Best of
Social-Science

1995

A Child Called "It" and The Lost Boy


Dave Pelzer - 1995
    It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games--games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mother's games in order to survive because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave; and no longer a boy, but an "it." Dave's bed was an old army cot in the basement, and his clothes were torn and raunchy. When his mother allowed him the luxury of food, it was nothing more than spoiled scraps that even the dogs refused to eat. The outside world knew nothing of his living nightmare. He had nothing or no one to turn to, but his dreams kept him alive--dreams of someone taking care of him, loving him and calling him their son.The Lost BoyDave Pelzer's sequel to A CHILD CALLED 'IT' As a child, Dave Pelzer was brutally beaten and starved by his mother. The world knew nothing of his living nightmare and he had nothing and no one to turn to. But his dreams kept him alive - dreams of someone taking care of him, loving him and calling him their son. Finally, his horrific plight could no longer be hidden from the outside world and Dave's life radically changed. THE LOST BOY is the harrowing, but ultimately uplifting true story of a boy's journey through the foster-care system in search of a family to love. The continuation of Dave Pelzer's story is a moving sequel and inspirational read for all.

Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation


Jonathan Kozol - 1995
    Tender, generous and often religiously devout, they speak with eloquence and honesty about the poverty and racial isolation that have wounded but not hardened them. The book does not romanticize or soften the effects of violence and sickness. One fourth of the child-bearing women in the neighborhoods where these children live test positive for HIV. Pediatric AIDs, life-consuming fires and gang rivalries take a high toll. Several children die during the year in which this narrative takes place.A gently written work, Amazing Grace asks questions that are at once political and theological. What is the value of a child's life? What exactly do we plan to do with those whom we appear to have defined as economically and humanly superfluous? How cold -- how cruel, how tough -- do we dare be?

In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio


Philippe Bourgois - 1995
    For the first time, an anthropologist had managed to gain the trust and long-term friendship of street-level drug dealers in one of the roughest ghetto neighborhoods--East Harlem. This new edition adds a prologue describing the major dynamics that have altered life on the streets of East Harlem in the seven years since the first edition. In a new epilogue Bourgois brings up to date the stories of the people--Primo, Caesat, Luis, Tony, Candy--who readers come to know in this remarkable window onto the world of the inner city drug trade. Philippe Bourgois is Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology, History and Social Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. He has conducted fieldwork in Central America on ethnicity and social unrest and is the author of Ethnicity at Work: Divided Labor on a Central American Banana Plantation (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989). He is writing a book on homeless heroin addicts in San Francisco. 1/e hb ISBN (1996) 0-521-43518-8 1/e pb ISBN (1996) 0-521-57460-9

Race And Culture: A World View


Thomas Sowell - 1995
    Encompassing more than a decade of research around the globe, this book shows that cultural capital has far more impact than politics, prejudice, or genetics on the social and economic fates of minorities, nations, and civilization.

Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black


Gregory Howard Williams - 1995
    a searing book about race and prejudice in America... brims with insights that only someone who has lived on both sides of the racial divide could gain."--Cleveland Plain Dealer "A triumph of storytelling as well as a triumph of spirit."--Alex Kotlowitz, award-winning author of There Are No Children Here As a child in 1950s segregated Virginia, Gregory Howard Williams grew up believing he was white. But when the family business failed and his parents' marriage fell apart, Williams discovered that his dark-skinned father, who had been passing as Italian-American, was half black. The family split up, and Greg, his younger brother, and their father moved to Muncie, Indiana, where the young boys learned the truth about their heritage. Overnight, Greg Williams became black.In this extraordinary and powerful memoir, Williams recounts his remarkable journey along the color line and illuminates the contrasts between the black and white worlds: one of privilege, opportunity and comfort, the other of deprivation, repression, and struggle. He tells of the hostility and prejudice he encountered all too often, from both blacks and whites, and the surprising moments of encouragement and acceptance he found from each.Life on the Color Line is a uniquely important book. It is a wonderfully inspiring testament of purpose, perseverance, and human triumph.Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize

G-Dog and the Homeboys: Father Greg Boyle and the Gangs of East Los Angeles


Celeste Fremon - 1995
    Originally published in 1995, this paperback edition updates us on the lives of the homeboys with whom Father Greg Boyle continues to work, allowing for a unique analysis as to how some former gang members are able to make it out, while others are not.

The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History


Howard Bloom - 1995
    The Lucifer Priciple is a revolutionary work that explores the intricate relationships among genetics, human behavior, and culture to put forth the thesis that “evil” is a by-product of nature’s strategies for creation and that it is woven into our most basic biological fabric.

Democracy Against Capitalism: Renewing Historical Materialism


Ellen Meiksins Wood - 1995
    In this book she sets out to renew the critical program of historical materialism by redefining its basic concepts and its theory of history in original and imaginative ways, using them to identify the specificity of capitalism as a system of social relations and political power. She goes on to explore the concept of democracy in both the ancient and modern world, examining the concept's relation to capitalism.

Milk, Money, and Madness: The Culture and Politics of Breastfeeding


Naomi Baumslag - 1995
    Dr. Richard Jolly, Acting Executive Director UNICEFBreastfeeding is a beautiful process. It involves the participation of both mother and child and cannot be duplicated by a glass bottle and rubber nipple. So why does the United States have the lowest breastfeeding rate in the industrialized world? In Milk, Money and Madness, Baumslag and Michels examine the issue of breastfeeding, clearly drawing a line between fact and fiction. Among the main points addressed are: o How U.S. taxpayers unwittingly support and encourage bottle-feeding by spending over $500 million each year to provide 37% of the infants in the U.S. with free formula. o How a product created to help sick children and foundlings was transformed into a powerful international industry with revenues of $22 million a day. o How an intimate and self-affirming life experience that is responsible for the survival of our species has been reduced to just one feeding option. Milk, Money, and Madness provides parents and health professionals with the information they need to fully appreciate and advise about this critical life choice. By reviewing the history, culture, biology, and politics of breastfeeding, Milk, Money, and Madness gives the reader a more complete understanding of the uniqueness of breastfeeding.The crucial decision between breastfeeding and formula feeding is increasingly complicated by misinformation and unfounded theories which cloud the actual facts. By all accounts, breastmilk is the most amazing life-sustaining fluid known to humanity. Many women who breastfeed characterize it as perhaps the most fulfilling life experience they will ever know. Scientific research supports the fact that breastfed babies are healthier, have lower infant mortality rates and fewer chronic illnesses throughout their lives than formula-fed babies. Similarly, women who breastfeed are significantly less likely to contract serious illnesses such as breast cancer. Alarmingly few people are aware of the unique benefits of breastfeeding and do not understand the dangers and risks of feeding an infant formula. In fact, the United States has the lowest breastfeeding rate in the industrialized world. Why has our society defied common sense and scientific data when breastfeeding has so many biological, emotional, environmental, and even financial advantages over laboratory blends?Milk, Money, and Madness is a thought-provoking book that offers honest answers and straight facts about breastfeeding. This book is designed to provide women, men, health workers, doctors, nurses, and midwives with the knowledge they need to advise or decide about the most suitable means of nourishment for infants. Baumslag and Michels consider the effects of 50 years of clever marketing and advertising which have transformed this society into one where bottle feeding is the norm and infant formula is considered to be essential to women's liberation and the forming of a paternal-infant bond. They also examine attitudes toward breastfeeding in cultures all around the world as compared to the antipathy toward breastfeeding that pervades the United States. Milk, Money, and Madness cuts through the myths and paranoia to offer an enlightening, culturally significant look at one of the most fundamentally beautiful functions of the human experience.

Black Wealth/White Wealth: A New Perspective on Racial Inequality


Melvin L. Oliver - 1995
    An examination of how assets are created, expanded and preserved reveals a deep economic divide between blacks and whites. Charting the changing structure of inequality over many generations, the authors examine how and why many blacks have had difficulty accumulating wealth and opportunities for a better life. In combining quantitative data from over 12,000 households and interviews with a range of black and white families, the racial face of wealth in America is measured and conceptualized.

I Speak for This Child: True Stories of a Child Advocate


Gay Courter - 1995
    Following her first tentative approach to her local Court Appointed Special Advocates program to her more determined efforts, we get an insider's glimpse on this hidden world and learn what it takes to ensure that America's most vulnerable citizens are treated with care and respect. Courter's story is both heartbreaking and heartwarming, and is an inspiration for anyone who has ever looked up from a newspaper and wondered, "What can I do to help?"

The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness, and Ethics


Arthur W. Frank - 1995
    That book ended by describing the existence of a "remission society," whose members all live with some form of illness or disability. The Wounded Storyteller is their collective portrait.Ill people are more than victims of disease or patients of medicine; they are wounded storytellers. People tell stories to make sense of their suffering; when they turn their diseases into stories, they find healing.Drawing on the work of authors such as Oliver Sacks, Anatole Broyard, Norman Cousins, and Audre Lorde, as well as from people he met during the years he spent among different illness groups, Frank recounts a stirring collection of illness stories, ranging from the well-known—Gilda Radner's battle with ovarian cancer—to the private testimonials of people with cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, and disabilties. Their stories are more than accounts of personal suffering: they abound with moral choices and point to a social ethic.Frank identifies three basic narratives of illness in restitution, chaos, and quest. Restitution narratives anticipate getting well again and give prominence to the technology of cure. In chaos narratives, illness seems to stretch on forever, with no respite or redeeming insights. Quest narratives are about finding that insight as illness is transformed into a means for the ill person to become someone new.

Cognition in the Wild (Bradford Books)


Edwin Hutchins - 1995
    His theoretical insights are grounded in an extended analysis of ship navigation -- its computational basis, its historical roots, its social organization, and the details of its implementation in actual practice aboard large ships. The result is an unusual interdisciplinary approach to cognition in culturally constituted activities outside the laboratory -- "in the wild."Hutchins examines a set of phenomena that have fallen in the cracks between the established disciplines of psychology and anthropology, bringing to light a new set of relationships between culture and cognition. The standard view is that culture affects the cognition of individuals. Hutchins argues instead that cultural activity systems have cognitive properties of their own that are different from the cognitive properties of the individuals who participate in them. Each action for bringing a large naval vessel into port, for example, is informed by culture: the navigation team can be seen as a cognitive and computational system.Introducing Navy life and work on the bridge, Hutchins makes a clear distinction between the cognitive properties of an individual and the cognitive properties of a system. In striking contrast to the usual laboratory tasks of research in cognitive science, he applies the principal metaphor of cognitive science -- cognition as computation (adopting David Marr's paradigm) -- to the navigation task. After comparing modern Western navigation with the method practiced in Micronesia, Hutchins explores the computational and cognitive properties of systems that are larger than an individual. He then turns to an analysis of learning or change in the organization of cognitive systems at several scales. Hutchins's conclusion illustrates the costs of ignoring the cultural nature of cognition, pointing to the ways in which contemporary cognitive science can be transformed by new meanings and interpretations. A Bradford Book

Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality


G.A. Cohen - 1995
    In that defense of capitalist inequality, freedom is self-ownership, the right of each person to do as he wishes with himself. The author shows that self-ownership fails to deliver the freedom it promises to secure. He thereby undermines the idea that lovers of freedom should embrace capitalism and the inequality that comes with it. In the final chapter he reaffirms the moral superiority of socialism, against the background of the disastrous Soviet experiment.

Why Government Doesn't Work: How Reducing Government Will Bring Us Safer Cities, Better Schools, Lower Taxes, More Freedom, and Prosperity for All


Harry Browne - 1995
    And he demonstrates how much better off we'd be by making government much smaller. Most important, he provides a realistic blueprint for getting from where we are now to a small government and a freer, more prosperous society.

Jung on Evil


C.G. Jung - 1995
    G. Jung wrote a great deal about the question of evil throughout his life and in scattered places in his work. In this book his position is pieced together from many sources. In his early work on the unconscious, for instance, he considered the role of evil in the mental processes of the severely disturbed. Later, he viewed the question of moral choice within the framework of his ideas about archetypes and discussions about moral choices, conscience, and the continual ethical reflection that is necessary for all of us. The material here includes letters to Freud and Father Victor White and selections from his writings ranging from his Answer to Job to his travel piece on North Africa.

What′s Behind the Research?: Discovering Hidden Assumptions in the Behavioral Sciences


Brent D. Slife - 1995
    The text begins with a review and critique of the major theoretical approaches: psychoanalysis, behaviorism, humanism, cognitivism, eclecticism, structuralism and postmodernism. The authors then discuss the key assumptions underlying these theories - knowing, determinism, reductionism and science. They trace the intellectual history of these assumptions and offer contrasting options. The book concludes by examining ways of coming to terms with some of the inadequacies in the assumptions of the behavioral sciences.

The Temptation of Innocence - Living in the Age of Entitlement


Pascal Bruckner - 1995
    This highly insightful essay dissects the culture of dependency and its damaging effects on the moral fiber of society, from corporate welfare to affirmative action.

Taking the Risk Out of Democracy: Corporate Propaganda versus Freedom and Liberty


Alex Carey - 1995
    and Australia" (University of New South Wales Press). This book was reissued in 1997 by University of Illinois Press under the title "Taking the Risk Out of Democracy: Corporate Propaganda versus Freedom and Liberty".

Making Economic Sense


Murray N. Rothbard - 1995
    Here he iscommunicating with the public about economic theory and policy. No economisthas ever written so clearly about subjects usually wrapped in mystery. Evenwhen discussing exchange rates, interest rates, and central banking,Rothbard is clear and persuasive. That's what makes this book so wonderful,and so dangerous to the purveyors of economic fallacy and those who enforcetheir ideas on the public. This wonderfully lucid work could become the nextEconomics in One Lesson. ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Murray N. Rothbard (1926-1995) distinguished himselfas an economist,writing a major treatise on theory, several important economic histories,and a highly praised history of economic thought. But he was also known asthe pioneer thinker of libertarianism, the political philosophy that rootsfreedom in private property ownership and decries the state as inherentlycontrary to the ethics of a free society. Writing from this perspective, hegained a reputation as the most provocative and influential contributor tothe anarchist tradition in our century.

Women Writing Culture


Ruth Behar - 1995
    How are feminists redefining the poetics and politics of ethnography? What are the contradictions of women studying women? How have gender, race, class, and nationality been scripted into the canon?Through autobiography, fiction, historical analysis, experimental essays, and criticism, the contributors offer exciting responses to these questions. Several pieces reinvestigate the work of key women anthropologists like Elsie Clews Parsons, Margaret Mead, and Ruth Benedict, while others reevaluate the writings of women of color like Zora Neale Hurston, Ella Deloria, and Alice Walker. Some selections explore how sexual politics help to determine what gets written and what is valued in the anthropological canon. Other pieces explore new forms of feminist ethnography that 'write culture' experimentally, thereby challenging prevailing, male-biased anthropological models.

Thinking Through: Essays on Feminism, Marxism and Anti-Racism


Himani Bannerji - 1995
    Himani Bannerji transforms the theorizing of race, gender and class in these essays illuminating the politics of differenceas they affect non-white women in the post-colonial world.

The Batterer: A Psychological Profile


Donald G. Dutton - 1995
    What kind of man deliberately hurts the woman he loves? Drawing on his pathbreaking studies of more than seven hundred abusive men, as well as therapy with hundreds more, Dutton paints a dramatic and surprising portrait of the man who assaults his intimate partner.

Strange Writing: Anomaly Accounts in Early Medieval China


Robert Ford Campany - 1995
    Most items told of encounters between humans and various denizens of the spirit-world, or of the miraculous feats of masters of esoteric arts; some described the wonders of exotic lands, or transmitted fragments of ancient mythology. This genre of writing came to be known as zhiguai (accounts of anomalies).Who were the authors of these books, and why did they write of these strange matters? Why was such writing seen as a compelling thing to do? In this book, the first comprehensive study in a Western language of the zhiguai genre in its formative period, Campany sets forth a new view of the nature of the genre and the reasons for its emergence. He shows that contemporaries portrayed it as an extension of old royal and imperial traditions in which strange reports from the periphery were collected in the capital as a way of ordering the world. He illuminates how authors writing from most of the religious and cultural perspectives of the times--including Daoists, Buddhists, Confucians, and others--used the genre differently for their own persuasive purposes, in the process fundamentally altering the old traditions of anomaly-collecting. Analyzing the accounts of anomalies both in the context of Chinese religious and cultural history and as examples of a cross-culturally attested type of discourse, Campany combines in-depth Sinological research with broad-ranging comparative thinking in his approach to these puzzling, rich texts.

The Corruption of Reality


John F. Schumaker - 1995
    Schumaker argues that, despite their apparent differences, religion, hypnosis, and psychopathology are all expressions of the unique human ability to modify and regulate reality in ways that ultimately serve the individual and society. In turn, these same behaviors can be traced to the brain's remarkable capacity to process information along multiple pathways, thus allowing the person to manipulate reality in strategic directions aimed at improved coping. He includes a historical and cross-cultural analysis showing how reality reconstruction takes place, and outlines the shortcomings of current psychotherapeutic approaches as well as the promising trends toward a spiritualization of psychotherapy.

The Rights of Minority Cultures


Will Kymlicka - 1995
    While drawing on particular case studies, the articles focus on the more general theoretical and normative issues raised by the accommodation of cultural differences. The authorsrepresented in this volume come from a variety of countries and disciplines, and reflect a wide range of opinion. The book explores the nature and value of cultural membership, models of cultural pluralism, individual and group rights, minority representation, immigration, and secession. A new andsubstantial essay by Will Kymlicka outlines the major issues and perspectives raised in the articles, and places them in the context of contemporary debates in political theory. The volume also includes a guide to further reading for students and researchers working in the field. Compiled by theleading political philosopher of his generation, Will Kymlicka's Rights of Minority Cultures will be of great interest to scholars of political theory, political philosophy, policy studies, ethnic studies, and law.

No Visible Wounds: Identifying Non-Physical Abuse of Women by Their Men


Mary Susan Miller - 1995
    . .* have sudden outbursts of anger or rage?* become jealous without reason?* prevent you from seeing friends and family?* deny you access to family assets such as bank accounts, credit cards, or the car?* control all finances and force you to account for what you spend?* insult you or call you derogatory names?* humiliate you in front of your children?* turn minor incidents into major arguments?If you or someone you know can answer "yes" to the questions above, chances are you are suffering from nonphysical battering--controlling, tyrannical behavior that is just as damaging to a woman's self-esteem as a broken bone or a black eye. An experienced counselor who works with abused women, Mary Susan Miller breaks the silence that surrounds this devastating form of domestic violence. She identifies the many types of nonphysical abuse verbal, emotional, psychological, social, and economic--and explores why this outrageous treatment of women continues unabated in our society. Dr. Miller also shares the stories of many survivors who have escaped their abusive relationships. Their experiences--with law enforcement, the legal system, and the community itself--can help prepare any woman for the decision of whether to stay or leave the relationship. And if she decides to go, Dr. Miller offers sound guidelines on how to protect herself and her children, since a woman's decision to leave is usually the time she is in the most danger from her abuser.Finally, Dr. Miller inspires hope: You can break free of the nightmare of nonphysical battering and heal, once again engaging in a life of integrity, dignity, and peace.

Buddhism in Chinese Society: An Economic History from the Fifth to the Tenth Centuries


Jacques Gernet - 1995
    First published in French in 1956, this classic work integrates the study of Buddhist doctrine with that of Chinese society from the fifth to the tenth centuries.

Toxic Sludge Is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry


John Stauber - 1995
    Common Courage’s number one seller blows the lid off of today's multi-billion-dollar propaganda-for-hire PR industry, revealing how public relations wizards concoct and spin the news, organize phony "grassroots" front groups, spy on citizens and conspire with lobbyists and politicians.

An Introduction to Social Constructionism


Vivien Burr - 1995
    Focusing on the challenge to psychology that social constructionism poses, Viven Burr examines the notion of 'personality' to illustrate the rejection of essentialism by social constructionists. This questions psychology's traditional understanding of the person. She then shows how the study of language can be used as a focus for our understanding of human behaviour and experience. This is continued by examining 'discourses' and their role in constructing social phenomena, and the relationship between discourse and power. However, the problems associated with these analyses are also clearly outlined.Many people believe that one of the aims of social science should be to bring about social change. Viven Burr analyses what possibilities there might be for change in social constructionist accounts. She also addresses what social constructionism means in practice to research in the social sciences, and includes some guidelines on undertaking discourse analysis.Introduction to Social Constructionism is an invaluable and clear guide for all perplexed students who want to begin to understand this difficult area.

Psychology of Missionary Adjustment


Marge Jones - 1995
    Identifies what it takes to be a missionary and the psychological effects they experience through all the stages of their lives---from preparation and financing to caring for elderly parents and retirement.

Myth and Measurement: The New Economics of the Minimum Wage


David Card - 1995
    Krueger have already made national news with their pathbreaking research on the minimum wage. Here they present a powerful new challenge to the conventional view that higher minimum wages reduce jobs for low-wage workers. In a work that has important implications for public policy as well as for the direction of economic research, the authors put standard economic theory to the test, using data from a series of recent episodes, including the 1992 increase in New Jersey's minimum wage, the 1988 rise in California's minimum wage, and the 1990-91 increases in the federal minimum wage. In each case they present a battery of evidence showing that increases in the minimum wage lead to increases in pay, but no loss in jobs.A distinctive feature of Card and Krueger's research is the use of empirical methods borrowed from the natural sciences, including comparisons between the treatment and control groups formed when the minimum wage rises for some workers but not for others. In addition, the authors critically reexamine the previous literature on the minimum wage and find that it, too, lacks support for the claim that a higher minimum wage cuts jobs. Finally, the effects of the minimum wage on family earnings, poverty outcomes, and the stock market valuation of low-wage employers are documented. Overall, this book calls into question the standard model of the labor market that has dominated economists' thinking on the minimum wage. In addition, it will shift the terms of the debate on the minimum wage in Washington and in state legislatures throughout the country.

Social Theory of International Politics


Alexander Wendt - 1995
    Wendt argues that states can view each other as enemies, rivals, or friends. He characterizes these roles as cultures of anarchy, which are shared ideas that help shape states' interests and capabilities. These cultures can change over time as ideas change. Wendt thus argues that the nature of international politics is not fixed, and that the international system is not condemned to conflict and war.

The Body Emblazoned: Dissection and the Human Body in Renaissance Culture


Jonathan Sawday - 1995
    Though the dazzling displays in Renaissance art and literature of the exterior of the body have long been a subject of enquiry, Jonathan Sawday considers in detail the interior of the body, and what it meant to men and women in early modern culture. Sawday links the frequently illicit activities of the great anatomists of the period, to whose labors we are indebted for so much of our understanding of the structure and operation of the human body, to a wider cultural discourse which embraces not only the great moments of Renaissance art, but the very foundation of a modern idea of knowledge. Illustrated with thirty-two black and white prints, The Body Emblazoned re-assesses modern understanding not only of the literature and culture of the Renaissance, but of the modern organization of knowledge which is now so familiar that it is only rarely questioned.

Critical Race Theory, An Introduction


Richard Delgado - 1995
    In recent years, however, the fundamental principles of the movement have influenced other academic disciplines, from sociology and politics to ethnic studies and history.And yet, while the critical race theory movement has spawned dozens of conferences and numerous books, no concise, accessible volume outlines its basic parameters and tenets. Here, then, from two of the founders of the movement, is the first primer on one of the most influential intellectual movements in American law and politics.

Wider Studies in Development Economics


Martha C. Nussbaum - 1995
    It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.Women, a majority of the world's population, receive only a small proportion of its opportunities and benefits. According to the 1993 UN Human Development Report, there is no country in the world in which women's quality of life is equal to that of men. This examination of women's quality of life addresses questions which have a particular urgency, and aims to describe the basic situation of all women. The contributors confront the issue of cultural relativism, criticizing the approach which, in its desire to respect different cultural traditions, can result in indifference to injustice. Gender justice and women's equality is then proposed in various areas in which quality of life is measured. Like its predecessor, The Quality of Life, this volume encourages the reader to think critically about the central fundamental concepts used in development economics, and suggests major criticisms of current economic approaches from that fundamental viewpoint. In addition to scholars of women's and gender studies, this work will be of interest to economists, philosophers, political scientists, and sociologists.

Genius Explained


Michael J.A. Howe - 1995
    In Genius Explained, psychologist Michael Howe traces the lives of some exceptionally creative men and women, including Charles Darwin, the Bronte sisters, George Eliot, Michael Faraday, Albert Einstein and the railway inventor George Stephenson. Their biographies reveal how the extraordinary capabilities of these people were clearly rooted in the experiences and opportunities that forged their characters. Eschewing mysticism, Howe's study shows that to be a genius demands a strong sense of direction and an extraordinary degree of commitment, focus, practice, ardous training and drive. Michael J.A. Howe is professor of psychology at the University of Exeter. He is the author of A Teacher's Guide to the Psychology of Learning (Blackwell, 1999) and The Psychology of High Abilities (New York University Press, 1999). Previous paperback edition (1999) 0-521-64968-4

The Imperative of Health: Public Health and the Regulated Body


Deborah Lupton - 1995
    The author examines the implications of the new social theories for the study of health promotion and health communication to analyze the symbolic nature of public health practices, and explores their underlying meanings and assumptions.

Black Elk's Religion: The Sun Dance and Lakota Catholicism


Clyde Holler - 1995
    Black Elk was one of the greatest religious thinkers produced by native North America, and the Sun Dance the central religious ritual of his Lakota tradition.

The Great Year: Astrology, Millenarianism, and History in the Western Tradition


Nicholas Campion - 1995
    This panoramic investigation of political and historical thought extends from ancient Mesopotamian times to the present day, and raises important questions about the nature and function of political prophecy in late twentieth-century society.

How the South Finally Won the Civil War: and Controls the Politcal Future of the United States


Charles Potts - 1995
    The book traces the way in which these laissez-faire economic ideas of exploitation, racism and contempt for democracy and the environment, were the basis of the difference between the North and the South that lead to the Civil War. During the 85 year period between 1865 and 1945, the South was able to regain control of the American federal government. Today, five of the six things the South was fighting for during the Civil War are public policy.

The Art of Tracking: The Origin of Science


Louis Liebenberg - 1995
    Liebenberg examines the principles of tracking, and the classification and interpretation of spoor under difficult conditions. He also shows how the original speculative hypotheses of early hunter-gatherers have a direct line to the propositions of modern physicists who track sub-atomic particles. In the book, the author argues that the art of tracking involves the same intellectual and creative abilities as physics and mathematics, and may therefore represent the origin of science itself. The book has been hailed as a real contribution to our understanding of the complexity involved in the process by which indigenous peoples track and hunt animals. It is insightful, detailed and well articulated.

First World, Ha, Ha, Ha!


Elaine Katzenberger - 1995
    At a demonstration in Mexico City, over 100,000 people marched together and shouted, First World, HA HA HA!—a defiant declaration of solidarity with the rebels, an insurgent army of indigenous campesinos who have challenged the direction of Mexico's future.The Chiapas uprising was internationally hailed as a direct attack on the New World Order. It was a milestone in the continuing history of indigenous resistance in the Americas, and an important development in the growing worldwide struggle against global policies of economic colonization.In this collection, writers from Mexico and the United States provide the background and context for the Zapatista movement, and explore its impact, in Mexico and beyond."Elaine Katzenberger has assembled an interesting and stimulating collection of voices from Mexico and the United States, of those in revolt and those reacting to the revolt. . . . Listened to as moments of an ever wider and ever more multi-sided conversation, the voices in the book should contribute to that amplification by giving their listeners a sense of the complexity and breath of the discussion." — Harry Cleaver, Professor at University of TexasElaine Katzenberger is a publisher and Executive Director for City Lights Booksellers and Publishers. Her edited works include fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Some works have won awards including the American Book Award and a PEN West Award for Excellence in Publishing. Katzenberger serves on the Board of Directors of the City Lights Foundation and is on the Advisory Board of Circuit Network.

Naples in the Time of Cholera, 1884-1911


Frank M. Snowden III - 1995
    It explores the factors that exposed Naples to risk; it examines such popular responses as social hysteria, riots, and religiosity; and it traces therapeutic strategies. This book is the first extended study of cholera in modern Italy; it sets Naples in a comparative international framework and relates the disease to larger historical issues, such as the nature of liberal statecraft, the southern question, mass emigration, organized crime, and the medical profession.

Social Deviance


Erich Goode - 1995
    In the words of the author, "What could be more fascinating than wrongdoing, rule-breaking, skullduggery, malfeasance, scandal, and evil deeds of every description?

Jungian Archetypes: Jung, Godel, and the History of Archetypes


Robin Robertson - 1995
    G Jung, and the mirroring of mathematical ideas of Kurt Godel. After reading this book, you'll know what archetypes are, and why they are more important in our lives today!

Politics, Sociology, and Social Theory: Encounters with Classical and Contemporary Social Thought


Anthony Giddens - 1995
    A series of critical engagements with major figures in classical and present-day social and political thought that offers not only a challenging critique of major traditions of social and political analysis but also unique insights into the ideas that Anthony Giddens has developed over the past two decades.

The Price We Pay: The Case Against Racist Speech, Hate Propaganda, and Pornography


Laura Lederer - 1995
    

Stereotype Accuracy


Lee Jussim - 1995
    The first chapter traces the history of stereotypes and includes definitions.

Negotiating Daily Life in Traditional China: How Ordinary People Used Contracts, 600-1400


Valerie Hansen - 1995
    In the process it illuminates specific everyday concerns during China's medieval transformation. Valerie Hansen translates and analyzes surviving contracts and also draws on tales of the supernatural, rare legal sources, plays, language texts, and other anecdotal evidence to describe how contracts were actually used. She explains that the educated wrote their own contracts, whereas the illiterate paid scribes to draft them and read them aloud. The contracts reveal much about everyday life: problems with inflation that resulted from the introduction of the first paper money in the world; the persistence of women's rights to own and sell land at a time when their lives were becoming more constricted; and the litigiousness of families, which were complicated products of remarriages, adoptions, and divorces. The Chinese even armed their dead with contracts asserting ownership of their grave plots, and Hansen provides details of an underworld court system in which the dead could sue and be sued. Illustrations and maps enrich a book that will be fascinating for anyone interested in Chinese life and society.