Cultural studies: customs and traditions Books

Book SynopsisDon't just see the sights-get to know the people. The French are "different." You'll often hear this in conversations among the "Anglo-Saxons," as the French like to call English-speakers. "Different" means charming, challenging, questioning, stylish, and doing things in their own way and to their own advantage. By looking at the attitudes and values of the French, and explaining how French life and business works, Culture Smart! France shows you how to fit in as a foreigner. It gives practical advice on how to avoid faux pas and how to behave in different contexts. It takes you through French history, festivals, and traditions, and describes the French at home and at work. Above all, it shows you how the French communicate, and how to get the best out of this idiosyncratic and brilliant people. Have a more meaningful and successful time abroad through a better understanding of the local culture. Chapters on values, attitudes, customs, and daily life will help you make the most of your visit, while tips on etiquette and communication will help you navigate unfamiliar situations and avoid faux pas.Trade Review"Culture Smart! has come to the rescue of hapless travellers," - Sunday Times Travel; "...the perfect introduction to the weird, wonderful and downright odd quirks and customs of various countries," - Global Travel; "...full of fascinating, as well as common sense, tips to help you avoid embarrassing faux pas," - Observer; "...as useful as they are entertaining," - Easy Jet Magazine; "...offer glimpses into the psyche of a faraway world," - New York TimesTable of ContentsKey History - Politics - Economic Life - Values - Attitudes - Religion - Traditions - Taboos - Festivals & Holidays - Friendships & Family - Women in Society - Humour - Hospitality & Home life - Cultural Life - Cuisine & Dining Out - Socializing - Dos and Don'ts - Business Etiquette - Punctuality & Time Keeping - Meetings & Presentations - Negotiating - Bureaucracy - Communication & Language - Tips

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Book SynopsisThe Human Thread is a celebration of outstanding photography. Over 100 images represent photographer Joe Coca’s remarkable work, spanning forty years and five continents. Through evocative images, insightful descriptions, and companion personal stories, he guides us on a global journey, weaving together place, people, craft, and story with the human thread that connects us all. Each section of the book features an array of exceptional photographs that shows a region’s people—most often portraits of artisans working in ancient traditions—as well as surprising glimpses of culture and environment. From a high altitude soccer match in Peru to silk weavers in Laos, exotic locales are made personal through intimate portraits, the work of hands, and everyday life captured, not by an observer, but by a participant, a fellow companion on the journey.Trade ReviewThis is a wonderful book, filled with stunning photographs by award winning Joe Coca. From Peru to Guatamala, Joe Coca takes us on a journey to discover the many crafts and traditions of indigenous and interesting people. Each picture tells a story, I loved the first tale of the shaman who gave Joe a 'concoction of herbs' after which Joe spent an evening hallucinating in the Amazon jungle. The stories bring the photographs to life and add the vibrancy to the people, Joe is a master of his art, but it is the people he meets, and the world around them, that makes him brilliant. Spinning, weaving, embroider and so much more are included, but believe me, their art is like nothing you have ever seen before. This is a fabulous book, interesting to read and as we get to know the people Joe meets we also get an appreciation of what they do and how they live. -- Tracy Shephard * Amazon *

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Book SynopsisRecounting the history of personal hygiene in Europe and North America and the making of the modern clean body.Trade Review"As The Clean Body makes clear, the hygiene revolution was tied in with the rise of consumerism and its concomitant exploitation of natural resources — things that have contributed greatly to our current environmental tipping point." The Montreal Gazette"In The Clean Body: A Modern History [Ward] promises to tell the story of the 'cleanliness revolution,' offering cleanliness as a lens through which to view a society in transition, whether culturally, technologically, or scientifically." Our environmental woes too are the logical conclusion to a history of growing consumption, of things as well as resources. As Ward writes, "Once an element of nature, [water] had become a commodity, an engineered product of the industrial economy, ... its presence in everyday life taken utterly for granted."" Literary Review of Canada"The Clean Body is a beautifully written tour de force, a wonderfully accessible book, and a joy to read. Peter Ward draws extensively on the literature in four languages and moves with ease between rich empirical detail, theoretical soundings, and socioeconomic data." Brian Lewis, McGill University and co-editor of The Moral Mapping of Victorian and Edwardian London: Charles Booth, Christian Charity, and the Poor-but-Respectable"A thoughtful and thought-provoking discussion of practices that we would be mistaken to think of as natural or normal. Its study of centuries of hygiene is a prompt for us to reconsider our present-day pursuit of cleanliness." Winnipeg Free Press

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Book SynopsisDon’t just see the sights―get to know the people. Discovering the Russian soul is like opening a matryoshka, a Russian doll, revealing the many layers. The Russian orthodox religion is unique; Russian history is tragic; and the people are unpredictable. Russia s military and political power, as well as the rich contribution of its art and culture, is the result of an inner dynamic not always understood by outsiders. Culture Smart! Russia sets out to help you to become a more perceptive traveler, and to make your trip more personally fulfilling. It explores the connections between Russia s turbulent past and its paradoxical present; it describes present-day values and attitudes, and offers practical advice on what to expect and how to behave in different social circumstances. Have a more meaningful and successful time abroad through a better understanding of the local culture. Chapters on values, attitudes, customs, and daily life will help you make the most of your visit, while tips on etiquette and communication will help you navigate unfamiliar situations and avoid faux pas.Trade Review"Culture Smart! has come to the rescue of hapless travellers," - Sunday Times Travel; "...the perfect introduction to the weird, wonderful and downright odd quirks and customs of various countries," - Global Travel; "...full of fascinating, as well as common sense, tips to help you avoid embarrassing faux pas," – Observer; "...as useful as they are entertaining," - Easy Jet Magazine; "...offer glimpses into the psyche of a faraway world," - New York TimesTable of ContentsKey History – Politics – Economic Life – Values – Attitudes – Religion – Traditions – Taboos – Festivals & Holidays – Friendships & Family – Women in Society – Humour – Hospitality & Home life – Cultural Life – Cuisine & Dining Out – Socializing – Dos and Don’ts – Business Etiquette – Punctuality & Time Keeping – Meetings & Presentations – Negotiating – Bureaucracy – Communication & Language – Tips

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Book SynopsisOver the course of the twentieth century, rodeos have joined tribal fairs and powwows as events where American Indians gather to celebrate community and equestrian competition. Allison Fuss Mellis reveals how northern Plains Indians have used rodeo to strengthen tribal and intertribal ties and Native solidarity.

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Book SynopsisDon’t just see the sights―get to know the people. For thousands of years, the Chinese believed that they had created a perfect social system, based on Confucian values and tempered by the Mandate of Heaven. Dynasties came and went, but the essence of being Chinese remained essentially unchanged until the twentieth century. Since then, change has taken place in Chinese society at unprecedented speed, as the country first experienced the turmoil of civil war and revolution before emerging on to the world stage as a global superpower. Culture Smart! China aims to put these changes into an historical context, explain deep-seated cultural attitudes, and guide you through the maze of unfamiliar social situations, in order to help you discover for yourself the pragmatism, genius, warmth, and humanity of this extraordinary people. Have a more meaningful and successful time abroad through a better understanding of the local culture. Chapters on values, attitudes, customs, and daily life will help you make the most of your visit, while tips on etiquette and communication will help you navigate unfamiliar situations and avoid faux pas.Trade Review"Culture Smart! has come to the rescue of hapless travellers," - Sunday Times Travel; "...the perfect introduction to the weird, wonderful and downright odd quirks and customs of various countries," - Global Travel; "...full of fascinating, as well as common sense, tips to help you avoid embarrassing faux pas," – Observer; "...as useful as they are entertaining," - Easy Jet Magazine; "...offer glimpses into the psyche of a faraway world," - New York TimesTable of ContentsKey History – Politics – Economic Life – Values – Attitudes – Religion – Traditions – Taboos – Festivals & Holidays – Friendships & Family – Women in Society – Humour – Hospitality & Home life – Cultural Life – Cuisine & Dining Out – Socializing – Dos and Don’ts – Business Etiquette – Punctuality & Time Keeping – Meetings & Presentations – Negotiating – Bureaucracy – Communication & Language – Tips

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Book SynopsisA New York Times Bestseller“Each interview is a revelation.” —USA Today“As heartwarming as a holiday pumpkin pie and every bit as homey . . . what emerges in these compelling pages is hard-won wisdom and boundless humanity.” —Seattle Post-IntelligencerAs heard on NPR, a wondrous nationwide celebration of our shared humanity StoryCorps founder and legendary radio producer Dave Isay selects the most memorable stories from StoryCorps' collection, creating a moving portrait of American life. The voices here connect us to real people and their lives—to their experiences of profound joy, sadness, courage, and despair, to good times and hard times, to good deeds and misdeeds. To read this book is to be reminded of how rich and varied the American storybook truly is, how resistant to easy categorization or stereotype. We are our history, individually and collectively, and

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Book SynopsisFor decades, Mark Juergensmeyer has been studying the rise of religious violence around the world, including groups like ISIS and Christian militias that have been involved in acts of terrorism. Over the years he came to realize that war is the central image in the worldview of virtually every religious movement engaged in violent acts. Behind the moral justification of using violence are images of great confrontations of war on a transcendent scale. God at War explores the dark attraction between religion and warfare. Virtually every religious tradition leaves behind it a bloody trail of stories, legends, and images of war, and most wars call upon the divine for blessings in battle. This book finds the connection between religion and warfare in the alternative realities created in the human imagination in response to crises both personal and social. Based on the author''s thirty years of field work interviewing activists involved in religious-related terrorist movements around the world, this book explains why desperate social conflict leads to images of war, and why invariably God is thought to be engaged in battle.Trade ReviewThis short book, based on lectures delivered in several venues, will be of interest to anyone interested in religious violence and should be accessible to intermediate and advanced students as well. * Eugene V. Gallagher, Nova Religio *God at War, although a slim book, is of large importance * Janet M. Powers, Religion *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Why Do We Think About War? Chapter 1: The Odd Appeal of War Chapter 2: War as Alternative Reality Chapter 3: Religion as Alternative Reality Chapter 4: The Marriage of War and Religion Chapter 5: Can Religion Cure War?

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Book SynopsisThis book convenes leading scholars to explore the roles of attire and adornment in the creation and communication of religious meaning, identity, and community. Contributors investigate aspects of religious dress in North America in the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries.Trade ReviewThis book is a glorious romp through the wardrobe of American religions, unraveling the ways in which the clothing and adornment are not mere sidenotes to the study of religious beliefs and practices but integral to understanding the diverse religious communities of North America. -- Rachel B. Gross, John and Marcia Goldman Chair in American Jewish Studies, San Francisco State UniversityIn lucid prose, the editors of this handsome volume usher readers into the worlds of religion, attire, and adornment. Beautifully curated, the collection shows us how bodily presentation matters. Contributors explain what the language of sacred garb tells us about how religion is worn; what these vestments mean for those who wear, touch, view, or simply imagine them. This is a book that speaks to glamour and plainness, sartorial splendor and fashionable modesty in so many of its North American guises. This is a book you will want to teach! -- Laura Levitt, author of The Objects that RemainReligion, Attire, and Adornment in North America addresses the relationship between religion and dress in America and the ways that religious practitioners make meaning through their sartorial choices. Its chapters are accessibly written and their breadth is impressive; scholars of American religions, new religious movements, gender studies, and material culture will appreciate this volume. -- Nora L. Rubel, author of Doubting the Devout: The Ultra-Orthodox in the Jewish American ImaginationTable of ContentsIntroduction: Religion, Attire, and Adornment in North America, by Benjamin E. Zeller and Marie W. DallamPart I. Theological Adornment1. Seventh-day Adventist Dress: “An Index to the Heart,” by Emily J. Bailey2. Clothing Spiritual Reality: The Sartorial Styles of Mary Baker Eddy, byJeremy Rapport3. Faith, Fashion, and Film in the Jazz Age: Catholic Vestments Encounter the Roaring 1920s, Adrienne Nock Ambrose4. Power Before Thrones of God and Man: Women, Adornment, and Public Life in White American Pentecostalism, by Andrea Shan Johnson and Leah PaynePart II. Identity Adornment5. Holy Dashikis! Black Sartorial Nationalism and Black Israelite Religion, by André E. Brooks-Key6. Refined Bodies: Clothing as a Visual Signifier of Piety for Mormon Women in America, by Kate Davis7. The Christian Tattoo: Much More than Skin-Deep, by Jerome R. Koch and Kevin D. Dougherty8. “Queens of the Earth”: The MGT Uniform as a Form of Identity Creation and Nation Building, by Kayla Renée WheelerPart III. Negotiated Adornment9. “Ye Shall Be Naked in Your Rites”: Ritual Attire and Ritual Nudity (Skyclad) in North American Wicca, by Michelle Mueller10. Amish Vogue: Performing Fashion in the Plain World, by Nao Nomura11. “Your Religion Is Showing”: Negotiation and Personal Experience in Mormon Garments, by Jessica Finnigan and Nancy RossPart IV. Activist Adornment12. Dressed for Glory: White Uniforms in African American Church Traditions as Visual Political Theology, by Elaina Smith13. “The Hare Krishna Look”: ISKCON Adornment as Religious Activism, by Benjamin E. Zeller14. Religious Dress, the Church of Body Modification, and the First Amendment, by Marie W. DallamDiscussion QuestionsSuggested Reading ListList of ContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisThis book convenes leading scholars to explore the roles of attire and adornment in the creation and communication of religious meaning, identity, and community. Contributors investigate aspects of religious dress in North America in the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries.Trade ReviewThis book is a glorious romp through the wardrobe of American religions, unraveling the ways in which the clothing and adornment are not mere sidenotes to the study of religious beliefs and practices but integral to understanding the diverse religious communities of North America. -- Rachel B. Gross, John and Marcia Goldman Chair in American Jewish Studies, San Francisco State UniversityIn lucid prose, the editors of this handsome volume usher readers into the worlds of religion, attire, and adornment. Beautifully curated, the collection shows us how bodily presentation matters. Contributors explain what the language of sacred garb tells us about how religion is worn; what these vestments mean for those who wear, touch, view, or simply imagine them. This is a book that speaks to glamour and plainness, sartorial splendor and fashionable modesty in so many of its North American guises. This is a book you will want to teach! -- Laura Levitt, author of The Objects that RemainReligion, Attire, and Adornment in North America addresses the relationship between religion and dress in America and the ways that religious practitioners make meaning through their sartorial choices. Its chapters are accessibly written and their breadth is impressive; scholars of American religions, new religious movements, gender studies, and material culture will appreciate this volume. -- Nora L. Rubel, author of Doubting the Devout: The Ultra-Orthodox in the Jewish American ImaginationTable of ContentsIntroduction: Religion, Attire, and Adornment in North America, by Benjamin E. Zeller and Marie W. DallamPart I. Theological Adornment1. Seventh-day Adventist Dress: “An Index to the Heart,” by Emily J. Bailey2. Clothing Spiritual Reality: The Sartorial Styles of Mary Baker Eddy, byJeremy Rapport3. Faith, Fashion, and Film in the Jazz Age: Catholic Vestments Encounter the Roaring 1920s, Adrienne Nock Ambrose4. Power Before Thrones of God and Man: Women, Adornment, and Public Life in White American Pentecostalism, by Andrea Shan Johnson and Leah PaynePart II. Identity Adornment5. Holy Dashikis! Black Sartorial Nationalism and Black Israelite Religion, by André E. Brooks-Key6. Refined Bodies: Clothing as a Visual Signifier of Piety for Mormon Women in America, by Kate Davis7. The Christian Tattoo: Much More than Skin-Deep, by Jerome R. Koch and Kevin D. Dougherty8. “Queens of the Earth”: The MGT Uniform as a Form of Identity Creation and Nation Building, by Kayla Renée WheelerPart III. Negotiated Adornment9. “Ye Shall Be Naked in Your Rites”: Ritual Attire and Ritual Nudity (Skyclad) in North American Wicca, by Michelle Mueller10. Amish Vogue: Performing Fashion in the Plain World, by Nao Nomura11. “Your Religion Is Showing”: Negotiation and Personal Experience in Mormon Garments, by Jessica Finnigan and Nancy RossPart IV. Activist Adornment12. Dressed for Glory: White Uniforms in African American Church Traditions as Visual Political Theology, by Elaina Smith13. “The Hare Krishna Look”: ISKCON Adornment as Religious Activism, by Benjamin E. Zeller14. Religious Dress, the Church of Body Modification, and the First Amendment, by Marie W. DallamDiscussion QuestionsSuggested Reading ListList of ContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"This marvelous study of táncház dance is at once a social history of socialist and post-socialist Hungary, an ethnography of Hungarian folk culture, and a meditation on how culture can be galvanized as both a form of collective action and ethnonationalism. A lively and thought-provoking work."—Sujatha Fernandes, author of The Cuban Hustle: Culture, Politics, Everyday Life, author of The Cuban Hustle: Culture, Politics, Everyday Life"Combining ethnographic and historical detail with theoretical rigour, Mary Taylor uses her exploration of the Hungarian táncház movement, stretching from the socialist to the postsocialist period, to uncover complex relations between cultural form and practice, collective memory, citizenship, and state formation. By offering a refreshing critique of the global 'heritage regime,' her analysis also reveals how 'local' cultural practices and traditions are shaped by global economic and political forces."—Emilia Barna, co-editor of Popular Music, Technology and the Changing Media Ecosystem: From Cassettes to Stream, co-editor of Popular Music, Technology and the Changing Media Ecosystem: From Cassettes to Stream"Hungary is now an avant-garde case of 21st century neo-nationalist politics. Folk dance became one of its historical and contradictory venues, Mary Taylor explains, as she digs into the complex lived and danced history of the idea of the Magyar 'folk.'"—Don Kalb, University of Bergen, Norway, University of Bergen, Norway"Hungary's táncház movement, or folk dance revival, is an expression of nostalgia for the virtues of the agrarian past, a hotbed of ethnonationalism, a system for transmission of 'intangible cultural heritage' recognized by international organizations, and a social dance scene that can be an awful lot of fun. Taylor's meticulously researched book fleshes out the complex cultural and intellectual history for this movement, demonstrating through her fieldwork and documentary research how 21st-century folk dancing emerges from discourses and institutions that can be traced over 100 years, and how it participates in the maintenance and development of ideas of citizenship promoted by Hungary's populist politicians."—Lynn M. Hooker, author of Redefining Hungarian Music from Liszt to Bartók, Purdue University, author of Redefining Hungarian Music from Liszt to Bartók, Purdue University"This empirically grounded and historically informed analysis of a revived folk dance practice introduces an innovative approach to studying the perplexing relation between nationalism, culture, neoliberalism and heritage politics in the socialist and post-socialist Hungary and the present-day European context."—Ioannis Manos, University of MacedoniaTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction: The Aesthetic Nation1. Making the Nation-State in 19th and 20th Century Hungary2. What Kind of Nation? Folk National Cultivation in the Interwar Period3. Socialist Cultural Management, Civic Cultivation, and Associational Life in Late Socialism4. The Táncház Revolution: Reviving Folk Dance As Social Dance5. Folk Dance as Mother Tongue: National Conduct and The Production of Collective Memory6. Socialist State Formation, Táncház Frameworks of Sense, and the Origins of the Postsocialist Cultural Turn7. The Place of Heritagization: Culture Talk amid Shifting Property and Citizenship RegimesConclusionBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"This marvelous study of táncház dance is at once a social history of socialist and post-socialist Hungary, an ethnography of Hungarian folk culture, and a meditation on how culture can be galvanized as both a form of collective action and ethnonationalism. A lively and thought-provoking work."—Sujatha Fernandes, author of The Cuban Hustle: Culture, Politics, Everyday Life, author of The Cuban Hustle: Culture, Politics, Everyday Life"Combining ethnographic and historical detail with theoretical rigour, Mary Taylor uses her exploration of the Hungarian táncház movement, stretching from the socialist to the postsocialist period, to uncover complex relations between cultural form and practice, collective memory, citizenship, and state formation. By offering a refreshing critique of the global 'heritage regime,' her analysis also reveals how 'local' cultural practices and traditions are shaped by global economic and political forces."—Emilia Barna, co-editor of Popular Music, Technology and the Changing Media Ecosystem: From Cassettes to Stream, co-editor of Popular Music, Technology and the Changing Media Ecosystem: From Cassettes to Stream"Hungary is now an avant-garde case of 21st century neo-nationalist politics. Folk dance became one of its historical and contradictory venues, Mary Taylor explains, as she digs into the complex lived and danced history of the idea of the Magyar 'folk.'"—Don Kalb, University of Bergen, Norway, University of Bergen, Norway"Hungary's táncház movement, or folk dance revival, is an expression of nostalgia for the virtues of the agrarian past, a hotbed of ethnonationalism, a system for transmission of 'intangible cultural heritage' recognized by international organizations, and a social dance scene that can be an awful lot of fun. Taylor's meticulously researched book fleshes out the complex cultural and intellectual history for this movement, demonstrating through her fieldwork and documentary research how 21st-century folk dancing emerges from discourses and institutions that can be traced over 100 years, and how it participates in the maintenance and development of ideas of citizenship promoted by Hungary's populist politicians."—Lynn M. Hooker, author of Redefining Hungarian Music from Liszt to Bartók, Purdue University, author of Redefining Hungarian Music from Liszt to Bartók, Purdue University"This empirically grounded and historically informed analysis of a revived folk dance practice introduces an innovative approach to studying the perplexing relation between nationalism, culture, neoliberalism and heritage politics in the socialist and post-socialist Hungary and the present-day European context."—Ioannis Manos, University of MacedoniaTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction: The Aesthetic Nation1. Making the Nation-State in 19th and 20th Century Hungary2. What Kind of Nation? Folk National Cultivation in the Interwar Period3. Socialist Cultural Management, Civic Cultivation, and Associational Life in Late Socialism4. The Táncház Revolution: Reviving Folk Dance As Social Dance5. Folk Dance as Mother Tongue: National Conduct and The Production of Collective Memory6. Socialist State Formation, Táncház Frameworks of Sense, and the Origins of the Postsocialist Cultural Turn7. The Place of Heritagization: Culture Talk amid Shifting Property and Citizenship RegimesConclusionBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisIn every culture there exists unwritten law - obligations and prohibitions that are understood, and transgressions that are punished. These volumes explore the historical implications of folk law, its influence around the globe, and the conflicts that arise when it diverges from official law.

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Book SynopsisRemote and rugged, Michigan's Upper Peninsula has been home to a rich variety of indigenous peoples and Old World immigrants. This book presents and ponders the folk narratives of the region's loggers, miners, lake sailors, trappers, and townfolk.Trade ReviewAn important re-introduction of an American folklore classic. - Carl Lindahl, University of Houston ""A collection of traditions, tales, superstitions, practices, and folk biographies that range from the slyly humorous to the bawdy.... These are human beings, a folk, not sitting for a portrait, but caught alive as it were in fine amber, a permanent possession."" - Thelma G. James, Journal of American Folklore

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Book SynopsisHow our shifting sense of "what's normal" defines the character of democracyTrade Review“Sunstein is admirably alert to the fragilities of liberal democracy.”—Lawrence Douglas, Times Literary Supplement“The book as a whole offers us more insight into the mind of Sunstein. . . . It is an interesting mind which mulls mainly on the formation and maintenance of democracy.”—Lennard Davis, Times Higher Education Supplement“Legal scholar Cass Sunstein asks: how does normality relate to past and present behaviour, society and government? Its power, he argues cogently, stems mostly from our responsiveness to others’ words and actions, influenced by our own ‘preference falsification, diverse thresholds and interdependencies.’”—Andrew Robinson, Nature“Provocative, insightful, and original essays on the power of normality, by one of the great social thinkers of this or any other generation.”—Daniel Gilbert, author of the New York Times best-seller Stumbling on Happiness“What if our constitution has nothing to do with the Constitution? In this extraordinary new book, perhaps the leading legal academic of our time places a new problem at the center of the challenge of self-government: How does truth navigate the minefields of the normal? This is exactly the moment when we might muster the strength to be different, maybe even better.”—Lawrence Lessig, author of They Don’t Represent Us

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Book Synopsis...Kristen Richardson's sharp account of how the season evolved... is a more absorbing story than any period drama.Financial TimesTrade Review"Sometimes fascinating, often scornful historical account of the debutante… entertaining…" -- Libby Purves - Times Literary Supplement"...fascinating social history…" -- The Best of 2020 so far. - Tatler"Richardson has made a valiant effort to unearth some worthwhile social commentary. To this end, she presents a detailed examination of modern debutante societies... [Her] engaging study deserves credit for its persistently humane treatment of her subjects..." -- The Telegraph"... Kristen Richardson’s sharp account of how the season evolved from its early days after the Protestant Reformation in England, through its conquest of a newly independent America, to its leap into Russia and China, is a more absorbing story than any period drama." -- Financial Times"…entertaining and illuminating new book..." -- The Lady"Step into colonial Philadelphia and Jane Austen’s England, America’s Antebellum South and Mrs Astor’s parties, and learn how some of the young women felt about being put on display." -- On the Bookshelf - Choice

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Book SynopsisIn this enthralling history of the debutante ritual, Kristen Richardson sheds new light on contemporary ideas about women and marriage.Trade Review"... fascinating social history..." -- The best of 2020 so far - Tatler"... entertaining and illuminating new book..." -- The Lady"Step into colonial Philadelphia and Jane Austen’s England, America’s Antebellum South and Mrs Astor’s parties, and learn how some of the young women felt about being put on display." -- On the Bookshelf - Choice"... Kristen Richardson’s sharp account of how the season evolved from its early days after the Protestant Reformation in England, through its conquest of a newly independent America, to its leap into Russia and China, is a more absorbing story than any period drama." -- Financial Times"Richardson has made a valiant effort to unearth some worthwhile social commentary. To this end, she presents a detailed examination of modern debutante societies... [Her] engaging study deserves credit for its persistently humane treatment of her subjects..." -- The Telegraph

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Book SynopsisA NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A sweeping and captivatingly told history of clothing and the stuff it is made of—an unparalleled deep-dive into how everyday garments have transformed our lives, our societies, and our planet.“We learn that, if we were a bit more curious about our clothes, they would offer us rich, interesting and often surprising insights into human history...a deep and sustained inquiry into the origins of what we wear, and what we have worn for the past 500 years. —The Washington PostIn this panoramic social history, Sofi Thanhauser brilliantly tells five stories—Linen, Cotton, Silk, Synthetics, Wool—about the clothes we wear and where they come from, illuminating our world in unexpected ways. She takes us from the opulent court of Louis XIV to the labor camps in modern-day Chinese-occupied Xinjiang. We see how textiles were once dyed with lichen, shells, bark, saffron, and beetles, displaying distinctive regional weaves and knits, and how the modern Western garment industry has refashioned our attire into the homogenous and disposable uniforms popularized by fast-fashion brands. Thanhauser makes clear how the clothing industry has become one of the planet’s worst polluters and how it relies on chronically underpaid and exploited laborers. But she also shows us how micro-communities, textile companies, and clothing makers in every corner of the world are rediscovering ancestral and ethical methods for making what we wear. Drawn from years of intensive research and reporting from around the world, and brimming with fascinating stories, Worn reveals to us that our clothing comes not just from the countries listed on the tags or ready-made from our factories. It comes, as well, from deep in our histories.

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Book SynopsisA thought-provoking meditation on food, family, identity, immigration, and, most of all, hospitality--at the table and beyond--that's part food memoir, part appeal for more authentic decency in our daily worlds, and in the world at large.Be My Guest is an utterly unique, deeply personal meditation on what it means to tend to others and to ourselves--and how the two things work hand in hand. Priya Basil explores how food--and the act of offering food to others--are used to express love and support. Weaving together stories from her own life with knowledge gleaned from her Sikh heritage; her years spent in Kenya, India, Britain, and Germany; and ideas from Derrida, Plato, Arendt, and Peter Singer, Basil focuses an unexpected and illuminating light on what it means to be both a host and a guest. Lively, wide-ranging, and impassioned, Be My Guest is a singular work, at once a deeply felt plea for a kinder, more welcoming world and a reminder that, fundamentally

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Book SynopsisThe first intellectual history of Song, Yuan, and Ming China written from a local perspective, Localizing Learning traces how debates over the relative value of cultural accomplishment and political service unfolded locally. Close readings and quantitative analysis of social networks consider why and how the local literati enterprise was built.

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Book SynopsisOffers a comprehensive philosophical analysis of conventions and the roles they play in social life and practical reason. This work gives a general account of the nature of conventions, explaining the differences between coordinative and constitutive conventions and between deep and surface conventions.Trade Review"This is certainly an important addition to this rather narrow body of academic scholarship."--Choice "Social Conventions is an important contribution to scholars from at least two disciplines--philosophy and law... [T]his book should interest anyone wanting to gain a better and deeper understanding of human linguistic and moral behavior."--Dana Riesenfeld, Pragmatics Cognition "This timely monograph should stimulate further philosophical studies of conventions in general and of their various manifestations in human affairs."--Kevin Toh, EthicsTable of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Preface ix Chapter One: A First Look at the Nature of Conventions 1 Chapter Two: Constitutive Conventions 31 Chapter Three: Deep Conventions 58 Chapter Four: Conventions of Language: Semantics 79 Chapter Five: Conventions of Language: Pragmatics 106 Chapter Six: The Morality of Conventions 131 Chapter Seven: The Conventional Foundations of Law 155 Bibliography 177 Index 183

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Book SynopsisA wide variety of problem-solving courts have been developed in the United States and are now being adopted in countries around the world. This book finds that while importers often see themselves as adapting the American courts to suit local conditions, they may actually be taking in more aspects of American law and culture than they realize.Trade Review"Nolan takes an ethnographic approach to the study of alternative courts to counter the idea that law can simply be transplanted, unchanged, from one environment to another... Nolan does an excellent job of exploring how culture affects legal borrowing, and his work is of considerable value both to scholars of comparative law and to judges, lawyers, and other practitioners who deal with legal change."--Choice "The scope of this work is truly impressive as Nolan makes multiple visits to England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, and Canada to examine more than 50 courts, conducting hundreds of interviews and observations. The result is a well-researched, well-told, well-analyzed, sometimes humorous account... As in his earlier work, Nolan brilliantly combines theory and empirical research... This book makes a tremendous contribution."--Rekha Mirchandani, Law & Society Review "[T]his is a necessary and useful book for readers who study problem-solving courts, especially those that track the development as well as the internalization of the movement surrounding the growth of these courts. Those interested in how law and culture can or cannot be successfully imported will also benefit from reading Legal Accents. Most specifically, critics of American cultural imperialism--regardless of interest in problem-solving courts--should read this book... For readers in all these categories, I definitely recommend Legal Accents as a must-read. For others, the book still belongs to the book shelf space containing ready references about noteworthy subjects."--Salmon A. Shomade, Law & Politics Book Review "Nolan's research is an unmatched contribution to the nascent field of knowledge concerning [problem-solving courts]... His rich court observations are coupled with fascinating data gleaned from interviews with judges and other court officials."--Dawn Moore, Punishment & SocietyTable of ContentsAcknowledgments ix INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE: Problem Solving and Courts of Law 7 CHAPTER TWO: Law and Culture in Comparative Perspective 24 CHAPTER THREE: Anglo-American Alternatives: England and the United States 43 CHAPTER FOUR: Commonwealth Contrasts: Canada and Australia 76 CHAPTER FIVE: Devolution and Difference: Scotland and Ireland 109 CHAPTER SIX: American Exceptionalism 136 CHAPTER SEVEN: Ambivalent Anti-Americanism 157 CHAPTER EIGHT: Building Confidence, Justifying Justice 179 Notes 197 Selected References 235 Index 243

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Book SynopsisSocial conventions are those arbitrary rules and norms governing the countless behaviors all of us engage in every day without necessarily thinking about them, from shaking hands when greeting someone to driving on the right side of the road. In this book, Andrei Marmor offers a pathbreaking and comprehensive philosophical analysis of conventions aTrade Review"This is certainly an important addition to this rather narrow body of academic scholarship." * Choice *"Social Conventions is an important contribution to scholars from at least two disciplines--philosophy and law. . . . [T]his book should interest anyone wanting to gain a better and deeper understanding of human linguistic and moral behavior."---Dana Riesenfeld, Pragmatics Cognition"This timely monograph should stimulate further philosophical studies of conventions in general and of their various manifestations in human affairs."---Kevin Toh, Ethics

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A revealing picture."---Thomas E. Bergler, Christianity Today"[Religious Parenting] is a solid contribution to the literature about religious socialization and offers a fruitful way to advance theory in close dialogue with empirically grounded research" * American Journal of Sociology *

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Book SynopsisThis book tells the fascinating story of the Butlin and Warner holiday camp chains that emerged in the 1930s. The camps became a cultural phenomenon deeply enmeshed in the social and cultural history of twentieth century Britain. -- .Trade Review'This is an excellent book that examines the history of holiday camps and paid holidays.'Brad Beaven, English Historical Review, vol 128, no 530, February 2013 -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction: Creating a culture for leisure1. Imagining consumers: Working-class families and paid holidays2. Building the luxury holiday camp industry3. Advertising holiday camp culture and inventing social harmony4. War and the business of leisure5. The 'People's Peace': Postwar pleasure and austerity6. Planned pleasure, labour shortages and consumer resistanceEpilogueSelect BibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisA hilarious, candid account of what life in France is actually like, from a writer for Vanity Fair and GQAmericans love to love Paris. We buy books about how the French parent, why French women don't get fat, and how to be Parisian wherever you are. While our work hours increase every year, we think longingly of the six weeks of vacation the French enjoy, imagining them at the seaside in stripes with plates of fruits de mer.John von Sothen fell in love with Paris through the stories his mother told of her year spent there as a student. And then, after falling for and marrying a French waitress he met in New York, von Sothen moved to Paris. But fifteen years in, he's finally ready to admit his mother's Paris is mostly a fantasy. In this hilarious and delightful collection of essays, von Sothen walks us through real life in Paris--not only myth-busting our Parisian daydreams but also revealing the inimitable and too often invisible pleas

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Book SynopsisFolklore of Northumbria is a comprehensive survey, drawing on a wide range of printed, manuscript and oral material and it places the folklore of Northumbria in its historical, cultural, religious and social context. It is richly illustrated and covers a wide range of subjects including; witchcraft, dragon lore, seasonal customs, ghosts, legends and mythology.

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Book SynopsisFrom Abbotts Ann and the Maiden's Garlands to the Tichborne Dole and St Swithun's forty days of rain, Folklore of Hampshire looks at the county as never before. Hampshire is proud host to traditions, customs and legends that may seem strange to the people of the twenty-first century but were very real to the Hampshire folk of yesteryear. While some of these customs have died out others are still with us, continuing a rich heritage. This book reveals some of the county's saints, witches, superstitions, music, ghosts and legends, and talks to the Hampshire Hogs' who ensure that folklore from the past retains a place in modern society.

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