In a time of declining social connections and trust in institutions, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stand out in their relationship to their religion. Drawing from multiple national datasets, this report explores Latter-day Saint religious activity, belief, belonging, and personal well-being, examining them in context of other religious groups and denominations in the United States. The findings suggest that, while religious participation has declined nationwide...

This book, a unique examination of the activist striving to work for more holistic social change, creates a conceptual framework to give visibility to the complexity of activist practice that spans environmental and social justice concerns.

President Russell M. Nelson recently voiced a concern that “too many of our brothers and sisters do not fully understand the concept of priesthood power and authority. I fear that too many of our brothers and sisters do not grasp the privileges that could be theirs.”Some are surprised to learn that priesthood authority, privileges, and power apply to women as well as men. On the other hand, many women feel undervalued, voiceless, and marginalized regarding the priesthood. Our limit...

Aboriginal families and communities are losing their children to child welfare systems at an alarming rate. Such children have very poor futures to look forward to; rejection, abuse and belonging to nowhere are too often the fate of children in care. Academic failure, poor self-esteem and loss of identity accompany them, often right into life on the streets, experiencing lateral violence, homelessness, crime and ultimately jail, where 70 % of inmates are former children in care. This trage...

When Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center was first published in 1984, it was welcomed and praised by feminist thinkers who wanted a new vision. Even so, individual readers frequently found the theory "unsettling" or "provocative." Today, the blueprint for feminist movement presented in the book remains as provocative and relevant as ever. Written in hooks's characteristic direct style, Feminist Theory embodies the hope that feminists can find a common language to sprea...

We live in an age dominated by the cult of efficiency. Efficiency in the raging debate about public goods is often used as a code word to advance political agendas. When it is used correctly, efficiency is important: it must always be part of the conversation when resources are scarce and citizens and governments have important choices to make among competing priorities.Even when the language of efficiency is used carefully, that language alone is not enough. Unilingualism will not...

A rethinking of American democracy that puts caring responsibilities at the centerAmericans now face a caring deficit: there are simply too many demands on people’s time for us to care adequately for our children, elderly people, and ourselves.At the same time, political involvement in the United States is at an all-time low, and although political life should help us to care better, people see caring as unsupported by public life ...

Liberating Economics draws on central concepts from women's studies scholarship to construct a feminist understanding of the economic roles of families, caring labor, motherhood, paid and unpaid labor, poverty, the feminization of labor, and the consequences of globalization. Barker and Feiner consistently recognize the importance of social location -- gender, race, class, sexual identity, and nationality -- in economic processes shaping the home, paid employment, market relations...

In Community Development in an Uncertain World, Jim Ife draws on the principles of social justice, ecological responsibility and post-Enlightenment and Indigenous perspectives to advance new holistic approaches to community development. The book explores the concept of community development on a local and international scale in the context of globalisation and postcolonial theory. Students will gain the essential skills and practical understanding required to navigate the existing manageri...

New Third Edition!If sociology could teach everyone just one thing, what would it be? The Forest and the Trees is one sociologist's response to the hypothetical-the core insight with the greatest potential to change how people see the world and themselves in relation to it.This Third Edition features:• Updated key references, data, resources, and examples, from global warming, Obama's election, and gay marriage to transgender/cisgender and the Occupy Movemen...

Women increasingly make up a significant percentage of the labor force throughout the world. This transformation is impacting everyone's lives. This book examines the resulting gender role, work, and family issues from a comparative worldwide perspective. Working allows women to earn an income, acquire new skills, and forge social connections. It also brings challenges such as simultaneously managing domestic responsibilities and family relationships. The social, political, and economic im...

'Right on target, and badly needed' - Noam Chomsky'Every now and then a book that is perfect in timing and tone hits my desk. Growth Fetish is that book. It is powerful and potentially transformative.' - Rev. Tim Costello'This book reveals the undelivered reality of economic growth and the hollow mantras of the Third Way. Growth Fetish provides a much needed road map to a new politics in a post-growth world.' - Senator Natasha Stott DespojaFor deca...