Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2021 - Social & Behavioral Sciences — Business, Management & Labor — African and African American Studies

Parekh (philosophy, Northeastern Univ.) provides a valuable introduction to contemporary refugee issues, avoiding the jargon of the international refugee regime in favor of an informal, almost conversational approach. She sees two fundamental problems with the current state of affairs: a lack of acceptance of refugees and asylum-seekers in advanced industrial countries, and a lack of adequate options for refugees in the developing world from which most of them originate. Her argument is indeed a moral one, that everyone must help ensure "minimum conditions of human dignity" for all people. Since refugees are outside their own origin country, it falls to the more economically developed countries in the world to ensure those minimum conditions for them. The developed countries, she points out, "are in a position to easily help," as she calmly debunks the supposed dangers that refugees bring, whether in monetary costs, human security, or cultural coherence. Her description of the hazards in seeking asylum, the "last hope" for many refugees, is appropriately grueling. Importantly, her discussion includes vivid case examples from the journalistic literature that underscore the pain, loss, and uncertainty of being a refugee.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels.

A delightful, expansive, and authoritative exploration of child ecology, this volume will be an essential asset to the library of every scholar and advocate of children's rights and child development. Using mixed research methods, including systems theory and an ethnographic comparative analysis complemented by data, Woodhouse (Emory Univ.) examines the status of childhood internationally. The review of two villages--Scanno, Italy, and Cedar Key, Florida--is especially engaging, as are two urban case studies of the Harlem Children's Zone in New York City and La Sanita in Naples. By capturing the effects of the Great Recession, globalization, and climate change, the author charts important developments for the future of children. Finally, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is discussed as a legal template for ensuring that children receive more than minimal attention from their adult supervisors. A law professor and legal scholar, Woodhouse has impeccable credentials for authoring this illuminating book.Summing Up: Essential. All levels.