Mo Malek - Böcker

The social sciences are still predominantly modernist disciplines and, as such, products of the Enlightenment. Postmodernism and the Social Sciences examines the nature and potential of this postmodernist challenge in each of the major social sciences.

The social sciences are still predominantly developments of the Enlightenment, extensions of the conceptions and methods of Newtonian science. Recently a number of social theorists have brought the presuppositions of Enlightenment thinking under critical scrutiny and have called into question the basis of much social scientific thinking. Despite the seriousness of this postmodernist challenge, its nature and dimensions remain unclear especially to those in the modernist mainstream. The essays in this book are designed to call attention to the challenge and in a manner accessible to those not so familiar with the more theoretical writings of postmodernism. The essays range over the social sciences and ask what the implications of postmodernism thinking are for the modernist disciplines of social anthropology, sociology, geography, social psychology, international relations and economics. An introductory essay provides a survey of the beginnings of postmodernism in literary theory and in the study of art and architecture and raises questions about the translation of the vocabulary of postmodernism into the social sciences.

The title was first published in 2001: The papers in this volume, selected from nearly 100 submissions to the Fourth International Conference on Strategic Issues in Health Care Management, reflect the work taking place in health economics. The first five chapters in the collection examine the role of economics within clinical guidelines and suggest methods of improving the quality of economic evaluation which is now at the centre of decision-making in the NHS. The second section of the book is comprised of two papers on inequalities and access. The third part contains four papers, two of which cover reviews and tackle some theoretical issues regarding demand, and two are applied case studies. The fourth section assesses performance, and the final four papers review health reforms in a number of countries including the UK, Canada, France and Turkey.

This title was first published in 2001: The papers in this volume, selected from nearly 100 submissions to the Fourth International Conference on Strategic Issues in Health Care Management, reflect the work taking place in health economics. The first five chapters in the collection examine the role of economics within clinical guidelines and suggest methods of improving the quality of economic evaluation which is now at the centre of decision-making in the NHS. The second section of the book is comprised of two papers on inequalities and access. The third part contains four papers, two of which cover reviews and tackle some theoretical issues regarding demand, and two are applied case studies. The fourth section assesses performance, and the final four papers review health reforms in a number of countries including the UK, Canada, France and Turkey.

This title was first published in 2002: Health systems across the globe face similar problems: controlling costs while maintaining or improving health care quality and access. Notwithstanding the unprecedented health system reforms of the past decades, many outstanding problems remain in these areas. Drawing on experts from Europe and America this eclectic collection of leading edge research examines the impact of organizational development on improving quality and efficiency in health care. A series of chapters provide accounts of organizational reconfiguration in the UK and elsewhere. The contributors examine how structural and procedural changes must be matched by the development of human resource services if increases in efficiency and effectiveness are to be achieved. The book will be of interest to health care academics, policy makers, managers and practitioners who are interested in keeping abreast of the latest developments in health care research.