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  Altruistically Inclined?: The Behavioral Sciences, Evolutionary Theory, and the Origins of Reciprocity

  Alexander J. Field

  Altruistically Inclined? examines the implications of recent research in the natural sciences for two important social scientific approaches to individual behavior: the economic/rational choice approach and the sociological/anthropological. It considers jointly two controversial and related ideas: the operation of group selection within early human evolutionary processes and the likelihood of modularity—domain-specific adaptations in our cognitive mechanisms and behavioral predispositions.

  Experimental research shows that people will often cooperate in one-shot prisoner's dilemma (PD) games and reject positive offers in ultimatum games, contradicting commonly accepted notions of rationality. Upon first appearance, predispositions to behave in this fashion could not have been favored by natural selection operating only at the level of the individual organism.

  Emphasizing universal and variable features of human culture, developing research on how the brain functions, and refinements of thinking about levels of selection in evolutionary processes, Alexander J. Field argues that humans are born with the rudiments of a PD solution module—and differentially prepared to learn norms supportive of it. His emphasis on failure to harm, as opposed to the provision of affirmative assistance, as the empirically dominant form of altruistic behavior is also novel.

  The point of departure and principal point of reference is economics. But Altruistically Inclined? will interest a broad range of scholars in the social and behavioral sciences, natural scientists concerned with the implications of research and debates within their fields for the conduct of work elsewhere, and educated lay readers curious about essential features of human nature.

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  Encyclopedia of Postcolonial Studies

  John C. Hawley

  The collapse of empires has resulted in a remarkable flourishing of indigenous cultures in former colonies. The end of the colonial era has also witnessed a renaissance of creativity in the postcolonial world as modern writers embrace their heritage. The experience of postcoloniality has also drawn the attention of academics from various disciplines and has given rise to a growing body of scholarship. This reference work overviews the present state of postcolonial studies and offers a refreshingly polyphonic treatment of the effects of globalization on literary studies in the 21st century.
  
  The volume includes more than 150 alphabetically arranged entries on postcolonial studies around the world. Entries on individual authors provide brief biographical details but primarily examine the author's handling of postcolonial themes. So too, entries on theoreticians offer background information and summarize the person's contributions to critical thought. Entries on national literatures explore the history of postcoloniality and the ways in which writers have broadly engaged their legacy, while those on important topics discuss the theoretical origin and current ramifications of key concepts in postcolonial studies. Cross-references and cited works for further reading are included, while a comprehensive bibliography concludes the volume.

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  Postcolonial and Queer Theories: Intersections and Essays (Contributions to the Study of American Literature)

  John C. Hawley

  Since the 1960s American and Western European gays have set the agenda for sexual liberation and defined its emergence. Western models of homosexuality often provide the only globally recognizable frameworks for discussing gay and lesbian cultures around the world, and thus Western interpretive schemes are imposed on non-Western societies. At the same time, gay and lesbian lifestyles in emerging countries do not always neatly fit Western paradigms, and data from those countries often clash with dominant Western models. So too, the literature of emerging countries often depicts homosexuality in ways which challenge the existing tools of Western literary critics.

  The thirteen contributors to this book examine the implied imposition of a heavily capitalistic, white, and generally male model of homosexuality on the emerging world. By combining postcolonial and queer theoretical approaches, this volume suggests alternative frameworks for describing sexuality around the world and for exploring non-Western literary representations of gay and lesbian lifestyles. The volume concludes with a chapter assessing new questions in both postcolonial and queer theorizing that suggest common concerns and many avenues for future research.

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  Post-colonial, Queer: Theoretical Intersections

  John C. Hawley

  Summary Uses postcolonial theory to critique the globalization of gay culture. "John Hawley's Postcolonial, Queer is one of the best handbooks examining the intersection of postcolonial and queer that I have seen. It reprints some classic papers, such as Joseph Boone's essay on the homoerotics of Orientalism (from the PMLA) and includes a series of brilliant new essays running the gamut from close literary analysis of North African novels to complex cultural readings of queer politics. A solid and useful volume." -- Sander L. Gilman, The University of Illinois at Chicago These thirteen essays address possible ramifications arising from the globalization of western notions of gay and lesbian identities. Examining postcolonial literature, economics, and psychology from a "queer" perspective leads to self-reflexive consideration of the canonization of postcolonial studies and queer theory in western academe. "Finally, the staging of an encounter between queer and postcolonial studies where neither term turns out to be quite distinct from the other and where a new mapping of fields becomes possible. The essays probe the possibility of thinking sexuality in terms of social normativity and globalization, making breakthroughs in several directions at once: history, sociology, literature, psychology. This is the kind of scholarship most needed and most productive: it opens up the question of an encounter through several sites in provocative ways without deciding the final form of the relationship between postcolonial, queer." -- Judith Butler, University of California at Berkeley Contributors include Dennis Altman, Joseph Boone, Jarrod Hayes, Jillana Enteen, Chong Kee Tan, Gaurav Desai, Paige Schilt, William J. Spurlin, Donald E. Morton, J. K. Gibson-Graham, Hema Chari, and Samir Dayal.

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  Speaking the Unspeakable: Religion, Misogyny, and the Uncanny Mother in Freud's Cultural Texts

  Diane Jonte-Pace

  In this bold rereading of Freud's cultural texts, Diane Jonte-Pace uncovers an undeveloped "counterthesis," one that repeatedly interrupts or subverts his well-known Oedipal masterplot. The counterthesis is evident in three clusters of themes within Freud's work: maternity, mortality, and immortality; Judaism and anti-Semitism; and mourning and melancholia. Each of these clusters is associated with "the uncanny" and with death and loss. Appearing most frequently in Freud's images, metaphors, and illustrations, the counterthesis is no less present for being unspoken--it is, indeed, "unspeakable."
  
  The "uncanny mother" is a primary theme found in Freud's texts involving fantasies of immortality and mothers as instructors in death. In other texts, Jonte-Pace finds a story of Jews for whom the dangers of assimilation to a dominant Gentile culture are associated unconsciously with death and the uncanny mother. The counterthesis appears in the story of anti-Semites for whom the "uncanny impression of circumcision" gives rise not only to castration anxiety but also to matriphobia. It also surfaces in Freud's ability to mourn the social and religious losses accompanying modernity, and his inability to mourn the loss of his own mother.
  
  The unfolding of Freud's counterthesis points toward a theory of the cultural and unconscious sources of misogyny and anti-Semitism in "the unspeakable." Jonte-Pace's work opens exciting new vistas for the feminist analysis of Freud's intellectual legacy.

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  Fundamentals of Embedded Software: Where C and Assembly Meet

  Daniel W. Lewis

  Reflecting current industrial applications and programming practice, this book lays a foundation that supports the multi-threaded style of programming and high-reliability requirements of embedded software. Using a non-product specific approach and a programming (versus hardware) perspective, it focuses on the 32-bit protected mode processors and on C as the dominant programming language--with coverage of Assembly and how it can be used in conjunction with, and support of, C. Features an abundance of examples in C and an accompanying CD-ROM with software tools. Data Representation. Getting the Most Out of C. A Programmer's View of Computer Organization. Mixing C and Assembly. Input/Output Programming. Concurrent Software. Scheduling. Memory Management. Shared Memory. System Initialization. For Computer Scientists, Computer Engineers, and Electrical Engineers involved with embedded software applications.

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  Faith and Health: Psychological Perspectives

  Thomas G. Plante PhD, ABPP and Allen C. Sherman PhD

  This volume reviews and integrates the growing body of contemporary psychological research on the links between religious faith and health outcomes. It presents up-to-date findings from empirical studies of populations ranging from healthy individuals to those with specific clinical problems, including cancer, HIV/AIDS, and psychological disorders. Drawing on multiple perspectives in psychology, the book examines such critical questions as the impact of religious practices on health behaviors and health risks; the role played by faith in adaptation to illness or disability; and possible influences on physiological functioning and mortality. Chapters reflect the close collaboration of the editors and contributing authors, who discuss commonalities and differences in their work, debate key methodological concerns, and outline a cohesive agenda for future research.

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  Getting Together and Staying Together: The Stanford University Course on Intimate Relationships

  Thomas G. Plante PhD, ABPP and Kieran T. Sullivan

  A tremendous amount of media attention has been directed towards intimate relationships. Magazine articles, books, and television specials have all focused on what makes intimate relationships work or not work. There are hundreds of books on this topic. However, few books have well integrated the academic and clinical aspects of relationships specifically for those trying to find a life partner and to maintain a lifelong commitment.

  For the past 13 years, we have been teaching courses on intimate relationships at a variety of universities, including Stanford University, the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Kansas, Santa Clara University, and Loyola Marymount University. The purpose of the book is to essentially turn this popular course into an easy to read, understand, and use book for the general public and as a supplement to undergraduate and graduate courses in intimate relationships and counseling.

  What makes this book different is that it offers a concise, practical, and straightforward approach to intimate relationships that is based on both scientific research and clinical practice. Written by two full-time academics who maintain part-time clinical practices, the book provides the balance between research and practice that is needed for this topic.

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  Selling All: Commitment, Consecrated Celibacy, and Community in Catholic Religious Life.

  Sandra M. Schneiders

  An examination of the internal reality of contemporary religious life.