Should a court order medical treatment for a severely disabled newborn in the face of the parents' refusal to authorize it? How does the law apply to a neighborhood that objects to a group home for developmentally disabled people? Does equality mean treating everyone the same, even if such treatment affects some people adversely? Does a state requirement of employee maternity leave serve or violate the commitment to gender equality?Martha Minow takes a hard look at the way our legal system functions in dealing with people on the basis of race, gender, age, ethnicity, religion, and disability. Minow confronts a variety of dilemmas of difference resulting from contradictory legal strategies—strategies that attempt to correct inequalities by sometimes recognizing and sometimes ignoring differences. Exploring the historical sources of ideas about difference, she offers challenging alternative ways of conceiving of traits that legal and social institutions have come to regard as "different." She argues, in effect, for a constructed jurisprudence based on the ability to recognize and work with perceptible forms of difference.Minow is passionately interested in the people—"different" people—whose lives are regularly (mis)shaped and (mis)directed by the legal system's ways of handling them. Drawing on literary and feminist theories and the insights of anthropology and social history, she identifies the unstated assumptions that tend to regenerate discrimination through the very reforms that are supposed to eliminate it. Education for handicapped children, conflicts between job and family responsibilities, bilingual education, Native American land claims—these are among the concrete problems she discusses from a fresh angle of vision.Minow firmly rejects the prevailing conception of the self that she believes underlies legal doctrine—a self seen as either separate and autonomous, or else disabled and incompetent in some way. In contrast, she regards the self as being realized through connection, capable of shaping an identity only in relationship to other people. She shifts the focus for problem solving from the "different" person to the relationships that construct that difference, and she proposes an analysis that can turn "difference" from a basis of stigma and a rationale for unequal treatment into a point of human connection. "The meanings of many differences can change when people locate and revise their relationships to difference," she asserts. "The student in a wheelchair becomes less different when the building designed without him in mind is altered to permit his access." Her book evaluates contemporary legal theories and reformulates legal rights for women, children, persons with disabilities, and others historically identified as different.Here is a powerful voice for change, speaking to issues that permeate our daily lives and form a central part of the work of law. By illuminating the many ways in which people differ from one another, this book shows how lawyers, political theorist, teachers, parents, students—every one of us—can make all the difference,

Do you ever feel like you aren’t connecting with someone in your life? Maybe it’s an employee, a co-worker, a boss, or a business partner. Maybe it’s a spouse, a child, a parent, or a friend. The truth is, at some point, we all struggle to maintain good relationships with the people with whom we live our lives. Healthy relationships don’t “just happen,” but rather are intentionally grown through work, investment, and dedication to connecting with another person where they are. Dr. Larry Little has made it his life’s work to help people cultivate healthy relationships, and this mission led him to write Make A Difference, the first book that inspired the four-part EAGLE Leadership Series. His model of creating self-awareness that leads to “others-awareness” has led thousands of individuals to grow meaningful and positive relationships with the people they love, live with, and lead. Make A Difference is powerful in its simplicity, and will walk you through a proven process of connecting with others by equipping you with the tools that you need to truly begin investing in the important relationships in your life. Dr. Little guides you to lead yourself and others better by choosing to intentionally invest in relationships. You can Make A Difference.

Drawing on postmodernist scepticism about what we know and how we know it and on recent developments in the philosophy of science and feminist theory, this book offers a new perspective on the meaning of gender, one that is not determined by the traditional focus on male-female differences.

2019 National Native American Hall of Fame Inductee This stirring memoir is the story of Ada Deer, the first woman to serve as head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Deer begins, “I was born a Menominee Indian. That is who I was born and how I have lived.” She proceeds to narrate the first eighty-three years of her life, which are characterized by her tireless campaigns to reverse the forced termination of the Menominee tribe and to ensure sovereignty and self-determination for all tribes. Deer grew up in poverty on the Menominee Reservation in Wisconsin, but with the encouragement of her mother and teachers, she earned degrees in social work from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Columbia University. Armed with a first-rate education, an iron will, and a commitment to justice, she went from being a social worker in Minneapolis to leading the struggle for the restoration of the Menominees’ tribal status and trust lands. Having accomplished that goal, she moved on to teach American Indian Studies at UW–Madison, to hold a fellowship at Harvard, to work for the Native American Rights Fund, to run unsuccessfully for Congress, and to serve as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs in the Clinton administration. Now in her eighties, Deer remains as committed as ever to human rights, especially the rights of American Indians. A deeply personal story, written with humor and honesty, this book is a testimony to the ability of one individual to change the course of history through hard work, perseverance, and an unwavering commitment to social justice.

Are you ready to make a difference? Resident assistants are key leaders on a Christian college campus. They build a sense of community, serve as peer-counselors, and embody the mission of the university. "Making a Difference" shows how this journey of service can be a rewarding and even life-changing journey.

Argues that becoming an influential Christian and a force for good in the world often means being different and doing unfashionable things with regard to money, lifestyle, personal possessions, and relationships.