In Britain and Ireland there are about ten times more species of solitary bee than bumblebee and honeybee combined, yet the solitary bees tend to be ignored and we know much less about them. They are a fascinating, attractive and diverse group that can be found easily in a wide range of habitats, both urban and rural, and they are important as pollinators.Solitary bees provides an introduction to the natural history, ecology and conservation of solitary bees, together with...

A completely up-to-date introduction to the most common group of bees in Britain.Bees, for most people, mean honey or bumble bees, but in fact these social species make up only a small proportion of the species that live in Britain. Open your eyes to the so-called ‘solitary’ bees, and discover a wonderfully diverse population – miners, leafcutters, carpenters and masons – many of which can be found in your own back garden.Solitary bees come in a variety of ...

Sociological Theory and the Environment is a comprehensive survey and assessment of sociological theories of the relations between societies and their 'natural' biophysical environment. This book touches on and addresses virtually all of the major perspectives, focal points, and debates in environmental sociology today-classical and twentieth century social theories, macro-micro linkage issues, globalization and development, reflexive modernization, ecological modernization vs. 'limits' vi...

Philosophers and social scientists share a common goal: to explore fundamental truths about ourselves and the nature of the world in which we live. But in what ways do these two distinct disciplines inform each other and arrive at these truths? This third revised edition of this highly regarded text directly responds to such issues as it introduces students to the philosophy of social science.This classic text has been brought up to date with a new introduction and commentaries ref...

This book marks a watershed in the social sciences. The qualitative, critical perspective of sociology and allied disciplines challenges the technocentric `managerialism' which dominates environmental policy, its discourse and its impact. The authors explore the relationship between social theory and sustainability in an attempt to transend technical rhetoric and embrace a broader understanding of `nature'.

In this collection, innovative and eminent social and policy analysts, including Colin Crouch, Anna Coote, Grahame Thompson and Ted Benton, challenge the failing but still dominant ideology and policies of neo-liberalism.The editors synthesise contributors’ ideas into a revised framework for social democracy; rooted in feminism, environmentalism, democratic equality and market accountability to civil society.This constructive and stimulating collection will be invaluable fo...

Critical Theory and Animal Liberation is the first collection to approach our relationship with other animals from the critical or "left" tradition in political and social thought. Breaking with past treatments that have framed the problem as one of "animal rights," the authors instead depict the exploitation and killing of other animals as a political question of the first order. The contributions highlight connections between our everyday treatment of animals and other forms of social po...

Strangers to Nature challenges a reading public that has grown complacent with the standard framework of the animal ethics debate. Human influence on, and the control of, the natural world has greater consequences than ever, making the human impact on the lives of animals more evident. We cannot properly interrogate our conduct in the world without a deeper understanding of how our actions affect animals. It is crucial that the human-animal relationship become more central to ethical inqui...

Animal studies is a growing interdisciplinary field that incorporates scholarship from public policy, sociology, religion, philosophy, and many other areas. In essence, it seeks to understand how humans study and conceive of other-than-human animals, and how these conceptions have changed over time, across cultures, and across different ways of thinking. This interdisciplinary introduction to the field boldly and creatively foregrounds the realities of nonhuman animals, as well as the imag...

Politics and the Environment has established itself as one of the most comprehensive textbooks in this area. This new edition has been completely revised and updated whilst retaining the features and the theory-to-practice focus which made the first two editions so successful.This text is designed to introduce students to the key concepts and issues which surround environmental problems and their political solutions. The authors investigate the people, movements and organi...

As a Jamaican immigrant arriving in the United States at the age of twenty, Jason Hill noticed how often Americans identified themselves in terms of race and ethnicity. He observed, for example, the reluctance of West Indians to joins "black causes" for fear of losing their identity. He began to ask himself what sort of world he wanted to live in, a quest that in time led him to the idea of the cosmopolitan.In Becoming a Cosmopolitan, Jason D. Hill argues that we need a ne...

A world without bees would be much less colourful, with fewer plants and flowers. But that's not all -- food would be in much shorter supply, and available in much less variety. While the media focuses on colony-collapse disorder and the threats to honey bees specifically, the real danger is much greater: all bees are at risk. And because of the integral role these insects play in the ecology of our planet, we may be at risk as well.The life of Laurence Packer, a melittologist at T...