Arguably, some of the most poignant issues currently in relationship-focused fields, such as public relations, are those related to inclusion and diversity, and the authors outline the central role of leaders in addressing them.
—G. Nicolosi, The Pennsylvania State University
Bardhan, Nilanjana. The role of leadership in building inclusive diversity in public relations, by Nilanjana Bardhan and Karla Gower. Routledge, 2022. 244p bibl index ISBN 9780367771546, $160.00; ISBN 9780367769642 pbk, $49.95; ISBN 9781003170020 ebook, contact publisher for price.
Bardhan (communication, Univ. of South Illinois, Carbondale) and Gower (Univ. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa) bring forth a novel approach to addressing DEI issues in public relations through a masterful dissection of current industry practices, leadership models, and DEI literature. Arguably, some of the most poignant issues currently in relationship-focused fields, such as public relations, are those related to inclusion and diversity, and the authors outline the central role of leaders in addressing them. The most impressive feature of this work is the proposed leadership model for building inclusive diversity in public relations, which the authors develop by breaking down and building upon pervasive leadership models, such as transformational leadership, and through extensive research on DEI in organizations. The creation of such a model is precisely what the industry needs to continue propelling DEI initiatives toward those currently working in public relations and those who intend to work in the field. Well written, pivotal, and thought provoking, The Role of Leadership in Building Inclusive Diversity in Public Relations would do well as required reading for university students interested in progress in the field of public relations. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty and professionals. —G. Nicolosi, The Pennsylvania State University
This is a great read for all, particularly those interested in conservation issues and the role of nature in the growth of American popular culture.
—L. T. Spencer, emeritus, Plymouth State University
Dallos, Matt. In the Adirondacks: dispatches from the largest park in the lower 48. Empire State Editions, 2023. 240p bibl ISBN 9781531502638, $29.95; ISBN 9781531502645 ebook, contact publisher for price.
In 16 narrative chapters of varying length, interspersed with several chapters providing physical details about the 250 lakes and ponds scattered throughout the Adirondacks, Dallos describes the history of regional travel and vacationing in the US, including early examples from documentary sources, illustrating the role played by the Adirondacks in old-time popular culture. Dallos spent thousands of hours pursuing information both on the ground and in libraries, so his text focuses mainly on Adirondacks history. The book also provides a personal guide to the motels/hotels currently available, including campgrounds where Dallos stayed, particular ponds and lakes he canoed, roads he followed, trails he hiked, and souvenir shops he visited. Readers can almost imagine themselves in the author’s shoes doing all of the above. Twelve illustrations include four in color; the rest are black-and-white, mainly depicting people and places mentioned in the text. Readers may wish Dallos had included a map, but Google Earth takes them to all the places mentioned. The text includes chapter notes and, uniquely for this type of book, a separate essay on sources. The index is brief. This is a great read for all, particularly those interested in conservation issues and the role of nature in the growth of American popular culture. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. —L. T. Spencer, emeritus, Plymouth State University
This book should be read by anyone interested in how so many Americans of ‘the Greatest Generation’ and the US government rewarded the selfless sacrifice of fellow Americans with denigration and abuse.
—R. T. Ingoglia, St.Thomas Aquinas College
Delmont, Matthew F. Half American: the epic story of African Americans fighting World War II at home and abroad. Viking, 2022. 400p bibl index ISBN 9781984880390, $30.00; ISBN 9781984880406 ebook, contact publisher for price.
This well-written, scholarly history considers the “Double V” campaign African Americans waged during WW II—one “V” for victory against the Axis powers abroad, the other for success against domestic racism. Beginning with African Americans’ interest in the Italo-Ethiopian War and the Spanish Civil War, Delmont (Dartmouth College) chronicles their participation in WW II and ends with their immediate postwar struggle to achieve full citizenship rights and recognition consonant with their wartime sacrifices. And sacrifices there were, whether on the battlefront (e.g., the non-acceptance of Black volunteers, segregated training centers in hostile white communities, placement in non-combat units, disparagement by white officers) or on the home front (e.g., underemployment in burgeoning war industries, refusal to advance Black workers into semi-skilled/skilled positions, discriminatory housing). Examples of the structural racism encountered and fought against by both male and female leaders abound, such as A. Philip Randolph and Ella Baker, as well as by ordinary people in foxholes, factories, and neighborhoods. This book should be read by anyone interested in how so many Americans of “the Greatest Generation” and the US government rewarded the selfless sacrifice of fellow Americans with denigration and abuse. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers through faculty; professionals. —R. T. Ingoglia, St.Thomas Aquinas College
This author offers careful philosophical reflections on the importance of autonomy, empathy, trust, meaning-making, and epistemic and moral agency.
—S. A. Mason, emerita, Concordia University
Gosselin, Abigail. Mental patient: psychiatric ethics from a patient’s perspective. MIT, 2022. 308p bibl index ISBN 9780262544313, $45.00; ISBN 9780262371223 ebook, contact publisher for price.
This book is about chronic, severe mental illness written from the perspective of a professional philosopher who has experienced years of devastating episodes of psychosis. Gosselin (Regis Univ.) turns to the philosophical and scientific literature to make sense of the enormous challenge severely ill patients face, which is to work on recovery while taking medications that often have debilitating side effects. It is difficult for patients to resist the powerful pull of psychosis—which in Gosselin’s words “did not want me to receive treatment that would make it recede; it wanted to stay present and alive” (p. 83). Finding the road to recovery requires patients to make herculean efforts to “show up and participate.” As Gosselin argues, it is crucial that patients be encouraged to exercise their capacity for autonomous choice as much as possible and to combat the hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, confused thinking, and, as in Gosselin’s case, the voice that urged her to kill herself. This author offers careful philosophical reflections on the importance of autonomy, empathy, trust, meaning-making, and epistemic and moral agency. Her aim is to help clinicians and others understand and respect severely ill mental patients and ultimately help patients recover their decision-making capacity with the least amount of coercion possible. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. —S. A. Mason, emerita, Concordia University
This incisive, thought-provoking book illuminates the ideological tension at the root of an influential idea.
—K. Anderson, Eastern Illinois University
Malcolm, Nigel I. Rethinking racial uplift: rhetorics of Black unity and disunity in the Obama era. University Press of Mississippi, 2022. 190p bibl index ISBN 9781496842640, $99.00; ISBN 9781496842657 pbk, $30.00; ISBN 9781496842688 ebook, contact publisher for price.
What is the impact of racial uplift on African American political thought? Is it a viable ideological strain or a remnant of conservative ideology with limited utility for understanding contemporary political debates? Malcolm (communications, Keene State College) explores the effects of this idea in this nuanced and impactful new book. He examines the works of several public intellectuals, including Ta-Nehisi Coates, Randall Kennedy, and Eugene Robinson, to interrogate how the idea of racial uplift is understood as a philosophy and in policy. He finds that the meaning of the idea has evolved from a shared goal of group advancement to an individualized state in which the achievements of a few symbolize racial possibility in the US. This shift from community empowerment to individual accomplishment complicates uses of this ideology in contemporary African American politics. This incisive, thought-provoking book illuminates the ideological tension at the root of an influential idea. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty. —K. Anderson, Eastern Illinois University
Mukherjee waxes nearly poetic in describing the work of earlier scientists, making readers’ progress toward understanding the cell as the basic unit of life a vivid experience, evolving from discovery to discovery toward cells’ behavior in human reproduction.
—F. W. Yow, emeritus, Kenyon College
Mukherjee, Siddhartha. The song of the cell: an exploration of medicine and the new human. Scribner, 2022. 473p bibl index ISBN 9781982117351, $32.50; ISBN 9781982117375 ebook, contact publisher for price.
To learn more about cells—how they came to be and how they function—and be entertained by a skilled storyteller who is also a physician and research scientist, readers can do no better than engage with this volume. Having previously authored The Gene (CH, Dec’16, 54-1766) and the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Emperor of All Maladies (2011), Mukherjee (Columbia Univ.) brings well-known and obscure cell scientists past and present together in a scintillating narrative. He entwines the history of cell science and medicine with occasional examples from his own work, enriching the story through anecdotes highlighting his personal background. Photographic images of featured scientists support the text. Mukherjee waxes nearly poetic in describing the work of earlier scientists, making readers’ progress toward understanding the cell as the basic unit of life a vivid experience, evolving from discovery to discovery toward cells’ behavior in human reproduction. Included in the story are specific instances in which cell alteration could play a role in disease damage repair. Through cameo portraits of his own patients, Mukherjee recounts successes and failures in his practice and how these events shaped his life. This author’s enthusiasm and hopes for the future are infectious, offering an enjoyable read, no matter what readers’ backgrounds are. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. —F. W. Yow, emeritus, Kenyon College
For the North Korean elite, preventing unification with South Korea is a ‘life-or-death survival game,’ which helps explain the centrality of nuclear weapons and missile programs in North Korea’s foreign policy.
—M. E. Carranza, emeritus, Texas A&M University–Kingsville
North Korea’s foreign policy: the Kim Jong-un regime in a hostile world, ed. by Scott A. Snyder and Kyung-Ae Park. Rowman & Littlefield, 2022. 316p bibl index ISBN 9781538160299, $109.00; ISBN 9781538160305 pbk, $38.00; ISBN 9781538160312 ebook, contact publisher for price.
Snyder (Council on Foreign Relations) and Park (Univ. of British Columbia, Canada) did a superb job assembling an impressive set of papers on North Korea’s foreign policy over the last decade under the Kim Jong-un regime. This book focuses on North Korea’s conflictual relationships with the US and South Korea. Part I provides a brief historical background on Korea’s division into two states in 1945–48. For the North Korean elite, preventing unification with South Korea is a “life-or-death survival game,” which helps explain the centrality of nuclear weapons and missile programs in North Korea’s foreign policy. Part II examines the stalled inter-Korean diplomatic negotiations, the threat of nuclear war with the United States in 2017, and the restoration of special Sino-North Korean relations. It discusses Kim Jong-un’s summit diplomacy. The “historic showmanship” between Trump and Kim Jong-un failed to achieve North Korea’s denuclearization in exchange for economic sanctions relief due to a “fundamental distrust” between the United States and North Korea. Part III explains United Nations sanctions and North Korea’s strategies, including cyber operations, to circumvent them. This excellent book is an important addition to Jacques Fuqua’s Nuclear Endgame: The Need for Engagement with North Korea (CH, Apr’08, 45-4642). Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty and professionals. —M. E. Carranza, emeritus, Texas A&M University–Kingsville
This very readable text uses case studies from many sources to illustrate how addictive behaviors have developed and how to break the cycle and ‘detox’ from intrusive technologies.
—J. M. King, emeritus, University of Georgia
Schell, Bernadette H. Digital detox: why taking a break from technology can improve your well-being. Greenwood, 2022. 255p bibl index ISBN 9781440878114, $63.00; ISBN 9781440878121 ebook, contact publisher for price.
From the 1998 film You’ve Got Mail, in which the two main characters become obsessed with receiving romantic mail from strangers over a 300-baud internet connection, to the “hyper-interactive” smartphone, internet, streaming-social-media, and gaming world of today, humanity remains preoccupied with being online for excessive periods. Schell delves into describing the ways society has become addicted to technology and presents ways to break those destructive habits, an approach intended to moderate technology binging and minimize its interference in people’s daily lives. The book leaves little doubt that society is changing, as the author vividly discusses how the technology situation has evolved to this point and how people interact within it. This very readable text uses case studies from many sources to illustrate how addictive behaviors have developed and how to break the cycle and “detox” from intrusive technologies. This would be an excellent resource for both beginning and advanced psychology courses, and would also be helpful to psychologists and counselors in schools and private practice. A modified version of the text, perhaps limiting references to the many scholarly studies cited throughout, would also appeal to general readers, and could even become a bestseller. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students and professionals. General readers. —J. M. King, emeritus, University of Georgia
The authors are delightfully candid in evaluating migration governance and holes in understanding.
—R. A. Harper, York College
Understanding global migration, ed. by James F. Hollifield and Neil Foley. Stanford, 2022. 520p bibl index ISBN 9781503614772, $120.00; ISBN 9781503629578 pbk, $40.00; ISBN 9781503629585 ebook, contact publisher for price.
Understanding Global Migration is a big book that tries to do big things by reaching beyond the usual sites of migration research to explore migration as a global phenomenon. The authors use a few key examples from different regions to build a theory about the nature of contemporary migration. They assert from the outset that certain things matter when analyzing modern migration regimes: (1) the state, (2) a historical and comparative approach, (3) human rights, and (4) migration as an engine of development. The authors organize the book into four sections representing the varieties of migration regimes: the postcolonial migration state informing African and the Middle Eastern illiberal modes; the developmental migration state as a source of and for development in Asia; the liberal and settler migration state behind the multiple nativist and inclusionary traditions in the Americas; and the liberal and post-imperial migration state reflecting the end of European colonialism, the transition from mass emigration to immigration, and conflicts over a comprehensive European policy. Theoretically rich chapters are matched by accessible empirical data. The authors are delightfully candid in evaluating migration governance and holes in understanding. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty. —R. A. Harper, York College
Separate from witchcraft, their magic was not malefic but devoted to assisting neighbors in finding love, wealth, and lost objects, and protecting them from disease and misfortune.
—B. Lowe, Florida Atlantic University
Wright, Sharon Hubbs. Everyday magicians: legal records and magic manuscripts from Tudor England, by Sharon Hubbs Wright and Frank Klaassen. Pennsylvania State, 2022. 164p bibl index ISBN 9780271093932 pbk, $22.95.
This is an incredibly instructive and useful sourcebook of documents related to everyday witchcraft in Tudor England. The informative introduction summarizes recent scholarship on “cunning folk,” who existed largely under the radar of government authorities. Separate from witchcraft, their magic was not malefic but devoted to assisting neighbors in finding love, wealth, and lost objects, and protecting them from disease and misfortune. Such magic only became illegal in 1563, and while magistrates and bishops were committed to its eradication, it usually took second place to more pressing issues, unless there were harmful social repercussions. Most prosecuted cases were handled by ecclesiastical courts, and only (largely minor) corporal punishments and penances were exacted on the guilty. It appears there were no great differences in the number of men and women practitioners. The five case studies detailed here deal with prognostication, finding missing objects, healing, using charms and counter-magic, love magic, and acquiring good fortune. After a short introduction, each case is followed by relevant excerpts from legal records and manuscripts describing the magical practices involved. As Wright and Klaassen (both, Univ. of Sakatchewan, Canada) conclude, most everyday magic went unprosecuted. Within acceptable Protestant theological parameters—even prayer was considered a type of magic—it could help alleviate social anxieties. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty. —B. Lowe, Florida Atlantic University
