Author: Michelle Mary Lelwica File Type: pdf What happens when your body doesnt look how its supposed to look, or feel how its supposed to feel, or do what its supposed to do? Who or what defines the ideals behind these expectations? How can we challenge them and live more peacefully in our bodies? Shameful Bodies Religion and the Culture of Physical Improvement explores these questions by examining how traditional religious narratives and modern philosophical assumptions come together in the construction and pursuit of a better body in contemporary western societies. Drawing on examples from popular culture such as self-help books, magazines, and advertisements, Michelle Mary Lelwica shows how these narratives and assumptions encourage us to go to war against our bodies-to fight fat, triumph over disability, conquer chronic pain and illness, and defy aging. Through an ethic of conquest and conformity, the culture of physical improvement trains us not only to believe that all bodily processes are under our control, but to feel ashamed about those parts of our flesh that refuse to comply with the cultural ideal. Lelwica argues that such shame is not a natural response to being fat, physically impaired, chronically sick, or old. Rather, body shame is a religiously and culturally conditioned reaction to a commercially-fabricated fantasy of physical perfection. While Shameful Bodies critiques the religious and cultural norms and narratives that perpetuate external and internalized judgment and aggression toward shameful bodies, it also engages the resources of religions, especially feminist theologies and Buddhist thoughtpractice, to construct a more affirming approach to health and healing-an approach that affirms the diversity, fragility, interdependence, and impermanence of embodied life. **

Author: Giles Mandelbrote File Type: pdf The earliest libraries belonged to temples and administrative bodies, resembled our modern archives, and were usually restricted to the aristocracy, nobility, theologians, and for the use of scholars. Dispersed along the shelves of the British Library today are many volumes that once stood side by side in private libraries. Thiscollection oforiginalessaysexplores some of the most important printed collections whichhave been brought togetherwithin the British Museum Librarysince its foundation in 1753, casting new light on the individuals whose personal interests and taste they reflect.Ranging from the library of Henry VIII to Sir Joseph Banks, and from Sir Hans Sloane to George III, this volumealso acts as a handbook toprovenance within the British Library collections, providing guidance on the interpretation of marks of ownership, stamps, shelfmarks and other forms of evidenceto be found in particular copies. **

Author: Marie-Bénédicte Dembour File Type: pdf Many people believe passionately in human rights. Others - Bentham, Marx, cultural relativists and some feminists amongst them - dismiss the concept of human rights as practically and conceptually inadequate. This book reviews these classical critiques and shows how their insights are reflected in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. At one level an original, accessible and insightful legal commentary on the European Convention, this book is also a groundbreaking work of theory which challenges human rights orthodoxy. Its novel identification of four human rights schools proposes that we alternatively conceive of these rights as given (natural school), agreed upon (deliberative school), fought for (protest school) and talked about (discourse school). Which of these concepts we adopt is determined by particular ways in which we believe, or do not believe, in human rights.ReviewThere are thousands of books on human rights, hundreds on human rights law. This one will stand out as one of the very best. Adam Tomkins, John Millar Professor of Public Law, University of GlasgowMore Europeans believe in human rights than believe in God. Their oracle - at Strasbourg, not Delphi - is tended by a priesthood of judges and law professors culled from 46 countries, divining the basic rights of humankind. The author provides a valuable and necessary critique of their work, as it is beginning to affect the lives of millions previously downtrodden by state power in Russia and Eastern Europe. Geoffrey Robertson QCThis precious work illuminates the rather normatively dense, and often darkening, landscapes of the European human rights law and jurisprudence and carries some profound and immense messages for the construction of comparative, and compassionate, social theory of, and action for, human rights. Upendra Baxi, Professor of Law, University of WarwickDemour brilliantly challenges lazy assumptions about the universal and natural character of human rights. Her command of European Court jurisprudence allied with her broad knowledge of Western philosophy makes this a tour de force in legal and political anthropology. John Bowen, Dunbar-Van Cleve Professor in Arts & Sciences, Washington University, St LouisDembours book is a timely contribution to the existing literature on human rights. Even leaving aside her useful and original methodology, the book provides a good introduction to the European Convention system and its strengths and weaknesses. The International Journal of Human RightsMarie-Benedicte Dembour subjects the idea of human rights and the legal product of the European Court of Human Rights to an original and compelling theoretical analysis in search of an anser to her questions can we believe in human rights? and should we believe in human rights? ... This book is genuinely a tour de force which should be read by anyone who has ever asked themselves whether human rights is an adequate or appropriate way of delivering just and compassionate action. Perhaps even more, it should be read by those who have not. Electronic Immigration NetworkThe themes [the author] discusses so eloquently have long constituted the key sites of human rights criticism. But they are rarely treated as discursively and revealingly as here. The Modern Law Review Book DescriptionAt one level an original and insightful commentary on the European Convention, this book is also a groundbreaking work of theory which challenges human rights orthodoxy. Its identification of four human rights schools proposes that we alternatively conceive of these rights as given, agreed upon, fought for or talked about.

Author: Jonathan Allen File Type: mobi The mesmerizing story of Hillary Clintons political rebirth, based on eyewitness accounts from deep inside her inner circleHillary Clintons surprising defeat in the 2008 Democratic primary brought her to the nadir of her political career, vanquished by a much younger opponent whose message of change and cutting-edge tech team ran circles around her stodgy campaign. And yet, six years later, she has reemerged as an even more powerful and influential figure, a formidable stateswoman and the presumed front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, marking one of the great political comebacks in history. The story of Hillarys phoenixlike rise is at the heart of HRC, a riveting political biography that journeys into the heart of Hillaryland to discover a brilliant strategist at work. Masterfully unfolded by Politicos Jonathan Allen and The Hills Amie Parnes from more than two hundred top-access interviews with Hillarys intimates, colleagues, supporters, and enemies, HRC portrays a seasoned operator who negotiates political and diplomatic worlds with equal savvy. Loathed by the Obama team in the wake of the primary, Hillary worked to become the presidents greatest ally, their fates intertwined in the work of reestablishing America on the world stage. HRC puts readers in the room with Hillary during the most intense and pivotal moments of this era, as she mulls the president-elects offer to join the administration, pulls the strings to build a coalition for his war against Libya, and scrambles to deal with the falloutfrom the terrible events in Benghaziall while keeping one eye focused on 2016. HRC offers a rare look inside the merciless Clinton political machine, as Bill Clinton handled the messy business of avenging Hillarys primary loss while she tried to remain above the partisan fray. Exploring her friendships and alliances with Robert Gates, David Petraeus, Leon Panetta, Joe Biden, and the president himself, Allen and Parnes show how Hillary fundamentally transformed the State Department through the force of her celebrity and her unparalleled knowledge of how power works in Washington. Filled with deep reporting andimmersivestorytelling, this remarkable portrait of the most important female politician in American history is an essential inside look at the woman who may be our next president. From the Hardcover edition.ReviewWell researched, well written and with plenty of inside access, it makes a strong case that Hillary is set to run again - and makes you hope she does. -- Alastair Campbell About the AuthorJONATHAN ALLEN covers the White House and the 2016 presidential campaign for Bloomberg News. An award-winning reporter, he has also written extensively about Congress and national politics, and he appears frequently as a political analyst on national television news programs. He lives on Capitol Hill with his wife, Stephanie, and their children, Asher and Emma. AMIE PARNES is the White House correspondent for The Hill newspaper in Washington, where she covers the Obama Administration. A ten-year veteran of political journalism, she traveled with the Clinton, Obama and McCain campaigns while covering the 2008 presidential race for POLITICO. She appears frequently on MSNBC and has also been featured on CNN, Fox News and other networks.