In what will surely become a classic of South African non-fiction, Led by Shepherds begins with twelve-year-old Jeffrey Rakabe leaving his village to attend an initiation ceremony, believing it to be the key to his manhood. But the weeks-long rite of passage in the mountains is a far cry from the adventure he’d imagined.

Years later, as a student, Rakabe discovers the nurturing world of books and thrives within the hush of the Johannesburg Public Library.

The presence of caring women in his life, from his concerned mother and supportive partner to a librarian who feeds his intellectual curiosity with a steady supply of literature, spur Rakabe to investigate the possible links between the koma ritual, awash with misogynistic language, and gender-based violence in SA.

Part memoir, part manifesto, Led by Shepherds is a moving, vital and controversial book and Jeffrey Rakabe a brave voice for a new generation.

Unique and exciting, this ethnographic study is the first to address a little-known subculture, which holds a fascination for many. The first decade of the twenty-first century has displayed an ever increasing fixation with vampires, from the recent spate of phenomenally successful books, films, and television programmes, to the return of vampire-like style on the catwalk. Amidst this hype, there exists a small, dedicated community that has been celebrating their interest in the vampire since the early 1990s. The London vampire subculture is an alternative lifestyle community of people from all walks of life and all ages, from train drivers to university lecturers, who organise events such as fang fittings, gothic belly dancing, late night graveyard walks, and 'carve your own tombstone'.Mellins presents an extraordinary account of this fascinating subculture, which is largely unknown to most people. Through case study analysis of the female participants, "Vampire Culture" investigates women's longstanding love affair with the undead, and asks how this fascination impacts on their lives, from fiction to fashion. "Vampire Culture" includes photography from community member and professional photographer SoulStealer, and is an essential read for students and scholars of gender, film, television, media, fashion, culture, sociology and research methods, as well as anyone with an interest in vampires, style subcultures, and the gothic.

The New York Times bestselling author of The Age of Magical Overthinking and Wordslut analyzes the social science of cult influence: how “cultish” groups, from Jonestown and Scientologists to SoulCycle and social media gurus, use language as the ultimate form of power.

What makes “cults” so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join—and more importantly, stay in—extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell’s argument is that, on some level, it already has . . .

Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of “brainwashing.” But the true answer has nothing to do with freaky mind-control wizardry or Kool-Aid. In Cultish, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us/them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear—and are influenced by—every single day.

Through juicy storytelling and cutting original research, Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities “cultish,” revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven’s Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds. Incisive and darkly funny, this enrapturing take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of “cultish” everywhere.

Jana Marx, bekende joernalis soos gesien in Devildorp bestudeer die fenomeen van kultusse.

Sy beantwoord vrae soos:

• watter antieke kultusse daar was
• wat die verskil tussen 'n kerk, 'n sekte, die okkulte en 'n kultus is
• watter tipe mens word in 'n kultus ingetrek
• watter kenmerke word in 'n kultusleier gevind?

Kultusse word in verskillende onderafdelings ingedeel: moord- en gedagtebeheerkultusse, korporatiewe kultusse, sekskultusse en politieke kultusse. Jana bekyk bekende plaaslike en internasionele kultusse binne elkeen van hierdie afdelings. Sy verwys ook na die BITE-model van Dr Steve Hassen sodat gewone mense kan uitwerk of geliefdes in 'n kultus vasgekeer is. Daar is 'n hoofstuk met riglyne oor wat om te doen as jou geliefde in 'n kultus is.

Jy kan alles oor kultusse wat jy nog altyd wou geweet het in hierdie boek vind.

A practical guide to nurturing healthy, loving non-monogamous relationships using attachment theory. Attachment theory has entered the mainstream, but most discussions focus on how we can cultivate secure monogamous relationships. What if, like many people, you're striving for secure, happy attachments with more than one partner? Polyamorous psychotherapist Jessica Fern breaks new ground by extending attachment theory into the realm of consensual non-monogamy. Using her nested model of attachment and trauma, she expands our understanding of how emotional experiences can influence our relationships. Then, she sets out six specific strategies to help you move toward secure attachments in your multiple relationships. Polysecure is both a trailblazing theoretical treatise and a practical guide. It provides non-monogamous people with a new set of tools to navigate the complexities of multiple loving relationships, and offers radical new concepts that are sure to influence the conversation about attachment theory.

This book documents the wide range of contemporary communes and other intentional communities providing sanctuaries for like-minded people to pursue cooperative alternatives to media-stoked consumerism and the relentless tempo of change that characterizes mainstream life in 21st-century America and Europe. Common Purse, Uncommon Future: The Long, Strange Trip of Communes and Other Intentional Communities explores the many new types of communal living being tried in America and Europe today. A growing number of people disenchanted with the pressures and demands of mainstream lifestyles are drawn by the nostalgic appeal of traditional, mostly agrarian and artisanal, lifestyles as practiced in residential communities where liminal rituals of membership serve to validate pacts to live and work together in cooperative social and economic relations. Manzella focuses on the ways in which today's most innovative and controversial ecovillages diverge from the hippie communes of yesteryear's counterculture and from older communal forms such as kibbutzim and arts and crafts colonies, and how today's nonsectarian spiritual and volunteer service communities differ from traditional religious communes and ashrams. He reports his field investigations of a whole new generation of communal living experiments, such as residential land trusts, survivalist retreats, urban cohousing, green housing cooperatives, student co-ops, and New Age organic agrarian communes.

This book calls for a re-thinking of educational provision for Gypsy / Traveller communities. Despite having been recognised by the government and educational providers for over fifty years, underachievement of children from Gypsy / Traveller communities persists. Rather than focusing specifically on access, attendance and attainment, the author provides a structural analysis of the cultural tensions that often exist between Nomadic communities and current school provision based on the interests and values of Sedentarism. The author uses spatial theory as a base upon which to build knowledge and understanding of the educational exclusion of children from Gypsy / Traveller communities, highlighting the social role that space plays within schools. This innovative book will be of interest and value for students and scholars interested in not only education and Gypsy / Traveller communities, but education for minority communities more widely.

Elaborating on themes of resilience, memory, critique and metal beyond metal, this volume highlights how the development and future of metal music scholarship is predicated on the engagement with other forms of popular culture such as comics, documentaries, and popular music. Drawing from a range of theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches, Heavy Metal Studies and Popular Culture's transnational approach and rootedness in metal scholarship provides the collection with a breadth and depth that makes it a critical resource for academics and students interested in the theories and trends shaping the future of Metal Music Studies.

The Vegan Guide covers everything you need to embrace the world's fastest growing way of life. It covers all the issues including why vegan, the latest nutrition information (older books will be out of date on vitamin B12 in particular), cooking techniques, and for the first time in the UK the psychology of discussing veganism, and the 20 tribes of vegan - there are lots of ways to do veganism! Featuring: Vegan food from around the world. Cooking vegan staple foods. Replacing meat, dairy and eggs. Bargain meals for tough times. Shopping and eating out. Vegan nutrition in depth. Raising vegan children. Clothing, cosmetics, alcohol, pet food. Reversing heart disease and diabetes, by vegan doctors. The twenty tribes of vegan - which one is yours? The psychology of explaining veganism to family and friends. Veganism will save the world: animals, health, environment. Got a problem? Where to get help. Alex Bourke and Ronny Worsey are two of Britain's most experienced vegan activists. They have taught veganism for over 20 years in talks, workshops, radio and TV, in cookbooks and travel guides, and working for vegan restaurants and in national vegan organisations helping people to go vegan every day. No one is better qualified to be your guides to all aspects of living vegan. With contributions from an expert team of vegan specialists including a nutritionist, a counsellor, a vegan vet, doctors and campaigners.

Focusing on global examples of gender equality, this collection explores non-dominant models of masculinity that represent gender equity in pro-feminist ways. Essays explore new alternative models of masculinity by a wide variety of contemporary authors and texts, ranging from Paul Auster to Jonathan Franzen.

This book explores the controversial and misunderstood world of sexualised weight gain known as feederism. Conversations with over 20 feeders and feedees are analysed through a psychological and sociological lens. The implications for health professionals working in bariatrics are discussed along with directions for future research.

Many people seek to carve out a space for themselves independently of the existing social and political realities of which they are a part. Through a range of ethnographical cases, the book addresses the innovative and complex ways in which social groups show the ability to position themselves between cultures, states, moralities, or local communities and state authorities, thus creating new opportunities for agency in the modern world. As an analytical term, alternative spaces designate "in-between" spaces rather than oppositional structures and are as such both "inside" and "outside" their constituent elements.

In our society, the argument for or against same-sex marriage becomes even more heated when the debate turns to bisexual women and men. Bisexuality and Same-Sex Marriage thoughtfully explores this debate from a wide range of interdisciplinary perspectives, presenting respected scholars from fields as diverse as American Studies, Communication, Criminology, Human and Organizational Systems, Law and Social Policy, LGBT Studies, Organizational Behavior, Psychology, Sociology, Women's Studies, and Queer Studies. This clear-viewed volume is organized into three perspectives?theoretical, research, and personal?that frame the debate from a macro to micro level of analysis.
This book goes beyond the intense acrimony and divisiveness to rationally examine the issue from various viewpoints and through the latest research. This informative text presents and analyzes in depth the current findings and the diverse LGBT and straight perspectives on the issue. This insightful resource discusses in detail personal views, the latest theories, and is extensively referenced.

Bisexuality and Same-Sex Marriage is an essential volume for LGBT studies professionals, psychologists, counselors, educators, students, and interested general public.

This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Bisexuality.

The Cultural Politics of European Prostitution Reform traces case studies of four European Union countries to reveal the way anxieties over globalization translates into policies to recognize sex workers in some countries, punish prostitutes' clients in others, and protect victims of human trafficking in them all.

"From a lighthouse keeper in Norway to a reindeer herder in Mongolia, the resulting series offers a captivating portrait of 10 extraordinary individuals living off the grid." - Financial Times Between 2015 and 2020, photographer Brice Portolano travelled from the islands of Alaska to the Patagonian steppe and from the forests of Lapland to the highlands of Iran to capture the daily lives of 10 extraordinary people who made profound changes in their lives in order to live closer to nature. They consciously built a life away from the hustle and bustle of the city, usually without a phone signal or internet access. Their lives are arduous, but also full of a sense of personal freedom, self-determination, and fulfilment. These photographs present an inspiring vision of the joys of finding one's place in the world and the challenges of living off the grid. In these 10 vivid portraits of alternative lifestyles, we meet: Tinja, the dog sled driver in Lapland; Ali, the Persian horseman; Barny, the self-supporter in a circus wagon in Cumbria, England; Zaya, the reindeer herder in the Mongolian taiga; George, the hostel father in Tuscany; Sylwia, the artist on the Greek island of Lefkada; Sky, the Argentinean goucha; Ben, the hunter in Utah, USA; Jerry, the oyster farmer in Alaska; Elena, the lighthouse keeper in Norway. Text in English and German.

Lessons in life from the fabulous, fearless, and phenomenal world of drag Drag is a world of larger-than-life personalities, glamorous looks, and attitude to die for. When you feel lacking in confidence, unsure of yourself, or just plain unhappy, who better to give you a boost of self-esteem than the queens and kings of the drag world? With their firm belief that anyone can be who they want to be, they are living proof that you can change what you don't like about your life and even yourself. With the help of real-life drag stories, Brandi Amara Skyy shows you how to follow the rules of drag, to be the most fabulous you that you can be. 

In a time of great gloom and doom internationally and of major global problems, this book offers an invaluable contribution to our understanding of alternative societies that could be better for humans and the environment. Bringing together a wide range of approaches and new strands of economic and social thinking from across the US, Mexico, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa, Luke Martell critically assesses contemporary alternatives and shows the ways forward with a convincing argument of pluralist socialism. Presenting a much-needed introduction to the debate on alternatives to capitalism, this ambitious book is not about how things are, but how they can be!

In "western" cultures, some people have chosen a dreadlock hairstyle, despite many in mainstream society looking at it in a negative light. This book deals with contradictions surrounding the hairstyle such as often representing a protest against the prevailing right-wing political systems, yet also emphasizing the white person's power to appropriate any style. Based on interviews and close observations in social media, the book offers insights into the culture(s) surrounding dreadlocks and ultimately interprets the phenomenon as a postmodern form of individuality.

Few terms elicit such strong and varied feelings and yet have so little clarity as "democracy." Leaders of large states use "democracy" to designate their nations' public character even as critics and rivals use the term to validate their own political perspectives. In Envisioning Democracy, the editors and contributors address the following questions: What does democracy mean today? What could it mean tomorrow? What is the dynamic of democracy in an increasingly interdependent world? Envisioning Democracy explores these questions amid the dynamic of democracy as a political phenomenon interacting with forms of economic, ethical, ethnic, and intellectual life. The book draws on the work of Sheldon S. Wolin (1922-2015), one of the most influential American theorists of the last fifty years. Here, scholars consider the historical conditions, theoretical elements, and practical impediments to democracy, using Wolin's insights as touchstones in thinking through the possibilities and obstacles facing democracy now and in the future.

Given the importance that entrepreneurship and start-up businesses in technology-intensive sectors like life sciences, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, financial technologies, software and others have come to assume in economic development, the access of entrepreneurs to appropriate levels of finance has become a major focus of policymakers in recent decades. Yet, this prominence has led to a variety of policy models across countries and even within countries, as different levels of government have adapted to new challenges by refining or transforming pre-existing institutions and crafting new policy tools. Small Nations, High Ambitions investigates the roots of such policy diversity at the "subnational" level, offering in-depth accounts of the evolution of Quebec's and Scotland's policy strategies in the entrepreneurial finance sector and venture capital more specifically. As compared to other regions and provinces in the United Kingdom and Canada, Quebec and Scottish venture capital ecosystems rely on a high degree of state intervention, either direct (through public investment funds) or indirect (through government-backed, hybrid, or tax-advantaged funds). These two regions can thus be described as "sponsor states," heavily involved in the strategic backing of innovative businesses. Whereas most of the literature on venture capital has focused on economic variables to explain variations in policy models, this book seeks to explain policy divergence in Quebec and Scotland through political and ideological lenses. Its main argument is that the development of venture capital ecosystems in these regions was underpinned by Quebecois and Scottish nationalisms, which induced preferences for policy asymmetry and state intervention.

Despite decades of efforts to combat homelessness, many people continue to experience it in Canada's major cities. There are a number of barriers that prevent effective responses to homelessness, including a lack of agreement on the fundamental question: what is homelessness? In Multiple Barriers, Alison Smith explores the forces that shape intergovernmental and multilevel governance dynamics to help better understand why, despite the best efforts of community and advocacy groups, homelessness remains as persistent as ever. Drawing on nearly 100 interviews with key actors in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal, as well as extensive participant observation, Smith argues that institutional differences across cities interact with ideas regarding homelessness to contribute to very different models of governance. Multiple Barriers shows that the genuine involvement of locally based service providers, with the development of policy, are necessary for an effective, equitable, and enduring solution to the homelessness crisis in Canada.

Euro-Austerity and Welfare States analyses the political economy of welfare state reform in the first episode of Euro-austerity during the 1990s. It shows how Europe's welfare states survived unrelenting pressures stemming from the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) laid out in the Maastricht Treaty of 1992. Throughout, H. Tolga Bolukbasi draws lessons for scholars and policy practitioners, and his insightful analysis sheds important light on the second wave of Euro-austerity that set in following the Great Recession of 2008. Paying careful attention to government expenditures and budgetary politics, Bolukbasi analyses the political economy of reform in countries where the EMU's impact was expected to be greatest. Based on in-depth comparative case studies of Belgium, Greece, and Italy, he shows how scholars, policymakers, and citizens alike expected Euro-austerity to erode Europe's welfare states. Contrary to popular opinion, Bolukbasi finds that the reality was much more complicated. A thorough critique of the "Euro-austerity hypothesis," this book presents a rigorous comparative study of the resilience of the welfare state in various national contexts.

Masculine Identities and Male Sex Work Between East Java and Bali introduces the reader to the stories of young male sex workers in South Bali. These are accounts of gang warfare, bodies, and violence which speak to the dreams, aspirations, and failures of a generation of young men in contemporary Indonesia.