Janet Mancini Billson - Böcker

Inuit Women is the definitive study of the Inuit during a time of rapid change. Based on fourteen years of research and fieldwork, this analysis focuses on the challenges facing Inuit women as they enter the twenty-first century. Written shortly after the creation of Nunavut, a new province carved out of traditional Inuit homelands in the Canadian North, this compelling book combines conclusions drawn from the authors' ethnographic research with the stories of Inuit women and men, told in their own words.In addition to their presentation of the personal portraits and voices of many Inuit respondents, Janet Mancini Billson and Kyra Mancini explore global issues: the impact of rapid social change and Canadian resettlement policy on Inuit culture; women's roles in society; and gender relations in Baffin Island, in the Eastern Arctic. They also include an extensive section on how the newly created territory of Nunavut is impacting the lives of Inuit women and their families. Working from a research approach grounded in feminist theory, the authors involve their Inuit interviewees as full participants in the process. This book stands alone in its attention to Inuit women's issues and lives and should be read by everyone interested in gender relations, development, modernization, globalization, and Inuit culture.

Inuit Women is the definitive study of the Inuit during a time of rapid change. Based on fourteen years of research and fieldwork, this analysis focuses on the challenges facing Inuit women as they enter the twenty-first century. Written shortly after the creation of Nunavut, a new province carved out of traditional Inuit homelands in the Canadian North, this compelling book combines conclusions drawn from the authors' ethnographic research with the stories of Inuit women and men, told in their own words.In addition to their presentation of the personal portraits and voices of many Inuit respondents, Janet Mancini Billson and Kyra Mancini explore global issues: the impact of rapid social change and Canadian resettlement policy on Inuit culture; women's roles in society; and gender relations in Baffin Island, in the Eastern Arctic. They also include an extensive section on how the newly created territory of Nunavut is impacting the lives of Inuit women and their families. Working from a research approach grounded in feminist theory, the authors involve their Inuit interviewees as full participants in the process. This book stands alone in its attention to Inuit women's issues and lives and should be read by everyone interested in gender relations, development, modernization, globalization, and Inuit culture.

In Pathways to Manhood, published in cloth as Strategic Styles: Coping in the Inner City, Janet Maricini Billson studies five young boys who grew up in Roxbury, Massachusetts, during the Intense racial and political turmoil of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Using data from Harvard's Pathways to Identity project, she analyzes how healthy ego striving develops in the social and physical decay of an Inner-city environment.The author draws a rich and absorbing portrait of each boy and of his life. Although they grew up in the same social context, the boys became very different individuals. In a new preface to this expanded edition, Billson maintains that it is still vitally Important to understand the coping styles that young black males develop in the face of adversity.Bernard E. Bruce traces what happened to the five boys, who are now men In their forties, in his poignant epilogue, "From Boys to Men." A new chapter on Intervention strategies shows how parents, teachers, and others who work with inner-city youth can most effectively support positive coping styles. Graphic representations help visualize both the styles and the intervention strategies.This classic book is a valued resource for parents; for those who work in the helping professions, education, and the criminal justice system; and for students of sociological theory, social psychology, human development, and race relations.

In Refugee Pathways to Peace: Escaping the Chaos of War, Janet Mancini Billson provides perspectives of Vietnamese, Syrian, Congolese, Liberian, and Ukrainian refugees, and the resettlement agencies that smooth their transition into a new life context. Despite welcoming refugee policies, challenges arise in Canada’s uniquely positive context. Participants discuss how they overcome displacement and cope with the trauma of leaving home and family behind. As they craft viable new lives, refugees remain vulnerable to marginality and delays in economic independence. Following Refugee Pathways to Freedom, Billson details how refugees are double victims of conflict and a glacially slow resettlement process, and places the refugee experience into a human rights framework. She offers recommendations for improving a global refugee system that is creaking as displacement escalates. She calls for limiting the sojourn in refugee camps to two years to help reduce negative impacts and maximize newcomer well-being. She concludes that the true “epidemic” is conflict (displacing 100,000,000 persons annually). Shifting the focus toward diplomacy and peacebuilding before minor conflicts become “hot spots” is crucial, as is streamlining refugee selection processes to reduce despair and lost years. Participants make specific policy suggestions that would enhance rather than degrade refugee well-being during resettlement.