Ann Brooks

The traditional model of consulting places an emphasis on diagnosing a problem and finding a cure. But in today’s business world of globalized organizations, rapid knowledge proliferation, and the intertwining of economies, that approach is becoming less and less viable; problems are quickly redefined, new knowledge (and ownership of that knowledge) is constantly surfacing and being challenged, and no solution is a permanent solution. Consulting in Uncertainty articulates a model of consulting that addresses the uncertainty and interconnectedness of the world in a post-industrial, knowledge era. Emphasizing outcomes and inquiry over ‘diagnosis’, Brooks and Edwards outline this new consulting model, as well as the skills consultants must bring to the table in any uncertain and dynamic environment. Integrating practical knowledge with scholarship, this book covers skills such as:Relational skills and the consulting relationshipCultural awareness and related skillsContextual analysisFacilitating inquiryCollecting and efficiently analyzing data or informationConsultants and students of consulting, as well as managers, teachers, counselors, and even parents, will find this book enlightening and useful in navigating today’s uncertain world.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the field of the Sociology of Emotions, incorporating sociological, feminist and cultural perspectives. Structured around three dimensions - conceptualisation, theory and analysis of emotions - it provides new insights into the field, with a particular focus on contemporary social issues such as loneliness, depression, confidence, consumption, class, intimacy and sexuality. The book examines the language of emotions, looking at macro and micro framing of emotions in modernity, emotional labour, public emotions, passionate emotions, melancholic emotions, masculinity and emotions, love, intimacy and emotions. It delves into both positive and negative emotions such as happiness, anger, fear and sadness. The book will be essential reading for researchers and students seeking a current and interdisciplinary resource covering a wide range of international material in the field of Sociology of Emotions.

This book offers a comprehensive overview of the field of the Sociology of Emotions, incorporating sociological, feminist and cultural perspectives. Structured around three dimensions - conceptualisation, theory and analysis of emotions - it provides new insights into the field, with a particular focus on contemporary social issues such as loneliness, depression, confidence, consumption, class, intimacy and sexuality. The book examines the language of emotions, looking at macro and micro framing of emotions in modernity, emotional labour, public emotions, passionate emotions, melancholic emotions, masculinity and emotions, love, intimacy and emotions. It delves into both positive and negative emotions such as happiness, anger, fear and sadness. The book will be essential reading for researchers and students seeking a current and interdisciplinary resource covering a wide range of international material in the field of Sociology of Emotions.

Lillie Crawford is dying. Her mind slowly succumbing to the ruthlessness of Alzheimer's, Lillie's remaining time on Earth is predicted to be a slow and difficult journey. But if you ask Norah, her mother's death could not come soon enough. Haunted by memories of the years of abuse she suffered at Lillie's hand, the last thing Norah wants to do is go home and take care of the one person she hates most in the world. Yet, Norah finds herself with no other choice and no place left to go, as she returns to the town she tried so desperately to leave behind. Taking care of a woman who cannot stand the sight of her, Norah is forced to reckon with her past as old nightmares and buried secrets are resurrected. Will learning the truth to her past save Norah, or be the final nail in her coffin?

Living with her mother in New York City, Elly appears to be a normal teenage girl. But, when her mother dies, her entire life is changed and Elly learns she is far from normal. With nowhere else to go, Elly is forced to move to rural Georgia with her grandparents, whom she has never met. As Elly struggles with losing her mother, she meets Khalil; a boy whose reclusive, yet friendly, nature draws Elly in. They develop an instantaneous friendship, bonding over the loss of their parents. But their friendship holds more than they realize... When Elly's uncle arrives in town, suddenly Khalil disappears and strange things start to happen. Haunting nightmares have her gazing out into the thick, lush forest looking for mysterious glowing lights. Dark, hairy creatures start to emerge in the shadows. She starts asking questions that no one will answer. But when a girl at school threatens Elly's life, she discovers the world is filled with werewolves, vampires, and those that have been gifted abilities to hunt and kill them. Elly learns it's in her blood, as her abilities start to take form. When she discovers that Khalil is a werewolf, Elly must decide if she is able to kill the boy she fell in love with.

Genealogies of Emotions, Intimacies and Desire excavates epistemologies which attempt to explain changes in emotional regimes from medieval society to late modernity. Key in this debate is the concept of intimacy. The book shows that different historical periods are characterized by emotional regimes where intimacy in the form of desire, sex, passion, and sex largely exist outside marriage, and that marriage and traditional normative values and structures are fundamentally incompatible with the expression of intimacy in the history of emotional regimes. The book draws on the work of a number of theorists who assess change in emotional regimes by drawing on intimacy including Michel Foucault, Eva Illouz, Lauren Berlant, Anthony Giddens, Laura Ann Stoler, Anne McClintock, Niklas Luhmann and David Shumway. Some of the areas covered by the book include: Foucault, sex and sexuality; romantic and courtly love; intimacy in late modernity; Imperial power, gender and intimacy, intimacy and feminist interventions; and the commercialization of intimacy. This book will appeal to students and scholars in the social sciences and humanities, including sociology, gender studies, cultural studies, and literary studies.

Love and Intimacy in Contemporary Society reflects on relationships in contemporary society and the role of love and intimacy in framing lives. The book draws on sociological perspectives, cultural sociology and gender theory perspectives. It looks at how love and intimacy is experienced differently and intersected by gender, ethnicity, race and sexuality. This book aims to encourage people to understand theories of intimacy, emotions and desire by examining these concepts contemporaneously and cross-culturally. It also explores how love and intimacy is experienced by young people and how it is impacted by age. It looks at its representation in the media and film and focuses on how gender, ethnicity and sexuality offer different perspectives on love and intimacy. The book shows how relationships are impacted by social networking and new technologies and the opportunities and challenges posed by these new platforms for building relationships. Finally, the book examines how intimacy has become commercialised in late capitalism and how that acts to change relationships. The book is written in an accessible way and explores a range of theoretical debates and contemporary research around emotions, which can be useful for undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral study.

Love and Intimacy in Contemporary Society reflects on relationships in contemporary society and the role of love and intimacy in framing lives. The book draws on sociological perspectives, cultural sociology and gender theory perspectives. It looks at how love and intimacy is experienced differently and intersected by gender, ethnicity, race and sexuality. This book aims to encourage people to understand theories of intimacy, emotions and desire by examining these concepts contemporaneously and cross-culturally. It also explores how love and intimacy is experienced by young people and how it is impacted by age. It looks at its representation in the media and film and focuses on how gender, ethnicity and sexuality offer different perspectives on love and intimacy. The book shows how relationships are impacted by social networking and new technologies and the opportunities and challenges posed by these new platforms for building relationships. Finally, the book examines how intimacy has become commercialised in late capitalism and how that acts to change relationships. The book is written in an accessible way and explores a range of theoretical debates and contemporary research around emotions, which can be useful for undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral study.

Women, Politics and the Public Sphere is a socio-historical analysis of the relationship between women, politics and the public sphere. It looks at the fault-lines established in the eighteenth century for later developments in social and political discourse and considers the implications for the political representation of women in the West and globally, highlighting how women public intellectuals now reflect much more social and cultural diversity. Covering the legacy of eighteenth-century intellectual groupings which were dominated by women such as members of the 'bluestocking circles' and other more radical intellectual and philosophical thinkers, the book focuses on women such as Catherine Macaulay and Mary Wollstonecraft. These individuals and groups which emerged in the eighteenth century established 'intellectual spaces' for the emergence of women public intellectuals in subsequent centuries. It also examines women public intellectuals in the US including Samantha Power, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Elizabeth Warren, Condoleezza Rice, Susan Rice, Hillary Clinton and Sheryl Sandberg.

Women, Politics and the Public Sphere is a socio-historical analysis of the relationship between women, politics and the public sphere. It looks at the fault-lines established in the eighteenth century for later developments in social and political discourse and considers the implications for the political representation of women in the West and globally, highlighting how women public intellectuals now reflect much more social and cultural diversity. Covering the legacy of eighteenth-century intellectual groupings which were dominated by women such as members of the 'bluestocking circles' and other more radical intellectual and philosophical thinkers, the book focuses on women such as Catherine Macaulay and Mary Wollstonecraft. These individuals and groups which emerged in the eighteenth century established 'intellectual spaces' for the emergence of women public intellectuals in subsequent centuries. It also examines women public intellectuals in the US including Samantha Power, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Elizabeth Warren, Condoleezza Rice, Susan Rice, Hillary Clinton and Sheryl Sandberg.

Do the new Asian economies encourage gender equality? Ann Brooks provides a unique insight into this question by assessing the impact of the new economy and the changing labour market on women in Asia. Theoretical debates around globalization, gender and social change are combined with empirical research on professional women in two cosmopolitan cities: Hong Kong and Singapore. The author's research shows that even in such cosmopolitan cities where women tend to have a strong advantage there is a 'new dynamic of inequality'. This makes the examination of women's labour market participation and ambition in these environments very different to previous research. The research is set against the backdrop of Southeast Asia more generally and international comparisons are also drawn. It will be of interest to scholars in sociology, economics, gender studies, business studies and Asian studies.

Genealogies of Emotions, Intimacies and Desire excavates epistemologies which attempt to explain changes in emotional regimes from medieval society to late modernity. Key in this debate is the concept of intimacy. The book shows that different historical periods are characterized by emotional regimes where intimacy in the form of desire, sex, passion, and sex largely exist outside marriage, and that marriage and traditional normative values and structures are fundamentally incompatible with the expression of intimacy in the history of emotional regimes. The book draws on the work of a number of theorists who assess change in emotional regimes by drawing on intimacy including Michel Foucault, Eva Illouz, Lauren Berlant, Anthony Giddens, Laura Ann Stoler, Anne McClintock, Niklas Luhmann and David Shumway. Some of the areas covered by the book include: Foucault, sex and sexuality; romantic and courtly love; intimacy in late modernity; Imperial power, gender and intimacy, intimacy and feminist interventions; and the commercialization of intimacy. This book will appeal to students and scholars in the social sciences and humanities, including sociology, gender studies, cultural studies, and literary studies.

‘Consumption, Cities and States’ examines the fascinating intersection of consumption, citizenship and the state in a cross-section of global cities in Asia and the West. It focuses on a number of theoretical and empirical analyses: developing and amplifying the intersection of consumption, citizenship and the state in late modernity in relation to a range of cities; examining the concept of the global city as an ‘aspirational’ category for cities in Asia and the West; and considering case studies which highlight the intersection of consumption and the state. As Ann Brooks and Lionel Wee demonstrate, the interface between citizen status and consumer activity proves a crucial point of analysis in the light of the neoliberal assertion that individuals and institutions perform at their best within a free market economy.

Through popular culture, we can define, explore and experiment with our identities. This vibrant text provides an understanding of popular culture in a globalized world through the intersection of sociology and cultural studies, combining cultural theory with a wide range of examples from everyday life, including fashion, social networking and music, drawn from the United States, the UK and the Asia-Pacific.

Through popular culture, we can define, explore and experiment with our identities. This vibrant text provides an understanding of popular culture in a globalized world through the intersection of sociology and cultural studies, combining cultural theory with a wide range of examples from everyday life, including fashion, social networking and music, drawn from the United States, the UK and the Asia-Pacific.

‘Consumption, Cities and States’ examines the fascinating intersection of consumption, citizenship and the state in a cross-section of global cities in Asia and the West. It focuses on a number of theoretical and empirical analyses: developing and amplifying the intersection of consumption, citizenship and the state in late modernity in relation to a range of cities; examining the concept of the global city as an ‘aspirational’ category for cities in Asia and the West; and considering case studies which highlight the intersection of consumption and the state. As Ann Brooks and Lionel Wee demonstrate, the interface between citizen status and consumer activity proves a crucial point of analysis in the light of the neoliberal assertion that individuals and institutions perform at their best within a free market economy.

The traditional model of consulting places an emphasis on diagnosing a problem and finding a cure. But in today’s business world of globalized organizations, rapid knowledge proliferation, and the intertwining of economies, that approach is becoming less and less viable; problems are quickly redefined, new knowledge (and ownership of that knowledge) is constantly surfacing and being challenged, and no solution is a permanent solution. Consulting in Uncertainty articulates a model of consulting that addresses the uncertainty and interconnectedness of the world in a post-industrial, knowledge era. Emphasizing outcomes and inquiry over ‘diagnosis’, Brooks and Edwards outline this new consulting model, as well as the skills consultants must bring to the table in any uncertain and dynamic environment. Integrating practical knowledge with scholarship, this book covers skills such as:Relational skills and the consulting relationshipCultural awareness and related skillsContextual analysisFacilitating inquiryCollecting and efficiently analyzing data or informationConsultants and students of consulting, as well as managers, teachers, counselors, and even parents, will find this book enlightening and useful in navigating today’s uncertain world.

Concepts of emotion and emotional labour have largely been defined in European and American terms and according to Euro-American sensibilities with little attention given to the question of whether emotional work or emotional labour is different globally. In particular little has been written about the issue of what defines emotions and emotional labour in public work contexts and how it is configured in different cultural contexts. Gender, Emotions and Labour Markets considers how, and in what ways, emotional labour characterises formal and informal work environments in both Asia and the West. Key themes covered include: human rights issues and gender equity in formal and informal work contexts in Asia and the West; men, masculinity and emotional labour; impact on the work-life balance of professional women in Asian and Western contexts; the impact of the ‘feminization of migration’ in servicing high-end economic professionals; the impact of the new economy, organizational constraints on labour markets; and demographic patterns such as fertility, procreation, marriage, divorce in both Asian and Western contexts.