Based on the successful lecture/performance that Anne Butler and Ona Siporin have been presenting throughout the Intermountain West for several years, this work brings their art, scholarship and wisdom to the printed page. Uncommon Common Women will broaden and enrich the general reader's understanding of women's lives during the western emigration era. The authors cast a wide net; they are not interested in promoting the stereotypes of the West - the schoolmarm and the dance hall girl - but rather in bringing to notice the forgotten roles and gritty realities of women's lived experience during what was often a brutally difficult time.

Butler and Siporin are not interested in promoting the stereotypes of the West, but rather in bringing notice to the forgotten roles and gritty realities of women's lived experience.

Written by clergy and lay women from around the country, this compilation of prayers and poems is the collective wisdom of contemporary women who base their search for such understanding on the belief that must be seen against the backdrop of a vital faith. These prayers touch on a variety of topics organized under the categories of identity, daily life, stages of life, spirituality and ministry.

Based on detailed interviews with 35 Greenham women, this book engages 'queer studies' with everyday lived experience and politics as they have actually been practised.

How can women live fully? If autonomy is critical for humans, why do women have little or no choice vis-à-vis motherhood? Do women know they have a choice, if they do? How 'free' are these choices in a context where the self is socially mired and deeply enmeshed into the familial? What are implications of motherhood on how human relatedness and belonging are defined? These questions underlie Amrita Nandy's remarkable research on motherhood as an institution, one that conflates 'woman' with 'mother' and 'personal' with 'political'. As the bedrock of human survival and an unchallenged norm of 'normal' female lives, motherhood expects and even compels women to be mothers—symbolic and corporeal. Even though the ideology of pronatalism and motherhood reinforce reproductive technology and vice versa, the care work of mothering suffers political neglect and economic devaluation. However, motherhood (and non-motherhood) is not just physiological. As the pivot to a web of heteronormative institutions (such as marriage and the family), motherhood bears an overwhelming and decisive influence on women's lives. Against the weight of traditional and contemporary histories, socio-political discourse and policies, this study explores how women, as embodiments of multiple identities, could live stigma-free, 'authentic' lives without having to abandon reproductive 'self'-determination. Published by Zubaan.

A captivating non-fiction anthology filled with heroic profiles, epic tales, and timeless parables. You'll meet valiant personalities who've challenged and changed the world in remarkable ways. Their unforgettable stories are religious and secular, historical and current, unknown and familiar, foreign and domestic. Prepare to encounter priests, farmers, pilots, immigrants, missionaries, engineers, martyrs, businessmen, lawyers, pioneers, presidents, soldiers, writers, and scientists - their dynamic legacies are destined to become part of us and our heritage. Collectively, their stories answer the pertinent questions of our time: What makes a genuine hero? How can a hero personify godly character? Why is personal character so vital for our families and country? These are unique tales told with zest; these are unforgettable tales to long treasure. Enjoy the exciting profiles and parables; then share them in family, church, workplace, ministry, and educational settings because that's where they began and that's why they were written. The 26 portraits will quickly find special places in heart and head, dwelling therein to influence life's crucial choices. It's unlike any other book due to the dual advocacy on behalf of the redeeming value of stories and the critical need for reinvigorating personal and national character. Every chapter advocates making a positive impact on others and mastering the days we are given. Readers depart with an abiding conviction of the significant difference one committed life can make. No matter our past or where we find ourselves today, we will be inspired to finish well.

"Common women" in medieval England were prostitutes, whose distinguishing feature was not that they took money for sex but that they belonged to all men in common. Common Women: Prostitution and Sexuality in Medieval England tells the stories of these women's lives: their entrance into the trade because of poor job and marriage prospects or because of seduction or rape; their experiences as street-walkers, brothel workers or the medieval equivalent of call girls; their customers, from poor apprentices to priests to wealthy foreign merchants; and their relations with those among whom they lived. Through a sensitive use of a wide variety of imaginative and didactic texts, Ruth Karras shows that while prostitutes as individuals were marginalized within medieval culture, prostitution as an institution was central to the medieval understanding of what it meant to be a woman. This important work will be of interest to scholars and students of history, women's studies, and the history of sexuality.

In the 1970s, the accepted environmental thinking was that overpopulation was destroying the earth. Prominent economists and environmentalists agreed that the only way to stem the tide was to impose restrictions on how we used resources, such as land, water, and fish, from either the free market or the government. This notion was upended by Elinor Ostrom, whose work to show that regular people could sustainably manage their community resources eventually won her the Nobel Prize. Ostrom’s revolutionary proposition fundamentally changed the way we think about environmental governance. In The Uncommon Knowledge of Elinor Ostrom, author Erik Nordman brings to life Ostrom’s brilliant mind. Half a century ago, she was rejected from doctoral programs because she was a woman; in 2009, she became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics. Her research challenged the long-held dogma championed by Garrett Hardin in his famous 1968 essay, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” which argued that only market forces or government regulation can prevent the degradation of common pool resources. The concept of the “Tragedy of the Commons” was built on scarcity and the assumption that individuals only act out of self-interest. Ostrom’s research proved that people can and do act in collective interest, coming from a place of shared abundance. Ostrom’s ideas about common resources have played out around the world, from Maine lobster fisheries, to ancient waterways in Spain, to taxicabs in Nairobi. In writing The Uncommon Knowledge of Elinor Ostrom, Nordman traveled extensively to interview community leaders and stakeholders who have spearheaded innovative resource-sharing systems, some new, some centuries old. Through expressing Ostrom’s ideas and research, he also reveals the remarkable story of her life. Ostrom broke barriers at a time when women were regularly excluded from academia and her research challenged conventional thinking. Elinor Ostrom proved that regular people can come together to act sustainably—if we let them. This message of shared collective action is more relevant than ever for solving today’s most pressing environmental problems.

Unflinching and plainspoken, Tessa Swan is not your typical 18th-century woman. Born and bred on the western Virginia frontier along with her five brothers, she is a force to be reckoned with. Quiet and courageous, Clay Tygart is not your typical 18th-century man. Raised by Lenape Indians, he returns a hero from the French and Indian War to the fort that bears his name, bringing with him Tessa's long-lost friend, Keturah, who disappeared from the settlement years earlier. Determined to avoid any romantic entanglements as fort commander, Clay remains aloof whenever he encounters the lovely Tessa. But when circumstances force Clay's hand--and heart--the stage is set for one very private and one very public reckoning. Intense, evocative, and laced with intricate historical details that bring the past to life, An Uncommon Woman will transport you to the picturesque and dangerous western Virginia mountains of 1770.