Under The Sign Of Hope

Under the Sign of Hope examines the practices of life history, ethnographic fieldwork, and interpretation of women's narratives, ultimately asserting the importance of self-reflexivity for feminist methodology. Bloom takes the stance that what is critical to research is an ability to analyze the complexities of researcher-participant relationships and the limitations of narrative interpretation.

Winner of the 2013 Outstanding Qualitative Book Award by the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry. Signs of Hope tells the story of a narrative inquiry with three deafhearing families. For many of us, deafness represents loss and silence. For others, being deaf is a genetic quirk; an opportunity for learning, spiritual adventure and reward. For yet others, it is the most natural thing in the world; a connection to a genealogical layer of signing ancestors and the continuation of a culture. Amid the noise of mainstream, medical and educational discourses of deafness, here are family voices demanding to be heard – whether spoken or signed – that challenge audiological and surgical intervention, that call for scrutiny and critique of ‘inclusive’ deaf-related pedagogical practices, that rail against marginalisation of members of minority cultures. Over four years, Donna West has recorded the stories of three families who wish to counter and resist what they see as damaging misconceptions and discriminatory constructions of deafness and deafhearing family life. Here, spaces are created that respect and acknowledge human beings – adults, children, deaf, hearing – as storytellers. The poetic and performative narratives at the heart of this book reveal not only the ways in which hurtful definitions of, and discrimination towards, deaf people and signing deafhearing families is destabilised, but also the ways in which celebration of deaf culture and sign language are affirming and vital for healthy family life.

"Mercedes AMG Petronas F1-Team"is the official name of the team that has been operated in the Formula 1 competition since the 2010 season by Germany's Daimler AG, one of the world's leading manufacturers of automobiles. The "Petronas" forming part of the racing team's name is also emblazoned on its legendary Silver Arrow cars. Owned by the Malaysian government, Petronas is a multinational petroleum giant. It, in turn, is also the main owner of companies that have been producing oil for many years in South Sudan, which is the one of the poorest countries in the world. These methods of production have caused an environmental catastrophe. It has seriously damaged the health and livelihoods of the people living there. That the world knows about this catastrophe is the result of nine years of the dogged, often dangerous work undertaken by"Sign of Hope", the German NGO, which launched. "Oil, power and Sign of Hope" documents the struggle to get the parties responsible at the oil companies and at their partners of sponsorship to adhere to internationally-applicable standards ― and, by doing such, to enable 180,000 people to exercise their human right to clean water. Another thrust of Sign of Hope's endeavors is the preservation of one of the world's largest wetlands and of its unique biodiversity: There are ways and means of pushing the buttons of the managers responsible for making decisions at entities that are engaged in polluting the environment. These buttons just have to be really strongly pushed.

Ifigeney is a descendant of that inglorious human race, yet far removed from those beings. Driven by his deep love of nature, he comes to believe that salvation of Cosmos lies in his hands. Ifigeney has a unique gift: the ability to communicate with salvific presences in parallel worlds. From this comes the conviction that he is close to creating the rarest of alchemical substances, the legendary Philosopher's Stone. This volume contains 26 illustrations by the Author and 42 tracks composed by Riccardo Mazzoleni.

Why do some people find and sustain hope during difficult circumstances, while others do not? What can we learn from those who do, and how is their example applicable to our own lives? The Anatomy of Hope is a journey of inspiring discovery, spanning some thirty years of Dr. Jerome Groopman’s practice, during which he encountered many extraordinary people and sought to answer these questions. This profound exploration begins when Groopman was a medical student, ignorant of the vital role of hope in patients’ lives–and it culminates in his remarkable quest to delineate a biology of hope. With appreciation for the human elements and the science, Groopman explains how to distinguish true hope from false hope–and how to gain an honest understanding of the reach and limits of this essential emotion.

David Hope is the leader of the Catholic wing of the Church of England. He is the son of a builder from Wakefield, Yorkshire who was appointed to the highest office in the Church of England because of his profound spiritual authority ( he is a man of great personal holiness) and because of his practical commonsense approach to day-to-day problems in the Church. Underneath the charm, the humour and the holiness is a very tough down-to-earth Yorkshireman. These great qualities are exemplified in this new collection of Hope`s sermons and addresses. Whether he is addressing the congregation of a fashionable Episcopal Church in New York, or a conference of tough-minded business men at the Institute of Management his ability to touch the hearts and minds of his audience is outstanding. `Within the space of one week`, writes David Hope `I can find myself at the Great Yorkshire Show, at the York Races, addressing a group of business executives on the subject of business ethics, presenting awards to apprentices on an engineering course and visiting the classes in a primary school in a deprived urban area`. It is the application of the Catholic gospel to such a variety of circumstances and people`s lives that has made David Hope the outstanding Christian leader that he is. At all times, he points the way to existential openness and to transcendence. His qualities are evident for all to read in this compelling new book.

“[A] landmark book . . . Solnit illustrates how the uprisings that begin on the streets can upend the status quo and topple authoritarian regimes” (Vice). A book as powerful and influential as Rebecca Solnit’s Men Explain Things to Me, her Hope in the Dark was written to counter the despair of activists at a moment when they were focused on their losses and had turned their back to the victories behind them—and the unimaginable changes soon to come. In it, she makes a radical case for hope as a commitment to act in a world whose future remains uncertain and unknowable. Drawing on her decades of activism and a wide reading of environmental, cultural, and political history, Solnit argues that radicals have a long, neglected history of transformative victories, that the positive consequences of our acts are not always immediately seen, directly knowable, or even measurable, and that pessimism and despair rest on an unwarranted confidence about what is going to happen next. Now, with a moving new introduction explaining how the book came about and a new afterword that helps teach us how to hope and act in our unnerving world, she brings a new illumination to the darkness of our times in an unforgettable new edition of this classic book. “One of the best books of the 21st century.” —The Guardian “No writer has better understood the mix of fear and possibility, peril and exuberance that’s marked this new millennium.” —Bill McKibben, New York Times–bestselling author of Falter “An elegant reminder that activist victories are easily forgotten, and that they often come in extremely unexpected, roundabout ways.” —The New Yorker

For some decades, the work of Carmelite theologian Constance FitzGerald, OCD, has been a well-known secret, not only among students and practitioners of Carmelite spirituality, but also among spiritual directors, spiritual writers, retreatants, vowed religious women and men, and Christian theologians. This collection sets out to introduce the work of Sister Constance to a wider and more diverse audience––women and men who seek to strengthen themselves on the spiritual journey, who yearn to deepen personal or scholarly theological and religious reflection, and who want to make sense of the times in which we live. To this end, this volume curates seven of Sister Constance’s articles with probing and responsive essays written by ten theologians. Contributors include: Susie Paulik Babka Colette Ackerman, OCD Roberto S. Goizueta Margaret R. Pfeil Alex Milkulich Andrew Prevot Laurie Cassidy Maria Teresa Morgan Bryan N. Massingale M. Catherine Hilkert, OP