Cultural studies Books

Book SynopsisDespite what politicians, philosophers and the press have long told us, every peaceful crowd is not a violent mob in waiting. Dan Hancox argues it is time to rethink long-held assumptions about crowd behaviour and psychology, as well as the part crowds play in our lives. The story of the modern world is the story of multitudes in action. Crowds are the ultimate force for change: the bringer of conviviality, euphoria, mass culture and democracy.Behind the establishment’s long war against crowds is the work of eccentric proto-fascist Gustave Le Bon. Having witnessed the revolutionary Paris Commune, he declared the crowd barbaric, the enemy of all that was civilized. In the twentieth century, his theory influenced Mussolini, Hitler and Freud alike. It moulded the policing of our communities and the new industry of public relations, shaping our cities and politics.From raucous football matches and raves to rubber-bullet-riddled riots, Dan Hancox takes us into the crow

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this wide-ranging history of debt Margaret Atwood investigates its many meanings through the ages, from ancient times to the current global financial meltdown. Many of us wonder: how could we have let such a collapse happen? How old or inevitable is this human pattern of debt? Imaginative, topical and insightful, Payback urges us to reconsider our ideas of ownership and debt - before it is too late.Trade Review'A fascinating, freewheeling examination of ideas of debt, balance and revenge in history, society and literature - Atwood has again struck upon our most current anxieties' The Times 'A stimulating, learned, and stylish read from an eminent author writing from a heartfelt perspective ... very provocative' Conrad Black 'Could hardly be more timely ... as clear a summary of the situation as I have read' Financial Times 'Lively and exceedingly timely ... At a time when so many of us are mired in debts of the financial variety it is worth remembering that it is the other, non-financial debts that we owe - to the planet, and to each other - that may prove most important' Observer

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book is about lives lived out on the borderlands, lives for which the central interpretative devices of the culture don''t quite work. It has a childhood at its centre - my childhood, a personal past - and it is about the disruption of that fifties childhood by the one my mother had lived out before me, and the stories she told about it.''Intricate and inspiring, this unusual book uses autobiographical elements to depict a mother and her daughter and two working-class childhoods (Burnley in the 1920s, South London in the 1950s) and to find a place for their stories in history and politics, in psychoanalysis and feminism.''Provocative and quite dazzling in its ambitions. . . Beautifully written, intellectually compelling'' Judith WalkowitzTrade ReviewI read Landscape for a Good Woman, and some things (not all, because this is not a fairy tale) started to fall into place * Kathryn Hughes *

Read more less

Book SynopsisNationalism has reasserted itself today as the political force of our times, remaking European politics wherever one looks. Britain is no exception, and in the midst of Brexit, it has even become a vanguard of nationalism’s confident return to the mainstream. Intellectual attempts to account for nationalism’s resurgence have however floundered. Desperately trying to read nationalism through one overarching cause – as capitalist crisis, as cultural backlash, or as social media led anti-Establishment politics – these accounts have proven woefully inadequate. This book argues that the only way to understand nationalism is through nationalism itself. To understand it as the key force of modernity that calls upon all existing ideological traditions in asserting its appeal: whether it is liberal, conservative, neoliberal or left-wing. This ideological clamour that characterises today’s British nationalism requires both recognition and theorisation. A meaningful understanding of new nationalism must reckon with the ideological range animating it and the deeply hostile aversion to different racial minorities that pervades its respective ideologies. Drawing on a variety of cultural and political themes – ranging from Corbyn’s dithering, the cult of Churchillism, the neoliberal fixation with a ‘point-system’ immigration policy, the muscular secularism of Richard Dawkins and friends, fears that the white working class have ‘become black’, and even simply the strange appeal of Harry Potter and Game of Thrones – this book provides a dazzling but always detailed study of how nationalism is the politics of today only because it is a politics of everything.Trade Review'Valluvan has written a brave and ambitious book. Its strength lies in its analytical sophistication, its teasing out of the various strands of the dominant ideologies of our time.'Krishan Kumar, Contemporary Sociology'With a rare intelligence, The clamour of nationalism reopens and re-situates debates over nationalism. Valluvan examines its relation to racism and its shortcomings as a vehicle for progressive or radical reconstruction. Along the way, he skewers the idiocy of Left nationalisms and enumerates the depressing developments unfolding across Europe. This urgent survey conveys the shocking discovery that the aggressive pathology of Britain’s brexit is not, in fact, Britain’s alone.' Paul Gilroy, author of There Ain't No Black in the Union Jack and After Empire'At once erudite and entertaining, this book rattles along with the urgency of a thriller, filling your head with new insights, jokes and take-downs along the way. You won't read a better account of the strange resilience of nationalism in our time.'Gargi Bhattacharyya, University of East London 'Sivamohan Valluvan has written a nuanced, carefully articulated, and admirably clear analysis mapping the "new nationalism" gripping our times, its racial and xenophobic articulations as well as the intersections of its neoliberal and neoconservative prompts, inspirations, and expressions. Written in the spirit of Stuart Hall's and Wendy Brown's work, Valluvan focuses especially on contemporary Britain but in ways more widely resonant. A compelling account advancing and deepening our comprehension of the driving issues facing us today.' David Theo Goldberg, University of California 'As nationalism rises to a fever pitch across the political spectrum, Valluvan pulls no punches in arguing against the brutal politics of border walls, migration raids and retrograde patriotism. His work is a light in dark times.' Eleanor Penny, Senior Editor at Novara Media and Online Editor at Red Pepper Magazine 'Amid the nationalist reflux of Europe and North America, pundits caught unawares have reached for reductive off-the-shelf analyses. They treat nationalism as the mere expression of something more familiar and reassuring: the economy, class, or voter stupidity. Sivamohan Valluvan’s astute, elegantly cussed study takes nationalism seriously. Here, nationalism is not written off as a reflex, but treated as a vehicle for the complex demands of diverse constituents assembled across the political spectrum. A vehicle for collective wishing and dreamwork. This, coupled with its ability to define the non-belonging outsiders against whom the nation can be roused, is exactly what accounts for its uncanny capaciousness, its ability to hegemonise the political terrain after a period of relative abeyance. He also warns the Left, parts of it too easily seduced by the song of nationalism, or by facile explanations of nationalism as a mere expression of familiar discontents, against acquiescing in this hegemony.' Richard Seymour, author of Corbyn: The strange rebirth of radical politics'The clamour of nationalism’s achievement is not in its desire to explain why nationalist parties are on the rise (there are other books that have tackled this question),[1] for questions still pervade [...] Sivamohan Valluvan’s success is his ability to tackle these various strands to reveal an upsetting tapestry: race and the Nation-State are intimately interwoven. Drawing extensively on both past and present sources, Valluvan provides a contemporary analysis of Arendt’s famous line (quoted above) as it relates to how racism operates in the political arena today.'Tarek Younis, Dark Matter, February 2020'Valluvan’s analysis is an essential guide through some complex theoretical and empirical arguments...As a relative stranger to this literature I found Valluvan’s energetic tour refreshing and inspiring. For any criminologist persuaded by the merits of Southern criminology it is essential reading.'Theoretical Criminology -- .Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroduction: mapping the nation1 Theorising the nation2 Notes on two red herrings: progressive nationalism and populism3 Valuing the nation: liberalism, Muslims and nation-state values4 Conservatism and mourning the nation5 Unholy alliances: the neoliberal embrace of nation6 Left problems: the left and welfare state nationalismConclusion: absences and futuresIndex

Read more less

Book Synopsis'THOUGHT-PROVOKING' Bernardine Evaristo 'IMPORTANT' Melissa Hemsley 'RAZOR-SHARP' Nels Abbey 'ESSENTIAL' Jaspreet Kaur 'INSPIRATIONAL' Sophie Williams 'REVEALING' Tineka Smith 'NECESSARY' Natalie Alexis LeeWhat does it mean to be mixed race in today's society?In this powerful book, Natalie and Naomi Evans, founders of anti-racist advocacy and platform Everyday Racism, explore the complexities of mixed-race identities - from the discrimination endured by the 1.2 million mixed people in Britain and millions more elsewhere, to the privileges it can afford. Sharing their own personal experiences of growing up in Britain to illuminate the nuances of racial identity, the book also weaves in:- Interviews with people from mixed backgrounds and in mixed relationships- Research to dispel common myths and stereotypes- Practical advice for mixed-race families and friendshipsThe Mixed-Race Experience will help you to recognise and confront the racism within your own family and communities, helping us all to deepen our intersectional awareness and commitment to allyship.Trade ReviewI really enjoyed reading the different angles and stories in this book on the experiences of being mixed-race in a society where we are all racialised as white, black or a bit of both ... An important and welcome addition to the ongoing conversation about who we are in this society ... current, informative, thought-provoking. * Bernardine Evaristo, Winner of the Man Booker 2019 (Girl, Woman, Other) *Educational for even the most racially aware, without being condescending. A must-read guide for mixed-race families and relationships * Tineka Smith, author of 'Mixed Up' *An essential read. Packed with thought-provoking interviews and practical advice, Natalie and Naomi have created a necessary piece of reading not only for those navigating the world as mixed-race but for us all * Jaspreet Kaur, author of 'Brown Girl Like Me' *A powerful and important read. It is one that challenges, interrogates, inspires and gives you much to think about and lots to act on. A book for anyone who truly wants to ask difficult questions of themselves, have deeper conversations with loved ones or colleagues and responsibly be a part of real change * Melissa Hemsley, author of 'Feel Good' and 'Eat Green' *An essential, highly engaging, razor-sharp and deeply thoughtful body of work. Without reading this you will struggle to properly understand and appreciate our rapidly emerging future as a country * Nels Abbey, author of 'Think Like a White Man' *

Read more less

Book Synopsis**Winner of the Transmission Prize 2019**THE OLD GODS ARE DYING.Giant corporations collapse overnight. Newspapers are being swallowed. Stock prices plummet with a tweet.NEW IDOLS ARE RISING IN THEIR PLACE. More crime now happens online than offline. Facebook has grown bigger than any state, bots battle elections, coders write policy, and algorithms shape our lives in more ways than we can imagine. The Death of the Gods is an exploration of power in the digital age, and a journey in search of the new centres of control. From a cyber-crime raid in British suburbia to the engine rooms of Silicon Valley, pioneering technology researcher Carl Miller traces how power is being transformed, fought over, lost and won. ‘A timely and incisive book that grapples with some of the most significant issues of our time.’ Wired'Uncovers the fascinating and often hidden characters that are changing the world. Essential reading.' Jamie Bartlett, author of The People vs Tech‘A magisterial guide to the impact of the digital revolution on our institutions and our lives.’ Anthony GiddensTrade ReviewA timely and incisive book that grapples with some of the most significant issues of our time. There will be countless volumes on "disruption" and "innovation" published this year, but Miller cuts through the noise and examines how the ascendancy of technology is fundamentally shifting economic models and the effect that this is having on society and individuals. -- Greg Williams * Wired *The best sort of tech book: extensive field work, accessible, and ultimately about people rather than computers. The Death of the Gods uncovers the fascinating and often hidden characters that are changing the world. Essential reading if you want to know why the old rules don’t apply any more – and what might come next. -- Jamie Bartlett, author of The People Versus TechThere are plenty of books on the market exploring the the insidious impact of technology platforms on democracies, but Carl’s is one of the most gripping. He takes you on a journey through Silicon Valley’s rise to power, during which you meet hackers, cybercriminals, fake news factory owners, activists and psyops agents. It’s thrilling and terrifying in equal measure. -- Olivia SolonA whirlwind ride through huge forces shaping and disrupting the world. Miller encounters new elites and grassroots movements, state actors and companies as big as countries, nerds and visionaries, bad men and some pretty amazing women. Prepare to be terrified, exhilarated and occasionally inspired. -- Catherine Mayer, author and co-founder of the Women's Equality PartyA highly readable and at times disturbing account of how in the digital age power over aspects of our everyday lives has shifted from long established to new and untried sources. Carl Miller deftly guides us through the darker recesses of the modern world to meet some of the new global demi-gods that now influence our lives in ways we need urgently to understand. -- Professor Sir David Omand, former Director of GCHQ

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom the perspective of art educators, museumeducation is shifting to a new paradigm, which thiscollection showcases and marks as thresholdmoments of change underway internationally. The goal in drawing together international perspectivesis to facilitate deeper thinking, making and doingpractices central to museum engagement acrossglobal, local and glocal contexts. Museums ascultural brokers facilitate public pedagogies, andthe dispositions and practices offered in 33chapters from 19 countries articulate how and whycollections enact responsibility in public exchange,leading cultural discourses of empowerment innew ways. Organized into five sections, a widerange of topics and arts-based modes of inquiryimagine new possibilities concerning theory-practice, sustainability of educational partnershipsand communities of practice with, in and throughartwork scholarship. Chapters diverse in issues,art forms and museum orientations are well-situated within museum studies, enlargingdiscussions

Read more less

Book SynopsisHighclere Castle, known as 'the real Downton Abbey' bustles with activity at the best of times, but it is never more alive than at Christmas.Christmas at Highclere is a look behind the scenes at the routines and rituals that make the castle the most magical place to be throughout the festive season. Lady Carnarvon will guide you through Advent, Christmas preparations and Christmas Eve all the way through to the day itself, and beyond. Learn how the castle and grounds are transformed by decorations, including the raising of a twenty-foot tree in the saloon, the gathering of holly and mistletoe from the grounds. All the intricacies of the perfect traditional Christmas are here: from crackers and carol singers. The festive feeling is carried through to Highclere's Boxing Day traditions, the restorative middle days and the New Year's Eve celebrations. This book also tells the story of historic Christmases at Highclere - of distinguished guests warming themselves by the fire after a long journeys home through the snow, unexpected knocks on the door, and, always, the joy of bringing family - and staff - together after a busy year.As well as telling the stories of Highclere Christmases past and present, Lady Carnarvon provides recipes, tips and inspiration from her kitchen so that readers can bring a quintessentially British festive spirit to their own home. Lady Carnarvon divulges the secret to perfectly flakey mince pies, the proper way to wrap presents so that you and your guests are guaranteed a Christmas to remember. Lavish, celebratory and utterly enchanting, Christmas at Highclere is celebration of one of the UK's most beloved historic houses and is the perfect gift for any Downton Abbey fan.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat does it mean to imagine Wales and ‘The Welsh’ as something both distinct and inclusive? In Welsh (Plural), some of the foremost Welsh writers consider the future of Wales and their place in it. For many people, Wales brings to mind the same old collection of images – if it’s not rugby, sheep and leeks, it’s the 3 Cs: castles, coal, and choirs. Heritage, mining and the church are indeed integral parts of Welsh culture. But what of the other stories that point us toward a Welsh future? In this anthology of essays, authors offer imaginative, radical perspectives on the future of Wales as they take us beyond the clichés and binaries that so often shape thinking about Wales and Welshness. Includes essays from Charlotte Williams (A Tolerant Nation?), Joe Dunthorne (Submarine, The Adulterants), Niall Griffiths (Sheepshagger, Broken Ghost), Rabab Ghazoul (Gentle / Radical Turner Prize Nominee), Mike Parker (On the Red Hill), Martin Johnes (Wales Since 1939, Wales: England’s Colony?), Kandace Siobhan Walker (2019 Guardian 4th Estate Prize Winner), Gary Raymond (Golden Orphans, Wales Arts Review, BBC Wales), Darren Chetty (The Good Immigrant), Andy Welch (The Guardian), Marvin Thompson (Winner 2021 UK Poetry Prize), Durre Shahwar (Where I’m Coming From), Hanan Issa (My Body Can House Two Hearts), Dan Evans (Desolation Radio), Shaheen Sutton, Morgan Owen, Iestyn Tyne, Grug Muse and Cerys Hafana.Trade Review"A smart and timely exploration of Welshness and the role of identity in shaping our politics and potential for solidarity.""Nourishing and enlightening.""Full of insight and perspectives we can all learn from. This is an essential collection in understanding the rich diversity of Welsh identities, plural.""Fascinating, thought provoking, poignant and powerful. A vital collection of essays exploring Welshness through a diverse and brilliant authorship. An absolute must read.""A fresh picture of what it means to be Welsh today. These essays ask the hard questions with thoughtfulness, urgency and endless wit. A detailed, entertaining exploration of identity.”“Everyone with a stake in Wales’ future should read this collection of essays. Insightful, poetic, angry, informative – such a rich tapestry of voices. A wonderful book.”“From its title onwards, Welsh (Plural) sets out to challenge outdated ideas of Welsh history, culture and identity and succeeds in its aim, its eclectic range of writers illuminating the tapestry of contemporary Wales.”"Taking on the mantle of cultural analysis from Raymond Williams, the book features a wide range of some of the most talented writers from Wales. Diverse and thought-provoking – and at times very funny – this is a book to treasure and share for generations to come.”“A vessel for a generously abundant, gentle-spirited yet often insurrectionist plurality, whose welcome lack of inhibition combines with intellectual rigour from many of Wales’ most ground-breaking thinkers.”“Entertaining, erudite, political, these essays will be a joy to anyone with an interest in our nation.”

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book provides students with an accessible–yet critically oriented–introduction to the foundational methods and themes in Global Christianity scholarship over the past 40 years. While the field of Global Christianity is itself interdisciplinary, it largely has not reflected upon the various disciplines of which it is comprised. In addressing different methods that have constituted this field of scholarship, Jason Bruner draws students’ attention to the ways in which these elements have worked together, and what the implications for their use have been in the past and might be in the future. In addition to identifying themes within the discourse, this book offers a survey of where the field has been, what its analytical priorities are, and how future scholars might develop new research projects and trajectories in light of the its history.Table of Contents1. IntroductionPart I Methods2. History3. Ethnography4. Theology5. DemographyPart II Themes6. Agency7. Mission8. Conversion9. Gender and Sexuality10. Translation11. Migration12. Decolonization13. Neglected Topics in the Study of Global Christianity14. The Futures of Christianity

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisStep aside Hygge. Lagom is the new Scandi lifestyle trend taking the world by storm. This delightfully illustrated book gives you the lowdown on this transformative approach to life and examines how the lagom ethos has helped boost Sweden to the No.10 ranking in 2017's World Happiness Report. Lagom (pronounced 'lah-gom') has no equivalent in the English language but is loosely translated as 'not too little, not too much, just right'. It is widely believed that the word comes from the Viking term 'laget om', for when a mug of mead was passed around a circle and there was just enough for everyone to get a sip. But while the anecdote may hit the nail on the head, the true etymology of the word points to an old form of the word 'lag', which means 'law'.Far from restrictive, lagom is a liberating concept, praising the idea that anything more than 'just enough' is a waste of time. Crucially it also comes with a selflessness and core belief of responsibility and common good. By living lagom you can: Live a happier and more balanced life Reduce your environmental impact Improve your work-life balance Free your home from clutter Enjoy good food the Swedish way Grow your own and learn to forage Cherish the relationships with those you love

Read more less

Book Synopsis''Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure.''In The Theory of the Leisure Class Thorstein Veblen sets out ''to discuss the place and value of the leisure class as an economic factor in modern life''. In so doing he produced a landmark study of affluent American society that exposes, with brilliant ruthlessness, the habits of production and waste that link invidious business tactics and barbaric social behaviour. Veblen''s analysis of the evolutionary process sees greed as the overriding motive in the modern economy; with an impartial gaze he examines the human cost paid when social institutions exploit the consumption of unessential goods for the sake of personal profit. Fashion, beauty, animals, sports, the home, the clergy, scholars - all are assessed for their true usefulness and found wanting. The targets of Veblen''s coruscating satire are as evident today as they were a century ago, and his book still has the power to shock Table of ContentsIntroductory ; Pecuniary Emulation ; Conspicuous Leisure ; Conspicuous Consumption ; The Pecuniary Standard of Living ; Pecuniary Canons of Taste ; Dress as an Expression of the Pecuniary Culture ; Industrial Exemption and Conservatism ; The Conservation of Archaic Traits ; Modern Survivals of Prowess ; The Belief in Luck ; Devout Observances ; Survivals of the Non-Invidious Interest ; The Higher Learning as an Expression of the Pecuniary Culture

Read more less

Book Synopsis''a brilliant history'' The Sunday Times ''makes for riveting reading'' The IndependentModern pagan witchcraft is arguably the only fully-formed religion England has given the world, and has now spread across four continents.This second edition of The Triumph of the Moon extensively revises the first full-scale scholarly study of modern pagan witchcraft. Ronald Hutton examines the nature and development of this religion, and offers a history of attitudes to witchcraft, paganism and magic in British society since 1800. Its pages reveal village cunning folk, Victorian ritual magicians, classicists and archaeologists, leaders of woodcraft and scouting movements, Freemasons, and members of rural secret societies. We also find some of the leading figures of English literature, from the Romantic poets to W. B. Yeats, D. H. Lawrence and Robert Graves, as well as the main personalities who have represented pagan witchcraft to the public world since 1950. Thriller writers like Dennis Wheatley, and films and television programmes, get similar coverage, as does tabloid journalism. The material is by its nature often sensational, and care is taken throughout to distinguish fact from fantasy, in a manner not previously applied to most of the stories involved. Meticulously researched, The Triumph of the Moon presents an authoritative insight into an aspect of modern cultural history which has attracted sensational publicity but has hitherto been little understood. This edition incorporates new research carried out by the author as well as research by others who have been inspired by this book over the twenty years since its first publication.Trade ReviewHutton's book is a must-read not only for anyone interested in modern Paganism, or the occult, but it also embodies a deep insight into the development of British society and culture. * Pavel Horák, Czech Academy of Sciences, Religious Studies Review *It is to the credit of Ronald Hutton that he has documented its history so clearly and recognises its spiritual value to so many people. * Paula Dempsey, Fortean Times *Review from previous edition this work ... makes for excellent reading. Hutton's extensive scholarship allows him to make and clarify connections between people and movements in recent centuries. * Northern Earth, No.83 *spirited, amusing and immensely informative ... Hutton's exceptional work is by far the most scholarly, comprehensive and judicious analysis of the subject yet published. It will remain the standard for many years to come. * Publishers Weekly *A remarkable book ... passionate yet written with calm and clarity ... a passionate, important and consistently fascinating book. * Journal of Ecclesiastical History *The Triumph of the Moon, which is densely argued and heavily annotated, leaves little doubt that the history which modern occultism has constructed for itself is bunk ... It all makes for riveting reading and, despite Hutton's demolition of the supposed lineage of witchcraft, I am tempted after reading his book to become a witch myself. * Robert Irwin, The Independent *Hutton's book is excellent ... Hutton uses his historical skills to tease apart some of the themes in this popular rural romanticism, and to locate their purely modern origin. * T. M. Luhrmann, Times Literary Supplement *Hutton's professional expertise shows paganism in a new light * Katrina Dixon, The Scotsman *An excellent study of the only religion England gave the world: pagan witchcraft. Scholarly and incisive, writing with verve and passion, Hutton exposes the Victorian fascination with the pagan ... Hutton writes a brilliant history of a faith that draws on ancient texts yet speaks to present concerns. * Kevin Sharpe, The Sunday Times *Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements Macrocosm 1: Finding a Language 2: Finding a Goddess 3: Finding a God 4: Finding a Structure 5: Finding a High Magic 6: Finding a Low Magic 7: Finding a Folklore 8: Finding a Witchcraft 9: Matrix 10: God (and Goddess) Parents Microcosm 11: Gerald Gardner 12: Gerald's People 13: The Wider Context: Hostility 14: The Wider Context: Reinforcement 15: Old Craft, New Craft 16: The Man in Black 17: Royalty from the North 18: Uncle Sam and the Goddess 19: Coming of Age 20: Grandchildren of the Shadows Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIf you want to know what anthropology is, look at what anthropologists do. This Very Short Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology combines an accessible account of some of the disciplines guiding principles and methodology with abundant examples and illustrations of anthropologists at work. Peter Just and John Monaghan begin by discussing anthropologys most important contributions to modern thought: its investigation of culture as a distinctively human characteristic, its doctrine of cultural relativism, and its methodology of fieldwork and ethnography. They then examine specific ways in which social and cultural anthropology have advanced our understanding of human society and culture, drawing on examples from their own fieldwork. The book ends with an assessment of anthropologys present position, and a look forward to its likely future. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Table of Contents1. FIELDWORK AND ETHNOGRAPHY; 2. CULTURE; 3. SOCIETY; 4. SEX AND BLOOD; 5. CLASS AND CASTE, VILLAGE AND CITY, HOME AND THE WORLD; 6. LANGUAGE AND SOCIAL LIFE; 7. THE CULTURALLY CONSTRUCTED SELF 8. THE FUTURE OF ANTHROPOLOGY; FURTHER READING; INDEX

Read more less

Book SynopsisFilled with terrifying tales of ghosts and ghouls, poltergeists and other unexplained encounters, this bone-chilling compendium of paranormal phenomena is sure to haunt you long after you have turned the final pageDid you hear about the ghost who solved her own murder? What about the terrifying case of the Battersea poltergeist? Do you know the story of the killer ghost of Kentucky?Prepare for your blood to run cold and for your heart to beat a little faster, because the disturbing tales lurking within are not for the faint-hearted. Delve into this collection to discover infamous accounts of the eerie and the unexplained - as well as lesser-known strange, contemporary happenings from across the globe - and connect to the rich tradition of paranormal stories that have captivated humankind throughout the ages.But beware: after sampling these sinister histories, you might be too scared to close your eyes - no matter how much your body craves sleep.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTHE ENDURING MYTH THAT MAKES US HUMANWhat makes a hero? Who better to answer that question than Lee ChildIt's Lee Child.Why would younotread it?' Karin SlaughterI don''t know another author soskilledat making me turn the page' The TimesIn his first work of nonfiction, the creator of the multimillion-selling Jack Reacher series explores the endurance of heroes from Achilles to Bond, showing us how this age-old myth is a fundamental part of what makes us human. He demonstrates how hero stories continue to shape our world arguing that we need them now more than ever.From the Stone Age to the Greek Tragedies, from Shakespeare to Robin Hood, we have always had our heroes. The hero is at the centre of formative myths in every culture and persists to this day in world-conquering books, films and TV shows. But why do these characters continue to inspire us, and why are they so central to storytelling?Scalpel-sharp on the roots of storytelling and enlightening on the history and science of mytTrade Review‘It’s Lee Child. Why would you not read it?’ Karin Slaughter ‘I don't know another author so skilled at making me turn the page’ The Times ‘It's said that a Jack Reacher novel is bought every four seconds somewhere in the world. He is to crime fiction what Clint Eastwood's 'man with no name' was to the western. Lee Child's genius has been to create a tough guy hero that men will envy and women will adore’ Daily Express

Read more less

Book SynopsisMartin Amis was one of the pre-eminent novelist-critics of his generation. This remarkable collection of essays and reviews spans over three decades of his literary career.The War Against Cliché is a selection of his reviews and essays. It contains pieces on Cervantes, Milton, Donne, Coleridge, Jane Austen, Dickens, Kafka, Philip Larkin, Joyce, Waugh, Lowry, Nabokov, F. R. Leavis, V. S. Pritchett, William Burroughs, Anthony Burgess, Angus Wilson, Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, Shiva and V. S. Naipaul, Kurt Vonnegut, Iris Murdoch, Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal, Don DeLillo, Elmore Leonard, Michael Crichton, Thomas Harris and John Updike.Other subjects include chess, nuclear weapons, masculinity, screen censorship, juvenile violence, Andy Warhol, Hillary Clinton, and Margaret Thatcher.A tour de force in which every paragraph uncoils with vertiginous twists and turns, lightning metaphors, genuine learning, unstoppable laughter, and a passionate sense of literary pleasure' IndependentTrade ReviewA tour de force in which every paragraph uncoils with vertiginous twists and turns, lightning metaphors, genuine learning, unstoppable laughter, and a passionate sense of literary pleasure * Independent *Amis's gifts - vigilance, wit, energy of language... A collection that reaffirms him as the suavest and funniest critic of his generation * Mail on Sunday *We have here a literary critic of startling power... Often being right and being funny are, in this book, aspects of the same sentence... Amis is the best practitioner-critic of our day - just what Pritchett was in his prime... * London Review of Books *[Written] with intelligence and ardor and panache... Speaks not just to a lifetime of reading but also to a fascination with individual writers mature * New York Times *Brilliant prose... [Amis] proselytizes for talent by demonstrating it, by doing it... He is a master * New York Times Book Review *

Read more less

Book SynopsisReality Hunger questions every assumption we ever made about art, the novel, journalism, poetry, film, TV, rap, stand-up, graffiti, sampling, plagiarism, writing, and reading. In seeking to tear up the old culture in search of something new and more authentic, it is the most vital book of the new century.Trade ReviewHighly persuasive. I can't stop recommending it * The Times *The most provocative, brain-rewiring book of 2010. It's a book that feels at least five years ahead of its time and teaches you how to read it as you go * GQ *Bold, entertaining, contentious. Essential reading for readers and writers * Guardian *Weird, exciting, incendiary * Dazed and Confused *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIncluding works from Welsh, Irish and Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Breton and Manx, this Celtic Miscellany offers a rich blend of poetry and prose from the eighth to the nineteenth century, and provides a unique insight into the minds and literature of the Celtic people. It is a literature dominated by a deep sense of wonder, wild inventiveness and a profound sense of the uncanny, in which the natural world and the power of the individual spirit are celebrated with astonishing imaginative force. Skifully arranged by theme, from the hero-tales of Cú Chulainn, Bardic poetry and elegies, to the sensitive and intimate writings of early Celtic Christianity, this anthology provides a fascinating insight into a deeply creative literary tradition.Kenneth Hurlstone Jackson was born in 1909. He began his career as a lecturer in Celtic at Cambridge, before becoming the first chair of the Department of Celtic Language and Literature at Harvard. He undertook war service with the Uncommon Languages section of British censorship and subsequently held professorships at Harvard and Edinburgh. Professor Jackson died in 1991.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThoughts and feelings about home traditionally provided people of all cultures with a firm sense of where they belonged, and why. But with the world rapidly changing, many of our basic notions are becoming problematic. Both internationally and within countries, populations are constantly on the move, seeking better opportunities and living conditions, or an escape from violence and war. In spite of, or perhaps even because of these trends, ideas about home continue to shape the way people everywhere frame an understanding of their lives. In this Very Short Introduction Michael Allen Fox considers the complex meaning of home and the essential importance of place to human psychology. Drawing on a wide array of international examples he discusses what dwelling is and the variety of dwellings. Fox also looks at the politics of the concept of ''home'', homelessness, refugeeism and migration, and the future of home, and argues that home remains a central organizing concept in human life.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Table of ContentsREFERENCES; FURTHER READING; INDEX

Read more less

Book Synopsis''Essential reading ... An incisive and urgently needed book'' Tim Harford''[An] entertaining introduction to the uses (and misuses) of data ... a penetrating analysis of why statistical literacy matters to our politics and our daily lives'' Professor Jonathan Portes Our politicians make vital decisions and declarations every day that rely on official data. But should all statistics be trusted?In BAD DATA, House of Commons Library statistician Georgina Sturge draws back the curtain on how governments of the past and present have been led astray by figures littered with inconsistency, guesswork and uncertainty.Discover how a Hungarian businessman''s bright idea caused half a million people to go missing from UK migration statistics. Find out why it''s possible for two politicians to disagree over whether poverty has gone up or down, using the same official numbers, and for both to be right at the same time. And hear about how pTrade ReviewEssential reading for anyone who's ever wondered where all those numbers come from. Even more essential reading for anyone who hasn't. An incisive and urgently needed book -- Tim Harford, bestselling author of HOW TO MAKE THE WORLD ADD UP and presenter of BBC Radio 4's More or LessA tour de force ... To study BAD DATA is to discover the extreme limits to official knowledge -- Xand van Tulleken * TLS *Sturge is very effective at explaining, with human examples, how bad data affects lives. Readers of Hannah Fry's HELLO WORLD or Caroline Criado Perez's INVISIBLE WOMEN will be familiar with the notion that biased humans create biased artificial intelligence programmes. Here, we see their direct effects. ... [BAD DATA] is so good at inspiring curiosity and the inclination to challenge -- Katy Guest * Guardian *A whistle-stop tour of all the ways the data that forms the basis of policymaking can fall short -- Rachel Cunliffe * New Statesman *[An] excellent book ... there's something here for everyone who wants to better understand the limits of our knowledge about the country ... informative and at times amusing -- Simon Briscoe * TLS *Bracing ... the story of how often things go wrong in the political use of statistics -- John Lanchester * London Review of Books *This informative, reasoned, and apolitical book offers a string of examples to show that statistics are not always what they seem -- Christopher Snowdon * Quillette *The plural of anecdote is not data. But Georgina Sturge's entertaining introduction to the uses (and misuses) of data in public policy and debate combines numerous stories, some amusing, some disturbing, with a penetrating analysis of why statistical literacy matters to our politics and our daily lives -- Jonathan Portes, Professor of Economics and Public Policy

Read more less

Book SynopsisA classic resource on feminist theory, this updated sixth edition of Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive Introduction offers a clear, comprehensive, and incisive introduction to the major traditions of feminist theory.This new edition explores in detail the wide spectrum of feminist thought, from liberal feminism, radical feminism, Marxist and socialist feminisms, women-of-color feminisms, global, postcolonial, and transnational feminisms, to psychoanalytic feminism, care-focused and maternal-focused feminisms, to ecofeminism, existentialist, poststructural, and postmodern feminisms. The book also includes an expanded discussion of third-wave, fourth-wave, and fifth-wave feminisms, plus much new material on intersectionality, LGBTQ+ issues, gender identities, sexual orientations, and queer theory.Learning tools like end-of-chapter discussion questions and an enhanced, up-to-date bibliography make Feminist Thought an essential resource for students and thinkers who want to understand the theoretical origins and complexities of contemporary feminist debates.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume includes previously unpublished essays by Robert Smithson and gathers articles, interviews and photographs as well as a catalogue of the books in Smithson's library. Together they provide a picture of his wide-ranging views on art and culture.Trade Review"The perfect book for someone who is interested in space, time, systems, engineering, and the nitty-gritty of life as an artist in the 20th century." * Publishers Weekly *“Featuring more than 150 works including paintings, works on paper, essays, photographs, objects and films” * CAA Reviews *“Smithson’s writings transcend immediate occasions and achieve significance as the products of an original, gifted, startling mind.” * Art Journal *“Smithson read widely and used that reading to create a style of criticism that is unique and deeply personal. ‘One must remember,’ he says, ‘that writing on art replaces presence by absence by substituting the abstraction of language for the real thing.’ His own vivid and very beautiful prose often provides some equivalent for that presence.” * Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism *

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn overview of the provision, or lack thereof, for girls' education from before the Norman Conquest to the twentieth century.Table of Contents1. Introduction 2. Before the Norman Conquest 3. Medieval England 4. Tudor England 5. The Early Stuarts and the Commonwealth 6. The Restoration 7. More Advice to the Girls 8. The Charity Schools 9. The Decline of the Charity School Movement 10. Precept and Practice 11. More Eighteenth-Century Boarding Schools 12. Women Learned and Romantic 13. Into the Nineteenth Century 14. The Nineteenth Century 15. Miss Buss and Miss Beale 16. Education for All 17. And Now? Books Consulted Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisObject Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. The ocean comprises the largest object on our planet. Retelling human history from an oceanic rather than terrestrial point of view unsettles our relationship with the natural environment. Our engagement with the world''s oceans can be destructive, as with today's deluge of plastic trash and acidification, but the mismatch between small bodies and vast seas also emphasizes the frailty and resilience of human experience. From ancient stories of shipwrecked sailors to the containerized future of 21st-century commerce, Ocean splashes the histories we thought we knew into salty and unfamiliar places.Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.Trade ReviewSteve Mentz’s Ocean is both a lyrical and scholarly ode to the sea, encrusting and fluid. * The Millions *Oceans are big things, so Steve Mentz has made a concise book of them. From sailors as cyborgs to Queequeg as a mermaid, from Conrad's mirrored sea to Emily Dickinson's marine visions, Mentz swims like Coleridge's library cormorant, collecting glittering things. The result is a wild and wonderful work; part essay, part reverie, wholly full of watery brilliance. * Philip Hoare, author of RISINGTIDEFALLINGSTAR (2018) *Ocean: a tiny word, but an expansive ecology made fathomable by Mentz's exploration of the human attraction to and fear of the world's oceans as illuminated through poetry, history, and literature. A wondrous read. * Lynne Cox, author of Swimming to Antartica: Tales of a Long-distance Swimmer (2004), Grayson (2006), and Swimming in the Sink: A Memoir (2016) *Mentz takes us on an invigorating 'adventure in thinking,' across vast temporalities and aquatic expanses, rich with strange confluences, and haunted by the terrors of 'wet globalization.' Against the impossibility of understanding the ocean, he casts an inventive blue humanities that lures us with its histories, poetry, theories, queer couplings, exultations, and immersive practices. * Stacy Alaimo, author of Exposed: Environmental Politics and Pleasures in Posthuman Times (2016) *Table of ContentsDeterratorializing Preface 1. Two Origins: Alien or Core? 2. Seafood before History 3. Myth I: Odysseus, not Achilles 4. Wet Globalization I: The Premodern Anthropocene 5. Sea Poetry I: Adamastor as Warning and Gate 6. Sailors: A Technological History 7. Interlude: Port of New York 8. Sea Poetry II: The Sea in Emily Dickinson 9. Myth II: Queequeg and Other Mermaids 10. Wet Globalization II: Containers 11. Blue Environmentalism: Rachel Carson 12. Swimmers: Immersive Histories Acknowledgments Reading the Blue Humanities: A Bibliographical Essay Index

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWoman as comestible. Woman as kingmaker. Woman as oblivion. Why is our culture governed by the principle of separation? Beginning with a devastating exploration of the 1960s, understood up until now as the era of female liberation, free love and the tribal sharing of drugs, Antonella Gambotto-Burke deconstructs the past two centuries and shows how we are, in fact, moving towards the age of the Nietzschean übermensch, in which femininity will, if we do not change, be erased. She skilfully draws together diverse threads, from the shockingly personal to the broadest societal trends and cutting-edge scientific research, to construct a brilliant and startling thesis that medicinal and recreational drugs have rewired our bodies and brains to an near-incomprehensible extent. Anxiety, artificial wombs, brutality, the class system, depression, dieting, racism and other issues – including the first plausible theory for rubber fetishism and other ‘kinks’ such as choking or breathplay – are explained within the context of the dominant cultural paradigm. A devastating uppercut to a patriarchal ideology that has marred billions of lives, Apple: Sex, Drugs, Motherhood and the Recovery of the Feminine completely revises our understanding of addiction, art, drug use, homosexuality, murder, pornography, sex, war, and, critically, the significance of birth, infancy and motherhood in relation to human existence. You will never see anything the same way again.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is the first comparative study of the distinctive literatures and cultures that have developed in Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland since political devolution in the late 1990s, especially surrounding Brexit. The book argues that in conceptualising their cultures as ‘national’, each nation is caught up in a creative tension between emulating forms of cultural production found in the others to assert common aspirations, and downplaying those connections in order to forge a sense of cultural distinctiveness. The author explores the resulting dilemmas, with chapters analysing the growth of the creative industries; the relationship between UK City of Culture and its forerunner, the European Capital of Culture; national book prizes in Britain and Europe; British variations on Nordic Noir TV; and the Brexit novel. With regard to separate cultural precursors and responses in each nation, Brexit itself is debated as a factor that has widened their differences, placing the future of the UK in question.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Introduction: Compatriots or Competitors? Chapter 1: From Counter Culture to Creative Industries Chapter 2: The Cultural Capital of Capitals of Culture Chapter 3: Imaging Northern Europe: British Varieties of Nordic Noir Chapter 4: Aspiration by Proxy: National Book Awards in International Markets Chapter 5: Brexit and Beyond Afterword: Brexit and Coronavirus References

Read more less

Book SynopsisPhilosophy, art, literature, music, and politics were all transformed in the turbulent period between the French Revolution of 1789 and the Communist Manifesto of 1848.This was the age of the 'Romantic revolution', when modern attitudes to political and artistic freedom were born. When we think of Romanticism, flamboyant figures such as Byron or Shelley instantly spring to mind, but what about Napoleon or Hegel, Turner or Blake, Wagner or Marx?How was it that Romanticism could give birth to passionate individualism and chauvinistic nationalism at the same time? How did it prefigure the totalitarian movements of the 20th century? Duncan Heath and Judy Boreham answer these questions and provide a unique overview of the many interlocking strands of Romanticism, focusing on the leading figures in Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Russia and America.

Read more less

Book SynopsisPhotography and Literature in the Twentieth-Century offers an accessible and fresh approach to an object of interdisciplinary research that is currently receiving increased international attention. Providing a broad historical schema, and examining pivotal moments within it, the collection brings together a range of writers and practitioners who help to guide the reader through a historical cross-section of current work in this area. Unlike most existing studies, this volume considers both key literary figures, from Proust to Sebald, and photographic practitioners, from Heartfield to Sekula, in order to give a commanding overview of its subject that is both well-informed and often ground-breaking. With original and accessible essays by acknowledged experts in the field, this is a book that should be of interest not only to students and teachers in departments of literature and photography, but also to those in cultural studies and art history, as well as photographic artists.Trade Review"Although in the 20th century the relation between literature and photography was arguably as significant as literature’s relation to painting in the 19th century, over the past generation the discussion of photography’s multiple intersections and interactions with writing and writers have tended to narrow to a few overly canonised works. This volume reverses this situation through the diversity and originality of the essays it gathers together: it has the potential to reawaken a field that for too long has been allowed to remain dormant." - Norman Bryson, Professor of Art History, Theory and Criticism, University of California, San Diego, and author of Looking at the Overlooked."From Proust to Sebald, photography has occupied a significant place in literature, and visa versa. This book makes an important contribution to engaging with the relationship between the photograph and the text." - Steve Edwards, Open University, and author of The Making of English Photography."Discussion of literature and photography still tends to languish in the realms of image and text, rather than in the literary strategizing of photographers, or in the recurrent placing of the effects of the photographic act in twentieth-century fiction. Photography and Literature in the Twentieth Century remedies this. One of the most significant outcomes of the conjunction it generates is the realisation of how much the two are interrelated in the formation of modernism and after. The collection brings together work by some of the best emerging scholars and artists in the field. I highly recommend it." - John Roberts, University of Wolverhampton, and author of The Art of Interruption: Realism, Photography and the Everyday.

Read more less

Book SynopsisSasha Sagan's parents - the astronomer Carl Sagan and the writer and producer, Ann Druyan - taught her that the natural world and vast cosmos are full of profound beauty, and that science reveals truths more wondrous than any myth or fable. When Sagan herself became a mother, she began her own hunt for the phenomena behind our most treasured occasions - from births to deaths, holidays to weddings, anniversaries, and more - growing these roots into a new set of rituals for her young daughter to honour the joy and significance of each experience without relying on a religious framework. Part memoir, part handbook and part social history, For Small Creatures Such as We is a luminous exploration of all of Earth's marvels that requires no faith in order to be believed.Trade Review'A lucent, lovingly written, and joyous book.' - Jonathan Cott, author of There's A Mystery There'A warm, elegant hymn to finding the spiritual in the secular and the romance in everyday ritual. Sasha Sagan writes beautifully on the power of deep-rooted historical traditions, and the pleasure of inventing our own.' - Greg Jenner, author of A Million Years in a Day'Sasha Sagan has written a lovely book about the sense of wonder and the beauty of rituals-even for the non-religious. It's an answer to my secular prayers.' - A. J. Jacobs, author of Thanks A Thousand 'Sagan has written the book I've always needed to make sense of this world. She makes that spiritual muscle so deeply hidden in my guts feel perfectly at home in the universe. She is that wise friend, in-cahoots with the muse of perspective, that changes your life as she describes the world she sees. I want everyone to read this book. But first, stare at the starry night sky. And when your chest expands with wonder and humility, sit down and read.' - Jedidiah Jenkins, author of To Shake the Sleeping Self

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book examines how Western photographic practice has been used as a tool for creating Eurocentric and violent visual regimes, and demands that we recognise and disrupt the ingrained racist ideologies that have tainted photography since its inception in 1839. Decolonising the Camera trains Mark Sealy’s sharp critical eye on the racial politics at work within photography, in the context of heated discussions around race and representation, the legacies of colonialism, and the importance of decolonising the university. Sealy analyses a series of images within and against the violent political reality of Western imperialism, and aims to extract new meanings and develop new ways of seeing that bring the Other into focus. The book demonstrates that if we do not recognise the historical and political conjunctures of racial politics at work within photography, and their effects on those that have been culturally erased, made invisible or less than human by such images, then we remain hemmed within established orthodoxies of colonial thought concerning the racialised body, the subaltern and the politics of human recognition. With detailed analyses of photographs – included in an insert – by Alice Seeley Harris, Joy Gregory, Rotimi Fani-Kayode and others, and spanning more than 100 years of photographic history, Decolonising the Camera contains vital visual and written material for readers interested in photography, race, human rights and the effects of colonial violence.Table of Contents1. The Congo Atrocities, A Lecture to Accompany a Series of Sixty Photographic Slides for the Optical Lantern 2. Race, Denial and Imaging Atrocity 3. Violence of the Image 4. Decolonial Frames 5. Wayne Miller – 'Black Metropolis' 6. Rights and Recognition Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis Recent years have witnessed a rapid increase in the fields of cultural heritage studies and community archaeology worldwide with expanding discussions about the mechanisms and consequences of community participation. This trend has brought to the forefront debates about who owns the past, who has knowledge, and how heritage values can be shared more effectively with communities who then ascribe meaning and value to heritage materials. Globalization forces have created a need for contextualizing knowledge to address complex issues and collaboration across and beyond academic disciplines, using more integrated methodologies that include the participation of non-academics and increased stakeholder involvement. Successful programs provide power sharing mechanisms and motivation that effect more active involvement by lay persons in archaeological fieldwork as well as interpretation and information dissemination processes. With the contents of this volume, we envision community archaeology to go beyond descriptions of outreach and public engagement to more critical and reflexive actions and thinking. The volume is presented in the context of the evolution of cultural heritage studies from the 20th century “expert approach” to the 21st century “people-centered approach,” with public participation and community involvement at all phases of the decision-making process. The volume contains contributions of 28 chapters and 59 authors, covering an extensive geographical range, including Africa, South America, Central America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, and Australasia. Chapters provide exemplary cases in a growing lexicon of public archaeology where power is shared within frameworks of voluntary activism in a wide diversity of cooperative settings and stakeholder interactions.Trade Review“The next dimension is to develop heightened clarity on the goals of community/public archaeology, the metrics by which successful impacts will be measured, and the techniques that can be used to measure them. The next dimension will take us beyond archaeology as it was to archaeology as it must become. For that, the essential contribution from Jameson and Musteaţă’s book is that it delivers a capstone to past publications and in so doing, begins to make the next dimension conceivable.” (Peter G. Gould, American Antiquity, Vol. 85 (3), 2020)“The papers in the volume highlight that public involvement has a two-way benefit and that increased stakeholder involvement, and power-sharing mechanisms that encourage greater participation by lay people, benefit archaeology and heritage practice in multiple ways.” (Antiquity, Vol. 94, 2020)Table of ContentsPART 1. Public Archaeology at the Intersections of Heritage and Community.- 1. Creating Opportunities and Managing Expectations: Evaluating Community Archaeology in Ireland.- 2. A tale of the unexpected: a heritage encounter with a new target audience and the sociocultural effects experienced by this community of participants.- 3. Community archaeology in Eastern Europe, An example from the Republic of Moldova.- 4. Heritage and Public Archaeology in South-western Nigeria .- 5. Barriers to community archaeology: reviewing the legal heritage frameworks within the South African context.- 6. Community archaeology can be 'a piece of cake': Key ingredients for community-based approaches.- 7. Ancient Maya House and Forest Garden: Shared Connections.- 8. Heritages in Conflict: Interpreting Controversial History with Community Engagement.- 9. Increasing Heritage Awareness through Community Participation: African-Brazilian community participation in a diversity context.- PART 2. Catalysts for Inclusive Heritage at Cultural Landscapes and Parks.- 10. Shipwrecks and Sport Divers: Florida's Programs in Participatory Preservation Underwater.- 11. Time Traveling in Delaware State Parks: Some Strategies for a Public Participatory Program.- 12. From Performance to Participation: Fostering a sense of shared heritage through archaeology at the Presidio of San Francisco.- 13. Popular Memories and Imagined Futures at the President's House Site: A case study juxtaposing public policy and 'the public' in the determination of archaeological site significance.- 14. Archaeological Commitment to Participation from the Local to the International: Discovering the El Pilar Community.- 15. The Value of Biodiversity Conservation in the Process of Making a Historic Park.- 16. Folklore as landscape biography in the interpretation of cultural landscapes: Great Zimbabwe and North York Moors National Park (England).- 17. Promoting Descendant Communities in Urban Community Archaeology: A study of Canberra, Australia.- 18. Working with communities and World Heritage places: Local, professional and educational communities and the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority.- 19. Reclaiming Rock Art: Descendant Community Investment in Australian and New Zealand Patrimony.- 20. From Forgotten to National Monument: Community Archaeology at a World War II internment camp in Hawai‘i.- PART 3. Catalysts for Inclusive Heritage with New Knowledge Creation and Innovation.- 21. Bring it on! Increasing heritage participation through engagement opportunities at unconventional places.- 22. Citizen scientists and open source data: developing a platform for archaeological material in Finland.- 23. Community Archaeology and Engagement at Trellech, Wales.- 24. Documenting and Memorializing Built Heritage through Urban Exploration in Detroit, Michigan.- 25. Like Ripples across a Pond: Catalyzing Heritage Programs through Radical Openness.- 26. Activism from the Archives: changing narratives to engage new communities.- 27. Reaching out: The participatory culture model and current approaches to the creation new archaeological knowledge with local communities.- 28. Computational Mathematics, Convergence Culture, and the Creation of Archaeological Knowledge and Understanding

Read more less

Book SynopsisTo date, there has been no comprehensive and coherent approach to determining the communicative and precommunicative processes involved in the construction of group identities. The present study fills this gap by developing a unified theoretical foundation that can be used to capture empirical construction processes. Moreover, it contributes to the domain of group communication research. It creates a basic theoretical riverbed that provides a conceptual foundation for the conception of inter- and intra-group communication, which does not take its starting point from 'objective' categories, but from de facto socialization processes. In addition, the architecture of an innovative social theory is presented using the example of the construction of group identity, which satisfies the demands of epistemological interests in communication studies and possibly also in other disciplines.Table of ContentsCommunication and observation.- Group and identity.- Environments of identity construction.- Construction processes.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA study and a guidance device, the first book on the Royal Book Lodge (RBL) is the culmination of a three-year exploration by renowned art historian John C. Welchman. It examines the contribution of the RBL to an array of art, film and performance practices including photography, ceramics, writing, and publishing—centered on the creation of artist books and the powerful and wide-ranging dialogue and material experimentations they engender. The volume unfolds from various cultural and political geographies, including in the Parisian suburb of Montreuil which served as an HQ, beginning in 1989; and narratives of migrations and travels, art-inflected or otherwise, in Iceland, Paraguay, Eastern Europe, Los Angeles and on the Ligurian coast of Italy. It unpacks questions caught up in constructs of autobiography, fiction, ideas and images of remote control, and the relation of RBL to the aftermath of the Situationist International, concluding with the RBL’s socially urgent inquiry into experiences—and culturally pharmacological contestations—of violence. Royal Book Lodge The Royal Book Lodge emerged from a collaboration between artists Juli Susin and Veronique Bourgoin in mid-1980's expanding its Collection and Archive and other activities after the turn of the millennium with the assistance of Yasha Gofman. For more than three decades RBL’s projects have been sparked by a porous but a distractedly nimble network of artists from France, Germany, Russia, Iceland, Paraguay, and other locations, working with painting, sculpture, photography, film, installations, ceramics, writing, publishing, and curating. RBL affiliates include: Raisa Aid, Kai Althoff, Abel Auer, Linda Bilda, André Butzer, matali crasset, Les Schlag (Grems, Tex, Virassamy), Gudny Guðmundsdóttir, Beate Günther, Tobias Hauser, Andy Hope 1930, Hekla Dögg Jónsdóttir, Dorota Jurczak, Bruce Kalberg, Armin Krämer, Alexandre Kalinkine, Lutz Krüger, Charlet Kugel, Jean-Louis Leibovitch, Anne Lefebvre, Jochen Lempert, Jonathan Meese, Birgit Mergele, Anna Parkina, Raymond Pettibon, Jason Rhoades, Lucia Sotnikova, Julia Rublow, Ralph Rumney, Gianfranco Sanguinetti.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis‘A timely book and a conversation starter on race in Britain.’ Rachel Edwards, Author of Darling and Lucky‘A timely book in a year that has made clear that Britain still has a very long way to go towards becoming the model of racial equality it aims to be.’ Kenya Hunt ‘Powerful and sometimes painful testimonies but they also provide uplifting and enriching experiences.’ Stephen Bourne‘I''m so proud to hold this book in my hand. We are here in all our richness.’ Adjoa Andoh, Actor, Director‘This book is such a moving read for everyone of all ages and races.’ Colin Jackson, CBE‘A reinforcement of evocative truths that hurt and sting deeply but also empower tremendously.’ Sharon Duncan-Brewster The whole world is watching.<Trade Review'A reinforcement of evocative truths that hurt and sting deeply but also empower tremendously.' Sharon Duncan-Brewster * Sharon Duncan-Brewster *'A timely book and a conversation starter on race in Britain.' Rachel Edwards, Author of Darling and Lucky * Rachel Edwards, Author of Darling and Lucky *'A timely book in a year that has made clear that Britain still has a very long way to go towards becoming the model of racial equality it aims to be.' Kenya Hunt * Kenya Hunt *'I'm so proud to hold this book in my hand. We are here in all our richness.' Adjoa Andoh, Actor, Director * Adjoa Andoh, Actor, Director *'Powerful and sometimes painful testimonies but they also provide uplifting and enriching experiences.' Stephen Bourne * Stephen Bourne *'This book is such a moving read for everyone of all ages and races.' Colin Jackson, CBE * Colin Jackson, CBE *

Read more less

Book SynopsisKey study on writer and activist Kgositsile that presents a new approach to studying the radicalism of Africa and its diaspora and makes a major contribution to the histories of Black lives, gender studies, jazz studies, politics, and creativity.The cultural configurations of the Black Atlantic cannot be fully understood without recognising the significant presence of writers and artists from the African continent itself. Among the most influential was South African poet laureate Keorapetse Kgositsile, or 'Bra Willie', as he was affectionately known. Yet, until now, there has been no full-length study of his work. Uhuru Phalafala's wide-ranging book reveals the foundational influence of Kgositsile's mother and grandmother on his craft and unveils the importance of the oral/aural traditions, indigenous knowledge systems, and cosmologies he carried with him into and after exile. It illuminates a southern African modernity that was strongly gendered and deployed in anti-imperialist, anti-colonial, anti-apartheid, and civil rights struggles. Using the original concept of 'elsewhere', the author maps the sources of Kgositsile's transformative verse, which in turn generated 'poetics of possibility' for his contemporaries in the Black Arts and Black Power Movements and beyond - among them Maya Angelou, Larry Neal, Gwendolyn Brooks, Tom Dent, members of The Last Poets, Otabenga Jones & Associates, and rapper Earl Sweatshirt - who all looked to his work to model their identities, cultural movements and radical traditions.

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisHoward Goodall is an Emmy, BRIT and BAFTA award-winning composer of choral music, stage musicals, film and TV scores - among them Red Dwarf, QI and Blackadder - as well as a distinguished broadcaster and the author of Big Bangs: The Story of Five Discoveries that Changed Musical History. In recent years he has been England's first ever National Ambassador for Singing, the Classical Brit Composer of the Year, and Classic FM's Composer-in-Residence. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to music education.Trade ReviewGoodall has a prodigious gift for gathering information. People who know nothing about music will learn a lot here * Sunday Tribune *Intelligent, infectious * Observer *Writing a breezy history of music is a tough nut to crack, but Goodall manages it * Independent *

Read more less

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.

Read more less