* Explores traditional Christian attitudes toward marriage and their relationship to issues of power and concepts of theology * Reframes marriage in light of recent theological insights
How did France and Australia develop a deep strategic partnership, when only about two decades ago, a group of Australians bombed the French consulate in Perth to protest against French nuclear testing in the Pacific? Which interests, which personalities, which elements of the global context have led France and Australia to engage in a regional and global rapprochement, and what have been the human, economic and political prerequisites which enabled it? This book aims to investigate the dynamics behind this historically ambiguous relationship. More precisely, this study explains why and how France and Australia are currently engaged in a process of strategic and economic mutual empowerment and how this rapprochement has been possible, owing to thirty years of diplomatic efforts to overcome ongoing culturally and historically constructed misunderstandings and conflicts. This book demonstrates how French and Australian foreign policy-makers have understood that, in regard to their numerous common interests, both countries had to mutually empower each other in order to strengthen their own power, regionally and globally. This book argues that these inclusive dynamics of empowerment constitute the response of two diverse middle powers to current global threats and represent a tool suitable for modernising the strategies and practices of both countries’ diplomacies. Soyez’ research is the first to propose an answer to these questions through the development of the French-Australian strategic partnership.
This new and timely book addresses a series of questions regarding one of the most important political developments in contemporary China: the state-led democratic practice of village self-government in rural areas. Why would an authoritarian state promote grassroots democratic reform? To what extent has this reform changed the local power structures, grassroots governance, and state-peasant relations? What would be the implications of this grassroots democratic reform for China's democratisation in the long run? This book examines the origins, process, and impact of this paradoxical political development and explores the dynamics of political change and mutually transforming relations between the state and society in Post-Mao China. It argues that the practice of village self-government was promoted by the Chinese party-state to cope with the dual crises of legitimacy and governability it had faced in the countryside after a decade of rural economic reforms.
First published in 1994, this book was hailed as a cutting-edge, theory-driven report from the front-line trenches in the battle for social justice. Both clinical and community oriented and written from a global perspective, it presents clients speaking for themselves alongside reports of prominent social work educators. This new edition puts greater emphasis on "how-to" skills in working with people toward their own empowerment and stresses multiculturalism. A new chapter identifies worldwide issues of oppression such as abuse of women and children and neglect of the mentally ill.
This book offers a cross-cultural and inter-religious understanding of the ways social transformation in Asia is related to Asian spiritualities. Bringing together scholars and practitioners from different cultures and fields of study, it collates cutting-edge research and applies it to the role of Asian spiritualities in social transformation. Spirituality has garnered increasing attention in recent years across diverse fields of research and practice, from psychology and healthcare, to anthropology, education, sociology, political sciences, social work, feminist studies, cultural studies, religious studies, theology, philosophy, and so on. However, the term means different things within these different disciplines. Spirituality can be understood to be private and personal, but also public and societal, not only as a force that brings about change but also one that helps maintain the status quo – not only as a core element in religion but also as something disconnected from it. This book poses that to gain a firm grasp of spirituality, one needs to traverse these different terrains. Disbarring the orientalist understanding of spirituality that is often found embedded in stereotypes of the East as mystical, esoteric, and spiritual, in contrast to the West as scientific and rational, this book deconstructs this binarism to enable a sophisticated understanding of the diversity within Eastern and Western spiritualities. It presents “Asian spirituality” as a misnomer, focusing on the plurality of spiritualties and the region’s multifaceted religiosity, and it also excavates interfaith terrains. It is of interest to social scientists, theologians and religious scholars, and students and researchers interested in Asian spiritualties and social movements
In Soft Shepherd or Almighty Pastor? contributors seek to go beyond the taboo on "power" within pastoral contexts. They not only discuss fundamental theological and philosophical questions about power but also develop ways to prevent power abuse in pastoral context. Power is considered as omnipresent and is analyzed in its positive and negative aspects. Not only the classical associations of "power over" or "domination" are discussed in relation to ecclesial and pastoral situations, but also forms of power linked to "service" and "care." A sacrificial spirituality might also be dangerous. Soft Shepherd or Almighty Pastor? gathers ten contributions, all of which reflect on the complexity of power issues, also in relation to sexual abuse. The authors argue that dealing adequately with power requires renewed forms of theological thinking, especially about ministry.
Praxiology deals with doing and working from the point of view of effectiveness. It has three components: analysis of concepts involving purposive actions; critique of models of action from the viewpoint of efficiency; and normative advisory aspects in recommendations for increasing human efficiency. This fourth volume of the Praxiology series is devoted to the very special topic of social agency. It focuses on two important praxiological concepts: rationality and preparation as preconditions for human action to be effective and efficient. The question of efficiency was raised by Anatol Rapoport over three decades ago in his lecture to the audience at the Praxiological Seminar in Warsaw in 1961. Social Agency begins with an article written by this same famous scholar on the topic of decision theory, "Social Dilemmas: A Historical Overview." Social dilemmas is the subject of the first part of this volume, a question related to studies on human action guided by two types of rationality: individual and collective rationality. The intersection of the two, in which individuals meet collectives, creates the situation in which social agency emerges, generating dilemmatic circumstances for the actors involved. The articles collected in the second part explore praxiological dimensions of education aimed toward the knowledge society, because of knowledge possessed and produced by educated persons. Chapters and contributors to volume 4 include: "Five Questions on the Research on Social Dilemmas" by Marek K. Mlicki; "Psychological Processes Underlying Cooperation in Social Dilemmas" by Paul A. M. Van Lange and David M. Messick; "Designing a System for Design Learning: Designers and/or Learners?" by Arne Collen; "Creating an Evolutionary Image of New Systems of Learning and Human Development" by Janet A. Khan; and "A Study Program Design in Retrospect" by Stig C. Holmberg. Social Agency continues the trend of original research done in a little-known, but important area. Social scientists, policymakers, and educators will benefit from this work.
Changing the Terms of the Discourse: Gender, Equality and the Indian State recognizes the need to archive women's voices, roles and contributions in a largely male dominated national history. The volume not only documents but also analyses the evolution of ideas and strategies and the concrete measures that were taken to shape policies and programmes for women’s equality in India.
The Myth of Empowerment surveys the ways in which women have been represented and influenced by the rapidly growing therapeutic culture—both popular and professional—from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. The middle-class woman concerned about her health and her ability to care for others in an uncertain world is not as different from her late nineteenth-century white middle-class predecessors as we might imagine. In the nineteenth century she was told that her moral virtue was her power; today, her power is said to reside in her ability to “relate” to others or to take better care of herself so that she can take care of others. Dana Becker argues that ideas like empowerment perpetuate the myth that many of the problems women have are medical rather than societal; personal rather than political. From mesmerism to psychotherapy to the Oprah Winfrey Show, women have gleaned ideas about who they are as psychological beings. Becker questions what women have had to gain from these ideas as she recounts the story of where they have been led and where the therapeutic culture is taking them.
Social Reach examines the identity of global leadership and the impact it has on global governance. Realism focuses on strategic interests; idealism focuses on norms and values. However, the 'either my interest or my value' approach toward international relations is not compatible with the identity of a global leader. The essence of international relations is 'relationship, ' instead of interest or values. Tian-jia Dong proposes a connectivist perspective, which focuses on full-fledged connections through functional instrumentation and relational inclusion. Three logics-the logic of conquest, the logic of interdependence, and the logic of togetherness-are highlighted as the driving forces behind the dynamics of international relationship. Dong further illustrates two new concepts, 'connective authority' and 'connective democracy' as the guiding principles of global leadership and global governance