Challenges To Authority

The second half of the seventeenth century marked the first major breakthrough for women playwrights in France, as some of them succeeded in getting their works staged, published and taken seriously by critics and authority figures. The four works included here, translated into English for the first time, represent the diversity of genres cultivated by these writers, while reflecting both the cultural milieu of the era and a concern for the status of women. Françoise Pascal's Endymion, a tragicomedy with special effects, daringly reexamines a classical myth. Marie-Catherine Desjardins's Nitetis, a historical tragedy, focuses on the plight of a virtuous and astute queen married to an evil tyrant. Antoinette Deshoulières's Genseric, also a historical tragedy, rejects prevailing models of male heroism and of conventional tragic plots. Catherine Durand's proverb comedies contain a scathing critique of aristocratic mores and give voice to women's desires for emancipation.

Argues that ordinary people exercise extraordinary political courage and power in American politics when, frustrated by politics as usual, they rise up in anger and hope, and defy the authorities and the status quo rules that ordinarily govern their daily lives. By doing so, they disrupt the workings of important institutions and become a force in American politics. Drawing on critical episodes in U.S. history, Piven shows that it is in fact precisely at those seismic moments when people act outside of political norms that they become empowered to their full democratic potential.

The evolution and reception of the Renaissance was mediated by developments in various other spheres of early modern life and culture. Foremost among these were the religious changes initiated by the Protestant Reformation, which are discussed in the opening chapters of this book. Religious and cultural developments in Germany are contrasted with sixteenth-century Spain and are further explored through the study of the picaresque novel Lazarillo de Tormes. Subsequent chapters explore the Renaissance fascination with witchcraft and demonology in both learned discourse (Pico’s Strix) and popular drama (The Witch of Edmonton). The volume concludes with a study of one of the most influential and provocative writers of the sixteenth century, Michel de Montaigne, whose Essays provide stimulating material for a reassessment of the impact of the Renaissance on contemporary thought.

A unique volume demonstrating how law changes by reason of challenges to authority which seek the recognition of rights.

Eminent educator Greg Prince examines how colleges should set an example of behaviour to students in order to maximise their success. The author investigates both the national and international implications and reveals how these simple measures will revitalise not only the world of education but also wider society.

Expansive and engaging, this book investigates the fluidity of sites of power and authority in global politics. Examining the key shifts and turns of politics in globally oriented spaces since the end of the Cold War, contributions from leading scholars explore the continually shifting parameters of global governance.

The evolution and reception of the Renaissance was mediated by developments in various other spheres of early modern life and culture. Foremost among these were the religious changes initiated by the Protestant Reformation, which are discussed in the opening chapters of this book. Religious and cultural developments in Germany are contrasted with sixteenth-century Spain and are further explored through the study of the picaresque novel Lazarillo de Tormes. The place of Renaissance science or natural philosophy is also the subject of critical evaluation in this book. Case studies on the anatomical revolution, Galileo and court patronage, and Paracelsus illustrate new approaches in the field. Subsequent chapters explore the Renaissance fascination with witchcraft and demonology in both learned discourse (Pico's Strix) and popular drama (The Witch of Edmonton). The volume concludes with a study of one of the most influential and provocative writers of the sixteenth century, Michel de Montaigne, whose Essays provide stimulating material for a reassessment of the impact of the Renaissance on contemporary thought. This volume is the third in a series of three texts designed for the Open University course The Renaissance in Europe: A Cultural Enquiry.