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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe some risks and risk-taking when launching and running business in Russia during the socio-economic transformation. The risks are related to informal economy.Design/methodology/approachThe research material consists of 11 thematic interviews of families, who launched and ran a business during the turn of the millennium and follow-up interviews. The interviews were extracted from a larger material of 100 interviews and 40 follow-ups focusing on household coping in Russian socio-economic transformation.FindingsThe paper focusses on risky shuttle trade as well as crime-related risks of business, as poignant illustrations of problems of entrepreneurship linked with informal economy. The risks are seen as social facts, objective or constructed, in some cases pointing out also how people speak about them. The testimonial stories of business show an individual or family focus on the risks, without major concern for legitimacy of action, albeit a need for distinction toward other corresponding risk-takers.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings illustrate important aspects of informal economy in Russia, but they cannot be generalized. It would be most useful to carry out qualitative studies of small business to assess perception and construction of risks and coping with them, capturing the views of entrepreneurs themselves.Originality/valueThere is rather little micro-level information concerning the risks or uncertainty when launching and running business in the Russian Federation. Qualitative data enable deeper understanding of sensitive issues. The paper wants to introduce the concept of risk into the social research of informal economy.

Abstract(Agro) pastoral communities who reside in the arid and semi-arid environments of Ethiopia are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and variability specifically to the recurrent drought, floods and conflicts. From their long years of rich experiences of how to survive on such environmental pressures, (agro) pastoralists have also developed various forms of adaptation as well as coping strategies to the impacts of climate change and variability. Such strategies are closely guided and supervised by their customary institutions which have rich experiences in addressing the socio-economic/ cultural, political and environmental/ecological aspects. To mention some of the adaptation mechanisms in the study area are pastoral mobility; relying on traditional early warning mechanisms; area enclosures and preparing of hays/forage; diversifying livestock and selection of their species; the shift from pure form of pastoral to agropastoral production systems; and among others. Some of the coping strategies employed by the (agro) pastoralists are also their engagement in charcoal production and fire wood collections; the sell of their livestock, government support in the form of safety net and MERET project and their indigenous social support mechanisms; petty trading especially by women; brokering on livestock trade; engagement in contraband trade; searching for daily labor, and among others. The paper also tried to assess the roles of customary institutions in social support mechanisms to the problems posed by the impacts of climate change and variability to their age old traditional ways of livelihood mechanisms.

Shows how aesthetic, ethical, and political questions intersect in a range of art forms as found in traditional mediaAddresses key aesthetic, ethical, and political questions in visual mediaExamines contemporary films, television, photography, painting and new visual media such as videogames, Facebook, and interactive documentariesOffers an international mix of emerging and senior authors with interdisciplinary expertiseThis book investigates the interrelations between aesthetics, ethics and politics in a variety of visual media forms, ranging across art installations, film and television, interactive documentaries, painting, photography, social media and videogames. An international mix of emerging and established authors, with interdisciplinary expertise, explores how different ethical questions, political implications and aesthetic pleasures arise and shape one another in distinct visual media.Investigating themes such as the use of cinema as a medium for ethical and political thought, how documentary subjects both conceal and reveal truth, the new ethical challenges arising from interactive media and the role of images in responding to political events and trauma, this is a groundbreaking work about the interrelations of aesthetic, ethical and political values in visual media

Volume 4 extends the examination of Organizing for sustainable healthcare (Volume 2 of the same series, 2012). It presents case studies and theoretical analyses that illustrate practical approaches to, and further the theoretical understanding of, the creation of a more sustainable healthcare. Given economic, ecological, and population trends, the sustainability of healthcare delivery as it is organized today cannot be taken for granted. Politicians, healthcare regulators and professionals worldwide are debating how to redesign todays delivery paradigms to deliver greater value to our societies while consuming fewer resources. Even in countries with national health systems, healthcare organization has been fragmented, diminishing outcome effectiveness and wasting society's resources. With complex value chains and dynamic interactions among various players, the reconfiguration of the healthcare system will require the reconciliation of different often conflicting goals, values, conceptions of social justice, work processes, knowledge bases, and business models. The chapters in this volume build on multiple disciplines and varied approaches to address this complexity.

Higher education, in common with other aspects of society in mainland China, has suffered from Chinese Communist Party (CCP) domination stemming from belief that "politics takes command" in everything. Over the past decade, mainland China has embarked on a programme of reform of the management system in an effort to improve its performance. The author focuses on reform of the higher education management system at both government and school level, and also on the reform of the university financial management system. (DÜI-Sen)

Introduction and overview / Andrea J. Nightingale, Tom Böhler, and Ben Campbell -- Background and history of sustainability / Andrea J. Nightingale, Tom Böhler, Ben Campbell, and Linus Karlsson -- Narratives of sustainability : key concepts and issues / Andrea J. Nightingale, Linus Karlsson, Tom Böhler, and Ben Campbell -- Enacting sustainability / Andrea J. Nightingale, Tom Böhler, and Ben Campbell -- Issues of scale in producing sustainability / Andrea J. Nightingale and Linus Karlsson -- The range of environmental concerns / Andrea J. Nightingale and Linus Karlsson, Laura Saxer, and Ben Campbell -- Introduction to the case studies / Andrea J. Nightingale and Tom Böhler -- Alternative food movements and transition towns in the United Kingdom / Ben Campbell -- Community forestry and sustainability in Nepal / Dinesh Paudel -- Sustainable mining and the North / Nancy Langston -- Governing genetically modified crops and agricultural sustainability / Phil Macnaghten -- Rethinking sustainable community through permaculture initiatives in Zimbabwe / Pamela Richardson Ngwenya -- The entanglements of oil extraction and sustainability in the Ecuadorian Amazon / Angus Lyall and Gabriela Valdivia -- Sustainability and gender equality : exploring the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development / Sarah Bradshaw -- Sustaining what and by what means? : the importance of local social relations in the Sahel / Matthew D. Turner.

Left Universalism, Africacentric Essays presents a defense of universalism as the foundation of moral and political arguments and commitments. Consisting of five intertwined essays, the book claims that centering such arguments and commitments on a particular place, in this instance the African world, is entirely compatible with that foundational universalism. Ato Sekyi-Otu thus proposes a less conventional mode of Africacentrism, one that rejects the usual hostility to universalism as an imperialist Eurocentric hoax. Sekyi-Otu argues that universalism is an inescapable presupposition of ethical judgment in general and critique in particular, and that it is especially indispensable for radical criticism of conditions of existence in postcolonial society and for vindicating visions of social regeneration. The constituent chapters of the book are exhibits of that argument and question some fashionable conceptual oppositions and value apartheids. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars in the fields of social and political philosophy, contemporary political theory, postcolonial studies, African philosophy and social thought.

While entities as different as armed groups, multinational corporations, political parties, megacities, labour unions, terrorist organisations, or indigenous peoples are mentioned as non-state actors in the relevant literature, rural communities are never referred to. This book addresses the role of rural communities as non-state actors, lifting this invisibility veil with arguments coming from three theories of/scholarly approaches to international law: positivism, sociolegal realism (the New Haven School), and constitutionalism. It argues, first, that rural communities are recognised by the community of states as derived subjects of international law since they are made bearers of rights and duties in some major multilateral treaties. Second, rural communities have the ability to affect international lawmaking as they acquire the tools to influence decision-making in international arbitration and court litigation. Finally, the book highlights the need to recognise the status of rural communities when seeking global justice, as these are the communities that benefit the least from globalisation, while paying the highest price in terms of damage to the natural and sociocultural environment. Advocating for the existence of some supreme norms above the will of the states and the recognition of rural communities as non-state actors, this book will be of interest to academics, policy-makers, and non-governmental organisations working in the field of public international law and rural social matters.

"Global Political Leadership explores contemporary shifts in leadership, and the related leadership crisis, in the global world. Globalization is now perceived as a threatening and hostile force, with many of its advocates and political supporters turning away from it, but its processes cannot be reversed. New powers emerge, old ones re-emerge, and uncertainty about the future global order is increasing. This book tells the inside stories of global power games and asks important questions about the leadership crisis in the Western world. The author provides an interpretative framework for contemporary shifts within the Western political sphere based on the concept of global leadership. This framework presents the nature of the transformations caused by global processes, as part of which force and coercion have ceased to be the main modus operandi of the international realm. The issue of global political leadership is virtually absent from IR literature, while being widely exploited by managerial and organizational studies. However, all social organizations have 'gone global' within the last 30 years; they are more interconnected and more dependent on global processes, so the question of effective leadership strategies matching these new realities is highly necessary, even-or especially-at a time when globalization is no longer seen as a leading political program. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of global affairs, politics and international relations, leadership and development, and diplomatic studies"--

"The Politics of Everybody examines the production and maintenance of the terms 'man', 'woman', and 'other' within the current political moment; the contradictions of these categories; and the prospects of a Marxist approach to praxis for queer bodies. Few thinkers have attempted to reconcile queer and Marxist analysis. Those who have propose the key contested site to be that of desire/sexual expression. This emphasis on desire, Lewis argues, is symptomatic of the neoliberal project and has led to a continued fascination with the politics of identity. By arguing that Marxist analysis is in fact most beneficial to gender politics within the arena of body production, categorization and exclusion, Lewis develops a theory of gender and the sexed body that is wedded to the realities of a capitalist political economy. Boldly calling for a new, materialist queer theory, Lewis defines a politics of liberation that is both intersectional, transnational, and grounded in lived experience. With a new preface, Lewis discusses the argument for an explicitly Marxist understanding of trans rights - an understanding grounded in solidarity and materialist/scientific queer analysis. She also discusses the new wave of Marxist Social Reproduction Theory that has emerged since the first edition, family abolition, and the complexities of building an internationalist Marxist movement that is in solidarity with queer and trans struggles, attentive to women's realities, and one that refrains from imposing Western definitions (particularly American/Anglo definitions) onto global movements for liberation."--

Climate change is acknowledged to be the major problem currently facing the human race, and the need to reduce our carbon footprint becomes ever more urgent as the scientific predictions of the effects of climate change become increasingly dire. Whether we are fully aware of the social and political consequences of striving for a significant reduction is more questionable. The Carbon Footprint Wars identifies the many dangers inherent in the projected solutions - such as retreating from the spread of globalization, the current socio-economic paradigm for world trade. The war of words that is being waged over the appropriate way to deal with our collective carbon footprint has critical implications for us all. Stuart Sim examines the issues in detail, raising questions about the assumptions being made on both sides of the climate change divide. He argues that we must urgently address the problem of how to engineer the best possible trade-off between economic survival and ecological disaster - and he puts forward some radical suggestions about how we should set about doing so.Key FeaturesChallenges current policies about how to deal with global warming, outlining their potentially disastrous side-effects on society and the environmentBrings out the political complexities of the links between globalization and global warmingProvides a wide variety of case studiesCalls for a radical re-think of West-Third World relations

"The Routledge Companion to Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Century Urban Design is a fully illustrated descriptive and explanatory history of the development of urban design ideas and paradigms of the past 150 years. The ideas and projects, hypothetical and built, range in scale from the city to the urban block level. The focus is on where the generic ideas originated, the projects that were designed following their precepts, the functions they address and/or afford, and what we can learn from them. The morphology of a city-its built environment-evolves unselfconsciously as private and governmental investors self-consciously erect buildings and infrastructure in a pragmatic, piecemeal manner to meet their own ends. Philosophers, novelists, architects, and social scientists have produced myriad ideas about the nature of the built environment that they consider to be superior to those forms resulting from a laissez-faire attitude to urban development. Rationalist theorists dream of ideal futures based on assumptions about what is good; Empiricists draw inspirations from what they perceive to be working well in existing situations. Both groups have presented their advocacies in manifestoes, and, often, in the form of generic solutions or illustrative designs. This book traces the history of these ideas and will become a standard reference for scholars and students interested in the history of urban spaces, including architects, planners, urban historians, urban geographers, and urban morphologists"--

"Among other factors, rapid global population growth, our development model and patterns of production and consumption have increased waste generation worldwide to unsustainable rates. This rise has led to crises in many countries where waste management practices are no longer sound. Global Waste Management outlines the emerging global waste crisis considering the perspectives of developed and developing countries around the world and the international relationships between them. This book provides an ecological viewpoint as well as studying these problems from a legal and justice standpoint. Global Waste Management contextualises the problems faced when dealing with waste including the causes and origins. Focus is given to cross border waste transfer, as an ongoing and controversial practice, making waste management a global matter. This book scrutinizes existing international, European and Brazilian regulation on waste to highlight the complexity of the subject and the weaknesses of the law. Using a critical and socio-ecological approach, the book proposes an original model of governance to support a new system of global waste management that takes into account ecological sustainability and social justice to overcome the waste crisis. To create these models, a theoretical framework on socio-ecological justice is developed and combined with different discourses and theories described throughout the book. This is the essential guide to understanding the global waste crisis and the future of waste management"--

Intro -- Preface -- Contents -- Notes on Contributors -- List of Figures -- 1 Introduction: Realism-A Primarily European Tradition Emigrating to the U.S. -- Would the European Realists Please Stand Up? -- Facing Intellectual Ignorance -- Twentieth Century European Realists: 'Travellers Between Two Worlds' -- Paving the Way: European émigré Realism and American Realist Theory -- Outline of the Chapters -- References -- 2 Between Kratos and Ethos: Thinking Through the Ritual in the Work of Friedrich Meinecke -- Introduction -- Cosmopolitanism and Nationalism -- The Ethic of Raison D'État -- Kratos and Ethos in Classical Realism -- Conclusion: Meinecke's Relevance Today -- References -- 3 Edward H. Carr and Carl Schmitt: Interwar Realism's Not so Strange Bedfellows -- Introduction -- Against Idealism -- Historical Determinism -- Pessimistic Elitism -- Conclusion -- References -- 4 Weimar in America: Central European Émigrés, Classical Realism, or How to Prevent History from Repeating Itself -- Introduction -- Unity in Diversity -- Diversity in Unity -- Diversity Beyond Unity? -- Unity Through Diversity -- Conclusion -- References -- 5 John Herz and the Purposes of Realism -- Introduction -- European Roots -- Purposeful Realism -- Realism in an Age of Globality -- Conclusion -- References -- 6 Nicholas Spykman's Interactional Realism: Irony, Social Theory, Political Geography -- Introduction -- Between Sociology and Political Science: A Pioneering Itinerary -- Spykman's Enduring Realist-Interactionist Institutionalism -- Conclusion: The Spykmanian Approach to International Relations-A Source of Reflexion for the Twenty-First Century -- References -- 7 The Christian Realist Pendulum: Between Pacifism and Interventionism -- Introduction -- The Christian Realist Pendulum -- 'Father' Reinhold Niebuhr: 'In the Battle and Above It'.

1. Introduction -- Part 1. Contemporary issues in tourism and hospitality in conflict-ridden destinations -- 2. Tourism and conflict: A framework for examining risk versus satisfaction -- 3. Tourism, border disputes and claims to territorial sovereignty -- 4. The attitudes of the Dutch Market towards safety and security -- 5. Building destination resilience through community and organizational resilience -- Part 2. Tourism and hospitality in conflict situations -- 6. On killing the "toured object": Anti-terrorist fantasy, touristic edgework and morbid consumption in the illegal settlements in West Bank, Palestine -- 7. Tourism as a tool for peace? Between the lines - Thandaung Gyi in Kayin State, Myanmar -- 8. Tourism in Chilas, Pakistan: A destination under crises -- 9. The moderation effect of branding on destination image in a crisis-ridden destination, Zimbabwe -- 10. Dystopian dark tourism, fan subculture and the ongoing Nakba in Banksy's walled Off heterotopia -- 11. The PEGIDA movement and social conflict in Dresden, Germany: An investigation of the impacts of far right populism on tourism in Europe -- Part 3. Tourism and hospitality in post-conflict destinations -- 12. Memorial entrepreneurs and dissonances in post-conflict tourism -- 13. Taking tourism matters into own hands: Phoenix tourism in Moravia, Medellín, Colombia -- 14. Narrating the Scars of Sarajevo: Reminiscent Memories of War and Tragedy in the Landscape -- 15. Bangkok street food-conflicting visions of modernity -- 16. Post-conflict tourism development in Northern Ireland: moving beyond murals and dark sites associated with its past -- 17. Visitor-host encounters in post-conflict destinations: The case of Cyprus -- Part 4. Conclusion.