Books published by Pennsylvania State University Press

Analyzes the reaction of existing and former socialist countries to neoliberalism. Examines economic transitions in agriculture and the reconfiguration of socialism in Russia, China, Nicaragua, and Cuba.

Investigates what Nietzsche called the "problem of Socrates," as that problem manifests itself in Plato's work. In particular, the book demonstrates how Socrates' own confrontation with this problem is the key to understanding the distinctively mimetic, dialogic, and reflexive character of Socratic philosophy.

Reconsiders the negative status attributed to forgetting in both academic and popular discussions of public memory. Demonstrates how a community may adopt idioms of forgetting in order to create new and beneficial standards of public judgment concerning the lessons and responsibilities of its shared past.

Presents and analyzes texts of learned magic written in medieval Central Europe (Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary), and attempts to identify their authors, readers, and collectors.

Over the course of a distinguished and celebrated career, Thomas Farrell held that rhetoric is a rich source of creative reason and a vital element of contemporary public life. This title focuses on Farrell's provocative defense of rhetoric and makes a case for the contemporary importance of rhetorical theory and practice.

The Occitan literary tradition of the later Middle Ages is a marginal and hybrid phenomenon, caught between the preeminence of French courtly romance and the emergence of Catalan literary prose. This book brings together prose and verse texts that are composed in Occitan, French, and Catalan - sometimes in a mixture of two of these languages.

A collection of essays that extend, criticize, and reformulate the capability approach to human development, originally formulated by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, in order to better understand the importance of power, especially institutional power.

Using declassified records from the US State Department as well as records from the archives of the Peruvian Foreign Ministry, this title looks at the complexities of Peruvian-US relations during the period 1960-1975, highlighting the role of the ambassadors from each country in managing the relationship and influencing the outcomes.

Combines personal memoir with analysis to provide a behind-the-scenes account of the formation and conduct of US foreign policy. This work also tells the story of a man committed to service and community. It contains the congressman's November 15, 2005, press release concerning the redeployment of US troops.

The story of Pennsylvania's premier vacationland from its earliest days to the present. Poconos resort owners recognize the cutthroat competition inherent in the vacation business. This work illustrates the strategies by which resorts in northeastern Pennsylvania responded to market forces.

Democracy harbors within it fundamental tensions between the ideal of giving everyone equal consideration and the reality of having to make legitimate, binding collective decisions. This book argues that empathy plays a crucial role in enabling democratic deliberation to function the way it should.

A biography of David Franks, an American Jewish merchant in Philadelphia during the colonial period and the War for Independence. A supplier to the British army since the French and Indian War, Franks, though acquitted of treason, was forced out of Pennsylvania.

A collection of essays presenting international perspectives on the narratives and the practices grounding the scholarly study of American Art.

Literally thousands of annals, chronicles, and histories were produced in Italy during the Middle Ages, ranging from fragments to polished humanist treatises. They become part of the very history they are describing. This book is composed of a set of case studies exploring the kinds of historical writing most characteristic of the period.

Proposes an approach called "democratic professionalism" to build bridges between specialists in domains like law, medicine, and journalism and the lay public in such a way as to enable and enhance broader public engagement with and deliberation about major social issues.

Beginning in 1983, the Mexican government implemented one of the most extensive programs of market-oriented reform in the developing world. Dag MacLeod examines the process of privatisation in three key industries - aviation, telecommunications, and railroads.

After Vasari, Carlo Ridolfi provides the most important contemporary documentary source for understanding Titian. This edition provides a translation into English of Ridolfi's biography which illuminates Titian's life, artistic production and early critical reputation.

This work provides feminist interpretations of the political philosophy of Hannah Arendt.

Translations of ninth-century lives of the emperors Charlemagne (by Einhard and Notker) and his son Louis the Pious (by Ermoldus, Thegan, and the Astronomer). Presented chronologically and contextually, with commentary.

A collection of essays by ten scholars, assessing the civil rights movement and how it led to affirmative action, multiculturalism and stalemate. It offers an understanding of the current situation and a discussion of how relations can be improved among the races in the future.

An exploration of situations where the argument from ignorance (default reasoning) functions as respectable reasoning, and those where it is fallacious. It draws on everyday conversation to show how the "argumentum ad ignorantiam" can be used appropriately/inappropriately to infer conclusions.

This work offers an insider's view of life and personalities in East Germany as the Soviet Empire began to crumble in 1989. From 1987 to 1991, the author was Political Counsellor at the American Embassy in Berlin.

This text provides a fieldwork-based study of the role of popular organisations among the Chilean urban poor in sustaining political life during authoritarian regimes and re-establishing democracy afterwards.