Search results

This Element examines technology-assisted grooming of children for sex - henceforth, online grooming - as an illegal practice of communicative manipulation and, as such, something that research within the academic field of forensic linguistics is ideally placed to help counter. The analysis draws upon online grooming datasets of different sizes and provenance, including from law enforcement, and deploys different analytic techniques from primarily discourse analysis. Three features of online grooming discourse are focussed on: groomers' use of manipulation tactics; groomers' abuse of power asymmetries; and children's communication during online grooming. The Element also discusses ways in which findings derived from richly contextualised analysis of online grooming discourse can - when combined with co-creation projects involving child-safeguarding groups, children and lived-experience experts - add considerable value to societal efforts to counter online grooming and other forms of online child sexual exploitation and abuse.

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to seep into more areas of society and culture, critical social perspectives on its technologies are more urgent than ever before. Bringing together state-of-the-art research from experienced scholars across disciplines, this Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of critical AI studies. Moving beyond narrow technological definitions of AI, the Handbook provides readers with an in-depth understanding of its social, ethical and political implications. Chapters cover a broad range of timely issues related to AI, including the risk of bias and discrimination in its systems, its impact on democracy and governance, concerns surrounding privacy and surveillance, and the use of its technologies in decision-making processes. Underscoring the urgent need for deeper critical analyses of AI, the Handbook constitutes a major contribution to the ongoing discussion about what critical studies of AI can entail, what questions they may pose, and what concepts they can offer to address them. Rich in theoretical and empirical analysis, this cutting-edge Handbook will prove an invaluable resource for students and scholars of digital sociology and science and technology studies. Its extensive coverage of this emerging field will also appeal to practitioners, developers and policymakers seeking orientation in the complex social and political dynamics of AI

"The essays in this volume address the chief challenges and principal tensions in the operation of our civil society in order to consider possible paths forward. It will be of interest to scholars of American history and politics, to thoughtful citizens and leaders facing present challenges, and to students and future Americans confronting the ongoing challenges of our times"--

"Around the world, girls know how to perform. In this book, scholar-activist Crystal Leigh Endsley explores the gaps and overlaps between the lived realities of girls and popular representations of global girlhoods, as expressed through spoken word poetry. Girls from New Jersey, Illinois, South Carolina, and Louisiana to Zanzibar, South Africa, Ethiopia, and more use spoken word poetry as an effective tool in their pursuits of meaningful connection with each other and for access to social justice at the crossroads of global girlhood. Through studying the process of creating, performing, and sharing spoken word poetry as a spiritual practice, this book explores how girls, and marginalized girls in particular, are already forecasting what is possible for their collective lives. Grounded in her experience of "putting a mic in the margins" by facilitating spoken word poetry workshops for girls all over the world, Endsley uses a combination of poetry, discourse analysis, photovoice, and more to forge the feminist theory of "quantum justice," which traces the transnational relationships of girls with their global counterparts and produces trajectories of social change at the micro level"--

Many of India's most disadvantaged citizens face severe social and economic challenges. Social Sector Development and Inclusive Growth in India poses the essential question of whether growth strategies based on the human development approach, that is, social sector development, render growth inclusive. This comprehensive study considers all components of the social sector in aggregate and also covers both the financial and physical aspects to answer this question. Author Ishu Chadda examines the various World Bank reports and scholarly literature on this subject to quantify inclusiveness in India. Her research further highlights the major dimensions of inclusive development like poverty alleviation, employment generation, and access to equal participation. Chadda's research has been conducted to scrutinize the long-run and short-run association between the social sector and inclusive growth in India using the Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach. Further, she looks at the relationship between social sector development and inclusive growth in India at a macro-level. Inclusive and sustainable economic growth is essential for a fair society and is thus a key component of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This timely study will provide vital information to academic researchers and postgraduate students within as well as outside of the Indian context. Policy makers and practitioners of development studies, sociology and developmental economics will benefit from the key insights provided.

Almost a third of the 4 billion people living in urban areas today are children, according to the United Nations. By 2050, 70 percent of the world's children will live in cities. Yet how has recent sociological work engaged with children and youth living in cities around the world? What does a focus on children and youth in an urban context mean for researchers working within a variety of sociological frameworks? How have children's and youth's experiences shaped and been shaped by the diverse urban scapes and contexts in which they live? Sociological Research and Urban Children and Youth brings together cutting-edge work that addresses children's and youth's urban living experiences as well as the social, political, and ecological realities that accompany this. Featuring contributions from Australia, Canada, the U.K., and the United States, the chapters critically engage with core analytical and conceptual issues ranging from relationality to citizenship and belonging, to power, structure, and agency. Recognizing the potential research with and about young people can have in decision making on multiple levels of policy and service provision, Sociological Research and Urban Children and Youth provides a key foundation for considering the influence of urban environments on young people, and vice versa

The African continent is colloquially referred to as the youngest in the world. Seizing on a topic underexplored in African research, Youth Development in South Africa: Harnessing the Demographic Dividend confronts the issues, challenges, and opportunities facing South Africa's youth, resulting in a rich exploration of the South African corpus on youth development. Bringing together a diverse range of topics and research methodologies, contributors focus on the demographic dividend, South Africa's relatively large population of young people, and the implications of harnessing this for economic growth and development within this country. Analysing model institutional and policy initiatives for youth development, contributors present a unique translation of ideas into practice, as well as attention to solutions. Highlighting challenges such as health pandemics, social media, and climate change, chapters cover questions surrounding youth aspirations, employment, and inclusivity. Showcasing the voices of researchers from across South Africa and the larger African continent, Youth Development in South Africa: Harnessing the Demographic Dividend is a compelling snapshot of thirty years of South Africa's democratic dispensation and what it has meant for the youth of the country, as well as how its demographic dividend can be harnessed for a fairer society in the future.

Old systems of governance are struggling to cope with the pressures placed on them by the accelerating development of modern society. There is a desperate need for change. Quantum Governanceoffers a new way of thinking about policy implementation and has profound ramifications for policymakers.

This book provides an overview of how the field of Linguistic Landscape Studies has emerged and developed over the past 20 years, combined with an in-depth exploration of the theoretical approaches, innovative research methods and major themes that have been central to this dynamic area of research.

"Understanding Radicalism explains the approaches taken by teachers and influencers whose end-game is the creation of ideological activists through indoctrination of students. These students eventually take to the streets as activists, cancel those on school and college campuses, and attack dissenting parents as domestic terrorists"--

This book examines points of meaningful affinity as well as contention and misrecognition between philosophical traditions of the Americas. Using Rodó's metaphors from The Tempest, it reflects on the perils and possibilities for Inter-American philosophy as an established historical fact, a form of propaganda, or as a legitimate aspiration.