The South American country of Ecuador provides a fascinating case study for understanding the construction and emergence of race and ethnic identities. While themes of ethnic identities, indigeneity, and race relations are commonly examined in our respective disciplines, it is less common to bring together essays with from scholars from such a broad variety of disciplines. The papers collected in this volume provide an opportunity to explore indigeneity in comparative perspective with the rest of the region, as well as to highlight the historically important but understudied Afro-Ecuadorian perspectives. The essays in this volume break out of the common tropes and themes that scholars typically employ in their studies of race and ethnicity in Ecuador. In examining Afro-Ecuadorians and Indigenous peoples through the lens of politics, culture, religion, gender, and environmental concerns, we come to a better understanding of the problems and promises facing this country. These essays convey a large diversity of perspectives, disciplines, and issues that reflect the richness and complexities of the social processes that are present in Ecuador.

A profound analysis of a broad range of issues, providing a masterly overview of rural development in India.

Building engineering is a complex and constantly evolving branch. The needs of the XXI century society cause a constant change in construction industry due to the need to achieve sustainable and ecological buildings. This affects all levels and phases of this engineering. Given this circumstance, numerous researchers turn their efforts to find optimal solutions for building engineering. For this reason, in this book a holistic analysis of building engineering is carried out from the perspectives that have a greater weight for sustainability objectives. The book is divided into 6 sections: (i) Building materials, which deals with research related to the most innovative and sustainable building materials; (ii) Design and construction, which deals with existing methodologies and advances in design and construction in construction sector; (iii) Building repair and maintenance, which deals with building repair, maintenance and upkeep techniques; (iv) Energy efficiency, which analyses the latest research on the energy efficiency of buildings and their behaviour in the face of climate change; (v) Sustainability, which analyses the establishment of measures to achieve a more sustainable built environment; and (vi) construction management, which compiles the latest studies in the field of Project manager. The 38 chapters of the book together constitute an advance for the topic of building engineering. The aspects covered in the book are of great interest to various sectors, such as researchers, engineers, architects, legislators and interested parties.

Christian theology, classically defined, is faith's intellectual work of seeking understanding, not in order to prove its truth but to persuade those who hear it proclaimed. Theology done from within the Reformed tradition has long displayed this quality, and it continues to develop in response to our changing world. "Reformed Theology: Identity and Ecumenicity" is an excellent resource for readers interested in examining current trends and motifs in Reformed thought. Written by systematic theologians from around the world, this book explores the meaning of the Reformed tradition and its relevance for the contemporary church. The contributors highlight ways that Reformed theology can enrich the church ecumenical even as they seek to realize a more catholic Reformed community of inquiry. Contributors: P. Mark Achtemeier Wallace M. Alston Jr. H. Russel Botman Eberhard Busch Dawn DeVries Margit Ernst Gabriel Fackre Douglas Farrow David Fergusson Botond Gaal Colin Gunton George Hunsinger William Stacy Johnson Yung Han Kim Ulrich H. J. Kortner Jan Milič Lochman Bruce L. McCormack Peter McEnhill Daniel L. Migliore Piet J. Naude Milan Opocě nsky Jan Rohls Dirk Smit George W. Stroup A. van de Beek Leanne Van Dyk Michael Weinrich Michael Welker Myung Yong Kim Carver T. Yu

"Combining his unique experience as tenured professor of moral theology at Creighton University with over twenty years as pastoral minister and executive director of Boys Town, author Rev. Val J. Peter offers assessments, critiques, and insights into contemporary social problems. His forthright style, various examples, and specific suggestions offer practical advice and guidance to assist the spiritual lives of 21st-century Catholics in dealing with these seven secular challenges."--BOOK JACKET.

Africa's dynamic security environment is characterized by great diversity-from conventional challenges such as insurgencies, resource and identity conflicts, and post-conflict stabilization to growing threats from piracy, narcotics trafficking, violent extremism, and organized crime taking root in urban slums, among others. This precarious environment jeopardizes security at the societal, community and individual levels. In a globalized and interconnected world, millions of people worldwide are affected by some form of human insecurity. Infectious and parasitic diseases annually kill millions. Internally displaced persons number millions, including 5 million in Sudan alone. In Zambia 1 million people in a population of 11 million are reported to be HIV-positive, a situation much worse in other countries. Potable water crisis looms almost everywhere. In this book Tatah Mentan points out the need to shift the focus away from a state-centric and military-strategic emphasis on security to an interdisciplinary and people-centric approach that embraces notions like global citizenship, empowerment and participation. The primary elements of economic, food, health, environment, personal, community and political security all comprise the broader understanding of human security in an intricately interconnected world.