Books on the topic 'Increment to Societal Benefit'

The inherent interdisciplinary of the Earth sciences derives from combining aspects of other disciplines when studying the Earth. Though most commonly viewed as providing science-as-knowledge, the Earth sciences can yield greater societal benefit through their nature-directed transdisciplinarity. As an example, paleoflood hydrology involves a relating to the complexities of natural world that overcomes limitations imposed when simplifying reality in order to make predictions. Paleoflood hydrology discovers the natural recordings of ancient (but very real) cataclysmic processes that have the documented ability to cause harm. The commonsense recognition that what has actually happened can indeed happen again provides much more incentive to generate engaged and wise public action than does an abstract prediction of the so-called hundred-year flood. This kind of science differs from that of its constituent disciplines, and it has great potential for making progress on many issues of current societal concern through public education, communication, and guided policy.

Governments frequently borrow money. It is often assumed that it is creditors, and creditors alone, who determine what loans developing countries obtain. Yet this is only partially true: the data show that countries with the same credit rating, income levels, and degree of democracy exhibit a remarkable diversity in the types of creditors used. Some borrow from China, while others turn to the United States; some borrow from private investors, while others rely on multilateral institutions. Apparently, developing countries have some choice. Developing countries are not merely passive recipients gobbling up whatever loans they can get, but active agents. This book systematically explains how governments choose among competing loan offers. The argument focuses on societal interest groups in recipient countries and the distributional consequences of external loans. For example, China and the International Monetary Fund might both offer the same loan volume, but the strings attached to the loans differ. As a result, domestic interest groups would benefit from one loan but not the other. Governments then cater to whichever domestic interest group coalition dominates by borrowing from that coalition’s preferred creditor. Interviews with decision-makers in Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia provide strong evidence that domestic politics shape borrowing decisions. A Statistical analyses confirms that borrowing portfolios around the world reflect the relative strength of societal interest groups. Understanding why certain loans are chosen is critical for gaining insights into the effects these loans might have on growth and democracy.

Numerous zoonotic diseases cause morbidity, mortality and productivity losses in both humans and animal populations. Recent studies suggest that these diseases can produce large societal impacts in endemic areas. Estimates of monetary impact and disease burden provide essential, evidence-based data for conducting cost-benefit and cost-utility analyses that can contribute to securing political will and financial and technical resources. To evaluate burden, monetary and non-monetary impacts of zoonoses on human health, agriculture and society should be comprehensively considered. This chapter reviews the framework used to assess the health impact and burden of zoonoses and the data needed to estimate the extent of the problem for societies. Case studies are presented to illustrate the use of burden of disease assessment for the zoonotic diseases cystic echinococcosis, Taenia solium cysticercosis, brucellosis and rabies.

This chapter reviews technological advances in weapons systems from a gendered perspective. It describes how unmanned weapons affect women in targeted societies and targeting societies, exploring ways in which traditional gender roles are both exacerbated and relaxed by this weaponry. With respect to masculinity, the chapter discusses the potential for emasculation of traditional male combatants in targeting societies and the dehumanization of men in targeted societies. Drawing on feminist critiques, the chapter closes with a discussion of ethical concerns, including the potential for downplaying collateral damage and overlooking broader societal impacts caused by unmanned weapons. Ultimately, the chapter suggests that although the use of unmanned weapons may theoretically create opportunities for greater gender equality, such benefit is likely outweighed by the risks of depersonalizing the use of force.

Innovation is generally considered to be the antidote to economic stagnation. But while the coupling of ‘responsible' and 'innovation’ has been much discussed, that of 'responsible stagnation' has gone largely unexplored. In this book, we take this concept seriously as a means to question the political economy of science, technology and innovation, both as policy and as process, and the problems which arise from unquestioned emphasis on innovation as the means to increase GDP. The book argues that examining what 'responsible stagnation' might contribute opens new space in the growing global discussion about RI, incorporating innovation in non-market oriented processes, goods and services which have strong societal benefit but do not necessarily contribute to GDP. It examines the conundrum of diminishing productivity returns and increased environmental and social hazards associated with attempts to increase GDP, and how taking a growth-agnostic approach contributes to recalibrating innovation around responsibility as its focal point. Drawing on insights from ecological and steady state economics, Science and Technology Studies, and social innovation across the world, this interdisciplinary group of scholars questions how the growth paradigm shapes and limits the innovation space, and how decoupling innovation from growth points toward myriad possibilities for facilitating human well-being in more environmentally and socially responsible ways.

The intersection of international organization and crime and corruption has been garnering increasing interest from international studies scholars and practitioners. An international organization can be defined, following the International Law Commission, as an “organization established by a treaty or other instrument governed by international law and possessing its own international legal personality.” International organizations generally have States as members, but often other entities can also apply for membership. They both make international law and are governed by it. Yet, the decision-making process of international organizations is often less a question of law than one of political judgment. Meanwhile, corruption is a form of dishonest or unethical conduct by a person, or an institution, entrusted with a position of authority, often to acquire personal benefit. Corruption may include many activities including bribery and embezzlement, though it may also involve practices that are legal in many countries. Government, or 'political', corruption occurs when an office-holder or other governmental employee acts in an official capacity for personal gain. Strangely, the most important contribution to the field of organized crime did not come from criminology, legal studies, or international studies, but from philosophy. Recognizing both criminal law and international relations as the exercise of power, Michel Foucault introduced radically new thinking in the area of societal control in relation to the study of organized crime.

As international interest in promoting and assessing the impact of research grows, this book examines the ensuing controversies, consequences and challenges. It places a particular emphasis on learning from experiences in the UK, since this is the country at the forefront of a range of new approaches to incentivising, monitoring and rewarding research impact achievements. The book aims to understand the origins and rationale for these changes and to critically assess their consequences for academic practice. Combining a review of existing literature with a range of new qualitative data (from interviews, focus groups and documentary analysis), The Impact Agenda is unique in providing a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary empirical examination of the ways in which various forms of research impact assessment are shaping academic practices. Although the primary focus of the book is on the UK, the book also considers the different approaches that other countries with an interest in research impact are taking (notably Australia, Canada and the Netherlands). While noting the benefits that the increasing emphasis on outward facing work is bringing, the book draws attention to a wide range of challenges and controversies associated with research impact assessment and, in particular, with the UK’s chosen approach. It concludes by using the insights in the book to propose an alternative, more theoretically robust approach to incentivising and rewarding efforts to undertake and use academic research for societal benefit.

The best proxy for the end of epilepsy is the complete cessation of seizures and the permanent ending of the need for further treatment. This marks the end of the biology of epilepsy, but not necessarily of all its societal consequences. The good news is that today over 80% of people developing epilepsy will reach this goal after a few years of treatment. Unfortunately, though, not all patients can reach this point, and it is for these patients that we seek improvements in the future. The end of epilepsy is not always easy to predict at the beginning. The taking of drugs is an issue, as always, of risk versus benefit, and although there are some benefits to discontinuation, this has to be balanced against the risk of seizure recurrence. Even if drugs alone don’t work, additional surgery may end epilepsy in as many as one in four people with amenable epilepsy. New thinking and new strategies for drug treatment, which not only control seizures but also address the underlying processes resulting in epilepsy, offer new horizons. The bottom line is that a revolution in discovery and development is needed. Epilepsy is, as pointed out throughout this book, more than having seizures, and so thus the scope of its treatment should be broader than simple seizure suppression. The end of epilepsy is, like the end of the rainbow, on the horizon, but equally tantalisingly difficult to reach.

Around the world, governments are starting to directly measure the subjective wellbeing of their citizens and to use it for policy evaluation and appraisal. What would happen if a country were to move from using GDP to using subjective wellbeing as the primary metric for measuring economic and societal progress? Would policy priorities change? Would we continue to care about economic growth? What role would different government institutions play in such a scenario? And, most importantly, how could this be implemented in daily practice, for example in policy evaluations and appraisals of government analysts, or in political agenda-setting at the top level? This book provides answers to these questions from a conceptual to a technical level by showing how direct measures of subjective wellbeing can be used for policy evaluation and appraisal, either complementary in the short run or even entirely in the long run. It gives a brief history of the idea that governments should care about the happiness of their citizens, provides theories, makes suggestions for direct measurement, derives technical standards, shows how to conduct wellbeing cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses, and gives examples of how real-world policy evaluations and appraisals would change if they were based on subjective wellbeing. In doing so, the book serves the growing interest of governments as well as non-governmental and international organizations in how to put subjective wellbeing metrics into policy practice.

The book proposes a critical study of the work by Latino cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz, a key voice in the controversial topic of immigration. It contends that his production is significant for its documentation of the travails of the community and its assessment of the frictions resulting from a radical shift in national demographics: the rise of Latinos as the largest minority ethnicity and the eventual transition of the general population into a mode of plurality rather than majority. In his cartoons and comic strips, readers can recognize how Latinos have been used by opportunist politicians and media personalities seeking personal benefit. It is also possible to visualize how, in many cases, the political system has operated against Latinos in an almost systematic fashion, failing to acknowledge their lengthy historical record and contributions as Americans. The book chronicles the cartoonist’s evolution from a cultural actor willing to criticize injustice for the sake of retribution to one who effectively identifies and denounces the mechanisms behind rampant societal inequity—most crucially, the dynamics and implications of a hidden mainstream norm, supportive of a cultural ideology benefiting an exclusive segment of the population. In the evolution of his production, the search for a more acute representation and dissection of prejudice and exclusion becomes plain. In a sense, Alcaraz’s work is a testament not only to the growing pains of Latinos, but most importantly to those of the entire nation, as it comes to terms with the redefinition of US identity in the twenty-first century.

This book is the first to present a framework of general principles for animal research ethics together with an analysis of the principles’ meaning and moral requirements. This new framework of six moral principles constitutes a more suitable set of moral guidelines than any currently available, including the influential framework presented in the Principles of Humane Experimental Technique published in 1959 by zoologist and psychologist William M. S. Russell and microbiologist Rex L. Burch. Their “principles”—commonly referred to as the Three Rs—are better described as specific directives than as general moral principles, and they are insufficient as a moral framework of basic values in the context of contemporary biomedical and behavioral research. The framework presented in Principles of Animal Research Ethics is more comprehensive in addressing ethical requirements pertaining to societal benefit (the most important consideration in justifying the harming of animals in research) and features a more thorough, ethically defensible program of animal welfare (the area on which Russell and Burch focus). The present framework is also more likely than the Three Rs to foster extensive agreement between the biomedical and animal protection communities—an agreement deeply needed at the present time. The book features commentaries on the framework of principles written by eminent figures in animal research ethics representing an array of relevant disciplines: veterinary medicine, biomedical research, biology, zoology, comparative psychology, primatology, law, and bioethics. The seven commentators on the authors’ Principles are Larry Carbone, Frans B. M. de Waal, Rebecca Dresser, Joseph P. Garner, Brian Hare, Margaret S. Landi, and Julian Savulescu.

Inequality has emerged as a key development challenge. It holds implications for economic growth and redistribution and translates into power asymmetries that can endanger human rights, create conflict, and embed social exclusion and chronic poverty. For these reasons, it underpins intense public and academic debates and has become a dominant policy concern within many countries and in all multilateral agencies. It is at the core of the seventeen goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This book contributes to this important discussion by presenting assessments of the measurement and analysis of global inequality by leading inequality scholars, aligning these to comprehensive reviews of inequality trends in five of the world’s largest developing countries—Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa. Each is a persistently high or newly high inequality context and, with the changing global inequality situation as context, country chapters investigate the main factors shaping their different inequality dynamics. Particular attention is on how broader societal inequalities arising outside of the labour market have intersected with the rapidly changing labour market milieus of the last few decades. Collectively these chapters provide a nuanced discussion of key distributive phenomena like the high concentration of income among the most affluent people, gender inequalities, and social mobility. Substantive tax and social benefit policies that each country implemented to mitigate these inequality dynamics are assessed in detail. The book takes lessons from these contexts back into the global analysis of inequality and social mobility and the policies needed to address inequality.

Climate change adaptation is the ability of a society or a natural system to adjust to the (changing) conditions that support life in a certain climate region, including weather extremes in that region. The current discussion on climate change adaptation began in the 1990s, with the publication of the Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Since the beginning of the 21st century, most countries, and many regions and municipalities have started to develop and implement climate change adaptation strategies and plans. But since the implementation of adaptation measures must be planned and conducted at the local level, a major challenge is to actually implement adaptation to climate change in practice. One challenge is that scientific results are mainly published on international or national levels, and political guidelines are written at transnational (e.g., European Union), national, or regional levels—these scientific results must be downscaled, interpreted, and adapted to local municipal or community levels. Needless to say, the challenges for implementation are also rooted in a large number of uncertainties, from long time spans to matters of scale, as well as in economic, political, and social interests. From a human perspective, climate change impacts occur rather slowly, while local decision makers are engaged with daily business over much shorter time spans.Among the obstacles to implementing adaptation measures to climate change are three major groups of uncertainties: (a) the uncertainties surrounding the development of our future climate, which include the exact climate sensitivity of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, the reliability of emission scenarios and underlying storylines, and inherent uncertainties in climate models; (b) uncertainties about anthropogenically induced climate change impacts (e.g., long-term sea level changes, changing weather patterns, and extreme events); and (c) uncertainties about the future development of socioeconomic and political structures as well as legislative frameworks.Besides slow changes, such as changing sea levels and vegetation zones, extreme events (natural hazards) are a factor of major importance. Many societies and their socioeconomic systems are not properly adapted to their current climate zones (e.g., intensive agriculture in dry zones) or to extreme events (e.g., housing built in flood-prone areas). Adaptation measures can be successful only by gaining common societal agreement on their necessity and overall benefit. Ideally, climate change adaptation measures are combined with disaster risk reduction measures to enhance resilience on short, medium, and long time scales.The role of uncertainties and time horizons is addressed by developing climate change adaptation measures on community level and in close cooperation with local actors and stakeholders, focusing on strengthening resilience by addressing current and emerging vulnerability patterns. Successful adaptation measures are usually achieved by developing “no-regret” measures, in other words—measures that have at least one function of immediate social and/or economic benefit as well as long-term, future benefits. To identify socially acceptable and financially viable adaptation measures successfully, it is useful to employ participatory tools that give all involved parties and decision makers the possibility to engage in the process of identifying adaptation measures that best fit collective needs.

Direct experience, scientific reports, and international media coverage make clear that the breadth, severity, and multiple consequences from climate change are far-reaching and increasing. Like many places globally, the northeastern United States is already experiencing climate change, including one of the world’s highest rates of ocean warming, reduced durations of winter ice cover on lakes, a marked increase in the frequency of extreme precipitation events, and climate-mediated ecological disruptions of invasive species. Given current and projected changes in ecosystems, communities, and economies, it is essential to find ways to anticipate and reduce vulnerabilities to change and, at the same time, promote sustainable economic development and human well-being.The emerging field of sustainability science offers a promising conceptual and analytic framework for accelerating progress towards sustainable development. Sustainability science aims to be use-inspired and to connect basic and applied knowledge with solutions for societal benefit. This approach draws from diverse disciplines, theories, and methods organized around the broad goal of maintaining and improving life support systems, ecosystem health, and human well-being. Partners in New England have been using sustainability science as a framework for stakeholder-engaged, interdisciplinary research that has generated use-inspired knowledge and multiple solutions for more than a decade. Sustainability science has helped produce a landscape-scale approach to wetland conservation; emergency response plans for invasive species that threaten livelihoods and cultures; decision support tools for improved water quality management and public health for beach use and shellfish consumption; and the development of robust partnership networks across disciplines and institutions. Understanding and reducing vulnerability to climate change is a central motivating factor in this portfolio of projects because linking knowledge about social-ecological systems with effective policy action requires a holistic view that addresses complex intersecting stressors.One common theme in these varied efforts is the way that communication fundamentally shapes collaborative research and social, technical, and policy outcomes from sustainability science. Communication as a discipline has, for more than two thousand years, sought to understand how environments and symbols shape human life, forms of social organization, and collective decision making. The result is a body of scholarship and practical techniques that are diverse and well adapted to meet the complexity of contemporary sustainability challenges. The complexity of the issues that sustainability science aspires to solve requires diversity and flexibility to be able to adapt approaches to the specific needs of a situation. Long-term, cross-scale, and multi-institutional sustainability science collaborations show that communication research and practice can help build communities and networks, and advance technical and policy solutions to confront the challenges of climate change and promote sustainability now and in future.