Changing Perspectives 1

The volume brings together forty years of agenda-setting scholarship in Israelite and Judean history. The historical essays gathered here were among the first to raise serious questions about the "patriarchal age", the exodus from Egypt and the conquest of Canaan, and the temple of Solomon. The literary essays on the Pentateuch challenged both the classical Documentary Hypothesis and the more recent modifications that support the notion of an extensive Deuteronomistic redaction of the Pentateuch. The final set of essays examines biblical notions of patriarchal religion, myths of human origin, and the legendary origins of Passover within a broad comparative context.

Changing Perspectives charts the pivotal period in Houston’s history when Jewish and Black leadership eventually came together to work for positive change. This is a story of two communities, both of which struggled to claim the rights and privileges they desired. Previous scholars of Southern Jewish history have argued that Black-Jewish relations did not exist in the South. However, during the 1930s to the 1980s, Jews and Blacks in Houston interacted in diverse and oftentimes surprising ways. For example, Houston’s Jewish leaders and eventually Black political leaders forged a connection that blossomed into the creation of the Mickey Leland Kibbutzim Internship in Israel for disadvantaged Black youth. Initially Houston Jewish leadership battled with their devotion to liberalism and sympathy with oppressed Blacks and their desire to acculturate. The distance between Houston’s Jews and Blacks diminished after changing demographics, the end of segregation, city redistricting, and the emergence of Black political power. Simultaneously, Israel’s victory during the Six-Day War caused the city’s Jews to embrace their Jewish identity and form an unexpected bond with Black political leaders over the cause of Zionism. Allison Schottenstein shows that Black-Jewish relations did exist during the Long Civil Rights Movement in Houston. Indeed, Houston played a significant role in the scope of Southern Jewish history and in expanding our understanding of Black-Jewish relations in the United States.

The volume brings together forty years of agenda-setting scholarship in Israelite and Judean history. The historical essays gathered here were among the first to raise serious questions about the "patriarchal age", the exodus from Egypt and the conquest of Canaan, and the temple of Solomon. The literary essays on the Pentateuch challenged both the classical Documentary Hypothesis and the more recent modifications that support the notion of an extensive Deuteronomistic redaction of the Pentateuch. The final set of essays examines biblical notions of patriarchal religion, myths of human origin, and the legendary origins of Passover within a broad comparative context.

Despite the plethora of books on change, there appears is a notable gap in the field; rarely is the authentic and candid voice of change practitioners heard. Seldom are those most closely involved in the management of change given (or seek) the opportunity to write about their personal experiences and reflexiveness. Nor is this just a case of practicing managers not being given a voice, or feeling that they cannot be frank and open about what they do. How often do academics candidly state what they actually do when they are faced with managing change in their own institutions or when they are called on in a consultancy capacity? Similarly, it is rare for full-time consultants to be candid about what it is they actually do: instead they tend to have a well-honed sales pitch which lays out a logical change process directed at helping the client to achieve success. Yet, when academics, consultants and practicing managers are prepared to speak candidly about what they really do, a richer, messier but more illuminating picture of change emerges. The aim of Perspectives on Change is to move beyond the ‘do as I say’ approach of most change books and to encourage academics, consultants and managers to say candidly what it is they really do and what they really think about change and how it should be managed. The Editors of this book, Burnes and Randall, have over 60 years of experience between them of studying and teaching change management, acting as consultants and actually managing change projects. They are, therefore, well aware of the differences and contradictions between what academics, consultants and managers say about change in public and what they say in private and do in practice. Perspectives on Change will offer students and practitioners of change a unique opportunity to understand change in practice. In addition, it will also contribute to the Rigour-Relevance debate by giving a different and perhaps more realistic perspective on the nature of the gap between theory and practice.

Throughout the Pacific region, people are faced with dramatic changes, often described as processes of “glocalization”; individuals and groups espouse multilayered forms of identity, in which global modes of thinking and doing are embedded in renewed perceptions of local or regional specificities. Consequently, new forms of resistance and resilience – the processes by which communities attempt to regain their original social, political, and economic status and structure after disruption or displacement – emerge. Through case studies from across the Pacific which transcend the conventional “local-global” dichotomy, this volume aims to explore these complex and interwoven phenomena from a new perspective.

This textbook offers a combination of rigorous theoretical exploration together with practical insights from those who are reponsible for managing change. It looks at organisational change from multiple perspectives, with the aim of helping readers navigate the landscape of change.