Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2019 -

In this historical narrative of the private world of play, pleasure, and power, writer Peter Tupper seeks to answer questions of the origins of sadomasochism. A Lover's Pinch places relationships and interactions involving corporal punishment and theatrics within the standard context of BDSM culture rooted in Freudian and Foucaultian theory. Critical to this culture was Roger Callois's identification of ilinx, a mode of play involving the alteration of perception. A Lover's Pinch explores spiritual practices of ancient Native Americans and Pompeiians to illustrate flagellation's origins as an element of the marriage and fertility rite rather than as a "deviant" form of sexuality. Tupper traces the progression of sadomasochistic practices alongside religious rituals, secular voyeurism, colonialism, and the expansion of the press and the commercialization of kink. Tupper's study is most effective in its discussion of the many ironies embedded in BDSM history, such as the Nazis who destroyed pornographic literature, only to have a large fetish base built around Nazi imagery and dominance, or of the falsehood of Victorian prudishness versus tight-lacing. A Lover's Pinch offers essential context for students examining a comprehensive history of sexuality from a global perspective.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates and above; general readers.

Torture, violence, and war have been a part of the Americas and the American culture from the time of the early indigenous settlers up to the modern day. While the American people take pride in their country as democratic and civilized, history has shown that the practice of torture and violence pervades much of its history. While the early European settlers tried to make torture invisible and use it only as a viable option for tyrants and savages, the young American nation continued to struggle with its position on punishment. The creation of the penitentiaries in the 19th century, under the guise of rehabilitation, were created in the hope that "milder correctives" would be "wisely" used, thus ensuring that a happy balance between European civility and Indian primitivism would be achieved. Brundage provides an in-depth study of how America tried to temper its use of torture by using the methods learned from Europeans and Native peoples. This book is important to the historical record and is an invaluable tool for historians and social scientists. Its in-depth subject matter and resources used are valuable to academic students and the academy.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

Much is said about what is lost in translation and little about what is found, and translators often receive scorn but seldom praise. Now Tribe offers a translation of Max Weber's Economy and Society (Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, 1922) that is worthy of Weber and recovers lost ideas. Previous translators of this work had the monumental task of constructing the work (which was never completed) from notes, outlines, and rough drafts. Lost in that process was Weber's concise writing style and, more important, his view of society as a process, not as a structure. Tribe, an expert on Weber, finds these for contemporary readers. Tribe is knowledgeable about Weber's work and its various English translations, and in this volume he balances Weber's concise use of language with translation-as-explanation. Where this book comes alive is where many die: its introduction and commentary. Tribe does not wear out his welcome by providing information and analysis in the introduction and commentary. This fresh, dynamic translation reminds one of the possibilities of Weber's conceptualization of sociology. Translators of academic work will recognize Tribe's translation as an exemplar for their craft. This is an indispensable translation of an important work in the canon of sociology.Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers.

How do human groups construct perceptions of sameness and difference among themselves and others? This is the core question Seligman (Boston Univ.) and Weller (Boston Univ.) address in this masterful monograph. Drawing on insights from a variety of philosophers, linguists, and social theorists, the authors identify three interrelated schemas by which societies construct sameness and difference: memory (shared stories connecting the present with the past, such as sharing a belief that God rescued one's ancestors from slavery in Egypt); mimesis (shared behavioral conventions, such as participating in the Eucharist together); and metaphor (attempts to construct new perceptions of sameness, such as promoting feelings of identify among indigenous peoples due to similar experiences regardless of historical or geographical context). These persuasive arguments are supported by numerous examples ranging from personal anecdotes to large-scale phenomena such as the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. Scholars from a variety of disciplines and also policy makers will find much of value here for understanding and dealing with the benefits and challenges associated with the increasingly plural societies of today's world.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

Well-published scholar of sociology and gender Sally Hines (Univ. of Leeds) offers a unique introductory text to the field of gender studies and some of its central concerns. While contemporary theory might simply answer the title's question with a succinct and resounding "yes," the scrapbook or zine-inspired layout invites readers to explore the question through a spectrum of disciplinary approaches. The text is presented as a primer: with many eye-catching images, differing font sizes highlighting key concepts, and coverage of current media events, it is well crafted to appeal to audiences new to addressing questions of gender diversity and fluidity. While not offering a novel theoretical or empirical contribution, the text presents an overview of the way in which political theory, feminist theory, psychology, science, arts, and media have contributed to contemporary understandings of gender around the world, from ancient Greece to contemporary China. By moving across history and geography, Hines reinforces the concept that gender is always contextual. Is Gender Fluid? would be a useful conversation starter in the introductory gender studies classroom, not only for the content but in the ease of pulling out key concepts, as supported by alternating fonts and broken-up blocks of text.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and general readers.

Reich (political science, Stanford; faculty codirector, Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society) challenges readers to reconsider their good opinion of philanthropy. Instead of praising philanthropy for its generous altruism, Reich argues that philanthropists often engage in a form of paternalism that unduly influences public policy, thereby putting democracy at risk. He notes that by pointedly donating large sums in specific places, philanthropists exert their private morality. These donations have far-reaching implications for public morality in matters ranging from forcing subordination of the recipient to directing legislation. Even more nefarious, Reich posits, are for-profit charitable funds (for example, the one founded by Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg), which have no requirement to disclose how funds are distributed. What is needed, Reich asserts--and what he attempts to accomplish with this book--are theories of philanthropy that will result in thinking more philosophically about the ways philanthropy operates in a democratic society. Everyone who donates, even small amounts, should read this book and consider its compelling, timely message.Summing Up: Essential. All readers.

This ethnographic study of several Christian and Jewish congregations in contemporary Boston is informed by an extensive interdisciplinary consideration of religious and political theory, philosophy, and ethnomusicology. Young (Endicott College) offers a central thesis arguing that religious institutions foster distinctive habits of listening, where believers serve as "God's ears" and individually and collectively adopt a divinely inspired response to the world. Religion instills virtues (hospitality, patience, humility, steadfastness) that resonate with democratic virtues to motivate the faithful to build community, engage neighbors, and promote social justice. Young anatomizes the dimensions and typologies of religious listening, religious and democratic virtues, the organizational structure of congregations and the relationship to democratic action, the varieties of musical listening, the forms of religious listening in prayer and liturgy, and the dialectic of obedient versus autonomous listening. The example of a small group of Quakers who gather weekly for silent prayer and a peace witness at the gates of a suburban defense contractor provides a powerful account of the "obedience to the truth"--an improvisational listening that moves these Friends to religiously inspired, democratic action. Young has created an indispensable guide for the study of religious listening and democracy.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

This volume sets out the agenda of a significant approach to understanding the unequal distribution of valued resources to individuals within organizations, focusing primarily on the workplace, which determines people's status, income, wealth accumulation, social mobility, and life chances. Tomaskovic-Devey (UMass Amherst) and Avent-Holt (Augusta Univ.) make many bold assertions (e.g., "There is no such thing as an individual actor") about the centrality of the relational inequality theory (RIT). They are not without some justification. They locate their work within structural (Marx and Weber) and symbolic interaction/exchange orientations and marshal an impressive amount of quantitative and qualitative research, both original and culled from a wide range of organizational studies across several nations, including Germany, Sweden, and Australia, to make their case. Studying organizations as "inequality regimes" leads the authors to focus on three processes: exploitation, social closure, and claims-making. RIT, having emerged in the last two decades from Charles Tilly's Durable Inequality (CH, Jul'98, 35-6545), is championed here to great effect, making this essential reading for social scientists interested in organizations and inequality. The concluding chapter, which offers policies to stem the tide of growing inequality, is intriguing.Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

A prominent concern in contemporary society is people's crisis of connection with themselves and others. In creating a volume examining the crisis of human connection, the editors gathered an impressive list of interdisciplinary contributors. Guided by the five-part story at the heart of the science of human connection (the human desire for connection, roots, the crisis itself, consequences, and solutions to the crisis of connection), the volume challenges the current paradigm of independence and advocates for a perspective that recognizes interdependence as the basis of human connection. Focusing on various social identities (e.g., immigrants, black girls, veterans), the volume's contributors provide multiple creative solutions for school and community--developing and nurturing empathy, working with Shakespeare in the classroom, using theatrical intervention with girls and veterans, and supporting interfaith recognition of common humanity. Written in an accessible style, the book is a must read for any scholar interested in the science of human connection. The volume is a particularly valuable tool for anyone interested in solutions to the current crisis of connection.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals.

This remarkable book presents an in-depth micro-macro analysis of a complex sociocultural phenomena known as "honor killing." Drawing on 200 case studies, Churchill (George Washington) delineates the characteristics of honor killing as a social practice in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and elsewhere, and explores its causes, consequences, and remedies. The author examines the motivation for honor killing, perpetrator-victim relationships, honor-shame community culture, the role of child-rearing in developing a violence-prone masculine personality, and family and community members as facilitators of honor killing. Furthermore, this research demonstrates the significance of honor for individual identity and collective solidarity in honor-shame communities. This study also shows how honor killing evolved as a closely knit, mutually reinforcing, traditional social practice. More importantly, Churchill provides a plan of action to take honor out of honor killing through moral transformation aimed at reducing and eliminating the practice. This important interdisciplinary research should be a must-read for legislators and social activists. This insightful book makes a seminal contribution to women's studies, criminology, and social policy.Summing Up: Essential.