Cultural studies Books

Book SynopsisThis book is a record of the Black music culture that emerged in post-colonial London at the end of the twentieth century; the people who made it, the racial and spatial politics of its development and change, and the part it played in founding London’s precious, embattled multiculture. It tells the story of the linked Black musical scenes of the city, from ska, reggae and soul in the 1970s, to rare groove and rave in the 1980s and jungle and its offshoots in the 1990s, to dubstep and grime of the 2000s. Melville argues that these demonstrate enough common features to be thought of as one musical culture, an Afro-diasporic continuum. Core to this idea is that this dance culture has been ignored in history and cultural theory and that it should be thought of as a powerful and internationally significant form of popular art.Trade Review‘This book is rare and special. It combines loving appreciation of London’s overlooked black music scenes with a richly detailed social history of their place in the evolving life of our city. There really is no other book like it. Caspar Melville knows because he was there.’ Paul Gilroy is a recovering vinyl junkie who teaches at UCL ‘I've waited decades for a book like this to be written. Turning each page is like digging through the crates. Important connections, intersections and black sonic samples are weaved throughout the text like a seamless mix. Black British music deserves this kind of attention. It's an important piece of the puzzle of DJ and Club culture that has yet to be assembled in its entirety.’ Lynnée Denise is a renowned DJ and lecturer in African American studies at UCLA ‘Caspar goes in deep! I am so proud to be part of the London clubland story he tells.’ Gilles Peterson is a club and BBC radio DJ and founder of Brownswood Recordings and Worldwide FM'It’s a London Thing is a compelling exploration of dance music history, inviting us to keep our eyes and ears glued to where the music comes from and what it can teach us.'Ivan Mouraviev, Popular Music -- .Table of ContentsList of figuresList of platesPrefaceAcknowledgements Introduction: London’s sonic space 1 Hostile environment: London’s racial geography, 1960-80 2 Warehouse parties, rare groove and the diversion of space 3 From Ibiza to London: Brixton acid and rave 4 ‘A London Sum’ting Dis’: diaspora remixed in the urban jungle Epilogue: music and the multicultural city Appendix: interviews for the book Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIn recent decades, the global wealth of the rich has soared to leave huge chasms of wealth inequality. This book argues that we cannot talk about inequalities in Britain today without talking about the monarchy.Running the Family Firm explores the postwar British monarchy in order to understand its economic, political, social and cultural functions. Although the monarchy is usually positioned as a backward-looking, archaic institution and an irrelevant anachronism to corporate forms of wealth and power, the relationship between monarchy and capitalism is as old as capitalism itself. This book frames the monarchy as the gold standard corporation: The Firm. Using a set of case studies – the Queen, Prince Charles, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle – it contends that The Firm’s power is disguised through careful stage management of media representations of the royal family. In so doing, it extends conventional understandings of what monarchy is and why it matters.Trade Review'This is a major reassessment of the British monarchy and its place in cultural, social and economic life. Laura Clancy offers a lucid examination of the ideological roles of the royals and, through detailed research, pulls back the curtain to reveal their economic organisation and vested interests. Arguing that monarchy is a key means through which the social mechanisms of inequality are disguised and naturalised, she offers a thorough, persuasive and far-reaching account of what the monarchy really "gives back."'Jo Littler, Professor of Sociology, City, University of London'Running the Family Firm is an incisive account of what propels the public image of the British monarchy and how it is shaped by issues concerning gender, class, colonialism, corporate power, social media, and national identity.'Francesca Sobande, author of The Digital Lives of Black Women in Britain'There are few institutions that have been as effective in hiding their operations from public view as the British monarchy. In her brilliantly researched book, Running the Family Firm, Laura Clancy deftly traces the strategic ways in which the corporation known as “The Firm” has maximised profits and engaged in capital accumulation for its own benefit, whilst projecting to the world a false image of a benign family institution, committed to simple, selfless service to the nation. Rather than the mythical tale we’ve been sold, of the British Monarchy as an apolitical entity, a different, more disturbing picture emerges from the pages of this book, namely a portrait of an economic and political enterprise ruthlessly managed as an exploitative financial machine. By exposing the co-constitutive and co-dependent relationships between invisibility, visibility and power, Clancy provides a penetrating sociological take on what Prince Harry once called the “invisible contract” between the Monarchy and the British media. Clancy takes us “backstage” to reveal how the Monarchy’s tax havens abroad are directly connected to class inequality at home. More than a book “just about the Monarchy”, Running the Family Firm is a brilliant sociological account about power, media manipulation, and the reproduction of social and economic inequality today. This is contemporary sociology at its best.'Ben Carrington, Associate Professor of Sociology and Journalism, University of Southern California -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction: Why does monarchy matter?1 The (Family) Firm: Labour, capital and corporate power2 ‘The greatest show on earth’: Monarchy and media power3 ‘Queen of Scots’: National identities, sovereignty and the body politic4 Let them have Poundbury! Land, property and pastoralism5 ‘I am Invictus’: Masculinities, ‘philanthrocapitalism’ and the military-industrial complex6 The heteromonarchy: Kate Middleton, ‘middle-classness’ and family values7 Megxitting the Firm: Race, postcolonialism and diversity capitalPostscript: The post-royalsNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisA buoyant, creative economy can be seen as the saviour of many cities, but behind such ‘urban makeovers’ lie serious problems such as widening inequalities, job precarity, gentrification and environmental issues. In light of the pandemic and climate crisis, how well are city economies, based largely on culture, nightlife and tourism, meeting basic societal needs? Blending lively case studies of alternative cultural practices and spaces with broader theoretical debates, this book explores the opportunities for a more just and sustainable urban future.Table of Contents1. Neoliberalism, Creativity and Cities 2. Urban Entrepreneurialism: The Emergence of the Cultural Economy 3. Critiquing the Neoliberal Creative City: But Long Live Alternative Creative Spaces! 4. Urban Cultural Movements and Anti-Creative Struggles 5. Neoliberal Nightlife and its Alternatives 6. Rethinking the Tourist City: Contestation and Alternative Cultural Tourism 7. Creative Polarization, Division and Exclusion 8. Beyond the Neoliberal Creative City

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Book SynopsisThe essays collected in offer close analysis of an array of cultural representations of the Canada-US border, in both site-specificity and in the ways in which they reveal and conceal cultural similarities and differences. Contributors focus on a range of regional sites along the border and examine a rich variety of expressive forms, including poetry, fiction, drama, visual art, television, and cinema produced on both sides of the 49th parallel.The field of border studies has hitherto neglected the Canada-US border as a site of cultural interest, tending to examine only its role in transnational policy, economic cycles, and legal and political frameworks. Border studies has long been rooted in the US-Mexico divide; shifting the locus of that discussion north to the 49th parallel, the contributors ask what added complications a site-specific analysis of culture at the Canada-US border can bring to the conversation. In so doing, this collection responds to the demands of Hemispheric American Studies to broaden considerations of the significance of American culture to the Americas as a whole - bringing Canadian Studies into dialogue with the dominantly US-centric critical theory in questions of citizenship, globalization, Indigenous mobilization, hemispheric exchange, and transnationalism. Trade Review"'Parallel Encounters' is an exciting addition to recent critical work that will not stop at the border! The sustained attention to the Canada-US border in this great collection contributes to crucial disciplinary shifts that now revise national fields in North American, hemispheric, and other transnational contexts. 'Parallel Encounters' reads fashion, television, health, and national security across the border, offers an excellent section on indigenous cultures, and gives us exceptional essays on key texts and poetics. This volume is invaluable for any reader interested in the politics and poetics of the border." -- Winfried Siemerling, University of Waterloo, author of 'The New North American Studies' (2005), co-editor of 'Canada and Its Americas' (2010)"'Parallel Encounters' focuses on cultural productions about Canada and its relationship to the border with the United States and thus draws much-needed attention to a geography that has remained under-examined in hemispheric American and border studies. A wake-up call to fields that have largely remained grounded in US research traditions and perspectives, the collection is the first to bring together the work of scholars working primarily in Canada and the United Kingdom on issues of indigeneity and slavery in the Canadian context, and on a variety of media forms." -- Claudia Sadowski-Smith, Arizona State University, author of 'Border Fictions: Globalization, Empire, and Writing at the Boundaries of the United States' (2008)Table of Contents Parallel Encounters: Culture at the Canada-Border, edited by Gillian Roberts and David Stirrup Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: Culture at the 49th Parallel: Nationalism, Indigeneity, and the Hemispheric Gillian Roberts and David Stirrup Popular Culture and/at the Border 2. Queer(y)ing Fur: Reading Fashion Television's Border Crossings Jennifer Andrews 3. Meanings of Health as Cultural Identity and Ideology Across the Canada-US Border Jan Clarke 4. Television, Nation, and National Security: CBC's The Border Sarah A. Matheson 5. ""Normalizing Relations"": The Canada/Cuba Imaginary on the Fringe of Border Discourse Joanne C. Elvy and Luis René Fernández Tabío 6. How, Exactly, Does the Beaver Bite Back? The Case of Canadian Students Viewing Paul Haggis's Crash Lee Easton and Kelly Hewson Indigenous Cultures and North American Borders 7. Discursive Positioning: A Comparative Study of Postcolonialism in Native Studies Across the Canada-US Border Maggie Ann Bowers 8. Strategic Parallels: Invoking the Border in Thomas King's Green Grass, Running Water and Drew Hayden Taylor's In a World Created by a Drunken God Gillian Roberts 9. Waste-full Crossings in Thomas King's Truth & Bright Water Catherine Bates 10. Bridging the Third Bank: Indigeneity and Installation Art at the Canada-US Border David Stirrup 11. Cross-Border Identifications and Dislocations: Visual Art and the Construction of Identity in North America Sarah E.K. Smith 12. Conversations That Never Happened: The Writing and Activism of Gloria Anzaldúa, Maria Campbell, and Howard Adams Zalfa Feghali Theorizing the Border: Literature, Performance, Translation 13. ""Some Borders Are More Easily Crossed Than Others"": Negotiating Guillermo Verdecchia's Fronteras Americanas Maureen Kincaid Speller 14. Discounting Slavery: The Currency Wars, Minstrelsy, and ""The White Nigger"" in T.C. Haliburton's The Clockmaker Jade Ferguson 15. Detained at Customs: Jane Rule, Censorship, and the Politics of Crossing the Canada-US Border Susan Billingham 16. Strangers in Strange Lands: Cultural Translation in Gaétan Soucy's Vaudeville! Jeffrey Orr 17. Bodies of Information: Cross-Border Poetics in the Twenty-First Century Nasser Hussain 18. Bordering on Borders: Dream, Memory, and Allegories of Writing Lynette Hunter Notes on Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisA call to arms by a group of French intellectuals that rejects leftist reform and aligns itself with younger, wilder forms of resistance.Thirty years of “crisis,” mass unemployment, and flagging growth, and they still want us to believe in the economy... We have to see that the economy is itself the crisis. It''s not that there''s not enough work, it''s that there is too much of it. The Coming Insurrection is an eloquent call to arms arising from the recent waves of social contestation in France and Europe. Written by the anonymous Invisible Committee in the vein of Guy Debord—and with comparable elegance—it has been proclaimed a manual for terrorism by the French government (who recently arrested its alleged authors). One of its members more adequately described the group as “the name given to a collective voice bent on denouncing contemporary cynicism and reality.” The Coming Insurrection is a strategic prescription for an emergent war-machine capable of “spreading anarchy and live communism.” Written in the wake of the riots that erupted throughout the Paris suburbs in the fall of 2005 and presaging more recent riots and general strikes in France and Greece, The Coming Insurrection articulates a rejection of the official Left and its reformist agenda, aligning itself instead with the younger, wilder forms of resistance that have emerged in Europe around recent struggles against immigration control and the “war on terror.” Hot-wired to the movement of ''77 in Italy, its preferred historical reference point, The Coming Insurrection formulates an ethics that takes as its starting point theft, sabotage, the refusal to work, and the elaboration of collective, self-organized life forms. It is a philosophical statement that addresses the growing number of those—in France, in the United States, and elsewhere—who refuse the idea that theory, politics, and life are separate realms.

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Book Synopsis Heritage processes vary according to cultural, national, geographical, and historical contexts. This volume is unique in that it is dedicated to approaching the analysis of heritage through the concepts of social movements. Adapting the latest developments in the field of social movements, the chapters examine the formation, use and contestation of heritage by various official, non-official and activist players and the spaces where such ongoing negotiations and contestation take place. By bringing social movements into heritage studies, the book advocates a shift of perspective in understanding heritage, one that is no longer bound by (at times arbitrary) divisions such as those assumed between the state and people or between experts and non-experts.Trade Review “Throughout the text, authors marvelously highlight unique cases, backed by compelling evidence, that portray a well-rounded story of heritage activism across countries such as Indonesia, China, Singapore, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Iran. Libraries with extensive reserves focusing on Asian heritage, culture, and politics should have a copy of this work. – Highly Recommended.” • Choice “In general, this book highlights the need to question generalizing ideas about heritage. It props up the various ways in which we can counter the assimilationist emphasis of most state-sanctioned heritage policies. With an overtly structural approach, the chapters present translational applications to real-world problems.” • International Journal of Asian Studies (IJAS) “This book significantly contributes to our understanding of the complexities of heritage in Asia. It broadens our horizons to look at issues of governance, state-society relations, and the institutional ways memory and material culture are politically negotiated. It reveals heritage as a series of movements, unpacking, elaborating and critiquing what that term means in different social settings. An exciting contribution to the examination of heritage in Asia.” • Tim Winter, University of Western Australia, Professor of Critical Heritage studies, Author of Geocultural Power: China’s Quest to Revive the Silk Roads for the Twenty First Century “The book is a wake-up call for heritage practitioners who still too easily think of the material past as a static and unmediated record of times past. Heritage Movements in Asia reminds us that the heritage expert is only one among numerous players competing to inscribe meaning on the traces of the past embedded in the ground we all live on. As this book vividly illustrates, heritage activism, whether in the form of mass mobilisation or more intimate engagements, is what gives the material past its dynamism.” • Denis Byrne, Author of Counterheritage: Critical Perspectives on Heritage Conservation in Asia “Looking at heritage processes through the lens of social movements, this volume adds a meaningful contribution to the growing literature of critical heritage studies.” • Neel Kamal Chapagain, Director of the Centre for Heritage Management, Ahmedabad University “The manuscript fits well within the framework of collected essays on various aspects of heritage which have made recent appearance on themes such as contested and dissonant heritage, the impact of globalization upon multicultural societies and the increasing role of social media in mobilizing identity.” • Brian J. Shaw, School of Earth & Environment (Retired)Table of Contents List of illustrations Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction: Negotiation, Strategic Action and the Production of Heritage Ali Mozaffari and Tod Jones Chapter 1. Understanding Heritage Activism: Learning from Social Movement Studies Tod Jones, Ali Mozaffari, and James M. Jasper Chapter 2. ‘The Past is Always New’: A Framework for Understanding the Centrality of Social Media to Contemporary Heritage Movements Tod Jones, Transpiosa Riomandha and Hairus Salim Chapter 3. The Exemplary Foreigner: Cultural Heritage Activism in Regional China Gary Sigley Chapter 4. Heritage Activism in Singapore Terence Chong Chapter 5. Riverscape as Biocultural Heritage: A Local Indigenous Social Movement Contests a National Park in Nepal Sudeep Jana Thing Chapter 6. Heritage for Whom? Caste and Contestation Among Sri Lanka’s Dumbara Rata Weavers Aimée Douglas Chapter 7. Heritage Activism and the Media (Framing) in Iran Ali Mozaffari

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Book SynopsisIn today's world many people live, learn and work in international and multicultural environments. Intercultural communication has become an important topic in many fields of work and study. Given the complexities of globalization, knowledge of cultures and cultural differences is rarely sufficient. In this book, interpersonal communication forms the point of departure: the meeting of people, not of cultures. The authors describe what diversity competence entails: which processes, challenges and skills are relevant in a 'superdiverse' world. They demonstrate how the TOPOI model offers an inclusive, communicative approach to analyzing and addressing potential miscommunication. - Addresses controversial topics frankly and clearly without being simplistic. - Discusses theory from several different fields. - Case studies provide practical examples and guidelines. - Companion website with extra case studies and study assignments. The target audience for Diversity Competence includes students, educators and professionals in the fields of communication and media, business, management and leadership, governance and international relations and cooperation.

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Book SynopsisThis revised edition of Michael Byram’s classic 1997 book updates the text in light of both recent research and critiques and commentaries on the 1st edition. Beginning from the premise that foreign and second language teaching should prepare learners to use a language with fluency and accuracy, and also to speak with people who have different cultural identities, social values and behaviours, the book is an invaluable guide for teachers and curriculum developers, taking them from a definition of Intercultural Communicative Competence through planning for teaching to assessment. This edition refines the definitions of the five ‘savoirs’ of intercultural competence, and includes new sections on issues such as moral relativism and human rights, mediation, intercultural citizenship and teachers’ ethical responsibilities.Trade ReviewWith remarkable educational integrity, Michael Byram revisits his highly successful 1997 book and responds to his critics. The result is a rich and thoughtfully revamped version of the original classic, adapted to our multicultural societies and mindful of the need to educate language learners to global intercultural citizenship through intercultural communicative competence. The added sections on mediation, teachers' ethical responsibility, and pluralism and human rights are particularly noteworthy. * Claire Kramsch, University of California, Berkeley, USA *This new edition not only clarifies the ambiguities and inclusiveness of the ICC theory, but also situates it in a more contemporary and global teaching environment. Byram’s conceptualization of critical cultural awareness leading to democratic citizenship has far more importance now for other non-European regions including Asia, where foreign language is taught mostly for instrumental purposes and the value of wholesome humanistic education is often left behind. * Kahoko Matsumoto, Tokai University, Japan *There is little way that anyone can read this book and not believe that all universities should have a foreign language requirement [...] Though gifting this book to your administrator may be a longshot, it definitely belongs in the hands of anyone that will be teaching and/or creating content for language education from now on. -- Boris Yelin, Northeastern University, USA * LINGUIST List 32.2158 *Table of ContentsForeword Preface (2020) Preface (1997) Introduction Chapter 1. Defining and Describing Intercultural Communicative Competence Chapter 2. A Model for Intercultural Communicative Competence Chapter 3. Objectives for Teaching, Learning and Assessment Chapter 4. Curriculum Issues Chapter 5. Assessment Chapter 6. Conclusion Appendix - Glastonbury Public Schools Project References Index

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Book SynopsisWellness has become synonymous with yoga, meditation, and other forms of self-care. Over the past 60 years, what began as an alternative to mainstream medicine has coalesced with consumer culture and has been commercialised to such an extent that the term is now synonymous with an industry of exclusive products and services. This book traces the emergence of wellness culture as a countercultural movement to a trillion-dollar industry, examining the social, economic and political conditions that enabled wellness to assume mainstream cultural significance. It explores the role of the internet in making wellness more accessible to consumers, while simultaneously questioning who wields influence in these digital spaces. A must read for anyone interested in learning about wellness and its online penetration, Wellness Culture offers an in-depth yet accessible examination of how wellness has been weaponised during the COVID-19 pandemic to spread medical misinformation, conspiratorial thinking and political extremism.Table of ContentsChapter 1. What is Wellness Culture? Chapter 2. The Countercultural Origins of Wellness Culture Chapter 3. From the Wellness Movement to the Wellness Industry Chapter 4. Wellness Gurus, Internet Celebrities and Influencers Chapter 5. Wellness as a Gateway to Misinformation, Disinformation and Conspiracy Chapter 6. The Future of Wellness as a Cultural Pursuit

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewTo play for Hibs during the time of the Turnbull’s Tornadoes was a truly fantastic experience. As a Hibs supporter it was a joy to line up alongside so many great players. I made my debut a short while before Eddie Turnbull joined the club in 1971, but he made me a player, and I owe everything I achieved in the game to him. – ALEX CROPLEY

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Book SynopsisAn illustrated guide to notable queer Latine figures from history, for children 5+. With beautiful illustrations, short biographies, fun facts and glossary of key terms - this is the perfect resource for children and educators alike.

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Book SynopsisThis interdisciplinary book takes the reader onglobal journeys from the UK to China, fromEcuador to Jamaica, through a melange of musicgenres. In doing so, itraises keyquestions as the contributors reflect upon doingand communicating ethnographic research onpopular music. 14 b&w illus.

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Book SynopsisShakespeare's absolute pre-eminence is simply unparalleled. His plays pack theatres and provide Hollywood with block-buster scripts; his works inspire mountains of scholarship and criticism every year. He has given us many of the very words we speak, and even some of the thoughts we think.Nick Groom and Piero explore how Shakespeare became so famous and influential, and why he is still widely considered the greatest writer ever. They investigate how the Bard has been worshiped at different times and in different places, used and abused to cultural and political ends, and the roots of intense controversies which have surrounded his work. Much more than a biography or a guide to his plays and sonnets, Introducing Shakespeare is a tour through the world of Will and concludes that even after centuries, Shakespeare remains the battlefield on which our very comprehension of humanity is being fought out.

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Book Synopsis'What happens when Black artists depict Black figures? What art does this produce, and what worlds of possibility does this reveal?' - Ekow Eshun Reframing the Black Figure showcases more than 20 of the most important Black figurative artists working in the UK and US today. This visual giftbook introduces readers to the field of Black figuration by highlighting a selection of key works from the National Portrait Gallery exhibition, The Time is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure. Readers will encounter contemporary Black artists producing beautiful, urgent artworks that presents the Black form with nuance and depth. Richly illustrated with artworks and visual details, alongside short biographies for all featured artists, this accessible publication offers an opportunity for readers to experience some of the most exciting artworks depicting the Black form. Within this context, they take on a dual role, as the accomplished work of individual artists on the one hand, and as a collective assertion of Black presence on the other. Featured artists include Hurvin Anderson, Michael Armitage, Jordan Casteel, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Noah Davis, Godfried Donkor, Kimathi Donkor, Denzil Forrester, Lubaina Himid, Claudette Johnson, Titus Kaphar, Kerry James Marshall, Toyin Ojih Odutola, Chris Ofili, Jennifer Packer, Thomas J. Price, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Lorna Simpson, Amy Sherald, Henry Taylor and Barbara Walker.

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Book SynopsisA distinct symbol of the desert and the Middle East, the camel was once unkindly described as half snake, half folding bedstead. But in the eyes of many the camel is a creature of great beauty. This is most evident in the Arab world, where the camel has played a central role in the historical development of Arabic society. Beauty pageants are still held for camels in some Arabic countries, and an elaborate vocabulary and extensive literature have been devoted to them. In "Camel", Robert Irwin explores why the camel has fascinated so many cultures, including those in places where camels are not indigenous. He traces the history of the camel from its origins millions of years ago to the present day, discussing such matters of contemporary concern as the plight of camel herders in the Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, the alarming increase in the population of feral camels in Australia, and the endangered status of the wild Bactrian in Mongolia and China. Throughout history, the camel has been appreciated worldwide for its practicality, resilience and legendary abilities of survival. As a result it has been featured in the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Poussin, Tiepolo, Flaubert, Kipling and Rose Macaulay, among others. From East to West, Irwin's "Camel" is the first survey of its kind to examine the animal's role in society and history throughout the world. Not just for camel aficionados, this highly illustrated book is sure to entertain and inform anyone interested in this fascinating and exotic animal.Trade ReviewA bold and fascinating series The Independent This series ... calls itself "a new kind of animal history". It is, splendidly, even brilliantly, so. I have nothing but praise for it The SpectatorTable of ContentsIntroduction 1 Physiology and Psychology 2 Ancestors of the Camel 3 Practical Camel 4 Camels in the Medieval World of Islam 5 The Beauty of the Beast: Literature and Art 6 The Camel's Role in History 7 Modernity's Camel Timeline of the Camel References Select Bibliography Associations and Websites Acknowledgements Photo Acknowledgements Index

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Book SynopsisWhile their role has been all too often overlooked by historians, cattle played an integral part in the economy, ecology and culture of Highland life. Although many of these animals and their keepers have been abandoned in favour of sheep walks and deer forests, their legacy has remained through stories, paintings and songs. Infused by the author's own experiences of small holding at the end of the crofting era, this book offers an excellent insight into the social history and colourful customs assosiated with tending cattle on crofts, on shielings and on the drove roads of old, in an account that is populated by legendary figures, mighty beasts and characters larger than life. Perhaps most importantly of all, however, this is a history that looks to the future - a recent revival in cattle and traditional practices could pave the way for the truly sustainable agriculture practices so crucial to the fate of the planet at large.Trade Review'Katharine Stewart's new book reminds us of our ancestry and our heritage - a farming culture based on thousands of years of close partnership with cattle. She brings to the reader not only the pure pleasure of keeping cows, but also the friendships they create and the roles that the animals play in our history and culture.' ROY DENNIS MBE

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Book SynopsisEgress is the first book to consider the legacy and work of the writer, cultural critic and cult academic Mark Fisher.Narrated in orbit of his death as experienced by a community of friends and students in 2017, it analyses Fisher's philosophical trajectory, from his days as a PhD student at the University of Warwick to the development of his unfinished book on Acid Communism. Taking the word "egress" as its starting point-a word used by Fisher in his book The Weird and the Eerie to describe an escape from present circumstances as experiences by the characters in countless examples of weird fiction-Egress considers the politics of death and community in a way that is indebted to Fisher's own forms of cultural criticism, ruminating on personal experience in the hope of making it productively impersonal.Trade Review"A remarkable interlacing of ambitious theoretical enquiry and raw personal memoir, Egress asks why collective thought and practice today is so broken that it takes a lacerating calamity to rediscover something like community. This is a work of thought in motion and in emotion, searching, deeply wounded but undefeated." -- Robin Mackay, Urbanomic "The dead return to us as our world falls apart. Love and loss ripple into our lives and test our integrity every day. Brutal and provocative, this book is a haunting elegy to Mark's crystalline mind. He sat on the shores of endless worlds" -- Mark Stewart, The Pop Group "Through his Xenogothic blog, and now this often touching book, few have done as much to channel, ruminate around and speculate beyond the spectre of Mark Fisher." -- Steve Goodman (Kode9) "Egress is a remarkable (and inventive) tribute to Mark Fisher's capacities as a thinker, writer, and, perhaps most importantly, teacher. Filled with brilliant new insights into Mark's philosophies and contexts, Matt Colquhoun's book is at once a moving, deeply human act of mourning, as well as a call-to-arms to bring forward the future that Mark's writings make possible."-- Hua Hsu, The New Yorker "By turns a deeply personal memoir, a scholarly and readable introduction to Mark Fisher's work, and a powerful extension of the apparatus of Fisher's thought to new application. Colquhoun perfectly captures the feeling of despair in a time when political and personal hopelessness is ubiquitous, but shows a way through it... this work is very necessary now. This book illuminates the important work of trying to figure out how to mourn: privately, publicly, personally, institutionally, politically...while maintaining a deep connection to Fisher's work and a respect for the tools it can give us to make it through." -- Michelle Spiedel "Colquhoun shuttles along the filaments of Mark Fisher's work with scholarly and deeply personal insights offering not only an introduction to his thought but a sense how we might apply it in the contemporary moment. I can't recommend this book enough." -- Laura Grace Ford, author of Savage Messiah

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Book SynopsisThere is a mental malaise creeping through the collective human mindset. Mass psychosis is becoming normalized. It is time to break free... One of the key problems facing human beings today is that we do not look after our minds. As a consequence, we are unaware of the malicious impacts that infiltrate and influence us on a daily basis. This lack of awareness leaves people open and vulnerable. Many of us have actually become alienated from our own minds, argues Kingsley L. Dennis. This is how manipulations occur that result in phenomena such as crowd behaviour and susceptibility to political propaganda, consumerist advertising and social management. Mass psychosis is only possible because humanity has become alienated from its transcendental source. In this state, we are prisoners to the impulses that steer our unconscious. We may believe we have freedom, but we don't. Healing the Wounded Mind discusses these external influences in terms of a collective mental disease - the wetiko virus (Forbes), ahrimanic forces (Steiner), the alien mind (Castaneda), and the collective unconscious shadow (Jung). The human mind has been targeted by corrupt forces that seek to exploit our thinking on a grand scale. This is the `magician's trick' that has kept us captive within the social systems that both distract and subdue us. In the first part of this transformative book, the author outlines how the Wounded Mind manifests in cultural conditioning, from childhood onwards. In the second part, he examines how `hypermodern' cultures are being formed by this mental psychosis and shaping our brave new world. In an inspiring conclusion, we are shown the gnostic path to freedom through connecting with the transcendental source of life.Trade Review`Recognizing the root causes of the malaise ... is a crucial step, and I hope that the readers of this brilliant and profound book will recognize the urgency of taking it. - Ervin Laszlo.Table of ContentsForeword by Ervin Laszlo - Introduction: What's Going On? - PART ONE: OUT OF OUR MINDS - 1. The Magician's Trick - 2. An Invasion of the Collective Mind - 3. The Wounded Mind - 4. Ghosts in the Modern Machine - 5. The Metaphysical Malaise - PART TWO: THE UNREAL WORLD - 6. Our Hypermodern Condition - 7. The Spectacle of the Absurd - 8. The Spectral Gaze - 9. Normal Unfreedoms - PART THREE: THE SEARCH FOR THE SELF - 10. The Gnostic Vision - 11. The Quest for the Self - 12. Seeking a Personal Path - 13. The Transcendental Connection - 14. The Human Question - Notes - Suggested Reading

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Book SynopsisIn 1963, the West Indian Marxist C.L.R. James posed the deceptively benign question: "What do they know of cricket, who only cricket know?" A challenge to the public to re-consider cricket and its meaning by placing the game in its true social, political and economic context, James was, all too subtly, attempting to counter the game’s orthodox history that, he argued, had played a key role in the formation of national culture. As a consequence, he failed, and the history of cricket in England has retained the same stresses and lineaments as it did a century ago — until now. In examining recreational rather than professional (first-class) cricket, Different Class does not simply challenge the widely accepted orthodoxy of English cricket, it demonstrates how the values and belief systems at its heart were, under the guise of amateurism, intentionally developed in order to divide the English along class lines at every level of the game. If the creation of opposing class-based cricket cultures in the North and South of England grew out of this process, the institutional structures developed by those in charge of English cricket continue to discriminate. But, as much as the exclusion of Black and South Asian cricketers from the recreational mainstream is the most obvious example, it is social class that remains the greatest barrier to participation in what used to be the national game.Trade Review“A modern-day John Arlott: uncomfortable but indispensable reading for those who love cricket but may so far have avoided Duncan Stone’s vital home truths about the game.”"In this fascinating journey through history, Duncan Stone goes back to the working-class roots of the game, lifts the lid on the myths that cricket lives by, and explains why it’s impossible not to love it.""A warm, accessible but thorough-going account of how cricket and class are intertwined in England. Full of personal wit and charm but also rigour and drive.""At a time when the ECB seems intent on killing Test cricket, by commodifying it in search of quick profits, this book is a gentle reminder of the true ethos and variable pace of the game, etched in the memories of all who have played it at village or club level.""Different Class is in that special category of books — not just lucid and cogent but necessary and invaluable.""A wonderfully researched book in the great traditions of British iconoclastic writing the author punctures many cherished myths about the game and is a book all cricket lovers should read to learn where the game has come from and what is still wrong with it.""As an ignorant Scotsman more concerned with football, the place of cricket in English life and culture has always bemused me. But Duncan Stone's brilliant book has convinced me that it's in fact a hugely important story that has shaped the meaning of class, region and race."

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Book SynopsisIn this third iteration of the classic work The Impacts of Racism on White Americans (1981, 1996), a new generation of scholars make the case that racism often negatively affects Whites themselves, especially during the Trump era. In 1981, Impacts introduced an alternative understanding of racism, arguing that it went beyond white-black and/or inter-race relations. Instead, the book proposed that the problem of race in the U.S. is fundamentally one of white identity and culture and that racism has substantial negative effects on White Americans. This volume advances these propositions through three key areas: (1) Trump-era cultural and institutional racism, bolstered by the use of historical notions of racial hierarchy; (2) institutional and interpersonal racism, which in turn drive individual racist behaviors; and finally, (3) racism’s interactional sequences and how they impact anti-racism efforts. As each chapter author explores an iteration of these racisms, they also explore how racist attitudes produce disadvantage among White Americans. Table of Contents1. Introduction. Impacts of Racism on White Americans in the Age of Trump (Benjamin P. Bowser and Duke W. Austin).- 2. Economy: Racism’s Continuing Costs to Whites: A Second Look (Michael Reich).- 3. Housing: From Segregation to Isolation: White Americans in the Age of Trump (Jacob S. Rugh).- 4. Health: Dying of Whiteness (Jonathan M. Metzl).- 5. Government: Calling on Racism to Run Federal and State Governments (Robert Fantina).- 6. Foreign Policy: A Double-Edged Sword: A History of Racism in U.S. Foreign Policy (Chris Danielson).- 7. Gender: White Women in the Age of Trump (Charlotte Dunham).- 8. Social Psychology: Taking White Racial Emotions Seriously: Revisiting the Cost of Racism to White Americans (Lisa Spanierman and D. Anthony Clark).- 9. Media: Fox News, Racism, and White America in the Age of Trump (Kalemba Kizito).- 10. Sports: Racism and Sports: Fear of a Black Planet (Scott N. Brooks, Stacey M. Flores, and Jorge Ballesteros).- 11. Education: The Impact of Racism on White Teachers (Patricia A. Maloney).- 12. Social Movements: White Responses to Racist and Anti-Racist Movements (Pamela Oliver).- 13. Affirmative Action: Not the Impact of Racism on Whites that Some Assume (Fred L. Pincus).- 14. Summary: Racism’s Impacts on White Americans in the Age of Trump (Benjamin P. Bowser and Duke W. Austin).- 15. Conclusion and Reflections: Impacts of Racism in the Age of Trump (Benjamin P. Bowser and Duke W. Austin).

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Book SynopsisThe edited collection is a fresh contribution to the anthropological, sociological, and geographical explorations of time-space in Southeast Europe and Albania in particular. By delving into various levels of people’s daily lives, such as literature, relation to the environment, the urbanization process, art, photography, trauma and remembering, processes of modernity, the volume vividly portrays various realms that are lived and perceived. It largely builds on the premise that structural resemblances of the past continuously reappear in particular social and cultural moments and seek to restore and build the individual and collective lives in contemporary Albania.Table of ContentsChapter 1. Introduction: Remitting, Building, and Restoring Contemporary Albania Chapter 2. Temporalities of Concrete: Housing Imaginaries in Albania Chapter 3. Tirana Quixotic: Literature as Mediator of Imagination and Reality Chapter 4. The Winding Routes of Kuçedra: Understanding the Water Futures in Contemporary Albania Chapter 5. Cosmic Languages, Babel, and Indo-European Quantum Physics: Emic Linguistics and Myths about Language in Albanian Neo-religiosity Chapter 6. “Othering” the Self: The Production of Difference Through Art in Postsocialist Albania Chapter 7. Photography and Régime D’historicité: Past, Present, and Future in Two Photographic Albums on Communist Albania Chapter 8. On the Road: Albania’s Migratory Past, Present, and Future Chapter 9. Reimagining Sites of Memory: Conceptualization of Space, Memory, and History of State Violence of Communist Albania Chapter 10. Heterotopias of Displacement: The Production of Space in Postsocialist Albania Chapter 11. The Age of Understanding: Modernity and Modernization in the Twenty Century’s Albania Chapter 12: Epilogue

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Book Synopsis“Cancel culture” has become one of the most charged concepts in contemporary culture and politics, but mainstream critiques from both the left and the right provide only snapshots of responses to the phenomenon. Takinga media and cultural studies perspective, this book traces the origins of cancel practices and discourses, and discusses their subsequent evolution within celebrity and fan cultures, consumer culture, and national politics in the U.S. and China. Moving beyond popular press accounts about the latest targets of cancelling or familiar free speech debates, this analysis identifies multiple lineages for both cancelling and criticisms about cancelling, underscoring the various configurations of power associated with “cancel culture” in particular cultural and political contexts. Trade Review“This material provides an interesting yet complex genealogy of the different but overlapping areas of popular culture, digital activism and national politics. … what should we think about both progressive and conservative commentators in the US and elsewhere who have condemned the cancel culture? … . Are these essentially examples of the same thing? If not, what are the critical differences, and yet are there any underlying similarities between contextually different cancellations? … These questions, and other related problems … are answered in this book in an interesting and clear way.” (Jan Servaes, indepthnews.net, June 2, 2022)“Eve Ng’s new book … examines the phenomenon of ‘cancel culture’ from a critical media studies perspective, as both cancel practices (what people and institutional actors do) and cancel discourses (commentary about cancelling). … Her analysis moves beyond popular press accounts about the latest targets of cancelling or familiar free speech debates, and underscores the different configurations of power associated with ‘cancel culture’ in specific cultural and political contexts.” (Louisa Hann, New Books network, newbooksnetwork.com, May 11, 2022) Table of Contents1. Introduction.2. Cancel Culture, Popular Media, and Fandom.3. Cancel Culture, Black Cultural Practice, and Digital Activism.4. Cancel Culture, U.S. Conservatism, and Nation.5. Cancel Culture and Digital Nationalism in Mainland China.6. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThe Rise of Victimhood Culture offers a framework for understanding recent moral conflicts at U.S. universities, which have bled into society at large. These are not the familiar clashes between liberals and conservatives or the religious and the secular: instead, they are clashes between a new moral culture—victimhood culture—and a more traditional culture of dignity. Even as students increasingly demand trigger warnings and “safe spaces,” many young people are quick to police the words and deeds of others, who in turn claim that political correctness has run amok. Interestingly, members of both camps often consider themselves victims of the other. In tracking the rise of victimhood culture, Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning help to decode an often dizzying cultural milieu, from campus riots over conservative speakers and debates around free speech to the election of Donald Trump. Trade ReviewSelected by Choice magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2018“Comprehensive, measured, and well researched, this may be the most important book of the year. Period. … The authors do a masterful job of explaining the nation’s shift from a culture of honor, to a culture of dignity, to one of victimhood. … Required reading for those seeking to move beyond the seeming downward spiral of becoming a nation of victims.” (J. R. Mitrano, Choice, Vol. 56 (1), September, 2018)“Sociologists Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning have produced the first systematic theoretical analysis of the moral culture of “victimhood” emerging on university campuses. … This book is an important addition to the sociology of morality in its documentation of the contours of a newly emerging moral culture.” (Kevin Mccaffree, skeptic.com, February, 2018)Table of Contents1. Microaggression and the Culture of Victimhood 2. Microaggression and the Structure of Victimhood 3. Trigger Warnings, Safe Spaces, and the Language of Victimhood 4. False Accusations, Moral Panics, and the Manufacture of Victimhood 5. Opposition, Imitation, and the Spread of Victimhood 6. Sociology, Social Justice, and Victimhood7. Victimhood, Academic Freedom, and Free Speech 8. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisFeminism in Play focuses on women as they are depicted in video games, as participants in games culture, and as contributors to the games industry. This volume showcases women’s resistance to the norms of games culture, as well as women’s play and creative practices both in and around the games industry. Contributors analyze the interconnections between games and the broader societal and structural issues impeding the successful inclusion of women in games and games culture. In offering this framework, this volume provides a platform to the silenced and marginalized, offering counter-narratives to the post-racial and post-gendered fantasies that so often obscure the violent context of production and consumption of games culture.Table of Contents1. Introduction: Reframing Hegemonic Conceptions of Women and Feminism in Gaming Culture (Kishonna L. Gray, Emma Vossen, and Gerald Voorhees) Part I. Neither Virgin Nor Vixen: Representations of Women 2. Women by Women: A Gender Analysis of Sierra Titles by Women Designers (Angela R. Cox) 3. The Material Undermining of Magical Feminism in Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea (James Malazita) 4. “From Sirens to Cyborgs:The media politics of the female voice in games and game cultures (Milena Droumeva) 5. The Magnificent Memory Machine: The Nancy Drew Series and Women’s History (Robyn Hope) 6. The Sexual Politics of Videogame Graphics (Robert Mejia & Barbara LeSavoy) Part II. All Made Up: Gendering Assemblages 7. Women’s Experiences on the Path to Game Development (Johanna Weststar & Marie-Josée Legault) 8. Rule Makers versus Rule Breakers: The Impact of Legislative Policies on Women Game Developers in the Japanese Game Industry (Tsugumi Okabe) 9. Sexism and the WoWGirl: A Study of Perceptions of Women World of Warcraft (Thaiane Oliveira, Reynaldo Gonçalves, Alessandra Maia, Julia Silveira, and Simone Evangelista) 10. With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Video Game Live Streaming and its Potential Risks and Benefits for Female Gamers (Lena Uszkoreit) Part III. Beyond Feminization: Gaming and Social Futures 11. Doing/Undoing Gender with the Girl Gamer in High Performance Play (Emma Witkowski) 12. The Magic Circle and Consent in Gaming Practices (Emma Vossen) 13. Shoot the Gun Inside: Doubt and Feminist Epistemology in Video Games (Elyse Janish) 14. Women Agents and Double-Agents: Theorizing Feminine Gaze in Video Games (Stephanie C. Jennings) 15. Feminism and Gameplay Performance (Emma Westecott)

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Book SynopsisCentred around the bold voices of millennials and Gen Zs, Smashing the Patriarchy explores how young Indian women from diverse backgrounds ingeniously overcome the patriarchy in their everydayives. From beauty, body politics, and sexuality, to caste, power, and the paradox of choice, the book explores a wide range of women''s issues and draws important connections between these. In the chapter On Beauty'' the author examines why women pursue or reject mainstream beauty standards and the real-life repercussions of their choices. Ishq in the Times of Tinder'' considers the conundrum that isove and what women want (and don''t want) from partnerships. The chapter Women at Work'' focuses on how young hyper-informed (and tech-savvy) women have shifted work culture across industries. Demystifying the Feminine'' examines how women across the socio-cultural spectrum define and express femininity. Society, Sanskar, and Choice'' dives into society''s conception of honour and the backlash dissenting women face when they go against the norm. Taking its inspiration from multi-disciplinary theories, grounded and deepened by interviews with a variety of experts and numerous women, Smashing the Patriarchy is an astonishingly insightful exploration of the collective psyche of modern Indian women.

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Book SynopsisIn Defence of Separatism is a timely book. When it was first written in 1976, although it was an important subject of conversation among many feminists it was not welcomed by academics or publishers. When a political group wants to strategise so that its members can arrive at agreed-on political tactics and ideas, they call for, and create, separate spaces. These might be in coffee shops, in community centres, in one another's homes or in semi-public spaces such as workers clubs, even cinemas. When the proletariat was rebelling, they did not ask the capitalists and aristocracy to join them (even if a few did); when the civil rights movement started it was not thanks to the ideas and politics of white people (even though some whites joined to support the cause); when the women's liberation movement sprang into life, it was women joining together to fight against their oppression. The difference is that women are supposed to love men. Through careful argument, Susan Hawthorne takes us through the ideas which are central to her argument. She analyses the nature of power, oppression, domination and institutions and applies these to heterosexuality, rape and romantic love. She concludes with a call for women, all women no matter their sexuality, to have separate spaces so they can work together to change the world and end patriarchy. This 2019 edition includes a Preface, Afterword and additional commentary in italicised footnotes that bring the reader up to date on changes, developments and controversies in feminist theory.Trade ReviewIn Defence of Separatism is a powerful lesbian feminist manifesto. It was written by Susan Hawthorne in 1976, when the second wave of feminism was in full flow, as the thesis of her Honours degree in Philosophy. And now – over four decades later – it is more relevant than ever before. Her work is a must-read for any lesbian figuring out feminist politics. ⁠— Claire Heuchan, AFTERELLENTable of ContentsAcknowledgements, 1976 Preface to the 2019 edition Statement of the Argument 1 Introduction 1.1 Power 1.2 Oppression 1.3 Domination 1.4 Institutions 2 Things Peculiar to Women’s Oppression 2.1 Heterosexuality 2.2 Rape 2.3 Romantic Love 3 Strategies 3.1 Separatism 3.2 Lesbian Feminism 3.3 Critiques of Separatism and Responses Afterword

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Book SynopsisExamines the often surprising ways that crows and humans interact. This book contends that those interactions reflect a process of 'cultural coevolution'. It offers a challenging view of the human-crow dynamic. Featuring more than 100 original drawings, it takes a look at the influences people have had on the lives of crows throughout history.Trade Review“A fascinating look at the corvid family, illustrated with Mr. Angell’s delightful black-and-white drawings.”—Stuart Ferguson, Wall Street Journal“There is a wealth of folklore, biology and anecdote here about all species of crows—a cornucopia of corvid memorabilia. This is a well-researched, fascinating book to read, evocatively illustrated by Angell’s charming idiosyncratic scraperboards.”—Tim Birkhead, Times Literary Supplement“Sleek, evocative illustrations—a mysterious light seems to come directly from the eyes and feathers of these birds. . . . Learning how to slow down and observe animals around us is one simple way to form a stronger bond with nature. In the Company of Crows and Ravens is a subtle and beautiful reminder of this simple truth.”—Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times Book Review“Intriguing and inspiring insights. . . . [A] rich tapestry of folklore and science. . . . [A] comprehensive account of the impact of crows on human culture.”—Joanna Dally, Science“[A] superb study that should deepen our understanding, and perhaps appreciation, of these fascinating birds.”—Library Journal“Engrossing.”—Rebecca Solnit, London Review of Books“Marzluff and Angell provide detailed facts about every extant member of the genus Corvidae. They are particularly good at addressing the effects of human habitat on crows. They provide keen insight into corvid nesting and family habits, show how corvids learn culture, language and behaviour, and recommend ways to balance crow populations.”—A. J. Levin, Globe & Mail“This is a work bursting with fresh ideas, rich in speculation, while also managing to survey, in highly accessible terms, the full spectrum of research into this fascinating bird group.”—BBC Wildlife Magazine“A solid volume . . . [with] a vast amount of fascinating and provocative material.”—Birds“A book rich in descriptive language and juicy with insight and biological detail.”—New ScientistSemi-finalist and recipient of Honorable Mention for the 2006 Independent Publisher Book Awards in the Environment/Ecology/Nature categoryWinner of First Prize for the Victoria and Albert Museum Illustration Award Winner of the 2006 Washington State Book Award“Crows and ravens stir up much interest, precisely for the reasons John Marzluff and Tony Angell give in this handsomely illustrated work.”—Bernd Heinrich, author of Mind of the Raven“With engaging prose and compelling art, the authors tell us how our interactions with other species, especially crows and ravens, have influenced both us and them over the ages. . . . If you believe that we have great impacts on other species but that they have influenced us relatively little, then you should read this delightfully written and illustrated book.”—Gordon H. Orians, University of Washington“Throughout human history, crows have been reviled and revered in equal measure. Now the corvids of folklore and fable are living up to their reputation for cleverness, trickery and ingenuity. Marzluff and Angell’s wonderful book is a user’s guide to the biology and culture of these fascinating animals and a testament to man’s affinity with nature.”—Nathan Emery, University of Cambridge“Members of the crow family (corvids), which include ravens, jays and magpies, as well crows, have the reputation of being mischievous, machaevellian creatures, who steal other birds’ eggs and raid agricultural crops. But these corvids are also renowned for their wisdom as well as their deceit. This fascinating book describes not only the role corvids have played in our folklore but more generally how corvids have influenced human culture and the impact of humans on corvids. I hope this book will afford corvids the respect they deserve.”—Nicola Clayton, University of Cambridge“This is the most detailed account I know of concerning crows and their interaction with man. A very readable and thought-provoking book!”—Noble S. Proctor, Ph.D., author of Manual of Ornithology and A Field Guide to North Atlantic Wildlife

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Book SynopsisMore than a decade after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, what we are witnessing is not a Second Nuclear Age there is no post-atomic but an uncanny, quiet return of the nuclear threat that so vividly animated the Cold War era. The renewed threat of nuclear proliferation, public complacency regarding weapons stockpiles, and the lack of a single functioning long-term repository after seventy years and thousands of tonnes of nuclear waste reveals the industry's capacity for self-reinvention abetted by an ever-present capacity to forget. More than fabulously textual, as Jacques Derrida described it, the protean, unbound, and unending materiality of the nuclear is here to stay: resistance is crucial.Toxic Immanence introduces contemporary interdisciplinary perspectives that resist and decolonize the nuclear. Contributors highlight the prevalence and irrationality of slow violence and colonial governance as elements of the contemporary nuclear age. They propose a reaTrade Review“The first major collection of scholarship on nuclear energy humanities, …Toxic Immanence succeeds in setting the contours for a precise sector of study, while also bridging it to the well-established academic disciplines of environmental humanities, gender and sexuality studies, and critical Anthropocene studies, to name only a few.” H-Environment“Toxic Immanence succeeds in setting the contours for a precise sector of study, while also bridging it to the well-established academic disciplines of environmental humanities, gender and sexuality studies, and critical Anthropocene studies, to name only a few.” H-Environment

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Book SynopsisFor most of human history, states and regions were connected by long-distance commerce and war, yet they developed essentially separately. The century after 1750 marked a major shift. An Emerging Modern World, fourth in the six-volume series A History of the World, charts this transformative period outside the West.Trade ReviewErudite and expansive…An excellent resource for global historians. * Choice *The authors of this book all display not only the extraordinary range of erudition required to read, master, and summarize [world history] literature but a talent for synthesis and communication as well…The Harvard series in general and the volume under review in particular signal that world history has come of age. -- Patrick O’Brien * Journal of Modern History *

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Book SynopsisObject Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.Air conditioning aspires to be unnoticed. Yet, by manipulating the air around us, it quietly conditions the baseline conditions of our physical, mental, and emotional experience. From offices and libraries to contemporary art museums and shopping malls, climate control systems shore up the fantasy of a comfortable, self-contained body that does not have to reckon with temperature. At the same time that air conditioning makes temperature a non-issue in (some) people's daily lives, thermoceptionor the sensory perception of temperatureis being carefully studied and exploited as a tool of marketing, social control, and labor management. Yet air conditioning isn't for everybody: its reliance on carbon fuels divides the world into habitable, climate-controlled bubbles and increasingly uninhabitable environments where AC is unavailable. Hsuan Hsu''s Air Conditioning<Trade ReviewA cool blast of discomforting brilliance, Air Conditioning examines the conditioning of our indoor and interior climates of work, domesticity, and consumption. It is not inward looking to the sealed boxes and bubbles of air-conditioned detachment, but focused on the complex exchanges and inequalities involved in sustaining comfortable places, cooled bodies and technologies by making other places, and other (often poor and racialised) lives, uncomfortable and unliveable. Hsu’s book hums, ventilating ideas in an insistent, vital tone to show how this ordinary object, submerged within walls and behind vents, has mattered so much to us. * Peter Adey, Royal Holloway University of London, and author of Air (2014) *Hsuan L. Hsu demonstrates how air conditioning has radically transformed how we think, feel, and relate to others. After reading this book, you'll never be as comfortable in an air-conditioned room again – and that's exactly the point. * Bharat Venkat, Associate Professor of Society & Genetics, History, and Anthropology, Director of the UCLA Heat Lab, and author of At the Limits of Cure (2021) *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Why Air Conditioning? 1. Thermal Comfort 2. Bubbles: A Partial Typology 3. Weathermaking; Vicious Cycles 4. Cold Storage 5. The Racialization of Cooling 6. Global AC and the Great Uncooled Conclusion: Bursting Our Bubbles Index

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Book SynopsisIn his most wide-ranging and accessible work, Fredric Jameson argues that postmodernism is the cultural response to the latest systemic change in world capitalism. He seeks here to crystallize a definition of a term which has taken on so many meanings that it has virtually lost all historical significance.He presents an extensive discussion on the cultural landscape—both ‘high’ and ‘low’—of postmodernity, evaluating the political fortunes of the new term and surveying postmodern developments in a range of different fields—from market ideology to architecture, from painting and instalment art to contemporary punk film, from video art and high literature to deconstruction.Finally, Jameson revaluates the concept of postmodernism in light of postmodern critiques of totalization and historical narratives—from the notion of decadence to the dynamics of small groups, from religious fundamentalism to hi-tech science fiction—Trade ReviewFrederic Jameson is America's leading Marxist critic, a prodigiously energetic thinker whose writings sweep magisterially from Sophocles to science fiction...Postmodernism is a intellectual blockbuster ... a timely riposte to fashionable leftist pessimism as much as it is an intellectual feast. -- Terry Eagleton * Irish Times *For anybody hoping to understand not just the cultural but the political and social implications of postmodernism...Jameson's book is a fundamental, nonparaeil text. * Sunday Times *The scope and profundity of Postmodernism, covering theory, architecture, film, video and economics, is truly staggering...Brilliant. * Independent *

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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 SynopsisProfound and humane, Amartya Sen''s Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny examines some of the most explosive problems of our time and shows how we can move towards peace as firmly as we have spiralled towards war. In this penetrating book, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen argues that we are becoming increasingly divided along lines of religion and culture, ignoring the many other ways in which people see themselves, from class and profession to morals and politics. When we are put into narrow categories the importance of human life becomes lost. Through his lucid exploration of such subjects as multiculturalism, fundamentalism, terrorism and globalization, he brings out the need for a clear-headed understanding of human freedom and a constructive public voice in Global civil society. The hope of harmony in today''s world lies in a clearer understanding of our sheer diversity. ''Identity and Violence is a moving, powerful essay about tTrade Review'Identity and Violence is a moving, powerful essay about the mischief of bad ideas' Economist

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Book SynopsisWith its incorporation and representation of diverse perspectives, Samovar/Porter/McDaniel?s COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CULTURES, 10th Edition, helps students increase their understanding of the importance of cultural understanding for successful intercultural interactions. Packed with the latest research and compelling examples, this edition helps students look at their own assumptions, perceptions and cultural biases so they can see the subtle and profound ways culture affects communication. The 10th Edition addresses the importance of intercultural communication in the context of current global and technological and is accessible to all students, inclusive in its writing and personalization of activities.

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Book SynopsisHave a richer and more meaningful experience abroad through a better understanding of the local culture. Chapters on history, values, attitudes, and traditions will help you to better understand your hosts, while tips on etiquette and communicating will help you to navigate unfamiliar situations and avoid faux pas.

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Book SynopsisThe Literary Agenda is a series of short polemical monographs about the importance of literature and of reading in the wider world and about the state of literary education inside schools and universities. The category of ''the literary'' has always been contentious. What is clear, however, is how increasingly it is dismissed or is unrecognised as a way of thinking or an arena for thought. It is sceptically challenged from within, for example, by the sometimes rival claims of cultural history, contextualized explanation, or media studies. It is shaken from without by even greater pressures: by economic exigency and the severe social attitudes that can follow from it; by technological change that may leave the traditional forms of serious human communication looking merely antiquated. For just these reasons this is the right time for renewal, to start reinvigorated work into the meaning and value of literary reading.Being Literate in the 21st Century wrestles with critical, timely questions for 21st-century society. How does literacy change the human brain? What does it mean to be a literate or a non-literate person in the present digital culture: for example, what will be lost in the present reading brain, and what will be gained with different mediums than print? What are the consequences of a digital reading brain for the literary mind and for writing itself ? Can knowledge about the reading brain and advances in technology offer new forms of literacy and new forms of knowledge to the peoples in remote regions of the world who would never otherwise become literate? By using both research from cognitive neuroscience, psycholinguistics, child development, and education, and considering literary examples from world literature, Maryanne Wolf plots a course that seeks to preserve the deepest forms of reading from the past, while developing the cognitive skills necessary for this century''s next generation.Trade ReviewEssentially, the reader is here treated to two books in one-a thorough review of how deep reading and digital literacy are differently represented in the human brain, and a report on a global project to bring literacy to children (and adults) who, without mentors or teachers, would not have any other path to achieving it [...] both parts are well worth reading: erudite, well written and edited, and accessibly illustrated. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in state-of-the-art research on literacy. * Children's Literature Association Quarterly *I applaud Wolf. Tales of Literacy for the 21st Century provides readers with ample background information before building up to discuss case studies that use apps and tablets as reading tools. Rather than writing off digital culture as an impediment to learning-a view that is expected and trite in today's age-Wolf argues technology's potential. It is a refreshing perspective that is sure to foment productive discussion. Ergo, I suggest Wolf's text for anyone invested in education. * Lauren Stepp, Research in Online Literacy Education (ROLE) *Table of Contents1: Introduction 2: The Linguist's Tale 3: A Child's Tale 4: A Neuroscientist's Tale of Words 5: The Deep Reading Brain 6: A Second Revolution in the Brain 7: A Literacy Agenda for Non-Literate Children

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Book Synopsis“A richly detailed and well-informed month-by-month accounting of all the major Polish customs and traditions practiced over the centuries. Ms. Knab stirs and reawakens our ancestral memory.” ―The Kosciuszko Foundation Newsletter Now in a paperback edition with illustrations, historical black and white photographs, and color photographs throughout the book! This unique, well-researched reference is arranged by month, showing the various occasions, feasts and holidays prominent in Polish culture―beginning with December it continues through Holy Week Customs, superstitions, beliefs and rituals associated with farming, Pentecost, Corpus Christi, midsummer, harvest festival, wedding rites, Name Days, birth and death. There is also a chapter on Polish pastimes and games for children. Many of the customs and traditions described in the book have been lost even in today''s modern Poland. World wars, massive immigration, the loss of the oral tradition, urbanization and politics have changed the face of a once agrarian people and their way of life throughout the calendar year. The changes, however, have not been able to erase the memory of that way of life completely. Many communities of the Polish diaspora throughout the world still feel connected to Poland and choose to reenact harvest celebrations, reminding themselves of their ancestors'' reverence for the grains and gifts of bread. The sharing of opłatek, the Christmas Eve wafer, and the words of love while doing so, continue to bind family and friends together.  Although the purpose and meaning may have been lost and forgotten, the oczepiny ceremony (the unveiling) is still the mainstay of almost every wedding where the bride declares Polish heritage.   This invaluable resource is perfect for anyone who claims Polish ancestry, diligently practicing that which they learned at their parents'' and grandparents'' knees. It is for families who wish to teach Polish heritage and customs to their children, and for anyone seeking to learn more about their Slavic roots.

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Book SynopsisEND OF MILLENNIUM This final volume in Manuel Castells' trilogy studies the key defining processes taking place in the last decade of the twentieth century as an expression of the crises resulting from the transition between the old industrial society and the emerging global network society. Every now and then one reads a book of social science that is uplifting and mind expanding. These books are ambitious and lustrous, teaching us much about our world. Such is this work from the brilliant sociologist Manuel Castells. There is no other sociological work today that brings together in one panoramic expanse so many of the changes now occurring. This is a story not simply of global economic change, but of cultural upheavals. It is a tale not simply of the decline of sovereign states, but of the emergence of the new bases of power. And it is a narrative not merely about computer technology or the media, but of the very terms in which those agents work. Anthony M. Orum, Table of ContentsList of Tables xi List of Figures xii List of Charts xiii Preface to the 2010 Edition of End of Millennium xiv Acknowledgments 1997 xxvii A Time of Change 1 1 The Crisis of Industrial Statism and the Collapse of the Soviet Union 5 The Extensive Model of Economic Growth and the Limits of Hyperindustrialism 10 The Technology Question 26 The Abduction of Identity and the Crisis of Soviet Federalism 37 The Last Perestroika 46 Nationalism, Democracy, and the Disintegration of the Soviet State 56 The Scars of History, the Lessons for Theory, the Legacy for Society 62 2 The Rise of the Fourth World: Informational Capitalism, Poverty, and Social Exclusion 69 Toward a Polarized World? A Global Overview 74 The De-humanization of Africa 85 Marginalization and selective integration of Sub-Saharan Africa in the informational-global economy 85 Africa’s technological apartheid at the dawn of the Information Age 93 The predatory state 97 Zaïre: the personal appropriation of the state 100 Nigeria: oil, ethnicity, and military predation 103 Ethnic identity, economic globalization, and state formation in Africa 106 Africa’s plight 116 Africa’s hope? The South African connection 123 Out of Africa or back to Africa? The politics and economics of self-reliance 128 The New American Dilemma: Inequality, Urban Poverty, and Social Exclusion in the Information Age 130 Dual America 131 The inner-city ghetto as a system of social exclusion 142 When the underclass goes to hell 150 Globalization, Over-exploitation, and Social Exclusion: the View from the Children 154 The sexual exploitation of children 159 The killing of children: war massacres and child soldiers 162 Why children are wasted 164 Conclusion: the Black Holes of Informational Capitalism 166 3 The Perverse Connection: the Global Criminal Economy 171 Organizational Globalization of Crime, Cultural Identification of Criminals 173 The Pillage of Russia 185 The structural perspective 189 Identifying the actors 190 Mechanisms of Accumulation 193 Narcotrafico, Development, and Dependency in Latin America 198 What are the economic consequences of the drugs industry for Latin America? 202 Why Colombia? 204 The Impact of Global Crime on Economy, Politics, and Culture 209 4 Development and Crisis in the Asian Pacific: Globalization and the State 215 The Changing Fortunes of the Asian Pacific 215 Heisei’s Japan: Developmental State versus Information Society 223 A social model of the Japanese developmental process 225 Declining sun: the crisis of the Japanese model of development 236 The end of ‘‘Nagatacho politics’’ 248 Hatten Hokka and Johoka Shakai: a contradictory relationship 251 Japan and the Pacific 258 Beheading the Dragon? Four Asian Tigers with a Dragon Head, and their Civil Societies 259 Understanding Asian development 261 Singapore: state nation-building via multinational corporations 262 South Korea: the state production of oligopolistic capitalism 266 Taiwan: flexible capitalism under the guidance of an inflexible state 270 Hong Kong model versus Hong Kong reality: small business in a world economy, and the colonial version of the welfare state 274 The breeding of the tigers: commonalities and dissimilarities in their process of economic development 279 The developmental state in East Asian industrialization: on the concept of the developmental state 286 The rise of the developmental state: from the politics of survival to the process of nation-building 288 The state and civil society in the restructuring of East Asia: how the developmental state succeeded in the development process 293 Divergent paths: Asian ‘‘tigers’’ in the economic crisis 297 Democracy, identity, and development in East Asia in the 1990s 303 Chinese Developmental Nationalism with Socialist Characteristics 311 The new Chinese revolution 312 Guanxi capitalism? China in the global economy 317 China’s regional developmental states and the bureaucratic (capitalist) entrepreneurs 321 Weathering the storm? China in the Asian economic crisis 325 Democracy, development, and nationalism in the new China 328 Conclusion: Globalization and the State 337 5 The Unification of Europe: Globalization, Identity, and the Network State 342 European Unification as a Sequence of Defensive Reactions: a Half-century Perspective 344 Globalization and European Integration 352 Cultural Identity and European Unification 361 The Institutionalization of Europe: the Network State 365 European Identity or European Project? 368 Conclusion: Making Sense of our World 371 Genesis of a New World 372 A New Society 376 The New Avenues of Social Change 387 Beyond this Millennium 389 What is to be Done? 394 Finale 395 Summary of Contents of Volumes I and II 397 References 399 Index 433

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Book SynopsisIn this comprehensive open access book, written for readers from any or no religious background, Leena El-Ali does something remarkable. Never before has anyone taken on every last claim relating to Islam and women and countered it not just with Qur’anic evidence to the contrary, but with easy-to-use tools available to all. How can a woman’s testimony be worth half of a man’s? How can men divorce their wives unilaterally by uttering three words? And what’s with the obsession with virgins in Paradise? Find the chapter on any of the seventeen topics in this book, and you will quickly learn a) where the myth came from and b) how to bust it. The methodology pursued is simple. First, the Qur’an is given priority over all other literary or “scriptural” sources. Second, the meaning of its verses in the original Arabic is highlighted, in contrast to English translations and/or widespread misunderstanding or misinterpretation. Table of ContentsPart I First the Qur’an, then Islam1. A Spiritual Journey2. Hadith Corpus3. Hadith Content4. Women and the Development of hadith LiteratureAT A GLANCE: First the Qur’an, then IslamPart II The Nature of Women5. Women Were Not Created of Inferior Celestial Material6. Eve Is Not Blamed for the Fall from Eden, Nor Are Women Guilty by Association7. Women Are Not a Constant Source of Social Discord – Nor Naturally Conniving!8. Women Were Created with the Exact Same Spiritual and Intellectual Capacity as Men, So of Course They Can Lead9. When Men Deprive Women of Their Free Will, They Are Not Protecting Anyone: They Are Obstructing God’s Plan10. God Does Not Prefer Sons Over Daughters (!)AT A GLANCE: The Nature of WomenPart III The Rights of Women11. Women Were Not Meant to Be Subordinate to Men12. Inheritance: No, Women Did Not Get the Short End of the Stick13. Nuptials: Women Do Have the Right to Choose Their Own Spouse, and How the Qur’anic Nuptial Agreement Advocates for the Bride14. Marriage: A Sublime Institution, Not Mere Social Contract15. Divorce: Men Do Not Hold all the Cards – The Qur’an Actually Levels the Playing Field Through Mandated Process and EtiquetteAT A GLANCE: The Rights of WomenPart IV Some Inconvenient Truths16. Clothing: There Is No Dress Code for Women Beyond Covering their Private Parts, as with Men17. Segregation: There Is No Restriction on Men and Women Mingling18. Witnesses: A Woman’s Testimony Is Worth the Same as a Man’s, Except in Two Cases Where It May Count for More or LessAT A GLANCE: Some Inconvenient TruthsPart V Carnal Matters19. Sexual Misconduct: What the Qur’an Tells Us About Pre-Marital vs Extra-Marital Sex20. Domestic Violence: The Qur’an Does Not Instruct Husbands to Hit Their Wives for “Disobedience” or Anything Else21. Virgins: There Are No 72 Virgins Waiting for Anyone in Paradise AT A GLANCE: Carnal Matters

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