Will we ever run out of energy? : the history and future of technological progress and energy supply

The strong conviction is that population and economic growth are so great that not only will we run out of hydrocarbons, minerals or land before technology can save us from an impending climatic apocalypse but probably all three will run out simultaneously - and soon. Yet as we will discover, the real constraint is not our finite physical energy resources, but human intervention of the statist kind. A careful look at the history, present and future of our energy supply paints a much more positive picture. Over hundreds of years, some crucial megatrends are clear; increasing consumption, progressive decarbonisation, the emergence of energy service clouds and a growth in the breadth of energy ownership and consumer choice

American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era

Review of: "American Oracle: The Civil War in the Civil Rights Era," by David W. Blight

Home Front: Daily Life in the Civil War North

Review of: "Home Front: Daily Life in the Civil War North," by Peter John Brownlee, Sarah Burns, Diane Dillon, Daniel Greene, and Scott Manning Steven

Digitalizing Crime Prevention Theories: How Technology Affects Victim and Offender Behavior

In the last thirty years, two main theoretical traditions in crime prevention literature have emerged: 1) the victimization perspective, which considers the victim, offender, and environment, and 2) the social control perspective, an alternative view that considers the role that community and family members play in informally influencing the moral values of potential offenders. Both of these theories have been used to inform crime prevention techniques by focusing on modifying the behavior of potential victims and the motivations of potential offenders. While both the social control and victimization perspectives have been used to discuss criminal behavior and crime prevention, neither acknowledge the role that technology plays in the lives of those that may commit crimes or be victimized. In this paper, we attempt to “digitalize” theories of crime prevention. By digitalize, we mean to understand how technology use influences the lives of both potential offenders and victims. We explore the theoretical foundations of both the victimization and social control perspectives and discuss their limitations as a result of not considering how technology influences information-seeking practices and communication routines. We argue that examining technology use is essential to crime theories that are used to help understand and predict criminal behavior, and we propose modifications to each framework to increase their effectiveness in predicting criminal behavior and practical application

Social Economy? Solidarity Economy? Exploring the Implications of Conceptual Nuance for Acting in a Volatile World

Presented at the First International CIRIEC Conference on the Social Economy, October 2007. This paper was the result of BALTA Project C6 - From Social Economy to Solidarity Economy: Changing Perspectives in a Volatile World (Phase Two).This paper suggests that the solidarity economy as a conceptual framework in progress may have significant theoretical and strategic implications for actors in the social economy. The distinct boundaries most social economy actors draw to set themselves apart from the private and public sectors shapes their perception of the terrain upon which action is viewed as either desirable or possible; the "third sector” is the primary locus of strategy and action. In contrast, the solidarity economy thrusts social economy actors into the spaces among and between the three economic sectors and inserts reciprocity as the dominant animating driver, creating a space for expanding solidarity. Case studies from Montreal and Chicago serve as lenses through which the implications of both conceptual frameworks are explored.BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) ; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC