Social Theory and the Political Imaginary: Practice, Critique and History is an innovative work of synthesis, critique, and analysis. It presages a social theory perspective that recognises the constitutive significance of the political imaginary in modernity. Social theory’s current dilemmas are explored through a series of interlinked asssessments of some of its recent substantial strands, specifically, Luc Boltanski’s pragmatism and the wider ‘practical turn’, the perspectives of multiple modernities and global modernity, the outlook of social and political imaginaries, and critical social theory. The political imaginary’s reconfigurations are evident in the tensions of global modernity and original social theory interpretations are advanced of landmark instances of twenty-first century social contestation: the Hong Kong protests conditioned by threats to civil freedoms and a lack of self-determination, the radical democratic practices of anti-austerity movements contesting capitalist globalisation’s injustices, and the inverted cosmopolitanism of the 2005 French Riots challenging the oppression and inequalities experienced by immigrant communities and marginalised youth. These incisive applications of social theory and complementary conceptual innovations illuminate the vicissitudes of social struggles, political forms, and theoretical perspectives. Similarly, reflection on the political imaginary is found to enable a necessary rethinking of the interrelationship of practice, critique and history.
Judge Craig B. Brown (Ret.) has been a fixture in the North Carolina justice system since the 1970s. Soon after he passed the bar in 1976, he came down with the first symptoms of the chronic illness, Behet's Syndrome and by 1992, he was legally blind. He was appointed to the Bench in 1996 and served as a judge during a tumultuous period in the Durham, North Carolina area He was judicially involved in the infamous Duke Lacrosse case and the murders of Eve Carson and Abhijit Mahato. Judge Brown tells of his time on the Bench and gives us insight into the momentous times of this twenty-first century.
In Habermas and Giddens on Praxis and Modernity Craig Browne investigates how two of the most important and influential contemporary social theorists have sought to develop the modernist visions of the constitution of society through the autonomous actions of subjects. Comparing Habermas’s and Giddens’s conceptions of the constitution of society, interpretations of the social-structural impediments to subjects’ autonomy and attempts to delineate potentials for progressive social change within contemporary society, Browne draws on his own work, which has extended aspects of the social theorists’ approach to modernity. Despite the criticisms developed over the course of the book, Habermas and Giddens are found to be two of the most important theorists of democratization and social democracy, the dynamics of capitalist modernity and their paradoxes, social practices and reflexivity, and the foundations of social theory in the problem of the relationship of social action and social structure.
In this accomplished, sophisticated and up-to-date account of the state of critical social theory today, Craig Browne explores the key concepts in critical theory (like critique, ideology, and alienation), and crucially, goes on to relate them to major contemporary developments such as globalization, social conflict and neo-liberal capitalism. Critical theory here is not solely the work of Adorno, Horkheimer, Marcuse and Habermas. The book begins with the Frankfurt School but uses this as a base to then explore more contemporary figures such as: Nancy Fraser Axel Honneth Luc Boltanski Cornelius Castoriadis Ulrich Beck Anthony Giddens Pierre Bourdieu Hannah Arendt A survey of critical social theory for our times, this is an essential guide for students wishing to grasp a critical understanding of social theory in the modern world.
Threats come from a variety of sources. Insider threats, as well as malicious hackers, are not only difficult to detect and prevent, but many times the authors of these threats are using resources without anybody being aware that those threats are there. Threats would not be harmful if there were no vulnerabilities that could be exploited. With IT environments becoming more complex every day, the challenges to keep an eye on all potential weaknesses are skyrocketing. Smart methods to detect threats and vulnerabilities, as well as highly efficient approaches to analysis, mitigation, and remediation, become necessary to counter a growing number of attacks against networks, servers, and endpoints in every organization. In this IBM® Redbooks® publication, we examine the aspects of the holistic Threat and Vulnerability Management component in the Network, Server and Endpoint domain of the IBM Security Framework. We explain the comprehensive solution approach, identify business drivers and issues, and derive corresponding functional and technical requirements, which enables us to choose and create matching security solutions. We discuss IBM Security Solutions for Network, Server and Endpoint to effectively counter threats and attacks using a range of protection technologies and service offerings. Using two customer scenarios, we apply the solution design approach and show how to address the customer requirements by identifying the corresponding IBM service and software products.
An up close look at an investment strategy that can handle today's uncertain financial environment Market uncertainty cannot be eliminated. So rather than attempt to do away with it, why not embrace it? That is what this book is designed to do. The Permanent Portfolio takes you through Harry Browne's Permanent Portfolio approach—which can weather a wide range of economic conditions from inflation and deflation to recession—and reveals how it can help investors protect and grow their money. Written by Craig Rowland and Mike Lawson, this reliable resource demonstrates everything from a straightforward four-asset Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) version of the strategy all the way up to a sophisticated approach using Swiss bank storage of selected assets for geographic and political diversification. In all cases, the authors provide step-by-step guidance based upon personal experience. This timeless strategy is supported by more than three decades of empirical evidence The authors skillfully explain how to incorporate the ideas of the Permanent Portfolio into your financial endeavors in order to maintain, protect, and grow your money Includes select updates of Harry Browne's Permanent Portfolio approach, which reflect our changing times The Permanent Portfolio is an essential guide for investors who are serious about building a better portfolio.
Advice given when buying plants or trees is "Don't expect any blooms the first year. Fruit trees may require three years." I planted a slim brown stick in my yard and got nothing the first year except a thin brown stick with a few leaves on it. During its second season of growth and beyond, that brown stick grew to 7 inches in diameter and now produces wondrous 20 foot pink clouds each spring. In an ideal world we learn lessons the first time around. So often, as with daffodils and cherry trees, we need more time to get it. Winter, incendiary summer, a few storms, and unexpected late frost toughen us, giving us confidence to face whatever life has for us. We can then bloom where we are planted. We often don't have choices about challenges life gives us, but we have free-will in deciding how to respond to them. We can embrace the One who gives Wisdom to live life abundantly. May these vignettes inspire you to find pearls of learning and wisdom to be harvested from the depths of your own life.
Charles Taylor is one of the most influential contemporary philosophers, arguably the most important living political philosopher writing in English. Taylor and Politics assesses Taylor's thought and its relevance to contemporary political challenges, especially religion and secularity, multicultural diversity, political alienation and demands for greater democracy. Craig Browne and Andrew Lynch outline Taylor's key concepts and highlight the substantive applications of his ideas. They explain the substantial differences between Taylor's conception of social imaginaries and that of Cornelius Castoriadis, and contrast Taylor's account of the political form of modernity with Claude Lefortäs."--
Though we Christians don’t need subjective texts to understand or live our faith, nevertheless we can often take great joy and insight from hearing how others have “walked the walk,” from hearing what our Lord or our Lady had to say to them. Reading these folk can be like talking over a backyard fence. We can get little tips, helps; and we can make a friend. Gabrielle Bossis’s He and I really helps the reader to see how sweetly Jesus, the most high God of the universe, loves us. It helps us get a feel for the mystical circuitry, for how we are made—not to be stand-alone units, but rather to be in intimate, continual union with the only One who both knows us and lovingly completes us. It’s like a homey road map, or an afternoon of tea and good company. It’s like going to a game and the home team wins.
Despite the popular theology of our day, Christians should not expect to get out of experiencing the tribulation or the end times. Nowhere in the Bible does the Lord promise us this, say Michael Brown and Craig Keener, two leading, acclaimed Bible scholars. In fact, they say, Jesus promises us tribulation in this world. Yet this is no reason to fear. In this fascinating, accessible, and personal book, Brown and Keener walk you through what the Bible really says about the rapture, the tribulation, and the end times. What they find will leave you full of hope. God's wrath is not poured out on His people, and He will shield us from it--as he shielded Israel in Egypt during the ten plagues. So instead of taking comfort in what God hasn't promised, take comfort in the words of Jesus: He has overcome the world, and we live in his victory.
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