Alexander Soucy's Books

Wild Geese

Buddhism in Canada

By: John S. Harding,Alexander Soucy,Victor Sōgen Hori

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Wild Geese

Buddhism in Canada

By: John S. Harding,Alexander Soucy,Victor Sōgen Hori

The most comprehensive study of Buddhism in Canada to date, Wild Geese offers a history of the religion's evolution in Canada, surveys the diverse communities and beliefs of Canadian Buddhists, and presents biographies of Buddhist leaders. The essays cover a broad range of topics, including Chinese, Tibetan, Lao, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese Buddhisms, critical reflections on Buddhism in the West, census data on the growth of the religion, and analysis of the global context for the growth of Buddhism in Canada. Presenting a sweeping portrait of a crucial part of the multicultural mosaic, Wild Geese is essential reading for anyone interested in religious life in Canada.

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478

Publisher

McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published Date

ISBN 10

0773582320

ISBN 13

9780773582323

The Buddha Side

Gender, Power, and Buddhist Practice in Vietnam

By: Alexander Soucy

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The Buddha Side

Gender, Power, and Buddhist Practice in Vietnam

By: Alexander Soucy

The most common description of the supernatural landscape in Vietnam makes a distinction between Buddhist and non-Buddhist “sides.” The “Buddha side” (ben phat) is the focus of this investigation into the intersection of gender, power, and religious praxis. Employing an anthropological approach to Buddhist practice that takes into account modes of action that are not only socially constructed and contextual, but also negotiated by the actors, The Buddha Side uniquely explores how gender and age affect understandings of what it means to be a Buddhist. In seeking to map out the ways and meanings of Buddhist engagement, Alexander Soucy examines everything from the skeptical statements of young men and devotional performances of young women to the pilgrimages of older women and performances of orthodoxy used by older men to assert their position within the pagoda space. Soucy draws on more than four years’ experience conducting ethnographic research in Hanoi to investigate how religious practice is grounded in the constitution and marking of social identity. From this in-depth view, he describes the critical role of religion in shaping social contexts and inserting selves into them. Religion can thus be described as a form of theatre—one in which social identities (youth, old age, masculinity, femininity, authority) are constructed and displayed via religious practice. A compelling look at the performative aspect of Buddhism in contemporary Vietnam, The Buddha Side will be welcomed by anyone with an interest in Buddhism as it is practiced on the ground.

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Page Count

258

Publisher

University of Hawaii Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0824865855

ISBN 13

9780824865856

The Sources of Democratic Consolidation

By: Gerard Alexander

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The Sources of Democratic Consolidation

By: Gerard Alexander

Why did precarious and collapsed democracies in Europe develop into highly stable democracies? Gerard Alexander offers a rational choice theory of democratic consolidation in a survey of the breakdowns of and transitions to democratic institutions. Through an analysis of developments in Spain, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, Alexander explores how key political sectors established the long-term commitment to democracy that distinguishes consolidated democracies. Alexander makes a highly accessible rationalist argument about the conditions under which such commitments emerge, arguing that powerful sectors abandon options for overthrowing democratic rules only when they predict low risks in democracy. The author's argument parallels established claims about the predictability essential to the development of modern capitalism. The Sources of Democratic Consolidation outlines Alexander's claim that a political precondition, rather than an economic or social precondition, exists for consolidated democracies. Drawing on interviews and archival research, the author links his argument to evidence from the five largest countries in Western Europe from the 1870s to the 1980s and also discusses the implications for the prospects for democratic consolidation in other regions. Political pacts, power-sharing, and institutional designs, he says, may help stabilize uncertain democracies, but they cannot create consolidation.

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Page Count

306

Publisher

Cornell University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1501720481

ISBN 13

9781501720482

The Adventuress

A Lady Emily Mystery

By: Tasha Alexander

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The Adventuress

A Lady Emily Mystery

By: Tasha Alexander

In this newest entry in the New York Times bestselling series by Tasha Alexander, Lady Emily Hargreaves travels to the south of France where an apparent suicide may be something far more sinister

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301

Publisher

Macmillan

Published Date

ISBN 10

1250058260

ISBN 13

9781250058263

Flowers on the Rock

Global and Local Buddhisms in Canada

By: John S. Harding,Alexander Soucy,Victor Sōgen Hori

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Flowers on the Rock

Global and Local Buddhisms in Canada

By: John S. Harding,Alexander Soucy,Victor Sōgen Hori

When Sasaki Sokei-an founded his First Zen Institute of North America in 1930 he suggested that bringing Zen Buddhism to America was like "holding a lotus against a rock and waiting for it to set down roots." Today, Buddhism is part of the cultural and religious mainstream. Flowers on the Rock examines the dramatic growth of Buddhism in Canada and questions some of the underlying assumptions about how this tradition has changed in the West. Using historical, ethnographic, and biographical approaches, contributors illuminate local expressions of Buddhism found throughout Canada and relate the growth of Buddhism in Canada to global networks. A global perspective allows the volume to overcome the stereotype that Asia and the West are in opposition to each other and recognizes the continuities between Buddhist movements in Asia and the West that are shaped by the same influences of modernity and globalization. Flowers on the Rock studies the fascinating and ingenious changes, inflections, and adaptations that Buddhists make when they set down roots in a local culture. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Buddhism, religious life in Canada, and the broader issues of multiculturalism and immigration. Contributors include Michihiro Ama (University of Alaska), D. Mitra Barua (University of Saskatchewan), Paul Crowe (Simon Fraser University), Melissa Anne-Marie Curley (University of Iowa), Mavis Fenn (University of Waterloo), Kory Goldberg (Champlain College), Sarah F. Haynes (Western Illinois University), Jackie Larm (University of Edinburgh), Paul McIvor (independent), James Placzek (University of British Columbia), and Angela Sumegi (Carleton University).

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378

Publisher

McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published Date

ISBN 10

0773590498

ISBN 13

9780773590496

Architecture and Urbanism in the French Atlantic Empire

State, Church, and Society, 1604-1830

By: Gauvin Alexander Bailey

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Architecture and Urbanism in the French Atlantic Empire

State, Church, and Society, 1604-1830

By: Gauvin Alexander Bailey

Spanning from the West African coast to the Canadian prairies and south to Louisiana, the Caribbean, and Guiana, France's Atlantic empire was one of the largest political entities in the Western Hemisphere. Yet despite France's status as a nation at the forefront of architecture and the structures and designs from this period that still remain, its colonial building program has never been considered on a hemispheric scale. Drawing from hundreds of plans, drawings, photographic field surveys, and extensive archival sources, Architecture and Urbanism in the French Atlantic Empire focuses on the French state's and the Catholic Church's ideals and motivations for their urban and architectural projects in the Americas. In vibrant detail, Gauvin Alexander Bailey recreates a world that has been largely destroyed by wars, natural disasters, and fires – from Cap-François (now Cap-Haïtien), which once boasted palaces in the styles of Louis XV and formal gardens patterned after Versailles, to failed utopian cities like Kourou in Guiana. Vividly illustrated with examples of grand buildings, churches, and gardens, as well as simple houses and cottages, this volume also brings to life the architects who built these structures, not only French military engineers and white civilian builders, but also the free people of colour and slaves who contributed so much to the tropical colonies. Taking readers on a historical tour through the striking landmarks of the French colonial landscape, Architecture and Urbanism in the French Atlantic Empire presents a sweeping panorama of an entire hemisphere of architecture and its legacy.

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619

Publisher

McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published Date

ISBN 10

0773553762

ISBN 13

9780773553767

In the Track of Robert Louis Stevenson and Elsewhere in Old France

By: John Alexander Hammerton

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In the Track of Robert Louis Stevenson and Elsewhere in Old France

By: John Alexander Hammerton

The mountainous district of France to which, somewhat loosely, Stevenson applies the name Cevennes, lies along the western confines of Provence, and overlaps on several departments, chief of which are Ardèche, Lozère, Gard, and Herault. In many parts the villages and the people have far less in common with France and the French than Normandy and the Normans have with provincial England. Here in these mountain fastnesses and sheltered valleys the course of life has flowed along almost changeless for centuries, and here, too, we shall find much that is best in the romantic history and natural grandeur of France. Remote from Paris, and happily without the area of the "cheap trip" organisers, it is likely to remain for ever "off the beaten track." In order to visit the Cevennes proper, the beautiful town of Mende would be the best starting-place. But since my purpose was to strike the trail of R. L. S., after some wanderings awheel northward of Clermont Ferrand, I approached the district from Le Puy, a town which so excellent a judge as Mr. Joseph Pennell has voted the most picturesque in Europe. Besides, Stevenson himself had often wandered through its quaint, unusual streets, while preparing for his memorable journey with immortal Modestine. "I decided on a sleeping sack," he says; "and after repeated visits to Le Puy, and a deal of high living for myself and my advisers, a sleeping sack was designed, constructed, and triumphantly brought home." At that time the wanderer's "home" was in the mountain town of Le Monastier, some fifteen miles south-east of Le Puy, and there in the autumn of 1877 he spent "about a month of fine days," variously occupied in completing his New Arabian Nights and Picturesque Notes on Edinburgh, and conducting, with no little personal and general entertainment, the preliminaries of his projected journey through the Cevennes.

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Page Count

300

Publisher

Library of Alexandria

Published Date

ISBN 10

1465613374

ISBN 13

9781465613370

OMG!: Oh My God!

(The SECOND in the ALEX'S DREAMS Trilogy)

By: Alexander Rutherford

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OMG!: Oh My God!

(The SECOND in the ALEX'S DREAMS Trilogy)

By: Alexander Rutherford

OMG!, the second installment of the unforgettable ALEX’S DREAMS trilogy, is a page-turner that picks up where the first novel, BFFs, left off. This eye-catching story delves further into the complex circle of an ethnically color cast, who live by the credo, “A family of friends is friends of family.” The group’s young members provide unwavering and unyielding support for one another through thick and thin, in good times and bad. From triumph to tragedy, this snapshot into the lives of the book’s extraordinary characters will leave readers wanting more. And its shocking climax creates suspense for the final book in the series. Alexander Rutherford once again wows readers with his gift to enthrall, owing to his meticulous descriptions and attention to detail, suspending disbelief, and making readers become part of the story because of the author’s passion for the written word. His masterful storytelling contains explicit material intended to be read by mature teens to young adults, and is not recommended for younger audiences.

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Page Count

362

Publisher

Strategic Book Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1634101812

ISBN 13

9781634101813

The Civil Sphere

By: Jeffrey C. Alexander

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The Civil Sphere

By: Jeffrey C. Alexander

What binds societies together and how can these social orders be structured in a fair way? Jeffrey C. Alexander's masterful work, The Civil Sphere, addresses this central paradox of modern life. Feelings for others--the solidarity that is ignored or underplayed by theories of power or self-interest--are at the heart of this novel inquiry into the meeting place between normative theories of what we think we should do and empirical studies of who we actually are. Solidarity, Alexander demonstrates, creates inclusive and exclusive social structures and shows how they can be repaired. It is not perfect, it is not absolute, and the horrors which occur in its lapses have been seen all too frequently in the forms of discrimination, genocide, and war. Despite its worldly flaws and contradictions, however, solidarity and the project of civil society remain our best hope: the antidote to every divisive institution, every unfair distribution, every abusive and dominating hierarchy. This grand, sweeping statement and rigorous empirical investigation is a major contribution to our thinking about the real but ideal world in which we all reside.

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814

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199708959

ISBN 13

9780199708956

The Republic in Danger

General Maurice Gamelin and the Politics of French Defence, 1933-1940

By: Martin S. Alexander

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The Republic in Danger

General Maurice Gamelin and the Politics of French Defence, 1933-1940

By: Martin S. Alexander

The first full-length study in English of 'the man who lost the Battle of France'.

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Page Count

592

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521524296

ISBN 13

9780521524292

Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany

The "fascist" Style of Rule

By: Alexander J. De Grand

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Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany

The "fascist" Style of Rule

By: Alexander J. De Grand

This comparative study of Italian Fascism and German Nazism examines the similarities and differences in the formation and early development of the two regimes, the role of the party, the position of the leaders and policies towards women and youth. Previous ed.: 1995.

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Page Count

158

Publisher

Psychology Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0415336317

ISBN 13

9780415336314

Zen Conquests

Buddhist Transformations in Contemporary Vietnam

By: Alexander Soucy

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Zen Conquests

Buddhist Transformations in Contemporary Vietnam

By: Alexander Soucy

At the tail end of the twentieth century, a monk transformed a small village temple on the outskirts of Hanoi into a monastery and meditation center called Thiền Viện Sùng Phúc—a place where monastics and lay Buddhists could learn and practice Zen meditation. In time the original temple was replaced by numerous large buildings to accommodate meditation sessions, youth events, weddings, classes, and a variety of other activities designed to keep practitioners engaged. Thiền Viện Sùng Phúc’s approach to Buddhism as a life commitment for all ages and genders has been very successful, attracting more than a thousand Buddhists to its weekly services. It joined Thiền phái Trúc Lâm, a much larger organization started by Thích Thanh Từ in southern Vietnam that has expanded to northern Vietnam and internationally. In Zen Conquests, Alexander Soucy presents not only the first ethnography of Thiền Viện Sùng Phúc and its followers, but also a compelling look at how the discourses of Buddhist Modernism were incorporated at a local level into this new space on the outskirts of Hanoi and how and why new constituencies of followers are drawn to Zen Buddhism in contemporary Vietnam. Thiền Viện Sùng Phúc’s Zen tradition purports to be a continuation of the only Zen Buddhist sect founded in Vietnam: the fourteenth-century Trúc Lâm Zen School. However, the movement can also be seen as the product of Buddhism’s globalization, born from the D. T. Suzuki-inspired interest in Zen in South Vietnam during the American War. Despite its claims to be authentically Vietnamese Zen, it more closely resembles Modernist versions of Buddhism practiced by Western converts in North America than anything Vietnamese. Soucy maintains that it is only by looking at the processes of globalization that Vietnamese Buddhism (both in the context of Vietnam but also in the Vietnamese diaspora) can be properly understood. He argues convincingly for acknowledging the continued influence of transnational, pan-Asian, and global flows of migration and communication on the development of multiple forms of Buddhism worldwide.

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Page Count

256

Publisher

University of Hawaii Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0824892194

ISBN 13

9780824892197

The Buddha Side

Gender, Power, and Buddhist Practice in Vietnam

By: Alexander Soucy

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The Buddha Side

Gender, Power, and Buddhist Practice in Vietnam

By: Alexander Soucy

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258

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University of Hawaii Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0824865855

ISBN 13

9780824865856

Flowers on the Rock

Global and Local Buddhisms in Canada

By: John S. Harding,Alexander Soucy,Victor Sōgen Hori

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Flowers on the Rock

Global and Local Buddhisms in Canada

By: John S. Harding,Alexander Soucy,Victor Sōgen Hori

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378

Publisher

McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published Date

ISBN 10

0773590498

ISBN 13

9780773590496

Wild Geese

Buddhism in Canada

By: John S. Harding,Alexander Soucy,Victor Sōgen Hori

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Wild Geese

Buddhism in Canada

By: John S. Harding,Alexander Soucy,Victor Sōgen Hori

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478

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McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published Date

ISBN 10

0773582320

ISBN 13

9780773582323

Book's by Alexander Soucy

Wild Geese

Wild Geese

The Buddha Side

The Buddha Side

The Sources of Democratic Consolidation

The Sources of Democratic Consolidation

The Adventuress

The Adventuress

Flowers on the Rock

Flowers on the Rock

Architecture and Urbanism in the French Atlantic Empire

Architecture and Urbanism in the French Atlantic Empire

In the Track of Robert Louis Stevenson and Elsewhere in Old France

In the Track of Robert Louis Stevenson and Elsewhere in Old France

OMG!: Oh My God!

OMG!: Oh My God!

The Civil Sphere

The Civil Sphere

The Republic in Danger

The Republic in Danger

Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany

Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany

Zen Conquests

Zen Conquests

The Buddha Side

The Buddha Side

Flowers on the Rock

Flowers on the Rock

Wild Geese

Wild Geese

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