This text provides a critical but systematic overview of democratic theory and practice in the contemporary world. The authors show that recent developments are more complex than admitted by proponents of the idea of a democratic world with, what they call, de-democratization of various forms running in parallel with democratization.
This collection provides new information and analytical perspectives on how the forces of globalization and regional integration are altering the basic nature of interactions between the states, non-state actors and peoples of the Americas. The authors examine and assess the effects of the United States government's doctrines of unilateralism and preemptive action on Inter-American relations; they analyze the role of civil society and non-state actors such as transnational companies, non-governmental organizations, and new political movements in the relations between the states and societies of the Americas; and they reveal the extent to which the above processes and conditions are affecting economic, political, social, and cultural developments at the local level (and vice-versa). Jorge Nef has published over 100 articles and chapters and is author or co-author of more than a dozen books. His main areas of interest are political economy and human security. He is a Professor and Director of Latin American Studies at the University of South Florida. Professor Harry E. Vanden teaches political science and Latin American Studies at the University of South Florida. In addition to writing numerous articles, he has published several books on inter-American relations, terrorism, globalization and new political movements in Latin America.
Why are Mexicans so successful in individual sports, but deficient in team play? Why do Mexicans dislike living in skyscrapers? Why do Mexicans love to see themselves as victims, but also love victims? And why, though the Mexican people traditionally avoid conflict, is there so much violence in a country where many leaders have died by assassination? In this shrewd and fascinating book, the renowned scholar and former foreign minister Jorge Castañeda sheds much light on the puzzling paradoxes of his native country. Here’s a nation of 110 million that has an ambivalent and complicated relationship with the United States yet is host to more American expatriates than any country in the world. Its people tend to resent foreigners yet have made the nation a hugely popular tourist destination. Mexican individualism and individual ties to the land reflect a desire to conserve the past and slow the route to uncertain modernity. Castañeda examines the future possibilities for Mexico as it becomes more diverse in its regional identities, socially more homogenous, its character and culture the instruments of change rather than sources of stagnation, its political system more open and democratic. Mañana Forever? is a compelling portrait of a nation at a crossroads.
Managing Development in a Global Context examines the complex relationship between management, development and globalization from a multidimensional perspective. Key authors in the field explore the historical record, the current global, regional and national characteristics of present developmental and managerial dilemmas, and possible future scenarios. Adopting a refreshing critical perspective, this book bridges the gap between theoretical literature and practices needed to understand the process of development management challenges facing the South.
This text provides a critical but systematic overview of democratic theory and practice in the contemporary world. The authors show that recent developments are more complex than admitted by proponents of the idea of a democratic world with, what they call, de-democratization of various forms running in parallel with democratization.
ENGINEERING ACOUSTICS NOISE AND VIBRATION CONTROL A masterful introduction to the theory of acoustics along with methods for the control of noise and vibration In Engineering Acoustics: Noise and Vibration Control, two experts in the field review the fundamentals of acoustics, noise, and vibration. The authors show how this theoretical work can be applied to real-world problems such as the control of noise and vibration in aircraft, automobiles and trucks, machinery, and road and rail vehicles. Engineering Acoustics: Noise and Vibration Control covers a wide range of topics. The sixteen chapters include the following: Human hearing and individual and community response to noise and vibration Noise and vibration instrumentation and measurements Interior and exterior noise of aircraft as well as road and rail vehicles Methods for the control of noise and vibration in industrial equipment and machinery Use of theoretical models in absorptive and reactive muffler and silencer designs Practical applications of finite element, boundary element and statistical energy analysis Sound intensity theory, measurements, and applications Noise and vibration control in buildings How to design air-conditioning systems to minimize noise and vibration Readers, whether students, professional engineers, or community planners, will find numerous worked examples throughout the book, and useful references at the end of each chapter to support supplemental reading on specific topics. There is a detailed index and a glossary of terms in acoustics, noise, and vibration.
Written by a scientist and researcher with more than 25 years of experience in the field, this serves as a complete guide to catalyst activity loss during the hydroprocessing of heavy oils. Explores the physical and chemical properties of heavy oils and hydroprocessing catalysts; the mechanisms of catalyst deactivation; catalyst characterization by a variety of techniques and reaction conditions; laboratory and commercial information for model validations; and more Demonstrates how to develop correlations and models for a variety of reaction scales with step-by-step descriptions and detailed experimental data Contains important implications for increasing operational efficiencies within the petroleum industry An essential reference for professionals and researchers working in the refining industry as well as students taking courses on chemical reaction engineering
Twenty years after the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, "The Earth Summit", the Rio+20 conference in 2012 brought life back to sustainable development by putting it at the centre of a new global development partnership, one in which sustainable development is the basis for eradicating poverty, upholding human development and transforming economies. Written by practitioners and participants involved in the multilateral process of negotiations, this book presents a unique insider analysis of not only what happened and why, but also where the outcomes might impact in the future, particularly in the UN development agenda beyond 2015. The book throws light on the changing nature of multilateralism and questions frequent assumptions on how policy is defined within the UN. It shows that Rio+20 was more than an international meeting; it represented a culminating point of decades of successes and failures and a watershed moment for seminal concepts, ideas and partnerships including the Green Economy, zero tolerance on land degradation, the introduction of Sustainable Development Goals, the creation of national measurements of consumption, production and well-being that are intended to go beyond GDP, the introduction of national green accounting and the commitment of billions of dollars for sustainable development partnerships, including Sustainable Energy for All. The authors conclude by mapping out a new agenda for development in 2015, when the current Millennium Development Goals framework is due to expire. An agenda that will restore faith in the UN and inspire a global response to the demographic, economic and environmental challenges that will define our future in the decades to come.
The atomic nucleus, despite of being one of the smallest objects found in nature, appears to be large enough to experience phase transitions. The book deals with the liquid and gaseous phases of nuclear matter, as well as with the experimental routes to achieve transformation between them.Theoretical models are introduced from the ground up and with increasing complexity to describe nuclear matter from a statistical and thermodynamical point of view. Modern critical phenomena, heavy ion collisions and computational techniques are presented while establishing a linkage to experimental data.The pedagogy, proposed problems and computer codes provided make this book an invaluable source of information to understand modern nuclear physics in the heavy-ion and intermediate-energy regime. The book also serves as an introduction to the use of modern statistical and computational techniques in the field of nuclear physics.
Loop quantum gravity is one of the modern contenders for a unified description of quantum mechanics and gravity. Up to now no book has covered the material at the level of a college student or of other readers with some knowledge of college level physics. This book fills that gap.
Motivated by applications in theoretical computer science, the theory of finite semigroups has emerged in recent years as an autonomous area of mathematics. It fruitfully combines methods, ideas and constructions from algebra, combinatorics, logic and topology. In simple terms, the theory aims at a classification of finite semigroups in certain classes called ?pseudovarieties?. The classifying characteristics have both structural and syntactical aspects, the general connection between them being part of universal algebra. Besides providing a foundational study of the theory in the setting of arbitrary abstract finite algebras, this book stresses the syntactical approach to finite semigroups. This involves studying (relatively) free and profinite free semigroups and their presentations. The techniques used are illustrated in a systematic study of various operators on pseudovarieties of semigroups.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.