Synopses & Reviews
Every time we interact with another person, whether we realize it or not, we must deal with issues of power that takes place within a shared hierarchy. Because there are those who misuse their rank, we can find ourselves in disputes that ruin individuals, families, workplaces, and communities. In Battles between Somebodies and Nobodies, Dr. Julie Ann Wambach offers insights about kinds of hierarchies, how we create Somebodies and Nobodies, and the nature of those rank abusers who produce havoc in our lives. She maintains that battles lead to more battles, wherein everyone loses. With information and planning, readers can resolve conflicts in more creative fashions. This self help book describes how abuse of rank strikes in many parts of our life. While the book includes some theory, it is basically a how-to for anyone who wants out of the rank abuse cycle. The serious topic of rank abuse is presented in a friendly conversational style punctuated with 35 whimsical drawings. With the help of a ""Rank Conflict Inventory,"" numerous real life examples, step-by-step strategies, chapter exercises, and 20 rankist types, ""Battles"" is for a diverse audience.
About the Author
Wambach's role as a dispute mediator and counselor prompted her to assemble this book on the dynamics of power and handling situations wherein power is abused. The author delves into the nature of hierarchies and notes that conflict within social groups turns into rankism when those in charge promote themselves and their interests while bringing harm to a person or community. Wambach explores both overt rankists, such as tyrants and gangsters, and covert rankists, such as snubbers and gatekeepers, and advises on how to handle their power plays. Nobody rankists are also analyzed, as they retaliate by placating, flattering, or gossiping. This insightful book, written for a college-level audience and beyond, could potentially serve a wide audience, especially among business self-help readers.
Deborah Bigelow, Director, Leonia P.L., NJ - Library Journal School shootings, abuses of power in the workplace, and spousal or child abuse are results of what Dr. Julie Wambach calls rankism, or the abuse of position within a hierarchy. Wambach identifies rankists as individuals who move to meet their personal needs while depriving others of their own. They treat humans as objects without concern for individual feelings or safety. Rankist behaviors, whether exhibited by those considered somebodies, or those seen as nobodies within a group, have damaging consequences for the individuals who engage in them, the groups to which they belong, and often, to innocent bystanders. All social creatures naturally arrange themselves in hierarchies, with different levels accruing to themselves different rights, privileges, and responsibilities. In more complex societies, individuals may belong to more than one hierarchy a teacher, for example, may be at the highest level in his classroom, but at the bottom in his theatre group. In hierarchies that function well, all members are seen as vital to the efficient functioning of the whole, and are respected for performing their functions well; when a hierarchy is dysfunctional, rank is used as a means to control, or even harm, those of different rank. The author avers that rankism, which she sees as the cause of violence and wars, is a communication problem. Instead of faulting hierarchies for the problems and battles that occur within them, she asserts that Rankist battles are created by Somebodies and Nobodies who abuse their position within a hierarchy. Learning to take responsibility for our own parts in rankist battles is an important step toward achieving right-rank and stopping the cycle of rankism. Wambach is a counselor, workshop leader, speaker, coach, activist, and author who has brought her interest in the dynamics of power in human interaction to the study of abuse in hierarchical structures. She mediates disputes for a variety of governmental and nonprofit agencies. Wambach earned her doctorate in Adult Development and Aging at Arizona State University. This compelling and much-needed book offers the key to identifying rankist behaviors not just in others, but in oneself, and presents exercises to aid anyone involved in social groups, including parents, educators, managers, and employees in developing the skills that lead to group relationships characterized by mutual respect and dignity.
Kristine Morris - Foreword Magazine (October)