John McGowan - Böcker

The financial and economic crisis in Europe is not over, and the radically opposing strategies on how to proceed has only increased the complexity of problems in the region, revealing the shortcomings of the EU’s architecture. The European Union, perhaps for the first time in its history of more than seventy years, is being perceived as a threat to the financial and monetary stability of the world.A Global Perspective on the European Economic Crisis explores the connection between internal EU actions and institutions and the external factors that influence the ongoing response to the European crisis. With a unique collection of international and interdisciplinary essays, this book considers the complex macroeconomic and challenging political landscape of Europe, looking at how and why the European Union is untenable in its current state. The chapters outline what should be done to make the common currency area more resilient, and explain why external events are particularly problematic for the EU, ultimately offering suggestions for what Europeans should do in order to avoid harmful internal consequences. This volume confronts the causes of the crisis’ persistence, its economic and political consequences, and the impact of more recent events and policy decisions. It will be of interest to researchers and policy-makers keen to understand the EU relations and the influence of international organizations in the European economic crisis.

The adoption and management of the common currency has led the Eurozone to a critical point. This book analyzes in an interdisciplinary way the fundamental causes of distress, making sure to relate economic issues to the social and political aspects of the problem. The book explores the reasons why the Eurozone has fallen into a policy trap, as well as what Europe did and should do to exit the crisis, and why this is proving to be so difficult. The book also considers what role the United States has played, and could play to help foster a solution for the Eurozone.The main topics explored are the complex nature of the crisis, the short circuit between policies and the given institutional architecture, the controversial role of Germany, and the importance of an active role of the US. The book brings together a transatlantic group of scholars in order to offer an interdisciplinary analysis of the deep causes of the Eurozone distress. The authors recognize that the Eurozone countries have contrasting situations and interests and face different problems with complex consequences for the vexed question of national sovereignty within the EU; and pay attention to the social and political consequences of the economic and financial distress and of the perceived strain of the common currency.

The gold standard anthology for anyone who wants to understand the development and current state of literary theory. Offering 191 pieces by 157 authors, The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, Third Edition, is more comprehensive and more varied in its selection than any other anthology. Forty-eight NEW selections—concentrated mostly on the twentieth and twenty-first centuries—make the book not only the best overview of the history of theory, but also a remarkably up-to-date portrait of the state of theory today.

This title offers expert advice on essential home decoration and maintenance, including painting, papering, tiling, laying floors, carpentry skills, insulation, and outdoor projects and repairs. Projects include painting and varnishing wood, tiling a work surface, laying foam-backed carpet, replacing window panes, fitting window locks, making a garage storage wall, insulating roofs, repairing roofs and guttering, laying decking, making pergolas, building rock gardens, installing water features, and many more. It features a guide to tools for a wide range of do-it-yourself jobs, including using chisels, saws, drills, hammers, screwdrivers, pliers and sanders. Over 2400 photographs illustrate each step-by-step project, to provide instant reference. Looking after your home is economical and satisfying, and this book is filled with practical tips for do-it-yourself jobs. All areas of the home are covered, both indoors and out. There is clear step-by-step advice on internal and external maintenance, repairs, carpentry, flooring, brickwork, roofing, fences, walls and paths.The book includes instructions for painting and papering walls and ceilings, laying ceramic tiles, fitting floor coverings and carpets, making bookshelves, draught-proofing doors, repointing brickwork, laying patios and installing ponds and fountains.The book also contains a guide to tools, from saws and drills to spanners and paintbrushes. A reference for beginners and experienced do-it-yourselfers alike, this is an essential manual that you will refer to again and again.

This comprehensive how-to manual covers all the information you need to maintain and improve your house or apartment, with detailed instructions and helpful hints and tips from expert authors to ensure success. It shows the beginner the best way to tackle everyday problems and gives advice on floors, walls, ceilings, windows, doors, drains, gutters, roofs, paths and drives, insulation and ventilation. There is a focus on security, with information on how to fit window and door locks and bolts. All the basic woodworking skills are covered, from the correct way to put up shelves, fit hinges and catches, to more complicated jobs, such as rehanging doors. This handy, easy-to-use reference will give you confidence to tackle jobs around the home and achieve professional-looking results every time.

How do American intellectuals try to achieve their political and social goals? By what means do they articulate their hopes for change? John McGowan seeks to identify the goals and strategies of contemporary humanistic intellectuals who strive to shape the politics and culture of their time. In a lively mix of personal reflection and shrewd analysis, McGowan visits the sites of intellectual activity (scholarly publications, professional conferences, the classroom, and the university) and considers the hazards of working within such institutional contexts to effect change outside the academy. Democracy's Children considers the historical trajectory that produced current intellectual practices. McGowan links the growing prestige of "culture" since 1800 to the growth of democracy and the obsession with modernity and explores how intellectuals became both custodians and creators of culture. Caught between fears of culture's irrelevance and dreams of its omnipotence, intellectuals pursue a cultural politics that aims for wide-ranging social transformations. For better or worse, McGowan says, the humanities are now tied to culture and to the university. The opportunities and frustrations attendant on this partnership resonate with the larger successes and failures of contemporary democratic societies. His purpose in this collection of essays is to illuminate the conditions under which intellectuals in a democracy work and at the same time to promote intellectual activities that further democratic ideals.

This title presents a citizen's working definition of liberalism. What are the basic values and commitments of American liberals? John McGowan sets out to answer that question in this lively and provocative book. Tracing a tradition that extends from James Madison through Franklin Delano Roosevelt to today, McGowan emphasizes liberalism's distribution of power throughout society in order to secure freedom and equality. Liberals locate the effort to achieve legal, political, and social equality as central to securing a just and stable society. They also insist that only an 'effective' freedom that includes the capacity to achieve one's self-chosen goals deserves the name of liberty. By presenting the history of the much-contested values of freedom, equality, and social justice, McGowan offers a clear vision of liberalism's ambitious and inspiring vision for these United States.

Americans live in a liberal democracy. Yet, although democracy is widely touted today, liberalism is scorned by both the right and the left. The United States stands poised between its liberal democratic tradition and the illiberal alternatives of liberalism's critics. John McGowan argues that Americans should think twice before jettisoning the liberalism that guided American politics from James Madison to the New Deal and the Great Society. In an engaging and informative discussion, McGowan offers a ringing endorsement of American liberalism's basic principles, values, and commitments. He identifies five tenets of liberalism: a commitment to liberty and equality, trust in a constitutionally established rule of law, a conviction that modern societies are irreducibly plural, the promotion of a diverse civil society, and a reliance on public debate and deliberation to influence others' opinions and actions.McGowan explains how America's founders rejected the simplistic notion that government or society is necessarily oppressive. They were, however, acutely aware of the danger of tyranny. The liberalism of the founders distributed power widely in order to limit the power any one entity could exercise over others. Their aim was to provide for all an effective freedom that combined the right to self-determination with the ability to achieve one's self-chosen goals. In tracing this history, McGowan offers a clear vision of liberalism's foundational values as America's best guarantee today of liberty and the peace in which to exercise it.

An informative and lively book about one of the foremost political thinkers of our time.Hannah Arendt was one of this century’s leading political theorists and most controversial public intellectuals. Her work challenges received opinions about politics and cherished conceptions of modernity. Firmly locating Arendt’s ideas in the context of our times, John McGowan here offers a clear, concise overview of Arendt’s work and its continuing importance. The book is organized around three central Arendtian themes: the unfolding of identity through political action, the modern assault on a richly pluralistic world, and the effort to comprehend evil. Arendt was both a commentator on the events of her time (from totalitarianism and the Holocaust to the Vietnam War) and a sophisticated political theorist. McGowan lucidly explains the theoretical and philosophical convictions that stood behind her various-and often controversial-interventions in contemporary affairs. He explores the new ways of thinking that Arendt’s work opens up regarding current issues such as human rights, identity politics, and participatory democracy. A concluding chapter connects Arendt’s thought to contemporary social theory and today’s political debates. Briskly written, McGowan’s book serves Arendt’s complex thought well while also rendering it accessible, demonstrating the unity of Arendt’s career and the continuing relevance of her concerns. Readers new to Arendt as well as those intimately familiar with her work will be intrigued and enlightened by this comprehensive and authoritative introduction.

In our current age of cynicism, John McGowan suggests that the time is right to take a fresh look at pragmatism, the philosophy of American democracy. As McGowan shows, pragmatism can be an inspiring alternative to the despair that seems to dominate contemporary American politics. Pragmatist Politics is passionate and convincing, both heartfelt and clear-eyed. It offers an expansive vision of what the United States could be and should be.From John Dewey and William James, McGowan derives a history of democracy as a way of life, characterized by a distinctive ethos and based on an understanding of politics as potentially effective collective agency. That democratic ideal is wedded to a liberalism that focuses on extending the benefits of democracy and of material prosperity to all. Beyond the intellectual case for liberal democracy, McGowan turns to how James, especially, was attuned to the ways that emotional appeals often trump persuasion through arguments, and he examines the work of Kenneth Burke, among others, to investigate the link between liberal democracy and a comic view of human life. Comedy, McGowan notes, allows consideration of themes of love, forgiveness, and generosity that figure far too infrequently in philosophical accounts of politics.In McGowan’s work, the combination of pragmatism and comedy takes us on a wide-ranging exploration of what American politics-and by extension American life-could actually be like if it truly reflected American values.

The financial and economic crisis in Europe is not over, and the radically opposing strategies on how to proceed has only increased the complexity of problems in the region, revealing the shortcomings of the EU’s architecture. The European Union, perhaps for the first time in its history of more than seventy years, is being perceived as a threat to the financial and monetary stability of the world.A Global Perspective on the European Economic Crisis explores the connection between internal EU actions and institutions and the external factors that influence the ongoing response to the European crisis. With a unique collection of international and interdisciplinary essays, this book considers the complex macroeconomic and challenging political landscape of Europe, looking at how and why the European Union is untenable in its current state. The chapters outline what should be done to make the common currency area more resilient, and explain why external events are particularly problematic for the EU, ultimately offering suggestions for what Europeans should do in order to avoid harmful internal consequences. This volume confronts the causes of the crisis’ persistence, its economic and political consequences, and the impact of more recent events and policy decisions. It will be of interest to researchers and policy-makers keen to understand the EU relations and the influence of international organizations in the European economic crisis.

The adoption and management of the common currency has led the Eurozone to a critical point. This book analyzes in an interdisciplinary way the fundamental causes of distress, making sure to relate economic issues to the social and political aspects of the problem. The book explores the reasons why the Eurozone has fallen into a policy trap, as well as what Europe did and should do to exit the crisis, and why this is proving to be so difficult. The book also considers what role the United States has played, and could play to help foster a solution for the Eurozone.The main topics explored are the complex nature of the crisis, the short circuit between policies and the given institutional architecture, the controversial role of Germany, and the importance of an active role of the US. The book brings together a transatlantic group of scholars in order to offer an interdisciplinary analysis of the deep causes of the Eurozone distress. The authors recognize that the Eurozone countries have contrasting situations and interests and face different problems with complex consequences for the vexed question of national sovereignty within the EU; and pay attention to the social and political consequences of the economic and financial distress and of the perceived strain of the common currency.

How do American intellectuals try to achieve their political and social goals? By what means do they articulate their hopes for change? John McGowan seeks to identify the goals and strategies of contemporary humanistic intellectuals who strive to shape the politics and culture of their time. In a lively mix of personal reflection and shrewd analysis, McGowan visits the sites of intellectual activity (scholarly publications, professional conferences, the classroom, and the university) and considers the hazards of working within such institutional contexts to effect change outside the academy. Democracy's Children considers the historical trajectory that produced current intellectual practices. McGowan links the growing prestige of "culture" since 1800 to the growth of democracy and the obsession with modernity and explores how intellectuals became both custodians and creators of culture. Caught between fears of culture's irrelevance and dreams of its omnipotence, intellectuals pursue a cultural politics that aims for wide-ranging social transformations. For better or worse, McGowan says, the humanities are now tied to culture and to the university. The opportunities and frustrations attendant on this partnership resonate with the larger successes and failures of contemporary democratic societies. His purpose in this collection of essays is to illuminate the conditions under which intellectuals in a democracy work and at the same time to promote intellectual activities that further democratic ideals.

Where you serve today can become where you lead tomorrow...No matter your current position, God will unlock the power for you to reach your incredible potential. The key is to approach all you do with a servant's heart versus your own ambition. This guide to serving with passion, integrity, and intuition for success explores how to appreciate today while anticipating the possibilities that await tomorrow.With biblical wisdom and personal insights, Johnny McGowan reveals his own exciting trajectory and the doors that were opened each time he stepped up to serve God. For the past thirty years, he has devoted his gifts to serving Lakewood, one of America's largest churches. Along the way, he has marvelled at the leadership opportunities God presented as he stayed committed to serving something larger than himself. By seeking only to fulfil God's will for his life, Johnny has been blessed with increasing responsibility and innumerable ways to make a difference through Stepping Up!Regardless of where you are, God can take you where you want to go-and beyond! Chasing the "number one" role or promotion by your own hands will never be fulfilling. God has even bigger things in store for you, and your future starts now. Learn to listen to God's call and let Him direct your actions. As you do, you'll rise by discovering the true power of your position.

Pastor Johnny McGowan has been SERVING UP for many years, first as the aide to Lakewood founder John Osteen, and now to Lakewood lead pastor Joel Osteen. Throughout his experience, Pastor Johnny has embraced his role of service, being strongly compelled that God wanted him right where he was: part of a movement that was larger than himself. He learned to truly rise in his supporting role and has flourished with purpose as a result. Now, Pastor Johnny shares his wisdom in SERVING UP. Incorporating personal insights and biblical stories of those in the "second in command" position, and how God has used them for a larger purpose, this book will guide you in serving with integrity, passion, and instinct for success. Through service you can achieving a life that is favored by God. By joyfully approaching your current position--instead of relentlessly seeking a better position--and stepping aside to let God open the right doors for you, you will see the divine value and glory of SERVING UP.

Social worker. You're a helping hand, a rock in the tempest, a friendly face through the hard times, and a catalyst for change. But what about you? How do you keep going when the pressure just keeps rising?In this no-nonsense handbook, Neil Thompson and John McGowan distil years of social work expertise into key strategies to overcome the challenges that come with the profession. Each chapter is full of clear, practical advice on staying resilient in the face of tough situations, whether they're political, social, or economic. Handy frameworks and expert advice will strengthen your practice and give you a solid structure to build on, helping you fulfil your potential as a social worker and provide better support for your clients. Social work is tough, but with the guidance and support in this book you can learn to tackle the challenges and thrive as a force for change.

In this work, over 800 colour photographs and diagrams show you how to do every decorating task and project around the house with complete confidence. It offers expert advice on essential home improvements tasks, including painting, wallpapering, tiling, laying new floors, carpentry skills, security, repairs and maintaining your home. It also offers advice on how to choose and use the right tools for the job effectively and safely. Step-by-step visual instructions and tips from the experts make the information easy to follow. This book describes how to plan your work, the tools and materials you will need, how to maintain your home, basic carpentry and decorating. Over 800 step-by-step photographs and diagrams show the best way to tackle walls, ceilings, windows, doors, drains, gutters, roofs, paths and drives, insulation and ventilation. Security is an ever-increasing concern and this book shows how to fit window and door locks and bolts. All the basic woodworking skills are also covered. A detailed section on decorating gives instruction on choosing colours, painting and wallpapering. Laying all types of flooring is made easy and tiling walls and surfaces is covered in depth.This handy, easy-to-use manual is an invaluable practical reference book as well as a source of inspiration, and it will help you tackle jobs around the home with confidence while ensuring you achieve professional-looking results every time.