Cultural studies Books

Book SynopsisThe northern territories of the former Soviet Union remain an under-researched and thus under-represented region in European studies, even though an understanding of the political, social and economic forces shaping these new nation states is of importance to the stability of Europe as a whole. Thus, this book explores questions relating to European identity in the northern part of the former Soviet Union, in particular the Baltic countries with an emphasis on Estonia and Latvia, but also on Belarus, Lithuania and Russia. The authors are social and political scientists and psychologists from Belarus, Denmark, Estonia and Latvia.

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Book SynopsisCultural Text Studies is a research project initiated by the Department of Languages, Culture and Aesthetics at Aalborg University. The present introductory volume launches a series of themed monographs which will be edited by researchers at the Dept., occasionally aided by friends and associates from other programmes. The purpose of the series is to be a forum for the publication of results of research in the broadly defined area of cultural text. CTS -- An Introduction is a volume authored by present and past members of the English programme''s teaching staff in the fields of culture, literature, and media studies. The essays range widely in terms of the period, genre, and medium of the texts investigated. Focus areas include Victorian literature and art; high modernism, especially approached from the point of view of a centre/margin discourse; and finally postmodernist aesthetics and its embedded move from literary into cultural studies, as witnessed by essays on world music, shoes, Hollywood, the post-ironic, the deterritorialised, and the post-human condition as cultural texts.

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Book SynopsisCultural Text Studies is a series of themed monographs, edited by researchers at the Dept. of Languages and Intercultural Studies at Aalborg University and associates and friends of the Dept. The purpose of the series is to be a forum for the publication of results of research in the broadly defined area of cultural text. Transatlantic, the present volume, offers interdisciplinary scholarship, bringing together explorations of transatlantic perspectives in arts, literature, history, philosophy and law. In the individual essays the transatlantic perspective opens up comparative aspects of phenomena within these fields, but this perspective also allows for a new type of engagement with the phenomena themselves, which are analysed in new historical, transnational contexts. The volume is itself an expression of a transatlantic exchange. The contributors are all affiliated with either Aalborg University or Brenau University, two small research and educational institutions which have long experimented with transatlantic exchanges of students, faculty and scholarship.

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Book SynopsisVisiting or moving to Denmark? Do you want a concise overview of the country? Then this book is definitely for you! This completely updated and considerably expanded edition of Introducing Denmark and the Danes offers an excellent general introduction to Danish culture, politics, and economics, as well as general and practical advice for visitors. Introducing Denmark and the Danes has been constantly in print for almost a generation, attesting to its usefulness in helping outsiders to know a remarkable country and find their way into its everyday life. Not a conventional guidebook but an orientation to the culture, this little book can be read in a short time, opening the door to one of Europe''s most fascinating nations.

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Book SynopsisThis book approaches the famous star in a manner that recognizes the impossibility of ever locating the real Marilyn Monroe. It gets close to the actress by discussing the chameleonic performances of Marilyn as woman, star, and text. Like Elvis, Marilyn lives, because she has become a discourse articulating major issues in the cultures she inhabits, whether in the 1950s or in the 21st century. In circling Marilyn country, this book discusses Marilyn as text, since those who knew and did not know her -- husbands, lovers, fans, writers, directors, co-stars, critics -- have written about Marilyn differently, and endlessly. Circling Marilyn also scrutinizes Marilyn as Body, but it locates not just one body, but many -- including a disciplined and a communicative body. Other chapters consider the performing Marilyn and Marilyn performed. Marilyn takes on roles as herself, as a white and black woman, as a cowgirl on the Last Frontier, while others play Marilyn by snatching her famous body for their own purposes, at gay parades or in cyberspace. Circling Marilyn aims at readers engaged in American Studies, Media Studies, Cultural Studies, and Literature, as well as the general public, whose appetite for Marilyn Monroe keeps her alive, if eternally elusive.

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Book SynopsisOver the last few decades, various international and cross-cultural partnerships have been established, often with impressive speed, to facilitate the protection of natural resources and the environment. However, many problems exist within these partnerships: international declarations and conventions are not binding in the same ways as national laws; the motivations behind the involvement of a country or culture are not always easy to identify and are often understood differently in different places; environmental obligations are often interpreted and implemented differently in different places; and common aims are often not mutual at all. These difficulties surrounding the establishment and implementation of workable international and cross-cultural environmental policies form the basis of this book.

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Book SynopsisText in German. Wie wirkt der deutsche Geschäftspartner auf seinen dänischen Kollegen? Was wird in Deutschland bzw. Dänemark als guter Verhandlungsstil angesehen? Wann kann ich mir erlauben, den Geschäftspartner zu duzen? Wie ist der Gesprächsablauf gegliedert? Gibt es Unterschiede in beiden Ländern? Finden Sie die Antworten auf diese Fragen und vieles mehr in diesem Buch.

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Book SynopsisEvery year an average of 1000 Tibetan children risk their lives to escape from a system of education that is almost entirely Chinese. This problem, all too often passed over in silence, forces many parents to send their children to India for a traditional Tibetan education. They pay a guide who accompanies the children in groups, for the journey over the Himalayas which is not without risks. What leads parents to expose their children to these risks? How many flee? What is the journey like? What are the psychological consequences? What is life like for those who arrive in India? Do the parents ever see their children again? ''Child Exodus from Tibet'' is an informative, readable book with moving testimony, richly illustrated with colour photographs. The author, Birgit van de Wijer, has been engaged with Tibetan issues for years. For this book she spent months collecting information in India and Nepal, where she interviewed dozens of Tibetan children. She is outspoken in denouncing the inhuman conditions of these children; there has been silence for too long.

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Book SynopsisA World of Equals: A Textbook on Gender raises awareness on gender issues through diverse examples, addressing inequalities in race, religion, class, caste, disability, and sexuality. The book encourages discussions and is complemented by an app linking to additional resources.

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Book SynopsisAre the rules that define women leaders in Asia different from those in the West? How are women leaders perceived across Asia? What are the cultural barriers and biases that they grapple with? How is ambition displayed and aspiration cloaked?These are some of the questions addressed in How Women Work: Fitting In and Standing Out in Asia.From China to India, Singapore to the Philippines and Japan to Thailand, this book observes working women through a pan-Asian lens, using their triumphs and tribulations to present readers with lessons and learnings on leadership and success.''Fitting in'' and ''standing out'' are seemingly contrarian ideas, but, from all accounts, Asian women don''t view them as ''either/or''. Successful Asian women leaders do both on their own terms.

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Book SynopsisFounder of the popular lifestyle blog MissMalini, Malini Aggarwal has experienced the Internet at its best and worst. As a pioneering content creator, she has seen tremendous success and also made mistakes on the medium - and she''s learnt vital lessons from it all. In Under the Influence: How to Survive and Thrive Online, Malini deep dives into the psychology of rampant online hate culture, explaining why it exists and provides practical tools to tackle it. With insight and empathy, she guides today''s users on how to deal with trolls and cancel culture, respond to hate and provocation, and combat negativity with positive action and mindfulness.

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Book SynopsisThis book comprehensively addresses the topic of cultural diversity within the State of Qatar and serves as a valuable resource for researchers in sociology and anthropology. It is also highly relevant for managers working in multicultural institutions and human resources departments across various sectors. Furthermore, the book offers insights and guidance for tourists and visitors to Qatar and other Arabian Gulf countries.The author's extensive research, for two and a half years, resulted in the completion of an academic study titled: "Cultural Diversity in Qatari Hospitals: Challenges and Opportunities from the Employees' Perspective", which was submitted as a dissertation to fulfill the requirements for his PhD degree. Drawing from this research, along with his two decades of experience in culturally diverse institutions and his extensive travels to over thirty countries worldwide, this book has emerged as a valuable resource for both Arab and international libraries, addressing a scarcity of literature on this important subject.

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Trade Review"A smart, funny and revealing book that's pretty much a must read for kids in the scene." -- Chris Carrabba, Dashboard Confessional "If someone was to ask me, 'What is emo?,' I would hand them a copy of EVERYBODY HURTS." -- Matt Rubano, Taking Back Sunday "[D]estined to become a staple in any emo music lover's book collection ." -- Myspace.com "[T]his book is not only hilarious, but absolutely genius." -- Jason Tate, Absolutepunk.net "[T]he essential book for anyone who fancies themselves emo." -- Sarah "Ultragrrrl" Lewitinn, author of The iPod DJ

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Book SynopsisImpeccably researched and skillfully articulated, Silva''s work is a timely primer on the current state of blue-collar Millennials. --Publishers Weekly[A] brief yet devastating book that blends academic analysis and oral history to put a new face on well-documented trends that are more usually described in the abstract. --Boston GlobeSilva has made a major contribution to understanding where young adults are coming from, what influences them, and what they consider to be common sense. --The American ConservativeFascinating --Feministing.com[A]n enjoyable read and raises important issues that we generally overlook. --Washington Independent Review of BooksComing Up Short is a brief, but powerful, update of the status, difficulties, behaviors and distresses that characterize the lives of young working class adults.... highly recommended for sociologists and social welfare students and academics alike. It informs in telling detail the difficult circumstances and self-perceptions of a significant portion of the American population. It is also a window into how the ''helping professions'' have influenced the thinking of young adults and suggests that those professions need to help their clients see their troubles in broader terms than they apparently currently do. --Journal of Sociology & Social WelfareWhat does it mean to grow up today as working-class young adults? How does the economic and social instability left in the wake of neoliberalism shape their identities, their understandings of the American Dream, and their futures?Coming Up Short illuminates the transition to adulthood for working-class men and women. Moving away from easy labels such as the Peter Pan generation, Jennifer Silva reveals the far bleaker picture of how the erosion of traditional markers of adulthood-marriage, a steady job, a house of one''s own-has changed what it means to grow up as part of the post-industrial working class. Based on one hundred interviews with working-class people in two towns-Lowell, Massachusetts, and Richmond, Virginia-Silva sheds light on their experience of heightened economic insecurity, deepening inequality, and uncertainty about marriage and family. Silva argues that, for these men and women, coming of age means coming to terms with the absence of choice. As possibilities and hope contract, moving into adulthood has been re-defined as a process of personal struggle-an adult is no longer someone with a small home and a reliable car, but someone who has faced and overcome personal demons to reconstruct a transformed self. Indeed, rather than turn to politics to restore the traditional working class, this generation builds meaning and dignity through the struggle to exorcise the demons of familial abuse, mental health problems, addiction, or betrayal in past relationships. This dramatic and largely unnoticed shift reduces becoming an adult to solitary suffering, self-blame, and an endless seeking for signs of progress. This powerfully written book focuses on those who are most vulnerable-young, working-class people, including African-Americans, women, and single parents-and reveals what, in very real terms, the demise of the social safety net means to their fragile hold on the American Dream.Trade ReviewImpeccably researched and skillfully articulated, Silva's work is a timely primer on the current state of blue-collar Millennials. * Publishers Weekly *Table of Contents1. Coming of Age in a Risk Society ; 2. Prisoners of the Present ; 3. Insecure Intimacies ; 4. Hardened Selves ; 5. Coming of Age in the "Mood Economy" ; Conclusion: The Hidden Injuries of Risk ; Notes ; References ; Index

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Book SynopsisThis book is a philosophical exploration of disorientation and its significance for action. Disorientations are human experiences of losing one''s bearings, such that life is disrupted and it is not clear how to go on. In the face of life experiences like trauma, grief, illness, migration, education, queer identification, and consciousness raising, individuals can be deeply disoriented. These and other disorientations are not rare. Although disorientations can be common and powerful parts of individuals'' lives, they remain uncharacterized by Western philosophers, and overlooked by ethicists.Disorientations can paralyze, overwhelm, embitter, and misdirect moral agents, and moral philosophy and motivational psychology have important insights to offer into why this is. More perplexing are the ways disorientations may prompt improved moral action.Ami Harbin draws on first person accounts, philosophical texts, and qualitative and quantitative research to show that in some cases of disorienTrade ReviewBy setting out to find moral fruit growing in the disorderly cracks of unsettling phenomena, Harbin contributes to the growing and vital field of non-ideal theory in ethics. There's great and urgent value in her argument against treating practical disorientation as an abject defect... For insisting that we pay close attention to those who wrestle viscerally with problems of how to go on, Harbin's book is a vital intervention in moral philosophy. * Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Ami Harbin's first book, Disorientation and Moral Life, is a much-welcomed contribution to the field of feminist philosophy. Drawing on a rich tradition of thought in moral psychology, philosophy and feminist theory, as well as on first-person accounts of the disorientations of migration, trauma, queerness, illness and feminist and anti-racist consciousness-raising, Harbin provides readers with a compelling and conceptually astute reading of the moral significance of disorientations. * Hypatia *The book demands that we attend to a feature of ordinary human lives curiously neglected by moral theory. Most of us will eventually find ourselves in a situation that staggers our normal expectations: a serious illness, the end of a career, the realization that we are the target of oppression. Harbin asks us to think carefully about these situations, and especially to see how they might be harnessed to contribute positively to our moral choices...Disorientation is a part of many human lives, and in highlighting its capacity to foster moral improvement, Harbin has done a good thing for both ethical theory and the pursuit of social justice. * Regina Rini, Hypatia Reviews Online *Exciting, challenging, and innovative thinking is found in recent feminist and critical race theory, and Ami Harbin's new book, Disorientation and Moral Life is an example ... this book is enlightening and would be a good textbook in both philosophy and psychology courses. Clearly, it makes an invaluable contribution to the interdisciplinary fields of philosophy and psychology. * Nancy Nyquist Potter, Metapsychology Online Reviews *Table of ContentsTable of contents Preface: Life Beyond What One Has Concepts For Acknowledgments Chapter One: Being Disoriented 1.1 Contextualizing the concept 1.2 Disorientation and family resemblance 1.3 Methodologies for interpreting disorientations and their effects 1.3 (i) Claims about what disorientations are 1.3 (ii) Claims about what disorientations do 1.3 (iii) Implications of this account for moral motivation and agency 1.3 (iv) Implications of this account for understandings of oppression 1.4 Conclusion Chapter Two: Moral Motivation beyond Moral Resolve 2.1 Identifying moral resolve 2.2 Legacies of resolvism 2.2 (i) Resolvism in accounts of moral development 2.2 (ii) Resolvism in accounts of moral judgment 2.2 (iii) Resolvism in accounts of moral failure 2.2 (iv) Resolvism in accounts of moral growth 2.3 The disorientations of grief 2.4 Contesting resolvism Chapter Three: What is Disorientation in Thinking? 3.1 Disorientations of life under racism 3.1 (i) Double consciousness and awareness of oppressive norms 3.1 (ii) White ambush and awareness of oppressive norms 3.2 Disorientations of learning about oppression and privilege 3.2 (i) Consciousness raising and awareness of political complexity 3.2 (ii) Critical classrooms and awareness of political complexity 3.3 The power of awareness without moral resolve 3.3 (i) Prompting epistemic humility 3.3 (ii) Prompting resistant re-identification 3.3 (iii) Prompting different relations to felt power 3.4 Conclusion Chapter Four: Tenderizing Effects and Acting Despite Ourselves 4.1 Disorientations of interruption 4.1 (i) Illness, sensing vulnerability, and living unprepared 4.1 (ii) Trauma and living unprepared 4.2 Disorientations of ill fit 4.2 (i) Queerness and in-this-togetherness 4.2 (ii) Migration and living against the grain 4.3 The power of tenderizing effects 4.4 Conclusion Chapter Five: Injustice and Irresoluteness 5.1 Resolute and irresolute action against injustice 5.2 Both/and actions, heterosexism, and mass incarceration 5.3 Doubling back actions, implicit bias, and colonialism 5.4 Building without blueprints and post-industrial poverty 5.5 Conclusion Chapter Six: Disorientation and Habitability 6.1 Dismissing disorientations 6.2 Responding to disoriented others 6.3 Responding to oneself as disorientable 6.4 Back to the rough waves References

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Trade ReviewThis book is a major contribution to Europeanist ethnomusicology, and an excellent read for any scholar interested in the political economy of music or in cultural histories of the Cold War. * Ljerka V. Rasmussen, Slavic Review Fall 2018 *Audible States offers a provocative analysis of musical political economy, and it will become essential reading on Eastern Europe and cultural policy. * Matthew Knight, Ethnomusicology 67.3 *Table of ContentsTable of Contents Acknowledgments List of Illustrations Introduction 1 Administering Music 2 Debating Song 3 Cultivating Individuality 4 Voicing Transition 5 Promoting Albania Epilogue: Hearing Like A State Appendix: Research Materials Notes References

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Book SynopsisWho''s better? Billie Holiday or P.J. Harvey? Blur or Oasis? Dylan or Keats? And how many friendships have ridden on the answer? Such questions aren''t merely the stuff of fanzines and idle talk; they inform our most passionate arguments, distil our most deeply held values, make meaning of our ever-changing culture. In Performing Rites, one of the most influential writers on popular music asks what we talk about when we talk about music. What''s good, what''s bad? What''s high, what''s low? Why do such distinctions matter? Instead of dismissing emotional response and personal taste as inaccessible to the academic critic, Simon Frith takes these forms of engagement as his subject and discloses their place at the very centre of the aesthetics that structure our culture and colour our lives. Taking up hundreds of songs and writers, Frith insists on acts of evaluation of popular music as music. Ranging through and beyond the twentieth century, Performing Rites puts the Pet Shop Boys and PuTrade ReviewFrith understands precisely what pop music is actually for, and thus has a right to write about it that few others share. * Pete Townshend *This is a good, and arguably a great book. * Colin McCabe, New Statesman & Society *quite simply one of the best books I've ever read about music * BBC Music Magazine *Pop music matters to Frith, and he gives one of the best accounts yet written of how and why this should be so ... a very necessary book. * Peter Aspden, Financial Times *Table of ContentsACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; PART I MUSIC TALK: 1 THE VALUE PROBLEM IN CULTURAL STUDIES; 2 THE SOCIOLOGICAL RESPONSE; 3 COMMON SENSE AND THE LANGUAGE OF CRITICISM; 4 GENRE RULES; PART II ON MUSIC ITSELF: 5 WHERE DO SOUNDS COME FROM?; 6 RHYTHM: RACE, SEX, AND THE BODY; 7 RHYTHM: TIME, SEX, AND THE MIND; 8 SONGS AS TEXTS; 9 THE VOICE; 10 PERFORMANCE; 11 TECHNOLOGY AND AUTHORITY; PART III WHY MUSIC MATTERS: 12 THE MEANING OF MUSIC; 13 TOWARD A POPULAR AESTHETIC; NOTES; INDEX.

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Book SynopsisThis is Marshall McLuhan''s last book, written in collaboration with his longtime friend, Bruce Powers. It updates McLuhan''s landmark study, Understanding Media, which was published 25 years ago.^l^l The premise is the distinction between what McLuhan and Powers call Visual Space - or the left-brain, linear, quantitative reasoning tradition of the West beginning with Plato and Aristotle - as against what they call Acoustic Space - right-brain, qualitative, pattern-producing reasoning, the holistic approach of the East. They argue that with the advent of the global village - as a result of electronic communications - these two mind sets are slamming into each other at the speed of light. In their words, In the last half of the 20th century the East will rush westward and the West will embrace orientalism, all in a desperate attempt to cope with each other, to avoid violence. But the key to peace is to understand both these systems simultaneously.Trade Review'The Global Village is studded with the controversial genius, insight and originality for which McLuhan was famous.' Telecommunications Policy`Thank you, Professor Powers, for bringing McLuhanian thinking back into the light and for bringing it up to date.' Futures

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Book SynopsisThe third of Kevin Starr''s monumental studies of the origins and development of the California dream covers the decade, which perhaps glittered the most brightly in the history of the Golden State - the 1920s. This was the era of colourful, larger-than-life individuals - from movie stars to evangelists to grandiose town planners; the era of Valentino, as well as that of William Ellsworth Smyth, tireless crusader for the irrigation of the desert. It was also the period in which the characteristics of Los Angeles'' vital culture were established.Trade Review`Material Dreams is a splendid achievement: impressively researched, expertly argued and nicely varied ... (Starr) has taken a sprawling, recalcitrant subject, at once encrusted with cliche and dogged by obscurity, and made it vivid and comprehensible.' Boston Sunday Globe`Kevin Starr has written an engaging, eccentric history of Southern California in the '20s ... It is richly researched, informative, fun to read and the writing is bright (with substance, pace and vigor).' Los Angeles Times

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Book SynopsisWierzbicka demonstrates that every language has its key concepts (expressed in key words) and that these concepts reflect the core values of the culture in question. Examining empirical evidence from five languages, and using her own natural semantic metalanguage to provide an analytical framework, she shows that cultures can be revealingly studied, compared and explained to outsiders through their key concepts.Trade ReviewThere is a lot to be gleaned from just about anything produced by Wierzbicka - the "key words book" [...] is no exception [...]. The observations are plentiful and fascinating [...]. [Wierzbicka] has done more than anyone else to really "understand cultures through their key words". * Word, 51 [2000] *

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Book SynopsisThis study argues that American artistry in the 1960s can be understood as one of the most vital and compelling interrogations of modernity. The author posits that the legacy of slavery has made African-Americans among the most incisive critics and celebrants of the "Enlightenment inheritance".Trade ReviewThe Harlem Renaissance and the Black Arts movement are celebrated as critical moments of racial nationalism and cultural awakening. Questioning the critical consensus about this narrative, however, James Hall reframe[s] these two literary periods in light of transnational and anti-modernist paradigms ... provocative [study] disturbing to our common sense about these seminal eras. * American Literature *Hall deftly restores a fuller voice to sixties artists too often straightjacketed within an obligatory hermeneutics of racial protest. * American Literature *James C. Hall invites us to revise our thinking about the 1960s in this thoughtful and generative study of the extraordinary efflorescence of poetry, fiction, autobiography, music, and painting that emerged out of that decade's African American freedom movement ... thoughtful, subtle, and persuasive. * The Journal of American History *

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Book SynopsisThis study looks at the music and history of progressive rock, a genre criticized for its privileged, upper-middle class roots. By using an interdisciplinary approach it shows how progressive rock served as a vital cultural expression of the counterculture of the late 1960s and 1970s in England.Trade ReviewFor unreconstructed admirers of prog-rock this is a long overdue defence of a too-easily maligned genre, reason enough, if nothing else, to play those Genesis albums with pride. * Simon Evans, Birmingham Post *there is no getting away from its sheer vastness, tackling the quintessentially English subject with all the authority of a great American tome ... Macan's insight and detail is first-rate * Record Collector *

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Book SynopsisThis study examines the cultural legacy of Malcolm X's life and career. From sexism and "gangsta" rap to the painful predicament of black males, Malcolm's legacy is felt, and often marketed, throughout the world.Trade ReviewDyson shows us a Malcolm X for our time. * The Reverend Jesse L. Jackson *

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Book SynopsisOne of the most commonly reported emotions in people seeking psychotherapy is shame, and this emotion has become the subject of intense research and theory over the last 20 years. In Shame: Interpersonal Behavior, Psychopathology, and Culture, Paul Gilbert and Bernice Andrews, together with some of the most eminent figures in the field, examine the effect of shame on social behavior, social values, and mental states. The text utilizes a multidisciplinary approach, including perspectives from evolutionary and clinical psychology, neurobiology, sociology, and anthropology. In Part I, the authors cover some of the core issues and current controversies concerning shame. Part II explores the role of shame on the development of the infant brain, its evolution, and the relationship between shame as a personal and interpersonal construct and stigma. Part III examines the connection between shame and psychopathology. Here, authors are concerned with outlining how shame can significantly influeTrade Review"This is both a complex and informative book and in this reviewer's opinion, an important addition in the field. ...a book of usefulness and great interest" Suzanna Rose, Counselling, 248, 1999Table of ContentsPART I. CONCEPTUAL ISSUES ; 1. What is Shame? Some Core Issues and Controversies ; 2. Methodological and Definitional Issues in Shame Research ; PART II. INTERPERSONAL BEHAVIOR ; 3. Early Shame Experiences and Infant Brain Development ; 4. The Forms and Functions of the Nonverbal Signal of Shame ; 5. Shame, Status, and Social Roles: Psychobiology and Evolution ; 6. Shame & Stigma ; PART III. PSYCHOPATHOLOGY ; 8. The Emotional Disorders of Shame ; 9. Shame and Childhood Abuse ; 10. Shame in the Labeling of Mental Illness ; 11. Shame in the Therapeutic Relationship ; PART IV. CULTURE ; 12. Domains of Shame: Evolutionary, Cultural, and Psychotherapeutic Aspects ; 13. Gender, Shame, and Culture: An Anthropological Perspective ; 14. The Sacred and the Social: Cultures of Honor and Violence

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Book SynopsisThe recent surge in reports of child abuse has led Costin, Karger, and Stoesz to examine whether our current responses to the problem are adequate. In this book they trace the cultural, social, and legal factors that have shaped the history of child abuse and responses to it since the 1870s. The public response to child abuse is detailed, from the creation of the first Societies for Prevention of Cruelty to Children in the late 19th century, to the relative consignment of child abuse cases to the courts in the early to mid 20th century, and finally to the clinical, individual-level approaches introduced in the 1960s and still practised today.Trade ReviewCostin et al have provided a fascinating account of the development of child abuse politics in America. * Labour Campaign for Criminal Justice Newsletter no 49 *

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Book SynopsisThe Tibetan district of Tsari with its sacred snow-covered peak of Pure Crystal Mountain has long been a place of symbolic and ritual significance for Tibetan peoples. In this book, Toni Huber provides the first thorough study of a major Tibetan Buddhist pilgrimage center and cult mountain, and explores the esoteric and popular traditions of ritual there. The main focus is on the period of the 1940s and ''50s, just prior to the 1959 Lhasa uprising and subsequent Tibetan diaspora into South Asia. Huber''s work thus documents Tibetan life patterns and cultural traditions which have largely disappeared with the advent of Chinese colonial modernity in Tibet. In addition to the work''s documentary content, Huber offers discussion and analysis of the construction and meaning of Tibetan cultural categories of space, place, and person, and the practice of ritual and organization of traditional society in relation to them.Trade Reviewan extremely valuable contribution both to the study of religion and ritual in general and to Tibetan studies in particular ... Specialists and nonspecialists alike will benefit from several readings of this work. Its rich accounts of tantric cosmology, ritual regimes, and local lifeways are accessibly written with relatively few technical terms, yet supplemented with long footnotes and a glossary of Wylie transliterations for all Tibetan words rendered phonetically in the text ... overall though, this work is a ground breaking and important that should be required reading for all students of Tibet, Asian Studies, pilgrimmage, and religion and ritual in general. * Charlene Makley, Journal of the American Academy of Religion *

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Book SynopsisScholarly commentary on the nuances of Greek writing fills library shelves, even entire libraries. Yet nothing can take the place of the documents themselves. The Classical Greek Reader marks an exciting departure from the traditional anthology approach to Greek literature and thought. By focusing not only on the big names but also on the less-familiar voices--the women, doctors, storytellers, herbalists, and romance writers--we are offered a glimpse of ancient Greece as we have rarely seen it. Kenneth J. Atchity provides the reader with firsthand access to literary, artistic, social, political, religious, scientific, and philosophical texts that shaped Greek thinking. From Homeric epics to the histories of Plutarch, and from the poems of Korinna to the romances of Heliodorus, this invaluable reference provides readers with modern translations of the voices that shaped the classical Greek spirit. Each entry contains an introduction identifying the author and providing information that Trade ReviewThis new examination of original texts, poems, art, plays, and historical documents from classical Greece offers a far more accessible format than most, providing source materials in a lively format for general readers * The Bookwatch *Table of ContentsPreface; Introduction; Part One:Preclassical; Homer:The Iliad; Homer: The Odyssey; Hesiod: Theogony; Hesiod: Works and Days; Anonymous: Homeric Hymns: Hymn to Aphrodite; Archilochos: Lyrics; Thales of Miletus: Water; Terpandros: Lyrics; Alkman: Lyrics; Alcaeus: Lyrics; Solon:Lyrics and Law Codes; Sappho: Lyrics; Stesichoros: Lyrics; Anacreon: Lyrics; Simonides: Lyrics; Anaximander: On Nature; Anaximenes: Air; Theognis: Lyrics; Aesop:Fables; Pythagoras: The Golden Verses; Xenophanes: On Nature and Lyrics ; Part Two:Classical; Pindar: Olympian Ode 2; Korinna: Lyric Fragments; Aeschylus: The Eumenides; Pricles: Funeral Oration(from Thucydes); Heraclitus: On Nature; Parmenides: On Nature; Telesilla: Lyric Fragments; Empedocles: Fragments and On Nature; Anaxagoras: On Nature; Protagoras: Fragments; Sophocles: Antigone; Herodotus: The History; Zeno: On Motion; Euripides: Alcestis; Hippocrates: The Physician's Oath; Thucydides: The Peloponnesian War; ; Socrates: Speech to the Athenians (from Plato's Apology); Praxilla: Lyrics; Aristophanes: Lysistrata; Lysias: The Olympiacus; Isocrates: Oration to Philip; Plato: The Republic; Xenophon: Anabasis; Aeneas the Tactician: On the Defense of Fortified Positions; Aeschines: Against Timarchus ; Aristotle: Poetics; Demosthenes: On the Crown; "Theophrastus"Tyrtamos: The Characters; Menander: The Dyskolos; Epicurus: Letter to Herodotus; Euclid: The Elements of Geometry; Leonidas of Tarentum: Lyrics; Theocritus: Thyrsis: The Death of Daphinis; Apollonius of Rhodes: The Voyage of Argo (Argonautica); Archimedes: The Sand-reckoner ; Part Three:Postclassical; Polybius: The General History of the Wars of the Romans; Nicander: Theriaca; Bion: Lament for Adonis; Strabo: The Geography; Meleager: Lyrics; Dionysius of Halicarnassus: The Roman Antiquities; Dioscorides: Materia medica; "Longinus": On the Sublime; Epictetus: The Encheiridion (Handbook); Plutarch: The Life of Alexander the Great and Against Going into Debt; Dio(n) Chrysostomos: The Hunters of Euboea; Lucian: Lyrics and Dialogues; Ptolemy: The Almagest; Apollodorus: The Library; Pausanias: The Acropolis of Athens; Galen: On the Natural Facilities; Plotinus: True Happiness; Longus: Daphnis and Chloe; Athenaeus: The Sophists at Dinner; Heliodorus: Aethiopica ; Greek Gods / Heroes, Roman Counterparts; Landmarks of Greek History; Glossary; Sources & Recommendations; Acknowledgementd; Index

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Book SynopsisThis work offers a comparative cross-cultural history of dreams. The authors examine a range of texts concerning dreams, from a variety of religious contexts (including China, the Americas and Greek and Roman antiquity) to explore the ways in which different cultures experience the world of dreams.Trade ReviewDream Cultures offers titbits from various cultures and serves as a perfect appetizer to read more about dreams in antiquity * Veit Rosenberger, The Classical Review, Vol.51, No.1, 2001 *Fifteen essays by an impressive international team of specialists in literature, anthropology and history of religion... Dream Cultures strengthens the view that dreams are not necessarily the domain of psychology. * Charles Stewart, TLS 11/08/2000 *

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Book SynopsisEnough about me, goes the old joke, what about you? What do you think about me? Hence the pursuit of attention is alive and well. Even the Oxford English Dictionary reveals a modern coinage to reflect the chase in our technological age: ''ego-surfing'' - searching the Internet for occurrences of your own name. What is the cause of this obsessive need for others'' recognition? This useful and popular volume, now in a second edition that features major new introductory and concluding essays, entertainingly ponders this question. Derber argues that there is a general lack of social support in today''s America, one which causes people to vie hungrily for attention, and he shows how individuals will often employ numerous techniques to turn the course of a conversation towards themselves. Illustrating this ''conversational narcissism'' with sample dialogues that will seem disturbingly familiar to all readers, this book analyses the pursuit of attention in conversation - as well as in politicTrade Review"A refreshingly balanced, strongly grounded exploration of the routines Americans exploit in competing for attention...."--American Journal of Sociology (on the previous edition) "A refreshingly balanced, strongly grounded exploration of the routines Americans exploit in competing for attention...."--American Journal of Sociology (on the previous edition) "Competition and individualism in America are fresh topics in his hands and he works out a theory which I think is of great interest."--Richard Sennett (on the previous edition) "Derber is on to something important, and I like what he says--it makes much sense. The subject serves the kind of attention (if I may use the word) he's giving it."--Robert Coles (on the previous edition)

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Book SynopsisThis is a charming and insightful contribution to an understanding of the Science Wars between postmodernist humanism and science, driving toward a resolution of the mutual misunderstanding that has driven the controversy. It traces the root of postmodern theory to a debate on the foundations of mathematics, early in the 20th century then compares developments in mathematics to what took place in the arts and humanities, discussing issues as diverse as literary theory, arts, and artificial intelligence. This is a straight forward, easily understood presentation of what can be difficult theoretical concepts and demonstrates that a pattern of misreading mathematics can be seen on both the part of science and on the part of postmodern thinking. This is a humorous, playful yet deeply serious look at the intellectual foundations of mathematics for those in the humanities and is the perfect critical introduction to the bases of modernism and postmodernism for those in the sciences.Trade ReviewThe book makes pleasant and interesting reading. * Mathematical Reviews *Table of Contents1: Introduction 2: Around the Cartesian Circuit 2.1: Imagination 2.2: Intuition 2.3: Counting to One 3: Space Oddity and Linguistic Turn 4: Wound of Language 4.1: Being and Time Continuum 4.2: Language and Will 5: Beyond the Code 5.1: Medium of Free Becoming 5.2: Nonpresence of Identity 6: The Expired Subject 6.1: Empire of Signs 6.2: Mechanical Bride 7: The Vanishing Author 8: Say Hello to the Structure Bubble 8.1: Algebra of Language 8.2: Functionalism Chic 9: Don't Think, Look 9.1: Interpolating the Self 9.2: Language Games 9.3: Thermostats "R" Us 10: Postmodern Enigmas 10.1: Unspeakable Diffd'erance 10.2: Dysfunctionalism Chic Notes Select Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisGreek Nymphs: Myths, Cult, Lore is the first comprehensive study of the nymph in the ancient Greek world. This well-illustrated book examines nymphs as both religious and mythopoetic figures, tracing their development and significance in Greek culture from Homer through the Hellenistic period. Drawing upon a broad range of literary and archaeological evidence, Jennifer Larson discusses sexually powerful nymphs in ancient and modern Greek folklore, the use of dolls representing nymphs in the socialization of girls, the phenomenon of nympholepsy, the nymphs'' relations with other deities in the Greek pantheon, and the nymphs'' role in mythic narratives of city-founding and colonization. The book includes a survey of the evidence for myths and cults of the nymphs arranged by geographical region, and a special section of the worship of nymphs in caves throughout the Greek world.Trade ReviewThe strength of Larson's project lies in its meticulous presentation of detail, her careful survey of the literary and epigraphical sources, and her clear translations of Greek material probably unfamiliar to most readers. * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *

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Book SynopsisIn The Meanings of Social Life , Jeffrey Alexander presents a new approach to how culture works in contemporary societies. Exposing our everyday myths and narratives in a series of empirical studies that range from Watergate to the Holocaust, he shows how these unseen yet potent cultural structures translate into concrete actions and institutions. Only when these deep patterns of meaning are revealed, Alexander argues, can we understand the stubborn staying power of violence and degradation, but also the steady persistence of hope. By understanding the darker structures that restrict our imagination, we can seek to transform them. By recognizing the culture structures that sustain hope, we can allow our idealistic imaginations to gain more traction in the world. A work that will transform the way that sociologists think about culture and the social world, this book confirms Jeffrey Alexander''s reputation as one of the major social theorists of our day.Trade Review"Alexander effectively positions meanings at the center of a cultural form of public sociology that is concerned with symbolic codes, their social production, and their distribution through carrier groups and social movements The Meanings of Social Life provides the urtext for a new cultural framing of sociology."--John R. Hall, Contemporary Sociology"Alexander has succeeded to a remarkable degree in establishing his distinctive cultural theory and empirical research program as a collective enterprise. Indeed... one can fairly speak of the existence of... an Alexander School--of cultural sociology."--Mustafa Emirbayer, Thesis Eleven"The Meanings of Social Life is an intellectual tour de force that cements Jeffrey Alexander's reputation as a paradigmatic thinker in cultural as well as theoretical sociology."--Mabel Berezin, Newsletter of the Sociology of Culture Section of the American Sociological Asssociation"This book is important for the clarity and liveliness with which it communicates the core ideas and real innovations cultural sociology offers the discipline, and I hope that it's widely read."--Lyn Spillman, Newsletter of the Sociology of Culture Section of the American Sociological Asssociation"Whether Alexander is considering high theory, the Holocaust, or computerization, the reader is treated to a mind at work that breathes originality and brilliance. A commanding...compelling performance! "--Steven Seidman, author of Beyond the Closet: The Transformation of Gay and Lesbian Life"Jeffrey Alexander views culture as causal, not merely a reflection of social structure, but as embodied and embedded in institutions and personalities, rather than as coming down from on high. The final chapter about the ways in which we social scientists have thought about the world in which we live is alone worth the price of the book. A powerful argument."--Robert Bellah, coauthor of Habits of the Heart"Boldly, often brashly, challenging almost every cultural analyst in sight, Jeffrey Alexander here states and illustrates his strong program for analysis of culture as a coherent, autonomous social realm. The Holocaust, Watergate, computers, and contemporary American society at large all provide starting points for Alexander's distinctive reflections on social experience."--Viviana A. Zelizer, author of The Social Meaning of Money"This is a powerful claim on behalf of reuniting what has been separated since the beginning of the sociological venture: shapes of acts and their meanings, descriptions of human deeds and their comprehension, the this-worldly and the transcendental, religion and reason, values and facts, the poetry of culture and the prose of the mundane. This claim has been made with the hope of liberating the knowledge of things human from its service to a power that too often struggles to liberate itself form the ethical bonds of humanity. A commanding claim that makes for fascinating reading."--Zygmunt Bauman, author of Modernity and the HolocaustTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Meanings of (Social) Life: On the Origins of a Cultural Sociology ; 1. The Strong Program in Cultural Sociology: Elements of a Structural Hermeneutics (with Phillip Smith) ; 2. On the Social Construction of Moral Universals: The "Holocaust" from War Crime to Trauma Drama ; 3. Cultural Trauma and Collective Identity ; 4. A Cultural Sociology of Evil ; 5. The Discourse of American Civil Society (with Phillip Smith) ; 6. Watergate as Democratic Ritual ; 7. The Sacred and Profane Information Machine ; 8. Modern, Anti, Post, and Neo: How Intellectuals Explain "Our Time" ; Notes ; References ; Index

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Book SynopsisFrom a very young age we are told not to stare, and one hallmark of maturation is the ability to resist (or at least hide) our staring behavior. And yet, rarely do we master the impulse. Despite the complicated role it plays in our development, and its unique brand of visual enticement, staring has not been considered before as a suitable object for socio-cultural analysis. What is it about certain kinds of people that makes it impossible to take our eyes off them? Why are some visual stimuli irresistible? Why does staring produce so much anxiety? Drawing on examples from art, media, fashion, history and memoir, Garland-Thomson defines staring, explores the factors that motivate it, and considers the targets and the effects of the stare. A bodily inventory then enumerates how stares actually operate in daily life. A section on Bodies focuses on the question of size and scale as key indicators of normalcy, while certain body parts show themselves to be disproportionately arresting, as passages on Faces Hands and Breasts reveal. A concluding chapter on Beholding considers the frisson at play between starer and staree and offers an alternative way of understanding visual communication between people. Featuring over forty illustrations, Staring captures the stimulating combination of symbolic, material and emotional factors that make staring so irresistible while endeavoring to shift the usual response to staring, shame, into an engaged self-consideration. Elegant and provocative, this book advances new ways of thinking about visuality and the body that will appeal to readers who are interested in the overlap between the humanities and human behaviors.Trade ReviewA trailhead that offers branches back into the many fields of study from which this book draws. It also suggests connections with new ones...An important, challenging, and often brilliant book. * American Literary History *Table of ContentsPART 1. ABOUT STARING ; Chapter 1. Why Do We Stare? ; PART 2. WHAT IS STARING? ; Chapter 2: Staring: A Physical Response ; Chapter 3: Staring: A Cultural History ; Chapter 4: Staring: A Social Relationship ; Chapter 5: Staring: Knowledge Gathering ; PART 3. DON'T STARE ; Chapter 6: Staring: Getting into Trouble ; Chapter 7: Staring: Bad Manners ; Chapter 8: Staring: Rules and Rebellion ; PART 4. STARERS AND STAREES ; Chapter 9: Looking Away, Staring Back ; PART 5. SCENES OF STARING ; Chapter 10: Staring at Faces ; Chapter 11: Staring at Hands ; Chapter 12: Staring at Bodies ; Chapter 13: Staring at Breasts ; Chapter 14: Beholding

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Book SynopsisSense of Place and Sense of Planet analyzes the relationship between the imagination of the global and the ethical commitment to the local in environmentalist thought and writing from the 1960s to the present. Part One critically examines the emphasis on local identities and communities in North American environmentalism by establishing conceptual connections between environmentalism and ecocriticism, on one hand, and theories of globalization, transnationalism and cosmopolitanism, on the other. It proposes the concept of eco-cosmopolitanism as a shorthand for envisioning these connections and the cultural and aesthetic forms into which they translate. Part Two focuses on conceptualizations of environmental danger and connects environmentalist and ecocritical thought with the interdisciplinary field of risk theory in the social sciences, arguing that environmental justice theory and ecocriticism stand to benefit from closer consideration of the theories of cosmopolitanism that have arisen in this field from the analysis of transnational communities at risk. Both parts of the book combine in-depth theoretical discussion with detailed analyses of novels, poems, films, computer software and installation artworks from the US and abroad that translate new connections between global, national and local forms of awareness into innovative aesthetic forms combining allegory, epic, and views of the planet as a whole with modernist and postmodernist strategies of fragmentation, montage, collage, and zooming.Trade ReviewAs Heise argues, ecocriticism very much needs to embrace, explore and test the representation of the global, and to do so without merely reproducing the green cliche that everything is connected. Specific connections need identifying: the ones that matter. This important book makes a superb beginning. * Richard Kerridge, Times Higher Education Supplement *Offers a wealth of theoretical insight and an intriguing number of exemplary, innovative readings of texts in which the environmental imagination of the global becomes manifest. The study accomplishes nothing less than a far-reaching critical reassessment of the research field of ecocriticism to date, while simultaneously expanding its theoretical and analytical scope for the future ... A significant contribution to place-centered globalization theory in general. * Amerikastudien/American Studies *Table of ContentsPART 1: WORLD-WIDE WEBS: IMAGINING THE PLANET ; PART 2: PLANET AT RISK

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Trade Review"Can reading Self-Help, Inc. make you rich, successful and perpetually happy? No, but it'll entertain you and make you a whole lot smarter about American popular culture and the economic forces that shape it."--Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Bait and Switch and Nickel and Dimed"Elegantly written, brilliantly argued, and very important--a must read."--Arlie Russell Hochschild, author of The Time Bind and The Commercialization of Intimate Life"McGee writes clearly and thoughtfully.... She moves seamlessly from high theory to pop psychobabble, using the former to illustrate the powers of the latter. Overall, she offers a compelling argument for resisting the self-improvement genre's worldview. what comes through most clearly to me is a Marxist critique of consumer capitalism--like Raymond Williams for the 21st century."--Wendy Simonds, American Journal of Sociology"McGee has revealed the self-help industry as an obsessional treadmill far more than a path to a better life....Self-Help, Inc. offers a revealing look at the profound dissatisfactions that loiter beneath the topography of our consumer culture."--Stuart Ewen, author of PR!: A Social History of SpinTable of ContentsACKNOWLEDGMENTS ; PROLOGUE COVEYS DAUGHTER AND HER DILEMMA ; INTRODUCTION FROM SELF-MADE TO BELABORED ; APPENDIX SOME NOTES ON METHOD ; NOTES ; BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Book SynopsisOnce an obscure group of outcasts from the ghettoes of West Kingston, Jamaica, the Rastafarians have transformed themselves into a vibrant movement, firmly grounded in Jamaican society and beyond. In Rastafari, Ennis Barrington Edmonds provides a compelling portrait of the Rastafarian phenomenon and chronicles how this group, much maligned and persecuted, became a dominant cultural force in the world today. Edmonds charts the evolution of the relationship between Rastafari and the wider Jamaican society, from confrontation and repression to grudging tolerance and eventually to cultural integration. Edmonds focuses in particular on the internal development of Rastafarianism as a social movement, with its network of houses (small, informal groups that form around leading Rastas) and mansions (larger, more communal associations), to track the process of this strikingly successful integration. He further demonstrates how Rastafarian artistic creativity, especially in fashioning the music aTable of ContentsAPPENDIX: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ON RASTAFARI

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