Economic-Life Books

I have read many ethnographies in my day, but I can't recall another that has had me at turns astounded by the author's insight, impressed with his prose, saddened by his findings, and laughing out loud at the wry wit of his descriptive voice. I do not normally consider good anthropology "fun" to read, but "EXPECTATIONS OF MODERNITY" bucks the trend. It's well-argued, impassioned, and thoroughly readable.

Author Ferguson is concerned with the experience of "modernity" and "development" as lived by residents of Zambia's Copperbelt, who since the 1970s have experienced an unrelenting slide into social and economic marginalization. He works in case studies drawn from individual interview subjects, census data, and textual asides--boxes featuring news clippings from Zambian papers, or brief "People Watching" accounts of the author's street observations with his research assistant. The discussion ranges from meta-narratives of "progress" and "modernization" to an eye-opening analysis of the opposing styles adopted by Zambian urbanites.

His conclusion is grim: "For many Zambians... recent history has been experienced not--as the modernization plot led one to expect--as a process of moving forward or joining up with the world, but as a process that has pushed them out of the place in the world that they once occupied." The process of globalization has not connected this corner of Africa (and its inhabitants) to the currents of prosperity traversing the world economy; rather it has disconnected them, throwing them out of the garden of "development." Ferguson stresses that they have not been "left out" of world capitalism; the processes of abjection he describes are integral parts of the system.

Even amid the gathering gloom of this analysis, I found myself heartened by the author's occasional humor and by his sympathetic (and self-effacing) accounts of casual encounters in the field. I had not previously had much time for anti-globalization arguments, but Ferguson's disarming approach lowered my skepticism, forcing me to confront the ugly truths of the new world order in a way I had never done before. My hat is off to this man for crafting such a great book.

This is a truly rich and incisive ethnography of an African nation in the midst of long-term economic decline. Ferguson may be best known to readers as the author of 1990's "The Anti-Politics Machine", a widely acknowledged classic of contemporary social anthropology and one of the seminal works of what might be called the new development studies. Admirers of "Anti-Politics Machine" should not expect a simple retread of old material here, however. "Expectations of Modernity" focuses squarely on the lived experience of national economic decline, and the cultural and economic strategies by which retiring copper miners are adjusting to the new world order.
Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of "Expectations" is Ferguson's recourse to an eclectic mix of theoretical concepts and approaches. Dick Hebdige's analysis of subculture and style, Judith Butler's insights into gender performances, and Bourdieu's reflections on cultural capital are all invoked here to shed light on Zambians' attempts to grapple with economic decline. The breadth and subtlety of the author's theoretical approach to questions of culture, power, and style enables him to challenge the old, teleological narrative of Africa's progress from "tradition" to "modernity." "Expectations of Modernity" is therefore relevant not only to Africa and the Third World, but also to all those de-industrializing and declining regions of the capitalist West that have been nourished for decades on the false promises of modernist metanarratives.

Reviewed by Bette Daoust, Ph.D. for Reader Views (6/06)

Everyone has an opinion on how their company should be run and how it should not be run. It does not matter what organization you belong to, the result is generally the same. People need leaders to put order into the business but it is how effective the leaders are that truly makes the difference between a people-centric organization and one that simply dictates how things must be done.

Experience Lessons leads you from the dictator style leadership synopsis to one that is truly people-centric plus everything in-between. This book explains management from many perspectives. Is the person in charge a leader or a manager? Lee has sage advice when it comes to communications, interpersonal relationships, and leadership techniques that are based on reality. His advice is sound and does not skirt on the impossible to implement style of so many other books.

If you are in a position of leading others, this book is a good read to get your feet wet before you go for the swim. Take heed on what Lee has to say about accountability and responsibility and then compare it to your current situation. A book well worth reading and keeping within arm's reach.

I found this book to have simple practical solutions that most companies would benefit from implementing.It was easy to read and the lessons taught could be applied quickly. It could have had more detail on how to implement some of the suggestions. Should be read by senior business leaders as I believe we are losing the global business battle.

Fashion, Retailing and a Bygone Era: Inside Women's Wear Daily is a look back upon the past fifty years of the women's fashion industry, as detailed by seven former editors of the Women's Wear Daily newspaper. Women's Wear Daily lasted nearly 100 years because of its mission - to present readers with the facts to aid their business decisions - and was an upstanding "must-read" for designers, manufacturers, trend makers, and marketers due to its integrity and keen eye for detail. Fashion, Retailing and a Bygone Era is packed cover to cover with fascinating, sometimes hilarious, sometimes perplexing moments in the ever-changing world of what's hot and what's not. Highly entertaining, and especially recommended for anyone interested in learning more about the demands of the fashion industry.

There are a few newspapers that reach the status of a must read. And there was a time when Woman's Wear (as it was called) was right up there with the Wall Street Journal, or Variety. Each of these is basically a specialty newspaper that covers one industry. Woman's Wear obviously covered the Rag Trade. From some time in the early 1950's to the end of the 1960's Woman's Wear was a must read. Today it is still a big paper, but nothing like it was.

This book is the personal recollection of seven of the editors that made Woman's Wear what it was. They held verious positions on the paper and tell the stories with wit and a tenderness about the paper they obviously loved. Most of the stories, like the stories we remember of our own career are short with unexpected endings. The things that make a good story. And good stories make a good newspaper or even a book.

This is not a serious tome, but a delightful read about a time now gone.

Ronald Jager cares deeply about the "The Fate of Family Farming", which is the title of his latest book. His interest has very personal roots. Jager grew up on a farm near McBain, Michigan (not far from Reed City, where I grew up), and wrote movingly (and often quite humorously) of those formative years in his 1990 memoir, "Eighty Acres: Elegy for a Family Farm", which I re-read recently and found it to be one of those rare books which improves with age and yields new pleasures and insights with each reading, the mark of a true classic.
Jager left the farm over fifty years ago when he went off to Calvin College, then Harvard, and finally landed at Yale where he taught philosophy for a number of years. He has lived in rural New Hampshire for over thirty years now and has obviously immersed himself in the community, the culture and the history of his adopted state, and has written extensively of all these things.
In "FoFF" Jager first sketches a brief history of four hundred years of farming in America, starting with the first pilgrims who landed on our shores pitifully ill-equipped. Many of these first settlers died, and those who did not owed their survival to the generosity of Native Americans who shared their corn and knowledge of primitive farming methods. Jager then cites two early presidents, Adams and Jefferson, as champions and practitioners of farming. Jefferson described farmers as "the most valuable citizens [and also] the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous ..." Emerson, Thoreau and other nineteenth century writers also weigh in on farming before Jager focuses in on three contemporary agrarian writers from the second half of the twentieth century. Louis Bromfield was an enormously successful writer turned farmer whose experimental Malabar Farm in Ohio became a showcase in the forties and fifties. Victor Davis Hanson, a classics professor and also a California fruit farmer is also heard from, and, in his "Field without Dreams" (1996), writes: "we are now in the penultimate stage of the death of agrarianism, the idea that farmland of roughly like size and nature should be worked by individual families." Finally, the writings of writer-farmer Wendell Berry of Kentucky are examined, particularly his scathing indictment of modern corporate agribusiness in "The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture" (1977). Twenty-five years later Berry pointed out: "In 2002 we have less than half the number of farms in the United States that we had in 1977."
At the heart of "FoFF" however are in-depth profiles of four farms and the families who are currently operating them in New Hampshire. One is a modern "sugarbush", or maple syrup operation, which bears very little resemblance to the small-time sugarbushes that flourished throughout the west Michigan of my childhood. The metal spiles, buckets and boiling tubs of those days have been replaced by miles of plastic tubing, vacuum systems, and reverse osmosis machines, all needed to efficiently process the sap from the more than 40,000 maples on the Bascom farm. Similar esoteric and modern methods are examined at a family-run dairy farm of nearly 200 cows, and still other innovations are explained at an egg and sweet corn farm and, finally, an apple orchard.
The common thread that unites these four family farms, in addition to their specializations, is the odd dance of these fiercely proud and independent people's resistance to and yet cooperation with the giant agribusiness corporations which now control the food industry of the world.
Yes, the "world", because globalization has invaded the world of farming too. U.S. farmers are now in competition with the food growers of China, Chile, New Zealand and other far-flung points of the globe. The greatest irony of this globalization is that less and less of the money spent on food today (which is cheaper than ever) ends up in the farmer's pocket. Modernization equals increased efficiency, which results in higher production creating surpluses which drive down prices, and the farmer is the one who pays.
This vicious cycle is a dilemma which Jager emphasizes throughout his book. While this is a tragic situation, what is even more frightening is Jager's depiction of the rapid and widespread use of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. No long-term studies are available on the ultimate effects of these gene-spliced super seeds on world ecology and the continued safety of our food supply. Corporations like Monsanto, Novartis, DuPont and Dow, which produce, patent and sell these seeds and also certain herbicides, stand to profit enormously, and these companies have lobbied successfully for their products' quick approval by the FDA, the EPA and the Department of Agriculture. Other countries have been much more cautious about GMOs; indeed the European Parliament has even passed legislation requiring GMO labeling.
Jager finally offers some hope for the future of family-run farms in America as he looks at several current agrarian movements such as organic farming, community supported agriculture, farmers' markets and niche farming.
The greatest strength of "FoFF" is the obvious passion of the author's commitment to responsible stewardship of the land. Here finally is an eloquent and knowledgeable voice for family farming who draws not only from extensive research and careful scholarship, but also from personal experience and a deep and unquenchable love of the land. Jager's book should be required reading not just for the agricultural community but for the world community. If America chooses to ignore intelligent agrarian voices like Jager's, it is entirely possible that we will one day become as dependent on foreign sources for our food suppy as we are now for our oil (if we haven't already). Not exactly a happy thought. - Tim Bazzett, author of the REED CITY BOY trilogy

I love food, especially of the locally-grown, organic type. This love comes from childhood memories of going to the farmers market, the excitement of being able to eat creamy spinach again after a nine month lull when it was out of season... But I've been shopping in a supermarket for the last 30 years, and feel as if I've fully lost contact with how the food actually to my fridge. This book comes to the rescue. The author talks about history of family farms in US, and then does 4 case studies of today's working farms. Maple syrup, Milk, Chickens, they are all in there. Great stuff, he writes well, and kept me turning page after page. Highly recommended to those who enjoy intelligent writing and good food.

Former philosophy professor Ronald Jager presents The Fate Of Family Farming: Variations On An American Idea, a thoughtful examination of the history and future of the American family farm as a concept and as a way of life. Exploring both the ideals of "agrarianism" and the practical realities of agribusiness, as well as anecdotal portraits of present-day maple syrup, eggs and corn, milk, and apple farms, and a candid assessment of ever-changing farm technology, The Fate Of Family Farming lives up to its title by offering not only an in-depth portrait of the American farm today but also well-reasoned projections for the American farm of the future, for good or for ill. Very highly recommended reading for anyone concerned with the seeming demise of the family farm in the face of the global phenomena of agribusiness.

Dr. Sylvia Gearing's book could not have helped me more! This book is wonderful!

this book changed my life. It helped me so much! I recomend this book to everyone!

I bought this book years ago as a self-help to accelerate my software engineering career. I had tried others and none of them really struck me as being very useful.

The book is actually exciting to read--it gets you energized. Rogers outlines a number of (Samurai) techniques that he uses to be effective in a business environment. It sounds corny but these techniques are easy to apply and work quite well. In my opinion it works well because the book is well-written, interesting and unique.

Sadly the book is out of print. It is the only motivational book I've ever read that really worked and worked quite easily.

This book is amazingly clear and concise. It outlines ways in which every person is continually faced with both inner and outer opponents which act as obstacles that interfere with the individual achieving his or her goals. The book draws on history, using Samurai techniques as well as other pertinent examples to set out a plan of attack to facing and overcoming these opponents. Rogers is an excellent writer, and his ideas were well ahead of their time. This is a motivational self-help book that really works!

Excellent concise work that is invaluable for anyone that is working towards becoming financially independent. This book can be effectively used by students through those that are in retirement. Lots of short concrete examples so that the theories come to life. Also, nearly every page has a 'hot tip' that show ways for one to save money, invest more wisely or to somehow improve one's financial situation. This book is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme. However, it should be required reading for anyone who wants to improve their personal financial management skills. Young couples that would follow the author's advice would be able to live without debt and to retire early.

After receiving this book as a gift, I flipped through the chapters. I noticed that the book references several web sites that will supposedly help you save money in various arenas. I haven't looked them all up yet, but I did go to one recommended for insurance. As a result, I got a new auto insurance policy and saved $500.00. The book has definitely been helpful for me.

This item was brand new! It was delivered on a matter of days as well.

I recommend this book to everyone - it's a tremendous resource for direction for someone just beginning in the job market, and an excellent refresher if you're thinking of a career change. It would make a great gift for the recent graduate!

"First Hired, Last Fired" is a book designed to help one make him or herself indispensable in today's professional environment, where layoffs due to mergers or downswings in the economy are far too common, and the idea of lifetime employment is the thing of the past. The first section of the book contains useful information on the qualities of mind and personal characteristics that people who are considered indispensable in the workplace appear to possess. The second section helps your measure yourself against those characteristics and plan your own program for becoming indispensable. The third section deals with helping you develop those characteristics and qualities that you feel are missing from your repertoire.

I picked up this book just as I started a new job, figuring that I might as well use all the help I can get in setting off on the right foot in my new career. A natural quesiton might arise: why not just work hard, do the job you're supposed to do, meet all the deadlines, etc.? The author argues (and I agree with him) that simple hard work and dedication are no longer enough to make you indispensable. They are just the pre-requisites. After all, how many such hard-working and dedicated people do you know that are either not treated well by their employers or are let go while somebody seemingly much less deserving gets promoted? This is where this book comes in handy, as it spells out exactly which qualities will make you indispensable (and they may not be what you think!).

What I also like about this book is that it's interactive. For example, it provides an opportunity to evaluate yourself on the 18 dimensions of indispensability. Having done that, you get a much clearer picture where you need to do the most work. The book also helps you prioritize your efforts, so that you do not spread yourself too thin by working on too many things at once. Then, it guides you through a series of targeted exercises and recommendations, aimed at ehnancing specific indispensability attributes.

Overall, I found this book to be extremely practical and useful. Although I got my copy at the library, I've already renewed it twice and am now thinking of actually purchasing one for myself - so that I would have it handy for easy reference!

Successful books usually confirm what we know to be true. I felt that about this book. The authors have over twenty-five years of consulting to companies and observing people in the workplace. They know what they are talking about and it shows clearly. For this book they interviewed more than sixty bosses and coworkers of "indispensable" employees. These "first hired, last fired" people each have at least two but usually more of these six characteristics.

·They see the whole system behind the problem. They don't oversimplify complex issues.

·They don't stick narrowly to their own job but take responsibility for success of the whole enterprise. They act like "owners".

·They are ready to interact with and help others but only in limited ways and only when needed.

·They are cooperative, not competitive with others inside the company. They are relatively free from company politics, tensions and conflicts.

·They have a can-do attitude.

·They are adaptable to change.

In the books first section-"What indispensable People Are Like"-the authors quote liberally from their interviews, painting vivid pictures of the six qualities and how individuals showed them in their daily work. The rest of the book, and its main part, guides readers in "Becoming an Indispensable Person" with many suggestions, exercises and questionnaires to help you become the kind of person others need and like to work with.

But for me the book is a guide enjoying any job. Trying just a few of the suggestions should increase anyone's satisfaction with their work life. The book is down to earth and makes sense. I enjoyed it.

A book that not only explains exactly what this controversial subject is, but does it in, dare it be said, a very entertaining way. A book that gives you all the tools and information you need in an interactive, down-to-earth way. An important book!

This book is a good guide to what you can and cannot do in the workplace or even in general. It is very informative and shows many different situations. He is a man with a mission and he has done it in this great book which talks about the topic like no one else has ever done before. Steven Dranoff with his partner Wanda Dobrich is also a very brilliant person who contributed a whole lot to this book to achieve its greatness. I think that if your in work and you want to keep your money if you work with any kind of people then you should pick this book up and learn about it so that you can make sure you don't ever have to deal with this problem. Better to be safe then sorry. I hope that you all enjoy this book.