Michael Sheridan – författare

Roots of Power tells five stories of plants, people, property, politics, peace, and protection in tropical societies. In Cameroon, French Polynesia, Papua New Guinea, St. Vincent, and Tanzania, dracaena and cordyline plants are simultaneously property rights institutions, markers of social organization, and expressions of life-force and vitality.

In addition to their localized roles in forming landscapes and societies, these plants mark multiple boundaries and demonstrate deep historical connections across much of the planet’s tropics. These plants’ deep roots in society and culture have made them the routes through which postcolonial agrarian societies have negotiated both social and cultural continuity and change. This book is a multi-sited ethnographic political ecology of ethnobotanical institutions. It uses five parallel case studies to investigate the central phenomenon of "boundary plants" and establish the linkages among the case studies via both ancient and relatively recent demographic transformations such as the Bantu expansion across tropical Africa, the Austronesian expansion into the Pacific, and the colonial system of plantation slavery in the Black Atlantic. Each case study is a social-ecological system with distinctive characteristics stemming from the ways that power is organized by kinship and gender, social ranking, or racialized capitalism. This book contributes to the literature on property rights institutions and land management by arguing that tropical boundary plants’ social entanglements and cultural legitimacy make them effective foundations for development policy. Formal recognition of these institutions could reduce contradiction, conflict, and ambiguity between resource managers and states in postcolonial societies and contribute to sustainable livelihoods and landscapes.

This book will appeal to scholars and students of environmental anthropology, political ecology, ethnobotany, landscape studies, colonial history, and development studies, and readers will benefit from its demonstration of the comparative method.

Roots of Power tells five stories of plants, people, property, politics, peace, and protection in tropical societies. In Cameroon, French Polynesia, Papua New Guinea, St. Vincent, and Tanzania, dracaena and cordyline plants are simultaneously property rights institutions, markers of social organization, and expressions of life-force and vitality.

In addition to their localized roles in forming landscapes and societies, these plants mark multiple boundaries and demonstrate deep historical connections across much of the planet’s tropics. These plants’ deep roots in society and culture have made them the routes through which postcolonial agrarian societies have negotiated both social and cultural continuity and change. This book is a multi-sited ethnographic political ecology of ethnobotanical institutions. It uses five parallel case studies to investigate the central phenomenon of "boundary plants" and establish the linkages among the case studies via both ancient and relatively recent demographic transformations such as the Bantu expansion across tropical Africa, the Austronesian expansion into the Pacific, and the colonial system of plantation slavery in the Black Atlantic. Each case study is a social-ecological system with distinctive characteristics stemming from the ways that power is organized by kinship and gender, social ranking, or racialized capitalism. This book contributes to the literature on property rights institutions and land management by arguing that tropical boundary plants’ social entanglements and cultural legitimacy make them effective foundations for development policy. Formal recognition of these institutions could reduce contradiction, conflict, and ambiguity between resource managers and states in postcolonial societies and contribute to sustainable livelihoods and landscapes.

This book will appeal to scholars and students of environmental anthropology, political ecology, ethnobotany, landscape studies, colonial history, and development studies, and readers will benefit from its demonstration of the comparative method.

''Michael Sheridan is one of the best informed and wisest writers on China'' - Chris Patten, last governor of Hong KongThe Red Emperor presents an eye-opening portrait of Xi Jinping, the man who presides over 1.4 billion people and the second largest economy on earth. Born a ''princeling'' to one of Communist China''s ruling families, the young Xi was exiled to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. He fought his way back to the top by stealth, privilege and guile. In 2012, following the spectacular fall of his rival Bo Xilai, Xi Jinping became the leader of China.In a compulsively readable narrative, veteran foreign correspondent Michael Sheridan takes the reader from the poor, isolated country of Xi''s youth to the military and economic superpower of today. In Xi''s new China, family mafias struggle for power amid murder, corruption and sex scandals as ministers and generals vanish in purges. No one is safe in his techno-security state. Xi is an absolute ruler whose word is law on everything from war and peace to the ruthless campaign against Covid-19. He aims to dominate world trade, to defeat Western democracy and to make China the supreme power in the East. A loner and a risk-taker, he is the most consequential leader of our time.Drawing on intimate stories from the closed world of China''s leading families and two decades of first-hand reporting, Michael Sheridan sheds new light on the history and politics of China. The book reveals that behind the façade of the Chinese Communist Party there is a modern dynasty and a new emperor.

Jim Wallis, well-known justice advocate and author, has stated that the two great hungers in the world today are for spirituality and social justice. Although social work and related fields have increasingly recognized the importance of addressing spirituality within clinical practice, less attention has been paid to the role of spirituality in promoting social justice or supporting social change within macropractice. The contributions in this edited collection highlight current developments in this area, including emerging conceptual frameworks, practice applications and research findings. Theoretical approaches to understanding the link between spirituality and justice are explored in analyses of alternative models of social justice and justice orientations of major faith traditions. The critical role of spirituality in larger system change is illustrated through exemplars of research on vulnerable populations, community practice, legislative advocacy, development of social movements, and ecological social work. The importance of including content on religion and spirituality in professional curricula is explored through research on students’ attitudes toward spirituality and social advocacy. Noting the resonating themes within all of these contributions, the volume concludes with an overview of emerging principles for spiritual activism.

This book aims to stimulate further development in the vital connection between spirituality and social justice. It was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work.

Jim Wallis, well-known justice advocate and author, has stated that the two great hungers in the world today are for spirituality and social justice. Although social work and related fields have increasingly recognized the importance of addressing spirituality within clinical practice, less attention has been paid to the role of spirituality in promoting social justice or supporting social change within macropractice. The contributions in this edited collection highlight current developments in this area, including emerging conceptual frameworks, practice applications and research findings. Theoretical approaches to understanding the link between spirituality and justice are explored in analyses of alternative models of social justice and justice orientations of major faith traditions. The critical role of spirituality in larger system change is illustrated through exemplars of research on vulnerable populations, community practice, legislative advocacy, development of social movements, and ecological social work. The importance of including content on religion and spirituality in professional curricula is explored through research on students’ attitudes toward spirituality and social advocacy. Noting the resonating themes within all of these contributions, the volume concludes with an overview of emerging principles for spiritual activism.

This book aims to stimulate further development in the vital connection between spirituality and social justice. It was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work.

När Kathy O'Beirne var åtta år spärrades hon in på en uppfostringsanstalt. Där våldtogs hon av en präst. När hon försökte få hjälp flyttades hon istället till ett psykiatriskt sjukhus. Men övergreppen fortsatte och hon gavs dessutom stora mängder läkemedel och elchocker. Efter en tid skickades hon till ett av de många Magdalenatvätterier som katolska kyrkan under hela 1900-talet drev på Irland. Här tvingades tusentals flickor utföra slavarbete under ohyggliga förhållanden. De hindrades inte bara från att ha kontakt med omvärlden, utan utsattes också för grymma bestraffningar och sexuella övergrepp av såväl personalen som besökare. Kathy föll offer för en av dessa våldtäktsmän och födde bara några veckor före sin fjortonårsdag en dotter. Flickan led av en svår sjukdom men levde tills hon var tio år och var det enda ljuset i Kathys liv.

Det som gör det möjligt för Kathy att överleva är att hon får sprida sin historia och därmed fortsätta sin kamp fo¨r att uppna° ra¨ttvisa.