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This trilingual volume examines the extent to which myths are affected by the crises of the 20th and 21st centuries. It brings together four theoretical studies which analyse both the crisis of structure – implying the distortion or disappearance of myth – and the crisis of concepts and terminology that currently threaten the study of mythology. The largest section of the volume focuses on the crises that have affected ancient, medieval and modern literary myths from a global perspective, taking into account psychology, ethics, politics and contemporary meta-literature. The final section examines the crisis experienced by those myths which permeate the material world, investigating historical and fictitious characters, mythologized places, and languages. The volume is a remarkable collection of 30 texts that were selected from 300 proposals by prestigious researchers from over 30 countries during the 3rd International Conference of Myth Criticism held in Madrid in October 2014.
This book argues that masculine identity is in deep crisis in Western culture - the old forms are disintegrating, while men struggle to establish new relations with women and with each other. This book offers a fresh look at gender, particularly masculinity, by using material from the author's work as a psychotherapist. The book also considers the contrubtions made by feminism, sociology and anthropology to the study of gender, and suggests that it must be studied from an interdisciplinary standpoint. Masculity is seen to have economic, political and psychological roots, but the concrete development of gender must be traced in the relations of the male infant with his parents. Here the young boy has to separate from his mother, and his own proto-feminine identity, and identify with his father - but in Western culture fathering is often deficient. Male identity is shown to be fractured, fragile and truncated. Men are trained to be rational and violent, and to shut out whole areas of existence and feeling. Many stereotypes imprison men - particularly machismo, which is shown to be deeply masochistic and self-destructive.
Always considered a classic renewable resource, after a hundred thousand years of farming and industry, rivers in many parts of the world are running dry and the groundwater is over pumped. In addition, the rate at which water sources are becoming contaminated with waste from humans, industry, and agriculture is truly alarming. Do these factors add up to a water crisis that merits drastic, large-scale action? Not necessarily say the editors of Water Crisis: Myth or Reality. They challenge this pessimism, concluding that while there are serious global water issues to be considered, the concept of a global water crisis is largely overstated. The book examines the issues and explores which conditions are permanent and unchangeable and which are remediable and changeable. The chapters explore when and where severe regional and local water problems occur and make suggestions about how they may be solved in a deliberate, non-crisis manner. The book covers recent breakthroughs in desalination technologies, the eco-sanitation revolution, international trade in agricultural products, methods of governance and negotiation in water allocation, and pricing and devolution of property rights and the roles they play in solving water issues. The editors, along with a panel of world-renowned experts, suggest that water issues can be solved over the next few decades using new technologies and processes.
In this timely book, former Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham debunks the myths that warp our current debate over energy, and offers new solutions to the real problems we face in America. Drawing on the very latest thinking from experts in industry and academia, and his own experiences running America's Energy Department, he proposes a fresh approach to meeting our daunting energy threats. This book effectively answers how America and the world can overcome the challenges of rising global energy demand, geopolitical disruptions of the energy marketplace, and the environmental impact of producing and using energy. What emerges is a pragmatic energy strategy that calls for blending a variety of energy sources including nuclear, clean coal, solar, wind, and natural gas with a more determined effort at improving energy efficiency through the deployment of smart energy grids and buildings, to help meet our challenges while preserving our economy and environment. Coming in the midst of a national debate about global warming, energy dependence and rising energy prices and rich with anecdotes from the author's service in the Senate and cabinet, this book is a clarion call that will help shape our energy future.
“Marshals irrefutable evidence to succinctly demolish the mythic version of the crisis . . . sober analysis.” —The Atlantic This book exposes the misconceptions, half-truths, and outright lies that have shaped the still dominant but largely mythical version of what happened in the White House during those harrowing two weeks of secret Cuban missile crisis deliberations. More than a half-century after the event, it is surely time to demonstrate, once and for all, that Robert F. Kennedy’s Thirteen Days and the personal memoirs of other ExComm members cannot be taken seriously as historically accurate accounts of the ExComm meetings. This book, from the first historian to listen to and evaluate the White House tapes made during the crisis, does exactly that. “Stern is not alone in questioning the precision of the transcripts offered, but he has made the most painstaking attempt to clarify what was really said and done.” —Journal of American History
Six myths lie at the heart of the American experience. Taken as aspirational, four of those myths remind us of our noblest ideals, challenging us to realize our nation's promise while galvanizing the sense of hope and unity we need to reach our goals. Misused, these myths allow for illusions of innocence that fly in the face of white supremacy, the primal American myth that stands at the heart of all the others.
Over the past decade a rising chorus of critics - from William Bennett to Allan Bloom - has decried the supposedly dire state of our public schools. Kids aren't learning what they should, violence and chaos reign in the classroom, and bureaucracy strangles attempts at reform. But how much of that grim image is really true? In The Manufactured Crisis, two prominent scholars, prize-winning educational psychologist David C. Berliner and leading social psychologist Bruce J. Biddle, fight back with the good news. They debunk a whole series of familiar but untrue statistics about public schools - that SAT scores have been dropping, when for many groups they are in fact rising; that illiteracy is up, when in fact the numbers have been skewed because schools are now educating the traditionally disenfranchised in ever larger numbers; that investments in public education do not pay off when, in fact, they lead to greater student achievements and life earnings; that private schools are inherently better than public schools when, in fact, the evidence does not support this charge. Berliner and Biddle tear through these and other sensational myths to give the reader an honest look at public education in America and the misguided, often tragic proposals that critics have urged for correcting these fictive problems. In addition, they expose and offer solutions to the real problems American public schools face today, schools that continue to provide an increasingly diverse citizenry with the opportunity to better their lives.
This assessment of the threat posed to modern welfare states by globalization and demographic change brings together empirical methods, current information from 21 countries and insights from across the social sciences. The author also presents likely trajectories of welfare state development in coming decades.
This book is guaranteed to spark lively debates and critical thinking in any classroom! Two of the most respected voices in education identify 50 myths and lies that threaten America's public schools. Berliner and Glass argue that many citizens conception of K12 public education in the United States is more myth than reality. Warped opinions about our nations public schools include: they are inferior to private schools; they are among the worst in the world in math and science; teachers should be fired if their students dont score at the national average, and on and on. With more than a little humor, Berliner and Glass separate fact from fiction in this comprehensive look at modern education reform. They explain how the mythical failure of public education has been created and perpetuated in large part by political and economic interests who stand to gain from its destruction. They expose a rapidly expanding variety of organizations and media that intentionally misrepresent facts. Where appropriate, they name the promoters of the hoax and point out how their interests are served by encouraging false beliefs. Their method of debunking these falsehoods is to argue against their logic, criticize the data supporting them, and present more credible contradictory data. This dynamic book features short essays on important topics to provide every teacher, administrator, school board member, and concerned parent with reliable knowledge from authoritative sources.
In this fully updated Second Edition, three of today’s most respected crisis/risk communication scholars provide the latest theory, practice, and innovative approaches for handling crisis. This acclaimed book presents the discourse of renewal as a theory to manage crises effectively. The book provides 15 in-depth case studies that highlight successes and failures in dealing with core issues of crisis leadership, managing uncertainty, communicating effectively, understanding risk, promoting communication ethics, enabling organizational learning, and producing renewing responses to crisis. Unlike other crisis communication texts, this book answers the question, “What now?” and explains how organizations can and should emerge from crisis.