The following is a list, including descriptions, of all Agenda publications. For futher information send an email to Sue Borg sb@millermalta.com or call 23402996.

Managing People in Malta

This is the first book to map the (actual) practice of people management in Malta. It considers the actual implementation of the human resource function in Malta today. Case material seeks to represent the diverse totality of the Maltese workplace.This title brings together a broad spectrum of practical knowledge, research and theory about human resource management and development in Malta. It carries a richness of insights, experiences and theoretical debate about developments in Malta that should prove to be an interesting learning tool as well as a benchmark for many organizations. This publication is truly a valuable resource tool that fills a gap in tracing the development of Malta’s economy and in the sharing of experiences and knowledge amongst Human Resource professionals.

Evolving Industrial Relations

The book provides a series of articles about the state of industrial relations in Malta. These include reflections about the Phoenicia, Air Malta, Kalaxlokk and Freeport strikes of the 1990’s; the state of social partnership; presence of trade unions in the Maltese private sector; the rise and fall of self-management at Malta Drydocks; what trade-union members think about their unions; and the impact of European Union ‘experts’ in the evaluation of local industrial relations. The book also includes the full text of the EIRA (2002); and a register for Trade Unions & Employer Associations amongst its appendices.

Looking Ahead

This book highlights Malta's contemporary foreign policy options by examining realities within which decisions have to be taken and focusing on the future direction of the country more than anything else. Whereas some pundits prefer to focus on the past or conduct assessments on the present situation, this book looks at what the future holds in store for Malta. An emphasis is placed on foreign policy options that are currently dominating the political debate, although other options are also examined.

European Integration The Maltese Experience

This volume illustrates how European Integration developed from a Franco-German partnership prospectus in 1950 into a Community of 25 states which currently (2004) constitute the European Union (EU).  The main tenets of this body politic of 451 million inhabitants are the pursuit of peace, economic stability, socio-economic well-being, democracy, the safe-guarding of human rights and the upholding of the rule of law.This book illustrates how Malta fitted into this grand design without overlooking the fact that integration has quite a long story in the island’s political history. In fact, during the firs thalf of the 20th century local politicians saw Malta as the rump of a larger nation state that could either be neighbouring Italy or imperial Britain.  In the early post-war years it was the turn of much larger Western European countries to realize that they were too small to fend for themselves. With the dismantling of the Iron Curtain in 1989, even the once Soviet-dominated Eastern European countries were attracted by the prospects of EU accession, thus turning integration into a truly pan-European phenomenon.

The Genesis of Malta’s Foreign Policy     A Personal Account

This is an insider’s view of the genesis and development of Malta’s foreign policy from 1964, when it became an independent state, until the mid-nineties, when Malta embarked on the road to membership of a growing European Union. The book provides much fascinating new material on significant events and institutions, in Malta and abroad, which the author helped to shape in a career spanning four decades, two of which were spent in the lobbies and conference halls of the UN in New York and Geneva. It offers thoughtful analysis of many divisive issues confronting the United Nations. It provides revealing insights into the author’s dealings with three Maltese Prime Ministers, and three Foreign Ministers, first as a civil servant and subsequently as a diplomat.The book will undoubtedly appeal to students of Maltese history, international relations, diplomacy and public policy. It offers contemporary policy makers and diplomats, in Malta and elsewhere, a distillation of the institutional memory that only a seasoned diplomat embodies.

An Introduction to Income Tax Theory

Taxation is often perceived as a body of arbitrary rules, which involves complicated arithmetical computations, but which offers little scope for academic discussion or research.  In this book, Dr. Robert Attard shows that even the most basic income tax rules can give rise to interpretation and that the proper application of income tax law requires research and a sound knowledge of general legal principles.  As its title suggests, Robert's book is not an exhaustive analysis of tax legislation. It deals with principles and not with administrative and compliance issues. It covers theory and not special and exceptional measures. As a historian, Robert Attard could not fail to also examine the historical background of the Income Tax Act and he gives a very interesting account in the first chapter, complete with some original findings.

Gender Equality in Maltese Social Policy Graduate Women and the Male Breadwinner Model

This is a highly original study, which asks about women’s experience of gender quality policy in Malta. Legislation about equal rights for women in Malta was passed in the 1960s and now the European Union bring new dimensions, extending the reach of gender equality policy. How real is gender equality in paid work and care work, time and voice? How much remains of the traditional male breadwinner model, in which women and men have been far from equal? Rich interviews with Maltese women give us unprecedented insight into women’s experience of Maltese culture and social policy.Based on original data collected from a sample of graduate women who are experiencing this tension in their work and family lives, Dr Camilleri Cassar presents a fine example of the relevance of social science to understanding the significance of the European project for Malta.

Keeping in Touch The sociolinguistics of mobile telephony in Malta

This book documents the results of a scientifically representative survey on the use of both fixed and mobile phone lines conducted in November 2002. Though this study discusses the use of this phone by the Maltese, its main focus is a later modification to Bell’s invention, namely, the mobile phone that has become ubiquitous in many countries in the world. Although the context in which the fieldwork has been conducted is Malta, Keeping in Touch is set in an international framework and provides a very interesting laboratory-like case study of the influence of mobile telephony in a small island state, simultaneously a macrocosm and a microcosm. It seeks to contribute to the development of knowledge in the field of inter-human communication through one of the latest, but very fast, diffused technological advancement.

Homosexuality Challenging the Stigma

Many gay, lesbian and bisexual persons continue to experience a lack of understanding and the difficulties of social stigma and also sometimes harassment by the heterosexual majority. This publication explores a more respectful perspective within a scientific approach. This should help society in general and particularly people in the services sector – from education, to health, employment, religion, media and leisure services - to appreciate the ‘normal diversity’ of persons who are gay, lesbian or bisexual. It includes papers by two UK psychologists, empirical data on the experiences and aspirations of gay persons in Malta, as well as the Catholic viewpoint, political considerations from the Minister of Education, and a historical account.

Constructivist Teaching in the Primary School - Social Studies, Mathemeatics, CT, Design & Technology

The publication is an initiative to bring educational theory closer to practice and intended for use by both student and practicing teachers and is in line with the National Minimum Curriculum in its child-centred approach. In taking constructivism as the core theory of learning, the book first reviews the implications of constructivism as a theory of learning and then, in the following chapters provides examples of its practical applications in a number of subjects: Science, Mathematics, Design and Technology, ICT and Social Studies. There are seven contributors, of whom five are from the U.K. The foreword in the book is written by Prof. Andrew Pollard of Cambridge University.

Literacy for School Improvement

In recent years ‘value added techniques have been welcomed across Europe and North America as a better means for tracking pupils’ development & as a fairer way of establishing how much schools can contribute to their pupils’ progress.  Based on the work of an international team and drawing on the now well-established tradition of research into school improvement, the study shows how aspects of pupils’ home backgrounds facilitate or inhibit their literacy progress between years 2 & 5. Drawing on best practice, this pioneering study outlines some important strategies for feeding back information to schools & teachers. It also offers a series of searching questions, schools might usefully ask themselves about their current practices.

Understanding Children and Youth at Risk

"There is a bewildering array of manners in which students can fail at school, and schools can fail their  students. This text offers a gripping collection of models, methods and voices of how schools can enhance the educational chances of learners who are socially disadvantaged, truant in body or in mind, condemned as problematic". Professor Godfrey Baldacchino - University of Prince Edward Island, Canada

 "In a global context where children experiencing learning diffi culties continue to be labelled as failures, blamed for their predicament, and damned as causes (rather than victims) of social inequities, this book provides a timely and perceptive re-assessment of the social practices which place children and youth at risk. Its lucid, well-informed and challenging insights offer much-needed reminders of the true aims of education, of the virtues of hope, and of the urgent need for educational policies based on reason, the urgent need for educational policies based on reason, understanding and justice". Dr. Joe Grixti Massey University, New Zealand

Le Commadeur dans sa Famille - The Commander and his Family

The Commander and His Family, written by a Knight of the Langue of Auvergne, illustrates aspects of life in Malta during the eighteenth century. A Commander of the Order is under the spell of a courtesan. Meanwhile, she is also being courted by a young Knight and a Maltese gentleman. Love, intrigue, gambling and debt add to the exotic flavour of this original comedy. Contains both the original text by Joseph de Fassion de Sainte-Jay and the English translation.

Marroca U Rakkonti Ohra -Marocca et autres contes

The literal, page by page translation into Maltese of Guy de Maupassant’s classic French stories. Parallel Text in French and Maltese.

La Symphonie Pastorale  Is-sinfonija pastorali

A literal page by page translation in Maltese, La Symphonie Pastorale is an excellent example of using a diary as a form of narration. Parallel Text in French and Maltese.

Tackling the Surgical Maze - An introduction to clinical methodology

“Tackling the Surgical Maze is a brilliant attempt by Arthur Felice to disclose some of the most fascinating secrets of his profession.  Aiming at a proper understanding of clinical methodology and practice, Felice dispassionately dissects common practices and the latest technological advances used in surgery, weighs their relative importance and openly discloses their possibilities and limitations. The intricate combination of art and science in surgery is beautifully portrayed in this monograph. The author is to be very strongly congratulated for sharing an insider’s vision; his book instills trusts in the profession and unravels the mysteries of surgery’s ability to heal and rehabilitate.” Professor Mario Vassallo - University of Malta

“This book is the product of considerable thought about diagnostic work. Before proposing treatment the sifting of imperfect information and its correlation with the correct kernel remains one of the most difficult procedures for practicing doctors and surgeons.  The author advocates that medical practitioners should join engineers, mathematicians, philosophers, psychologists, humanitarians and socialists to exchange algorithms that uncover ailing targets and launch cures from different directions.” Professor Carmel Pule - University of Malta

Matsec – Detailed Solutions To Advanced Level Pure Mathematics

The purpose of these model answers is to illustrate the end product expected of a student attempting an examination paper in Pure Mathematics. Although a student may find it difficult to produce such detailed solutions under examintation conditions, these model answers indicate how one should tackle and present solutions to examination questions. It is extremly important that the student should actually work each paper first and only then compare one’s solutions.description]