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The key to human nature that Marx found in wealth and Freud in sex, Bertrand Russell finds in power. Power, he argues, is man's ultimate goal, and is, in its many guises, the single most important element in the development of any society. Writting in the late 1930s when Europe was being torn apart by extremist ideologies and the world was on the brink of war, Russell set out to found a 'new science' to make sense of the traumatic events of the day and explain those that would follow. The result was Power, a remarkable book that Russell regarded as one of the most important of his long career

The concepts of rationality that are used by social scientists in the formation of hypotheses, models and explanations are explored in this collection of original papers by a number of distinguished philosophers and social scientists. The aim of the book is to display the variety of the concepts used, to show the different roles they play in theories of very different kinds over a wide range of disciplines, including economics, sociology, psychology, political science and anthropology, and to assess the explanatory and predictive power that a theory can draw from such concepts.

Arguing that the beginnings of the social sciences extend much further back than is generally realized, Lynn McDonald traces the methodological foundations, research techniques, and basic concepts of the social sciences from their earliest origins to the beginning of this century. This thorough investigation enables her to provide empirical refutation of recent radical, feminist, and environmentalist critiques that assert that the social sciences inevitably support the power relations of the status quo, are antithetical to the interests of women, and are inherently linked to the domination and destruction of nature.

Despite broad scientific consensus that sustainable use of wildlife can enhance conservation efforts, ethical concerns have led some community groups to oppose use of wild animals. Voicing those concerns is legitimate, but underlying philosophical bias should not influence science‐based analysis and interpretation. We argue that philosophical biases are common in the scientific literature on trade in wildlife. The critically important case of bias surrounding the use of reptile leathers for luxury fashion illustrates the problem. Based on analysis of official seizures of fashion products made from wildlife, a recent study inferred that criminal activity (as inferred by noncompliance with regulations) was common and increasing and, hence, that authorities needed to adopt more stringent restrictions on the trade. In fact, the conclusions of that study are artifacts of pseudoreplication (e.g., multiple counts of single violations) and biased sampling (e.g., focus on companies with high rates of error) and run directly opposite to actual patterns in the data. As a proportion of overall trade, rates of noncompliance are exceptionally low (<0.4%), are declining, and result primarily from paper‐work errors rather than criminal intent (e.g., such errors are more frequent for goods shipped by government authorities than by the commercial fashion industry). The recommendation by the study authors to prohibit the international trade in wildlife‐based fashion products is imperiling a sustainable trade that can benefit biodiversity and people's livelihoods by providing financial incentives for conservation of species and habitats. This example offers a warning of the dangers of basing research on the wildlife trade on ethical or philosophical positions rather than objective evaluations of evidence.

• Summary: This article reviews the existing literature on power within a social work context and extends the analysis to broader sociological understandings through which to rethink the ways in which social work professionals understand and work with power within everyday practice. • Findings: The review argues that prevailing dichotomies, which feature so centrally in theoretical conceptualisations of power, offering binary positions of power as 'good or bad', 'positive or negative' and 'productive or limiting' are limiting in themselves. It is argued that power must also be recognised as a construct which operates in a synchronous way; whereby it can impact in limiting and productive ways at the same time. • Applications: To support this position, the Power-informed Practice (PiP) framework, which recognises power at the individual, professional and structural levels is offered. The utility of the framework in providing a clearer understanding of power is then presented in relation to working with children who have experienced abuse. As a tool, the framework enables social workers to structure their analysis of power within all areas of contemporary social work practice, in order to promote and support processes of empowerment.

The aim of the International Forum on the Social Science-Policy Nexus (IFSP) is premised on the beliefs that (1) the problems of development warrant critical attention by the social sciences; (2) the social sciences can contribute to resolving many problems of development; & (3) numerous social actors are willing to put to use insights & knowledge on development from the social sciences. These notions were taken for granted 30 years ago, but today there is much less certainty about their veracity & the intentions of policymakers. Several factors account for this disenchantment: the development project has failed to be inclusive; it has had top-down, authoritarian features; it has been imbedded in an international order of asymmetrical power; & it has been used geopolitically to manipulate people. These factors have fed doubts about researchers' capacity & morality to inform policies. They have tended to try to change the world without even understanding what they are changing or why. However, several forces have driven the need to focus on what research is needed, conducted by whom, & at the behest of whom. The major force is perhaps the belief that the social sciences really can help resolve social problems, provided that ownership of policies is returned to the countries trying to resolve them. S. Stanton

China's emergence as a scientific power this century is impressive. Recent reforms promise to raise the country's profile in scientific research even further. Even so, China's illiberal political system complicates the country's quest for scientific leadership, particularly as efforts to increase CCP control have intensified in recent years.

"This book is a proposed supplementary text that guides social scientists and their students to fully characterize and assess the properties of research designs before they implement them. The book leads readers to answer questions like: - What questions is my study honestly well-equipped to answer? - How do I choose between gathering less data on more units versus more data on fewer units? - If I'm right, how likely is it that my study will change the mind of a committed skeptic? - How sensitive are my findings to my assumptions? These questions are surprisingly tricky to answer even for the most seasoned researchers. A major part of the trouble is that most scholars lack a definition of what constitutes a complete research design. The book will help researchers and students to decide on a method of assessment and then to measure the strength of that research design. The book applies this framework for common social science research designs. The book has four parts: (1) an introduction to the general framework to conceptualize design; (2) a design library of standard design types for researchers to draw from; (3) a set of research principles to guide readers with data gathering, question formation, and analysis; and (4) an extension of the broader use of the approach and framework for researchers, critiques and peer reviewers, and also for research funders. Each chapter is anchored by a narrative theoretical section that are enhanced by interactive R modules to illustrate design tradeoffs. In addition, each chapter includes a "lab," demonstrating how to implement and learn about each design; and exercises that extend the lab using interactive assessment tools. The book can be used independently as a supplemental course book for graduate and advanced graduate students, but is also supported by an online set of R repositories that could be used in conjunction with the book, as well as a piece of web software that allows researchers to assess designs without using the statistical packages"--

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Dedication -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Part 1 Recognitions -- Chapter One Discovering Recognition -- 1.1 Gaining Recognition or Discovery across Faculties -- 1.2 Recognizing the Background: Embarrassment, Mythology, and Ideology -- 1.3 Biblical Instances -- 1.4 Classical Examples: Epic, Tragedy, Comedy -- 1.5 Some Philosophical Instances -- 1.6 History: Exempla from Crossing Cultures -- 1.7 Psychology and Some Psychoanalytical Examples -- 1.8 Tentative Conclusions -- Part 2 Readings: History and Poetics

Human culture develops as a means for man to control his environment. Primitive cultures rely to a large extent on magical means. The whimiscal and incalculable forces which govern nature are personified, and rituals are developed which are intended to control the actions of the gods. Such cultures tend to be fatalistic. The magical controls are limited and uncertain. One must endure and accept what comes.As culture develops, men turn increasingly to rational control of the environment. Technology arises, and, what is more fundamental, attitudes arise which enable the progressive development and utilization of technological resources. In our culture, full rational control over the environment appears not far from accomplishment.As the forces of nature give way to the development of culture, however, it becomes evident that the culture itself exhibits "forces" or "laws of development" which seem themselves to be beyond control. It has become a commonplace to say that while man has established rational control over nature, he has not done so over his culture, and that this is the next and imperative task. What is too commonly overlooked is the radically different nature of the second problem.It is through culture that rational control of nature is possible. By analogy, it would seem that culture itself must supply the resources to control itself: that is, that rational control over culture must in some sense be reflexive. This raises a set of problems that, even after two thousand years, have not as yet been thought through. The methods and techniques used to control nature may have to be profoundly transformed before they can be used to subject culture to rational control—indeed, the very meaning of the term "rational control" is called into question.