Michael White

In this thoughtful collection of interviews and essays, Michael White extends upon his explorations of the narrative metaphor in therapy. Thorough explorations of the thinking that informs narrative practice are interwoven with stories of therapeutic conversations shared. For those readers who are already engaged with narrative therapy, this collection will provide further food for thought.

A collection of 12 wide-ranging stories about those unexpected moments in our lives when our layers of defenses are peeled away, one by one, and we are left with the harsh inevitability of our fates. Touching on themes of loneliness and isolation, it deals with characters alienated from society.

A new biography of Isaac Newton that reveals the extraordinary influence that the study of alchemy had on the greatest Early Modern scientific discoveries. In this â??ground breaking biographyâ?? Michael White destroys the myths of the life of Isaac Newton and reveals a portrait of the scientist as the last sorcerer.

This masterly new study presents the first large-scale empirical analysis of the changes in British work experiences and employment relationships between the 1980s and 1990s. Drawing on the Employment in Britain surveya national survey providing the richest source of evidence to date about individuals' experience of employmentit examines the impact of new technologies, the emergence of new management policies, the changing forms of employment contract, and the growth of job insecurity on people's experience of employment. The authors focus on the implications these developments have for the ways in which skills and work tasks have been changing, the nature of control at work, the degree of participation in decision-making, and the flexibility demanded at work. They assess whether there has been a tendency towards either a polarization or convergence of employment experiences between men and women, and between occupational classes. They offer fresh insight into how the changing quality of work in recent years has affected employee's involvement in their jobs and organizations, the stress they experience at work, and the propensity for absenteeism and staff turnover. While the study provides strong evidence of a marked trend towards upskilling, the authors take issue with the argument that a new type of employment relationship is emerging, arguing instead that the restructuring of the employment relationship has, in fact, reinforced traditional lines of division in the workforce.

This masterly new study presents the first large-scale empirical analysis of the changes in British work experiences and employment relationships between the 1980s and 1990s. Drawing on the Employment in Britain surveya national survey providing the richest source of evidence to date about individuals' experience of employmentit examines the impact of new technologies, the emergence of new management policies, the changing forms of employment contract, and the growth of job insecurity on people's experience of employment. The authors focus on the implications these developments have for the ways in which skills and work tasks have been changing, the nature of control at work, the degree of participation in decision-making, and the flexibility demanded at work. They assess whether there has been a tendency towards either a polarization or convergence of employment experiences between men and women, and between occupational classes. They offer fresh insight into how the changing quality of work in recent years has affected employee's involvement in their jobs and organizations, the stress they experience at work, and the propensity for absenteeism and staff turnover. While the study provides strong evidence of a marked trend towards upskilling, the authors take issue with the argument that a new type of employment relationship is emerging, arguing instead that the restructuring of the employment relationship has, in fact, reinforced traditional lines of division in the workforce.

Today it is commonplace to hear therapists speak of experiences of demoralisation, burden, fatigue and despair. This book proposes that this is significantly an outcome of how therapy is conceived of and practised, and draws out alternative conceptions and practices of therapy, supervision and training that provide a powerful antidote to despair. Readers will be provided with options for taking narrative practices unto their own lives - options that will reinvigorate and renew.

Partisan or Neutral? critically examines the Rawlsian ideal of a public, supposedly neutral, political theory meant to justify contemporary constitutional democracies. Placing this ideal-appealed to by neo-natural law theorists and advocates of 'public theology' as well as by political theorists-against the background of the history of political liberalism, White shows its contradictory nature. He argues that any such legitimating theory will be 'partisan,' in the sense of appealing to convictions concerning the human good that will not be universally accepted. He concludes that all politics must be imperfect-a matter of pragmatism and prudence in forming the most workable compromises possible and in acquiescing, where our principles allow us to do so, in situations that are often far from optimal.

'Re-Authoring Lives' is a collection of inspiring interviews and essays. It makescompelling reading for counsellors, therapists and anyone who is interested inthe important questions about how people live their lives. You will especially appreciate this book if you are: - looking for hope and new visions in your work with people who are considered to have chronic problems- interested in literature and would like to find ways to express this in your work- developing ideas for consulting with people who have survived abuse- conscious of issues of power and want to make your practice more accountable to the people who seek your help- interested in recent developments in social theory and their implications for practice - wanting to work collaboratively with others in the generation of new possibilities for their lives