What does it mean to be modern in Iran today? Can one properly speak of modernity in relation to what many consider to be the paradigmatic Islamic... state? Since its 1979 revolution seized the world's attention, the Islamic Republic of Iran has remained a subject of misunderstanding, passion, and polemic, making these questions difficult to answer -- or even to ask. This book -- a study of Iran's political culture in the broadest and deepest sense -- looks into both of these questions by examining the tremendous changes taking place in Iran today.Because of the difficulties posed for researchers and journalists by the nature of the regime, those interested in contemporary Iranian social life have had to rely on a small number of specialized studies -- most of which overemphasize the revolution's radical break with the past and focus exclusively on the Republic's Islamic character as the decisive factor in its social reality. But modernity has not simply been banished and excluded from Iran; nor have the effects of globalization passed it by.Drawing on her extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Iran and an encyclopedic knowledge of contemporary Iranian politics and culture, anthropologist Fariba Adelkhah investigates modernity in the Islamic Republic of Iran by looking at the growth of individualism, the bureaucracy, commercial forces, and rationalization in post-revolution Iran. Being Modern in Iran ranges over such topics as • taxation and Islamic legitimacy;• Mayor Kharbaschi's creation of public space in Tehran;• the culture of giving;• religious economics;• the elections of 1996 and 1997, and the popular rejoicing that greeted them;• the nation-wide soccer craze; • the changing role of clerics;• the changing use of the Koran; and • the growth of competition in all areas of life.These subjects are brought to life by vignette discussions of pigeon-fanciers, flower symbolism, funeral rites, dreams, self-help manuals, cosmetics, and much more.Adelkhah avoids a simpleminded dualism between an "odious," backward, and repressive regime on the one side and a "kindly" civil society representing progress and freedom on the other; rather, she argues that a public space is being created through the existence of many religious, political, and economic activities. This sophisticated anthropology of the Iranian state sheds much-needed light on the unique nature of the social experiment Iran has been experiencing since the revolution.

This volume is a multifaceted study of the development of modernism in Japan, with authors from Japan, the United States, and Australia spanning the ... fields of art history, social history, and literature. Being Modern in Japan raises many issues about Japanese modernity and its contested meanings. Writers explore what it means to be modern in Japan from the 1910s to the 1930s, but many subjects discussed are relevant to modernity elsewhere in Asia, Europe, and North America. Certain aesthetic concerns in Japanese art occurred spontaneously, while others reflected the adoption of a common formal modernist language. Being modern in the Taisho and early Showa periods became integral to the society of the time. The practices and spaces of modernity changed in their meaning--or took on multiple meanings--during the 1920s, and by the early 1930s Japan was widely perceived by Japanese themselves as "modern."

In this innovative book, Keith Watenpaugh connects the question of modernity to the formation of the Arab middle class. The book explores the rise of a... middle class of liberal professionals, white-collar employees, journalists, and businessmen during the first decades of the twentieth century in the Arab Middle East and the ways its members created civil society, and new forms of politics, bodies of thought, and styles of engagement with colonialism. Discussions of the middle class have been largely absent from historical writings about the Middle East. Watenpaugh fills this lacuna by drawing on Arab, Ottoman, British, American and French sources and an eclectic body of theoretical literature and shows that within the crucible of the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, World War I, and the advent of late European colonialism, a discrete middle class took shape. It was defined not just by the wealth, professions, possessions, or the levels of education of its members, but also by the way they asserted their modernity. Using the ethnically and religiously diverse middle class of the cosmopolitan city of Aleppo, Syria, as a point of departure, Watenpaugh explores the larger political and social implications of what being modern meant in the non-West in the first half of the twentieth century. Well researched and provocative, Being Modern in the Middle East makes a critical contribution not just to Middle East history, but also to the global study of class, mass violence, ideas, and revolution.

Long a charged topic in the West, Islam has become incendiary since 9/11, drawing heated reactions from both defenders and critics. The two sides rarely... talk, and when they try neither seems to listen. Equally helpful for Muslims and non-Muslims, this book is a cross-cultural attempt to bridge these worlds. Based on the author's travels in Muslim lands and his interviews with experts, Being Muslim examines the impact of terrorism on Muslims and explains how Islam works in the daily lives of believers. Siddiqui dissects the Western media's treatment of Islam and Muslims, shows how extremists are being challenged by a new Islamic generation, and tackles the controversial topics, from terrorism to the treatment of women, that have been used to mischaracterize Islam and its adherents. Being Muslim also shows why there are good reasons to expect a future of mutual understanding. Charts, a glossary, and suggestions for further reading accompany the text.

"I have been able to follow a Bosnian community over a period of six years, during which it has undergone dramatic changes. In the late 1980s people... were working hard against economic crisis. In 1990 they were full of optimism for the future. In January 1993 the village was in fear, surrounded by war on all sides. In April 1993 it was attacked by Croat forces. In October 1993 none of the Muslims in the village remained. They had either fled, been placed in detention camps, or been killed."Thus begins Tone Bringa's moving ethnographic account of Bosnian Muslims' lives in a rural village located near Sarajevo. Although they represent a majority of the population in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Muslims are still members of a minority culture in the region that was once Yugoslavia. The question of ethno- national identity has become paramount in this society, and the author focuses on religion as the defining characteristic of identity. Bringa pays particular attention to the roles that women play in defining Muslim identities, and she examines the importance of the household as a Muslim identity sphere. In so doing, she illuminates larger issues of what constitutes "nationality."This is a gripping and heartfelt account of a community that has been torn apart by ethno-political conflict. It will attract readers of all backgrounds who want to learn more about one of the most intractable wars of the late twentieth century and the people who have been so tragically affected.

Uranium from Africa has long been a major source of fuel for nuclear power and atomic weapons, including the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. In 2002, George... W. Bush claimed that Saddam Hussein had "sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa" (later specified as the infamous "yellowcake from Niger"). Africa suddenly became notorious as a source of uranium, a component of nuclear weapons. But did that admit Niger, or any of Africa's other uranium-producing countries, to the select society of nuclear states? Does uranium itself count as a nuclear thing? In this book, Gabrielle Hecht lucidly probes the question of what it means for something--a state, an object, an industry, a workplace--to be "nuclear." Hecht shows that questions about being nuclear--a state that she calls "nuclearity"--lie at the heart of today's global nuclear order and the relationships between "developing nations" (often former colonies) and "nuclear powers" (often former colonizers). Nuclearity, she says, is not a straightforward scientific classification but a contested technopolitical one.Hecht follows uranium's path out of Africa and describes the invention of the global uranium market. She then enters African nuclear worlds, focusing on miners and the occupational hazard of radiation exposure. Could a mine be a nuclear workplace if (as in some South African mines) its radiation levels went undetected and unmeasured? With this book, Hecht is the first to put Africa in the nuclear world, and the nuclear world in Africa. Doing so, she remakes our understanding of the nuclear age.

An ideal starting-point for those interested in Buddhism, Being Peace contains Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings on peace and meditation. Using real examples... from his own life, as well as poems and fables, Nhat Hanh explains his key practices for living "right in the moment we are alive." These lessons are taught with fine writing and sparkling phrases that draw the reader in and make Being Peace a book that encourages multiple readings, both alone and in groups.This new edition of Nhat Hanh's seminal bestseller marks the book's first update since it was released in 1987. It includes a new introduction by noted Buddhist Jack Kornfield and beautiful illustrations by internationally recognized artist Mayumi Oda. Still as timely as when it was first published over 15 years ago, Being Peace is a revelation for anyone concerned with the state of the world and the quality of life.

A few times in your life, someone will tell you something so right, so deeply true that it changes you forever. That is what Anna Quindlen, author of... the timeless bestseller A Short Guide to a Happy Life, does here.In Being Perfect, she shares wisdom that, perhaps without knowing it, you have longed to hear: about “the perfection trap,” the price you pay when you become ensnared in it, and the key to setting yourself free. Quindlen believes that when your success looks good to the world but doesn’t feel good in your heart, it isn’t success at all. She asks you to set aside your friends’ advice, what your family and co-workers demand, and what society expects, and look at the choices you make every day. When you ask yourself why you are making them, Quindlen encourages you to give this answer: For me. “Because they are what I want, or wish for. Because they reflect who and what I am. . . . That way lies dancing to the melodies spun out by your own heart.”At the core of this beautiful book lies the secret of authentic success, the inspiration to embrace your own uniqueness and live the life that is undeniably your own, rich in fulfillment and meaning.

In Being Present: A Nurse s Resource for End-of-Life Communication, authors Marjorie Schaffer and Linda Norlander offer strategies to help nurses talk... with patients and families about their needs, hopes, and wishes as they face their own death or that of a loved one. The strategies are based on research by nurses in the United States and Norway. Each chapter presents a real-life account of nurses dealing with near-death patients and their families and includes the best communication techniques. Chapters also include topics for discussion and further reflection that are useful for group learning. In Being Present: A Nurse s Resource for End-of-Life Communication, you will learn how to Respond to patient and family wishes and hopes Cope with conflict Help the patient say goodbye at the end of life Incorporate cultural needs in end-of-life care

Who was Rita Hayworth? Born Margarita Carmen Cansino, she spent her life subjected to others' definitions of her, no matter how hard she worked to... claim her own identity. Although there have been many "revelations" about her life and career, Adrienne McLean's book is the first to show that such disclosures were part of a constructed image from the outset. McLean explores Hayworth's participation in the creation of her star persona, particularly through her work as a dancer-a subject ignored by most film scholars. The passive love goddess, as it turns out, had a unique appeal to other women who, like her, found it extraordinarily difficult to negotiate the competing demands of family, domesticity, and professional work outside the home. Being Rita Hayworth also considers the ways in which the actress has been treated by film scholarship over the years to accomplish its own goals, sometimes at her expense. Several of Hayworth's best-known star vehicles-among them Gilda (1946), Down to Earth (1947), The Lady from Shanghai (1948), and Affair in Trinidad (1952)- are discussed in depth.

This book, by one of the most innovative and challenging contemporary thinkers, consists of an extensive essay from which the book takes its title and... five shorter essays that are internally related to “Being Singular Plural.”One of the strongest strands in Nancy’s philosophy is his attempt to rethink community and the very idea of the social in a way that does not ground these ideas in some individual subject or subjectivity. The fundamental argument of the book is that being is always “being with,” that “I” is not prior to “we,” that existence is essentially co-existence. Nancy thinks of this “being-with” not as a comfortable enclosure in a pre-existing group, but as a mutual abandonment and exposure to each other, one that would preserve the “I” and its freedom in a mode of imagining community as neither a “society of spectacle” nor via some form of authenticity.The five shorter essays impressively translate the philosophical insight of “Being Singular Plural” into sophisticated discussions of national sovereignty, war and technology, identity politics, the Gulf War, and the tragic plight of Sarajevo. The essay “Eulogy for the Mêlée,” in particular, is a brilliant discussion of identity and hybridism that resonates with many contemporary social concerns.As Nancy moves through the exposition of his central concern, being-with, he engages a number of other important issues, including current notions of the “other” and “self” that are relevant to psychoanalytic, political, and multicultural concepts. He also offers astonishingly original reinterpretations of major philosophical positions, such as Nietzsche’s doctrine of “eternal recurrence,” Descartes’s “cogito,” and the nature of language and meaning.

Written for both parents and educators who work with children of advanced abilities, Drs. Matthews and Foster present practical strategies to identify... and nurture exceptionally high ability in children. They promote the mastery (rather than the mystery) model of gifted education and challenge several common practices and assumptions. They offer ways to determine each child's level of learning and say that it is simply appropriate to provide the educational experiences that every child needs at a particular time. Features include: Mastery vs. Mystery models, How giftedness develops, Relevant brain research, Use and misuse of assessment, Programming options, Social and behavioral concerns, Teacher development processes, Parenting strategies, and more.

This text is designed to help the young engineer make the transition from student to practicing professional. It provides experience-based... suggestions and helpful warnings to guide new engineers in taking the first steps to successful project leadership and group management. Contents: * Chapter 1: What Engineering Is * Chapter 2: The Engineer * Chapter 3: The Project and the Project Team * Chapter 4: Project Control * Chapter 5: The End Product: Drawings and Reports * Chapter 6: Problem Solving * Chapter 7: Laboratory Work and Experiment * Chapter 8: Design * Chapter 9: Manufacturing and Quality Control * Chapter 10: Research and Development * Chapter 11: Studies * Chapter 12: Systems * Chapter 13: Proposal Work * Chapter 14: The Project Engineer * Chapter 15: Human Relations in an Engineering Organization * Chapter 16: Engineers and the Marketing Function * Chapter 17: Professionalism, Self-Development, Education * Chapter 18: Creativity * Chapter 19: The Engineering Manager

This book combines animations, interactive 3D models, short videos, 3D illustrations, and captioned text to give readers a visual tour of the building... systems supporting the operation of a commercial building. This includes the design, construction, and the operation of a variety of mechanical, electrical and plumbing installations with a focus on their integration and interaction, rather than the details of any one system. The goal of this book is therefore to illustrate the complexity of how these individual building systems fit together in order to understand the difficulties of calculating and coordinating their design and construction. The objective is to help readers visually understand the inherent challenges designers and constructors face in putting together any building as a single, fully integrated, and sustainable collection of building systems.