"Identifying Consumption" illustrates how an individual's buying habits are shaped by the dynamics of the consumer marketplace - and thus how consumption and identity inform each other. Robert Dunn brings together the various theories of spending and develops a mode of analysis concentrating on the individual subjectivity of consumption. By doing so, he addresses how we spend and its relationship with status and lifestyle. Dunn provides a comprehensive guide to the study of modern consumer behaviour before summarizing and critiquing the major theories of consumption. At this juncture, he proposes a method of analysis that focuses on the significance of status and lifestyle in social relations that can help explain how the consumer marketplace is shaped. He concludes by raising issues about different ways of consuming and the relationship between consumption and identity.

Ethical consumption, fair trade, consumer protests, brand backlashes, green goods, boycotts and downshifting: these are all now familiar consumer activities - and in some cases, are almost mainstream. They are part of the expanding field of 'radical consumption' in a world where we are encouraged to shop for change. But just how radical are these forms of consumption? This book offers an interdisciplinary approach to examining contemporary radical consumption, analyzing its possibilities and problems, moralities, methods of mediation and its connections to wider cultural formations of production and politics.

Copula Modeling explores the copula approach for econometrics modeling of joint parametric distributions. Copula Modeling demonstrates that practical implementation and estimation is relatively straightforward despite the complexity of its theoretical foundations. An attractive feature of parametrically specific copulas is that estimation and inference are based on standard maximum likelihood procedures. Thus, copulas can be estimated using desktop econometric software. This offers a substantial advantage of copulas over recently proposed simulation-based approaches to joint modeling. Copulas are useful in a variety of modeling situations including financial markets, actuarial science, and microeconometrics modeling. Copula Modeling provides practitioners and scholars with a useful guide to copula modeling with a focus on estimation and misspecification. The authors cover important theoretical foundations. Throughout, the authors use Monte Carlo experiments and simulations to demonstrate copula properties

This timely book addresses the issue of environmental sustainability and aims to raise awareness in people of the concerns within their own environments. It identifies four key concepts: understanding how the Earth's natural systems work; accessing information about the state of the planet; acquiring tools and skills for productive and efficient environmental management; and committing to using natural resources sensitively and equitably. The book also uses case studies of individual and collective action and contains exercises and questions for discussion.

Based on case studies, this book demonstrates real-world applications of Six Sigma, especially in service or non-traditional industries and processes. In a clean, clear style that is not overly technical, the author describes the Six Sigma DMAIC of DMADV problems solving approach and how it can be applied to service and transaction related processes. The case studies illustrate the application of Lean Six Sigma tools to a wide variety of processes and problems including, but not limited to financial process improvement, business purchasing procedures, designing a recruiting process, developing and infrastructure for operational excellence, improving educational program
processes.

Starting your own business can be intimidating and overwhelming. How to Start a Business in Texas makes the process easier and more manageable. How to Start a Business in Texas is a comprehensive aid to starting and running your own business. This book covers everything from employment agreements to finding financial support. There are contract laws listed, as well as ways to protect your business from liability and fraud. There is also an easy-to-understand explanation of how to determine what form of business is best suited for you. Written by attorneys, this book will guide you through the creation of your own business, while avoiding hassle and worry.

THIS book is an attempt to present a view of the economic conditions existing in Persia at the present time, and also to suggest remedies which these conditions indicate as being necessary, possible and practical. There is se very little known in Europe and America about present-day Persia and the opportunities which exist in that country that a book of this sort may not be out of place at this juncture. It is hoped that by a presentation of the actual conditions and an explanation of the future possibilities of Persia a co-operation of interests between the outside world and Persia may be brought about, which would greatly help towards the economic development of that country.

The 17 original essays that comprise this volume examine various aspects of socio-religious and political problems that have been sparked by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. They study the use of religion to evoke mass hysteria and demonstrate how liberalization, globalization and privatization go hand-in-hand with the rise of religion-based politics. Among the issues discussed include: the educated elite's use of religion to cushion a possible underprivileged uprising; NRI funding of identity-based organizations; conversions; and the Hindutva strategy of simultaneously oppressing and attempting to mobilize sections like tribals, Dalits, workers, women and minorities.

Examining the nature and scope of large-scale surface irrigation in India, this book identifies the factors leading to poor performance from a political economy perspective and suggests viable options for institutional reforms.
Using empirical data on irrigation financing and farmer participation, the authors go beyond merely making policy recommendations. They make detailed calculations of the costs of irrigation development, including both capital expenditure and recurring costs. They also examine the performance of reform measures that are already in operation in Karnataka and Rajasthan, as well as evaluating the effectiveness of participatory irrigation management reforms.

Philosophical Background Brickwork: its History, Nature and Behaviour The Repair and Conservation of Brickwork Renders and Materials of Fired Clay other than Brick Construction in Earths Repair of Earth Structures Case Studies: seven examples

Technical drawings by the architects and engineers of the Renaissance made use of a range of new methods of graphic representation. These drawings—among them Leonardo da Vinci's famous drawings of mechanical devices—have long been studied for their aesthetic qualities and technological ingenuity, but their significance for the architects and engineers themselves is seldom considered. The essays in Picturing Machines 1400-1700 take this alternate perspective and look at how drawing shaped the practice of early modern engineering. They do so through detailed investigations of specific images, looking at over 100 that range from sketches to perspective views to thoroughly constructed projections.

Scholars working at the intersection of African-American history and the history of technology are redefining the idea of technology to include the work of the skilled artisan and the ingenuity of the self-taught inventor. Although denied access through most of American history to many new technologies and to the privileged education of the engineer, African-Americans have been engaged with a range of technologies, as makers and as users, since the colonial era. A Hammer in Their Hands (the title comes from the famous song about John Henry, "the steel-driving man" who beat the steam drill) collects newspaper and magazine articles, advertisements for runaway slaves, letters, folklore, excerpts from biography and fiction, legal patents, protest pamphlets, and other primary sources to document the technological achievements of African-Americans.