{"title":"Alan Townsend","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"making-a-living-in-europe-book-alan-townsend-9780415144803","title":"Making a Living in Europe","description":"Will 'making a Living' remain a dream for the deprived and excluded? Jobs are one of Europe's most important problems. Employment provides the basic means of distributing wealth in society, in providing for families, and ensuring pensions for the elderly. Yet unemployment, and increasingly 'non-employment', continues at near record levels in the European Union. Making a Living in Europe shows how the culture of work has been transformed in the industrialised nations of the EU. Exploring the relationship between employment change, society and economic restructuring, the shift toward 'flexible' work for women in services, away from traditional industrial jobs for men, is demonstrated within three key sectors: business services, retailing and tourism. The outcome of change is discussed in terms of shifts of people and jobs from urban to rural areas. Europe must be understood in the context of the new Europe, of change in the USA and of global change. Drawing on examples from UK and European Regions and USA, the author challenges long-standing assumptions about changes in economy and society and highlights the need for stronger local and European policies to reduce inequality at large and contribute positively to local people's struggles to make a living in Europe.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49632667369745,"sku":"GOR005225613","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0415144809.jpg?v=1751325652"},{"product_id":"this-ordinary-stardust-book-alan-townsend-9781538741184","title":"This Ordinary Stardust","description":"\u003cb\u003e A] remarkable account of a shifting consciousness - Publisher's Weekly, starred review\u0026gt;\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e An extraordinary, powerful book - David Quammen, author of\u0026gt;\u003ci\u003eThe Heartbeat of the Wild\u0026gt;\u003c\/i\u003eand\u0026gt;\u003ci\u003eBreathless\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A compassionate exploration of scientific wonder that offers a fresh perspective on life, death, and the bittersweet consequences of impermanence, (Jon Krakauer) as illuminated through the tragic dual cancer diagnoses of author Dr. Alan Townsend's wife and daughter. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A decade ago, Dr. Alan Townsend's family received two unthinkable, catastrophic diagnoses: his 4-year-old daughter and his brilliant scientist wife developed unrelated, life-threatening forms of brain cancer. As he witnessed his young daughter fight during the courageous final months of her mother's life, Townsend - a lifelong scientist - was indelibly altered. He began to see scientific inquiry as more than a source of answers to a given problem, but also as a lifeboat: a lens on the world that could help him find peace with the painful realities he could not change. Through scientific wonder, he found ways to bring meaning to his darkest period. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e At a time when society's relationship with science is increasingly polarized while threats to human life on earth continue to rise, Townsend offers a balanced, moving perspective on the common ground between science and religion through the spiritual fulfillment he found in his work. Awash in Townsend's electrifying and breathtaking prose, THIS ORDINARY STARDUST offers hope that life can carry on even in the face of near-certain annihilation.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50135579885841,"sku":"CIN1538741180G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":50988468306193,"sku":"NIN9781538741184","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52106340466961,"sku":"CIN1538741180VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53129033580817,"sku":"GOR014759960","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53129034072337,"sku":"GOR014759956","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1538741180.jpg?v=1751341372"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-alan-townsend.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}