Selflessness in Business

Edited by Dominika Ochnik, University of Opole, Poland

May 2019 / ISBN: 978-1-62273-639-3
Availability: In stock
208pp. ¦ $44 £33 €38

The book deals with a controversial and seemingly paradoxical relationship between selflessness and business. It depicts the primary and lasting controversy between the selfish (egoistic, competitive) and selfless (pro-social, co-operative) behavior in view of social, organizational and individual benefits. Therefore, it takes a step towards finding a solution to some of the challenges of the twenty-first century, particularly sustainable growth. The miscellaneous and transatlantic background of the Authors origins (USA, Colombia, Germany, Poland, UK, Spain) and their various perspectives (psychological, economic or philosophical) guarantee multi-voiced argumentation for strong relationships between selflessness and business. Selflessness is understood from a social perspective as related to self-transcendence and connectedness to others. This perspective can be helpful in providing a deeper understanding of pro-social behavior in organizations and its implications for productivity and effectiveness. The manifestations of this approach can be found in acts such as organizational altruism, loyalty, quantum leadership, or pro-social vocational interests. One can make an in-depth analysis of selflessness’s manifestations on a social, organizational and individual level. The ensuing question is how to achieve self-regulation in order to maintain sustainable growth, and selflessness turns out to be the answer. This book offers strong evidence for high organizational and individual benefits stemming from selfless behavior. Therefore, it is not selfish behavior that enables and encourages productivity and effectiveness but rather selfless behavior. The book also tackles gender issues in business, especially regarding the social female role as being traditionally related to selflessness. The authors aim to reveal possible solutions to present and future challenges and enhance the meaning of positive outcomes of selfless behavior in business and work environments, which seems to be crucial and indispensable for future growth. The book will be useful not only for academic and business specialists but also for everyone interested in a broader perspective at contemporary challenges of business and organizational psychology.

Ecologies in Southeast Asian Literatures: Histories, Myths and Societies

Edited by Chi P. Pham, Institute of Literature, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Vietnam et al.

March 2019 / ISBN: 978-1-62273-633-1
Availability: In stock
166pp. ¦ $35 £26 €30

Ecocriticism in relation to the Southeast Asian region is relatively new. So far, John Charles Ryan’s Ecocriticism in Southeast Asia is the first book of its kind to focus on the region and its literature to give an ecocritical analysis: that volume compiles analyses of the eco-literatures from most of the Southeast Asian region, providing a broad insight into the ecological concerns of the region as depicted in its literatures and other cultural texts. This edited volume furthers the study of Southeast Asian ecocriticism, focusing specifically on prominent myths and histories and the myriad ways in which they connect to the social fabric of the region. Our book is an original contribution to the expanding field of ecocriticism, as it highlights the mytho-historical basis of many of the region’s literatures and their relationship to the environment. The varied articles in this volume together explore the idea of nature and its relationship with humans. The always problematic questions that surround such explorations, such as “why do we regard nature as ‘external’?” or “how is humankind a continuum with nature?”, emerge throughout the volume either overtly or implicitly. As Pepper (1993) points out, what Karl Marx referenced as ‘first’ or ‘external’ nature gave rise to humankind. But humanity “worked on this ‘first’ nature to produce a ‘second’ nature: the material creations of society plus its institutions, ideas and values.” (Pepper, 108). Thus, our volume constantly negotiates this field of ideas and belief systems, in diverse ways and in various cultures, attempting to relate them to the current ecological predicaments of ASEAN. It will likely prove an invaluable resource for scholars and students of ecocriticism and, more broadly, of Southeast Asian cultures and literatures.

Being Played: Gadamer and Philosophy’s Hidden Dynamic

Jeremy Sampson, University of Chichester, UK

July 2019 / ISBN: 978-1-62273-629-4
Availability: In stock
269pp. ¦ $63 £47 €54

Are we being played? Is our understanding of the traditionally fixed and static concepts of philosophy based on an oversimplification? This book explores some of the theories of the self since Descartes, together with the rationalism and the empiricism that sustain these ideas, and draws some startling conclusions using Gadamer’s philosophical study of play as its starting point. Gadamer’s ludic theory, Sampson argues, reveals a dynamic of play that exists at the deepest level of philosophy. It is this dynamic that could provide a solution in relation to the Gadamer/Habermas hermeneutics debate and the Gadamer/Derrida relativism debate, together with a theory of totality. Sampson shows how ludic theory can be a game-changer in understanding the relationship between philosophy and literature, exploring the dynamic between the fictive and non-fictive worlds. These worlds are characterized simultaneously by sameness (univocity of Being) and difference (equivocity of Being). The book questions Heidegger’s idea that the univocity of Being is universal, instead maintaining that the relationship between the univocity of Being and equivocity of Being is real, and that ontological mediation is required to present them as a unified whole. Using the works of Shakespeare, Beckett and Wilde, Sampson contends that such a mediation, termed ‘the ludicity of Being’, takes place between literature and its audience. This literary example has profound implications not only for literature and its attendant theories but also for philosophy — in particular, ontology and hermeneutics. This book will be of particular interest to scholars of philosophy and literature, for it seeks to develop our understanding of ontology and hermeneutics. It should also engage the general reader who wishes to understand literature and philosophy with a genuinely new set of perspectives.

Children and Languages Today

First and Second Language Literacy Development

Edited by Željka Flegar, University of Osijek, Croatia and Ivana Moritz, University of Osijek, Croatia

March 2019 / ISBN: 978-1-62273-510-5
Availability: In stock
232pp. ¦ $59 £44 €50

Motivated by the need to bring together researchers involved in the acquisition, learning and teaching of the Croatian language and foreign languages to learners at lower elementary level, the recurring scientific conferences Children and Languages Today were established in 2001. At the time the Croatian academic community was short of a conference that was dedicated entirely to critical thinking and the exchange of research findings, outcomes and experience in these particular study areas. As it turns out, Children and Languages Today has served as an incentive for other conferences and meetings in Croatia that continue to promote research in the fields of first and second language acquisition of young learners. Children and Languages Today: First and Second Language Literacy Development is the outcome of the conference held in 2017 at the Faculty of Education, University of Osijek. It is a collection of papers by experts on a wide range of topics that include developing literacy in teaching first and second languages and encompassing different fields of science and expertise, such as children's literature, bilingualism, metaphor usage, translation, vocabulary, narrative and orthography. This book hopes to shed light on and open up an array of questions in the area of literacy development.

Empathic Teaching: Promoting Social Justice in the Contemporary Classroom

Nicholas D. Young, American International College et al.

February 2019 / ISBN: 978-1-62273-615-7
Availability: In stock
146pp. ¦ $43 £32 €37

Empathic Teaching: Promoting Social Justice in the Contemporary Classroom is written for those who are committed to employing social justice practices in the classroom. The intent is to educate the next generation to value tolerance and to have respect and empathy for others in society. While this tome will largely focus on understanding the role that equity should play in P-12 education, it will do so with an acute awareness that there are myriad factors that influence student engagement and the motivation to learn. Although some of the subjects under consideration have been written about elsewhere broadly, this tome will offer a unique contribution by examining each from a social equity perspective. As schools move to ensure a more inclusive and well-rounded student body, this book will be a substantial asset to anyone interested in advancing a social justice agenda.