Social Change

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.

Harvard Medical School has followed 824 subjects - men and women, some rich, some poor - from their teens to old age. Harvard's George Vaillant now uses these studies - the most complete ever done anywhere in the world - and the subjects' individual histories to illustrate the factors involved in reaching a happy, healthy old age. He explains precisely why some people turn out to be more resilient than others, the complicated effects of marriage and divorce, negative personality changes, and how to live a more fulfilling, satisfying and rewarding life in the later years.

Through economics, our politicians have the power to transform people's lives for better or worse. Think Deng Xiaoping who lifted millions out of poverty by opening up China; Franklin D Roosevelt whose 'New Deal' helped the USA break free of the Great Depression; or Peron and his successors in Argentina who brought the country to the brink of ruin. In this magisterial history, economist and politician Vince Cable examines the legacy of 16 world leaders who transformed their countries' economic fortunes and who also challenged economic convention.

When the smartphone was introduced, many of us quickly adopted it into our lives - too quickly to stop and think about the future costs we were unboxing along with the device. Now blessed with this revolutionary piece of handheld technology, we try to wield it with wisdom, fending off anxieties about how our digital habits impact our spiritual health. Drawing on the insights of numerous thinkers, published studies, and his own research, writer Tony Reinke identifies 12 potent ways our smartphones have changed our lives.

From the vantage point of his eighth decade, Klein revisits the wisdom he relished in his youth with this collection of philosophical gems, adding new ones that strike chords with him at the end of his life. From Epicurus to Emerson and Camus to the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr - whose words provided the title of this audiobook - each pithy extract is annotated with Klein's inimitable charm and insights.

"This book is a page turner! Once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. One of the most interesting books I've read in a while." - Josephine, Amazon UK Review "Mekdela effectively dissects the intersections between race, colonialism, sexism, and fatphobia...this was so easy to read whilst effectively teaching me so much about the ways that fatphobia is ingrained into every aspect of society" - Charlie, Amazon UK Review "Well-thought out, well-researched ideas...like any good activist, Mekdela doesn't just throw out a tale or two, she offers samples, examples, and perhaps, a solution or ...

The globe has always been a world of walls, from the Great Wall of China to Hadrian's Wall to the Berlin Wall. But a new age of isolationism and economic nationalism is upon us, visible not just in Trump's obsession with building a wall on the Mexico border or in Britain's Brexit vote but in many other places as well. China has the Great Firewall, holding back Western culture. Europe's countries are walling themselves against immigrants, terrorism, and currency issues. In fact, at least 65 countries have barriers along their borders. Understanding what is behind these divisions is essential to understanding much of what's going on in the world today.

Why might some sex education programs result in more teen pregnancies? Why did reading that self-help book make you feel less happy? What's the best way to recover from trauma? Can we actually improve our lives by redirecting our thinking?

New York Times best-selling author Joan Anderson gives women practical advice and inspiration for building creative, independent, and fulfilling lives through discovering who they truly are and who they can be.

Marshall Ganz is one of the world’s leading authorities on democratic leadership, organizing, and action and this book is the culmination of his decades of teaching, research, and practice. In People, Power, Change Ganz offers students, educators, and organizers access to the craft he has learned, adapted, and shared over the last half-century of creating effective collective action. It is not a blueprint, but a road map.

HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS AND LANGUAGE EVOLUTION --- This book provides an in-depth exploration of the processes that have shaped human language over millennia, integrating linguistic, archaeological, cognitive, and sociocultural evidence to illuminate the evolution of languages. Anchoring its analysis in historical linguistics, the book goes into the profound effects of migration, educational systems, trade, and technological innovations on language transformation. The bookunfolds with an examination of migration's necessary place in shaping linguistic territory, from the spread of Indo-...

Thomas Paine was one of the greatest political propagandists in history. The Rights of Man, first published in 1791, is the key to his reputation. Inspired by his outrage at Edmund Burke's attack on the uprising of the French people, Paine's text is a passionate defense of the rights of man. Paine argued against monarchy and outlined the elements of a successful republic, including public education, pensions, and relief of the poor and unemployed, all financed by income tax.

Unconventional warfare provides an indirect means to harass, undermine, and overthrow regimes through the use of surrogates. Recent examples in the Ukraine, Myanmar, Syria, and Libya have changed the way we view this age old form of conflict. Global instantaneous communications, social media, and the application of precision munitions from conventional forces have radically altered our understanding of proxy warfare. The sustainment provided by external non-state actors has made these already chaotic conflicts even more so. Unconventional Warfare 2.0 describes how demographic trends, rapid ...

Whether you speak from the pulpit, podium, or the front of a classroom, you don't need much more than blank stares and faraway looks to tell you you’re not connecting. Take heart before your audience takes leave! You can convey your message in the powerful, life-changing way it deserves to be told. An insightful, entertaining parable that's an excellent guide for any speaker, Communicating for a Change takes a simple approach to delivering effectively.

If we hope to interrupt educational inequities and create schools in which every child thrives, we must open our hearts to purposeful conversation and hone our skills to make those conversations effective. With characteristic honesty and wisdom, Elena Aguilar inspires us to commit to transforming our classrooms, lays bare the hidden obstacles to equity, and helps us see how to overcome these obstacles, one conversation at a time.

What if the Beatles wrote “Help!” in the age of anxiety—or “Eleanor Rigby” in a world obsessed with connection but drowning in loneliness? Yesterday, Today reimagines 20 of the most iconic Beatles songs through a modern lens. From social media and mental health to shifting cultural values, this book explores what these timeless tracks might look and sound like if they were written in today's world. Author Steven Michaels, a longtime musician and English teacher, has spent more than two decades guiding teenagers through Beatles lyrics—uncovering new interpretations and emotional ...

Why do some changes occur, and others don't? What are the factors that drive successful social and environmental movements, while others falter? How Change Happens examines the leadership approaches, campaign strategies, and ground-level tactics employed in a range of modern social change campaigns. The book explores successful movements that have achieved phenomenal impact since the 1980s - tobacco control, gun rights expansion, LGBT marriage equality, and acid rain elimination.

In an evolving networked era, social-issue documentaries like Blackfish are art for civic imagination and social critique. In Story Movements, producer and scholar Caty Borum Chattoo explores how documentaries disrupt dominant cultural narratives through complex, creative, often investigative storytelling.

Based on hundreds of interviews with the people who lived the story, Game Change is a reportorial tour de force that reads like a fast-paced novel. Character driven and dialogue rich, replete with extravagantly detailed scenes, this is the occasion-ally shocking, often hilarious, ultimately definitive account of the campaign of a lifetime.

Spanning millennia and continents, here is a stunningly revealing history of how the distribution of water has shaped human civilization. Giulio Boc­caletti - honorary research associate at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, Univer­sity of Oxford - shrewdly combines environmental and social history, beginning with the earliest civ­ilizations of sedentary farmers on the banks of the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates Rivers.