"Meeting the Challenges of Existential Threats through Educational Innovation" is the first book of its kind to provide an educational and systematic analysis of problems and solutions regarding the most pressing threats that humankind is facing. The book makes a case for the importance of education responding to significant threats;…

In "Climate Change: Meeting the Challenge," we conclude the special section by assuming that you have been persuaded by Thompson's paper or other evidence that global warming is real and poses a threat that must be dealt with, and that for now the only way to deal with it is by changing behavior. Then we ask what you, as behavior analysts, can do…

Finding solutions to complex health problems, such as obesity, violence, and climate change, will require radical changes in cross-disciplinary education, research, and practice. The fundamental determinants of health include many interrelated factors such as poverty, culture, education, environment, and government policies. However, traditional…

Research on globalization and education involves the study of intertwined worldwide discourses, processes, and institutions affecting local educational practices and policies. The four major theoretical perspectives concerning globalization and education are world culture, world systems, postcolonial, and culturalist. The major global educational…

The financial crisis of the United Nations precipitated by the withholding of funds by member countries is addressed. On December 19, 1986, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution (GA/Res/41/213) containing the elements of a plan for reforming a wide range of United Nations administrative and budgetary practices. The reform process had begun…

This pamphlet explores the dynamics of world population, highlighting steps world leaders can take to address population problems and improve the lives of people worldwide. With jet-age transportation and electronic communication, economic and social interdependence of nations is greater than ever before and is likely to increase in the future.…

Concepts, tools, and a methodology are needed which will permit the analysis of emergent socio-biospheric problems and facilitate their effective management. Many contemporary problems may be characterized as socio-biospheric; for example, pollution of the seas, acid rain, the growth of cities, and an atmosphere loaded with carcinogens. However,…

Education is the best hope for peace and progress in the world, and because education is best given and received when infused with critical thinking, critical thinking can save the world. Some of the most serious problems facing humankind are overpopulation and famine. The problems of ethnicity, colonialism, and religion further complicate matters…

This book is a review of the 1986 United Nations International Year of Peace conducted at an international conference in Fiji. The theme of the conference was "People Create Alternatives," and the issues of conflict resolution and avoiding global destruction were addressed. Specific topics discussed were: (1) "Theories and…

Economic educators recognize the importance of a global perspective, at least in part because the international sector has become more important over the past few decades. The application of economic principles calls into question some assumptions that appear to be common among members of the global education movement. That these assumptions might…

Defines war as symptom rather than cause. Identifies the root cause of the Middle East crisis as destruction of the regional balance of power through foreign augmentation of Iraqi power. Criticizes the tendency to see world problems as a fight between good and evil. Defines realism as the ability to see political realities as a balance of power.…

Argues that sociology's future is bright. Cites the field's younger, more diverse professoriate; the more qualitative, critical research that will result from reduced educational funding; and opportunities provided by global change. Suggests that the post-Cold War era, ecological crises, and economic transformation will present challenges to…

This document contains 31 position papers that reflect a wide range of views on nuclear arms policy held by political leaders, religious authorities, scholars, policy experts, journalists, and political activists. Since no judgments are made, the reader is left to decide which arguments are most compelling. Each position paper is arranged into one…

Papers presented at a symposium commemorating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Department of Rural Sociology of the University of Wisconsin-Madison are collected in this volume. The first four papers--by Olaf Larson, Edward Moe, Daryl Hobbs, and Robert Gard--discuss the department's history, emphasizing the contributions of outstanding…

Claims that science takes a reductionist approach that has led to a fragmented view of the world. Argues that such a worldview lies at the heart of ecological crises. Calls for a new holistic approach to science. (TW)