- Table View
- List View
De-Stalinising Eastern Europe
by Kevin Mcdermott Matthew StibbeAfter Stalin's death in 1953, his successors, most notably Nikita Khrushchev, initiated a series of reforms which had an enormous impact on the future direction not only of the Soviet Union, but of the communist states of Eastern Europe. Among other things, de-Stalinisation meant the release and repatriation of hundreds of thousands of prisoners from labour camps, penal settlements and jails across the region, many of them victims of the terror, purges and mass repression carried out duringthe Stalinist period. This volume focuses on the impact of the releases on Eastern European regimes and societies, and questions the extent to which the returnees were fully rehabilitated in the judicial, political, socio-economic or moral sense. The countries covered include the Soviet Union as a whole, Hungary, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Bulgaria, as well as four individual Soviet Republics: Ukraine, Moldavia, Latvia and Belarus.
De-Stress at Work: Understanding and Combatting Chronic Stress
by Simon L. DolanBurn-out, excessive hours, office politics, handling complaints, isolated remote working, complex and inefficient processes – this book addresses the full complexities of chronic stress at work. It explains the potential for emotional and physical illness resulting from work, and importantly, presents ways in which occupational health and wellbeing can be enhanced through strengthening chronic stress diagnosis and promoting resilience. The latter is a win-win, for the worker, for the organization, and for society in general. Drawing on 40 years of research in collaboration with some of the best-known occupational stress gurus (including Cary Cooper, Susan Jackson, the late Ron Burke and Arie Shirom), Simon L. Dolan translates abstract concepts of chronic stress into practical guidance for enhancing resilience in a VUCA world. The ILO and many governments recognize stress as a principal cause of emerging physical and mental disease and one of the strongest determinants of high absenteeism, low morale and low productivity. While important advances have been made in the diagnosis of acute stress, the field of chronic stress in the workplace remains less clear. This book seeks to address this by presenting a wealth of diagnostic tools, including "The Stress Map". The text is brought to life for the reader by short vignettes in the form of anecdotes and stories. This book will be of particular interest to HR professionals, consultants, executive coaches, therapists and others who wish to help employees and clients better manage their own and others’ stress and to build resilience that leads to a more productive and healthier workforce.
De-essentializing Refugees: Perceptions, Experiences, and Becoming of Syrians in Türkiye
by Umut OzkaleliThis book delves into the profound journey of Syrians from pre-war aspirations to the harsh realities of refugee life in Türkiye. Through the voices of seventy-nine individuals, it explores the transformation from hopeful citizens seeking social change to displaced refugees. Grounded in fieldwork conducted between 2015 and 2016, the manuscript poses the critical question: &“How is refugee &‘becoming&’ experienced in dual spatiality and multiple temporalities?&” By integrating innovative approaches like relational pragmatics and intersectional identities, this work enriches existing conflict theories.The author employs a unique methodological lens inspired by cinematic apparatus theory, utilizing an &“eye-camera&” perspective to create Brechtian &“breaking moments&” that invite readers to engage deeply with the narratives. This book is not just an academic exploration; it is a powerful call to confront the normalization of war and to understand the irreversible impacts of violence and displacement through the lived experiences of individuals. Ideal for those interested in both theoretical discussions and the raw realities of human experience, this manuscript offers a compelling look at the refugee experience that challenges readers to rethink their perceptions of conflict and resilience.
Dead Artists, Live Theories, and Other Cultural Problems (Cultural Studies And Sociology Ser.)
by Stanley AronowitzFirst Published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Dead Hands: A Social History of Wills, Trusts, and Inheritance Law
by Lawrence M. FriedmanFriedman (Stanford Law School) examines the historical development of the law of succession in the U. S. and the right of the dying to determine what happens to their property after death. The text explores the extent to which the dead can rule over the living--how much legal power the "dead hand" has, how much the dead hand can control, and whether the dead hand is getting weaker or stronger--all of which raises questions about the legal fate of dynastic, long-term arrangements. In the process, Friedman considers how changes in family structure, changes in the nature of the legal order, demographic change, and changes in social norms and attitudes have influenced the law of succession over time. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)
Dead Ringers: How Outsourcing Is Changing the Way Indians Understand Themselves
by Shehzad NadeemA vivid portrait of India’s outsourcing industryIn the Indian outsourcing industry, employees are expected to be "dead ringers" for the more expensive American workers they have replaced—complete with Westernized names, accents, habits, and lifestyles that are organized around a foreign culture in a distant time zone. Dead Ringers chronicles the rise of a workforce for whom mimicry is a job requirement and a passion. In the process, the book deftly explores the complications of hybrid lives and presents a vivid portrait of a workplace where globalization carries as many downsides as advantages.Shehzad Nadeem writes that the relatively high wages in the outsourcing sector have empowered a class of cultural emulators. These young Indians indulge in American-style shopping binges at glittering malls, party at upscale nightclubs, and arrange romantic trysts at exurban cafés. But while the high-tech outsourcing industry is a matter of considerable pride for India, global corporations view the industry as a low-cost, often low-skill sector. Workers use the digital tools of the information economy not to complete technologically innovative tasks but to perform grunt work and rote customer service. Long hours and the graveyard shift lead to health problems and social estrangement. Surveillance is tight, management is overweening, and workers are caught in a cycle of hope and disappointment.Through lively ethnographic detail and subtle analysis of interviews with workers, managers, and employers, Nadeem demonstrates the culturally transformative power of globalization and its effects on the lives of the individuals at its edges.
Dead Woman Walking: Executed Women in England and Wales, 1900-55 (Routledge Revivals)
by Anette BallingerThis title was first published in 2000: Between 1900 and 1950 130 women were sentenced to death for murder in England and Wales. Only 12 of these women were actually executed. Thus, 91 per cent of women murderers had their sentence commuted, whereas if we examine the corresponding figures for men, only 39 per cent had their sentence commuted. It would appear that state servants working within the criminal justice system were far more reluctant to hang women than men. However, this text argues that a closer examination of this apparent discrepancy reveals it to be a misconception which has come about as a result of the statistics regarding infanticide. That is to say - unlike men - the vast majority of women murderers have killed their own child or children. Once this is taken into account we find that women who had murdered an adult had less hope of a reprieve than men. Thus, the author shows that the large proportion of women murderers as killers of their own children has created a false impression of how female murderers fared inside the criminal justice system.
Dead for Good: Martyrdom and the Rise of the Suicide Bomber
by Hugh D. Barlow"An easily accessible account of the development of martyrdom ...Barlow presents a masterful account of how religion, death and sacrifice developed into the cult of martyrdom of today." Mia Bloom, University of Georgia and author of Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror "Thoroughly researched, yet full of novel-like gripping narratives, this book succeeds in giving the reader a glimpse of what might happen in the mind of candidates to "martyrdom" while never loosing sight of the overall context that brings this phenomenon into being, and fuels it." Gilbert Achcar, author of The Clash of Barbarisms "Hugh Barlow is a gifted writer. In this book he uses his skills as a renowned sociologist to bring the reader a refreshing and engaging analysis...This is a must-read for anyone who is interested in understanding martyrdom operations from a broad historical and cultural perspective." Ami Pedahzur, University of Texas at Austin Dead for Good vividly describes how history gave rise to the suicide bombers of today. The passionate submission of ancient Jewish and Christian martyrs was largely supplanted by militant self-sacrifice as Islam spread and holy war erupted in the Crusades. In the Indian Punjab, the Khalsa Sikhs made warrior-martyrdom an instinct and policy in their defense of community and of justice. In a last-ditch effort to defeat the Allies in World War II, the Japanese transformed warrior-martyrs into martyr-warriors trained to sacrifice themselves in attacks on enemy carriers. The current suicide bomber is the latest phase: Whether motivated by nationalism, religious ideology, or a combination of both, the new "predatory" martyr dies for the cause while killing indiscriminately. Exploring martyrdom across cultures and throughout history, this book gives us new insights into today's suicide bombers and answers the common question "Why do they do it?"
Dead on Arrival: The Politics of Health Care in Twentieth-Century America (Politics and Society in Modern America #29)
by Colin GordonWhy, alone among industrial democracies, does the United States not have national health insurance? While many books have addressed this question, Dead on Arrival is the first to do so based on original archival research for the full sweep of the twentieth century. Drawing on a wide range of political, reform, business, and labor records, Colin Gordon traces a complex and interwoven story of political failure and private response. He examines, in turn, the emergence of private, work-based benefits; the uniquely American pursuit of "social insurance"; the influence of race and gender on the health care debate; and the ongoing confrontation between reformers and powerful economic and health interests. Dead on Arrival stands alone in accounting for the failure of national or universal health policy from the early twentieth century to the present. As importantly, it also suggests how various interests (doctors, hospitals, patients, workers, employers, labor unions, medical reformers, and political parties) confronted the question of health care--as a private responsibility, as a job-based benefit, as a political obligation, and as a fundamental right. Using health care as a window onto the logic of American politics and American social provision, Gordon both deepens and informs the contemporary debate. Fluidly written and deftly argued, Dead on Arrival is thus not only a compelling history of the health care quandary but a fascinating exploration of the country's political economy and political culture through "the American century," of the role of private interests and private benefits in the shaping of social policy, and, ultimately, of the ways the American welfare state empowers but also imprisons its citizens.
Deadly Biocultures: The Ethics of Life-making
by Nadine Ehlers Shiloh KruparA trenchant analysis of the dark side of regulatory life-making today In their seemingly relentless pursuit of life, do contemporary U.S. &“biocultures&”—where biomedicine extends beyond the formal institutions of the clinic, hospital, and lab to everyday cultural practices—also engage in a deadly endeavor? Challenging us to question their implications, Deadly Biocultures shows that efforts to &“make live&” are accompanied by the twin operation of &“let die&”: they validate and enhance lives seen as economically viable, self-sustaining, productive, and oriented toward the future and optimism while reinforcing inequitable distributions of life based on race, class, gender, and dis/ability. Affirming life can obscure death, create deadly conditions, and even kill.Deadly Biocultures examines the affirmation to hope, target, thrive, secure, and green in the respective biocultures of cancer, race-based health, fatness, aging, and the afterlife. Its chapters focus on specific practices, technologies, or techniques that ostensibly affirm life and suggest life&’s inextricable links to capital but that also engender a politics of death and erasure. The authors ultimately ask: what alternative social forms and individual practices might be mapped onto or intersect with biomedicine for more equitable biofutures?
Deadly Connections: States that Sponsor Terrorism
by Daniel BymanDaniel Byman's hard-hitting and articulate book is the first to study countries that support terrorist groups. Focusing primarily on sponsors from the Middle East and South Asia, it examines the different types of support that states provide, their motivations, and the impact of such sponsorship. The book also considers regimes that allow terrorists to raise money and recruit without providing active support. The experiences of Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Libya are detailed here, alongside the histories of radical groups such as al-Qaida, Hizbullah and Hamas.
Deadly and Slick: Sexual Modernity and the Making of Race
by Sita BalaniA groundbreaking new analysis of the making of modernity, sexuality and raceIf race is increasingly understood to be socially constructed, why does it continue to seem like a physiological reality? The trickery of race, Sita Balani argues, comes down to how it is embedded in everyday life through the domain we take to be most intimate and essential: sexuality. Modernity inaugurates a new political subject made legible as an individual through the nuclear family, sexual adventure and the pursuit of romantic love. By examining the regulation of sexual life at Britain's borders, in colonial India, and through the functioning of the welfare state, marriage laws, education, and counterterrorism, Balani reveals that sexuality has become fatally intertwined with the making of race.
Deaf And Disability Studies: Interdisciplinary Perspectives
by Susan Burch Alison KaferThis collection presents 14 essays by renowned scholars on Deaf people, Deafhood, Deaf histories, and Deaf identity, but from different points of view on the Deaf/Disability compass. Editors Susan Burch and Alison Kafer have divided these works around three themes. The first, Identities and Locations, explores Deaf identity in different contexts. Topics range from a history of activism shaped by the ableism of Deaf elites in the United States from 1880-1920, to a discussion of the roles that economics, location, race, and culture play in the experiences of a Deaf woman from northern Nigeria now living in Washington, D.C. Alliances and Activism showcases activism organized across differences. Studies include a feminist analysis of how deaf and hearing women working together share responsibility, and an examination of how intra-cultural variations in New York City and Quebec affect deaf-focus HIV/AIDS programs. The third theme, Boundaries and Overlaps, explicitly addresses the relationships between Deaf Studies and Disability Studies. Interviews with scholars from both disciplines help define these relationships. Another contributor calls for hearing/not-deaf people with disabilities to support their Deaf peers in gaining langue access to the United Nations. Deaf and Disability Studies: Interdisciplinary Perspectives reveals that different questions often lead to contrary conclusions among their authors, who still recognize that they all have a stake in this partnership.
Deaf Subjects: Between Identities and Places (Cultural Front #12)
by Brenda Jo BrueggemannIn this probing exploration of what it means to be deaf, Brenda Brueggemann goes beyond any simple notion of identity politics to explore the very nature of identity itself. Looking at a variety of cultural texts, she brings her fascination with borders and between-places to expose and enrich our understanding of how deafness embodies itself in the world, in the visual, and in language.Taking on the creation of the modern deaf subject, Brueggemann ranges from the intersections of gender and deafness in the work of photographers Mary and Frances Allen at the turn of the last century, to the state of the field of Deaf Studies at the beginning of our new century. She explores the power and potential of American Sign Language—wedged, as she sees it, between letter-bound language and visual ways of learning—and argues for a rhetorical approach and digital future for ASL literature.The narration of deaf lives through writing becomes a pivot around which to imagine how digital media and documentary can be used to convey deaf life stories. Finally, she expands our notion of diversity within the deaf identity itself, takes on the complex relationship between deaf and hearing people, and offers compelling illustrations of the intertwined, and sometimes knotted, nature of individual and collective identities within Deaf culture.
Deaf World: A Historical Reader and Primary Sourcebook
by Lois BraggTo many who hear, the deaf world is as foreign as a country never visited. Deaf World thus concerns itself less with the perspectives of the hearing and more with what Deaf people themselves think and do. Editor Lois Bragg asserts that English is for many signing people a second, infrequently used language and that Deaf culture is the socially transmitted pattern of behavior, values, beliefs, and expression of those who use American Sign Language. She has assembled an astonishing array of historical sources, political writings, and personal memoirs, from classic 19th-century manifestos to contemporary policy papers, on everything from eugenics to speech and lipreading, the right to work and marry, and the never-ending controversy over separation vs. social integration. At the heart of many of the selections lies the belief that Deaf Americans have long constituted an internal colony of sorts in the United States. While not attempting to speak for Deaf people en masse, this ambitious platform anthology places the Deaf on center stage, offering them an opportunity to represent the world--theirs as well as the hearing world--from a Deaf perspective. For Deaf readers, the book will be welcomed as a gift, both a companion to be savored and, as often, an opponent to be engaged and debated. And for the hearing, it serves as an unprecedented guide to a world and a culture so often overlooked. Comprising a judicious mix of published pieces and original essays solicited specifically for this volume, Deaf World marks a major contribution.
Deaf in Japan: Signing and the Politics of Identity
by Karen NakamuraUntil the mid-1970s, deaf people in Japan had few legal rights and little social recognition. Legally, they were classified as minors or mentally deficient, unable to obtain driver's licenses or sign contracts and wills.
Deafening Modernism: Embodied Language and Visual Poetics in American Literature (Cultural Front)
by Rebecca SanchezDeafening Modernism tells the story of modernism from the perspective of Deaf critical insight. Working to develop a critical Deaf theory independent of identity-based discourse, Rebecca Sanchez excavates the intersections between Deaf and modernist studies. She traces the ways that Deaf culture, history, linguistics, and literature provide a vital and largely untapped resource for understanding the history of American language politics and the impact that history has had on modernist aesthetic production.Discussing Deaf and disability studies in these unexpected contexts highlights the contributions the field can make to broader discussions of the intersections between images, bodies, and text. Drawing on a range of methodological approaches, including literary analysis and history, linguistics, ethics, and queer, cultural, and film studies, Sanchez sheds new light on texts by T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, William Carlos Williams, Charlie Chaplin, and many others. By approaching modernism through the perspective of Deaf and disability studies, Deafening Modernism reconceptualizes deafness as a critical modality enabling us to freshly engage topics we thought we knew.
Dealers
by Peter Madsen"The criminal class is a more exact cross-section of humanity than any trade could be." -Luc Sante, interview by The Believer Weed, coke, heroin, molly, promethazine, crack, PCP, LCD, opium, hashish, mushrooms, and countless other illicit substances flood the streets of New York City where they are consumed as quickly as they can be delivered. The War on Drugs may have been declared in 1971, but the numbers are in and the government's $1.5 trillion war has done little to nothing to kink the flow of drugs in America. In New York City the NYPD has even instated a Stop and Frisk policy that, since its 2002 inception, has resulted in millions of New Yorkers being unconstitutionally stopped and searched. This controversial policy has heightened the danger for the city's intrepid drug dealers, who brave all weather and police-profiling to meet their customers' insatiable desires. Add on the constant threat of violence and robbery, and it is arguably the most high-risk yet lucrative time to be a NYC dealer. Demand never ceases to grow, and where there is demand, there will always be plenty of outlaw capitalists willing to step up and supply. For Dealers, street reporter Peter Madsen set out across New York City--from staid Gramercy residences to bleak homeless hangouts; grimy Bushwick bike messenger bars and tony Park Avenue penthouses--to interview this particular criminal class. Through anonymous one-on-one interviews with an alarmingly wide host of subjects (including a transient heroin-addict supporting his habit, cute art-school girls running a weed lounge, a connection-ready concierge, fixed-gear weed couriers, stick-up kids, and a couple lawyers who deal on the side), Madsen extracts un-glamorized, sometimes hilarious, and always nuanced accounts of the navigators of New York City's expansive drug underworld.
Dealing With Stress in a Modern Work Environment: Resources Matter
by Erika Spieß Katharina F. Pfaffinger Julia A. ReifThis book provides an evidence-based, comprehensive and vividly illustrated overview of stress and stress management, emphasizing the central role of resources. Scientists and practitioners, students, employees and employers can use this book to bring themselves up to date on the current state of psychological stress research and learn many practical tips and tricks for dealing with stress and resources.Building on proven and contemporary psychological theories of stress and resource research, this book explains how stress emerges, how resources influence the stress process and what individuals and organizations can do to prevent stressors, reduce stress, recover from stress, and cope with the long-term consequences of strain. The book takes up current societal trends such as digitization and automation, and refers to cultural influences and differences.Through numerous case studies, facts and figures, checklists and exercises, the book not only leads the reader on an exciting journey through the scientific background and history of stress research, but also offers numerous opportunities for self-assessment and critical reflection on (one's own) work in organizations.
Dealing with Disasters: Perspectives from Eco-Cosmologies (Palgrave Studies in Disaster Anthropology)
by Pamela J. Stewart Andrew J. Strathern Davide Torri Diana RiboliProviding a fresh look at some of the pressing issues of our world today, this collection focuses on experiential and ritualized coping practices in response to a multitude of environmental challenges—cyclones, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, earthquakes, warfare and displacements of peoples and environmental resource exploitation. Eco-cosmological practices conducted by skilled healing practitioners utilize knowledge embedded in the cosmological grounding of place and experiences of place and the landscapes in which such experience is encapsulated. A range of geographic case studies are presented in this volume, exploring Asia, Europe, the Pacific, and South America. With special reference throughout to ritual as a mode of seeking the stabilization, renewal, and continuity of life processes, this volume will be of particular interest to readers working in shamanic and healing practices, environmental concerns surrounding sustainability and conservation, ethnomedical systems, and religious and ritual studies.
Dealing with Disputes and Conflict: A Self-Help Tool-Kit for Resolving Arguments in Everyday Life
by Tony WhatlingDealing with Disputes and Conflict: A Self-Help Tool-Kit for Resolving Arguments in Everyday Life offers accessible and practical strategies and solutions to guide untrained mediators and readers on effective ways to resolve disputes and conflict, across a wide range of dispute contexts. Drawing together psychological and social scientific theories, the author offers clear guidance for managing conflict in everyday life, ranging from experiences at work, with the community or at home. This book defines mediation practice, its key principles, and how it is structured and implemented, and offers practical strategies based on key theories, including Transactional Analysis. Tony Whatling draws on his extensive experience as a professional mediator, consultant, trainer and author, to create this valuable practical guide. Including a toolbox outlining core skills and strategies applied by trained practitioners, the book covers important elements in conflict resolution, such as apology, reconciliation, the importance of listening and concentration, and what to try when disputants do not respond. Case studies from various contexts are featured, giving readers the tools they need when faced with disputes relating to situations such as divorce and workplace disagreements. Exploring the building blocks of dispute management through an engaging and clear tone, this text is ideal for mediators, dispute resolution specialists, volunteers, community leaders, medical staff and anyone embarking on a career in mediation, as well as individuals hoping to resolve conflict in their own lives.
Dealing with Wars and Dictatorships
by Liora Israël Guillaume MouralisDemocratic 'transitions' in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and South Africa, often studied under the conceptual rubric of 'transitional justice', have involved the formation of public policies toward the past that are multifaceted and often ambitious. Recent scholarship rarely questions the concepts and categories transposed from one country to another. This is true both in the language of political life and in the social sciences examining past-oriented public policy, especially policy toward 'ethnic cleansing' and the line between the language of political practice, legal analysis, and scholarly discourse has been quite porous. This book examines how these phenomena have been described and understood by focusing recent processes, such as the advent of international criminal justice, in relation to previous postwar and recent purges. By crossing disciplinary approaches and periods, the authors pay attention to three main aspects: the legal or political concepts used (and/or the ones mobilized in the academic work); the circulation of categories, know-how, and arguments; the different levels that can shed light on transitions.
Dear Ahmedbhai,Dear Zuleikhabehn: The Letters Of Zuleikha Mayat And Ahmed Kathrada, 1979-1989
by Goolam Vahed Thembisa Waetjen‘The very sense of loss keeps alive an expectation. How easy it is to lose sight of what is historically invisible – as if people lived only history and nothing else!’
Dear Freedom Writer: Stories of Hardship and Hope from the Next Generation
by Erin Gruwell The Freedom WritersThe students of today tell their stories of adversity and growth in letters to the original Freedom Writers—authors of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Freedom Writers Diary—who write supportive and powerful letters in response.Over twenty years ago, the students in first-year teacher Erin Gruwell&’s high school class in Long Beach, California, were labeled &“unteachable&”—but she saw past that. Instead of treating them as scores on a test, she understood that each of them had a unique story to tell. Inspired by books like Anne Frank&’s diary, her students began writing their own diaries, eventually dubbing themselves the Freedom Writers. Together, they co-authored The Freedom Writers Diary, which launched a movement that remains incredibly relevant and impactful today. Their stories speak to young people who feel as if those around them do not care about their lives, their feelings, and their struggles. They want to be heard; they want to be seen.In Dear Freedom Writer, the next generation of Freedom Writers shares its struggles with abuse, racism, discrimination, poverty, mental health, imposed borders, LGBTQIA+ identity, and police violence. Each story is answered with a letter of advice from an original Freedom Writer. With empathy and honesty, they address these young people not with the platitudes of a politician or a celebrity, but with the pragmatic advice of people who have dealt with these same issues and come out on the other side.Through its eye-opening and inspiring stories, Dear Freedom Writer paints an unflinchingly honest portrait of today&’s youth and offers a powerful message of perseverance, understanding, and hope.
Dear Mrs. Roosevelt
by Robert CohenImpoverished young Americans had no greater champion during the Depression than Eleanor Roosevelt. As First Lady, Mrs. Roosevelt used her newspaper columns and radio broadcasts to crusade for expanded federal aid to poor children and teens. She was the most visible spokesperson for the National Youth Administration, the New Deal's central agency for aiding needy youths, and she was adamant in insisting that federal aid to young people be administered without discrimination so that it reached blacks as well as whites, girls as well as boys.<P><P> This activism made Mrs. Roosevelt a beloved figure among poor teens and children, who between 1933 and 1941 wrote her thousands of letters describing their problems and requesting her help. Dear Mrs. Roosevelt presents nearly 200 of these extraordinary documents to open a window into the lives of the Depression's youngest victims. In their own words, the letter writers confide what it was like to be needy and young during the worst economic crisis in American history.<P> Revealing both the strengths and the limitations of New Deal liberalism, this book depicts an administration concerned and caring enough to elicit such moving appeals for help yet unable to respond in the very personal ways the letter writers hoped.