Indeed, for the first time ever, we have a text that is devoted to what we have named “emancipatory nursing!”  The “we” I refer to are the 3 editors of this text – Paula Kagan, Marlaine Smith, and me (Peggy Chinn). The text is titled “Philosophies and Practices of Emancipatory Nursing: Social Justice as Praxis.” The text is published by Routledge in their series “Routledge Studies in Health and Social Welfare” and is available from the publisher, as well as on Amazon (both hard cover and Kindle) and Barnes & Noble (both hard cover and Nook).  The price is a bit daunting, but the publisher is offering a 20% discount code with the attached flyer!  If you are associated with a library, let your librarian know about this book so they can add it to their collection!

The contributors to this text are among the most prolific and renowned critical scholars in nursing, and the chapters that they wrote for this book are original works that have not appeared anywhere else in the literature.  For some, they have created entirely new perspectives and ideas that reflect current insights and accomplishments.  Others build on their previous work, but extend their thinking into new territory. The book begins with a forward by Joan Anderson and an Introduction by Paula, Marlaine and me in which we define the fundamental concepts of emancipatory nursing that emerged from our own work as well as the insights of the book’s contributors.  The first Section focuses on philosophy and theory underlying emancipatory nursing, followed by Sections on research, teaching and practice.

As one the book’s editors and a huge fan of the writings that appear here, I am not in a position to provide a qualitative review of the book that might be considered “objective.”  But I can offer my own “subjective” related to this book! The experience of reading each and every chapter, from the first drafts through the final revisions based on editorial reviews, was one of the most challenging and inspiring experiences of my career.  Throughout the process I kept wishing that what I was reading was already published and available!  Now that these works are in fact in print and available, I hope you will have the opportunity to share this experience!  When you do, please return here and offer your comments and responses!  We will make sure that any author you wish to respond to sees your comments and has a chance to respond!