Reading Cristina García's The Agüero Sisters as Latina Feminist Philosophy

Through an analysis of the interconnections or lack thereof between gender and epistemology, I present Cristina García's The Agüero Sisters as a text of Latina feminist philosophy. First, I use the works of Linda Alcoff and Walter Mignolo to illustrate the political nature of epistemology and how women and people of color in particular are disenfranchised from such a political endeavor. Then I examine the connections among the concepts of origin, absence, inheritance, and knowledge‐construction in García's novel to further a critique of standard epistemology and point to an emphasis on reconnection with feminine and maternal knowledge for this text's female characters. Moreover, a depiction and elaboration of María Lugones's ideas of the “coloniality of gender” and “decolonial feminism” in this novel augments this critical examination of epistemology and places emphasis on women as knowledge‐producers.     

The Bahá'í World Centre Library

The Bahá'í religon has its international center in Haifa/Acre, Israel. Among the functions carried out at the Bahá'í World Centre is the administration of a library containing the finest collection of published materials on the Bahá'í Faith. The chain of leadership in the community has established a large literature that has been published since the 1870s. The Bahá'í World Centre Library's history, organization, collections, services and future developments are discussed.     

Don't look but think: Imaginary scenarios in Wittgenstein's later philosophy

David Bloor has claimed that Wittgenstein is best read as offering the beginnings of a sociological theory of knowledge, despite Wittgenstein's reluctance to view his work this way. This leads him to dismiss Wittgenstein's many self‐characterizations as mere ‘prejudice’. In doing so, however, Bloor misses the import of Wittgenstein's work as a ‘grammatical investigation’. The problems inherent in Bloor's interpretative approach can be discerned in his attitude toward Wittgenstein's use of imaginary scenarios: he demands that they be replaced by real natural history and real ethnography. This demand is misplaced. The very self‐characterizations Bloor dismisses show how imaginary scenarios have a place in his philosophical project simply by being imagined. Three examples are examined and presented in such a way as to make Bloor's demand for replacement increasingly more difficult to comprehend: while in the first case, the demand seems simply beside the point, in the second and third cases, it becomes difficult to say just what would count as replacements. Wittgenstein's imaginary scenarios are thus best read not as suggestions for further empirical research, but as devices to aid in recovering the naturalness and familiarity of our concepts, which is precisely what one would expect from them as part of a grammatical investigation.     

Laboring and Hanging Out in the Embodied In‐Between

In this essay I describe how my involvement in the political struggles of an immigrant domestic workers' collective inspired me to hang out not only with the workers, but also with the writings of María Lugones and Hannah Arendt. The essay invites the reader to engage in a playful rereading of Arendt's notion of the worldlessness of laboring in the private realm by putting her into dialogue with Lugones's notion of the hangout that defies the public–private split Arendt adamantly insists on in all her writings. By following the complex physical, mental, and emotional itineraries of immigrant domestic workers to, from, and in‐between a number of places and spaces, I demonstrate how their stories blur the line between public and private, and therefore also between the unfreedom of the body and the presumed escape into the political public. I describe the women's experiences as the living promise of a world that allows for an embodied fluid movement between labor, work, and the freedom “inherent in action” (Arendt 193, 153).     

THE TECHNOLOGICAL IMAGINARY: BRINGING MYTH AND IMAGINATION INTO DIALOGUE WITH BRONISLAW SZERSZYNSKI'S NATURE,TECHNOLOGY AND THE SACRED

Bronislaw Szerszynski's Nature, Technology and the Sacred (2005) offers a fresh look into the historical, cultural, and political implications of technology use in our contemporary situation. By challenging the standard interpretation of the secularization thesis, the book opens the door to a new kind of postmodern ordering of the sacred, which includes our ever‐developing perception of the environment and our ongoing use of technology. In my discussion of the text, I suggest that Szerszynski's argument could have been furthered by exploring the role played by both imagination and myth in creating the postmodern sacred that he describes. I argue that by giving consideration to Friedrich Dessauer's Christian theology of technology and the mythical imagination of contemporary science fiction literature and film, a more explicitly religious dimension of technology can be allowed to emerge in the form of the technological imaginary.     

Sexual Difference and Decolonization: Oyĕwùmí and Irigaray in Dialogue about Western Culture

In this article we aim to show the potential of cross‐continental dialogues for a decolonizing feminism. We relate the work of one of the major critics of the Western metaphysical patriarchal order, Luce Irigaray, to the critique of the colonial/modern gender system by the Nigerian feminist scholar Oy?rónké Oy?wùmí. Oy?wùmí's work is often rejected based on the argument that it is empirically wrong. We start by problematizing this line of thinking by providing an epistemological interpretation of Oy?wùmí's claims. We then draw Irigaray and Oy?wùmí into conversation, and show how this bolsters and helps to further illuminate and contextualize Oy?wùmí's critique of gender. But the dialogue between these thinkers also reveals significant limitations of Irigaray's philosophy, namely her presumption of the priority of sexual difference, its rigid duality, and her failure to take into account the inextricable intertwinement of gender and race in the Western patriarchal order. Relating Irigaray's critique of Western culture's forgetting of sexual difference to Oy?wùmí's critique hence demonstrates to what extent Irigaray's philosophy remains typically Western and how she therefore fails to escape the paradigm that she is so critical of.     

Let's Talk: Getting Out of the Counseling Center to Serve Hard‐to‐Reach Students

This article describes Let's Talk, a counseling center outreach program. Counselors hold walk‐in hours across campus to engage students who might not otherwise seek counseling. Locations are chosen to reach underserved communities. Counselors offer informal consultation, a less formal alternative to traditional counseling. Este artículo describe Let's Talk (Hablemos), un programa de acercamiento a los centros de consejería. Los consejeros mantienen horas de puertas abiertas sin cita previa en distintos lugares del campus para atraer a estudiantes que de otra forma no buscarían acceso a la consejería. Las ubicaciones se eligen para alcanzar comunidades con servicios insuficientes. Los consejeros ofrecen consultas informales, una alternativa menos formal a la consejería tradicional.     

Fantasmatic interaction and intergenerational transmission

Direct observations and video recordings of mother-infant dyads are used to study the organization of fantasmatic interactions. The infant is represented in the mother's fantasmatic life as the child of the desire for maternity and is represented in her imaginary life as the child of the desire for pregnancy. During pregnancy, therefore, the fetus serves a dual function for the mother: One function is fantasmatic, marked by its mother's intrapsychic conflict; the other function is imaginary, as constructed from the mother's latent thoughts. Evidence from clinical studies illustrates the role of life events in structuring both the fantasmatic and the imaginative infant. Therapeutic interventions can be facilitated by having parents view videotapes of their interactions with their infants. Other implications for therapeutic interventions are suggested.     

Chinese children's imaginary companions: Relations with peer relationships and social competence

We investigated relationships between Chinese children's imaginary companions (ICs) and peer relationships and social competence in 160 children, aged 5–6 years old. Children and their mothers participated in the interviews regarding the details of the children's ICs, including the type of the companion and the quality of the child–IC relationship. Peer relationships were assessed using sociometric nomination and perceived popularity nomination. Teachers rated children's social competence. Here, 55 children (34.3%) were deemed to have engaged in imaginary companion play. There was no relationship between imaginary companion types and child–IC relationship qualities. Children with invisible friends received more positive nominations than children with personified objects. Children with egalitarian relationships received more positive nominations and popularity nominations, but fewer negative nominations and unpopularity nominations than children with hierarchical relationships. Compared with children with hierarchical relationships, teachers rated the children with egalitarian relationships higher in social competence. The results suggest that imaginary companion types and relationship qualities may represent different dimensions of imaginary companions, calling attentions to the different mechanisms underlying imaginary companion types and relationship qualities with respect to social functioning.     

DEMOCRATIC VIRTUE, COMPARATIVE ETHICS, AND CONTEMPORARY ISLAM

This essay illustrates the kind of moral analysis Jeffrey Stout advocates in Democracy and Tradition by way of examining a conversation among Muslims that took place between June and December 2002. Their debate centers on al‐Qaída's legitimacy as God's chosen defender of Islam, which is called into question due to the tension between al‐Qaída's military tactics and the concepts of honorable combat held within the Islamic tradition. This giving and taking of reasons in both defense and detraction of al‐Qaída's tactics demonstrates the living reality of Islamic tradition—the ongoing process of striving to discern God's will in light of communal agreements about the authority of certain texts and the validity of established rules for interpreting them.     

Transculturals: Identifying the Invisible Minority

Transculturals spend their formative years in countries other than their country of origin. Specific issues addressed in this article are unique characteristics, prevalence rates, and developmental outcomes of transculturals. The author provides a culturally sensitive treatment model for transculturals, based on G. Roysircar's (2009) Multicultural Relationship Model. Los individuos transculturales pasan sus años formativos en un país distinto a su país de origen. Los asuntos específicos tratados en este artículo son sus características únicas, índices de prevalencia, y resultados de su desarrollo. El autor proporciona un modelo de tratamiento culturalmente sensible hacia los individuos transculturales, basado en el Modelo de Relaciones Multiculturales de G. Roysircar (2009).     

“Get Off My Property”: A Personal Narrative Addressing Violence Against African Americans by Law Enforcement Post–Hurricane Katrina

Thousands of African American New Orleanians were displaced in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It appeared that every African American suddenly became a suspect, “fair game” to be hunted, especially by the police. This autoethnography chronicles the author's personal background, experiences, and resulting emotions of her father's encounter with law enforcement post–Hurricane Katrina. Law enforcement–initiated interventions are explored. The article concludes with recommendations for members of the counseling profession and law enforcement. Miles de personas afroamericanas de Nueva Orleans perdieron sus hogares como consecuencia del huracán Katrina. Y de repente, cada persona afroamericana pareció convertirse en sospechosa, “presa legítima” para la caza, especialmente por parte de la policía. Esta autoetnografía documenta los orígenes personales y experiencias de la autora, así como las emociones resultantes de la interacción de su padre con las fuerzas policiales tras el huracán Katrina. Se exploran las intervenciones iniciadas por las fuerzas policiales. El artículo concluye con una serie de recomendaciones para los profesionales de la consejería y las fuerzas policiales.     

Navigating Frames of Address: María Lugones on Language,Bodies, Things,and Places

Address figures prominently in contemporary (Latina) feminism, yet calls for further theorizing. Modes of address are forms of signification we direct at people, objects, and places, and they at us. Address constitutes a vital dimension of our corporeal interactions with persons and the material world. Our relationships are in motion as we adopt modes of address toward one another or fail to do so. Clarifying address through examples from Gloria Anzaldúa, this essay reveals its importance in María Lugones's writings. The essay thereby highlights underexplored aspects of Lugones's texts, identifies continuities between Lugones's philosophy and (Latina) feminist work that comprehends address as a carrier of aesthetic and political meanings, and illuminates the resources of a remarkably fruitful concept. Address, in Lugones, is the centerpiece of a quotidian cultural politics. Principal concepts she introduces (concerning subjectivity, critique and transformation, social categorization and interaction, the role of language, bodies, objects, and places) recruit address. Yet, by foregrounding address, the essay also brings into view unforeseen obstructions in the paths of address that Lugones champions, and an enlarged playing field that we can activate to realize desirable frames of address and derail objectionable structures. Avenues open up for further development of Lugones's insights and for inquiries into address.     

Hegel’s political philosophy and the social imaginary of early Russian realism

This article considers aspects of the social imaginary underlying early Russian realist thought and narrative by exploring two canonical novels from the 1840s, Ivan Gon?arov’s Obyknovennaja istorija and Aleksandr Gercen’s Kto vinovat?, in light of Vissarion Belinskij’s activist reception of Hegel’s political philosophy. The Russian texts are read symptomatically against their western counterparts as illustrating the intriguing transformations that dominant European models of narrative and sociality undergo as they migrate to Russia.     

Heidegger on Aristotle's “Metaphysical” God

In courses in the twenties and early thirties, Heidegger argues that in Aristotle the question of the being of beings (ontology) and that of the unity of beings (theology) are distinct. Although he treated the two questions as part of one science, prôtē philosophía, Aristotle did not, in Heidegger's view, discuss the way in which these questions belong together. Being is determined theoretically as presence; and God, the first mover, is an aítion, an explanatory ground of motion in sensible ousía. God is required as a ground for the presence of beings as a whole. Heidegger no longer seeks explanatory grounds, nor does he prioritize theory. Rather, he inquires into the essence of ground, and the poietical involvement of Dasein in understanding being. The unity of Aristotle's questions is found in a groundless ground: Dasein as transcendence. The metaphysical god is thus no longer required in Heidegger's phenomenology.     

Universal‐Diverse Orientation,Cognitive Complexity,and Sociopolitical Advocacy in Counselor Trainees

The authors investigated counselor trainees' levels of cognitive complexity and sociopolitical advocacy as predictors of universal‐diverse orientation (UDO). Participants included 120 master's‐ and doctoral‐level trainees from 4 midwestern counseling psychology programs. Results revealed that, after accounting for multicultural social desirability and training experience, actual time spent engaging in sociopolitical advocacy activities uniquely predicted 1 subscale of UDO. Los autores investigaron los niveles de complejidad cognitiva y defensoría sociopolítica de los consejeros en formación como indicadores de predicción de su orientación universal‐diversa (UDO, por sus siglas en inglés). Entre los participantes había 120 estudiantes de maestríay doctorado de 4 programas de psicología clínica en el Medio Oeste de EE.UU. Los resultados revelaron que, después de tomar en cuenta el atractivo social multicultural y la experiencia en formación, el tiempo real dedicado a la participación en actividades de defensoría sociopolítica solo predijo 1 sub‐escala de UDO.     

Following Inspiration: A Conversation With Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter

Our distinguished guest for the 3rd installment in this inaugural Hearing our Elders series is former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. Mrs. Carter is arguably among the most active former First Ladies since she and her husband, the 39th President of the United States, James Earl “Jimmy” Carter, left the White House in 1981. The zeitgeist of the mid‐1950s through the 1970s provides the context that frames Mrs. Carter's responses to questions about her involvement in the mental health movement that continues to the present day. The historical as well as contemporary social and political environments relative to understanding and appreciating mental health and wellness in the United States, then and now, are explored and illuminated in portions of the interview with Mrs. Carter. The interview revealed 6 critical themes: really listening with an empathic ear, resilience/persistence, commitment across time, thinking like a global citizen, a quiet‐storm leadership style, and self‐discovery in service to others. Nuestra distinguida invitada en la 3ª entrega de esta serie inaugural de Escuchar a Nuestros Mayores es la ex Primera Dama Rosalynn Carter. La señora Carter es sin duda una de las ex primeras damas más activas desde que en 1981 dejó la Casa Blanca junto con su marido, el 39° Presidente de los Estados Unidos James Earl “Jimmy” Carter. El espíritu cultural del periodo entre la mitad de la década de los años 50 hasta los 70 proporciona el contexto en el que se enmarcan las respuestas de la señora Carter a preguntas sobre su implicación en el movimiento para la salud mental que continúa hasta hoy. Los entornos social y político de ayer y hoy, tanto en su perspectiva histórica como contemporánea, y cómo estos se relacionan con la comprensión y valoración de la salud y bienestar mental en los Estados Unidos se exploran e ilustran en varios segmentos de la entrevista con la señora Carter. Esta entrevista reveló 6 temas críticos: la escucha con atención y empatía, la resiliencia/persistencia, el compromiso a lo largo del tiempo, el pensamiento como ciudadanos globales, un estilo de liderazgo firme pero calmado, y el autodescubrimiento a través del servicio a otros.     

Agent Perception in Children with and Without Imaginary Companions

This study examined whether children with and without imaginary companions differed in their attributions of agency to inanimate objects. In Study 1, preschool children were shown animation movies in which two geometric figures moved with systematic interaction or randomly. Then, children were asked about biological, emotional and cognitive properties of the figures. The results revealed that children with imaginary companions were more likely to attribute biological properties to the geometric figures that moved randomly compared to children without imaginary companions, but children with and without imaginary companions did not differ in their attributions of cognitive and emotional properties. In Study 2, children were asked about the biological, psychological and perceptual properties of a puppet and a human. Results showed that children with and without imaginary companions did not show the differences in the biological and psychological attributions. Results are discussed in terms of children's agent perception systems. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Given What I Know: Seeing the Past as a Portal to an Intentional Future

Dr. Terrence Roberts is our second guest for the Hearing Our Elders series. Dr. Roberts is one of the Little Rock Nine, the first group of African American students to attend Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Interview segments are woven into the article, providing a historical and political context from which to understand the current national climate with regard to social justice and multicultural responsiveness. Dr. Roberts's interview revealed 6 critical themes: resilience, understanding context in the face of the status quo, reimagining language, choice as key to good mental health, use of the self as an intervention tool, and the importance of being historical in one's thinking. Intentionality is identified as a metatheme that asks the question of where one falls on the status quo versus change agent continuum. Dr. Terrence Roberts es nuestro segundo invitado en la serie Escuchar a Nuestros Mayores. El Dr. Roberts es uno de los Little Rock Nine, el primer grupo de estudiantes afroamericanos que estudiaron en la escuela Little Rock Central High School en 1957. Se insertan fragmentos de la entrevista en el artículo, lo que proporciona un contexto histórico y político desde el que se puede comprender el clima nacional actual respecto a la justicia social y la sensibilidad multicultural. La entrevista con el Dr. Roberts reveló 6 temas críticos: la resiliencia, comprender el contexto frente al status quo, reimaginar el lenguaje, la capacidad de elección como clave para una buena salud mental, el uso del autoconcepto como herramienta de intervención y la importancia de ser histórico en el pensamiento personal. La intencionalidad se identifica como un metatema que formula la pregunta de dónde se sitúa uno mismo a lo largo del continuo entre status quo y agente de cambio.