Following her internationally bestselling book The Good Women of China, Xinran has written one of the most powerful accounts of the lives of Chinese women. She has gained entrance to the most pained, secret chambers in the hearts of Chinese mothers--students, successful businesswomen, midwives, peasants--who, whether as a consequence of the single-child policy, destructive age-old traditions, or hideous economic necessity, have given up their daughters. Xinran beautifully portrays the "extra-birth guerrillas" who travel the roads and the railways, evading the system, trying to hold on to more than one baby; naive young girl students who have made life-wrecking mistakes; the "pebble mother" on the banks of the Yangtze River still looking into the depths for her stolen daughter; peasant women rejected by their families because they can't produce a male heir; and Little Snow, the orphaned baby fostered by Xinran but confiscated by the state.
For parents of adopted Chinese children and for the children themselves, this is an indispensable, powerful, and intensely moving book. Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother is powered by love and by heartbreak and will stay with readers long after they have turned the final page.

With hundreds of thousands of copies sold, a Ron Howard movie in the works, and the rise of its author as a media personality, J. D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis has defined Appalachia for much of the nation. What about Hillbilly Elegy accounts for this explosion of interest during this period of political turmoil? Why have its ideas raised so much controversy? And how can debates about the book catalyze new, more inclusive political agendas for the region's future? Appalachian Reckoning is a retort, at turns rigorous, critical, angry, and hopeful, to the long shadow Hillbilly Elegy has cast over the region and its imagining. But it also moves beyond Hillbilly Elegy to allow Appalachians from varied backgrounds to tell their own diverse and complex stories through an imaginative blend of scholarship, prose, poetry, and photography. The essays and creative work collected in Appalachian Reckoning provide a deeply personal portrait of a place that is at once culturally rich and economically distressed, unique and typically American. Complicating simplistic visions that associate the region almost exclusively with death and decay, Appalachian Reckoning makes clear Appalachia's intellectual vitality, spiritual richness, and progressive possibilities.

With contributions from top scholars in the field, this cutting-edge Handbook critically examines the effects of glocalisation on various subdisciplines of the humanities and social sciences. Broad and innovative, it provides a fresh take on the different forms of the glocal in contemporary culture. Using engaging case studies, humanities scholars examine how glocalisation has impacted archaeology, art, literature, philosophy, law and food; social science experts discuss the impact on tourism, religion, urban studies, criminology, education and sports. Forward-thinking, the volume engages with new developments in media and communication, considering how technological innovation, digitisation and the mediatised world affect interrelations in consumer culture. It concludes with an examination of new research frontiers, considering translocality, world science theory, and post-colonialism to expand the field by developing original approaches and suggesting new directions for research. Featuring practical insights from a wide range of disciplines, this Handbook is invaluable for students and scholars across the humanities and social sciences. It will also benefit policy makers within cultural domains concerned with glocalisation.

In all den Jahren in denen ich mit Loslasstechniken, mit befreiendem Atmen, Atemarbeit, Rebirthing, holotropem Atmen (alles passende Namen fur ein und dieselbe Sache) gearbeitet habe, kann ich diejenigen an einer Hand abzahlen, die keine gute Erkenntnis daraus mitnahmen. Eine triste Kindheit, beraubt von der Liebe einer Mutter, fuhrte Sissel Tvedte hinein in ihre innere Welt, die ihre Erkenntnisfahigkeit, ihre besondere Begabungen als eine "Sensitive" entwickelte, besonders durch ihre gesegnete Hellsichtigkeit. In diesem Buch richtet Sissel Tvedte ihre Aufmerksamkeit auf unsere Atmung, die Art und Weise wie wir unsere Lungen gebrauchen, um unseren Blutkreislauf, unsere Gehirnzellen und die Lebensenergie unseres Koerpers wieder aufzufrischen. Aber die Atmung beeinflusst auch unser inneres Wohlbefinden; ein halber Atemzug ist nur ein halbes Leben. Hier geht es um Tieferliegendes, wieder mit unserem gesamthaften Selbst in Verbindung zu treten, was unsere spirituelle Seite und unser "inneres Kind" beinhaltet, damit wir wieder unsere Leben voller leben. Wo Atem ist, dort ist Leben. Wo Krankheit ist, dort kann Heilung stattfinden.

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. This innovative Research Agenda critically reflects on the state of the art and offers inspiration for future higher education research across a variety of geographical, disciplinary and theoretical perspectives. It explores the impact of Covid-19, and the need to re-engage with the Global South and reconsider conventional paradigms and assumptions. Leading international contributors address a set of salient issues, ranging from research on macro-level themes to meso and micro-level phenomena. Chapters examine the changing patterns in globalization, Europeanization, challenges to mobility and open systems, and trends in system governance, funding, and quality assurance. Organizational change, research performance, university networks, curriculum improvement and global citizenship are also analysed. This forward-thinking Research Agenda aims to reach beyond the Western perspective on higher education and will be an insightful read for both seasoned scholars and newcomers with an interest in higher education policy and research in a changing global context.

This is the second volume of an anthology of articles about critical social science. Can critical social science chart a way out of this chaos? Well, no, sadly it cannot. That is a task for the people of the world to accomplish. But perhaps critical social science can come up with the right way of thinking and talking about problems. That way when the social movement is reanimated, it will have at its disposal a ready-made tool for action. The texts in this anthology are a small contribution towards this aim and include: a novel critique of Trumpism; sexual dysfunctions in Iran; a rhetorical analysis of Henry V; Guy Aldred and proletarian atheism; Otto Gross and psychoanalysis; history of football; humour in psychotherapy; and cricket.

Adopting an interdisciplinary approach this book provides a cutting-edge, in-depth account of social policy research today, how we got here, and where future research should be headed. It defines the core research agenda for the future covering multiple social policy fields, including care, family, health, and housing policy as well as gender equality, labour market policy, and welfare attitudes. The book brings together a unique combination of scholars from social policy, sociology, political science, international relations, and law, who explore how European societies have changed over the last 20 years, the future challenges which need to be addressed and the role for social policy research. The editors argue that to advance research on European social policy, we need to develop a better understanding of the interplay between multiple policies, invest more resources in theoretical development, and effectively utilize perhaps the greatest asset of European social policy research - its multidisciplinarity. Offering crucial insights into the dynamic nature of social policy research, this book will be a valuable guide for social policy scholars and students. Its discussion of a broad range of social policy areas will also be useful for practitioners and policymakers across a wide range of social policy fields.

In A Path Unexpected, Evans shares her life, working as a journalist in the big city, then moving to the small town of Viljoenskroon in the northern Free State with her husband, Anthony Evans, a well-known and respected businessman and farmer. It is here that she created her non-profit organisation to provide education and training for the wives and children of farm labourers during the height of apartheid. Her profound influence on these families labels her as an activist for her early childhood development (ECD) and adult teaching advocacy in rural communities.

This memoir is about family, love, loss, finding purpose and dedicating oneself to a life of service.

Eloquently written and told with great sensitivity and humility, this is a memoir about how one woman’s unexpected path led to family-like bonds in the unlikeliest of places, and a dream so profound that it would impact generations of young learners and the women who teach them.

In 1982 acclaimed Washington Post columnist Colman McCarthy was invited to teach a course on writing at an impoverished public school in Washington, D.C. He responded, "I'd rather teach peace." Thus began the work he has passionately pursued for the past twenty-five years????????????????????????teaching courses on nonviolence, conflict management, and peace studies, to students in a range of schools, from Georgetown University Law Center, to a juvenile prison, and various high schools in between. I'd Rather Teach Peace chronicles one semester in six of these schools, as students find themselves challenged and inspired by an unconventional course and by a man who believes that if we don't teach our children peace someone else will teach them violence.

This extraordinary book contains the most solid evidence yet seen of a "World shadow government", changing rumour into reality and cause for concern. It's the book "They" most definitely don't want you to read and it keeps its promises with a sharp insight into what's in store. The writer owes no confidentiality to government, commerce, media or military and so may lift the lid.

The world is evolving at a rapid pace. South Africa alone has undergone a process of major socioeconomic and political change in recent times. The desegregation of educational, religious, sport and other structures, the democratisation of the decision-making process, and the implementation of affirmative action, for example, have involved a shift in the values and normative orientation of the population. The exact effects of such changes, both positive and negative, cannot be easily identified or measured.

A Reader On Selected Social Issues considers the nature, causes and consequences of a wide range of current social phenomena, worldwide. It attempts a more "global" approach, rather than concentrating solely on South African society. All chapters have been extensively updated, with contributions from both national and international experts. Because the content of the chapters is not discipline specific, lecturers can use perspectives from within their own fields to guide students to an understanding of the phenomena being discussed.

'Windows' with thought-provoking information as well as discussion topics at the end of each chapter encourage students to deal with aspects beyond the scope of the text.

This insightful book critically explores the political, constitutional, legal, and economic challenges of effectively combating the laundering of the proceeds of crime by politically exposed persons (PEPs) in Africa. Professor John Hatchard draws on numerous recent examples from Africa and beyond, arguing that a three-pronged approach is required to address the issues surrounding money laundering by PEPs; there must be action at the national, transnational, and corporate levels. Taking a forward-thinking perspective, he reviews the strategies which would make this approach effective and offers suggestions for their further enhancement. Professor Hatchard also provides an in-depth analysis of the different money laundering techniques used in African countries and suggests how constitutions, financial intelligence units, asset recovery mechanisms, and the African Court of Justice and Human Rights can be utilised to tackle the problem. The book concludes that while challenges remain, there is cause for optimism that money laundering by African PEPs can be addressed successfully. This book will be of interest to academics and students of law, particularly those focusing on financial law, corruption, and economic crime. Containing a wealth of practical case studies, it will also be beneficial for legal practitioners, policymakers, public officials, and civil society organisations.

Hair is potent. It can be an emotional and intense matter across gender - it will grow in places you don't like, it may desert you - suddenly, or gradually. It is a symbol of gender, sexuality, status, and more. Part memoir, part investigation across history, politics, religion, and culture, Hair/Power explores the power, control and ultimate liberation that hair can provide.

Despite best intentions, the reality is that "development" is still conceptualised, planned and "delivered" by change agents and their institutions in a top-down manner. This is problematic for both the beneficiaries and government change agents as it amplifies rather than lessens service delivery challenges and does not lead to a grassroots planning partnership. Development, change and the change agent - facilitation at grassroots contextualises the change agent through his or her relationship with the local beneficiaries of development. This updated second edition, previously titled The development change agent - a micro-level approach to development, consists of thirteen chapters contributed by seventeen authors representing nine universities. The key theme is the challenge to establish authentic and empowering participation, and the importance of change agent and local development beneficiary engagement and partnerships in achieving this. It covers an interdisciplinary field of development-related foci using a holistic, people-centred approach which includes grassroots facilitation, capacity building, empowerment and participation, developmental local government and good governance, and national development planning. It also incorporates social capital, indigenous knowledge systems, action research methodology and project management. Scholars, development practitioners, development consultants, those working for NGOs and CBOs, development corporations/agencies, and politicians and government officials, specifically local ones, will find the publication relevant in confronting contemporary developmental challenges. Francois Theron is a senior lecturer at the School of Public Leadership at Stellenbosch University. Trained in anthropology and development studies, he fully supports interdisciplinary research. In 2014, he co-edited Development, the State and Civil Society in South Africa (Van Schaik Publishers) with Ismail Davids. Ntuthuko Mchunu is a project manager for community-based tourism development at the City of Cape Town municipality. In addition to his public and development management qualifications at Stellenbosch University, he has extensive practical experience in the local government sphere as a change agent. Theron and Mchunu have partnered in numerous previous projects, leading to this 2016 publication.

Analysing one of the most controversial areas in public policy, this pioneering Research Handbook brings together contributions from expert researchers to provide a global overview of the shifting dynamics of drug policy. Chapters tackle a complex and cross-cutting issue from inter and multi-disciplinary perspectives, incorporating political science, history, law and public health into their analyses. Emphasising connections between the domestic and the international, this timely Research Handbook illustrates the intersections between drug policy, human rights obligations and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. Integrating detailed discussion of ever-evolving drug markets, a diverse range of policy responses, and political and ideological tensions, the contributors offer an insightful analysis of the regional dynamics of drug control, its historic constructions, and the contemporary and emerging problems it is facing. Aimed at researchers and students interested in drug policy, as well as policy makers and practitioners at different levels of governance, the Research Handbook on International Drug Policy provides a much-needed comparative approach and will prove to be an essential resource for navigating the difficulties surrounding drug policy and control.

What have Atheists, Christians and Muslims and all other categories in the human race got in common? Why - despite our shared humanity - do so many of us get involved in clashes about religion? And why do some of us even fight and kill each other? What do you understand by the world 'God'? Are humans the creatures of God or is 'God' the invention of mankind? How can we make sense of 'God' in a suffering world? And finally, why do we need to talk and listen to each other. The author considers these and many other questions posed by the menacing social and political breakdown in our fragile world 'community'.