While conventional assessments of the national quality of life focus on the economic and material dimensions of our society, A Fragile Social Fabric? expands that evaluation to include the social covenant of rights and obligations. The authors examine two sides of the social covenant: what Canadians expect from their society – fairness, recognition for their contribution to society, trust that others will not take advantage of them, and a sense of belonging – and what is expected from them – a sense of indebtedness to society that reflects an appreciation of how they have benefited as members of their society, a sense of obligation to help others, and a willingness to contribute to the functioning of the community and society. Based on this analysis, the authors identify a number of steps that can be taken to strengthen the Canadian social fabric.This study is especially pertinent today given the pervasive market culture that is eroding the civic culture underlying the social covenants in contemporary Western societies. It goes beyond conventional assessments that focus on economic and material dimensions of our society.

As the second most industrially developed economy in Sub-Saharan Africa, World Bank officials argued that Zimbabwe could be the first African country to succeed with economic liberalization. However, the experience of structural adjustment was disastrous, as it led to widespread deindustrialization. In contrast to predictions, a World Bank/International Monetary Fund program led to the collapse of industries it was meant to promote: textiles, clothing, and footwear. This book examines the reasons behind this seeming paradox through an in-depth case study of the experience of textiles, clothing, and footwear sub-sectors in Zimbabwe under structural adjustment. Economic liberalization failed because it did not relate to the local economic context. This failure led to autonomous development of the trade and financial sectors, to the detriment of production. The economic crisis that resulted is a critical factor behind recent political instability and the current crisis of governance in Zimbabwe. Padraig Carmody argues that alternatives must be based on a better understanding of the local politico-economic context in Zimbabwe.

The breadth of articles contained in this volume reflects the breadth of Bryce Lyon's scholarly interests. Topics include marriage rules as they relate to women and incest, Bernard of Clairvaux, Henry I, and executions in late medieval Paris. This collection honors Bryce Lyon and his considerable impact on medieval studies as a whole.

Social Inequality in Canada is a collection of twenty-eight articles that cover all of the major aspects of social inequality. The text covers two broad components: objective or structural conditions of social inequality (power, poverty and wealth, occupations, and educational attainment, in particular) and ideologies that help support these differences. Readers who would prefer a more egalitarian society than currently exists in Canada will find reasons for both optimism and pessimism in the research presented here. The studies in this collection demonstrate that some types of inequality are generally becoming more marked over time, while others have considerably diminished, and still more that show little change in recent decades.

"The articles included in this book represent some of the tangible outputs of the international conference entitled "In Search of a New Paradigm: Social Capital and Poverty Reduction in Latin America and the Carribean", which was organized by the Economic Comission for Latin America and the Carribean (ECLAC) and the University of Michigan and held in Santiago, Chile, in September 2001"--Page 9.