3 new books from MPP Faculty - October 2020
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Lars Bo Kaspersen: War, Survival Units, and Citizenship, 2020 by Routledge In this ground-breaking book, the author proposes a new theory of state formation based upon a rethinking of the nexus war, state, and citizenship. He seeks to move beyond explanations provided by traditional approaches by discussing and presenting alternative state-society and state theories, arguing that a relational-processual understanding of the states has been neglected in existing literature. The book begins with a critical discussion of the concept of the state and society in social and political theory. The author suggests an alternative theoretical-methodological framework based upon German relational theory (such as Hegel, Clausewitz, Carl Schmitt, and, in particular Norbert Elias). Drawing upon the concepts of survival unit and figuration the book provides a political, historical and sociological comparative analysis of the relation between war, state, and citizenship in France, England and Germany from the Middle Ages to the mid-17th century, with emphasis on the 16th and 17th centuries. |
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Sine Nørholm Just, Annette Risberg and Florence Villesèche: The Routledge Companion to Organizational Diversity Research Methods, 2020. This book explores how diversity in organizations is, and can be researched, providing readers with insights into the potential research designs for studies in contemporary organizations.
This includes paying attention to methods but also to the role of the researcher and research bodies in the field, their potential as activists as well as to the theoretical question of standpoints in researching organizational diversity. Chapters also consider the diversity of research participants, inclusive research, and intersectionality. All contributors are experts in diversity research, and in their contributions, they reflect upon the appropriate methods for the specific type of diversity research they conduct, noting strengths and weaknesses and illustrating their arguments with practical examples from their work. |
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Ana Maria Munar: I Am Man, 2020.
I A Man is a collection of philosophical reflections and poems on gender difference. Ana Maria combines biographical experiences, philosophy, feminist thought, literature and art to reveal the interlinkages of language, body and being. The book explores the theoretical position of gender skepticism; specifically, the beliefs that gender does not exist and that gender is invisible (“I do not see gender”).
Composed as a space with forty-six imaginations, I Am Man addresses the historical and cultural dominance of the idea of man as the universal, as the invisible default-rule. The reflections, poems and exhibits represent the creative act of imagining the being and doing of man when one has biographically always identified as woman. Inspired by art and literary works and by the philosophical polemics about gender of Jacques Lacan, Joan Copjec, Audre Lorde and Judith Butler among others, the book represents an expressive and creative approach to investigating how gender manifests in the world. I Am Man invites us to playfully and critically question gender identity and the power of words. |