Benjamin Gray – författare

The continued vitality of the Greek city (polis) in the centuries after the Peloponnesian War has now been richly demonstrated by historians. But how does that vitality relate to the prominence in the same period of both civic unrest, or stasis, and utopian political thinking? In order to address this question, this volume uses exile and exiles as a lens for investigating the later Classical and Hellenistic polis and the political ideas which shaped it. The issue of the political and ethical status of exile and exiles necessarily raised fundamental questions about civic inclusion and exclusion, closely bound up with basic ideas of justice, virtue, and community. This makes it possible to interpret the varied evidence for exile as a guide to the complex, dynamic ecology of political ideas within the later Classical and post-Classical civic world, including both taken-for-granted political assumptions and more developed political ideologies and philosophies.In the course of its investigation, Stasis and Stability discusses the rich evidence for varied forms of expulsion and reintegration of citizens of poleis across the Mediterranean, analysing the full range of relevant civic institutions, practices, and debates. It also investigates civic activity and ideology outside the polis, addressing the complex and diverse political organization, agitation, and ideas of exiles themselves. Using this evidence, the volume develops an argument that the rich Greek civic political culture and political thought of this period were marked by significant extremes, contradictions, and indeterminacies in ideas about the relative value of solidarity and reciprocity, self-sacrifice and self-interest. Those features of the polis' political culture and political thought are integral to explaining both civic unrest and civic flourishing, both stasis and stability.

In the Hellenistic period (c.323-31 BCE), Greek teachers, philosophers, historians, orators, and politicians found an essential point of reference in the democracy of Classical Athens and the political thought which it produced. However, while Athenian civic life and thought in the Classical period have been intensively studied, these aspects of the Hellenistic period have so far received much less attention. This volume seeks to bring together the two areas of research, shedding new light on these complementary parts of the history of the ancient Greek polis.The essays collected here encompass historical, philosophical, and literary approaches to the various Hellenistic responses to and adaptations of Classical Athenian politics. They survey the complex processes through which Athenian democratic ideals of equality, freedom, and civic virtue were emphasized, challenged, blunted, or reshaped in different Hellenistic contexts and genres. They also consider the reception, in the changed political circumstances, of Classical Athenian non- and anti-democratic political thought. This makes it possible to investigate how competing Classical Athenian ideas about the value or shortcomings of democracy and civic community continued to echo through new political debates in Hellenistic cities and schools. Looking ahead to the Roman Imperial period, the volume also explores to what extent those who idealized Classical Athens as a symbol of cultural and intellectual excellence drew on, or forgot, its legacy of democracy and vigorous political debate. By addressing these different questions it not only tracks changes in practices and conceptions of politics and the city in the Hellenistic world, but also examines developing approaches to culture, rhetoric, history, ethics, and philosophy, and especially their relationships with politics.

This book draws from the everyday experiences as well as the harsh realities confronting behavioral care providers on the frontline.  The book recounts the stories and sometimes disturbing emotions of people whose lives have undergone sudden change or even drastic trauma;  people whose feelings of comfort and safety have been shattered by exposure to illness, abuse, death and bereavement.  The perspectives and experiences of nurses, social care staff, patients, children and families are at the core of understanding the importance, challenges and therapeutic vitality of emotions.  The 55 individuals on the frontline who took part in the interviews on which this study is based discuss the emotions associated with care in mental health, pediatric oncology, AIDS/HIV, as well as child protection and abuse, racism, refugee exile, poverty, and social exclusion.  Their bravery, openness, and ability to communicate and share their emotions make this book possible.  ​