We can see evidence of injustice all around us, whether in continuing incidents of racial inequality or in the systemic forces that disenfranchise people and perpetuate poverty. It's important to learn about the world's inequities and to be a voice for the voiceless any way we can. But in an age of hashtag and armchair activism, merely raising awareness about injustice is not enough. Michelle Warren knows what is needed. She and her family have chosen to live in communities where they are "proximate to the pain of the poor." This makes all the difference in facing and overcoming injustice. When we build relationships where we live, we discover the complexities of standing with the vulnerable and the commitment needed for long-term change. Proximity changes our perspective, compels our response, and keeps us committed to the journey of pursuing justice for all. Move beyond awareness and experience the power of proximity.

Right now, 70% of Americans aren’t passionate about their work and are desperately longing for meaning and purpose. They’re sick of “average” and know there’s something better out there, but they just don’t know how to reach it. One basic principle―The Proximity Principle―can change everything you thought you knew about pursuing a career you love. In his latest book, The Proximity Principle, national radio host and career expert Ken Coleman provides a simple plan of how positioning yourself near the right people and places can help you land the job you love. Forget the traditional career advice you’ve heard! Networking, handing out business cards, and updating your online profile do nothing to set you apart from other candidates. Ken will show you how to be intentional and genuine about the connections you make with a fresh, unexpected take on resumes and the job interview process. You’ll discover the five people you should look for and the four best places to grow, learn, practice, and perform so you can step into the role you were created to fill. After reading The Proximity Principle, you’ll know how to connect with the right people and put yourself in the right places, so opportunities will come―and you’ll be prepared to take them.

The rivalry between Japan and China has a long and sometimes brutal history, and they continue to eye each other warily as the balance of power tips toward Beijing. They cooperate and compete at the same time, but if competition deteriorates into military conflict, the entire world has much to lose. The Perils of Proximity evaluates the chances of armed conflict between China and Japan, presenting in stark relief the dangers it would pose and revealing the steps that could head off such a disastrous turn of events. Richard Bush focuses his on the problematic East China Sea region. Although Japan’s military capabilities are more considerable than some in the West realize, its defense budget has remained basically flat in recent years. Meanwhile, Chinese military expenditures have grown by double digits annually. Moreover, that the emphasis of China’s military modernization is on power projection—the ability of its air and naval forces to stretch their reach to the east, thus encroaching on its island neighbor. Tokyo regards the growth of Chinese power and its focus on the East China Sea with deep anxiety. How should they respond? The balance of power is changing, and Japan must account for that uncomfortable fact in crafting its strategy. It is incumbent on China, Japan, and the United States to take steps to reduce the odds of clash and conflict in the East China Sea, and veteran Asia analyst Bush presents recommendations to that end. The steps he suggests won’t be easy, and effective political leadership will be absolutely critical. If implemented fully and correctly, however, they have the potential of reducing the perils of proximity in Asia.

Bringing together a wide range of empirical studies from around the world (Sweden, Norway, Austria, Germany, France, UK, Israel, Russia, China, Taiwan, Argentina, Canada), framed in related contemporary theoretical frameworks, this book examines the question of the significance of proximate vs. more distant relationships for economic agents' performance and local economic development. While this question has been the subject of intense debates in recent years, it is obvious that proximity and distance are not explanatory factors as such. The book argues for the need to understand the aims of economic relationships, the nature of the regional environment in which they originate, and the scale at which they operate. The book suggests that the notions of diversity, innovativeness, maturity and multiple scales should be incorporated into the debates on the significance of proximity for economic performance.

You’re too close to your business, and it’s killing your creativity Traditional business structures love stability and predictability. Yet many organizations believe the two essential ingredients for long-term success are creativity and innovation. Kiirsten May and Alex Varricchio, founders of the marketing agency UpHouse, call the relationship between these two opposing expectations the Proximity Paradox™ — the belief that those who are closest to a subject are best-qualified to innovate for it, when, in reality, intense proximity limits creativity. Instead, people need to create distance from challenges in order to see the best way forward. May and Varricchio believe that until we can separate innovation and execution within ourselves, we will only innovate to the level at which we can execute the idea. To be effective, we need to create distance between our innovation brain and our execution brain. Unpacking ten common Proximity Paradoxes that affect a company’s people, processes, and industry, the authors share some practical ideas to create the distance necessary for your next great idea. An especially valuable book for creatives, and non-creatives in creative industries, but equally applicable to all businesses that depend on innovation, The Proximity Paradox encourages us to ask hard questions about how we work, how our businesses are structured, and why we routinely find our creativity at odds with what’s asked of us as executors and stewards of the bottom line.

The problematic reality of an alterity implicit in the concept of communication has been a consistent attestation in formal discourse. The rapport of thought to this alterity has been consistently described as a radical inadequation. By virtue of the communicational economy which produces discontinuity and relation, illumination and the possibility of consciousness, an opacity haunts the famili arity of comprehension. Consciousness' spontaneity is limited by the difference or discontinuity of the exterior thing, of the exterior subject or intersubjective other, and of the generality of existence in its excess over comprehension's closure. An element implicit in difference or discontinuity escapes the power of comprehension, and even the possibility of manifestation. Within the system of tendencies and predications which characterizes formal discourse, however, this escape of alterity is most often understood as an escape which proceeds from its own substantiality: the unknowable in-itself of things, of subjects, and of generality. Alterity escapes the power of comprehension, on the basis of its power to escape this power. That which escapes the effectivity of consciousness, escapes on the basis of its own effectivity. For this reason, the rapport of inadequation described by the escape may function in formal discourse as a correlation. The inadequation of comprehension and exteriority may function as the vicissitude of a larger adequation. The latent principles of this adequation are power and totalization.

Today's spiritual leader cannot succeed at ministry and leadership until they succeed at the disciplines necessary to build a strong spiritual base. Expertise and elevated skill levels can take a leader only so far—still short of God's design. Before they can effectively lead others, they have to lead themselves in the spiritual disciplines from which the revelation of God's plan for their lives and ministries come.