Beyond Marginality

First published in 1998, this volume describes and analyses organizations of social security claimants and their position in the field of force of the national welfare state in six European countries: representing a diversity of welfare state regimes. The authors analyse these organizations, and their strengths and weaknesses, from a variety of theoretical perspectives: such as the opportunity structures of welfare states and national political relations, the fragmentation of the social movements of social security claimants along ideological and categorical lines, the (im)possibilities of organizing socially highly marginalized groups etc. The volume also contains an introduction and an epilogue, as well as a chapter dealing with the relations between collective and individual forms of social resistance.

The book Beyond Marginality: Understanding the Intersection of Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Difference in Educational Leadership Research promotes new theoretical and conceptual frameworks for the study of race and ethnicity in educational leadership. In this volume, new generations of scholars of color are moving beyond research that has not been necessarily focused or generated by diverse groups. The authors are purposeful in transcending systemic inequities and injustices in the stratified representation of practitioners and researchers by bringing in a new movement with innovative and impactful theoretical and conceptual frameworks in educational leadership.

Building a bridge between the anthropologies of West and East, the author shows how an intrinsically pathological--marginal--Western culture can be partially reconstructed to go "beyond marginality" by incorporating elements of a more authentic world view.

In a unique study of Anglo-Jewish writers in the post-war period, Dr. Sicher traces through their works the story of the rise of the Jewish community from slum poverty to suburban affluence. This period is one of crucial social change in Britain. At the same time, Dr. Sicher raises serious questions about the modern writer's cultural and ethnic identity. In this process, Dr. Sicher advances the thesis that, under the impetus of the Holocaust, the more traditional conflict between Jewish roots and assimilation has been succeeded by a reassessment of identity and morality. Dr. Sicher's perspective on this particular period of literature is a highly original one and it should provoke creative reconsideration of other contexts and times as well.

While issues of marginalization and participation have engaged scholars across various disciplines and domains, and a range of theoretical perspectives and methodological framings have been deployed in this enterprise, the research presented in this volume aligns itself to alternative traditions by focusing on people’s membership and participation across settings and institutional contexts. The work here, thus, focuses on the constitution of marginalization inside, outside and across a range of settings. It centre-stages marginalization and participation as action in the human world. Going beyond a focus on the marginalized or explanations of marginalization or comparing groups of the marginalized with the non-marginalized, a number of contributions focus on mundane processes inside, outside and across institutional settings in different geopolitical spaces. Other chapters in the book demonstrate the marginalization of specific analytical foci in the research process or hegemonies of national high-stake testing protocols and specific dialects in different geopolitical regions or in domains such as the sporting arena. In contrast to other studies on marginalization and participation, this book takes its point of departure in the complexities that characterize and shape both individuals and societies, past and present. Its chapters challenge demarcated fields of study and conceptions of identity framed marginalization and participation. Drawing attention to the fact that the centre (continues to) define the margins, the work presented here joins research efforts that highlight the need to focus on the constitution of marginalization and participation in a wide range of settings with the explicit aim of going beyond static boundaries that define the human state at different scales of becoming and beyond an understanding of development and progress in terms of a linear trajectory.

Beyond Marginality: Constructing a Self in the Twilight of Western Culture explores the phenomenon of the marginal self using the anthropology of Zen. Muller shows how an intrinsically pathological Western culture can be partially reconstructed to go beyond marginality by incorporating elements of Zen's more authentic world view.

Over time, two competing narratives have emerged to represent the experiences of LGBTQ youth, emphasizing either significant improvement or continued victimization and marginalization. This volume examines those conflicting narratives as they play out in educational settings, both formal and informal. Particular emphasis is placed on LGBTQ youths' own expressions and representations, revealing the extent to which both oppression and opportunity interact to influence their still-emergent identities. Coming of age at the tail end of the «culture wars», these young people are situated within layers of influence across family, peers, schools, communities, and media. The simultaneous, fluid contexts of opportunity and oppression that LGBTQ youth negotiate are highlighted throughout this book in the youths' own words, which often reveal a level of epistemological complexity that their elders would be wise to consider.

Building a bridge between the anthropologies of West and East, the author shows how an intrinsically pathological--marginal--Western culture can be partially reconstructed to go "beyond marginality" by incorporating elements of a more authentic world view.