Ranging in time and locale, these essays, which combine theoretical argument with empirical observation, are based on research in historical and cultural settings. The contributors accept the notion that all knowledge is socially and culturally constructed and examine the contexts in which that knowledge is produced and practiced in medicine, psychiatry, epidemiology, and anthropology. -- from publisher description.

"The single most important contribution to our field's knowledgebase in the past two decades. The authors have managed to shift thefocus of adult education back to the social concerns that weretaken for granted when the field was founded. We are ready for thislong overdue book. Indeed, we have been yearning for this book. Itwill tilt our field back towards its moral center." --B. Allan Quigley, chair, Department of AdultEducation, St. Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia "Power in Practice is a wonderful book--full of case studies,updated theories, new perspectives, and evidence that adulteducation can and does change people's lives." --Michael Newman, senior lecturer in adult education,University of Technology, Sydney, Australia Adult educators know that they can no longer focus solely on theneeds of learners without responsibly addressing the political andethical consequences of their work. Power in Practiceexamines how certain adult education programs, practices, andpolicies can become a subtle part of power relationships in widersociety. It provides a rich array of real-world cases thathighlight the pivotal role of adult educators as "knowledge andpower brokers" in the conflict between learners and the socialforces surrounding them. The authors discuss how to teachresponsibly, develop effective adult education programs, andprovide exemplary leadership in complex political contexts,including the workplace and higher education. Educators in themiddle of power struggles will learn how to become more politicallyaware while actively shaping their enterprises to meet importantsocial needs.

This book is made up of a selection of writings from an international team of scholars, highlighting the contribution made to the field of educational policy and educational policy research by Basil Bernstein's work on the sociology of pedagogy. These contributors explore, analyse and engage with contemporary political reforms of education, contemporary pedagogic debates and the changing nature of professional knowledge, relationships and structures. The subjects covered include: particular concepts such as voice research the significance of social class in relation to the language, schooling and home cultures differences between official and pedagogic recontextualising fields formation of different types of identities the construction of the learner formation of teacher identities and use of pedagogic discourses analysis of performance-based educational reforms and its impact on pedagogy.

This book troubles the ways young people have been constructed as ‘trouble’ through critical readings of the effects and impacts, politically and ideologically, globally and locally, of scholarship and practice directed at South African young people’s sexualities over the last three decades of addressing HIV, GBV and other sexual and gender justice challenges. Located primarily in South Africa, the book speaks to global concerns about the politics of knowledge and transnational flows of information and practice with respect to gender and sexuality and is framed by global imperatives and analyses located in transnational, postcolonial and intersectional feminist frameworks. The key argument developed here, and explored in relation to several different forms of research and practice, is that efforts to challenge HIV, GBV and unequal sexual and gender practices among young people, particularly as evident in heterosexual relationships, have tended to reflect and reproduce (re)new(ed) orthodoxies about sexuality, gender, family and young people, while bolstering global and local racist, classist ‘othering’ of certain communities and nation-states, and reiterating the ‘innocence’ and authority of those already privileged and centred. The book contributes to critical reflexive work on global practices of knowledge and its complex enmeshment with power in the terrain of sexual and gender justice work aimed at young people.

This broad-ranging text offers a comprehensive outline of how visual images, language and discourse work as `systems of representation'. Individual chapters explore: representation as a signifying practice in a rich diversity of social contexts and institutional sites; the use of photography in the construction of national identity and culture; other cultures in ethnographic museums; fantasies of the racialized `Other' in popular media, film and image; the construction of masculine identities in discourses of consumer culture and advertising; and the gendering of narratives in television soap operas.

This landmark volume compiled by Jacob K. Olupona and Rowland O. Abiodun brings readers into the diverse world of Ifá—its discourse, ways of thinking, and artistic expression as manifested throughout the Afro-Atlantic. Firmly rooting Ifá within African religious traditions, the essays consider Ifá and Ifá divination from the perspectives of philosophy, performance studies, and cultural studies. They also examine the sacred context, verbal art, and the interpretation of Ifá texts and philosophy. With essays from the most respected scholars in the field, the book makes a substantial contribution toward understanding Ifá and its role in contemporary Yoruba and diaspora cultures.

Policymakers in welfare democracies throughout the world are raising questions as to whether welfare systems deliver what the public expects, and focus attention on increasing costs. Social workers need more evidence and knowledge about an increasing diversity of social work practices. Users of social welfare are increasingly individualized and made responsible for choosing and delivering their own service through contracts and this makes politicians, social workers and users more interested in evidence and knowledge about social services, even though these interests are often conflicting. These tendencies might be part of the reasons why the evaluation of social work practice seems to be characterized at present by a variety and diversity of research methods, approaches and theories.