Michigan Books

The term "civil society" became popular in the late 20th century as a critique of Marxism and communism. Civil society represented hope in the midst of fallen communist states and offered an alternative to statism and overgrown governments. But its definition remained vague, failing to address the issues of capitalism and failing to explain the reason for communist revolutions. Instead, it envisioned an "active citizenship" to be taken through voluntary associations, but it did not address problems in the capitalist system. Civil society was conceived in the United States as "those domains of activity that Americans occupy when they are engaged neither in government (voting, serving on juries, paying taxes).............................. " In this book, however, the author focuses on the development of civil markets. The market is a powerful force, and ever more pivotal today with the growth of a global economy. More and more people study the business system: people who are retired; civic leaders; academicians; investors; financial analysts; consultants in business and management; public policymakers; researchers who work for labor; philanthropic organizations; social critics; and social activists. Everyone is keeping an eye on the market not only for his or her survival, but because the market is changing the course of society. While the growth of markets brings promise, Bruyn argues that there is a corresponding concern. Could market values distort values in other institutions, such as home, family, education, government, or even religion? Could the core values of other institutions diminish, perhaps turn toward business interests? Could the goal of economic growth threaten the natural environment or even human survival on earth? Such questions remain critical to the future of markets and states. This book starts with the premise that the economy is embedded in the whole of society -- business, government and the Third Sector, otherwise known as civic groups. The economy is not the same as business just as government is not the same as the state. The following definitions are important when creating a framework to explain development in the whole of society. Bruyn defines "economy" to be where people make their livelihood. The economy is about survival and scarcity, he says, but it is also interwoven into the whole society, and inter-bound with social life. Similarly, the concept of "government" is identified with the state, but it is actually woven into the fabric of society. Political scientists acknowledge that all associations require governance. "Government" in its broad meaning refers to the management of any association, including, for example, the government of a church, a university, a union, or a trade association. In this book, you will find a new mode of thought about civil (self) governance in a market system. The book is superb.

It was assigned as a textbook for class, but I've fallen in love with this book. It helps clarify my own opinions about poetry and writing in general. There's not a lot of poetry in it, but a lot of amazing opinions about it. Highly recommended reading.

I bought this for my mom who grew up in Clawson. She loved looking at the pictures and remembering her childhood.

The Gourmet Center has THE BEST COOKIES you could find anywhere.....they are absolutely delicious...any type you buy I can guarantee you just cant eat one whether it be the Biscoff, or Breton etc I have sampled them all and I am a repeat orderer....The value quality and quantity can not be beaten by anyone in my opinion The flavors tell what great ingredients are used better than home made...if you even had the time to bake..Their Pastries line is a great addition and equally hard to gnore...regretfully I am also hooked on those ..Oh well too good to pass up. I hope you will all try them......Helen

This mystical work is a thought-provoking description of a contemplative discipline conveyed intimately from an unknown teacher to an unknown student. The text is a mystic exploration of the divine that rejects the use of the intellect and the imagination, preferring an inner knowing, like a numinous experience based on feeling, a gnosis of the heart. An important theme is the difference between the active and the contemplative personality; others include the awareness of self, death of the ego, and advice on leading the contemplative life. This writing is deeply embedded in Christian tradition and the author's gentleness and sense of humor are admirable. All spiritually-minded people will benefit from a study of this almost poetic text. The most beautiful sentiment is this: "For it is not what you are nor what you have been that God regards with his most merciful eyes, but what you would like to be."

The Sacred Names

As a weekend resident of Coldwater, and having no knowledge of its history, this book gives the reader a fascinating rich history of this town. I has no idea of its rich background. The publishing company has done a great job of preserving America - with its varied series on samll town America - baseball, city neighborhoods. This collection by the unofficial town historian is a wonderful book worth purchasing.

In this long overdue collection, Ballard and Chung have carefully presented Harriette Arnow's twenty-five extant stories, including fifteen previously unpublished ones. Arranged roughly in the order in which they were written, each one is prefaced with one or two paragraphs documenting the circumstances in which it was written, published or rejected. These stories range from the simple and naïve to the learned and sophisticated. "Winky Creek's New Song" and "Dreams Come True" were written when Ms Arnow was still in high school, while later stories like "King Devil's Bargain" and "Ketchup-Making Saturday" were studies for two of her novels. One of the most terse and stunning short pieces I have ever read and originally published in the small literary journal THE NEW TALENT in 1935, "A Mess of Pork" alone is worth the price of the volume.

The ten previously published stories are:
Marigolds and Mules
A Mess of Pork
The Washerwoman's Day
The Two Hunters
Blessed-Blessed
The First Ride
Fra Lippi and Me
The Hunter
Love?
Interruptions to School at Home

Author of Hunter's Horn, Mountain Path and other novels, and several historical works concerning Appalachia, Arnow was National Book Award winner in 1955. Although her most famous work, The Dollmaker, has enjoyed much success and was dramatized for television in 1984 with Jane Fonda playing Gertie Nevels, her works have been largely relegated to "regional" literature and subsequently her short stories, up until now, have been hard to find. So it is with special pleasure that we can now trace some of Arnow's evolving artistry and sociopolitical consciousness through these works she left behind.

This guy is an experienced teacher, and, to judge from the tone of his advice, a very caring man. I will be going to my first "sleepaway" college in the fall, and I am really looking forward to implementing the authors eminently practical tips for living life to the fullest in college, while staying centered and keeping up with your studies. Covers thoroughly all aspects of college, from romance to studying habits. I just scanned it last night, and I intend to peruse it thoroughly tonight. Excellent handbook, and should be with the student when he arrives at his new college.

I applaud Hurtado for discussing feminism among women of Color-- she capitalizes the C -- without resorting to simplisticgeneralizations about ethnicity and economic class.

In one of the book's strongest contributions to the ongoing conversation on race and feminism, Hurtado acknowledges the major factor separating white feminists from feminists of Color: their different relationships to white men. Hurtado concludes that white women's position (living in the same homes as white men) avails them to an "economic cushion," a term coined by Phyllis Marynick Palmer. Without trivializing the oppression of White women, Hurtado shows how White patriarchy subjects them through seduction (to propogate the race) while oppressing women of Color through rejection.

She makes another noteworthy contribution by considering Chicanas' decisions not to leave their sexist communities, explaining how women are subordinated within their own cultural groups through sexuality. She also advocates a means for theorizing about oppression and liberation that considers the privilege of the theorist, a feminist epistemology that would not separate the scholar from her/his findings but instead would require a "disrobing of self" not found in masculinist paradigms (p. 128).

Hurtado's suggests that, rather than exchange Eurocentric domination for Afrocentric domination, we consider the role of privilege as we create a "reflexive theory of subordination" that seeks "types of leadership models that lead to strategic action to accomplish particular goals" (p. 159). The key term here is reflexive. Hurtado wants each of us to consider our own biases, the baggage we each bring into our discussions of ineaquality. She acknowledges that some feminists have tried this approach, but adds that we need to encourage more of them to do so. Hurtado contends that we cannot question white power solidarity thoroughly until white people become racial whistle-blowers, fully exposing their privilege.

The Color of Privilege is a rare find: an insightful, well-written scholarly text that will interest both the activist and the academician.

The book is a prime rate example of the methodology of "Comparative Law and Economics": the use of the scientific method of economics for the comparative study of legal traditions. The book is not technical in its economic analysis, but very rich of historical and legal illustrations. Not a reading for novices in the field.