These titles relating to Sociology have been ordered and should appear in the library
catalog (reviews from Books In Print booksinprint@bowker.com have been included
whenever possible):
Title: American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion
Author:
Paul Barrett
Publication Date:
December 2006
Publisher:
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Market:
United States
ISBN: 0-374-10423-9
ISBN 13:
978-0-374-10423-8
Choice
November 1, 2007 0-374-10423-9; 978-0-374-10423-8
Barrett (Business Week) makes his view of Islam in the US clear in his
book's subtitle. Six years after September 11, he investigates "what,
for Muslims, is a normal American life?" Seeking answers and exposing
the diversity of US Islam along the way, Barrett traveled from coast to
coast, interviewed hundreds, and selected seven individuals to represent
different answers to the question. In true journalistic style, he
faithfully records his respondents but also interrogates those
responses. While the answer to the question is the same--life in the US
is full of challenges--Barrett actually pays more attention to other
questions. Standing in as the average American, he steers his reportage
to issues such as, can or will Muslims assimilate? Where are the
moderate Muslims, if any? Are there terrorists among US Muslims? Are
Muslim women oppressed? His seven profiles are largely of newsworthy US
Muslims whose opinions are already well known, but Barrett's savvy comes
in his interrogations and engaging style. In the spectrum of texts, this
one is worth reading, valuable because of the insight it provides on a
complex topic. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. A.
B. McCloud DePaul University
Library Journal
December 1, 2006 0-374-10423-9; 978-0-374-10423-8
Since 9/11, an abundance of books on Islam and Islamic terrorism has
been published. Many books specifically addressing Islam in America have
also appeared. What sets apart this new work from Barrett (The Good
Black: A True Story of Race in America) is that he provides portraits of
individual Muslims living in the United States. By focusing on the
personal experiences of these individuals, Barrett is able to offer a
distinctive view of Islam in America. He has selected interesting and
diverse people for examination: a black imam, an activist, a webmaster,
a publisher, two mystics, a scholar, and a feminist. The feminist works
for change in her local mosque, which results in some tensions and
conflict in her community. The webmaster is a graduate student who also
hosts an Arabic-language Islamic web site containing radical messages.
In a work such as this, there may be no real need for statistical data.
Still, an opening chapter providing an overview of American Muslims
would have helped. Recommended for academic and public libraries. [See
Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/06.]-John Jaeger, Dallas Baptist Univ. Lib.
Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Publishers Weekly
October 30, 2006 0-374-10423-9; 978-0-374-10423-8
Near the end of this fascinating and carefully researched portrait of
Islam in contemporary America, a California mosque experiences a
surprisingly heated internal debate about whether to host a fireworks
celebration on the Fourth of July. Somehow, the "canopies of red, white,
and blue that for a moment illuminated the minaret and dome" of the
mosque crystallize many of the tensions that Barrett describes,
particularly how so many individuals struggle to be faithful Muslims and
patriotic citizens during troubled times. One great contribution of the
book is the diverse portrait it offers of Islam in America today, but as
Barrett shows, such ideological and racial diversity haven't been easy:
Pakistani immigrants are sometimes at odds with African-American
converts and (mostly white) Sufi spiritualists; feminists draw angry
fire as they strive for greater equality; and self-proclaimed
progressive Muslims feel at odds as American mosques become increasingly
conservative and strident. Barrett is an engaging writer who puts a
human face on all of these issues. The book is remarkably evenhanded,
but Barrett can also be critical at times, whether analyzing the
shortcomings of the Patriot Act or pointing to the inconsistency of a
self-starting New York imam who works for justice but also praises
Muslim extremists. Balanced and insightful, this grassroots journalistic
account mines the complexity and depth of American Islam. (Jan.)
Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
September 15, 2006 0-374-10423-9; 978-0-374-10423-8
Getting to know the six million Muslims who live in the United States;
based on a story that Barrett, now with BusinessWeek, originated at the
Wall Street Journal. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
--------------------------------------Title: Beyond White Ethnicity: Developing a Sociological Understanding
of Native American Identity Reclamation
Author:
Kathleen J. Fitzgerald
Publication Date:
October 2006
Publisher:
Lexington Books
Market:
United States
ISBN: 0-7391-1393-3
ISBN 13:
978-0-7391-1393-6
Choice
June 1, 2007 0-7391-1393-3; 978-0-7391-1393-6
Fitzgerald (Columbia College) focuses on the differing experiences of
white and color ethnicities by researching Native American reclamation.
Her use of qualitative ethnographic research is a poignant discussion of
the issues faced by Native Americans attempting to reclaim their
cultures. The use of narrative shows not only the historical but also
the current difficulties faced by those advancing or reclaiming their
Native heritages. Fitzgerald, though not Native, manages to step out of
the traditional sociological tradition and allows the Native speakers
the dignity and humanity of their own words. The author presents
information on Native reclamation in an equitable, well-discussed
manner, and her book should be used widely in sociology, anthropology,
ethnographic, and multicultural courses at all levels. There is also
value for individuals wanting to understand some of the modern issues
faced by Native Americans who are actively perpetuating their cultures.
Summing Up: Highly recommended. All academic library levels/collections.
L. L. Lovern Valdosta State University
Reference & Research Book News
February 1, 2007 0-7391-1393-3; 978-0-7391-1393-6
Sociologists have shown considerable interest in the lingering presence
of ethnicity and the ethnic identity of European ethnics, says
Fitzgerald (sociology, Columbia College), but have paid little attention
to ethnic identity among racial minorities. To help bridge that gap, she
investigates the ethnic identity construction or reconstruction of
Native American reclaimers. She focuses mostly on the individual
reclamation process, but believes the study can contribute to
understanding larger cultural transformation. Annotation ©2007 Book
News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
--------------------------------------Title: Busier Than Ever!: Why American Families Can't Slow Down
Author:
Charles Darrah
Publication Date:
April 2007
Publisher:
Stanford University Press
Market:
United States
ISBN: 0-8047-5491-8
ISBN 13:
978-0-8047-5491-0
Choice
March 1, 2008 0-8047-5491-8; 978-0-8047-5491-0
The analysis of "busyness" as a form of social behavior is the focus of
this study of 14 middle-class dual-career couples in the Silicon Valley.
The authors (all anthropology, San Jose State Univ.) observed the
families as they went about their daily routines and interviewed them on
issues of family organization. The book, while mostly an ethnographic
report, argues that the drivers of busyness do not stem just from the
high tech world of work, but also from the activities accompanying more
intensified parental involvement in children's lives, and other
activities such as the management of medical conditions, consumption,
and community demands. The authors frame the results of this participant
observation by suggesting that the buffers that families create against
busyness only generate more busy work; that family identity may be found
in the way they organize, prioritize, cope, and create buffers against
busyness; and that ultimately the narrative of busyness is a narrative
of morality, shifting the question from the content of the activity to
the question of time. These themes, while intriguing, insightful, and
suggestive, do not form a coherent theoretical analysis of the topic,
but they do raise important questions about people's social lives.
Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. K. M.
McKinley Cabrini College
--------------------------------------Title: The Changing Rhythms of American Family Life
Author:
Suzanne M. Bianchi
Publication Date:
August 2006
Publisher:
Russell Sage Foundation
Market:
United States
ISBN: 0-87154-136-X
ISBN 13:
978-0-87154-136-9
Choice
July 1, 2007 0-87154-136-X; 978-0-87154-136-9
Univ. of Maryland professors Bianchi, Robinson, and Milkie make an
important contribution to the sociology of the family that no serious
students of this subject will want to ignore. Taking exception to
present conceptualizations claiming that women's employment has spawned
new generations of distressed second-shift moms whose husbands do few
household chores and who are raising neglected, problem-prone, latchkey
kids, these authors have marshaled time-diary data from various surveys
over a 40-year period. They have found that between multitasking and
today's fathers assuming more household tasks, "[Today's] children in
two-parent families may be benefiting from parents who both share a
bundle of characteristics associated with high parental investments."
The authors carefully review the past research record. Although
time-diary data may be fuzzy, their careful, systematic analysis of
available survey data sources leads to a reconsideration of earlier
viewpoints, perhaps not so much for single-mother-led homes, but for
two-parent households. This book is clearly written, but considering the
detail and complexity of the materials under scrutiny, it may perhaps be
more appropriate and meaningful to advanced students and professional
audiences. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates
and above. W. Feigelman Nassau Community College
--------------------------------------Title: Defying Dixie: The Radical Roots of Civil Rights, 1919-1950
Author:
Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore
Publication Date:
January 2008
Publisher:
W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated
Market:
United States
ISBN: 0-393-06244-9
ISBN 13:
978-0-393-06244-1
Reference & Research Book News
May 1, 2008 0-393-06244-9; 978-0-393-06244-1
Gilmore (history, Yale) is a native of South Carolina who specializes in
Southern history. In this book she traces the roots of the Civil Rights
movement in the South. She begins just after World War I as the
communist movement encouraged black Southerners and their allies to
fight for legal and social equality. She chronicles both the joy and
disappointment felt by many of those who traveled to Russia to
experience this equality. Some of the participants, like poet Langston
Hughes, are well known. Others, like John Owens, the first
African-American sent south to organize unions, deserve to be.
Especially fascinating is Pauli Murray, who fought prejudice against
race and sexual preference. Blending stories of individuals with the
history of the fight for racial equality through the Depression and rise
of fascism in America as well as overseas, World War II and the Cold
War, Gilmore honors those people of all races who struggled. Her
well-written study reminds us that those who fought for civil rights
were fighting for human rights, as well. Annotation ©2008 Book News,
Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Publishers Weekly
October 15, 2007 0-393-06244-9; 978-0-393-06244-1
Yale historian Gilmore turns a wide lens on the battle against Jim Crow
in this worthy if overstuffed collective biography of the black and
white Southern activists whose work before the larger Civil Rights
movement constitute its neglected, forgotten or repressed origins.
Expanding the "temporal and geographical boundaries" of the fight for
racial equality, Gilmore's scholarship considers international racial
politics and traces a progression from 1920s Communists, who joined
forces in the late 1930s with a radical left to form a Southern popular
front, to the 1940s grassroots activists. Gilmore (Who Were the
Progressives?) lavishes attention on the "first American-born black
Communist," Lovett Fort-Whiteman, who died in a Siberian gulag in 1939;
and on FDR-era civil rights activist Pauli Murray, distinguished by her
fight against segregation at the University of North Carolina in 1939
and her involvement in the defense of Virginia sharecropper Odell
Walker, ultimately executed for killing his white landlord. Gilmore's
sweeping, fresh consideration of pre-movement civil rights activity,
with its links to both the exportation of American racism and the
importation of Communist egalitarianism, is full of informative gems,
but the mining is left to the reader. (Jan.) Copyright 2007 Reed
Business Information.
--------------------------------------Title: Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World
Author:
Jonathan Alan Gray
Publication Date:
June 2007
Publisher:
New York University Press
Market:
United States
ISBN: 0-8147-3181-3
ISBN 13:
978-0-8147-3181-9
Choice
January 1, 2008 0-8147-3181-3; 978-0-8147-3181-9
The focus in fan studies has mostly been on media fandom, a community
most closely identified with science fiction and fantasy media texts,
e.g., Fan Fiction and Fan Communities in the Age of the Internet (2006),
ed. by Karen Hellekson; Henry Jenkins's Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers (CH,
Apr'07, 44-4296) and Convergence Culture (CH, Jun'07, 44-5465); and Matt
Hills's Fan Cultures (2002). In this collection, media fandom serves as
the basis for one essay, "Fan-tagonism" by Derek Johnson, and the
touchstone for several others, e.g., "Yoko in Cyberspace with Beatles
Fans" by Christine Scodari. Most of the essays, however, examine fandom
in other contexts: backyard wrestling; the film industries of India,
Hong Kong, and South Korea; Martha Stewart fans; sports; fans of culture
theory; and even nonfans. The essayists include familiar names: John
Tulloch writes about Anton Chekhov fans; Roberta Pearson dissects the
class and cultural hierarchies implied by fan, buff, enthusiast, and
connoisseur labels. Rebecca Tushnet augments her groundbreaking law
review article on fan fiction and copyright law to address the legality
of transformative uses and moral rights. Henry Jenkins's afterword
regards the future of fandom. Collections with Jenkins's Textual
Poachers (CH, Mar'93, 30-3640), Theorizing Fandom (1998), ed. by Cheryl
Harris and Alison Alexander, and the titles above will certainly want
this. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All academic levels/libraries. S.
Clerc Southern Connecticut State University
--------------------------------------Title: Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
Author:
Faith D'Aluisio
Publication Date:
October 2005
Publisher:
Ten Speed Press
Market:
United States
ISBN: 1-58008-681-0
ISBN 13:
978-1-58008-681-3
Binding Format:
Trade Cloth
Price: $40.00(USD) Retail (Publisher)
Publishers Weekly
August 22, 2005 1-58008-681-0; 978-1-58008-681-3
For their enormously successful Material World, photojournalist Menzel
and writer D'Aluisio traveled the world photographing average people's
worldly possessions. In 2000, they began research for this book on the
world's eating habits, visiting some 30 families in 24 countries. Each
family was asked to purchase-at the authors' expense-a typical week's
groceries, which were artfully arrayed-whether sacks of grain and
potatoes and overripe bananas, or rows of packaged cereals, sodas and
take-out pizzas-for a full-page family portrait. This is followed by a
detailed listing of the goods, broken down by food groups and
expenditures, then a more general discussion of how the food is raised
and used, illustrated with a variety of photos and a family recipe. A
sidebar of facts relevant to each country's eating habits (e.g., the
cost of Big Macs, average cigarette use, obesity rates) invites armchair
theorizing. While the photos are extraordinary-fine enough for a
stand-alone volume-it's the questions these photos ask that make this
volume so gripping. After considering the Darfur mother with five
children living on $1.44 a week in a refugee camp in Chad, then the
German family of four spending $494.19, and a host of families in
between, we may think about food in a whole new light. This is a
beautiful, quietly provocative volume. (Nov.) Copyright 2005 Reed
Business Information.
--------------------------------------Title: It's Not Just PR: Public Relations and Society
Author:
W. Timothy Coombs
Publication Date:
December 2006
Publisher:
John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated
Market:
United States
ISBN: 1-4051-4406-8
ISBN 13:
978-1-4051-4406-3
Binding Format:
Trade Paper
Price: $26.95(USD) Retail (Publisher)
Choice
August 1, 2007 1-4051-4405-X; 978-1-4051-4405-6
This well-argued defense of the field and practice of public relations
is itself a good public relations job, in the best sense of that
often-maligned term. Coombs and Holladay (both, Eastern Illinois Univ.)
argue that the common characterization of public relations as corporate
manipulation is incomplete and undeserved. They acknowledge that some
corporations may be guilty of that charge but argue that "public
relations is not all-powerful, exclusively corporate, or always harmful
to stakeholders and society." They show that advocacy groups (e.g.,
labor unions, environmental groups, national and international
nongovernmental organizations) have historically used public relations
as a "mechanism for people to be involved in the marketplace of
ideas"--a theme Coombs introduced in Code Red in the Boardroom (CH,
Sep'06, 44-0405). That book is a how-to-do-it primer; this work is a
scholarly but readable analysis of the history, development, uses, and
abuses of public relations as a means to shaping society. Drawing on
stakeholder and issues management theories and on examples ranging from
the American Medical Association's attacks on President Truman's early
explorations of universal health care to today's direct-to-consumer
advertising by big pharmaceutical companies, the authors make a
compelling case that public relations plays a valuable role in society.
Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers; upper-division
undergraduate through professional audiences. M. S. Myers
Carnegie-Mellon University
--------------------------------------Title: The Metropolitan Revolution: The Rise of Post-Urban America
Author:
Jon C. Teaford
Publication Date:
June 2006
Publisher:
Columbia University Press
Market:
United States
ISBN: 0-231-13372-3
ISBN 13:
978-0-231-13372-2
Choice
June 1, 2007 0-231-13372-3; 978-0-231-13372-2
This volume in the "Columbia History of Urban Life" series looks at the
US city since the end of WW II. Teaford (Purdue Univ.) approaches the
city as both an artifact and an idea. In his chronological sweep, the
city has gone from promise to disaster to redefinition to an
interesting, if not clear, future. Each chapter touches on all the
generally identified problems and strengths of cities: from center
cities to suburbs to edge cities, from populations changing from
black/white to rainbows, etc. The nadir of the city was reached in the
1970s, best summed up by the famous description by a sportscaster in
Yankee Stadium, "The Bronx is burning." But what is quite clear in the
book is that New York was not alone, it was just the most obvious. In
short, the book touches on the past with a very good eye on the future.
There are very few urban historians better equipped than Teaford to
analyze what this has all meant and what it is likely to mean. Summing
Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. I. Cohen emeritus,
Illinois State University
--------------------------------------Title: Opting Out?: Why Women Really Quit Careers and Head Home
Author:
Pamela Stone
Publication Date:
Not Supplied. Contact publisher for more
information
Publisher:
University of California Press
Market:
United States
ISBN: 0-520-25657-3
ISBN 13:
978-0-520-25657-6
Choice
March 1, 2008 0-520-24435-4; 978-0-520-24435-1
This is at once a thoughtful, sensitive, and provocative examination of
the rationales that prompt accomplished, productive women to transfer
their work lives from workplace to home. Stone's profound but caring,
concerned, and considerate research leads readers to share in both the
women's struggles and their decision to remake work in an image of their
newly discovered responsibilities of family and child development.
Though the text ends with the exhortation "Ladies, start your engines,"
equally arresting is the appendix detailing the study's methodology,
from the choice of research design to participant recruitment and the
interview as a research enterprise, to the presentation of results,
including their possible limitations. Stone (Hunter College) hopes the
voices of the subjects come through clearly as she comments on them, and
these individuals do indeed come through in exemplary fashion. This work
is an object lesson in the research enterprise, quite apart from the
story the research tells. The volume merits a wide and similarly
concerned audience. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All
levels/libraries. L. Braude formerly, SUNY Fredonia
Publishers Weekly
March 19, 2007 0-520-24435-4; 978-0-520-24435-1
Opting out," "off-ramping" and "following the mommy track" are all
popular terms to describe professional women who leave their jobs to be
stay-at-home moms. But do they describe the truth of the matter? Stone,
an associate professor of sociology at Hunter College and the CUNY
Graduate Center, set out to answer this question after discovering that
there was no research on the matter; perceptions of these women were
shaped almost exclusively by the media. Stone conducted in-depth
interviews with 54 women: white women who had been highly successful
professionals and were married to men who could support them while they
stayed at home-i.e., women who had a "choice." What Stone found was
fascinating and surprising: women quit because of work, not family, and
only as a last resort: "They have been unsuccessful in their efforts to
find flexibility or... because they found themselves marginalized and
stigmatized, negatively reinforced for trying to hold onto their careers
after becoming mothers." These women were abandoning "all-or-nothing"
workplaces where the demands were so unrelenting that, as one mutual
fund trader put it, "there were days when I couldn't get up from my desk
to go to the bathroom." Stone's revealing study adds an important
counterpoint to Leslie Bennetts's forthcoming The Feminine Mistake.
(May) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
--------------------------------------Title: The Other African Americans: Contemporary African and Caribbean
Immigrants in the United States
Author:
Yoku Shaw-Taylor
Publication Date:
August 2007
Publisher:
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Incorporated
Market:
United States
ISBN: 0-7425-4087-1
ISBN 13:
978-0-7425-4087-3
Choice
March 1, 2008 0-7425-4087-1; 978-0-7425-4087-3
This edited work compiled by Shaw-Taylor (National Opinion Research
Center, Univ. of Chicago) and Tuch (sociology, George Washington Univ.)
is among the first to specifically concentrate study on the three major
components of the US black population. With increasing immigration of
blacks from the Caribbean and Africa since 1965, and the passage of the
amendments to the Immigration Act in that year, it has become apparent
that it is no longer appropriate to speak of all African Americans as
though they were of the same culture and socioeconomic rank. Today,
almost 7 percent of the US black population is foreign-born. Although
this is lower than the 12.5 percent foreign-born for the entire US
population, it is significant enough to consider when studying blacks in
the US. Each of the book's chapters discusses the ways in which these
three components are both similar and dissimilar. This volume of
original research provides historical and contemporary information by
comparing US-born African Americans with Caribbean and African blacks
now living in the US. Summing Up: Recommended. Libraries serving
graduate students and immigration professionals. T. D. Boswell
University of Miami
Reference & Research Book News
November 1, 2007 0-7425-4088-X; 978-0-7425-4088-0
Shaw-Taylor (National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago)
and Tuch (sociology, The George Washington University) inquire into the
similarities and differences between native African-American families,
immigrant Caribbean families of African descent, and black African
families. The studies collected here look beyond the status of race or
"blackness" in the US to examine ethnic or interracial characteristics
among these groups. A description of social and economic characteristics
of the groups sets the background for discussions of race labels and
ethnic consciousness, marriage and family socialization, religious
preferences, and differences and similarities in earnings, wealth, and
social capital. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
(booknews.com)
--------------------------------------Title: Responsibility at Work: How Leading Professionals Act (or Don't
Act) Responsibly
Contributor: Howard Gardner
Publication Date:
August 2007
Publisher:
John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated
Market:
United States
ISBN: 0-7879-9475-8
ISBN 13:
978-0-7879-9475-4
Choice
March 1, 2008 0-7879-9475-8; 978-0-7879-9475-4
Howard Gardner (noted Harvard education professor and thought leader)
has assembled an impressive group of academicians and practitioners to
compile a collection of essays emanating from the GoodWork Project,
which began in 1995 and involved more than 50 researchers at seven
universities. Based on interviews with more than 1,200 Americans working
in nine professions, Gardner and his colleagues discerned four key
elements of good work: the individual worker, the domain of work, the
forces of the field that operate on the domain, and the larger reward
system of society as a whole. Within this well-conceived conceptual
framework, contributors address key elements of good work, which
fundamentally is the notion of taking personal and professional
responsibility for that which occurs daily in the workplace. The book's
four parts focus on models of responsibility; address issues that
modulate responsibility; identify the limits of responsibility
(including Gardner's "Irresponsible Work" essay); and translate the
GoodWork theory into practice. The concluding chapter provides key
strategies for enhancing responsible work behavior and will be useful to
current and future workers. Excellent references; contributor
biographical sketches; and a companion site that provides background
information and an array of supplemental resources. Summing Up: Highly
recommended. Faculty, upper-division undergraduate and graduate
students, as well as thoughtful practitioners. M. J. Safferstone
University of Mary Washington
Reference & Research Book News
November 1, 2007 0-7879-9475-8; 978-0-7879-9475-4
This volume is part of the GoodWork Project, which studied the concept
of good work for about 10 years through interviews with some 1,200
Americans in a variety of fields. Gardner (cognition and education,
Harvard Graduate School of Education) assembles 14 chapters that
consider responsibilities that arise in the workplace and present a
model that demonstrates the factors that underlie good work--personal
standards, and cultural, social, and outcome controls--as well as
lessons learned from different professions, and recommendations on
improvement. Chapters detail the characteristics of good
work--particularly achieving work that is socially responsible, ethical,
and moral--in law, medicine, philanthropy, genetics, theater,
journalism, business, K-12 education, and higher education, and aspects
such as caring, creativity, religion, responsibility at different stages
of life, gender, culture, limiting responsibility, and irresponsible
work. Both subject and name indexes are provided. Contributors were
participants in the GoodWork Project or are scholars in the fields of
educational and positive developmental psychology, education, and
humanities in the US and Europe. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc.,
Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Booklist
September 1, 2007 0-7879-9475-8; 978-0-7879-9475-4
Any work authored or edited by Gardner (Harvard professor, author of
Changing Minds, 2006, among other works) is worth investigating. This
collection of essays is no exception. What Gardner and esteemed
colleagues (such as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and William Damon) have
developed is a definition and taxonomy of good work after a decade
interviewing more than 1,200 professionals representing a variety of
work environments. The questions are thought-provoking; the responses,
profound. What constitutes responsible leadership other than the concept
of servant leadership? How can individuals determine alignment between
personal and organizational ethics? What are the limits of
responsibility, such as time and psychological boundaries? Just as many
little-known as celebrated leaders and institutions are featured; the
contributions of Max dePree of Herman Miller, Morehouse College in
Atlanta, and Mary Skipper (founder of Tech Boston Academy) are described
and integrated into the exploration of both responsibility and its
opposite, irresponsibility. Of highest interest is the tool kit that the
GoodWork Project has developed.--Jacobs, Barbara Copyright 2007 Booklist
--------------------------------------Title: Road Dogs and Loners: Family Relationships among Homeless Men
Author:
Timothy D. Pippert
Publication Date:
December 2006
Publisher:
Lexington Books
Market:
United States
ISBN: 0-7391-1585-5
ISBN 13:
978-0-7391-1585-5
Choice
December 1, 2007 0-7391-1585-5; 978-0-7391-1585-5
Eager to learn how homeless men survive the harsh alienation from
society, sociologist Pippert (Augsburg College) volunteered for three
years at two urban shelters in the Midwest, fictitiously named The
Living Room and Grace Kitchen. Pippert observed the men's fights,
conducted in-depth "friendly conversations," and befriended Charlotte,
the shelter manager described as "large and confident with strong
tattooed arms ... well-liked and respected by most of the regulars." The
men are homeless but not friendless, and though they are generally at
odds with their families of origin, they create new familylike
relationships. The relationships are interdependent but not intimate:
"road dogs" partner with each other for tramping and occasional work
opportunities; "loners" trust only themselves, but stay in the same
shelters and have the same survival goals as the road dogs. This
interesting story undoes much conventional wisdom about homelessness:
most of the men work continuously if only as day laborers, struggle with
their addictions, have been married with children, and need
companionship. While the book unfortunately reads like a polished but
academic dissertation, Pippert's mission, to reveal the intrinsic
humanity of homeless men, emerges fully. Summing Up: Highly recommended.
All academic levels/libraries. E. A. Danto City University of New York
Hunter College
Reference & Research Book News
February 1, 2007 0-7391-1585-5; 978-0-7391-1585-5
Using ethnographic interviews, an affiliation scale, and observational
data from two soup kitchens, Pippert (sociology, Augsburg) investigates
the various relationships constructed among homeless men. He compares
homeless men who typically partnered with others to men who described
themselves as "loners." The result is a sobering portrait of all types
of poverty on the streets and a valuable contribution to studies of
homelessness, family and gender. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc.,
Portland, OR (booknews.com)
--------------------------------------Title: Sociology in America: A History
Author:
C. Calhoun
Publication Date:
March 2007
Publisher:
University of Chicago Press
Market:
United States
ISBN: 0-226-09094-9
ISBN 13:
978-0-226-09094-8
Choice
February 1, 2008 0-226-09094-9; 978-0-226-09094-8
Twenty-one chapters and an appendix set forth the development of
sociology in the US through the work of luminaries in the field and
changes in the sociological perspective over the course of US
history--as the frontier moved west, as war and depression alternated,
and as major and not so major universities struggled for ascendancy. The
roles played by women in the transformation of the discipline as well as
the impacts of race, class, and criminology are all treated in detail as
the US finds itself in an increasingly interlocked global community.
This volume is more than a history; it is also a detailed analysis of
the growth of a social science discipline. Readers who take the time to
piece together the detailed narrative contained in these pages will be
well rewarded. No recommendation can do it sufficient justice; perhaps
the previous comments will serve. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division
undergraduates and above. L. Braude formerly, SUNY Fredonia
--------------------------------------Title: Taking on the Big Boys: or Why Feminism Is Good for Families,
Business, and the Nation
Author:
Ellen Bravo
Publication Date:
April 2007
Publisher:
Feminist Press at The City University of New York
Market:
United States
ISBN: 1-55861-546-6
ISBN 13:
978-1-55861-546-5
Choice
March 1, 2008 1-55861-545-8; 978-1-55861-545-8
"Feminism" has become such an emotionally charged term that many people
who hold feminist ideals are reluctant to identify themselves as
feminists. Bravo's feminist treatise on families, business, and society
will benefit feminists and nonfeminists alike. While there are a couple
of one-sided statistical interpretations, for the most part this is a
refreshing, statistically and anecdotally enlightening look at how
current concepts of gender roles and responsibilities are not beneficial
for individuals, business, or even society at large. Bravo (Univ. of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee) tackles issues and myths surrounding pay equity,
the balance of work and home life, discrimination, and welfare. Even
more useful are her realistic, attainable suggestions for change. A
witty, statistically supported, and readable book that provides a strong
message sure to foster ideas and generate debate. Summing Up: Highly
recommended. All levels/libraries. L. Wolfer University of Scranton
Reference & Research Book News
November 1, 2007 1-55861-545-8; 978-1-55861-545-8
A former director of 9to5, Bravo speaks nationwide and teaches women's
studies at U. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In this text, she furthers her
support of feminism as a system of beliefs, laws, and practices that
fully values women and the work associated with them, to the benefit of
both genders. The text covers the main issues for women in the
workplace: pay equity, work-family issues, women's participation in
certain occupations, sexual harassment, the right to organize, part-time
and temporary jobs, welfare reform, and women's work outside of work.
Each chapter examines the myths around the issue, clarifies the problem,
proposes detailed solutions, and dismantles the propaganda against those
solutions by showing how the 9to5 movement and other grassroots
organizations have taken on the "Big Boys"--the powerful people who
benefit from gender discrimination --in the past. Annotation ©2007 Book
News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Booklist
April 1, 2007 1-55861-545-8; 978-1-55861-545-8
A longtime player in the women's labor movement, Bravo makes the case
that feminism is not only good for women but also families, business,
and the country. She relates stories from business and government that
"unmask" the situations that patronize and trivialize women's
contributions to the workplace. Identifying the "big boys" as those who
strive to maintain the status quo, the author argues for feminism as a
system of beliefs, laws, and practices that fully values women and their
work. She also provides activist strategies for readers to help achieve
a society where both men and women are able to reach their full
potential. Although there may still be work to do in terms of women's
equality in the workplace, the strident feminisms of the 1970s seems out
of place in today's society, albeit one where there are few females CEOs
and even fewer females on corporate boards. As a 20-year director of the
feminist organization 9 to 5, the author gives us a liberal dose of
feminist history as she tries to reframe the old debates. --Gail
Whitcomb Copyright 2007 Booklist
Library Journal
March 1, 2007 1-55861-545-8; 978-1-55861-545-8
True equality for both men and women can only improve our society,
argues Bravo, the former director of 9to5, the National Association of
Working Women. Bravo's eyeopening book examines the problem of
inequality for women in the workplace and in society, exposes the myths
and realities regarding women's rights, proposes detailed feminist
solutions to help create real social change, and offers examples of
collective action taken by individuals and organizations like 9to5 to
fight oppression and domination in all its forms. She illustrates how
the changes feminists want, such as pay equity, flexibility for family
care, universal healthcare, and quality childcare, offer a better way
for all to do business, raise families, and build society. Very
readable, at times humorous, and always informative, this book can be
considered your personal handbook for taking on the "Big Boys," a
relatively small group of men-and women-who control the wealth and power
in this country, in order to create true gender equality. Highly
recommended for both public and academic libraries.-Wendy Wendt,
Marshall-Lyon Cty. Lib., MN Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
--------------------------------------Title: Urban Girls Revisited: Building Strengths
Contributor: Bonnie J. Ross Leadbeater
Publication Date:
February 2007
Publisher:
New York University Press
Market:
United States
ISBN: 0-8147-5212-8
ISBN 13:
978-0-8147-5212-8
Choice
September 1, 2007 0-8147-5212-8; 978-0-8147-5212-8
Psychologists Leadbeater (Univ. of Victoria) and Way (New York Univ.)
bring together 16 studies that highlight the diversity of urban
adolescent girls' lives and their sources of support and resilience in
building their strength in the face of adversities such as inner-city
poverty and racism. The introduction offers a brilliant sketch of the
book's approach, emphasizing the language of strength and explicating
the processes of building communities. Building on the editors' Urban
Girls (1996), a collection that challenged the deficit-based approach to
these girls, Urban Girls Revisited pays particular attention to the
protective processes for them in the context of their communities.
Coming from multiple disciplinary perspectives and employing diverse
methodologies, the contributors emphasize the girls' and young women's
strength in creating safe spaces with family, friends, and mentors;
claiming their sexuality; and developing personal and public resistance
strategies. Taken together, the essays are a valuable contribution to
the field of gender studies, urban ethnography, and adolescent
development, and would appeal to various readers, including activists
and undergraduates. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All
levels/libraries. H. Y. Choo University of Wisconsin--Madison
--------------------------------------Title: Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History
Author:
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Publication Date:
September 2007
Publisher:
Knopf Publishing Group
Market:
United States
ISBN: 1-4000-4159-7
ISBN 13:
978-1-4000-4159-6
Choice
1-4000-4159-7; 978-1-4000-4159-6
Ulrich (Harvard) provides an impressionistic overview of exceptional
women who broke conventional gender norms by daring to record women's
historical contributions. Her narrative begins with personal reflections
on the meanings that the phrase "well-behaved women seldom make history"
has taken on for readers since the author's original use of it in an
article in 1977. The narrative explores some of the canonical figures in
women's history, such as Virginia Woolf, Christine de Pizan, and
Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Ulrich includes references to Harriet Tubman and
African women, such as those who protested Western oil companies in
Nigeria. However, the author does not develop a thesis that ties these
women's contributions together; instead, she seeks to "rescue (such
women) from oblivion." While general readers would find this book an
engaging historical account of women's history, it has little use in an
academic setting. It is not a primary source-driven monograph and does
not offer analysis of why these women are the important ones to
emphasize, or why general readers should go beyond the "iconic" image of
these women into a more sustained historical understanding of the
challenges of writing women's history. Summing Up: Optional.
General/public libraries. General Readers; Two-year Technical Program Students. Reviewed by
J. S. Duncan.
Booklist
September 1, 2007 1-4000-4159-7; 978-1-4000-4159-6
*Starred Review* Ulrich never could have imagined that a comment she
made in a scholarly article in 1976 would end up emblazoned on T-shirts,
buttons, and coffee mugs. With that immortal line as the title of her
latest inquiry into overlooked aspects of women's lives, the Pulitzer
Prize-winning historian focuses on three accomplished women who behaved
badly according to the standards of their times. She presents a
fascinating profile of Christine de Pizan, the remarkable
fourteenth-century author of The Book of the City of Ladies, a novel
that advocates for women's education. Picking up the thread of Pizan's
recounting of the myth of the Amazons, Ulrich portrays real-life women
warriors throughout the ages, including today's women soldiers in Iraq.
Ulrich provides a bracing answer to Virginia Woolf's pointed
question--If Shakespeare had an equally talented sister, what would her
life have been like?--after scrutinizing and shrewdly interpreting court
documents of the time. Elizabeth Cady Stanton is the catalyst for a
far-reaching analysis of the abolition and women's rights movements.
Ultimately, Ulrich amends her famous bon mot: Well-behaved women make
history when they do the unexpected, when their actions produce records,
and when later generations care.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2007 Booklist
Library Journal
August 1, 2007 1-4000-4159-7; 978-1-4000-4159-6
An often-quoted sentence from a 1976 article written by Ulrich (Harvard;
A Midwife's Tale) has become the title and premise of her most recent
book. Here, Ulrich explores how and why women make history and how three
women-15th-century French poet and scholar Christine de Pizan,
19th-century American activist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and 20th-century
English novelist Virginia Woolf-helped to define and expand the history
of women through their writings and their beliefs. Ulrich uses each as a
starting point in discussing both real and fictional characters in
stories about Amazons, Shakespeare's sisters and his female
contemporaries, female slaves in 19th-century America, and the history
of ordinary women. Looking at new scholarship in women's history over
the past 30 years, Ulrich calls attention to the expansion of this field
of study and its influence on a whole new generation of feminists and
scholars. A distinctly important and extremely readable contribution to
the study of women's history, this book is highly recommended for
academic libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/07.]-Susanne Markgren,
SUNY at Purchase Lib. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
Publishers Weekly
July 9, 2007 1-4000-4159-7; 978-1-4000-4159-6
In 1976, graduate student Ulrich asserted in an obscure scholarly
article that "well-behaved women seldom make history." But Ulrich, now
at Harvard, made history, winning the Pulitzer and the Bancroft Prizes
for A Midwife's Tale-and her slogan did, too: it began popping up on
T-shirts, greeting cards and buttons. Why the appeal, Ulrich wondered?
And what makes a woman qualify as well-behaved or rebellious? Several
chapters of this accessible and beautifully written study are brilliant.
In one, Ulrich follows the lead of Virginia Woolf (who invented an
ill-fated fictional sister of Shakespeare) by digging into what we
know-and don't know-about the women in the Bard's family. In another,
she offers a piercing analysis of "four 19th-century Harriets"-ex-slaves
Tubman, Jacobs and Powell, and novelist Stowe-to uncover the interplay
of race and gender in questions of liberation. And in a third, richly
illustrated chapter, she utilizes a medieval book of days as a window
into women's labor through the ages. If other chapters, such as a
wide-ranging exploration of the Amazon myth and a rumination on
second-wave feminism, don't cohere as tightly or showcase Ulrich's
strengths as an extraordinary interpreter of ordinary records, this can
be forgiven in a work that is so often sharp and insightful. 26 illus.
(Sept. 7) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
--------------------------------------Title: Women and Leadership: The State of Play and Strategies for Change
Contributor: Deborah L. Rhode
Publication Date:
August 2007
Publisher:
John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated
Market:
United States
ISBN: 0-7879-8833-2
ISBN 13:
978-0-7879-8833-3
Choice
January 1, 2008 0-7879-8833-2; 978-0-7879-8833-3
Kellerman (Harvard Univ., Kennedy School of Government) and Rhode
(Stanford Univ.) have edited a weighty collection that addresses the
challenges of women and leadership in business and public life today.
Familiar questions regarding women and equity, fairness, stereotypes,
leadership styles, and strategies to promote parity and greater
representation in the formal leadership ranks are examined through
various academic lenses. Not only does the volume provide a
comprehensive history of leadership theory, it also critiques the
emerging scholarship in leadership theory specifically related to women.
Lamenting the prominence of the "great women" theory not only in
scholarship, but also in popular culture, contributors express
puzzlement at this framework's staying power despite the limited
usefulness of the "Great Man" or trait theory from years past. The
development of a similar trait theory applied to women undermines the
progress made by James MacGregor Burns when he crossed the great
theoretical divide with transformational leadership, focusing not only
on the leader but the relationship with followers and the moral
dimensions of leadership. Moving from the theoretical to the practical,
contributors also offer strategies that can increase women's presence in
leadership positions across the globe. Summing Up: Highly recommended.
Upper-division undergraduate and graduate students, researchers/faculty,
and professionals. G. E. Leaf Spokane Community College
Reference & Research Book News
November 1, 2007 0-7879-8833-2; 978-0-7879-8833-3
Kellerman (public leadership, Harvard U. Kennedy School of Government)
and Rhode (law, Stanford U.) bring together 17 essays that focus on
issues facing women in leadership. They address the continued
underrepresentation of women in a variety of leadership roles and ways
to change the problem. Topics examined include stereotypes; leadership
style; female judges (in a chapter by Anita Hill); women in politics,
such as leaders in Afghanistan and Iran and female candidates for the US
presidency; concepts of authority and power; corporate leadership; and
the belief that there is a natural order for men to be in charge.
Reflecting the multidisciplinary shape of the volume, contributors work
in public leadership, women's studies, psychology, organizational
behavior, political science, economics, law, and other fields at
organizations and universities in the US and Europe. Annotation ©2007
Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
--------------------------------------Title: Women's Roles and Statuses the World Over
Author:
Stephanie Hepburn
Publication Date:
March 2006
Publisher:
Lexington Books
Market:
United States
ISBN: 0-7391-1356-9
ISBN 13:
978-0-7391-1356-1
Binding Format:
Trade Cloth
Reference & Research Book News
May 1, 2007 0-7391-1357-7; 978-0-7391-1357-8
This is a paperbound reprint of the 2006 book. The authors (a professor
and a graduate of the Washington College of Law at American U.) provide
a comparative discussion of the roles and statuses of women in the US,
Canada, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the UK, Ireland, France, Germany,
Sweden, Russia, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Israel, Egypt, Iran, Syria,
South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, India, Japan, and Australia. They
report data related to such issues as the demographic characteristics of
women, literacy and years of schooling, work force participation,
inheritance, citizenship, public office, military service, and health
care. They also address major legislative and social changes impacting
the societal status of women. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc.,
Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Choice
November 1, 2006 0-7391-1356-9; 978-0-7391-1356-1
Hepburn (Deutsche Bank) and Simon (American Univ.) present statistical
data on women's roles and positions in 26 countries representing seven
continents. They examine national constitutions in light of women's
legal rights within a country and provide a political context for more
specific subject areas: work, economy, education, marriage, divorce,
abortion, contraception, health care, military service, and public
office. Although brief, the final chapter, "Summary and Concluding
Remarks," provides valuable comparisons between countries in each area.
The compilation of these statistics into a succinct, straightforward,
and usable format is a godsend to readers, saving them from an
exhausting and cumbersome search process. Modest in length yet full of
detail, this handbook could only be improved by more graphic displays of
statistics and by extending the range of countries covered. This unique
reference resource is of value for social science research in general
and a crucial acquisition for libraries supporting women's studies
programs. ^BSumming Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through
faculty/researchers. L. F. Lister Colorado College
Reference & Research Book News
August 1, 2006 0-7391-1356-9; 978-0-7391-1356-1
The authors (a professor and a graduate of the Washington College of Law
at American U.) provide a comparative discussion of the roles and
statuses of women in the US, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the UK,
Ireland, France, Germany, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Romania, Hungary,
Israel, Egypt, Iran, Syria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, India,
Japan, and Australia. They report data related to such issues as the
demographic characteristics of women, literacy and years of schooling,
work force participation, inheritance, citizenship, public office,
military service, and health care. They also address major legislative
and social changes impacting the societal status of women. Annotation
©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
--------------------------------------Copyright © 2008 R.R. Bowker LLC. All rights reserved. Bowker® and Books
In Print® are registered trademarks and The Bowker logo,
booksinprint.comT, BookwireT, Bowker's Publishers HomePagesT and The
Books In Print logo are trademarks of R.R. Bowker LLC. View our privacy policy or terms of use.