This engaging and thought-provoking book interrogates the workings of stigma within a historical, political and sociological framework. In so doing, it highlights the way in which particular individuals and groups are ‘othered’, and the implications such a process has for how they are viewed and treated within society. A discussion of the various ways in which stigma has been conceptualised is followed by an analysis of the workings of stigma within the sphere of social welfare. The focus then turns to a consideration of the way specific groups and their allies have challenged their stigmatised status, and, in the process, have utilised and developed our understanding of the theoretical, political and practical ways in which stigma operates within society. In paying particular attention to mental health, disability and transgender politics, the book highlights both the progressive and regressive aspects of theoretical and practical campaigns to challenge stigma. In particular, it gives warning as to the way such developments often exhibit a marked disdain for the public and have become institutionalised in such a way as to constitute a threat to our political freedom.
This original and stimulating book examines contemporary issues in social work, particularly exploring the politicisation of the profession from the 1970s onwards. Detailing the wider social and political influences on the development of social work, the book argues that underlying much social theory and practice is a pessimistic and degraded view of humanity. The author discusses different areas of social work in relation to this diminished view of the human subject, exploring the rise of the concept of abuse, the focus on individual vulnerability and the fear of the other, as well as the threat to civil liberties and privacy that has influenced changes in mental health legislation and the introduction of the Social Care Register. The book highlights the need for a new approach to social work that has a more optimistic view of both individuals and society, and of their capacity to overcome problems. It is essential reading for students of sociology, politics and social work and for those involved in social policy and social care practice.
Today, political claims are increasingly made on the basis of experienced trauma and inherent vulnerability, as evidenced in the growing number of people who identify as a "survivor" of one thing or another, and also in the way in which much political discourse and social policy assumes the vulnerability of the population. This book discusses these developments in relation to the changing focus of social movements, from concerns with economic redistribution, towards campaigns for cultural recognition. As a result of this, the experience of trauma and psychological vulnerability has become a dominant paradigm within which both personal and political grievances are expressed. Combining the psychological, social, and political aspects of the expression of individual distress and political dissent, this book provides a unique analysis of how concepts such as "vulnerability" and "trauma" have become institutionalised within politics and society. It also offers a critical appraisal of the political and personal implications of these developments, and in addition, shows how the institutionalisation of the survivor identity represents a diminished view of the human subject and our capacity to achieve progressive political and individual change. This book will be of interest to researchers, postgraduate and undergraduate students of critical psychology, sociology, social policy, politics, social movements and mental health.
‘Empowerment’ is a term in widespread use today and one that is often considered to be a self-evident good. Here, McLaughlin explores its emergence in the 1960s through to its rise in the 1990s and ubiquity in present day discourse and interrogates its social status, paying particular attention to social policy, social work and health and social care discourse. He argues that a focus on empowerment has superseded the notion of political subjects exercising power autonomously. This innovative volume: - Discusses the relationship between concepts of empowerment and power, as they have been understood historically. - Analyses changes in the conception and meaning of empowerment in relation to the shifting social and political landscape. - Acknowledges the positive impact empowerment strategies have had on those who have campaigned to be empowered and also on those who have saw their role as being to help empower others. - Highlights ways in which talk about empowerment can actually work in such a way as to further disempower those already marginalised. Critically examining how ‘empowerment’ has become embedded in contemporary social and political life, this work offers a discussion of the term’s multiple meanings, what it actually entails, and how it constructs and positions those being empowered and those empowering.
This book describes the theory and applications of discrete orthogonal polynomials--polynomials that are orthogonal on a finite set. Unlike other books, Discrete Orthogonal Polynomials addresses completely general weight functions and presents a new methodology for handling the discrete weights case. J. Baik, T. Kriecherbauer, K. T.-R. McLaughlin & P. D. Miller focus on asymptotic aspects of general, nonclassical discrete orthogonal polynomials and set out applications of current interest. Topics covered include the probability theory of discrete orthogonal polynomial ensembles and the continuum limit of the Toda lattice. The primary concern throughout is the asymptotic behavior of discrete orthogonal polynomials for general, nonclassical measures, in the joint limit where the degree increases as some fraction of the total number of points of collocation. The book formulates the orthogonality conditions defining these polynomials as a kind of Riemann-Hilbert problem and then generalizes the steepest descent method for such a problem to carry out the necessary asymptotic analysis.
Providing an asymptotic analysis via completely integrable techniques, of the initial value problem for the focusing nonlinear Schrodinger equation in the semiclassical asymptotic regime, this text exploits complete integrability to establish pointwise asymptotics for this problem's solution.
In the quarter century after Confederation, discussions in parliament, in the party press, and in private correspondence tackled difficult questions of race and religion in Canada. In this important study, historian Kenneth McLaughlin challenges the idea that ultra-Protestant sentiment plagued the Conservative Party after the death of John A. Macdonald in 1891 and led to their defeat in 1896. His systematic analysis demonstrates that the Protestant spirit of the age was found in both the Liberal and Conservative parties. Rather than a simple reaction to school crises in Manitoba and the Northwest Territories, it represented a response to social turmoil brought about by major changes to the Canadian economy."--Page 4 of cover.
In this book, the authors describe a continuum limit of the Toda ODE system, obtained by taking as initial data for the finite lattice successively finer discretizations of two smooth functions. Using the integrability of the finite Toda lattice, the authors adapt the method introduced by Lax and Levermore for the study of the small dispersion limit of the Korteweg de Vries equations to the case of the Toda lattice. A general class of initial data is considered which permits, in particular, the formation of shocks. A feature of the analysis in this book is an extensive use of techniques from the theory of Riemann-Hilbert problems.
In this book, the authors describe a continuum limit of the Toda ODE system, obtained by taking as initial data for the finite lattice successively finer discretizations of two smooth functions. A novel feature of the analysis in this book is an extensive use of techniques from the theory of Riemann-Hilbert problems.
This volume is a collection of papers presented at a special session on integrable systems and Riemann-Hilbert problems. The goal of the meeting was to foster new research by bringing together experts from different areas. Their contributions to the volume provide a useful portrait of the breadth and depth of integrable systems. Topics covered include discrete Painleve equations, integrable nonlinear partial differential equations, random matrix theory, Bose-Einstein condensation, spectral and inverse spectral theory, and last passage percolation models. In most of these articles, the Riemann-Hilbert problem approach plays a central role, which is powerful both analytically and algebraically. The book is intended for graduate students and researchers interested in integrable systems and its applications.
Kenneth McLaughlin highlights the need for a new approach to social work that has a more optimistic view of both individuals and society, and of their capacity to overcome problems.
The history of Kitchener is unique among cities in southern Ontario. Although Kitchener shares so much of the character of the region today, its past was considerably different. Until 1916, Kitchener was Berlin, “Canada’s German capital.” Over two-thirds of the residents were of German origin; many retained strong traces of that past. These became controversial when Canada fought two wars against Germany. By the middle of the First World War, the idea of “a patch of Germany” in the heart of southern Ontario became untenable. Berlin became Kitchener, but not without a battle which split the small city. This is the first scholarly history of Kitchener. Based on wide-ranging research, it illustrates how a community so unlike its neighbours became a part of the broader Canadian community in the twentieth century. Much of the information is new, and many myths are punctured. The romantic mists which have surrounded the story of the early Mennonite settlers are lifted. The full story of the great controversies of the First World War is told for the first time. The impact of the Depression and the extraordinary economic boom which accompanied the Second World War are analyzed. Kitchener’s sometimes-eccentric politicians are seen, not as deviations, but as representatives of a long tradition of civic populism. Over 100 photographs accompany the text. Maps and tables further illuminate Kitchener’s development. Kitchener: An Illustrated History will be of interest, not only to its residents, but also to Canadians generally who are interested in the history of multiculturalism and the transition from rural to urban Canada. This book illustrates the difficulties as well as the rewards of maintaining distinct cultural traditions. The problems it identifies concern many Canadians today.
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