-role development. Part II on life-styles deals with the impact of aging on the sexuality of those who are unmarried in later life; the relationship between interpersonal intimacy and adaptation to stress throughout adult life; and the range of sexual orientations in the later years, along with their incidence, their contributions to social adaptation, and the particular constraints surrounding them. Part III discusses issues in research and therapy while Part IV considers views of sexuality and aging in other countries, namely Canada and Sweden. Part V inquires into the problems associated with transitions in the later part of the life cycle of love.

  • Underdevelopment and the Transition to Socialism

    Mozambique and Tanzania
    • 1st Edition
    • James H. Mittelman
    • English
    Underdevelopment and the Transition to Socialism: Mozambique and Tanzania evaluates the promise and problems of socialism in the Third World by considering the political economies of Mozambique and Tanzania. The aim is to provide a basic account, for Marxists and non-Marxists alike, interested in alternative strategies of development in the Third World. It offers a materialist political economy approach that should be useful to an interdisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners. The book is organized into four parts. Part I maps out purposes and procedures. Part II on Mozambique is a factually grounded analysis of an initial conjuncture in the transition to socialism—the capture of state power by workers and peasants. Part III on Tanzania focuses on another vital step on the way to socialism—the nationalization of leading financial institutions and the attempt to place them under the aegis of the immediate producers. Part IV knits together the main strands of the foregoing analysis and ties them to the broad themes discussed at the beginning of this book.

  • American Sociological Theory

    A Critical History
    • 1st Edition
    • Robert Bierstedt
    • English
    American Sociological Theory: A Critical History discusses the history of American sociological theory by providing a selective and critical account of ten writers largely involved in the subject. Chapters 1 to 10 of this book are devoted to the contributions and investigations of ten acclaimed sociological theorists— William Graham Sumner, Lester Frank Ward, Charles Horton Cooley, Edward Alsworth Ross, Florian Znaniecki, Robert Morrison Maclver, Pitirim A. Sorokin, George A. Lundberg, Talcott Parsons, and Robert K. Merton. The sociological label, legacy of Spencer, normative taboo, American references, and the ""Holy Trinity"" (Marx, Durkheim, and Weber) are also elaborated in this text. This publication is a good reference for students and researchers conducting work on general sociological theory.

  • Youth and History

    Tradition and Change in European Age Relations, 1770–Present
    • 1st Edition
    • John R. Gillis
    • English
    Youth and History: Tradition and Change in European Age Relations 1770 - Present, Expanded Student Edition deals with the patterns of behavior and styles that characterizes the youth in a particular period of time. Chapters in the book discuss such topics as the description of youth in preindustrial Europe; the emergence of separate working class and middle class traditions of youth and the conflict between these traditions, as it was institutionalized in the academic and extracurricular cultures of the early twentieth century; and the youth tradition in the volatile 1950s and 1960s. Psychologists, sociologists, and historians will find the book insightful.

  • Developments and Social Problems

    • 1st Edition
    • Herbert M. Lefcourt
    • English
    Research with the Locus of Control Construct, Volume 2: Developments and Social Problems seeks to contribute towards explaining the nomological network in which the locus of control construct is embedded. In studying the antecedents, concomitants, and far-reaching ramifications of the construct we can come to see its meaning more clearly. The book is organized into three parts. Part I pertains to one realm of locus of control research that is of signal interest to psychologists concerned with personality research and theory. If locus of control is an important predictor of behavior, then we should know something about its origins and the role it plays at different stages of the life span. The chapters in the first part aid in the development of such a life-span approach to locus of control research. Part II focuses on applications to two clinical-social problems: marital instability and alcoholism. Part III explores the use of locus of control as a moderator variable. Here, the response to particular situational constraints or milieu characteristics is evaluated vis-à-vis status on locus of control variables. In this way it becomes possible to speak of the specific effects of therapy or educational procedures upon persons who vary in personality characteristics such as locus of control, in much the way that the advocates of interactionism have always advised.

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