The Book Is Based On Research Conducted In Bhutan And Nepal During Seven Visits To The Region Between 1992 And 2001, And Particularly On Interview-Based Life History Research In The Refugee Camps In Nepal.

This book was prompted by the arrival in Nepal during the early 1990s of some 95,000 people of Nepal ethnic origin who claimed to be citizens of Bhutan (a Buddhist Himalayan kingdom with a population of less than a million) who had been wrongfully evicted from their country. Bhutan ispopularly regarded as a Himalyan Shangri-la, and very few outside Nepal believed the refugees allegations in the early years of their exile. Even twelve years later, not a single refugee had returned to Bhutan.The book is based on research conducted in Bhutan and Nepal during seven visits to the region between 1992 and 2001, and particularly on interview-based life history research in the refugee camps in Nepal. It reconstructs the history of the Nepali community inBhutan, from the first settlers migration to its southern belt in the late 19th century up to the exodus of many of their descendants to Nepal in the late 20th century. It analyses the new policies on citizenship, language, a nd dress which were adopted by the Bhutanese government in the 1980s,and the political resistance to these measures which led ultimately to the denationalisation and flight of many erstwhile citizens. As it describes these developments, the narrative also pauses at intervals to reflect on the relationship between national, cultural and ethnic identities, and on theways in which history can be constructed and utilised to buttress competing claims. It deals with the specificities of the Bhutanese issue in detail and draws out its broader implications for a world awash with refugees.

This book explores the relationship between sex and belonging in law and popular culture, arguing that contemporary citizenship is sexed, privatized, and self-disciplined. Former sexual outlaws have challenged their exclusion and are being incorporated into citizenship. But as citizenship becomes more sexed, it also becomes privatized and self-disciplined. The author explores these contesting representations of sex and belonging in films, television, and legal decisions. She examines a broad range of subjects, from gay men and lesbians, pornographers and hip hop artists, to women selling vibrators, adulterers, and single mothers on welfare. She observes cultural representations ranging from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy to Dr. Phil, Sex in the City to Desperate Housewives. She reviews appellate court cases on sodomy and same-sex marriage, national welfare reform, and obscenity regulation. Finally, the author argues that these representations shape the terms of belonging and governance, producing good (and bad) sexual citizens, based on the degree to which they abide by the codes of privatized and self-disciplined sex.

What can homespun cloth, stuffed birds, quince jelly, and ginseng reveal about the formation of early American national identity? In this wide-ranging and bold new interpretation of American history and its Founding Fathers, Kariann Akemi Yokota shows that political independence from Britain fueled anxieties among the Americans about their cultural inferiority and continuing dependence on the mother country. Caught between their desire to emulate the mother country and an awareness that they lived an ocean away on the periphery of the known world, they went to great lengths to convince themselves and others of their refinement. Taking a transnational approach to American history, Yokota examines a wealth of evidence from geography, the decorative arts, intellectual history, science, and technology to underscore that the process of "unbecoming British" was not an easy one. Indeed, the new nation struggled to define itself economically, politically, and culturally in what could be called America's postcolonial period. Out of this confusion of hope and exploitation, insecurity and vision, a uniquely American identity emerged.

Adopting a historical conceptual approach, this book examines the gendering of citizenship. It argues that through successive historical periods, `becoming a citizen has involved a gradual extension of the status, to more and more persons and groups, in particular, women, which resulted in a more inclusive and egalitarian structure. But, the promise of equal membership in the politcal community masks the exclusionary framework that defines citizenship as found in caste hierarchies, gender differences, and divides between religious communities based on majority and minority status. Engaging with contemporary debates on citizenship that place themselves within the framework of multiculturalism and world citizenship this work asserts the need to redefine the notion of community by focussing on citizenship as a measure of activity and practice, and by exposing the subtleties of role definition of women implicit in community norms.

The definitive book on lesbians and gay men in the US military. Randy Shilts, author of the classic documentary history of the AIDS epidemic And The Band Played On, was acclaimed for his ability to take epic histories and molding them into gripping, intimate narratives. Conduct Unbecoming, his groundbreaking exploration of lesbians and gays in the military, came out of hundreds of interviews conducted with servicepeople at all levels of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps and intense research uncovering thousands of documents resulting in a unique history of gays in the military as well as the persecution of gays in the military. Conduct Unbecoming will leave readers moved and imbued with a better understanding of the pressing situation in our nation's military. "A sober, thoroughly researched and engrossingly readable history on the subject. [Shilts's] chronicle is excellent military history, closely woven with an enthralling analysis of the changing definitions of sexuality and personal relationships in American society....[A] landmark book....Remarkable." --New York Times Book Review "A masterpiece of investigative reporting...Shilts has shown us the honor homosexuals have brought, and continue to bring, to the uniforms they wear and the country they serve." - Boston Globe "Gays, we are told, would damage morale in the military. Shilts documents the fact that morale has already been eaten away by hypocrisy, contradictions, and favoritism...This book will be to gay and lesbian liberation what Betty Friedan's was to early feminism or Rachel Carson's to ecological consciousness. No fair-minded person can read Conduct Unbecoming and consider the present system defensible. - USA Today "Gripping reading....the history of homosexual people and the movement for gay/lesbian equality in the United States can nowhere be more clearly told." - Los Angeles Times

Lt. Col. Robert Patterson—former Senior Military Aide to President Clinton—exposes how President Barack Obama’s national security policies are weakening our military and endangering America’s safety. From underfunding and misusing the military to his “Apology Tour” across Europe and the Middle East, President Obama has made America more vulnerable with both our allies and our enemies.