ACRONYMS
Here are some of the non-sociological acronyms used in this book. They give a sense of what the 21st century looks like – the ideas people talk about and groups they belong to. Indeed acronyms are part of the 21st century world in ways never been before. We have become ‘The Acronym Society’.
9/11 11 September 2001 terrorist attack on twin towers in New York
7/7 7th July London bombing
AI artificial intelligence
AIDS acquired immune deficiency
ANC African National Congress
ANT Actor Network Theory
ART Antiretrovital therapy
AOL America Online
AS Assisted conception
ASA American Sociological Association
ASI Anti-slavery movement
ASBO Anti-social order (now defunct)
ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations
BCS British Crime Survey
BHPS British Household Panel Study
BSA British Sociological Association
BSE Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
CAQDAS Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis
CBS Columbia Broadcasting System
CCTV closed-circuit television
CEE Central Eastern European
CFC chlorofluorocarbon
CIS Commonwealth of Independent States
CJD Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
CND Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
CNN Cable News Network
CO carbon dioxide
DALY Disability adjusted life year
DIY do-it-yourself
DNA deoxyribonucleic acid
DVD digital video disc
DWP Department of Work and Pension (U.K)
ECHR European Court of Human Rights
ESA European Sociological Association
ESRC Economic and Social Research Council
EU European Union
FAO Food and Agricultural Organisation
FCS Fragile Conflict Affected States
G8 (formerly G7) The ‘Group of Eight’ advanced industrialised nations:
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK and US
G 20 mix of the world’s largest advanced and emerging economies, representing about two-thirds of the world’s population, 85 per cent of global gross domestic product and over 75 per cent of global trade. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.
GATT General Agreement on tariffs and Trade (now WHO)
GBD Global burden of disease
GDI Gender-related Development Index (a UN measurement)
GDP gross domestic product
GIS Geographic Information Systems
GLF Gay Liberation Front
GM genetically modified
GMR Gobal Monitoring Report
GNP gross national product
GPS Global Positioining System
GSM global social movement
HBAI Households below average income
HDI Human Development Index (a UN measurement)
HFEA Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
HIV human immunodeficiency virus
HPI human poverty index
ICT information and communication technology
IDP internally displaced person
IFPI International Federation of the Phonographic Industry
IGO international governmental organisation
ILO International Labour Organisation
IMF International Monetary Fund
IMR infant mortality rate
IDMC Internally Displacement Monitoring Centre
IDP Internally Displaced People
INGO international non-governmental organisation
IOC International Olympic Organisation
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
IPEC International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour
IQ intelligence quotient
IRB Institutional Review Board
ISA International Sociological Association
ISDN integrated services digital network
IT information technology
ITU international telecommunication union
IVF in vitro fertilization
MDG Millenium Development Goal
NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
NBC National Broadcasting Company
NGO non-governmental organisation
NIC newly industrialised country
NRM New religious movement
NRT New Reproductive Technologies
NSM New social movement
OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
OPCS Office of Population Census Survey
PIN personal identification number
QR quick response
R&D research and development
RFID Radio Frequency Identification Tagging
SARS severe acute respiratory system
SD sustainable development
SDG sustainable development goals
SEN special educational needs
SNS social network site
TB tuberculosis
TNC transnational corporation
UN United Nations
UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
UNCHR United Nations Centre for Human Rights
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund
UNPFA United Nations Fund for Population Activities
URL universal resource locator
USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republic
WB World Bank
WCED World Commission on Environment and Development
WBG World Bank Group
WEF World Economic Forum
WFP World Food Programme
WHO World Health Organisation
WTO World Trade Organisation
CUTS
VCR video cassette recorder
QUANGO Quasi-autonomous non governmental organisation
SSA Sub-Saharan Africa
SSSI Society for the study of symbolic interaction
OPEC Organisation for Petroleum-Exporting Countries
PPC purchasing power parity
MTV Music Tele Vision