This introductory text explores the historical and contemporary relevance of religion to social life, through an examination of practice and belief. Author Hunt reconsiders how theories and concepts are lived at the level of selfhood and cultural identity, through religious and spiritual belief. At the same time he looks at contemporary changes in religious life and how these are impacted by socialization, institutional belonging, and belief, and at the significance of class, gender, age and ethnicity. Individual chapters cover a range of issues, such as: religion, identity and community secularization and pluralism traditional Christianity: change and continuity globalization and the global context religion and ethnicity. The text challenges much current sociological thought and deals with contemporary Christianity, a range of world faiths and new and developing expressions of religion and spirituality. With tables and diagrams to illustrate key points and trends, it provides an accessible and captivating introduction to the sociology of religion.
“Stephen Hunter is in a class by himself. Time to Hunt is as vivid and haunting as a moving target in the crosshairs of a sniper scope.”—Nelson Demille, author of Mayday He is the most dangerous man alive. He only wants to live in peace with his family, and forget the war that nearly killed him. . . . It's not going to happen. Stephen Hunter's epic national bestsellers, Point of Impact and Black Light, introduced millions of readers to Bob Lee Swagger, called “Bob the Nailer,” a heroic but flawed Vietnam War veteran forced twice to use his skills as a master sniper to defend his life and his honor. Now, in his grandest, most intensely thrilling adventure yet, Bob the Nailer must face his deadliest foe from Vietnam—and his own demons—to save his wife and daughter. During the latter days of the Vietnam War, deep in-country, a young idealistic Marine named Donny Fenn was cut down by a sniper's bullet as he set out on patrol with Swagger, who himself received a grievous wound. Years later Swagger married Donny's widow, Julie, and together they raise their daughter, Nikki, on a ranch in the isolated Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho. Although he struggles with the painful legacy of Vietnam, Swagger's greatest wish—to leave his violent past behind and live quietly with his family—seems to have come true. Then one idyllic day, a man, a woman, and a girl set out from the ranch on horseback. High on a ridge above a mountain pass, a thousand yards distant, a calm, cold-eyed shooter, one of the world's greatest marksmen, peers through a telescopic sight at the three approaching figures. Out of his tortured past, a mortal enemy has once again found Bob the Nailer. Time to Hunt proves anew why so many consider Stephen Hunter to be our best living thriller writer. With a plot that sweeps from the killing fields of Vietnam to the corridors of power in Washington to the shadowy plots of the new world order, Hunter delivers all the complex, stay-up-all-night action his fans demand in a masterful tale of family heartbreak and international intrigue—and shows why, for Bob Lee Swagger, it's once again time to hunt. Praise for Time to Hunt “Stephen Hunter is simply the best writer of action fiction in the world and Time to Hunt proves it.”—Phillip Margolin, author of The Burning Man “The best straight-up thriller writer at work today.”—Rocky Mountain News
The power struggle begins . . . The people of Weyland always believed the slavers raids, which destroyed families and homes like a natural disaster, were a misfortune that couldn't be averted or stopped. But it's not true. King Marcus struck a deal: his people in exchange for technology and a powerful alliance with the Vandian civilisation. And now everyone knows. Jacob and Carter Carnehan escaped the slavers - along with the true king of Weyland - and have returned home with both the truth, and a Vandian princess as their hostage. Their purpose was to avoid war . . . instead, the truth prompts a civil war at home - while an invasion force focused on reclaiming the captive princess starts to gather on their borders. Jacob and Carter will be separated once again - and this time they're fighting for something bigger than their lives.
Dramatic social transformation in Western society over recent decades has had a profound impact on the way the life course is studied. While people continue to experience the implications of class, gender, ethnicity and, of course, age, they are more than ever able to take personal control of their own lives. The Life Course considers how, in a diverse and uncertain world, the previously predictable stages of life are no longer fixed but increasingly open to change. Focusing on continuities and change, this book looks not only at the different 'phases of life', but also at the transformation of a number of closely related social institutions such as the family, education and the workplace. Recognising that the established cradle-to-grave view is now outdated, the trajectory from infancy and youth to later and end-of-life is followed not as a stable object of study, but as a starting point for critical analysis. This second edition offers an essential overview of the sociology of the life course, incorporating both contemporary and conventional perspectives. It calls upon current theorising around the life course as well as on up-to-date empirical research data. This thought-provoking text is relevant to researchers and students of life course studies and sociology, as well as to those in nursing, social work and related caring professions.
Let's face it: Everyone’s a little bit racist. So why not talk about it the only way we can, this side of warfare — via humor? In The White Guy, Stephen Hunt tries to come to grips with his whiteness in order to continue to rule the world, amass the bulk of its wealth, and generally dominate things as his people have done for the past 2,000 years, give or take a few odd moments like the rise of Attila the Hun, the rule of the 7th-century Caliphate, or the '70s. Then again, if you’re not a white guy, this is the ultimate insider's guide to the minds of the men responsible for everything that's wrong with the world or your life: apartheid, colonialism, ethnic cleansing, the glass ceiling, patriarchy, serial killing, NASCAR, K-tel® Records, even the theft of rock ‘n’ roll. The White Guy humorously turns racial politics on its head, while delivering a subtle message about tolerance.
Carter has been kidnapped. Enslaved. But he's determined to fight to the end. Jacob is a pacifist. His family destroyed. He's about to choose the path of violence to reclaim his son. Their world has changed for ever. Between them, they're going to avenge it. Jacob Carnehan has settled down. He's living a comfortable, quiet life, obeying the law and minding his own business while raising his son Carter ... on those occasions when he isn't having to bail him out of one scrape or another. His days of adventure are - thankfully - long behind him. Carter Carnehan is going out of his mind with boredom. He's bored by his humdrum life, frustrated that his father won't live a little, and longs for the bright lights and excitement of anywhere-but-here. He's longing for an opportunity to escape, and test himself against whatever the world has to offer. Carter is going to get his opportunity. He's caught up in a village fight, kidnapped by slavers and, before he knows it, is swept to another land. A lowly slave, surrounded by technology he doesn't understand, his wish has come true: it's him vs. the world. He can try to escape, he can try to lead his fellow slaves, or he can accept the inevitable and try to make the most of the short, brutal existence remaining to him. ... unless Jacob gets to him first and, no matter the odds, he intends to. No one kidnaps his son and gets away with it - and if it come to it, he'll force Kings to help him on his way, he'll fight, steal, blackmail and betray his friends in the name of bringing Carter home. Wars will be started. Empires will fall. And the Carnehan family will be reunited, one way or another ...
Weyland has been at war. Invaded by a technologically advanced enemy, the cities sacked, and what fragile peace remained torn apart by a civil war. All anyone should want is a return to peace. But Jacob Carneham still wants his revenge; and if he can lure the invaders into the mountain he can have it. He can kill them all. If he does, there may never be peace again. If he doesn't, Weyland will never be free of the threat of invasion. The northern horse lords are planning an attack. A future Empress is fighting to save her daughter. Jacob's son is trying to restore peace and stability to Weyland, alongside the rightful King. And behind it all is a greater struggle, which may spell the end for them all . . .
Jack Cloudie is a tale of high adventure and derring-do set in the same Victorian-style steampunk world as Stephen Hunt's acclaimed The Court of the Air and The Secrets of the Fire Sea. Thanks to his father's gambling debts, young Jack Keats finds himself on the streets and trying to survive as a pickpocket. Following a daring bank robbery gone badly awry, Jack narrowly escapes the scaffold, only to be pressed into the Royal Aerostatical Navy. Assigned to the most useless airship in the fleet, serving under a captain who is most probably mad, Jack seems to be bound for almost certain death in the faraway deserts of Cassarabia. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the slave Omar ibn Barir finds his life turned upside down when his master's religious sect is banned. Unexpectedly freed, he joins the Caliph's military forces—just as war is brewing. Two very similar young men prepare to face each other across a field of battle. But is Omar the enemy, or is Jack's true nemesis the sickness at the heart of the Caliph's court? At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Targeted for their possession of a magical secret that has forced them into lives of hardship, street-wise Molly and sheltered Oliver find themselves on the run in the company of outlaws and spies who assist their efforts to counter ancient enemies of the state.
This book offers a comprehensive account of the nature and expression of contemporary forms of religion in Western societies. Drawing both on recent original work and classical and contemporary conceptual frameworks, it examines the beliefs, practices, patterns of organisation and significant trends in both mainstream and fringe religions including cults and quasi-religions. Competing arguments and theories about key developments are treated fully and fairly and there is a clear sense throughout of the social context. The approach is broadly sociological and the well-paced, jargon-free writing style and clearly sectioned chapters make this an ideal text for teaching and study purposes, both in sociology and religious studies. Amongst the themes and concerns covered are: - What we mean in the first place by religion - Secularisation and new expressions of religiosity - The effect of religion on society and the relationship between religion and social change - The links between belief, belonging and social identity - Contemporary Christianity and the religions of ethnic minorities in the West - Globalisation, religious pluralism and postmodernity STEPHEN J. HUNT is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of West of England, Bristol. He has written widely on contemporary Christianity and new religious movements.
Rapid and far-reaching social transformation in Western society over the last few decades has prompted considerable interest in the life course. This accessible and informative text provides a substantive overview to the topic, combining contemporary and more traditional perspectives. Tracing the different stages of the life course through infancy and youth to old age and dying, the book considers what is distinct about a sociological approach to the life course and explores recent debates and changing theoretical perspectives in the context of biological, psychological and social influences.
On the run after killing a guard in the Royal Breeding House, orphan Purity Drake learns from her mysterious rescuer that he is working against terrible monsters that would enslave the entire kingdom to punish its corrupt government.
When streetwise Molly Templar witnesses a brutal murder, her first instinct is to run back to the poorhouse where she grew up. But there she finds her fellow orphans butchered, and she realizes she had been the real target, in this adventure set in a fantastical universe.
Tracing the History of the Oldest Breed of Dog In 1992, two Russian movie makers left a cryptic note for New Mexican writer Stephen Bodio at his local bar. It led him to Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, where he saw a film about the ancient breed of Central Asian sighthounds known as tazis. He would end up chasing these leads to Kazakhstan, where these beautiful dogs may have existed 6000 years ago. He found evidence in ancient rock paintings that these hounds, ancestors of such modern breeds as salukis and Afghans, were and still are used to hunt with birds of prey and horses in the Bronze Age, all along the old Silk Road. He brought back several pups to his home in New Mexico, bred them, and placed them with friends, some of whom wanted to use them to increase the genetic diversity of the saluki. Soviets tried to wipe out the breed, valued by tribal people as a symbol of their independence. But the greatest threat to them today might be the show-dog breeder’s closed stud books, though modern attacks on hunting with hounds might destroy their “work.” The Hounds of Heaven is a celebration of the Asian sighthound in all its names and glorious variety, a lament for disappearing ways, and an adventure. Its characters include scientists, hunters, and memorable dogs; Lashyn, the jealous girlfriend, who destroyed the bonsai; Ataika, the Kazakh princess who rules the world, who taught herself to hunt with hawk, falcon, and gun, entirely without commands; Kyran, who came speaking only Russian. Bodio blends science, history, and art to tell a tale that has not reached an end yet. As he says, “The hounds are still running.”
Over the years, bridging the gap between research and practice in education has proven to be a stubborn and persistent problem. This book examines the issue from several perspectives. First, the characteristics of educational research are examined, with particular attention given to the contrasting perspectives and professional orientations of researchers and practitioners. Second, the book provides a critical analysis of the current focus on "scientifically based" research as defined by No Child Left Behind and of the dubious relevance and uneven quality of research produced by schools of education. Third, several suggestions and resources are provided that can help practitioners improve their "research literacy" and assist researchers interested in advancing the practical relevance of their work."--BOOK JACKET.
The subject of gay and lesbian sexuality is perhaps the most vexed issue in the contemporary Christian Church. Many churches have been forced to confront the matter, both theologically and pastorally and in consequence, controversies have proved divisive within the Church, most notably between conservative and liberal orientated denominations, as well as evangelical churches. This book explores these themes from a sociological perspective, addressing not only gay and lesbian sexualities, but also bi- and transgendered sexualities. With rich empirical material being presented by a team of experts, this book constitutes the first comprehensive sociological study of 'non-hetero' sexualities in relation to contemporary Christianity. As such, it will appeal to sociologists, scholars of religion and theology as well as readers across a range of social sciences
The Alpha Enterprise explores the development, growth and impact of the most widely used evangelising programme of recent decades. The Alpha course is run in over seven thousand churches in the UK and over five thousand in the USA. Across the world some four million people have graduated through the course in over 80 countries. Alpha is truly the fastest growing evangelising initiative, creating widespread support as well as stirring strong criticism. Stephen Hunt critically examines the content and working philosophy of the Alpha course through the experiences of the churches that have run it, as well as the individuals who have experienced it first hand. Hunt charts the history of the programme, its use of group dynamics and media, how it links with the charismatic movement, how it deals with issues such as homosexuality, how it is run not only in churches but in prisons and universities too, and concludes by measuring Alpha's impact and success. Engaging with debates regarding postmodernity, globalisation, McDonaldisation, consumerism, and secularisation, and based on real-life surveys, The Alpha Enterprise sheds new light not only on evangelism but on contemporary Christianity in general and how it engages with a post-Christian culture.
The concept of "substantial differences" - far from being a dry, technical topic for a book on higher education policy - goes to the heart of how we view qualifications and education and is the key concept of the Council of Europe/UNESCO Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region, better known as the Lisbon Recognition Convention. What do learners know and understand and what are they able to do on the basis of their qualifications? How can this be expressed and described, and how can learners carry their qualifications across borders without leaving part of their real value behind?In discussions on substantial differences, the technical meets the philosophical, the administrative meets the political. Decisions on recognition, made in considering whether a difference is substantial, have a direct influence on applicants' future study and employment opportunities, but also reveal how those who make the decisions view themselves, their education system and their societies.
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