A professor of church history, Armstrong provides rich portraits of ten people from the past who: translated the gospel for their own times; broke down barriers; ministered out of the brokenness we all share; knew what it feels like to live on the margins; believed in the power of stories to bring transformation through Christ. --from publisher description

From the mid to the late 20th century various French thinkers have at times toyed wth the label of 'the saint', applying it to friends, colleagues, the revered nd even the worshipped such as Genet, Sartre, Camus or Foucault. Despite this profaning of the term, however, here are many subtle truths which emerge from its usage among such writers. This volume is devoted to exploring certain varied notions of 'the saint' in recent French philosophical and literary thought from within a theological context, offering insights and valuable contributions toward how we understand sainthood in cultural, philosophical and religious terms. Each essay focuses on the convergence of a particular author's work and their various (re)formulations of 'saintliness' in their writings, whether this concept is directly expressed in their writings or not. In general, the aim of the volume is to develop a critical engagement between each authors' philosophical worldview and historical notions of sainthood, such that we are capable of providing new understandings of what a 'saint' could be said to be in our world today.

This volume examines the roots of pragmatist imagination and traces the influence of American pragmatism in diverse areas of politics, law, sociology, political science, and transitional studies. The work explores the interfaces between the Progressive movement in politics and American pragmatism. Shalin shows how early 20th century progressivism influenced pragmatism's philosophical agenda and how pragmatists helped articulate a theory of progressive reform. The work addresses pragmatism and interactionist sociology and illuminates the cross-fertilization between these two fields of studies. Special emphasis is placed on the interactionists' search for a logic of inquiry sensitive to the objective indeterminacy of the situation. The challenge that contemporary interactionist studies face is to illuminate the issues of power and inequality central to the political commitments of pragmatist philosophers. Shalin explores the vital link between democracy, civility, and affect. His central thesis is that democracy is an embodied process that binds affectively as well as rhetorically and that flourishes in places where civic discourse is an end in itself, a source of vitality and social creativity sustaining a democratic community. The author shows why civic discourse is hobbled by the civic body that has been misshapen by past abuses. Drawing on the studies of the civilizing process, Shalin speculates about the emotion, demeanor, and body language of democracy and explores from this angle the prospects for democratic transformation in countries struggling to shake their totalitarian past. View Table of Contents

The Routledge Companion to Postmodernism combines a series of fourteen in-depth background chapters with a body of A-Z entries to create an authoritative yet readable guide to the complex world of postmodernism.

This Companion is an authoritative, comprehensive, and accessible guide to the key works, genres, and movements of postmodern American fiction.

Madonna has long been accepted as a pop culture icon, but this text postulates a greater cultural importance by analyzing her as a postmodern myth. This work examines how Madonna methodically discovered and constructed herself (often rewriting her past), the nature and extent of her ambition and the means she used to reach her goals. It also details the way in which she organized her own cult (borrowing from the gay community), devised her artistic output, and cunningly targeted different audiences. It also studies the fundamental contradiction--virgin or vamp? saint or prostitute?--that fuels Madonna's career and describes how Madonna reflects today's society, its contradictions and its attitudes toward sexuality and religion.

Please note this is a 'Palgrave to Order' title. Stock of this book requires shipment from an overseas supplier. It will be delivered to you within 12 weeks. This book grapples with two basic questions. What is history? And How can history help illuminate contemporary concerns about the nature and character of America's schools? From antiquity to the postmodern present, history has served multiple purposes, including a basic human need to learn from what came before. Americans have long invested considerable time, energy, and emotion in their schools, both private and public, and a knowledge of history helps explain why.

Postmodern Pirates offers a comprehensive analysis of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean series and the pirate motif in British literature and Hollywood movies through the lens of postmodern film theories.

An inquiry into the clash, or confluence, of the oldest and newest stream of Western philosophical tradition: Hellenic rationalism and its nemesis, poststructuralism. Ten superb scholars from several disciplines engage the ultimate issues of literary theory. An indispensable book. Complete with a comprehensive bibliography, index of names and index of subjects. Contributors: Harry Berger Jr. Page duBois David M. Halperin Djelal Kadir Linda Kintz Sharon Larisch Louis Orsini Steven Shankman Douglass H. Thomson Eugene Webb

This book provides critical insight into the questions of race, gender, sexuality, and locality in sport and society. Topics discussed include postmodern sport writing; sport and the postmodern deconstruction of gender and sexuality; virtual sport and the postmodern mediascape; discipline, normalization, rationalization, surveillance, panopticism, and other forms of power used to "invest" postmodern sporting bodies; and new perspectives on sport and physical culture, consumer culture, and postmodern geography.