This book discusses opportunities and limitations to democratic participation in institutions and organizations across the life course. It demonstrates that democratic participation is not something that is learned once and for all and applied in formal political settings, but something that is lived every day throughout life in various contexts. Institutions and organizations frame human lives and strongly determine the ability to participate and co-determine their communities. They are places for learning, deliberation and the development of the common good. The book conceptually and empirically analyses the potential of democratic participation within various institutions. The contributions range from early childhood institutions, schools, youth programs, workplaces, and vocational education to cultural organizations and nursing homes for the elderly. The book thereby provides a cross-sectional and interdisciplinary knowledge base to inspire future research and practical efforts to promote democratic participation within and across institutions around the world.

Educating for Democracy reports the results of the Political Engagement Project, a study of educational practices at the college level that prepare students for responsible democratic participation. In this book, coauthors Anne Colby, Elizabeth Beaumont, Thomas Ehrlich, and Josh Corngold show that education for political development can increase students’ political understanding, skill, motivation, and involvement while contributing to many aspects of general academic learning.

After the multi racial elections in April 1994, South Africa has been set on a new course. For a country emerging from 45 years of apartheid democracy should prove to be the vital first step on the path to sustainability and equitability. There are sure to be pitfalls along the way but the potential offered by long-awaited equality is enormous, and realising that potential is the key to the country's chances of achieving sustainable development. This book analyses the changes which are needed and which might result from the new political culture. It discusses the policy requirements necessary for sustainable development and looks at how the economy, regional integration, land reform, the law, local government, NGOs, health care and AIDs prevention, education, and the media will all be affected, drawing on the experience of other countries in Africa which have witnessed the transition to black majority rule. Accessible to general readers as well as to specialists, it provides a comprehensive overview of the issues involved, and a basis for understanding what prospects the future holds for South Africa.

As the public purposes of higher education are being challenged by the increasing pressures of commodification and market-driven principles, Deliberative Pedagogy argues for colleges and universities to be critical spaces for democratic engagement. The authors build upon contemporary research on participatory approaches to teaching and learning while simultaneously offering a robust introduction to the theory and practice of deliberative pedagogy as a new educational model for civic life. This volume is written for faculty members and academic professionals involved in curricular, co-curricular, and community settings, as well as administrators who seek to support faculty, staff, and students in such efforts. The book begins with a theoretical grounding and historical underpinning of education for democracy, provides a diverse collection of practical case studies with best practices shared by an array of scholars from varying disciplines and institutional contexts worldwide, and concludes with useful methods of assessment and next steps for this work. The contributors seek to catalyze a conversation about the role of deliberation in the next paradigm of teaching and learning in higher education and how it connects with the future of democracy. Ultimately, this book seeks to demonstrate how higher education institutions can cultivate collaborative and engaging learning environments that better address the complex challenges in our global society.

Credit can be instrumental in equalizing opportunity and alleviating poverty, yet historically men and women have not had the same access. Partly because of this, women have been excluded from many previous economic histories. This book fills a significant gap in exploring the vexed relationship between the women and credit across time and space.Providing examples of credit agencies and initiatives in both the developing and developed world, Women and Credit raises important policy issues and makes valuable suggestions for reconfiguring the relationship between women and credit. It also answers questions previously ignored by scholars, yet of vital significance to women's studies and economic history. What contribution did women make to the development of industrial capitalism? How does women's access to credit vary across time and cultures? How has the development of mico-credit initiatives affected women's economic position and what role will such initiatives play in the future?This book is an invaluable resource for anyone in the fields of Women's studies, economic history, anthropology or development.

. Renewal of Life by Transmission. The most notable distinction between living and inanimate things is that the former maintain themselves by renewal. A stone when struck resists. If its resistance is greater than the force of the blow struck, it remains outwardly unchanged. Otherwise, it is shattered into smaller bits. Never does the stone attempt to react in such a way that it may maintain itself against the blow, much less so as to render the blow a contributing factor to its own continued action. While the living thing may easily be crushed by superior force, it none the less tries to turn the energies which act upon it into means of its own further existence. If it cannot do so, it does not just split into smaller pieces (at least in the higher forms of life), but loses its identity as a living thing. As long as it endures, it struggles to use surrounding energies in its own behalf. It uses light, air, moisture, and the material of soil. To say that it uses them is to say that it turns them into means of its own conservation. As long as it is growing, the energy it expends in thus turning the environment to account is more than compensated for by the return it gets: it grows. Understanding the word "control" in this sense, it may be said that a living being is one that subjugates and controls for its own continued activity the energies that would otherwise use it up. Life is a self-renewing process through action upon the environment.