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Race and the Politics of the Exception
by Utz McKnightThe traditional assumption today about race is that it is not political; that it has no political content and is a matter of individual beliefs and attitudes. In Race and the Politics of the Exception, Utz McKnight argues that race is in fact political and defines how it functions as a politics in the United States. McKnight organizes his book into three sections, beginning with a theoretical section about racial politics in the United States. Using theorists such as Benjamin, Agamben, and Schmitt, McKnight discusses how the idea of racial communities went from being constituted through the idea of racial sovereignty and a politics of the exception that defined blacks as the internal enemy, to being constitutionally defined through the institutions of racial equal opportunity. In the second section, McKnight further develops his critical race theory by exploring in more detail the social use of race today. The election of President Obama has brought the politics of racial equality to a critical point. In spite of a very powerful set of political tools to define it as a thing of the past, race matters. In the final section, McKnight engages with important African American fiction from each of the three major periods of racial politics in the US. Earlier descriptions of political theory are used throughout these analyses to refine the argument for a new critical politics of race. Scholars of political theory, identity politics, African American studies, and American Studies will find this work ground-breaking and relevant.
Military Cooperation in Multinational Peace Operations
by Joseph Soeters and Philippe ManigartThis edited volume uses theoretical overviews and empirical case studies to explore both how soldiers cope with the new forms of cultural diversity occurring within various multinational military operations, and how their organizations manage them. Military organizations, like other complex organizations, are now operating in an ever more diverse environment, with the missions themselves being ever more varied, and mostly conducted in a multinational framework. Members of the military have to deal with a host of international actors in the theatre of operations, and do so in a foreign cultural environment, often in countries devastated by war. Such conditions demand a high level of intercultural competence. It is therefore crucial for military organizations to understand how military personnel manage this cultural diversity. This book will be of much interest to students of peace operations, military studies, international security, as well as sociology and business studies.
Sponsoring Nature
by Maano Ramutsindela and Harry Wels and Marja SpierenburgSaving the world's flora and fauna, especially high-profile examples such as chimpanzees, whales and the tropical rain forests, is big business. Individuals and companies channel their resources to the preservation of nature through various ways, one of which is the funding of environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs). This book is the first to comprehensively address this issue and focus on a dominant theme in environmental philanthropy, the links between ENGOs and CBOs and their sponsors, especially the private sector. It has been argued that donor support is based on recipient's perceived expertise and needs, with no favouritism of flagship environmental organizations as recipients of donor funds. A counterview holds that the private sector prefers to fund mainstream ENGOs for environmental research and policy reforms congenial to industrial capital. The authors show that the debate about these arguments, together with the empirical evidence on which they are based, may shed light on certain aspects of the nature of environmental philanthropy. The book evaluates practical examples of environmental philanthropy from Africa and elsewhere against philosophical questions about the material and geographical expressions of philanthropy, and the North-South connections among philanthropists and ENGOs and CBOs.
Existentialist Criminology
by Ronnie Lippens and Don CreweExistentialist Criminology captures an emerging interest in the value of existentialist thought and concepts for criminological work on crime, deviance, crime control, and criminal justice. This emerging interest chimes with recent social and cultural developments - as well as shifts in their theoretical consideration - that are oriented around contingency and unpredictability. But whilst these conditions have largely been described and analysed through the lens of complexity theory, post-structuralist theory and postmodernism, there exploration by critical criminologists in existentialist terms offers a richer and more productive approach to the social and cultural dimensions of crime, deviance, crime control and, more broadly, of regulation and governance. Covering a range of topics that lend themselves quite naturally to existentialist analysis - crime and deviance as becoming and will, the existential openness of symbolic exchange, the internal conversations that take place within criminal justice practices, and the contingent and finite character of resistance - the contributions to this volume set out to explore a largely untapped reservoir of critical potential.
Sex Work
by Teela SandersThis is a richly detailed account of the way the sex industry works, and one of the few empirical studies that investigates the off street industry in Britain. The book seeks to advance a greater knowledge of the social organisation of the sex industry by uncovering the day-to-day activities of women involved in the indoor markets. What types of occupational risks do women experience in work of this kind? How do these hazards affect their personal lives? A key concern throughout the book is to assess whether women are passive victims of the circumstances of prostitution or whether they understand and calculate their responses to danger. Drawing upon both sociological and criminological theories, and on detailed research in the city of Birmingham, the author addresses these questions by estimating the rationality of those responses and by providing a measure of how women make sense of different risks. Sex Work: a risky business describes how women create complex psychological and emotional techniques to maintain their sanity while selling sex, and goes on to argue that the indoor sex markets in Britain have a distinct 'occupational culture' with a set of social norms, code of conduct and moral hierarchies that make it a high regulated workplace despite its illicit and sometimes illegal nature.
Murder
by Samantha Pegg and Shani D'Cruze and Sandra L. WalklateThis book seeks to unravel the issues associated with the crime of murder, providing a highly accessible account of the subject for people coming to it for the first time. It uses detailed case studies as a way of exemplifying and exploring more general questions of socio-cultural responses to murder and their explanation. It incorporates a historical perspective which both provides some fascinating examples from the past and enables readers to gain a vision of what has changed and what has remained the same within those socio-cultural responses to murder. The book also embraces questions of race and gender, in particular cultural constructions of masculinity and femininity on the one hand, and the social processes of 'forgetting and remembering' in the context of particular crimes on the other. Particular murders analysed included those of Myra Hindley, Harold Shipman and the Bulger murder.
Expanding the Criminological Imagination
by David Scott and Alana Barton and Karen Corteen and Dave WhyteThis book brings together a series of writings on the problems facing contemporary criminology, highlighting the main theoretical priorities of critical analysis and their application to substantive case studies of research in action. Its main aim is to establish the conceptual and practical foundations for a new generation of studies in criminology, and to set a new agenda for critical criminology. Each chapter will critically assess the main conceptual and empirical problems they have encountered in their research, and to bring to life the key theoretical debates within the discipline. This book will be essential reading for students seeking an understanding of the nature of the discipline of criminology and criminological research.
Voltaire's Jews and Modern Jewish Identity
by Harvey MitchellHarvey Mitchell’s book argues that a reassessment of Voltaire’s treatment of traditional Judaism will sharpen discussion of the origins of, and responses to, the Enlightenment. His study shows how Voltaire’s nearly total antipathy to Judaism is best understood by stressing his self-regard as the author of an enlightened and rational universal history, which found Judaism’s memory of its past incoherent, and, in addition, failed to meet the criteria of objective history—a project in which he failed. Calling on an array of Jewish and non-Jewish figures to reveal how modern interpretations of Judaism may be traced to the core ideas of the Enlightenment, this book concludes that Voltaire paradoxically helped to foster the ambiguities and uncertainties of Judaism’s future.
Landing on the Wrong Note
by Ajay HebleAn imaginative and passionate synthesis of form and function, Landing on the Wrong NOte goes beyond mainstream jazz criticism, outlining a new poetics of jazz that emerges not from the ivory tower but from the clubs, performances, and lives of today's jazz musicians.
Women in Charge
by Marisa SilvestriThis book is concerned with the gendered world of police leadership at a time when calls are being made for a different kind of police leader to guide the organisation through the twenty-first century. Drawing on in-depth interviews carried out with senior policewomen across a range of police forces in England and Wales, Women in Charge is the first book to provide a detailed study of women in police leadership. The work challenges existing conceptualisations and theorisations of police culture for the study of police leaders, demonstrating the various ways in which police cultures are shaped by both rank and gender. Women in police leadership face a different kind of gendered environment than their non-managerial counterparts, one in which a 'smart macho' culture of police management dominates. At the same time this book investigates the extent to which senior policewomen are involved in developing new styles and conceptualisations of leadership. It argues that women are involved in promoting a different kind of police leadership, using more consultative and holistic styles - styles not traditionally associated with the police organisation.
Creative Women in Ireland
by Aileen O'DriscollThrough the contributions of women working in the creative industries, this timely book explores the role of creativity in their lives, the experiences that have positively contributed to and supported their creativity and their work, as well as how gendered considerations intersect with their involvement in the cultural sphere. Spanning psychology, cultural and media studies, and the philosophy of art, it builds on existing research by offering examples of the abundance of creativity residing in women working in film and television, architecture, design, music, theatre, and the performing and visual arts in Ireland. Their reflections offer a valuable counter perspective to the assumption that women are more naturally the ‘muse’ than the creator. From these conversations, some common, although at times diverging, experiences in childhood, early career and approaches to their creative work offer important insights into the nature and practice of creativity and the conditions that may best nurture and support creativity in girls and women. Providing original observations into gendered understandings of creativity, this book will be essential reading for researchers, advanced students and practitioners seeking contemporary insights on creativity, feminism and gender.
Co-Production in Mental Health
by Michael NortonThis book examines the recovery principle of co-production within mental health services, defining it as the creation of a space where all stakeholders – including service users, family members, carers and supporters – come together in a partnership to improve all aspects of mental health services. Exploring both the practicalities and complexities of co-production, the book provides detailed analyses of all aspects of the concept in relation to mental health and discusses the growing evidence-base for adopting co-production as a recovery approach within a mental health setting. The book’s chapters outline: the foundational principles in implementing the concept in services; the theories of co-production in and outside of mental health settings; how to translate theory into practice; and examples of implementation. The book also explores the sustainability of co-production and the tensions that are present between the idea of recovery and mental health policy. The volume represents an ideal introduction to the concept of co-production in mental health and will be valuable reading for those researching and working in the area of mental health services and recovery, including nurses, occupational therapists and social workers.
Psychoanalysis and the Act of Artistic Creation
by Luís Manuel DelgadoThis book explores the phenomenon of creativity and creation from a psychoanalytic point of view, focusing on understanding the psycho-emotional dynamics underlying artistic creative activities, such as theatre, literature, and painting. Throughout, Delgado considers these works of art through a Bionian, Kleinian, and Freudian lens. He uses three major psychoanalytic models of the creative process, two of them classic: the first, Freudian, based on the theory of conflict between impulse and defense, the result of the effort to manage an excessive drive activity, and in which the concept of sublimation is central; the second, Kleinian, based on the attachment theory, in which creative effort corresponds to an attempt to repair the damage done to the object or to the self; and the third, more recent, affiliated with the more expanded attachment relationship theory, based on W. Bion’s theory of thinking, and emphasizing the continent’s capacity for psyche and the oscillation between schizo-paranoid and depressive positions. With illustrations throughout, this book will be vital reading for anyone interested in the intersection of creativity, the Arts, and psychoanalysis.
The Patchwork of World History in Texas High Schools
by Stephen JacksonThis book traces the historical development of the World History course as it has been taught in high school classrooms in Texas, a populous and nationally influential state, over the last hundred years. The author argues that the course has dynamically evolved to reflect a patchwork of competing visions that have intersected over the past century, with each new framework partially but never completely erasing or replacing those that came before. The first part of the book presents an overview of the World History course supported by a numerical analysis of textbook content and public documents, whilst the second focuses on the depiction of non-Western peoples, and persistent narratives of Eurocentrism, imperialism, and nationalism. It ultimately concludes that a more global, accurate, and balanced curriculum is possible, despite the tension between the ideas of professional world historians, who often de-center the nation-state in their quest for a truly global approach to the subject, and the historical core rationale of state-sponsored education in the United States: to produce loyal citizens. Offering a new, conceptual understanding of how colonial themes in world history curriculum have been dealt with in the past and are now engaged with in contemporary times, it provides essential context for scholars and educators with interests in the history of education, curriculum studies, and the teaching of World History in the United States.
Towards a New Pedagogy for Teaching Foreign Language Politeness
by Gerrard MugfordThis book examines how foreign language speakers establish and maintain social and transactional relationships in their target language, and how pedagogic intervention can help learners implement practices that will allow them to participate and react in both socially acceptable and individualistically empowering ways. Arguing that ‘doing’ foreign-language politeness and culture does not simply involve the indiscriminate and uncritical adoption and implementation of target-language patterns and practices, the author advocates instead for active, judicious and even critical social action. As such, the book presents a dynamic and vibrant dimension to target language politeness and cultural practices, demonstrating that raising learners’ critical language awareness in identifying productive communicative resources and assets can lead to successful interpersonal and transactional communication. Building on this notion of a ‘positive’ pedagogy, Halliday’s model of ideational, interpersonal and textual is utilised as a framework for exploring how foreign language users can approach target language politeness in terms of prosocial, interpersonal and contested politeness, with reference to a study of Mexican speakers of English as a foreign language. Heightening awareness of foreign language politeness patterns and practices, as well as presenting knowledge and resources for overcoming challenges and accentuating benefits of a nuanced learning scheme for politeness in foreign language, this book will appeal to language educators, researchers and bilingual speakers. It will also benefit those working across pragmatics, sociolinguistics, TESOL, cultural studies.
Ancestral Knowledges and Postcoloniality in Contemporary Ecuador
by Julia von SigsfeldIn light of an unprecedented constitutional acknowledgement of diverse epistemologies and stipulation making the protection and advancement of so-called 'ancestral knowledges' a duty of the state, this research provides an analysis of the uptake of historically subalternized knowledges by the state during the government of Rafael Correa (2007-2017), as well as of the strive for epistemic justice by peoples and nationalities organizations' in the context of struggles for social change, decolonization, and self-determination. On the basis of rich empirical material, the analysis traces state discourses and practices and mechanisms to govern 'ancestral knowledges' in the framework of the government's Knowledge Society project and delineates how leaders of peoples and nationalities' organizations struggle for the decolonization of knowledge. This monograph will be of interest to those concerned with relations between peoples and nationalities and Latin American states, politics of recognition and collective rights, the workings of purportedly post-neoliberal governments and the possibilities and limits for alternatives to development, the struggle of peoples and nationalities' organizations for (epistemic) decolonization, as well as ongoing (re-)conceptualisations of cosmopolitanisms against restructurations of the coloniality of knowledge and being.
White Supremacist Violence
by Brian Van Brunt and Lisa Pescara-Kovach and Bethany Van BruntWhite Supremacist Violence is a powerful resource for education and mental health professionals who are developing the tools and skills needed to slow the progress of the fast-growing hate movement in the United States. Chapters immerse the reader in a hybrid of research, historical reviews, current events, social media and online content, case studies, and personal experiences. The first half of the text explores the ways in which individuals become increasingly indoctrinated through the exploitation of cognitive openings, perceptions of real or imagined marginalization, and exposure to political rhetoric and manipulation, as well as an examination of social media and commerce sites that create a climate ripe for recruitment. The second half of the book walks the reader through three case studies and offers treatment considerations to assist mental-health professionals and those developing education and prevention-based programming. White Supremacist Violence gives readers useful perspectives and insights into the white supremacy movement while offering clinicians, threat-assessment professionals, and K-12 and university educators and administrators practical guidance on treatment and prevention efforts.
Conflict Management and Intercultural Communication
by Guo-Ming Chen and Xiaodong DaiConflict management and harmony building are two key issues of intercultural communication research and merit particular attention in the globally interconnected world. In the expanded second edition, the book explores the effective ways to manage intercultural conflict and develop intercultural harmony, and takes an interdisciplinary approach to address the two issues. The book begins with the theoretical perspectives on conflict management and harmony building. It examines intercultural communication ethics, diversity and inclusion, conflict resolution, conflict face negotiation, and intercultural competence. It presents both Western and non-Western perspectives. The book then addresses in its second section conflict management and harmony building in specific contexts. These include communication in intergenerational relationships, multinational corporations, and virtual spaces, and covers a range of national cultures including the USA, Japan, Germany, and China. Drawing on the current research findings, this book covers the major theoretical perspectives and provides for a wide range of discussions on intercultural conflict management. It is a crucial reference for teachers, students, researchers, and practitioners alike.
Maritime Gray Zone Operations
by Andrew S. EricksonThis book addresses the issues raised by Chinese and North Korean maritime ‘gray zone’ activities in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. For years, China has been harassing its neighbors in South China Sea and East China Sea, employing both coast guard and maritime militia forces, in the name of safeguarding Chinese sovereignty. This behavior is frequently characterized as constituting ‘gray zone’ activity. As the term suggests, this refers to a state of conflict that falls between peace and war. Interestingly, the Yellow Sea, which is geographically much closer to China than South China Sea or East China Sea, has been comparatively quiet. However, there is a danger that the PRC has the capability to replicate its gray zone activities in this area. Worse, North Korea has also been engaging in carefully-calibrated provocations there. This book addresses pressing questions about these activities and offers: (1) a conceptual framework to understand maritime gray zone operations and Beijing and Pyongyang’s approach, with an unprecedented focus on the Yellow Sea; (2) a comprehensive, fully updated fleet force structure for the PRC’s Coast Guard, together with projections regarding how the Coast Guard is likely to develop in the future; (3) an extensive organizational analysis of the PRC’s Maritime Militia that surveys the many units relevant to Yellow Sea operations, some revealed publicly for the first time; and (4) a detailed assessment of North Korean maritime ‘gray zone’ activities. This book will be of great interest to students of naval strategy, maritime security, Asian politics, and international security.
Effective Writing for Sociology
by Robert V. Kail and Ben Lennox KailWriting well is an essential skill for sociologists, but few books help students learn to write well. Designed to help students produce a manuscript that is clear, concise, and compelling, Effective Writing for Sociology demonstrates and deconstructs what makes effective writing and how best to communicate scholarly ideas. The first half of the book addresses the fundamentals of good writing: writing clearly, conveying emphasis, writing concisely, and crafting effective paragraphs. The second half then looks to the three most important sections of a research report: framing an introduction, reporting results, and discussing findings. Each chapter of the book describes strategies for effective writing, illustrated with multiple examples and providing exercises where students can try their hand at implementing these strategies. The Epilogue provides tips on choosing a title as well as writing an abstract and method section; it also includes suggestions on how to master the tips described in the lessons. Ben Lennox Kail and Robert V. Kail’s book is essential reading in courses on research methods, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, sociological writing, and social science writing in allied disciplines such as education, criminology, health, and all research fields.
Rhetorical Public Speaking
by Nathan CrickThis textbook offers an innovative approach to public speaking by employing the rhetorical canon as a means of constructing artful speech in a multi-mediated environment. By stressing how contemporary public speaking continues the classical art of persuasion, this book provides a foundation to guide students in constructing and delivering messages that address matters of concern and interest to their audience. This edition features contemporary as well as historical examples to highlight key concepts and show how rhetoric works in practice. It not only emphasizes the traditional skills of face-to-face oratory, but it also includes a chapter solely dedicated to highlighting the techniques and tactics of digital social influencing that adapts public speaking to online platforms. Each chapter includes speech excerpts, summaries, and exercises for review and retention. This textbook for courses in public speaking and rhetoric will particularly appeal to instructors wishing to foreground speaking as engaged citizens on public and political issues. Online resources include an instructor’s manual with discussion and test questions, video links, and sample materials.
Cultural Pragmatism for US-China Relations
by Charles Chao Rong PhuaThe Thucydides trap and a US-China face-off are not structurally inevitable; US-China relations are what the US and China make of them. Phua focuses on the ability to see "US as US" and "China as China" to trigger both countries’ cultural tendencies towards pragmatism. Phua examines China’s arduous journey to fit in the Westphalian system, the deep cultural misunderstandings by the West of Sunzi’s The Art of War, and attempts to offer an inside-out cultural synthesis of classical and modern Chinese thought as a proxy of their operational code, beyond the standard clichés about Confucian and Daoist thought. He builds on Jervis’ perception and misperception as well as Alastair Johnston’s cultural realism. Readers will benefit from a culturally-Chinese, western-educated and politically neutral understanding of "China as China". An essential primer for academics, practitioners and students of international relations, diplomacy and Chinese culture.
Rethinking Civil Society Regionalism in Africa
by Dele KogbeThis book interrogates the extent to which regional civil society organisations have evolved as actors in West Africa. Examining civil society democratic participation in regional integration and involvement in regionalism of peacebuilding, it rethinks how we study civil society in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region. Beyond the functional typology of civil society actors as ‘partner’, ‘legitimiser’, ‘resistance/counter-hegemonic’ and ‘manipulator’, the book develops a new analytical framework to understand how organisations such as the West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF) and West African Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) have evolved. Offering analytical perspectives of the actorship of specific regional civil society actors the book draws attention to the tendencies in the previous studies of mistaking an action or misdeed that is empirically specific to particular civil society organisations within a region to the generality of the civic space of the region. Providing an alternative perspective aimed at invoking a new intellectual conversation about civil society regionalism this book advances a new analytical framework of action-based regional identity of civil society, regional presence of activities, regional capacities and societal impact. It will be of interest to academics and scholars of International Relations, global governance, African politics and comparative regionalism.
Other-person-ness and the Person with Profound Disabilities
by Pia MatthewsMany people think that profound disability presents us with a real problem, often because it seems difficult to connect with someone who does not seem to think or act like us. Positioning profound disability in this way immediately sets up a ‘them’ and ‘us’, where the person with profound disability becomes the problematic ‘other’. Attempts to bridge the ‘them’ and ‘us’ risk reducing everyone to the same where disability is not taken seriously.In contrast to a ‘them’ and ‘us’, and negative connotations of the other found in the existentialist philosophies of writers like Sartre and Beauvoir, Pia Matthews argues for a return to a positive view of the other. One positive approach to the other, based on an ethics of relationship as championed by Levinas, seems to mitigate the other-ness of profound disability. However, this still makes the person with profound disability dependent on the ethical concern of the more powerful other. Instead, this book argues for return to a personalist philosophy of being offered by Mounier, Marcel, and Wojtyła, and deepened by participation, belonging, and the possibility of contributing to the good of all. This deepened philosophy of being gives a more solid foundation for people who are especially at the mercy of others. It will be of interest to all scholars and students of disability studies, philosophy and anthropology.
India’s Intelligence Culture and Strategic Surprises
by Dheeraj Paramesha ChayaThis book examines India’s foreign intelligence culture and strategic surprises in the 20th century. The work looks at whether there is a distinct way in which India ‘thinks about’ and ‘does’ intelligence, and, by extension, whether this affects the prospects of it being surprised. Drawing on a combination of archival data, secondary source information and interviews with members of the Indian security and intelligence community, the book provides a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of Indian intelligence culture from the ancient period to colonial times and, subsequently, the post-colonial era. This evolutionary culture has played a significant role in explaining the India’s foreign intelligence failure during the occurrences of strategic surprises, such as the 1962 Sino-Indian War and the 1999 Kargil War, while it successfully prepared for surprise attacks like Operation Chenghiz Khan by Pakistan in 1971. The result is that the book argues that the strategic culture of a nation and its interplay with intelligence organisations and operations is important to understanding the conditions for intelligence failures and strategic surprises. This book will be of much interest to students of intelligence studies, strategic studies, Asian politics and International Relations.