Concept Pub. Co.

Adoption; global perspectives and ethical issues.

Pati (Central Adoption Resource Agency, Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India) assembles 12 papers that consider child adoption from a global perspective. The contributors discuss attachment issues and child rights, such as the effects of institutional living on attachment and the rights of children in the UK; open adoption, those in and to the US, and postcolonialism and transnational adoption; and ethical issues relating to counseling, escorting children in inter-country adoptions, and placement. United Nations conventions and declarations on child rights, welfare and other topics are appended. Contributors are social workers, adoptive parents, and sociologists, or work in the fields of ethnic studies, education, psychology, and social policy in the US, India, Australia, Canada, and Europe. The book is aimed at adoption agencies, students of social work, and researchers. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Biblical folklore.

Combining his academic work in folklore with his profession in the Church of South India, Vincent uses folklore as a tool of biblical analysis. He looks at folktales, proverbs, riddles, folk beliefs, folk gods, folk music, and folk games in the Bible. He also considers the Bible community. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Citizen participation and democratic governance; in our hands.

The Society for Participatory Research in Asia was established in India a quarter of a century ago to study issues of democratic participation in governance and development. This volume reviews the Society's past experiences and lessons and contains 11 chapters discussing such issues as local and global governance of public goods, institutions for strengthening local self-government in India, state accountability and contentious claims of industry over tribal land, gender and governance, grassroots mobilization of civil society, civic engagement and municipal solid waste management, and the institutional history of the Society for Participatory Research itself. Distributed in the US by South Asia Books. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Rethinking intelligence; conceptualising human competence in cultural context.

Establishing levels of intelligence with pen-and-paper tests has long been proved to be an exercise in futility. In contrast, Srivastava (educational psychology, National council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi) and Misra (psychology, U. of Delhi) have developed an innovative model for the understanding of intelligence in the Indian cultural context based on Suktis (Hindu proverbs) and the views of lay people in different parts of India. Their findings suggest that intelligence is multifaceted and includes cognitive, social, entrepreneurial and emotional functions; in the Indian context, character and personality figure in intelligence as much as quickness in thinking and academic knowledge. They build their case by analyzing classical and contemporary concepts, including Western approaches, the state of research in India, traditional Indian notions of intelligence as expressed in Suktis and the Bhagavad Gita, and lay people's understanding and use of intelligence. Distributed in the US by South Asia Books. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Social behaviour of children; a cross cultural assessment.

Formerly with the U. of London, social anthropologist Tanner has conducted fieldwork throughout the world and has published numerous books and journal articles. He is currently researching social science fieldwork in developing societies by nationals and non-nationals, and the connections between spirituality, well-being and health. In this text, he presents a multidisciplinary and integrated approach to behavior that is conducive to the nurturing of social interaction and functioning on interpersonal and social scales, with particular reference to the societies of East London, East Africa and East Asia. The text examines what pro-social behavior is, various factors that encourage it, and the challenges to pro-social behavior posed by the changing values of contemporary society. Concept Publishing Company is located in New Delhi, India. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

State, nation and democracy; alternative global futures.

The editors (all professors of international relations at Jadavpur U., India) present 19 papers that explore challenges facing the state in the era of post-coloniality and globalization from a South Asian perspective. Topics addressed include the ethnic politics of Indian parliamentary democracy, Islam and nationalism, global democratic transition and China's political authoritarianism, the possibilities for democratization in Burma (Myanmar), Indian views on European welfare states, national identity and European integration, post-coloniality and international relations in Africa, and alternative world orders. Distributed in the US by South Asia Books. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)