Our pick for some fireside reading
Consent of the networked: the worldwide struggle for internet freedom
Hardcover: 320 pages, $26.99
ISBN: 0465024424
Publisher: Basic Books
Published: February 2012
With Wikipedia shutting down over US internet freedom laws, and bloggers sparking regime change in the Arab world, this is an acutely prescient book. Prominent internet policy activist Rebecca MacKinnon argues that global IT companies are dominating the net – and it’s time the world’s netizens grabbed it back.
Abundance: the future is better than you think
By Peter Diamandis and Stephen Kotler
Hardback: 400 pages, $26.99
ISBN: 1451614217
Publisher: Free Press
Published: February 2012
As the world’s population expands towards seven billion, pessimists paint an ever bleaker picture of a resource-poor future. This boldly contrarian and optimistic book argues the opposite. How so? Technology. It’s here to save us.
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Accountability Theory Meets Accountability Practice
By Harald Bergsteiner
Hardback: 450 pages, $124.95
ISBN: 1780520549
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Published: February 2012
Accountability theory doesn’t make for light reading. The scope is narrow, the language confusing and the conceptualisation of key points all too often unclear. This book is an attempt not only to correct these failings, but to translate theory to practice. An important contribution.
Defending the Social Licence of Farming: issues, challenges and new directions for agriculture
By Jacqueline Williams and Paul Martin (eds)
Paperback: 224 pages, $55
ISBN: 0643101594
Publisher: CSIRO
Published: February 2012
Farmers have a lot on their plate: climate variability, water scarcity, animal welfare, declining biodiversity. This book provides examples of different sectors’ strategies and experiences. Farmers’ social licence to operate is not dead yet.
Family Business and Social Capital
By Ritch Sorenson (ed)
Hardback: 304 pages, $125
ISBN: 184980737X
Publisher: Edward Elgar
Published: January 2012
Topics covered in the book include social capital as it relates to governance, trust, family and business identity, communication, family councils and work-family balance. A wide-ranging index for a highly-relevant subject.
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Global Governance and Corporate Responsibility in Conflict Zones
By Moira Feil
Hardcover: 256 pages, $85
ISBN: 0230307892
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: January 2012
Corporations in conflict zones and their provision of security have become increasingly topical issues in recent years. This book tackles head on what the politics and the theory say about corporate engagement in unstable regimes.
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The Social Innovation Imperative: create winning products, services, and programs that solve society's most pressing challenges
By Sandra Bates
Hardback: 272 pages, $25
ISBN: 0071754997
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Published: January 2012
In lean times, innovation is believed to be the elixir of future business success. Social innovation is similarly lauded, but the rules of the game are different. This book traces how innovation is created in social sectors such as care, conservation and education.
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Cultural Studies and Finance Capitalism
By Mark Hayward (ed)
Hardback: 184 pages, $125
ISBN: 0415686815
Publisher: Routledge
Published: Jan 2012
While many discussions of the economic crisis of 2007-2008 have sought to explain the causes of the financial collapse, this volume looks to supplement these accounts by exploring possible alternatives for the post-crisis world in which we now live.