Villa Victoria

For decades now, scholars and politicians alike have argued that the concentration of poverty in city housing projects would produce distrust, alienation, apathy, and social isolation—the disappearance of what sociologists call social capital. But relatively few have examined precisely how such poverty affects social capital or have considered for what reasons living in a poor neighborhood results in such undesirable effects. This book examines a neglected Puerto Rican enclave in Boston to consider the pros and cons of social scientific thinking about the true nature of ghettos in America. Mario Luis Small dismantles the theory that poor urban neighborhoods are inevitably deprived of social capital. He shows that the conditions specified in this theory are vaguely defined and variable among poor communities. According to Small, structural conditions such as unemployment or a failed system of familial relations must be acknowledged as affecting the urban poor, but individual motivations and the importance of timing must be considered as well. Brimming with fresh theoretical insights, Villa Victoria is an elegant work of sociology that will be essential to students of urban poverty.

It is 1995 and the Morton-Stewarts assemble at the ‘Villa Victoria’ in Antibes, which has been in their family since 1880. The purpose of the gathering is to discuss the future of the house and of the two elderly aunts who, apart from their internment during the war, have lived there all their lives. Isolated from the social change around them, they run the villa like an Irish country house, ignoring the fact that ‘The Season’ has changed from winter to summer and that the society in which they were brought up no longer exists. As Frances, their great-niece, observes: “They are living a 1920s lifestyle in the 1990s, and if they can no longer afford it, surely we must do something about it!” For Charlie, the current owner of the house, it is a time to review the principles and prejudices which have governed his life so far and to question their morality and relevance in today’s world. For Sylvia, the widow of James, Charlie’s ‘black sheep’ brother, and her daughter Emma, it is a time of anxiety; Sylvia was a barmaid who ‘trapped’ James and was the cause of his disinheritance many years ago. She has been ostracised by the family for twenty years; how will they react to her now? Seduced by the glory of a Riviera spring and surrounded by the memorabilia and traditions of a century of occupation, the family settle down and start getting to know each other – quite unprepared for the momentous revelations that are to come... Easter at the Villa Victoria is a romantic, character-driven novel, full of humour and set in the 1990s. It will primarily appeal to female readers.

Through an in-depth study of the Latino community in Boston, Carol hardy-Fanta addressees three key debates in American politics: how to look at the ways in which women and men envision the meaning of politics and political participation; how to understand culture and the political life of expanding immigrant populations; and how to create a more participatory America. The author's interviews with Latinos from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Central and South America and her participation in community events in North Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, and the South End document the often ignored contribution of Latina women as candidates, political mobilizers, and community organizers. Hardy-Fanta examines critical gender differences in how politics is defined, what strategies Latina women and Latino men use to generate political participation, and how culture and gender interact in the political empowerment of the ethic communities. Hardy-Fanta challenges the notion of political apathy among Latinos and presents factors that stimulate political participation. She finds that the vision of politics promoted by Latina women—one based on connectedness, collectivity, community, and consiousness-raising—contrasts sharply with a male political concern for status, hierarchy, and personal opportunity.

A history of the Religious Teachers Filippini by one of the order's most distinguished members.

"Women have played active, prominent roles in Boston history since the days of Anne Hutchinson - the colonial freethinker who bravely challenged the authority of ruling Puritan ministers in 1638. Hutchinson's action is only one of more than 200 stories of Boston women told in the newly expanded guidebook from the Boston Women's Heritage Trail. Several maps indicate the sites where these historic women walked, worked, and lived, while photographs and other illustrations help bring these women to life once again. The updated guidebook will take you on seven walks through seven distinctly different Boston neighborhoods. Hutchinson's story is told by her statue on the grounds of the Massachusetts State House, while Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy's is found at the site of her birthplace in the North End. An underground railway stop on Beacon Hill reveals the dramatic escape of enslaved Ellen and William Craft to Boston. Other trails lead walkers to new statues of Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman in the South End and of Abigail Adams, Lucy Stone and Phillis Wheatley - three women who used the pen for change - portrayed in bronze in the recently dedicated Boston Women's Memorial on Commonwealth Avenue. The Boston Women's Heritage Trail guidebook is a must for visitors, students, and residents of Boston alike. Its lively descriptions show the significant role Boston women played in shaping the history and the future of both Boston and the nation."