_In _Diverse Families, Desirable Schools_, Mira Debs offers a richly detailed study of public Montessori schools, which make up the largest group of progressive schools in the public sector._ As public Montessori schools expand rapidly as alternatives to traditional public schools, the story of these schools, Debs points out, is a microcosm of the broader conflicts around public school choice. Drawing on historical research, interviews with public Montessori educators, and ethnographic case studies, Debs explores the forces (...) that pull intentionally diverse, progressive schools toward elitism. At the heart of Debs’s book is a thoughtful analysis of the notion of “fit” between parents and schools—an idea that is central to school choice, which is often marketed as an opportunity for parents to find the perfect fit for their kids. By exploring parents’ varied motivations in choosing these schools and observing how families experience—or fail to experience—a “good fit” _after_ having chosen a particular school, Debs makes an original contribution to the literature on school choice and sheds light on the dilemmas entailed in maintaining diversity in progressive charter and magnet schools. (shrink)

Inspired by the Enlightenment readings of Hebrew biblical texts generated in the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries, Mira Morgenstern's _Reframing Politics in the Hebrew Bible_ goes beyond the pioneering interpretations of various biblical texts penned by such noted Bible students as Spinoza, Rousseau, and Angelina Grimké to present an introduction to the Hebrew Bible as a whole from the perspective of a modern-day political theorist. In doing so, it offers a brilliant thematic guide to the Hebrew Bible's most politically (...) salient passages, complete with text and commentary. Morgenstern's account of the significance of these ancient yet strangely modern texts will fascinate students of both ancient and modern political theory—as well as all readers of the Hebrew Bible itself. (shrink)

Introduction Introducing Accessibility theory 0.1 On the role of context Utterances cannot be processed and interpreted on their own. ...

Interpretations of the ethical significance of the Bhagavadgītā typically understand the debate between Arjuna and Kṛṣṇa in terms of a struggle between consequentialist and deontological doctrines. In this paper, I provide instead a reading of the Gītā which draws on a conception of moral thinking that can be understood to cut across those positions – that developed by Stanley Cavell, which he calls ‘Emersonian Moral Perfectionism’. In so doing, I emphasise how Kṛṣṇa’s consolation of Arjuna can centrally and fruitfully be (...) viewed as concerned with resuscitating the latter’s individuality, thereby allowing Arjuna to overcome an unthinking conformity to the current degenerate state of his society. This leads me to explore the relation between this perfectionist understanding of spiritual reorientation and the Gītā’s religious account of human redemption; and to conclude by suggesting how the text of the Gītā itself might have similar therapeutic designs upon its readers. (shrink)

In a recent online lecture, the acclaimed novelist Amit Chaudhuri responded to an accusation that has greeted his fiction since the start of his literary career: that since, as he openly admits, his novels contain people and events that are drawn from his own life, they are better thought of as thinly disguised memoirs—as not really novels at all. In this paper, I discuss this charge by drawing on an account by the philosopher Stephen Mulhall of the work of another (...) distinguished novelist—J.M. Coetzee (more specifically, that work which features the character Elizabeth Costello). In particular, I want to establish the pertinence to Chaudhuri’s lecture of Mulhall’s analogy between aspects of that work and the work of the influential art historian and critic Michael Fried on the history of modernist painting. In so doing, I aim to show that the commitment to the projects of literary modernism and realism which Mulhall sees in Coetzee (and Costello), can also be seen in Chaudhuri’s understanding of the sense in which his novels both are, and are not, autobiographical. (shrink)

This paper presents an implemented computational model of word acquisition which learns directly from raw multimodal sensory input. Set in an information theoretic framework, the model acquires a lexicon by finding and statistically modeling consistent cross‐modal structure. The model has been implemented in a system using novel speech processing, computer vision, and machine learning algorithms. In evaluations the model successfully performed speech segmentation, word discovery and visual categorization from spontaneous infant‐directed speech paired with video images of single objects. These results (...) demonstrate the possibility of using state‐of‐the‐art techniques from sensory pattern recognition and machine learning to implement cognitive models which can process raw sensor data without the need for human transcription or labeling. (shrink)

Most observers agree that modern physical theory attempts to provide objective representations of reality. However, the claim that these representations are based on conventional choices is viewed by many as a denial of their objectivity. As a result, objectivity and conventionality in representation are often framed as polar opposites. Offering a new appraisal of symmetry in modern physics, employing detailed case studies from relativity theory and quantum mechanics, Objectivity, Invariance, and Convention contends that the physical sciences, though dependent on convention, (...) may produce objective representations of reality. Talal Debs and Michael Redhead show that both realists and constructivists have recognized important elements of an understanding of science that may not be contradictory. The position--"perspectival invariantism"-- introduced in this book highlights the shortcomings of existing approaches to symmetry in physics, and, for the constructivist, demonstrates that a dependence on conventions in representation reaches into the domain of the most technical sciences. For the realist, it stands as evidence against the claim that conventionality must undermine objectivity. We can be committed to the existence of a single real ontology while maintaining a cultural view of science. (shrink)

This document presents the Bonn PRINTEGER Consensus Statement: Working with Research Integrity—Guidance for research performing organisations. The aim of the statement is to complement existing instruments by focusing specifically on institutional responsibilities for strengthening integrity. It takes into account the daily challenges and organisational contexts of most researchers. The statement intends to make research integrity challenges recognisable from the work-floor perspective, providing concrete advice on organisational measures to strengthen integrity. The statement, which was concluded February 7th 2018, provides guidance on (...) the following key issues: § 1. Providing information about research integrity§ 2. Providing education, training and mentoring§ 3. Strengthening a research integrity culture§ 4. Facilitating open dialogue§ 5. Wise incentive management§ 6. Implementing quality assurance procedures§ 7. Improving the work environment and work satisfaction§ 8. Increasing transparency of misconduct cases§ 9. Opening up research§ 10. Implementing safe and effective whistle-blowing channels§ 11. Protecting the alleged perpetrators§ 12. Establishing a research integrity committee and appointing an ombudsperson§ 13. Making explicit the applicable standards for research integrity. (shrink)

In this article, I claim that Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road is a recent version of the film genre that Stanley Cavell calls the “melodrama of the unknown woman”. Accordingly, my discussion focuses on two key elements of that identification: the film's overriding dramatic and thematic emphasis on conversation; and the central characters’ relation to the wider social and political concerns of America.

This book critically analyzes emerging issues and challenges in delivering timely justice to common people. It brings a wide range of contemporary and relevant issues relating to the gross violation of human rights and presents situation-based evidence from, and first-hand experiences of behavioral, social and legal professionals. It deals with themes such as holding administrations accountable and securing justice, challenges for the judiciary in the early disposal of cases, challenges to the forensic community, green federalism and environmental justice, current threats (...) to human rights, ethics in the criminal justice system and honor killing from socio-cultural perspectives. Topical and comprehensive, this book will be an excellent read for scholars and researchers of political studies, legal studies, human rights, psychology, behavioural studies, political sociology, sociology, development studies, governance and public policy, environmental studies and South Asian studies. It will also interest policymakers, nongovernmental organizations, activists and professionals in the field. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction Historical‐Dialectical Thought in Hegel and Marx Marx's Onto‐formative View of Human Nature Capitalism As a Counter‐ontological, Fetishizing Force Gramsci's Historical and Dialectical Campaign against Capitalism Conclusion Notes References.

De un tiempo a la actualidad el denominado modelo chileno se encuentra en jaque. Las exigencias de la sociedad civil chilena se vuelven palpables por las calles de nuestro país. La molestia y, por consiguiente, protesta social, ha tomado cada vez más fuerza y adhesión entre quienes no se sienten representados en lo más mínimo ni por el Estado ni por la clase política, generando como resultado diferentes frentes de conflictividad, tales como activistas ecológicos, trabajadores del cobre, estudiantes secundarios y (...) universitarios, profesores y el pueblo mapuche entre otros, que han desembocado en la amplia impopularidad y rechazo del ahora Presidente de Chile, Sebastián Piñera. No obstante, la dicotomía generada es interesante. Mientras en el foro interno del país se sucede una histórica protesta social de proporciones por la amplia brecha de desigualdad, éste refleja una pujante economía, cuyos indicadores macroeconómicos lo muestran como los mejores de América Latina. (shrink)

Of the various forms of life writing with which the present collection is concerned, I want in this chapter to devote my attention to the genre of the memoir (and so the autobiographical), and its relation to the seemingly sharply contrasting literary genre of the novel (insofar as the former is understood as a mode of writing concerned with the recounting of the facts or reality of a particular human life, and the latter is understood as concerned only with the (...) appearance of such lives, with the essentially unreal or fictional). Of course, the recent interest in what is termed ‘autofiction’ has served to raise once again the question of the distinction between the memoir and the novel; but rather than engage with that discussion, I want here to focus instead on a particular author’s explicit critical response to that distinction, insofar as it has persistently marked the reception of his work. -/- In a recent lecture, the acclaimed novelist Amit Chaudhuri replied to an accusation that has greeted his fiction from the start of his literary career: that since his novels contain people and events drawn from his own life, they are better thought of as thinly disguised memoirs—as not really novels at all. To examine this charge, I want to draw on an account by the philosopher Stephen Mulhall of the work of another celebrated novelist—J.M. Coetzee (more specifically, that work which features the character Elizabeth Costello). In particular, I want to establish the pertinence to Chaudhuri’s lecture of Mulhall’s analogy between aspects of that work and the work of the influential art historian and critic Michael Fried on the history of modernist painting. In so doing, I aim to show that the commitment to the projects of literary modernism and realism which Mulhall finds in Coetzee (and Costello), can also be found in Chaudhuri’s understanding of the sense in which his novels both are, and are not, autobiographical. (shrink)

What role should the political ideal of non-domination play in theorizing global justice? The importance of this ideal is defended most prominently in neo-republican political thought where non-domination embodies a conception of political freedom and serves as the foundational ideal of state citizenship [Pettit, Philip. 1997. Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government. Oxford: Clarendon Press; Laborde, Cecile. 2008. Critical Republicanism. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press]. It has been argued, however, that these theories can be extended to the global (...) political community and yield a separate framework for global justice. This paper agrees with proponents of non-domination that there is a significant critical and normative potential in the ideal's capacity to speak to the structural inequalities of power in the global order and to make them central, in a way that not only encompasses but also moves beyond questions of redistribution. Yet it argues that this should be conceived as a complement to existing approaches to global justice, rather than a full-fledged alternative. Non-domination's central contribution lies in reframing our perspective on the political authority of states and global institutions. As such it should be viewed as a freestanding principle to assess the political legitimacy of institutionalized global power relations. (shrink)

Comparative study of discipline in Theravada and Sarvastivada Buddhism.

In his works for a few decades since the 1960s, Theodore Roszak, professor of California State University, has made an emphatic call to rethink all the fundamental objectives and values of the techno-scientific civilization and consumer society. His name became famous when he published his book “The Making of a Counterculture. Reflections on the Technotronic Society and Its Youthful Opposition” (New York, 1968), supporting the oppositional movement of the young Americans which he named counterculture. Theodore Roszak came to the conclusion (...) that the consumer society did not bring happiness to all people, that it could rapidly bring mankind to an environmental disaster, and that it is a blind alley in terms of social development. (shrink)

Most students step into our classrooms completely innocent of the notion of consciousness, consciousness studies, or the possibility of altering states of consciousness. Our task is to build our courses to meet these students needs at the undergraduate level, and to bring them slowly—and with care—into the realm of consciousness studies. Protection of human subjects surely extends to our students in the classroom and not just to natives of some distant or proverbial "bush.” There are, however, innumerable ways of doing (...) just this—consciousness studies with attention to the wide range of student experience—in any of our courses and at any level of instruction, and with awareness that perhaps the most interesting study of consciousness takes place through the alchemy of teaching—right there in the midst of our own classroom. (shrink)

The literature on sado‐masochism (S/M) and dominance and submission (D/S) tends to focus either on the psychodynamics of perversion or, in more magnanimous moments, on rites of reversal in the power relations of participants. This paper shifts the focus of analysis to the altered states of consciousness achieved in consensual S/M, bondage and fetish play and demonstrates the self‐conscious affinity between S/M and ecstatic religious practices like those well documented in the anthropological literature. The paper will explore sensory and other (...) shifts used to produce what one informant called "that transformative experience." It is posited that "dominance/ submission" and "top/bottom" are not simply asymmetrical relations in terms of power relations, but that they evoke fundamentally different states of consciousness. Further, altered states in consensual bondage and fetish play differ significantly in hetero‐ and homosexual play. The reasons for this appear to have both historical and political implications which are explored briefly in the paper. (shrink)

Hegemony and Education explores how the educational insights implicit in Antonio Gramsci's historical materialist outlook have been reconciled to the post-Marxist theory of 'radical democracy.' The author argues that there is an urgent need to redefine the dynamics of hegemony as a theory centering on the problem of cognitive and moral submissiveness; that is, a problem indicative of the pathologies of capitalism with respect to democratic theorizing.