How should social workers adapt to a time of widespread instability and uncertainty? How can social work practice account for the ever-increasing infiltration of technology and media images into our daily lives and mental states? In this book, Ken Moffatt turns to postmodern philosophy’s grappling with late capitalism and the omnipresence of technology in order to develop a new approach to reflective social work practice and critical pedagogy.Postmodern Social Work attempt...

In the contemporary urban environment, the once-dominant concept of a ‘masculine’ identity is being replaced by alternative ideas of what it means to be a man. Troubled Masculinities explores and theorizes the ways in which men who experience marginalization in urban settings reimagine and reconstruct their identities as males.Through personal narratives and assessments of artistic expression, the contributors present critical and inventive views of masculinity and how it ...

How should social workers adapt to a time of widespread instability and uncertainty? How can social work practice account for the ever-increasing infiltration of technology and media images into our daily lives and mental states? In this book, Ken Moffatt turns to postmodern philosophy’s grappling with late capitalism and the omnipresence of technology in order to develop a new approach to reflective social work practice and critical pedagogy.Postmodern Social Work attempt...

Founded in a perspective that speaks to the diversity of contexts and processes used across Canada, this work is nevertheless firmly grounded in theory, offering an in-depth analysis geared toward advanced study in community practice.This depth is further strengthened by the diversity of topics represented in this collective work: community work in various regions of the country exploring issues of poverty and environmental activism; community work with immigrants and refugees, and...

This brief and engagingly written book provides a unique introduction to the process of social inquiry and the theoretical and methodological frameworks that support that inquiry, offering a strong foundation in critical thinking that is rooted in the social sciences but maintains relevance across the disciplines.

In Anthropology and Social Theory the award-winning anthropologist Sherry B. Ortner draws on her longstanding interest in theories of cultural practice to rethink key concepts of culture, agency, and subjectivity for the social sciences of the twenty-first century. The seven theoretical and interpretive essays in this volume each advocate reconfiguring, rather than abandoning, the concept of culture. Similarly, they all suggest that a theory which depends on the interested action ...

The modern university can trace its roots to Kant's call for enlightened self-determination, with education aiming to produce an informed and responsible body of citizens. As the university evolved, specialized areas of investigation emerged, enabling ever more precise research and increasingly nuanced arguments. In recent decades, however, challenges to the hegemony of disciplines have arisen, partly in response to a perceived need for the university to focus greater energy on its public ...

Imagining Transgender is an ethnography of the emergence and institutionalization of transgender as a category of collective identity and political activism. Embraced by activists in the early 1990s to advocate for gender-variant people, the category quickly gained momentum in public health, social service, scholarly, and legislative contexts. Working as a safer-sex activist in Manhattan during the late 1990s, David Valentine conducted ethnographic research among mostly male-to-fe...

What makes a speech community? How do they evolve? How are speech communities identified? Speech communities are central to our understanding of how language and interactions occur in societies around the world and in this book readers will find an overview of the main concepts and critical arguments surrounding how language and communication styles distinguish and identify groups. Speech communities are not organized around linguistic facts but around people who want to share their opinio...

Queer Methods and Methodologies provides the first systematic consideration of the implications of a queer perspective in the pursuit of social scientific research. This volume grapples with key contemporary questions regarding the methodological implications for social science research undertaken from diverse queer perspectives, and explores the limitations and potentials of queer engagements with social science research techniques and methodologies. With contributors based in the UK, USA...

Questions about who we are, who we can be, and who is like and unlike us underpin a vast range of contemporary social issues. What makes our families so important to us? What do the often stark differences between how we self-identify and the way others see and define us reveal about our social world? Why do we attach such significance to 'being ourselves'?In this new edition of her popular and inviting introduction, Steph Lawler examines a range of important debates about identity...

This second edition of Cultural Theory provides a concise introduction to cultural theory, placing major figures, traditional concepts, and contemporary themes within a sharp conceptual framework.Provides a student-friendly introduction to what can often be a complex field of studyUpdates the first edition in response to reader feedback and to the changing nature of the fieldIncludes additional coverage of theorists from the classical period to in...