Cultural studies Books

Book SynopsisFor Tommie Shelby, the persistence of ghettos raises many thorny questions of morality, and he offers practical answers framed in terms of what justice requires of government and its citizens. His social vision and political ethics calls for putting the abolition of ghettos at the center of reform.Trade ReviewTommie Shelby’s Dark Ghettos is, in a word, brilliant! His thoughtful philosophical discourse on issues of race and urban poverty will engage and inform not only his fellow philosophers, but social scientists and educated lay readers as well...This book sets a standard that will be hard to equal. -- William Julius Wilson, author of The Truly Disadvantaged[Shelby] doesn’t lay out a jobs program or a housing initiative...What he aims to do instead is both more abstract and more radical: to challenge the assumption, common to liberals and conservatives alike, that ghettos are ‘problems’ best addressed with narrowly targeted government programs or civic interventions. For Shelby, ghettos are something more troubling and less tractable: symptoms of the ‘systemic injustice’ of the United States. They represent not aberrant dysfunction but the natural workings of a deeply unfair scheme. The only real solution, in this way of thinking, is the ‘fundamental reform of the basic structure of our society.’ -- James Ryerson * New York Times Book Review *Dark Ghettos will not let us forget that racial discrimination has not been eradicated and inequality is now greater and more entrenched. Shelby has issued a timely reminder that the status quo in the United States is unacceptable. -- Glenn Altschuler * Florida Courier *If you have ever bristled at discussions of marriage promotion strategies, the cultural roots of urban poverty, or the pointlessness of so-called political rap, only to decide that the real disagreement was buried too far under too many myths about Black humanity or assumptions about fairness and justice to unravel in one lifetime, then this book is for you. For anyone who hopes to engage productively with the assumptions and claims circulating among our most influential policymakers and ‘thought leaders,’ this book represents philosophy at its most helpful and edifying. -- Paul C. Taylor * Black Perspectives *This bold and incisive book reframes the racial justice debate roiling the United States today…The gestalt shift Shelby’s systemic-injustice perspective invites and supports constitutes a frontal assault on ‘personal responsibility’ and ‘politics of respectability’ approaches to the plight of poor blacks, according to which problems that disproportionately afflict blacks (such as crime and racialized mass incarceration) must be attributed to their bad choices, lack of personal responsibility, and moral deficiencies rather than to social oppression…Dark Ghettos drives a stake through the heart of this diehard but wrongheaded perspective on black criminals. -- Jody D. Armour * Los Angeles Review of Books *In a field with dizzying amounts of data, sensationalistic reporting, controversial policymaking, and strident protest, Dark Ghettos boldly offers deep and ethical thought that illuminates a just path toward eradicating race-, class-, and place-based inequalities. -- Mary Pattillo, author of Black on the BlockA major, groundbreaking contribution to both philosophical and public policy discourse about the ghetto poor. Shelby radically challenges an approach to thinking about black poverty that is deeply embedded in American intellectual and political life. And through his idea of a political ethics of the oppressed, he has more or less invented a new area of philosophical inquiry. -- Robert Gooding-Williams, author of In the Shadow of Du Bois[Shelby's] book tackles some of the thorniest issues in urban social policy—residential integration, the so-called ‘culture of poverty,’ reproduction, family, joblessness, crime and punishment, and cultural expressions of dissent—from a principled egalitarian position. He is consistently informed by a determination to show respect for inner-city residents and their actual and potential agency as equal citizens. The result is instructive and pathbreaking… Policymakers and politicians should take his moral message of abolitionism to heart. To fail to do so is to acquiesce to the persistence of deep injustice—economic and racial—for yet another generation. -- Thad Williamson * Boston Review *It is rare to find a book in political philosophy whose arguments successfully utilize both ideal and non-ideal theory. Rarer still does one find a book in political philosophy that takes seriously the proposition that the oppressed are not merely passive victims to injustice, but rather rational and moral agents, capable of making meaningful and informed choices concerning those things they have reason to value. Dark Ghettos does both. -- Michael S. Merry * Theory and Research in Education *The publication of this book is a significant event in contemporary political philosophy…The book presents a coherent and radical position, explaining why the denizens of dark ghettos are, in present circumstances, justified in their rejection of many mainstream norms. It will immediately be a required text for the philosophical study of racial injustice. -- Jonathan Wolff * Ethics *[This] is an original, powerful, passionately argued, and philosophically stimulating contribution to discussions of the black ghetto and how it can best be abolished…Throughout its pages Shelby matches his great respect and esteem for the black poor with the philosophical intensity and sophistication with which he defends and spells out the demands of their humanity. The black poor have not had so devoted and able a champion since W. E. B. Du Bois. -- Bernard R. Boxill * The Journal of Philosophy *This measured yet powerful philosophical and moral analysis of African American ghetto life and the injustices suffered by its denizens deserves to be widely read…While Shelby advocates abolishing the ghetto, he does not mean abolishing black neighborhoods. Rather, he urges a fundamental reform of the basic structure of society. This has implications for policing and the creation of employment opportunities, and much more. * Choice *Dark Ghettos is the first philosophical treatise on the ghetto…Shelby’s voice is clear, original, and insightful. -- Erin I. Kelly * Criminal Law and Philosophy *

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Book SynopsisThe Butterfly Defect addresses the widening gap between the new systemic risks generated by globalization and their effective management. It shows how the dynamics of turbo-charged globalization has the potential and power to destabilize our societies. Drawing on the latest insights from a wide variety of disciplines, Ian Goldin and Mike MariathasaTrade ReviewFinalist for the 2015 Estoril Global Issues Distinguished Book Prize "[The authors demonstrate] that the increasing interconnectedness of the world makes the world's economics, infrastructure, health and social conditions behave [as] an interconnected meteorological system. The next big crisis will be of unexpected origin."--Professor Rober J. Shiller, Wall Street Journal "This is an important and thought-provoking book."--Shawn Donnan, Financial Times "This book covers many different sectors and points out that globalization brings opportunities as well as threats; readers from diverse professional and academic backgrounds will gain insights."--Library Journal "The arguments put forward are cohesive and coherent with well-constructed logical chapters, good, well thought out examples and jargon free language... Upon reflection of this book, I was left with a clear and defined picture of how systemic risk effects systems and how globalization inherently increases these risks."--Jason Paul Stansbie, Leonardo Reviews "Although the authors' prose is clear and unburdened by jargon, the nature of the topic means this is not a light read. But it will reward the persistent. The issues they raise, and the interconnections they identify, are such that specialists will come away with a deeper understanding of the risks involved in each of the specific fields they cover... To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, this book should be widely read not because it is easy, but because it is hard."--Survival Global Politics and Strategy "In this context of uncertainty about the future of globalization, the book is a very timely intervention, as it focuses exactly on the risks created by the process of globalization itself. The authors have formidable expertise."--Dariusz Wojcik, Journal of Economic Geography "A timely addition to the nascent literature on CT-inspired methods and models... Bound to trigger debate and invite (if not beckon) its readers to pursue further the ideas discussed on its pages."--Emilian Kavalski, Political Studies ReviewTable of ContentsList of Boxes, Illustrations, and Tables ix Preface xiii Acknowledgments xvii Introduction 1 1 Globalization and Risk in the Twenty-First Century 9 Globalization and Integration 10 Global Connectivity and Complex Systems 13 Globalization and the Changing Nature of Risk 23 Globalization: A Double-Edged Sword 30 The Way Forward 33 2 The Financial Sector 36 with Co-Pierre Georg and Tiffany Vogel The Financial Crisis of 2007/2008 37 Financial Globalization in the Twenty-First Century 39 Complexity and Systemic Risk 54 Global Financial Governance 60 Lessons for the Financial Sector 64 3 Supply Chain Risks 70 Global Supply Chains 72 Supply Chain Risk 79 From Management of Risk to Risk Management 90 Lessons for Supply Chain Management 95 4 Infrastructure Risks 100 Transportation 101 Energy 105 The Internet 112 Lessons for Global Infrastructure 120 5 Ecological Risks 123 The Nature of Environmental Risk 124 Risks from the Environment 129 Risks to the Environment 133 Can Globalization Be Good for the Environment? 138 The Export of Pollution 139 Lessons for Managing Environmental Risk 141 6 Pandemics and Health Risks 144 Pandemic Risk 145 Globalization and Health Risks 147 Case Studies 150 Noninfectious Diseases 159 Global Cooperation and Disease Control 160 Lessons from Pandemic Management 164 7 Inequality and Social Risks 168 Global Integration and Inequality 169 The Channels of Inequality 180 The Risks of Inequality 181 Lessons for Challenging Global Inequalities 195 8 Managing Systemic Risk 198 Moving Forward, Not Backward 200 Confronting a New Challenge? 202 The Need to Reform Global Governance 206 Why Reform Has Been So Sluggish 209 Lessons for Global Policy Reform 212 Managing Systemic Risk 219 Notes 221 References 257 Index 285

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Book SynopsisBeautifully illustrated with an array of Japanese art, this book offers a closer look at the rich variety of styles, decoration, motifs and patterns and the sheer craftsmanship of Japanese culture.

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Book SynopsisA sweeping examination of the core issues of sexual politics by one of feminism’s most important and critical voicesTrade Review'An intelligently critical, inclusive, personal and very accessible feminist polemic' -- Theory.orgTable of ContentsAbbreviations Introduction 1. The Subversive Image 2. Inner Experience 3. Sovereignty 4. The Tears of Eros 5. The Accursed Share Conclusion Notes and References Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisPicking up where Fanon left off, examining the negative influence of intellectual immigrants as facilitators of American imperialism.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Brown Skin, White Masks 2. On Comprador Intellectuals 3. Literature and Empire 4. The House Muslim Conclusion: Confusing the Colour Line Notes Index

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Book SynopsisFrom Blurred Lines to gang signs, how does society cause toxic masculinity?Trade Review'An antidote to Jordan Peterson' -- Guardian'An uncompromising, heartfelt and completely vital interrogation of this thing we call masculinity. Bubbling with new perspectives and major insights - this is the book about masculinity that we ALL need' -- Jeffrey Boakye, author of 'Black, Listed: Black British Culture Explored''A vital addition to books on masculinity. It is opening up conversations, whilst offering guidance towards joyful, emotional, non-violent masculinities' -- Bad FormTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: Mask off: Being a man 1. Real men: Myths of masculinity 2. Gang signs & prayer: Male violence, aggression and mental health 3. What’s love got to do with it?: Love, sex and consent 4. This is a man’s world: The politics of masculinity, the masculinity of politics 5. If I were a boy: Gender equality and feminism 6. See you at the crossroads: Intersections of masculinity 7. It goes down in the DM’s: Masculinity in the age of social media 8. Slamdunk the funk: Masculinity and sport Conclusion: Man in the mirror: Transgression and transformation Resources

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Book Synopsisaeo New in paperback, this is a major contribution to the highly topical post--modernity debates. aeo Gianni Vattimo is the leading Italian philosopher of post--modernism, and an expert on Nietzsche, Heidegger and Gadamer. aeo Vattimo presents a distinct philosophical position based on his well--known notion of 'weak thoughta .Trade Review'An important contribution to the current philosophical debate about ... 'The Post-Modern Condition'.' Times Higher Education Supplement 'In the last few years, Gianni Vattimo has emerged as the leading Italian philosopher of post-modernism. His book The End of Modernity is a splendid contribution to modern philosophy ... There is no doubt that it will be one of the classics of the decade.' David Wood, University of Warwick 'Vattimo's is a most welcome philosophical contribution to a debate that all too often fails to acknowledge its historical dimension.' Comparative Literature 'Vattimo is a leading interpreter of Heidegger and a cultural critic of extraordinary scope and originality. The End of Modernity is a major contribution to the current debate over post-modernism.' Hayden White 'Vattimo has a lively mind, eclectic tastes, and a flair for making theoretical philosophical discourse interesting and arresting.' ChoiceTable of ContentsIntroduction. Part I: Nihilism as Destiny. . 1. An Apology for Nihilism. 2. The Crisis of Humanism. Part II: The Truth of Art. 3. The Death or Decline of Art. 4. The Shattering of the Poetic Word. 5. Ornament/Monument. 6. The Structure of Artistic Revolutions. Part III: The End of Modernity. . 7. Hermeneutics and Nihilism. 8. Truth and Rhetoric in Hermeneutic Ontology. 9. Hermeneutics and Anthropology. 10. Nihilism and the Post-modern in Philosophy. Bibliographical Note. Index.

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Book Synopsisaeo A major new book by one of the most original thinkers today. aeo Develops a distinctive argument about the a liquida nature of modernity. aeo Re--examines key concepts which look at the heart of orthodox accounts of the human condition, including the concepts of emancipation, individuality, work and community.Trade Review"Bauman on a bad day is still far more stimulating than most contemporary social thinkers. He is the Georg Simmel of our age, and his books and essays will be read when contemporary exponents of social arithmetic are long forgotten." Times Higher Education Supplement "Liquid Modernity is Zygmunt Bauman's term for the present condition of the world as contrasted with the 'solid' modernity that preceded it ... He is a vivid and original writer with an eye for the revealing personal experience.' Dennis Wrong, Times Literary Supplement "Zygmunt Bauman can be counted among those giants of sociology - C. Wright Mills, Émile Durkheim, Max Weber - who are bound together not by a shared ideological or disciplinary alignment, but by a profound and moral passion. I do not employ the term "moral" in the commonly used sense of "judgmental", but to describe their ability to define the spirit of the age, to ask cutting questions about society's direction, warn of dangers and perceive opportunities." Contemporary Politics "These books mark an important advance in Bauman's project. He seems to be trying to bring the intellectuals back into the game, twitting them for their passivity. Bauman wants social critics to take a more active role, taking a lead by showing how the relationships between individuals and society and between the private and public spheres may be rearticulated and the spirit of the agora restored to social and political life." British Journal of Sociology "His work is essential reading for those political theorist who feel that part of their task is to elaborate relevant and compelling normative critique." Contemporary Political Theory "Bauman lucidly depicts what others call the 'postmodern situation' a term that he painstakingly avoids, and his analysis is important for anyone interested in cultural criticism" Caterina Norlin-Brage, Religious Studies Review "One of post-modernity's great commentators." Pete Ward, Church TimesTable of ContentsForeword: On Being Light and Liquid. 1. Emancipation. 2. Individuality. 3. Time/Space. 4. Work. 5. Community. Afterthoughts: On Writing; on Writing Sociology. Notes. Index.

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Book SynopsisThe surviving correspondence between Walter Benjamin and Theodor W. Adorno. This is the first time all of the surviving correspondence between Adorno and Benjamin has appeared in English. Provides a key to the personalities and projects of these two major intellectual figures. Offers a compelling insight into the cultural politics of the period, at a time of social and political upheaval. An invaluable resource for all students of the work of Adorno and especially of Benjamin, extensively annotated and cross-referenced. Trade Review"[In this volume] the reader witnesses the hesitant, tension-filled process by which two individuals come together – individuals who could scarcely have approached each other in any other way than through the mediation of this literary form." Jürgen Habermas, Die Zeit "The extraordinary and unique qualities of this correspondence stem from the confrontation in stages between two of the most intense and energetic minds of the last century." Fredric Jameson, Duke University "To reconsider the relationship between Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin is to reflect on one of the most enduring philosophical friendships of the twentieth century." Richard Wolin, New Republic "The first time the letters of these two great minds have been published in their entirety makes for endlessly crunchy reading that combines high-octane intellectual jousting with a touching arm’s-length friendship and, towards the end, a personal tragedy, as Benjamin’s situation gets inexorably worse. The sinewy dialogues on various topics – music, painting, poetry, Adorno’s theory of dialecticism, Benjamin’s aesthetics – throw up constant insights into how their major ideas were formed, as it were, out of live, fluid thinking." Steven Poole, The Guardian

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Book SynopsisThe Posthuman offers both an introduction and major contribution to contemporary debates on the posthuman. Digital 'second life', genetically modified food, advanced prosthetics, robotics and reproductive technologies are familiar facets of our globally linked and technologically mediated societies.Trade Review"The Posthuman makes a vital contribution to feminist scholarship across disciplines… Braidotti’s reading of contemporary issues is out of the box: challenging, encouraging and inspiring." Feminist Review "An important and generative step toward new theories and scholarship and a welcome addition to Braidotti’s already formidable canon." H+ Magazine "Shows remarkable clarity and concision even as it lays out highly technical, complexly theoretical, and deeply interdisciplinary concepts." Choice ''This is a rather startling work that requires heavy concentration on the part of the reader to follow the brilliant thinking of the author. Rosi Braidotti, a contemporary philosopher and feminist theoretician, `makes a case for an alternative view on subjectivity, ethics and emancipation and pitches diversity against the postmodernist risk of cultural relativism, while also standing against the tenets of liberal individualism.' Throughout her work, Braidotti asserts and demonstrates the importance of combining theoretical concerns with a serious commitment to producing socially and politically relevant scholarship that contributes to making a difference in the world.'' Grady Harp, Literary Aficionado "This is an exciting and important text, full of intellectual brilliance and insight. It will make a major mark." Henrietta L. Moore, University of Cambridge "Braidotti's exhilarating survey of the constellation of posthumanity is lucid, learned and provocative. It will be an essential point of reference in future debates about the central philosophical problem of our age." Paul Gilroy, King’s College London "Debates over humanism and post-humanism have been fought over from feminist philosophy to literary theory and post-colonial studies. This latest work by Rosi Braidotti presents us with a clear-headed glimpse of some of the hard choices we have before us. Braidotti knows the philosophy, cares about the politics, and empathizes with those who have been shoved aside in these brutal last hundred years. She shows us how feminism, technoscientific infrastructure and political strands cross, sometimes with sparks." Peter Galison, Harvard UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgments viIntroduction 1Chapter One: Post-humanism: Life beyond the Self 13Chapter Two: Post-anthropocentrism: Life beyond the Species 55Chapter Three: The Inhuman: Life beyond Death 105Chapter Four: Posthuman Humanities; Life beyond Theory 143Conclusion 186References 198Index 214

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Book SynopsisIn this important new book, leading cultural theorist and philosopher Bernard Stiegler re-examines the relationship between politics and art in the contemporary world. Our hyper-industrial epoch represents what Stiegler terms a 'katastroph of the sensible'.Trade Review"What links Andy Warhol, Bela Bartok, Glenn Gould and Joseph Beuys? This, says Stiegler: each in his own way understood the decisive changes brought about in the arts by their entanglement in networks of industrial production and commercial consumption, and each also realized that this entanglement called into question whether any of us - actual or merely potential artists - could any longer be said to participate in the creation and circulation of symbols. This is the question of what Stiegler terms �symbolic misery�, and he answers it with characteristic defiance. If we are indeed excluded from such participation, then the possibility of overturning this state of affairs is everywhere around us: in precisely those technical forms we more usually experience as feeding our addiction to alienation. All that is needed is to transform these from poison into cure, which is to say: to learn how to use them! This is a work of sober, impassioned understanding." Martin Crowley, Queens� College, Cambridge "In Symbolic Misery one of Europe�s leading contemporary thinkers offers indispensable insights into modern technology and its influence on the ways we come to think and feel. Stiegler does not simply diagnose a collective malaise, however; his writing is a call to arms and a programme for a total rethinking of our relationship to technical objects." Ian James, Downing College, CambridgeTable of ContentsCall to Adventure Notice to the Reader Prologue with Chorus Sensibility’s Machinic Turn and Music’s Privilege I Sensing through Participation Or the Art of Acting Out II Setting Out From Warhol and Beuys III Us All Individuation as Trans-formation and Trans-formation as Social Sculpture IV Freud’s Repression Where the Living Seize the Dead and Vice Versa V The Disjunctive Conjunction Mais où est donc Ornicar?

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Book SynopsisThe internet and the mobile phone have disrupted many of our conventional understandings of ourselves and our relationships, raising anxieties and hopes about their effects on our lives.Trade Review"New communications technologies are always hyped by some people and denounced by others. Nancy Baym’s brilliant book explodes myths and challenges stereotypes. Her clear-sighted and penetrating analysis provides the mental toolkit needed to reach a more nuanced view of the social impact of digital media."Tom Standage, Digital Editor, The Economist"In this lucid yet learned book, Nancy Baym covers a breadth of analysis on whether and how the internet and mobile communication are reconfiguring our identities and personal relationships. While recognising the many continuities in our social life from offline to online, she also notes some signs of optimism, showing how we may yet build new, perhaps better, personal connections in the digital age."Sonia Livingstone, London School of Economics and Political ScienceTable of Contents1. New forms of personal connection 2. Making new media make sense 3. Communication in digital spaces 4. Communities and networks 5. New relationships, new selves? 6. Digital media in everyday relationships Conclusion: the myth of cyberspace

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Book SynopsisAn intriguing glimpse into the future provides information detailng the political and social collision that could occur shortly after the millennium, based on a repeating series of eighty to one hundred year cycles, divided into four turnings--a High, Awakening, Unraveling, and Crisis. Reprint.

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Book SynopsisA valuable key to unique aspects of Japanese culture, this work discusses Japanese attitudes to raising children, personal space and the roles of women in Japanese society. Topics explored include: "aimai" (amibiguity), "chinmoki" (silence in communication), and "giri" (social obligation).Trade Review"When I first saw The Japanese Mind, I assumed it would be similar to Takeo Doi's The Anatomy of Dependence. They're actually quite different. Doi's book focuses on the Japanese concept of emotional dependence, but The Japanese Mind gives an on-the-ground view of a wide range of topics in a way that would be more useful to newcomers who are getting established. Doi's book should be on the reading list too, but a little later. All of the essays in The Japanese Mind are excellent. The authors do a great job of representing their country and what they want for it domestically and globally. Students of Japanese studies, as well as casual readers, will learn a lot." -- Japan Reference"Although it can also be used as a textbook, this collection of essays about a wide variety of Japanese cultural concepts, such as Bushido and Wabi-Sabi, also contains useful information for those wanting a better understanding of Japanese society." --Library Journal

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"The subtitle says it all: 'Sultans, Spices, and Tsunamis: The Incredible Story of Southeast Asia's Largest Nation.' Indonesia expert Hannigan offers a highly readable and entertaining narrative that highlights the many personalities who have shaped the nation -- and our perception of it. English pirates, Indian mystics, Chinese pilgrims, American surfers, Dutch spice barons join a cavalcade of Javanese royals, Balinese dancers and more." --Lonely Planet"…[Tim Hannigan's] books are charmingly free of pre-conceived notions of specialization. They entertain readers while offering sharp insights into Asian history." --PopMatters Magazine"Tim Hannigan presents Indonesia as a place of high drama, with a past marked by European trade battles, explorers like Magellan and Christopher Columbus, and waves of immigrants. He guides the reader through the reign of Sukarno (1945-1967) and others of lesser, but no less corruptible, reputation, to settle with guarded optimism with the current president, Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi." --Foreword Magazine

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Book SynopsisUnderstanding a people and their culture through code words and language.

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Book SynopsisThis classic work of comparative history explores why some countries have developed as democracies and others as fascist or communist dictatorships Originally published in 1966, this classic text is a comparative survey of some of what Barrington Moore considers the major and most indicative world economies as they evolved out of pre-modern political systems into industrialism. But Moore is not ultimately concerned with explaining economic development so much as exploring why modes of development produced different political forms that managed the transition to industrialism and modernization. Why did one society modernize into a relatively free, democratic society (by which Moore means England)? Why did others metamorphose into fascist or communist states? His core thesis is that in each country, the relationship between the landlord class and the peasants was a primary influence on the ultimate form of government the society arrived at upon arrival in its modern a

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Book SynopsisAntonio Gramsci''s Prison Notebooks, written between 1929 and 1935, are the work of one of the most original thinkers in twentieth century Europe. Gramsci has had a profound influence on debates about the relationship between politics and culture. His complex and fruitful approach to questions of ideology, power and change remains crucial for critical theory. This volume was the first selection published from the Notebooks to be made available in Britain, and was originally published in the early 1970s. It contains the most important of Gramsci''s notebooks, including the texts of The Modern Prince, and Americanism and Fordism, and extensive notes on the state and civil society, Italian history and the role of intellectuals. ''Far the best informative apparatus available to any foreign language readership of Gramsci.'' Perry Anderson, New Left Review ''A model of scholarship'' New Statesman

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Book SynopsisFrancesca Granata is Associate Professor in the School of Art and Design History and Theory at Parsons the New School for Design, New York. She is the editor and founder of the journal Fashion Projects. Her work has appeared in Fashion Theory, Fashion Practice, and The Journal of Design History, The Atlantic as well as in a number of books and exhibition catalogues.Trade ReviewThis is a timely book in that many of the concepts discussed resonate strongly with the current cultural context: gynophobia and fear of the fat feminine body; neoliberalism, corporate greed and the "enterprising self"; and fear of border crossings and the breakdown of cultural categories. * Morna Laing, "Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body and Culture" *The strengths of this book are two-fold, both reframing Bakhtin's theory of the Grotesque body as a tool for the analysis of fashion and also its ability to theorize the very edges of fashion [...] [I]n doing so, Granata does both fashion studies and design history a great service. * Ellen Sampson, "The Journal of Design History" *A very welcome contribution to the field of fashion studies, not least through its attention to an aspect of fashion—experimental fashion—that has so far been given little attention. * Agnès Rocamora, Reader in Social and Cultural Studies at London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, London and author of "Fashioning the City" *[H]er work begins to bridge a gap in literature concerned with the intersections of fashion practice and performance art. [...] While Granata's work is both methodologically and theoretically complex it is presented with absolute clarity and this level of accessibility is highly commendable. * Fenella Hitchcock, "Costume: The Journal of The Costume Society" *Granata continually reconsiders the grotesque within the contexts of different fields of both culture and academe. Borrowing from psychoanalysis, feminist theory, performance and film studies, she creates a vivid narrative that inspects grotesque corporealities in a variety of cultural forms through meticulous analysis of primary sources. * Jana Melkumova-Reynolds, "International Journal of Fashion Studies" *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1 Against Power Dressing: Georgina Godley Chapter 2 Fashioning the Maternal Body: Rei Kawakubo Chapter 3 Performing Pregnancy: Leigh Bowery Chapter 4 Deconstruction and the Grotesque: Martin Margiela Chapter 5 Carnivalized Time: Martin Margiela Chapter 6 Carnival Iconography: Bernhard Willhelm Chapter 7 Fashion and Performance: Lady Gaga Conclusion Appendix Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis seminal worknow available in a 15th anniversary edition with a new prefaceis a thorough introduction to the historical and theoretical origins of postcolonial theory. Provides a clearly written and wide-ranging account of postcolonialism, empire, imperialism, and colonialism, written by one of the leading scholars on the topic Details the history of anti-colonial movements and their leaders around the world, from Europe and Latin America to Africa and Asia Analyzes the ways in which freedom struggles contributed to postcolonial discourse by producing fundamental ideas about the relationship between non-western and western societies and cultures Offers an engaging yet accessible style that will appeal to scholars as well as introductory students Table of ContentsPreface to the Anniversary Edition ix Preface to the First Edition xxvi Acknowledgements xxix 1 Colonialism and the Politics of Postcolonial Critique 1 Part I Concepts in History 13 2 Colonialism 15 3 Imperialism 25 4 Neocolonialism 44 5 Postcolonialism 57 Part II European Anti-colonialism 71 6 Las Casas to Bentham 73 7 Nineteenth‐Century Liberalism 88 8 Marx on Colonialism and Imperialism 101 Part III The Internationals 113 9 Socialism and Nationalism: The First International to the Russian Revolution 115 10 The Third International, to the Baku Congress of the Peoples of the East 127 11 The Women’s International, the Third and the Fourth Internationals 140 Part IV Theoretical Practices of the Freedom Struggles 159 12 The National Liberation Movements: Introduction 161 13 Marxism and the National Liberation Movements 167 14 China, Egypt, Bandung 182 15 Latin America I: Mariátegui, Transculturation and Cultural Dependency 193 16 Latin America II: Cuba: Guevara, Castro and the Tricontinental 204 17 Africa I: Anglophone African Socialism 217 18 Africa II: Nkrumah and Pan‐Africanism 236 19 Africa III: The Senghors and Francophone African Socialism 253 20 Africa IV: Fanon/Cabral 274 21 The Subject of Violence: Algeria, Ireland 293 22 India I: Marxism in India 308 23 India II: Gandhi’s Counter‐modernity 317 Part V Formations of Postcolonial Theory 335 24 India III: Hybridity and Subaltern Agency 337 25 Women, Gender and Anti‐colonialism 360 26 Edward Said and Colonial Discourse 383 27 Foucault in Tunisia 395 28 Subjectivity and History: Derrida in Algeria 411 Epilogue: Tricontinentalism, for a Transnational Social Justice 427 Letter in Response from Jacques Derrida 429 Bibliography 432 Index 476

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Book Synopsis‘Fascinating’ Guardian‘Brilliant’ Evening Standard‘Electrifying’ Financial Times‘So interesting I literally couldn’t put it down’ Sunday TimesWe are living in an age of heightened individualism. Success is a personal responsibility. Our culture tells us that to succeed is to be slim, rich, happy, extroverted, popular – flawless.The pressure to conform to this ideal has changed who we are. We have become self-obsessed. And our expectation of perfection comes at a cost. Millions are suffering under the torture of this impossible fantasy.It was not always like this. To explain how we got here, Will Storr takes us on a journey across continents and centuries. Full of thrilling and unexpected connections between history, psychology, economics, neuroscience and more, Selfie is an unforgettable book that makes sense of who we have become.Trade ReviewFar more ambitious than its title might suggest . . . Selfie illuminates much of what feels peculiar about the world in 2017 . . . Storr has put in a formidable amount of work, he is irascibly good company, and he has something approaching genius for marshalling his material . . . This could be a pessimistic book. In fact, its insights are timely and welcome -- Richard Godwin * Sunday Times *As entertaining as it is provocative and disquieting . . . His breezy prose is bedded down in intensive research, much of it immersive . . . his closing thoughts can’t help but be comforting * Mail on Sunday *Storr has done huge amounts of research for this book . . . he conveys it with a gifted lightness of touch that is wry and funny (his investigative mode has been compared to those of Jon Ronson and Louis Theroux, with which I wouldn’t disagree) . . . entertaining . . . fascinating * The Times *Thoughtful and engaging . . . wonderfully funny . . . Storr’s cultural history is fascinating * Guardian *An ambitious argument . . . Storr is an electrifying analyst of internet culture, documenting the rise of connectivity in prose that crackles with the energy of the early 21st century . . . an excellent antidote to time-wasting on social media * Financial Times *Storr is a magnificent reporter in the mould of Jon Ronson or Louis Theroux . . . Selfie is profound, uncomfortable, joyful, frustrating, fascinating, fragmented, inspired, heartbreaking, and occasionally riven with internal contradictions. Just like a person, really. -- Helen Lewis * New Statesman *Brilliant . . . There aren’t many authors who can range so confidently across disciplines and, if you go with the flow, you’ll encounter some fascinating nuggets along the way . . . inspiring -- Rohan Silva * Evening Standard *This book is IMMENSE; like reading an Adam Curtis documentary -- Stuart Heritage‘Compelling, terrifying and a total must-read . . . Selfie is a fascinating investigation into the intersection of history, psychology, culture and the economy, and how our brains, our egos – and our constructed sense of self – are products of these interconnecting spaces . . . Reading Selfie is like seeing links light up on a switchboard. Everything is connected; everything makes sense. Yet the most incredible thing about Storr’s book is how it stays with you long after you've read it . . . In both an equally troubling and comforting way, Selfie’s insights can’t been unseen’ -- Marisa Bate * The Pool *This book is fascinating, illuminating, terrifying and reaffirming . . . As a mum of three, it’s a must-read -- Davina McCallA hellishly good book about the new hell: ourselves * Daily Express *A fascinating, timely exploration of our drive for status, perfection and self-esteem, and a consideration of where such obsessions lead * Esquire *It’s easy to look at Instagram and "selfie-sticks" and shake our heads at millennial narcissism. But Will Storr takes a longer view. He ignores the easy targets and instead tells the amazing 2,500-year story of how we’ve come to think about our selves. A top-notch journalist, historian, essayist, and sleuth, Storr has written an essential book for understanding, and coping with, the 21st century -- Nathan Hill, author of The Nix Smart, serious and ultimately reassuring * Psychologies *Will Storr crafts an entertaining history of the self, from Narcissus to Kardashian to Trump * Observer *A hugely important subject, and a compelling one . . . always entertainingly delivered thanks to Storr’s rich reporting. More than that, by taking a hammer to the sacred idea of the self – by putting culture back in the picture – Storr provides a much-needed corrective to our understanding of who we are. For that reason alone, Selfie should be welcomed. * Literary Review *A timely, inspiring book about self-obsession in modern life * Harper’s Bazaar *A broad-ranging history of the western self, from the age of Aristotle to the age of Instagram . . . Storr builds a convincing case that free will is an illusion, change is impossible and our entire political system is built on a lie. But he’s funny with it -- Richard Godwin * Evening Standard *A journey that is both personal and political . . . at once hilarious and horrifying . . . it’s dynamite . . . This book should by rights bring down the entire house of cards that is the self-esteem industry * Saturday Paper (Australia) *Selfie is an entertaining, concise and highly personal examination of the history of the Self. When did we all become narcissists? And how has it turned us into a society of dissatisfied perfectionists? Combining history, journalistic research and acute personal memoir, Storr brilliantly and candidly explores what may be the most pressing question of our - or any - time. I loved it -- Tim LottMoving, wise, compelling and timely, this brilliant and absorbing book investigates the faultline between our oldest human needs and the terrible pressures of technology -- Marcel TherouxOne of my absolute favourite writers -- Decca AitkenheadEminently suitable for readers of both Yuval Noah Harari and Daniel Kahneman, Selfie also has shades of Jon Ronson in its subversive humour and investigative spirit . . . Selfie, without being remotely fluffy, just might be the ultimate in post-truth comfort reading -- Caroline Sanderson * Bookseller *In this riveting account of how our culture has defined who we feel we should be, from Aristotle to Ayn Rand, Storr charts the rise of our age of perfectionism, and our resulting addictions to selfies and social media. It's profoundly eye-opening, and not a little chastening. Arresting mirrored jacket too . . . * Bookseller *You’ll find yourself repeating entire sections of Selfie to your friends, and passing them off as your own. -- Amy Grier * Cosmopolitan *I've come to consider Will Storr the best writer out there in terms of writing about human experience and the concepts and complexities of psychology. I've never seen such a well-thought-through and well-argued piece of work as Selfie, really taking ideas around self-esteem back to their philosophical and historical origins - and pulling them all to pieces. I loved it. -- Professor Sophie Scott, Deputy Director, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College LondonA very well written book. I enjoyed it greatly! -- Professor Danny Dorling, author of A Better Politics: How Government Can Make Us HappierStorr starts in Ancient Greece and masterfully pulls us through time, arriving at today's Silicon Valley. And on this journey he asks so many fascinating questions . . . An important, fascinating and mind-expanding read that examines the cultural, societal, psychological and political forces that have led to the Selfie generation. I can't recommend it enough. * The Pool *There are some real insights about how stories, social rules, cultural norms and role models affect our attitude to ourselves . . . because he puts it into a long, historical perspective, even nitwits with selfie sticks become a bit more interesting to think about . . . a good read -- Libby Purves * Daily Mail *This book is no life hack. Rather, in this fascinating psychological and social history, Storr reveals how biology and culture conspire to keep us striving for perfection, and the devastating toll that can take . . . the book takes readers on a long and complicated journey through centuries of religion, literature and economics, but Storr navigates the material with remarkable clarity, frequently recapping and synthesizing -- Sam Eckel * Washington Post *The other celebrity podcast I’ve been enjoying is Russell Brand’s Under the Skin . . . He wants Answers with a capital A: the meaning of life, the short cut to spiritual awakening, the revolution that will overthrow the president, the place of economic and political systems within history, how terrorism works and if it can be stopped, ditto religion . . . Not much small talk here. High-profile guests such as Adam Curtis, Naomi Klein, Yanis Varoufakis and Yuval Noah Harari join Brand in trying to unpick humanity’s most tangled knots . . . The latest episode has Will Storr discussing why the selfie is an indication of the narcissistic western approach to individuality, and it’s fascinating. -- Miranda Sawyer * Observer *Table of ContentsSection - i: A note on the text Chapter - Book Zero: The Dying Self Chapter - Book One: The Tribal Self Chapter - Book Two: The Perfectible Self Chapter - Book Three: The Bad Self Chapter - Book Four: The Good Self Chapter - Book Five: The Special Self Chapter - Book 6: The Digital Self Chapter - Book Seven: How To Stay Alive in the Age of Perfectionism Acknowledgements - ii: Acknowledgements Section - iii: A note on my methods Section - iv: Notes and references Index - v: Index

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Book Synopsis'A glimpse into the exotic, mysterious, tinged-with-eroticism world of the almost mythical geisha' Val Hennessy, Daily Mail'[An] eloquent and innovative memoir' The TimesThe extraordinary, bestselling memoir from Japan's foremost geisha.'I can identify the exact moment when things began to change. It was a cold winter afternoon. I had just turned three.' Emerging shyly from her hiding place, Mineko encounters Madam Oima, the formidable proprietress of a prolific geisha house in Gion. Madam Oima is mesmerised by the child's black hair and black eyes: she has found her successor. And so Mineko is gently, but firmly, prised away from her parents to embark on an extraordinary profession, of which she will become the best. But even if you are exquisitely beautiful and the darling of the okiya, the life of a geisha is one of gruelling demands. And Mineko must first conten

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Book SynopsisBeauty today is a paradox. The cult of beauty is ubiquitous but it has lost its transcendence and become little more than an aspect of consumerism, the aesthetic dimension of capitalism. The sublime and unsettling aspects of beauty have given way to corporeal pleasures and 'likes', resulting in a kind of 'pornography' of beauty. In this book, cultural theorist Byung-Chul Han reinvigorates aesthetic theory for our digital age. He interrogates our preoccupation with all things slick and smooth, from Jeff Koon's sculptures and the iPhone to Brazilian waxing. Reaching far deeper than our superficial reactions to viral videos and memes, Han reclaims beauty, showing how it manifests itself as truth, temptation and even disaster. This wide-ranging and profound exploration of beauty, encompassing ethical and political considerations as well as aesthetic, will appeal to all those interested in cultural and aesthetic theory, philosophy and digital media.Trade Review"In this provocative analysis Han agitates against contemporary notions of smooth air-brushed beauty. Instead he pleads for an aesthetic based on a generative, creative, commitment to truth that can encompass negativity injury and disaster. Ranging from pornography to classical literature this tour de force of thinking about our understanding of beauty reminds us that philosophy can have teeth. Han writes with a compelling urgency about how we live in the here and now, but also how we could live better. Saving Beauty is an aesthetic call to arms; an example of how philosophy can militate for a better world and make us see anew." Karen Leeder, Oxford University “Thrilling… a passionate and engaging read on a notion of beauty that has lost its standing in a digitized world.”Philosophy TodayTable of Contents1. The Smooth 2. The Smooth Body 3. The Aesthetics of the Smooth 4. Digital Beauty 5. The Aesthetics of Veiling 6. The Aesthetics of Injury 7. The Aesthetics of Disaster 8. The Ideal of Beauty 9. Beauty as Truth 10. The Politics of Beauty 11. Pornographic Theatre 12. Lingering on Beauty 13. Beauty as Reminiscence 14. Giving Birth in Beauty Notes

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Book Synopsis*The book that inspired Chrissy Teigen and Sex and The City’s Miranda to quit drinking* _____________ 'An incredible read' - Chrissy Teigen 'Has the power to change your relationship with your entire life' - Glennon Doyle 'This thoughtful, moving book will help a lot of people get to a healthier place' - Johann Hari _____________ We live in a world obsessed with drinking. We drink at work events, lunches, book clubs and weddings. Yet no one ever questions alcohol's ubiquity. In fact, the only thing ever questioned is why people don't drink. It is a qualifier for belonging. As a society, we are obsessed with health and wellness, yet we uphold alcohol as some sort of magic elixir. It is anything but. When Holly Whitaker started to look for a way to recover, the support systems she found for recovery where archaic and patriarchal. Urging drinkers towards a newfound humility is great if you're a man, but if you're a woman and not in a position to renounce privileges you never had, a whole other approach is needed. Honest, witty and trenchant, Quit Like a Woman is at once a ground-breaking look at drinking culture, a call to arms, and a celebration of learning how to claim everything life has to offer.Trade ReviewI've long suspected that Holly Whitaker is a genius. This book is confirmation. It's a brilliantly clever, meticulously researched, fearless, snort-out-loud funny read that grabs you and won't let go. * Catherine Gray *Funny, fast-paced, and bracingly candid … Holly Whitaker is no polished model of self-help evangelism, nor is her memoir-manifesto selling a one-size-fits-all-solution. Her story is a messy human one and all the more convincing that sobriety is a feminist issue -- Melissa FebosAn unflinching examination of how our drinking culture hurts women and a gorgeous memoir of how one woman healed herself. Quit Like a Woman will change your relationship with alcohol - and it has the power to change your relationship with your entire life. * Glennon Doyle *This thoughtful, moving book will help a lot of people get to a healthier place. * Johann Hari *

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Book SynopsisTechGnosis is a cult classic of media studies that straddles the line between academic discourse and popular culture; it appeals to both those secular and spiritual, to fans of cyberpunk and hacker literature and culture as much as new-thought adherents and spiritual seekers How does our fascination with technology intersect with the religious imagination? In TechGnosis—a cult classic now updated and reissued with a new afterword—Erik Davis argues that while the realms of the digital and the spiritual may seem worlds apart, esoteric and religious impulses have in fact always permeated (and sometimes inspired) technological communication. Davis uncovers startling connections between such seemingly disparate topics as electricity and alchemy; online roleplaying games and religious and occult practices; virtual reality and gnostic mythology; programming languages and Kabbalah. The final chapters address the apocalyptic dreams that haunt technology, providing vital historical context as well as new ways to think about a future defined by the mutant intermingling of mind and machine, nightmare and fantasy.

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Book SynopsisThe System of Objects is a tour de force-a theoretical letter-in-a-bottle tossed into the ocean in 1968, which brilliantly communicates to us all the live ideas of the day-offering a cultural critique of the commodity in consumer society.Trade ReviewA sharp-shooting Lone Ranger of the post-Marxist left. * New York Times *The most notorious intellectual celebrity to emerge from Paris since Roland Barthes and the most influential prophet of the media since Marshall McLuhan. * i-D magazine *Modest, independent, and devastatingly humorous, Jean's work transmitted the lost urbanity of the mid-20th century while speaking of and into the future. -- Chris Kraus

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Book SynopsisThis exciting, challenging book covers a wide range of subject matter, but all linked together through the key ideas of diversity and ‘Relation’. It sees our modern world, shaped by immigration and the aftermath of colonization, as a multiplicity of different communities interacting and evolving together, and argues passionately against all political and philosophical attempts to impose uniformity, universal or absolute values. This is the ‘Whole-World’, which includes not only these objective phenomena but also our consciousness of them. Our personal identities are not fixed and self-sufficient but formed in ‘Relation’ through our contacts with others. Glissant constantly stresses the unpredictable, ‘chaotic’ nature of the world, which, he claims, we must adapt to and not attempt to limit or control. ‘Creolization’ is not restricted to the Creole societies of the Caribbean but describes all societies in which different cultures with equal status interact to produce new configurations. This perspective produces brilliant new insights into the politicization of culture, but also language, poetry, our relationship to place and to landscapes, globalization, history, and other topics. The book is not written in the style conventionally associated with essays, but is a mixture of argument, proclamation, and poetic evocations of landscapes, lifestyles and people.Trade Review"This is a magnificent translation of a crucial book by Edouard Glissant, which extends his poetics of relation to all the intricacies of Globalisation, making the case for a new form of aesthetics and ethics that would allow for a renewed engagement with social and political justice. The book is eminently topical with regard to its themes, and this translation conveys Glissant’s complex ideas and style with great care and accuracy."Hugues Azérad, University of Cambridge‘This engaging and challenging work by the seminal French-Caribbean writer and philosopher Édouard Glissant features a timely plea for valuing and preserving diversity, relation and the irreducible alterity of the ‘Other’. The book is especially pertinent amidst a historical backdrop plagued by socio-ecological upheavals and the mounting absence of diversity in a multiplicity of forms-from languages to species-which Glissant frequently laments.’ Heather Alberro, Journal of Critical Studies in Language and Literature'Celia Britton's careful and accessible translation captures the poetic, playful, idiosyncratic, and challenging nature of Glissant's language.'Neil Campbell, Western American LiteratureTable of ContentsKey Signs and Key Things: An Introduction to Édouard Glissant’s EssaysTranslator’s IntroductionThe Gardens in the SandsThe Cry of the WorldRepetitionsThe Treatise on the Whole-World by Mathieu Béluse Book 1 Book 2 Book 3Waves and BackwashesThe Time of the OtherWritingWhat was us, what is usPunctuationsObjections to this ‘Treatise’ by Mathieu Béluse, and ReplyMeasure, ImmeasurabilityThe Town, Refuge for the voices of the worldTranslator’s Notes

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Book SynopsisSlavoj Zizek, the maverick philosopher, author of over 30 books, acclaimed as the "Elvis of cultural theory", and today's most controversial public intellectual. His work traverses the fields of philosophy, psychoanalysis, theology, history and political theory, taking in film, popular culture, literature and jokes-all to provide acute analyses of the complexities of contemporary ideology as well as a serious and sophisticated philosophy. His recent films The Pervert's Guide to the Cinema and Zizek! reveal a theorist at the peak of his powers and a skilled communicator. Now Verso is making his classic titles, each of which stand as a core of his ever-expanding life's work, available as new editions. Each is beautifully re-packaged, including new introductions from Zizek himself. Simply put, they are the essential texts for understanding Zizek's thought and thus cornerstones of contemporary philosophy.The Sublime Object of Ideology: Slavoj Zizek's first book is a provocative and original work looking at the question of human agency in a postmodern world. In a thrilling tour de force that made his name, he explores the ideological fantasies of wholeness and exclusion which make up human society.Trade ReviewThe Elvis of cultural theory. * Chronicle of Higher Education *The giant of Ljubljana provides the best intellectual high since Anti-Oedipus. * The Village Voice *The most formidably brilliant exponent of psychoanalysis, indeed of cultural theory in general, to have emerged in many decades. -- Terry EagletonUnafraid of confrontation and with a near limitless grasp of pop symbolism * The Times *Zizek is a thinker who regards nothing as outside his field: the result is deeply interesting and provocative. * Guardian *Zizek is one of the few living writers to combine theoretical rigor with compulsive readability. * Publishers Weekly *Zizek leaves no social or cultural phenomenon untheorized, and is master of the counterintuitive observation * New Yorker *

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Book SynopsisIn Dancing in the Streets Ehrenreich uncovers the origins of communal celebration in human biology and culture. She discovers that the same elements come up in every human culture throughout history: a love of masking, carnival, music-making and dance. Although sixteenth-century Europeans began to view mass festivities as foreign and 'savage', Ehrenreich shows that they were indigenous to the West, from the ancient Greek's worship of Dionysus to the medieval practices of Christianity as a 'danced religion'. Exhilarating in its scholarly range, humane, witty and impassioned, Dancing in the Streets will generate debate and soul-searching.Trade ReviewWitty and quizzical ... Her lightness of touch is commendable -- Simon Callow * Guardian *Dancing in the Streets is a genuine triumph of popular critical scholarship - the punchy elegance of her prose makes this an essential purchase * Independent *A sparkling history of mass festivity, from Dionysian cults through ecstatic slave rites to rock'n'roll, it also, in sober vein, records its suppression and containment by disquieted elites and concludes with meditations on some deep-seated troubles of our own age -- Gareth Dale * Times Higher Education Supplement *

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Book SynopsisDonna Haraway analyses accounts, narratives, and stories of the creation of nature, living organisms, and cyborgs (cybernetic components); showing how deeply cultural assumptions penetrate into allegedly value-neutral medical research.

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Book SynopsisCuba is a land of contradictions that is easy to enjoy but difficult for first-time visitors to decipher. The largest island in the Caribbean, it is a tropical paradise that Christopher Columbus called "the most beautiful land that human eyes have ever seen." It is famous for the romantic charm of its crumbling colonial cities, the beauty of its white sand beaches, and its irresistible Afro-Cuban dance beats. But it is also a land of shortages and tight government control, which has been in a sixty-year political standoff with its superpower neighbor, the USA. The homegrown version of single-party socialism created by Fidel Castro has kept Cuba in a Cold War time warp that only now is beginning to change. As travel restrictions are relaxed US tourists can once again visit the island. Greater flexibility toward private enterprise is opening it up to boutique hotels and high-quality home-based restaurants. There is a boom in special-interest tourism for cyclists, hikers, birdwatchers, and scuba divers, while foreign entrepreneurs are eagerly exploring investment opportunities. Culture Smart! Cuba will take you beyond the usual descriptions of Havana nightlife, vintage cars, and hand-rolled cigars and give you an insider's view of an island that is teetering on the brink of historic change. It offers insights into Cuba's fascinating history, national icons, unique food, vibrant cultural scene, and world-renowned music. Practical tips help business travelers gain an edge on the competition. But most of all, this book aims to show you how best to break the ice and get a better understanding of the infinitely resourceful Cuban people, who despite severe hardships and shortages over many years remain optimistic and fiercely proud of their heritage and culture.Trade ReviewCulture Smart! has come to the rescue of hapless travellers...' Sunday Times Travel, ' the perfect introduction to the weird, wonderful and downright odd quirks and customs of various countries.' Global Travel, ' full of fascinating, as well as common sense, tips to help you avoid embarrassing faux pas.' Observer, ' as useful as they are entertaining.' Easy Jet Magazine, ' offer glimpses into the psyche of a faraway world.' New York TimesTable of ContentsBrief History Politics - Economic Life Traditions - Friendships & Family Relationships Bureaucracy Religion Humour - Local Holidays Taboos Invitations Gifts Dress - Business etiquette - Punctuality & Appointments - Team working Communication Negotiating - Women in Society Tips - Eating Out - Traditional Food - Dos and Don t - Making Friends

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Book SynopsisEdward Said experienced both British and American imperialism as the old Arab order crumbled in the late 1940s and early 1950s. This account of his early life reveals how it influenced his books Orientalism and Culture and Imperialism. Edward Said was born in Jerusalem and brought up in Cairo, spending every summer in the Lebanese mountain village of Dhour el Shweir, until he was 'banished' to America in 1951. This work is a mixture of emotional archaeology and memory, exploring an essentially irrecoverable past. As ill health sets him thinking about endings, Edward Said returns to his beginnings in this personal memoir of his ferociously demanding 'Victorian' father and his adored, inspiring, yet ambivalent mother.Trade ReviewEdward Said is among the truly important intellectuals of our century. His examined life, from the tragic and triumphant perspective of a mortal illness, is superbly worth living. I know I shall not read an autobiography to match this one for many years -- Nadine GordimerSaid is capable of writing like a gifted novelist, like a Palestinian Proust * Independent on Sunday *Out of Place recreates the sights and sounds, the smells and shouts, of a lost world, as Gunter Grass did for Danzig or Joyce for turn-of-the-century Dublin ... One of the greatest cities of our age has produced a work of art, one of the noblest autobiographies of our time * Irish Times *A fine elegy and a scrupulous reckoning with the past -- Marina Warner, Books of the Year * Daily Telegraph *This delicate and candid memoir by a very private man moved me enormously. Written in "counterpoint" to his illness (leukaemia) at times when he was recovering from chemotherapy, its importance may be measured by the ferocity of the public attempt which preceded and accompanied publication to discredit him as an authentic Palestinian voice -- Ahdaf SoueifOut of Place is an intensely moving act of reclamation and understanding, a portrait of a transcultural and often painful upbringing written with wonderful vividness and unsparing honesty. To read it is to come to know [Said's] family and his younger self as closely as we know characters in literature, to be shown, intimately and unforgettably, what it has meant in the last half-century to be a Palestinian -- Salman Rushdie

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Book SynopsisFelix Mendelssohn Bartholdy war als Komponist faszinierend vielseitig. Und so nannte ihn Robert Schumann den „Mozart des 19. Jahrhunderts“, Johannes Brahms und Max Reger verehrten ihn jedoch als romantischen Sinnstifter. Zu Lebzeiten gefeiert, postum seit Richard Wagner mit antisemitischer Hetze überschüttet und von den Konzertpodien verdrängt, hat kein anderer Komponist so unter seiner eigenen Rezeptionsgeschichte leiden müssen wie Mendelssohn. Das Handbuch bringt Einzelwerkbesprechungen zu allen Werkgruppen, allgemeine Darstellungen von Lebens- und Kompositionskonzepten im musikalischen und kulturellen Kontext sowie Aspekte der Wirkungsgeschichte in kompositorischer und historischer Perspektive. Ziel dieses Handbuches ist es, Mendelssohns Position in seiner Zeit besser zu verstehen und verschiedenste Zugänge zu seinen Kompositionen aufzuzeigen. Trade Review“... Hier offenbart sich das Handbuch als unglaublich wertvolles Nachschlagewerk für alle InterpretInnen, die sich Mendelssohns Musik aus unterschiedlichen Blickwinkeln nähern wollen. ...Christiane Wiesenfeldt legt hier ein Handbuch vor, das keine Wünsche offenlässt. Es ist randvoll mit spannenden Betrachtungen und eröffnet zudem viele weitere faszinierende Blickwinkel auf Lebenswelt, Wirken und Wirkung des großen Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy ...” (Tristan Meister, in: Chorzeit, Jg. 95, Juli - August 2022) “… Insgesamt bietet dieses Mendelssohn-Handbuch aber eine Fülle von Informationen und Gebrauchsmöglichkeiten vom schnellen Nachschlagen bis zum ausgiebigen Lesen. … Das sorgfältige Register ermöglicht den Einsatz als Nachschlagewerk.” (Verena Naegele, in: Schweizer Musikzeitung, musikzeitung.ch, November 2021) “... Das Buch ist keine Biographie, sondern ein Kompendium von Beiträgen zahlreicher Fachautoren. ... Werkverzeichnis, Werkregister, Per­ sonenregister und eine ausführliche Zeittafel rahmen das ausgezeichnete Handbuch ein.” (Chor aktuell, Heft 169, September 2020)Table of ContentsVorwort.- Zeittafel.- I. Positionen, Lebenswelten, Kontexte.- II. Schaffensprozesse.- III. Werke. Vokalmusik.- Chorlieder. –Bühnenmusik.- Orchestermusik.- Sinfonien.- Konzerte und konzertante Werke.- Ouvertüren und andere Orchesterwerke.- Kammermusik.- Klaviermusik.- Rezeption und Wirkungsgeschichte. - Interpretationen: Geschichte und Wandel

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Book SynopsisBuddhism and psychedelic exploration share a common concern: the liberation of the mind. This new edition of Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics has substantially evolved from the landmark anthology that launched the first serious inquiry into the moral, ethical, doctrinal, and transcendental considerations of the intersection of Buddhism and psychedelics. A provocative and thoughtful exploration of inner states and personal transformation, Zig Zag Zen now includes an expanded display of stunning artwork from Android Jones, Sukhi Barber, Randal Roberts, Luke Brown and Ang Tsherin Sherpa, and more work by the pioneering visionary artist Alex Grey. Complementing these new images are original essays by such luminaries as Ralph Metzner and Brad Warner; exciting interviews with James Fadiman, Kokyo Henkel, and Rick Doblin; and a discussion of ayahuasca''s unique influence on Zen Buddhism by David Coyote (six new text contributions in total); all of which have been carefully curated to ex

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Book SynopsisThe Inuit have experienced colonization and the resulting disregard for the societal systems, beliefs and support structures foundational to Inuit culture for generations. While much research has articulated the impacts of colonization and recognized that Indigenous cultures and worldviews are central to the well-being of Indigenous peoples and communities, little work has been done to preserve Inuit culture. Unfortunately, most people have a very limited understanding of Inuit culture, and often apply only a few trappings of culture - past practices, artifacts and catchwords -to projects to justify cultural relevance.Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit - meaning all the extensive knowledge and experience passed from generation to generation - is a collection of contributions by well- known and respected Inuit Elders. The book functions as a way of preserving important knowledge and tradition, contextualizing that knowledge within Canada's colonial legacy and providing an Inuit perspective on how we relate to each other, to other living beings and the environment.

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