Westview Press

The ghetto; contemporary global issues and controversies.

This collection of twelve essays brings together an international cast of sociologists, anthropologists and urban planners to interrogate the history, political economy and scientific utility of the ghetto. They consider whether it arises from urban ecology or social conflict and policies surrounding it; if and how we can distinguish between voluntary and involuntary residential segregation; how space structures urban demographics; and if there is a singular model of ghettos everywhere. Haynes (sociology, UC Davis) and Hutchison (urban and regional studies, U. of Wisconsin, Green Bay) provide an introduction contextualizing the ghetto in Jewish history, a recurring topic in the book. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The modern history of Iraq, 3d ed.

Marr (a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Middle East Institute) has updated her single-volume treatment, aimed at the general reader, of the political, economic, and social history of Iraq so as to cover the momentous events that followed the US invasion and occupation. Her narrative is guided by four key themes: the creation and construction of a modern state and the search for a cultural and national identity capable of bringing together Iraq's various ethnic, religious, and social groups; the process of economic and social development; the development of political institutions and ideologies and their interrelationship with domestic society and the world outside Iraq; and foreign domination and the interaction of Iraq with the West, neighboring countries, and the global environment. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Philosophy of education, 3d ed.

Noddings (education, Stanford U.) is an award-winning educator, past president of the National Academy of Education and the Philosophy of Education Society, and author of numerous books. Since the publication of her classic text in 1995, it has provided education students and practitioners with an overview of philosophical thought and teaching, learning, research, and education policy. The text includes an historical survey of educational questions from Socrates' time to the 20th century and ways that philosophers have approached these questions, followed by chapters on specific education problems as studied philosophically in several areas: logic and critical thinking, epistemology and education, social science and educational research, ethics and moral education, social and political philosophy, school reform, and — new to the third edition — multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism. A final chapter summarizes the book from a feminist perspective and also discusses the latest work in care ethics. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)