As Turkey pushes for its place in the global pecking order and embraces neoliberal capitalism, the nation has seen a period of unprecedented shifts in political, religious, and gender and sexual identities for its citizens. In New Desires, New Selves, Gul Ozyegin shows how this social transformation in Turkey is felt most strongly among its young people, eager to surrender to the seduction of sexual modernity, but also longing to remain attached to traditional social relations, identities and histories. Engaging a wide array of upwardly-mobile young adults at a major Turkish university, Ozyegin links the biographies of individuals with the biography of a nation, revealing their creation of conflicted identities in a country which has existed uneasily between West and East, modern and traditional, and secular and Islamic. For these young people, sexuality, gender expression, and intimate relationships in particular serve as key sites for reproducing and challenging patriarchy and paternalism that was hallmark of earlier generations. As Ozyegin evocatively shows, the quest for sexual freedom and an escape from patriarchal constructions of selfless femininity and protective masculinity promise both personal transformations and profound sexual guilt and anxiety. A poignant and original study, New Desires, New Selves presents a snapshot of cultural change on the eve of rapid globalization in the Muslim world.

Annotation Seven contributions from clinical, developmental, personality, and social psychologists in the U.S. and the Netherlands discuss recent research on self-awareness and the behaviors motivated by it. A sampling of topics includes the role of physiological arousal in the motivation to maintain self-esteem; how the self arises from, and in turn influences social interactions; and the costs and benefits of self-determination. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

The broad concept of the self is fundamental to psychology, serving as an anchor by which we perceive and make sense of the world as well as how we relate to and think about others. This book develops creative points of view of the self which have not previously been reviewed, creating a web of interconnected concepts under the umbrella of the self. The various contributions to this book discuss these concepts, such as self-regulation, self-concept, self-esteem, self-awareness, social comparison, and self-reference. All of them are related to the self, and all would justify a review of their own, yet none of them have up to this point. As a whole, the book develops these new, creative points of view of the self—the integral (primary) component of our experience as social beings. Offering numerous perspectives on various aspects of the self which can foster new thinking and research, this timely and important book makes suggestions for future research that will spur additional lines of work by readers. This book was originally published as a special issue of Self and Identity.

In the tradition of Octavia Butler, here is radical self-help, society-help, and planet-help to shape the futures we want. Change is constant. The world, our bodies, and our minds are in a constant state of flux. They are a stream of ever-mutating, emergent patterns. Rather than steel ourselves against such change, Emergent Strategy teaches us to map and assess the swirling structures and to read them as they happen, all the better to shape that which ultimately shapes us, personally and politically. A resolutely materialist spirituality based equally on science and science fiction: a wild feminist and afro-futurist ride! adrienne maree brown, co-editor of Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice Movements, is a social justice facilitator, healer, and doula living in Detroit.

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Constance, language: English, abstract: The aim of the following paper is an analysis of selected poems of Claire Harris and Olive Senior in regard of the theme that connects the poetic work of these two women writers – identity. At first glance, it might come as quite a surprise to some readers that the literary artist Harris and Senior share a connection in their poetical exploration of themes. However after having a short glance, a commonalty between them will became apparent. Due to the subject the essay is informed by concepts of feminism, post-colonialism and cultural studies in order to depict the different ways in which identity is addressed in their work. The aim of the following paper is an analyses of selected poems of Claire Harris and Olive Senior in regard of the theme that connects the poetic work of these two women writers – identity. At first glance, it might come as quite a surprise to some readers that the literary artist Harris and Senior share a connection in their poetical exploration of themes. However after having a short glance, a commonalty between them will became apparent. Due to the subject the essay is informed by concepts of feminism, post-colonialism and cultural studies in order to depict the different ways in which identity is addressed in their work.