The Era Of Choice

Author : Edward C. Rosenthal Ph.D.
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262250241
Total Pages : 344 pages
Book Rating : 4.45/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Era of Choice written by Edward C. Rosenthal Ph.D. and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2006-09-22 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How today's cornucopia of choices has transformed our lives and our culture, from the foundations of scientific theory to the anxiety of everyday decisions. Today most of us are awash with choices. The cornucopia of material goods available to those of us in the developed world can turn each of us into a kid in a candy store; but our delight at picking the prize is undercut by our regret at lost opportunities. And what's the criterion for choosing anything—material, spiritual, the path taken or not taken—when we have lost our faith in everything? In The Era of Choice Edward Rosenthal argues that choice, and having to make choices, has become the most important influence in both our personal lives and our cultural expression. Choice, he claims, has transformed how we live, how we think, and who we are. This transformation began in the nineteenth century, catalyzed by the growing prosperity of the Industrial Age and a diminishing faith in moral and scientific absolutes. The multiplicity of choices forces us to form oppositions; this, says Rosenthal, has spawned a keen interest in dualism, dilemmas, contradictions, and paradoxes. In response, we have developed mechanisms to hedge, compromise, and to synthesize. Rosenthal looks at the scientific and philosophical theories and cultural movements that choice has influenced—from physics (for example, Niels Bohr's theory that light is both particle and wave) to postmodernism, from Disney trailers to multiculturalism. He also reveals the effect of choice on the personal level, where we grapple with decisions that range from which wine to have with dinner to whether to marry or divorce, as we hurtle through lives of instant gratification, accelerated consumption, trend, change, and speed. But we have discovered, writes Rosenthal, that sometimes, we can have our cake and eat it, too.

Author : Sara Hayden
Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 0739138928
Total Pages : 386 pages
Book Rating : 4.22/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Contemplating Maternity in an Era of Choice written by Sara Hayden and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2010-06-14 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contemplating Maternity explore how discourses of choice shape and are shaped by womenOs identities and experiences as (non)mothers and how those same discourses affect and reflect private practices and public policies related to reproduction and motherhood. This volume is unique because it investigates discourses of choice across the arc of maternity and as enacted through various (non)maternal subject positions.

Author : Erica Millar
Publisher : Zed Books Ltd.
ISBN 13 : 1786991330
Total Pages : 270 pages
Book Rating : 4.31/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Happy Abortions written by Erica Millar and published by Zed Books Ltd.. This book was released on 2017-12-15 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘A provocative and important book that every pro-choice advocate should read.’ Sinéad Kennedy, Coalition to Repeal the 8th Amendment When it comes to abortion, today’s liberal climate has produced a common sense that is both pro-choice and anti-abortion. The public are fed an unchanging version of what the abortion choice entails and how women experience it. While it would prove highly unpopular to insist that all pregnant women should carry their pregnancy to term, the idea that abortion could or should be a happy experience for women is virtually unspeakable. In this careful and intelligent work, Erica Millar shows how the emotions of abortion are constructed in sharp contrast to the emotional position occupied by motherhood – the unassailable placeholder for women’s happiness. Through an exposition of the cultural and political forces that continue to influence the decisions women make about their pregnancies – forces that are synonymous with the rhetoric of choice – Millar argues for a radical reinterpretation of women’s freedom.

Author : Edith Eva Eger
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1501130811
Total Pages : 228 pages
Book Rating : 4.16/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Choice written by Edith Eva Eger and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-09-05 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Bestseller “I’ll be forever changed by Dr. Eger’s story…The Choice is a reminder of what courage looks like in the worst of times and that we all have the ability to pay attention to what we’ve lost, or to pay attention to what we still have.”—Oprah “Dr. Eger’s life reveals our capacity to transcend even the greatest of horrors and to use that suffering for the benefit of others. She has found true freedom and forgiveness and shows us how we can as well.” —Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate “Dr. Edith Eva Eger is my kind of hero. She survived unspeakable horrors and brutality; but rather than let her painful past destroy her, she chose to transform it into a powerful gift—one she uses to help others heal.” —Jeannette Walls, New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle Winner of the National Jewish Book Award and Christopher Award At the age of sixteen, Edith Eger was sent to Auschwitz. Hours after her parents were killed, Nazi officer Dr. Josef Mengele, forced Edie to dance for his amusement and her survival. Edie was pulled from a pile of corpses when the American troops liberated the camps in 1945. Edie spent decades struggling with flashbacks and survivor’s guilt, determined to stay silent and hide from the past. Thirty-five years after the war ended, she returned to Auschwitz and was finally able to fully heal and forgive the one person she’d been unable to forgive—herself. Edie weaves her remarkable personal journey with the moving stories of those she has helped heal. She explores how we can be imprisoned in our own minds and shows us how to find the key to freedom. The Choice is a life-changing book that will provide hope and comfort to generations of readers.

Author : Lucas Richert
Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 0739182595
Total Pages : 233 pages
Book Rating : 4.98/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Conservatism, Consumer Choice, and the Food and Drug Administration during the Reagan Era written by Lucas Richert and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2014-05-16 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last quarter of the 20th century, politicians in Washington, as well as interest groups, regulatory policy makers, and drug industry leaders were forced to confront the hot-button issue of pharmaceutical regulation. The struggle always centered on product innovation, consumer protection, and choice in the free market. As the American economy stuttered in the late 1970s, the stakes were extremely high for the powerful drug industry and the American public. At the center of this drama was the Food and Drug Administration, which was censured from both the left and right of the political spectrum for being too strict and too lenient in the application of its regulatory powers. Lucas Richert explores the FDA, drugs, and politics in the context of the watershed Reagan era, a period when the rhetoric of limited government, reduced regulation, and enhanced cooperation between businesses and U.S. regulatory agencies was on the ascent. As he investigates the controversies surrounding Laetrile, Reye’s Syndrome, Oraflex, patient package inserts, diet pills, and HIV/AIDS drugs, Richert argues that the practical application of conservative economic principles to the American drug industry was A Prescription for Scandal.

Author : Mira Debs
Publisher : Harvard Education Press
ISBN 13 : 1682533093
Total Pages : 260 pages
Book Rating : 4.93/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Diverse Families, Desirable Schools written by Mira Debs and published by Harvard Education Press. This book was released on 2021-03-09 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Author : Clare Virginia Eby
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022608597X
Total Pages : 263 pages
Book Rating : 4.75/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Until Choice Do Us Part written by Clare Virginia Eby and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-01-06 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For centuries, people have been thinking and writing—and fiercely debating—about the meaning of marriage. Just a hundred years ago, Progressive era reformers embraced marriage not as a time-honored repository for conservative values, but as a tool for social change. In Until Choice Do Us Part, Clare Virginia Eby offers a new account of marriage as it appeared in fiction, journalism, legal decisions, scholarly work, and private correspondence at the turn into the twentieth century. She begins with reformers like sexologist Havelock Ellis, anthropologist Elsie Clews Parsons, and feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman, who argued that spouses should be “class equals” joined by private affection, not public sanction. Then Eby guides us through the stories of three literary couples—Upton and Meta Fuller Sinclair, Theodore and Sara White Dreiser, and Neith Boyce and Hutchins Hapgood—who sought to reform marriage in their lives and in their writings, with mixed results. With this focus on the intimate side of married life, Eby views a historical moment that changed the nature of American marriage—and that continues to shape marital norms today.

Author : Diane Ravitch
Publisher : Basic Books (AZ)
ISBN 13 : 0465014917
Total Pages : 298 pages
Book Rating : 4.10/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Death and Life of the Great American School System written by Diane Ravitch and published by Basic Books (AZ). This book was released on 2010-03-02 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses how school choice, misapplied standards of accountability, the No Child Left Behind mandate, and the use of a corporate model have all led to a decline in public education and presents arguments for a return to strong neighborhood schools and quality teaching.

Author : Zbigniew Brzezinski
Publisher : Basic Books
ISBN 13 : 0786739835
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.37/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Choice written by Zbigniew Brzezinski and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2009-04-29 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The foreign policy expert offers an assessment of recent American foreign policy, arguing for a more sophisticated posture in the world that positions America as a supporter of reform and justice in the world.

Author : Barry Schwartz
Publisher : Harper Collins
ISBN 13 : 0061748994
Total Pages : 308 pages
Book Rating : 4.98/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Paradox of Choice written by Barry Schwartz and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions—both big and small—have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented. As Americans, we assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can make you question the decisions you make before you even make them, it can set you up for unrealistically high expectations, and it can make you blame yourself for any and all failures. In the long run, this can lead to decision-making paralysis, anxiety, and perpetual stress. And, in a culture that tells us that there is no excuse for falling short of perfection when your options are limitless, too much choice can lead to clinical depression. In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains at what point choice—the hallmark of individual freedom and self-determination that we so cherish—becomes detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz shows how the dramatic explosion in choice—from the mundane to the profound challenges of balancing career, family, and individual needs—has paradoxically become a problem instead of a solution. Schwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse. By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counter intuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives. He offers eleven practical steps on how to limit choices to a manageable number, have the discipline to focus on those that are important and ignore the rest, and ultimately derive greater satisfaction from the choices you have to make.