"At 11.47 on July 25, 1978, Louise Brown was the first person ever to be born through science rather than as the result of two people having sex. The birth was hailed as a "miracle" by the world's media, making her instantly famous. Her birth created shockwaves for the church, politicians and the medical profession. Louise grew up at the centre of the debate about the morality of In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) while also being a beacon of hope to millions of childless couples throughout the world. For the first time Louise tells the story of her world changing birth and its impact on her life"--Jacket.

An unforgettable and compassionate look at the lives of the residents of Lahore’s pleasure district The Dancing Girls of Lahore inhabit the Diamond District in the shadow of a great mosque. The 21st century goes on outside the walls, this ancient quarter, but scarcely registers within. Though their trade can be described with accuracy as prostitution, the dancing girls have an illustrious history: beloved by sultans, their sophisticated art encompassed the best of Mughal culture. The modern day Bollywood aesthetic, with its love of gaudy spectacle, music, and dance, is their distant legacy. But the life of the pampered courtesan is not the one now being lived by Maha and her three girls. What they do is forbidden by Islam, though tolerated; but they are, unclean, and Maha’s daughters, like her, are born into the business and will not leave it. Sociologist Louise Brown spent four years in the most intimate study of the family life of one Lahori courtesan. Beautifully understated, it turns a novelist’s eye on a true story that beggars the imagination. Maha, at fourteen a classically trained dancer of exquisite grace, had her virginity sold to the Sultan of Dubai; when her own daughter Nena comes of age and Maha cannot bring in the money she once did, she faces a terrible decision as the agents of the Sultan come calling once more.

A history of Nepal from the Medieval/Early Modern period through to the present day with particular attention to contemporary Nepal, and the prospects for democracy.

“Grieve well and you grow stronger.” Anthropologist Rebecca Louise Carter heard this wisdom over and over while living in post-Katrina New Orleans, where everyday violence disproportionately affects Black communities. What does it mean to grieve well? How does mourning strengthen survivors in the face of ongoing threats to Black life? Inspired by ministers and guided by grieving mothers who hold birthday parties for their deceased sons, Prayers for the People traces the emergence of a powerful new African American religious ideal at the intersection of urban life, death, and social and spiritual change. Carter frames this sensitive ethnography within the complex history of structural violence in America—from the legacies of slavery to free but unequal citizenship, from mass incarceration and overpolicing to social abandonment and the unequal distribution of goods and services. And yet Carter offers a vision of restorative kinship by which communities of faith work against the denial of Black personhood as well as the violent severing of social and familial bonds. A timely directive for human relations during a contentious time in America’s history, Prayers for the People is also a hopeful vision of what an inclusive, nonviolent, and just urban society could be.

In memory of Francis Haskell 1928 - 2000 ; Literaturverz. S. 386 - 401

Christy Brown was born a victim of cerebral palsy. But the hapless, lolling baby concealed the brilliantly imaginative and sensitive mind of a writer who would take his place among the giants of Irish literature. This is Christy Brown's own story. He recounts his childhood struggle to learn to read, write, paint and finally type, with the toe of his left foot. In this manner he wrote his bestseller Down all the Days.

Trafficking in human beings for the sex industry has been practised for centuries. What is new is the scale of the trade, the ages of those involved and the organization applied to the marketing. This text looks behind the wholesomeness of Asian values and takes a controversial approach to the sex industry by viewing it as a product of Asian cultural values. There are interviews with sex workers, their families, clients and the staff of the charities that work with the women. Above all, the book aims to tell the stories, often in their own words, of the girls and women who are forced into the trade and to publicize the tragedy of the voiceless women of Asia.