Until recently, dominant theoretical paradigms in the comparative social sciences did not highlight states as organizational structures or as potentially autonomous actors. Indeed, the term 'state' was rarely used. Current work, however, increasingly views the state as an agent which, although influenced by the society that surrounds it, also shapes social and political processes. The contributors to this volume, which includes some of the best recent interdisciplinary scholarship on states in relation to social structures, make use of theoretically engaged comparative and historical investigations to provide improved conceptualizations of states and how they operate. Each of the book's major parts presents a related set of analytical issues about modern states, which are explored in the context of a wide range of times and places, both contemporary and historical, and in developing and advanced-industrial nations. The first part examines state strategies in newly developing countries.
Social work and social policy in the United States have always had a complex and troubled relationship. In The Altruistic Imagination, John H. Ehrenreich offers a critical interpretation of their inte
An essential and unique contribution to the social organizational literature, Casebook of Management for Nonprofit Organizations highlights the importance of good management to human service organizat
Claus Offe is one of the leading social scientists working in Germany today, and his work, particularly on the welfare state, has been enormously influential both in Europe and the United States. Cont
Some say that public policy can be made without the benefit of theory—that it emerges, instead, through trial-and-error. Others see genuine philosophical issues in public affairs but try to resolve th
Research and evaluation in the human services usually involves a relatively large number of variables. We are interested in phenomena that have many aspects and many causes. The techniques needed to d
"Like the subject about which she writes, Perlman engages the reader immediately, permitting a view into the author's rich and varied experiences, threaded throughout with profound compassion for all
Each entry indicates the meaning or range of meanings of a word then sets it in context, outlining its application in welfare, in legislation, policy and controversy.
Philanthropy and Cultural Imperialism is intended as a source book on the origins, workings, and consequences of modern general-purpose foundations. The text encompasses the activities of foundations
Not simply another "how-to" book, this provocative collection of readings does not advance a single viewpoint or approach to group work. Instead, the 25 selections present the full spectrum of classic
