This new title covers the most recent theoretical and practical advancements in green technology for a clean and healthy environment. It aims to provide a better understanding of the research and development of new technologies that are becoming increasingly important for ensuring sustainability.

The book provides vital information on advanced materials and green composites and expounds on environmental chemistry for a sustainable world, focusing on different characterization methods as well as new techniques. The volume also considers recent developments and applications of clean energy materials. It presents case studies that emphasize the green technologies being discussed.

This book critiques the traditional practice of community organization, change and development, and concludes that the present practice of Community Development (CD) and Social Policy and Planning (SP&P) is no longer capable of meeting the current challenges at the local or national level. The aim of this book is to identify the underlying motivations for the individual aggressive and collective antisocial behaviour that we witness in democratic society today and offer changes to the orientation of the current community change practice in order to build a system that can better address the present needs of society.

This work identifies the factors that are moving society toward extremism and authoritarianism focusing particularly on the community level. Given the turmoil in communities that is degrading democracy and leading to authoritarianism today, the issues of Community Solidarity and Pluralism (CS&P) must be attended to before the traditional political, economic, and material issues that are regularly addressed by CD and SP&P practice can become the focus for change and development once again. This book will have widespread appeal to academics, researchers, and postgraduate students throughout the social sciences including sociology, social work, political science, economics, philosophy, environmental studies, and international and community development studies. It is also intended for the general reader who is interested in understanding the authoritarian forces that are attempting to infiltrate the democratic process.

This fascinating tour of the Jewish communities of the Ottoman Middle East, on the eve of the changes that would come to unsettle the Ottoman territories, reveals a surprisingly varied world. Visiting Istanbul, Damascus, Acre, Jerusalem, Aleppo, Basra, and Cairo, we see different landscapes, meet diverse Jewish societies, and encounter the range of their economic activities. We also see how Christians and Jews struggled with each other to establish their position in the Muslim world and secure their livelihood. In the process, the author reconsiders fundamental questions. What is a 'diaspora'? To what extent did the surrounding culture impact the Jewish communities of the area? And, most interestingly, how did these communities respond to the onset of modernity? Though relating to Jewish society in its entirety, the main focus is on its most powerful members: the notables, who were close to the ruling elite or involved in international trade. Tsur discusses their strengths and weaknesses, considers the relationship between their position and that of the rest of the Jewish community, and analyses their eventual downfall. His study offers new insights into the social mechanisms that enabled them to establish close ties with the ruling elite and to function within it.

This book explores the scope and extent of the growing Chinese influence in India's neighbourhood and its impact on India as well as on Asian power politics.

Through theoretical narratives and detailed case studies, it examines Chinese bilateral relationships in the Indian neighbourhood and looks at the extent and significance of Chinese influence through the lens of strategic, economic and infrastructural arrangements and Chinese interventions in South, Southeast, and Central Asia. The book takes into account regional voices and domestic political compulsions in understanding what they make of the Chinese narrative and examines how and whether the narrative has changed in recent years through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as an instrument of Chinese public diplomacy. The volume also discusses how domestic narratives and compulsions in the Indian neighbourhood remain significant and how these, in turn, would impact the trajectory of Chinese public diplomacy. Intertwined through all these themes is a focus on the extent to which these could become potential flashpoints for India.

This book will be a useful resource for academics and researchers working on Asian geopolitics and geo-economics, Chinese foreign policy, Chinese politics, international relations of Asia, Asian dynamics and Asian studies.

A wealthy textile titan from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Frank Masland Jr. was an ardent political conservative and an equally fervent conservationist who was well known and highly respected in the mid-twentieth-century environmental preservation community. This eye-opening biography charts Masland's life work, telling the story of how he and fellow Republicans worked with Democrats to expand the national park system, preserve wild country, and protect the environment.

Though a conservative conservationist appears to be a contradiction in terms today, this was not necessarily the case when Masland and his compatriots held sway. Conservatives, Masland insisted, had a duty to be good stewards of the earth for present and future generations, and they worked closely with members of both parties in Congress and nonpolitical conservation groups to produce landmark achievements. When conservatives turned against environmentalism during the Reagan presidency, Masland refused to join what historians have termed the "Republican reversal." During his long life of nearly a hundred years, Masland used his voice, influence, experiences with nature, and considerable wealth to champion environmental causes at the national, state, and local levels.

Engaging, informative, and at times eyebrow-raising, this portrait of a passionately anti-statist nature-loving Republican environmentalist documents the history of the twentieth-century conservation movement and reminds us of a time when conservative Republicans could work with liberal Democrats to protect the environment.

This book probes into the marginalized communities of the Indian society through historical and contemporary societal perspectives. It discusses socio-cultural aspects of the experiences of Scheduled Castes, Dalits, Scheduled Tribes/tribal communities, Other Backward Classes, linguistic minorities, religious minorities and the queer/LGBT as sexual minorities.

Adopting an inter-disciplinary approach, it looks at all these segments of Indian society through historical and societal perspectives. Divided into three broad sections - Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and minorities, this book provides historical perspective backed by the contemporary situation and emerging social changes among these communities. Written in a lucid manner, the book aims to reach and impact readers without having any prior academic exposure to this subject area.

This book would be useful to the students, researchers and teachers of sociology, social work, history, economics, political science, and other interdisciplinary courses in social sciences. The book will also be valuable reading for those interested in South Asian studies, especially contemporary Indian society.

Is our understanding of social capital consistent with development interventions and the digital world? Social Capital: Evolution, Contestation, Application and Digitization delves into the intricacies of social capital and its digital dimensions, examining its historical evolution, contemporary contestation and practical applications.

Introducing a refurbished conceptualization of social capital, Mudit Kumar Singh introduces case studies from both the Global North and the Global South, including the USA, the UK, Europe, India, Latin America and Africa to build a sound understanding of social capital and its evolution in the age of social media and online community. Critically examining the debates and controversies surrounding the concept, forms and application of social capital, Dr. Singh briefly discusses how social capital has been used for positive social change, including its role in civic engagement and economic welfare. Highlighting successful examples of its application in development interventions, chapters also explore the darker sides of social capital in the digital era, including the spread of misinformation, echo chambers and online polarization, before turning to its positive influence in the digital realm.

Providing practical recommendations for leveraging social capital for social good, this is a valuable, thought-provoking and timely exploration of the multifaceted concept of social capital in the context of the digital revolution.

This book provides a comprehensive look into China's emerging cyberspace strategy. It highlights the prime drivers of China's desire to be a cyber superpower and discusses the ways in which China is turning resources into cyber power.

The book analyses China's domestic cyber policy initiatives, strategy documents, censorship measures, and the rationale behind its strong advocacy for sovereignty in cyberspace. It examines China's position on the prominent issues of cyberspace governance, norms and security in cyberspace, and key diplomatic initiatives. The book also discusses next-generation networks, artificial intelligence, quantum information sciences, and cyber warfare.

An important contribution to the study of China's cyber policy, the book will be of interest to students and researchers of international relations,Chinese digitalisation, security studies, Chinese politics, international security, Chinese foreign policy, and Chinese economy. It will also be useful to the policymakers and corporate professionals engaged with China's digital sphere.

This book explores the experiences of ethnic performers in a small Chinese city, aiming to better understand their work and migration journeys. Their unique position as service workers who have migrated within the same province provides valuable insights into the intersection of social inequalities related to the rural-urban divide, ethnicity and gender in contemporary China. Introducing the concept of 'intimacy as a lens', the author examines intimate negotiations involving emotions, sense of self and relationships as a way of understanding wider social inequalities.

Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, the book reveals the bordering mechanisms encountered by performers in their work as they navigate between rural and urban environments, as well as between ethnic minority and Han identities. Emphasising the intimate and personal nature of these encounters, the book argues that they can help inform understanding of broader social issues.

Conspiracy Theorizing explore how individuals with the Christian faith should react to conspiracy theories, their untruths, and their dangers. This book outlines the way that conspiracy theories are the fundamental basis for this stigmatization and scapegoating. It goes further to explain that scapegoating is fostering extreme divisions within societies and between nations with each side often demonizing the other.

This book states how conspiracy theories satisfy people's needs for certainty, security, and a positive self-image in a world that they feel is disintegrating. Uncovering deeper, when the comforting securities of cultures crumble, paranoia makes sense. This book demonstrates that an inability to live with uncertainty and ambiguity draws people to conspiracy theories when they validate their apprehensions. The commentary in this book also validates that since conspiracy theories can never be verified by objective research and truths they are one of the most difficult subjects to uncover.

This book aims to answer these questions: What are conspiracy theories? Why do they arise, especially in times of cultural upheavals? Are they harmful? What do the Christian Scriptures say about them? Readers interested in religion, Christianity, and conspiracy theories would enjoy this book.