Cultural studies Books

Book SynopsisMajestic, noble, brave lions, with their tawny coats and luminous eyes, have inspired countless stories, traditions and beliefs. Whether we are seduced by their beauty or drawn to danger, we want to be near them. No other animal has had such an enduring symbolic resonance; lions have been painted on wood and canvas, chiselled in stone, cast in metal and featured on the pages of medieval manuscripts. In this lavishly illustrated book, Deirdre Jackson draws on the latest scientific research, folklore, travel literature, lion tamers' memoirs and little-known sources to guide readers on a memorable cultural safari. Roaring lions sound invincible, but like other large, wide-ranging predators they are in danger of disappearing. Poised at the top of the ecological pyramid, these adaptable and gregarious animals have always been far less plentiful than those on which they prey. The vulnerable African lion is now confined to the sub-Sahara, and its Asian cousin is critically endangered. "Lion", one of the few books to consider both, traces our relationship with the animals through the centuries and paints a fresh picture of these charismatic creatures.Trade Review'will appeal even to those who would never normally pick up a book on the natural world.' - Mary Beard, The Guardian 'Books of the Year' 'Considering that 30-odd titles have appeared in Reaktion's superbly realised Animals series, it has taken a surprising time to reach the king of beasts. Still, it was worth the wait. Jackson has produced a fascinating volume of leonine revelations ... she provides plenty for big cat lovers to purr about.' - The IndependentTable of ContentsPreface Introduction 1 Lions at Large 2 Captive Cats 3 Lion Lore and Legend 4 In Pursuit of the Lion 5 Golden Remnant Timeline References Select Bibliography Associations and Websites Acknowledgements Photo Acknowledgements Index

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Book SynopsisWhat do the English think? Every country has a dominant set of beliefs and attitudes concerning everything from how to live a good life, how we should organize society, and the roles of the sexes. Yet despite many attempts to define our national character, what might be called the nation's philosophy has remained largely unexamined until now. Philosopher Julian Baggini pinpointed postcode S66 on the outskirts of Rotherham as England in microcosm - an area that reflected most accurately the full range of the nation's inhabitants, its most typical mix of urban and rural, old and young, married and single. He then spent six months living there, immersing himself in this typical English Everytown, in order to get to know the mind of a people. It sees the world as full of patterns and order, a view manifest in its enjoyment of gambling. It has a functional, puritanical streak, evident in its notoriously bad cuisine. In the English mind, men should be men and women should be women (but it's not sure what children should be). Baggini's account of the English is both a portrait of its people and a personal story about being an alien in your own land. Sympathetic but critical, serious yet witty, Welcome to Everytown shows a country in which the familiar becomes strange, and the strange familiar.Trade Review'This is a thoughtful, sympathetic portrait of white working-class life which is essential reading' Guardian

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Book SynopsisDo South Africans Exist? addresses a gap in contemporary studies of nationalism and the nation, providing a critical study of South African nationalism, against a broader context of African nationalism in general. Narratives of resistance, telling of African peoples oppressed and exploited, presume that 'the people' preceded the period of nationalist struggle. This book explores how an African 'people' came into being in the first place, particularly in the South African context, as a collectivity organised in pursuit of a political, and not simply cultural, end. The author argues that the nation is a political community whose form is given in relation to the pursuit of democracy and freedom, and that if democratic authority is lodged in 'the people', what matters is the way that this 'people' is defined, delimited and produced. He argues that the nation precedes the state, not because it has always existed, but because it emerges in and through the nationalist struggle for state power. Ultimately, he encourages the reader to re-evaluate knee-jerk judgements about the failure of modernity in Africa.Trade ReviewPhilosophically grounded, theoretically nuanced, politically controversial and yet urgently relevant, Do South Africans Exist? contains within its pages the four elements necessary to make it an absolute 'must read'. Focussed on the question of what constitutes South Africanness, what makes us a nation, its argument is relevant to probably every major debate about contemporary South Africa. Ultimately this book is about the South African political experiment and the potential for its consolidation. - ADAM HABIB, Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa Do South Africans Exist? makes a spiky, original and distinctive contribution to the existing literature on nationalism and nation-building in South Africa. It traverses several disciplines - political philosophy, historicised political science, and critical theory - and in doing so, reintroduces the particular case of African nationalism into the more general understanding of nations and nationalism. Chipkin uses lively, forceful prose to handle complex issues. - COLIN BUNDY, Green College, Oxford, UK This book is a major contribution to political theory, of democracy and of nationalism, drawing upon a perceptive analysis of South African experience. - GORAN THERBORN, University of Cambridge, UKTable of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Acronyms Introduction: The Sublime Object of Nationalism Chapter 1: The Nature of African Nationalism Chapter 2: The Democratic Origin of Nations Chapter 3: African Nationalism in South Africa Chapter 4: The South African Nation Chapter 5: The Impossibility of the National Community Chapter 6: The Production of the Public Domain Chapter 7: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Identity of ‘the People’ Conclusion: Notes Towards a Theory of the Democratic Limit Endnotes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn this book Natasha Distiller explores historic and contemporary uses of Shakespeare in South African society which illustrate the complexities of colonial and post-colonial realities as they relate to iconic Englishness. Beginning with Solomon Plaatje, the author looks at the development of an elite group educated in English and able to use Shakespeare to formulate South African works and South African identities. Refusing simple or easy answers, Distiller then explores the South African Shakespearian tradition postapartheid. Touching on the work of, amongst others, Can Themba, Bloke Modisane, Antony Sher, Stephen Francis, Rico Schacherl and Kopano Matlwa, and including the popular media as well as school textbooks, Shakespeare and the Coconuts engages with aspects of South Africa’s complicated, painful, fascinating political and cultural worlds, and their intersections. Written in an accessible style to explain current cultural theory, Shakespeare and the Coconuts will be of interest to students, academics and the general interested reader.

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Book SynopsisMany universities in South Africa have acquired new works of art for key spaces on their campuses. These works convey messages about the advantages of cultural diversity, but recently acquired sculptures, paintings and tapestries also critically engage with histories of racial intolerance and conflict. A current concern among tertiary South African institutions is the influence of British imperialism or Afrikaner nationalism on aspects of their inherited visual culture. Discussions from within the art world around the curatorship of art, memorials, insignia and regalia has shed light on these outmoded colonial value systems which universities now wish to distance themselves from. In Picturing Change, Brenda Schmahmann explores the implications of deploying the visual domain in the service of transformative agendas. In other words, how do universities reflect, through the visual objects on their campuses, on their revisionist aims and endorsements of cultural diversity? While most new commissions are innovative, there have been instances in which universities in South Africa have acquired works of art with potentially traditionalist – even backward-looking – implications. And while imperatives to remove inherited imagery may be underpinned by a wish to unsettle white privilege, there have in fact been occasions in which such actions have served to maintain the status quo. Further, while many expected that a post-apartheid era would have freed artists from censorship, some images produced or shown under the auspices of universities have in fact been susceptible to proscription for supposedly articulating hate speech. Schmahmann identifies and analyses a range of approaches taken by universities and commissioned artists towards these ‘troublesome’ visual objects .This study is the first to consider imagery at a range of tertiary institutions in the country, and it is unique in its exploration of a transformative ethos in the visual domain at universities. It will be invaluable to readers interested in public art and the politics of curating and collecting, and also to those concerned with the challenges involved in transforming contemporary universities into spaces welcoming of diversity in South Africa.Table of ContentsNegotiating sculptures and memorials from the early twentieth century; Rethinking university insignia; New art acquisitions; Portraits of university officers; Controversies.

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Book SynopsisHow do Muslims fit into South Africa’s well-known narrative of colonialism, apartheid, and postapartheid? South Africa is known for apartheid, but the country’s foundation was laid by 176 years of slavery from 1658 to 1834, which formed a crucible of war, genocide, and systemic sexual violence that continues to shape the country today. Enslaved people from East Africa, India, and Southeast Asia, many of whom were Muslim, would eventually constitute the majority of the population of the colony. Drawing on an extensive popular and official archive, Regarding Muslims analyzes the role of Muslims from South Africa’s founding moments to the contemporary period and points to the resonance of these discussions elsewhere. It argues that the 350-year archive of images documenting the presence of Muslims in South Africa is central to understanding the formation of concepts of race, sexuality, and belonging. In contrast to the themes of extremism and alienation that dominate Western portrayals of Muslims, Regarding Muslims explores an extensive repertoire of picturesque Muslim figures in South African popular culture, which oscillates with more disquieting images that occasionally burst into prominence during moments of crisis. This pattern is illustrated through analyses of etymology, popular culture, visual art, jokes, bodily practices, oral narratives, and literature. The book ends with the complex vision of Islam conveyed in the postapartheid period.Table of ContentsBeginnings in South Africa; Ambiguous Visibility: Islam and the Making of a South African Visuality; "Kitchen Language": Islam and the Culture of Food in South Africa; "The Sea Inside Us": Parallel Universalism and Homemade Cosmopolitanism in the African Oceans; Sexual Geographies: Slavery, Race and Sexual Violence; Regarding Islam: Pagad, Masked Men and Veiled Women; "The Trees Sway North-North-East": South African Visions of Islam.

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Book SynopsisWhat does friendship have to do with racial difference, settler colonialism and post-apartheid South Africa? While histories of apartheid and colonialism in South Africa have often focused on the ideologies of segregation and white supremacy, Ties that Bind explores how the intimacies of friendship create vital spaces for practices of power and resistance. Combining interviews, history poetry, visual arts, memoir and academic essay, the collection keeps alive the promise of friendship and its possibilities while investigating how affective relations are essential to the social reproduction of power. From the intimacy of personal relationships to the organising ideology of liberal colonial governance, the contributors explore the intersection of race and friendship from a kaleidoscope of viewpoints and scales. Insisting on a timeline that originates in settler colonialism, Ties that Bind uncovers the implication of anti-Blackness within nonracialism, and powerfully challenges a simple reading of the Mandela moment and the rainbow nation. In the wake of countrywide student protests calling for decolonization of the university, and reignited debates around racial inequality, this timely volume insists that the history of South African politics has always already been about friendship.Written in an accessible and engaging style, Ties that Bind will interest a wide audience of scholars, students, and activists, as well as general readers curious about contemporary South African debates around race and intimacy.Trade Review"Ties that Bind is an intriguing and long overdue book about race and friendship. It marks a time worldwide when virtual friendships are fast becoming the norm. And yet, after reading the chapters, one is left with a clearer sense of what it takes - or might take in the future - to actually be friends across race." - Sarah Nuttall is author of Entanglement: Literary and Cultural Reflections on Post-apartheidTable of ContentsIntroduction: Times, Scales, and Spaces of Friendship in South Africa Shannon Walsh and Jon Soske; 1. With Friends like These: The Politics of Friendship in Post-Apartheid South Africa Sisonke Msimang; 2. Bound by Violence: Scratching beginnings and Endings with Lesego Rampolokeng Stacy Hardy and Lesego Rampolokeng; 3. 'Friend of the Family': Maids, Madams, and Domestic Cartographies of Power in South African Art Neelika Jayawardane; 4. The Impossible Handshake: The Fault Lines of Friendship in Colonial Natal, 1850-1910 T.J. Tallie; 5. The Problem with 'We': Affi liation, Political Economy, and the Counterhistory of Nonracialism Franco Barchiesi; 6. "A Song of Seeing": Art Education and the place of friendship under Apartheid Daniel Magaziner; 7. Corner Loving: Ways of speaking about Love MADEYOULOOK; 8. Affect and the State: Precarious workers, the law and the promise of friendship Bridget Kenny; 9. The Native Informant speaks back to the offer of friendship in white academia Mosa Phadi & Nomancotsho Pakade; 10. Kutamba Naye: In Search of Anti-Racist and Queer Solidarities Tsitsi Jaji; 11. Afropessimism and Friendship in South Africa: An interview with Frank Wilderson III Shannon Walsh.

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive, absorbing and essential story of India, published to coincide with the 60th anniversary of Indian independence.

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Book SynopsisThe first ever examination of dyslexia from a cultural perspective.

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive, absorbing and essential story of India, published to coincide with India's 60th anniversary of independence.

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Book SynopsisBased on over thirty years of conversations and interactions with Americans and Asians, Korean American Eun Kim presents American virtues and vices from an Asian perspective, using the ancient Asian concepts of yin and yang, which coexist in everything and complete each other to maintain cosmic harmony. In this way, Kim draws us to look at the yang (light) mirror of American vices and the yin (dark) mirror or American virtues. Examples of the virtues she discusses are generosity, competitive spirit, openness, and volunteerism. Some of the vices she explores are insistence on rights, refusal to grow up, arrogance, and tolerance of violence. In her fifty entries, the author describes and illustrates an American value and provides an Asian perspective on it as well as what she believes to be the dangers and opportunities inherent to each value. She uses personal experience, anecdotes and quotes from Asians and Americans both famous and unknown, historical background, general wisdom, and proverbs to enrich her writing. Eun Kim straddles two cultures, her Asian homeland and her adopted country, the United States. This is a highly personal and readable book, with insights that may make the American reader squirm uncomfortably in one paragraph and glow with pride in the next.Trade ReviewFor those Americans who wish to follow the adage, 'Know thyself, this straightforward book can be a guide. -- Deena Levine & AssociatesSince September 11, we've read a lot of articles that analyze 'Why They Hate Us. But, even though there's no denying many people around the world do hate America, a 'love-hate' attitude actually is more prevalent, argues Eun Y. Kim. There are plenty of practical reasons to read this book. Americans do business around the world and welcome millions of visitors and immigrants each year. But it's also just plain fun to see ourselves through the eyes of others. -- Mike Revzin, Journal ConstitutionA thoughtful and enlightening book based on a cross-cultural odyssey and enriched with social consciousness. Harnessing the concepts of yin and yang, the author has deciphered the fascinating kaleidoscope of American culture. The book will benefit cross-cultural trainers, diplomats, international business leaders, and the global reading public. -- Dr. DaChang Cong, Head of American Studies Program, University of Texas at Dallas

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Book SynopsisThe first collection of essays by groundbreaking cultural critic Luc Sante, described by William Gibson as having Burning passion, and a prose style to die for.''

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Book SynopsisSeveral hundred Huguenot refugee artists and craftsmen are recorded as working in London before and after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, which marked the height of the persecution of the Protestants in France. This book is an introduction to the range of their artistic contributions, centred on the British metropolis, and the extents of their artistic influence outside London. Huguenots are associated with the London goldsmiths' and silkweaving trades, but their contribution to art education, decorative painting, engraving, sculpture, wood-work, furniture, upholstery, jewellry and watch-making in this period is less well known.Trade Review"An excellent introduction to the subject ... pleasing illustrations of Huguenot craftmanship." TLS

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Book SynopsisThe Jewish Cultural Studies series offers a contemporary view of Jewish culture around the globe. Multidisciplinary, multi-focused, and eclectic, it covers the cultural practices of secular Jews as well as of religious Jews of all persuasions, and from historical as well as contemporary perspectives. It also considers the range of institutions that represent and respond to Jewishness, including museums, the media, synagogues, and schools. More than a series on Jewish ideas, it uncovers ideas of being Jewish. This volume proposes that the idea of 'Jewish', or what people think of as 'Jewishness', is revealed in expressions of culture and applied in constructions of identity and representation. In Part I, 'Expression', Elly Teman considers how the kabbalistic red string found at sites throughout Israel conveys a political and psychological response to terrorism. Sergey Kravtsov examines Jewish and non-Jewish narratives concerning a synagogue in eastern Europe. Miriam Isaacs looks at expressions of cultural continuity in DP camps in the aftermath of the Holocaust, and Jascha Nemtsov discusses how Jewish folk music was presented as high art in early twentieth-century Germany. In Part II, 'Identity', Joachim Schlor enquires how the objects taken by emigrants leaving Germany for Palestine after Hitler's rise to power represented their identities. Hanna Kliger, Bea Hollander-Goldfein, and Emilie Passow examine how survivors' narratives become integrated into family identities. Olga Gershenson offers close readings of how the identities of Jews as enacted in post-perestroika films highlight conflicting Russian attitudes towards Jews. Ted Merwin considers commercial establishments as 'sacred spaces' for Jewish secular identities. Part III, 'Representation', opens with stories collected in Israel by Ilana Rosen from Jews who lived in Carpatho-Russia, while Judith Lewin considers the characterization of the Jewish woman in French literature. Holly Pearse and Mikel Koven, respectively, decode the Jewishness of modern radio comedy and Hollywood film. The idea of Jewishness is applied in the volume with provocative interpretations of Jewish experience, and fresh approaches to the understanding of Jewish cultural expressions. CONTRIBUTORS Simon J. Bronner, Olga Gershenson, Bea Hollander-Goldfein, Miriam Isaacs, Hannah Kliger, Mikel J. Koven, Sergey R. Kravtsov, Judith Lewin, Ted Merwin, Jascha Nemtsov, Emilie S. Passow, Holly A. Pearse, Ilana Rosen, Joachim Schlor, Elly TemanTrade Review'These essays often get to the heart of how Jewish cultural identity is still constructed today by Jews-religious and secular-and by non-Jews ... Recommended.' S. Ward, ChoiceTable of ContentsNote on Transliteration Preface SIMON J. BRONNERIntroduction: The Chutzpah of Jewish Cultural Studies SIMON J. BRONNER Part I: Expression1 The Red String: The Cultural History of a Jewish Folk Symbol ELLY TEMAN2 A Synagogue in Olyka: Architecture and Legends SERGEY R. KRAVTSOV3 Yiddish in the Aftermath: Speech Community and Cultural Continuity in Displaced Persons Camps MIRIAM ISAACS4 'National Dignity' and 'Spiritual Reintegration': The Discovery and Presentation of Jewish Folk Music in Germany JASCHA NEMTSOV Part II: Identity5 'Take Down Mezuzahs, Remove Name-Plates': The Emigration of Objects from Germany to Palestine JOACHIM SCHLA-R6 Holocaust Narratives and their Impact: Personal Identification and Communal Roles HANNAH KLIGER, BEA HOLLANDER-GOLDFEIN and EMILIE PASSOW7 Ambivalence, Identity, and Russian-Jewish Culture OLGA GERSHENSON8 The Delicatessen as an Icon of Secular Jewishness TED MERWIN Part III: Representation9 Hasidism versus Zionism as Remembered by Carpatho-Russian Jews between the Two World Wars ILANA ROSEN10 The Sublimity of the Jewish Type: Balzac's Belle Juive as Virgin Magdalene aux Camelias JUDITH LEWIN11 As Goyish as Lime Jell-O? Jack Benny and the American Construction of Jewishness HOLLY A. PEARSE 12 Jewish Coding: Cultural Studies and Jewish-American Cinema MIKEL KOVENNotes on ContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisFor a Jew, describing a place as 'home' conveys connotations of heritage as well as of residence. Additionally, feeling 'at home' suggests a sense of comfort in one's social surroundings. The questions at the heart of this volume are: what things make a home 'Jewish', materially and emotionally, and what is it that makes Jews feel 'at home' in their environment? The material dimensions are explored through a study of the symbolic and ritual objects that convey Jewishness and a consideration of other items that may be used to express Jewish identity in the home-something that the introduction identifies as 'living-room Judaism'. The discussion is geographically and ethnically wide-ranging, and the transformation of meaning attached to different objects in different environments is contextualized, as, for example, in Shalom Sabar's study of {h.}amsa amulets in Morocco and Israel. For diasporic Jewish culture, the question of feeling at home is an emotional issue that frequently emerges in literature, folklore, and the visual and performing arts. The phrase 'at-homeness in exile' aptly expresses the tension between the different heritages with which Jews identify, including that between the biblical promised land and the cultural locations from which Jewish migration emanated. The essays in this volume take a closer look at the way in which ideas about feeling at home as a Jew are expressed in literature originating in Brazil, Argentina, and the United States, and also at the political ramifications of these emotions. The question is further explored in a series of exchanges on the future of Jews feeling 'at home' in Australia, Germany, Israel, and the United States. Jews at Home is the first book to examine the theme of the Jewish home materially and emotionally from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including literature, history, anthropology, sociology, psychology, art history, and folk and popular culture. The essays in the collection use the theme of home and the concept of domestication to revise understanding of the lived (and built) past, and to open new analytical possibilities for the future. Its discussion of domestic culture and its relevance to Jewish identity is one with which readers should feel right at home.Table of ContentsNote on TransliterationPreface and AcknowledgementsIntroduction: The Dualities of House and Home in Jewish Culture SIMON J. BRONNERPart I: In and Out of the Home1 The Domestication of Urban Jewish Space and the North-West London Eruv JENNIFER COUSINEAU2 Every Wise Woman Shoppeth for her House: The Sisterhood Gift Shop and the American Jewish Home in the Mid-Twentieth Century JOELLYN WALLEN ZOLLMAN Part II: Sacred, Secular, and Profane in the Home3 Reimagining Home, Rethinking Sukkah: Rabbinic Discourse and Its Contemporary Implications MARJORIE LEHMAN4 From Sacred Symbol to Keychain: The Hamsah in Jewish and Israeli Societies SHALOM SABAR5 770 Eastern Parkway: The Rebbe's Home as Icon GABRIELLE A. BERLINGER6 From the Nightclub to the Living Room: Party Records of Three Jewish Women Comics GIOVANNA P. DEL NEGROPart III: Writing Home7 Samuel Rawet's Wandering Jew: Jewish Brazilian Monologues of Home and Displacement ROSANA KOHL BINES8 Home in the Pampas: Alberto Gerchunoff's Jewish Gauchos MONICA SZURMUK9 Domesticity and the Home(Page): Blogging and the Blurring of Public and Private among Orthodox Jewish Women ANDREA LIEBERPart IV: Forum: Feeling at HomeIntroduction10 Culture Mavens: Feeling at Home in America JENNA WEISSMAN JOSELITResponses11 At Home in the World DAVID KRAEMER12 The Co-Construction of Europe as a Jewish Home JOACHIM SCHLÖR13 'Culture Mavens' from an Australian Jewish Perspective SUZANNE D. RUTLAND14 There's No Place Like Home: America, Israel, and the (Mixed) Blessings of Assimilation MICHAEL P. KRAMER15 The Last Word: A Response JENNA WEISSMAN JOSELITNotes on ContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisVolume 2 of a collection of occasional papers on the Paths of Symbolic Knowledge in Cassirer and Cultural-theory Studies, presented at the University of Glasgow''s Centre for Intercultural Studies.

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Book SynopsisTimor-Leste has had a troubled history and faces an uncertain future. Having experienced colonisation for centuries followed by the Indonesian occupation, with all its abuses of human rights, Timor-Leste emerged as an independent state, based on the rule of law and on respect for human rights. The last few years have shown that no society is simple and that the complex influences of the past continue to shape political, social and cultural realities. This book seeks to examine contemporary challenges for justice and human rights in the shadow of the past. It approaches the task from a broad, interdisciplinary perspective, conscious of the need to integrate insights not only of scholars immersed in human rights, international criminal justice and customary law, but of others whose backgrounds are in international relations, history, anthropology, demography, sociology, geography and ecologyTable of ContentsJustice Systems in Historical and Cultural Perspective 1. Rod Nixon, Non-State Actors as Agents of Order: Suco Justice and Dispute Resolution Systems in East Timor 2. Laura Grenfell, Harnessing Local Law in the Post-Conflict State: The Case of Timor-Leste 3. James T. Thomson, Justice in East Timor: Super-Naturally-Based Local Enforcement Systems Focusing on Renewable Natural Resources. The Indonesian Occupation and Its Aftermath 4. Sarah Staveteig, How Many Persons in East Timor went 'Missing' During the Indonesian Occupation?: Results from Indirect Estimates 5. Dominik Zaum, Building the Rule of Law after Conflict: UNTAET and Judicial Institution Building in East Timor 6.Clinton Fernandes, The Continuity of Australian Foreign Policy towards East Timor 7. Simon Philpott, Postcolonial Troubles: The Politics of Transitional Justice in Timor-Leste 8.William Binchy, The Constitution of Timor-Leste in Comparative Perspective International Law and Human Rights 9. Gernot Biehler, Current International Law Influences in the Government of Timor-Leste 10. Jackson Nyamuya Maogoto, East Timor's Tortured March to Statehood: The Triangle of Self-Determination, International Norms and Realpolitik 11. Clive Symmons, Denial of Self-Determination and Utilisation of Natural Resources by an Illegal Occupier of Territory: the Role of Non-Recognition in such Instances in the Light of the East Timor Case and the Situation in Western Sahara 12. Fernand de Varennes, Timor-Leste's Language Policy: Does It Breach International Law? Gender 13. Carolyn Graydon, Time to get Serious about Women's Rights in Timor-Leste: Wrestling Change from the Grassroots Up 14. Susan Harris Rimmer, Beloved Madam: The Indonesian ad hoc Human Rights Court Impunity, Truth and Reconciliation 15. Guy Cumes, Impunity, Truth and the Rule of Law: The Political Compromise of Accountability and Justice for Human Rights Atrocities in East Timor 16. Joseph Nevins, Truth, Justice and Reconciliation for East Timor in a World of Lions and Mice 17. Jeff Kingston, Human Rights, Justice and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste 18. Spencer Zifcak, Combining Community Reconciliation and Local Justice: A Modest Proposal for Reform

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Book SynopsisIn Spoilt Rotten, social commentator Theodore Dalrymple (Our Culture or What is Left of It, 2009) grinds his axe at our sentimentality-centric culture where feelings have become the yardstick of everything we do: safe driving, education, taking of responsibility (none), sentimentality (everywhere). In this forensic polemic of maudlin popular culture from X-factor to Super Nannies, Dalrymple wields his scalpel at all our modern sacred cows. Children will be speechless, for once, parents will hang their heads in shame!Trade Review* ‎"Excellent... We have created an unprecedentedly egocentric generation, where giving in to your emotions is a human right." Neil Hamilton Sunday Express, five star full-page review * ‎'Witty, always punchy and sometimes rapier-like.' Tom Adair, Scotsman * 'Not since Christopher Hitchen's assault on Mother Theresa have so many sacred cows been slaughtered in such a slim volume.' Jonathan Sumption, Spectator * 'One of our most celebrated essayists... he stands out.' Toby Young, 4-star page review Mail on Sunday * 'Excellent.' Toby Young, telegraph.co.uk * 'Entertaining - really good stories.' Nigel Burke, Express * 'Inimitable.' Specator.co.uk * Telegraph Bookshop No 1 Bestseller * Amazon Top 5 Modern Culture Bestseller

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Book SynopsisAn insight into black deaths in police custody and institutionalised racism in Britain.

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Book SynopsisThis book focuses on the developments in research, national-historical narratives, and geographies of East Central Europe. It explores the emergence of specific discursive practices, architectures of ethnic identity, and the eventual juxtaposition during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.Table of ContentsPart I: Religion and Education 1. Clerical Agency and the Politics of Scriptural Translation: The 'Canonization' of the Gagauz Language in Southern Bessarabia 2. Between Loyalty, Tradition and Change: The Karlovci Gymnasium in the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, 1917–1929 Part II: Minorities 3. More Hungarian Hungarians, More Human Humans': Social and National Discourse on Hungarian Minorities in the Interwar Period 4. Pursuing the Fascist Promise: The Transylvanian Saxon 'Self-Help' from Genesis to Empowerment, 1922–1935 5. Nationalizing the Moldavian Csangos: Clericalism and Ethnic Mobilization in World War II Romania and Hungary Part III: Language and Literature 6. Writing from Within': Jewish Romanian Writers on Jewish Life in Interwar Romania 7. Ukrainian Galicia at the Crossroads: The 'Ruthenian Alphabet War' of 1834 Part IV: Tradition and Memory 8. Folk-lingerie' and Other New Traditions: Górale Cultural Entrepreneurialism on the Margins of Poland 9. How to Tell the Story of Your Grandparents?: Ethical Dilemmas of Postmemory

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Book SynopsisModernity offers people choices about who they want to be and how they want to appear to others. The way in which Jews choose to frame their identity establishes the dynamic of their social relations with other Jews and non-Jews - a dynamic complicated by how non-Jews position the boundaries around what and who they define as Jewish. This book uncovers these processes, historically, as well as in contemporary behavior, and finds explanations for the various manifestations, in feeling and action, of 'being Jewish.' Boundaries and borders raise fundamental questions about the difference between Jews and non-Jews. At root, the question is how 'Jewish' is understood in social situations where people recognize or construct boundaries between their own identity and those of others. The question is important because this is by definition the point at which the lines of demarcation between Jews and non-Jews, and between different groupings of Jews, are negotiated. Collectively, the contributors to the book expand our understanding of the social dynamics of framing Jewish identity. The book opens with an introduction that locates the issues raised by the contributors in terms of the scholarly traditions from which they have evolved. Part I presents four essays dealing with the construction and maintenance of boundaries - two by scholars showing how boundaries come to be etched on an ethnic landscape and two by activists who question and adjust distinctions among neighbors. Part II focuses on expressive means of conveying identity and memory, while, in Part III, the discussion turns to museum exhibitions and festive performances as locations for the negotiation of identity in the public sphere. A lively discussion forum concludes the book with a consideration of the paradoxes of Jewish heritage revival in Poland, and the perception of that revival by Jews and non-Jews. *** ..".these essays help us understand the social dynamics of Jewish identity and how identity is constructed in modern life." -- AJL Reviews, February/March 2015 (Series: Jewish Cultural Studies - Vol. 4) [Subject: Jewish Studies, Cultural Studies]Table of ContentsNote on TransliterationIntroduction: Framing Jewish Culture  Simon J. BronnerPART I: BOUNDARY CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE1 Representing Jewish Culture: The Problem of Boundaries  Jonathan Webber2 Trickster’s Children: Genealogies of Jewishness in Anthropology  Jonathan Boyarin3 Selective Inclusion: Integration and Isolation of Jews in Medieval Civic Space  Samuel D. Gruber4 The Question of Hasidic Sectarianism  Marcin WodzinskiPART II: NARRATING AND VISUALIZING JEWISH RELATIONSHIPS5 Framing Father--Son Relationships in Medieval Ashkenaz: Folk Narratives as Markers of Cultural Difference  Magdalena Luszczynska6 Sites of Collective Memory in Narratives of the Prague Ghetto  Rella Kushelevsky7 Wearing Many Hats: The Boundaries of Hair-Covering Practices by Orthodox Jewish Women in Amish Country  Amy Milligan8 Chronic Dissatisfaction: Negative Interfaith Romances and the Reassertion of Jewish Difference  Holly PearsePART III: EXHIBITIONS AND PERFORMANCES OF JEWISH CULTURE9 ‘The Night of the Orvietani’ and the Mediation of Jewish and Italian Identities  Steve Siporin10 Jewish Museums: Performing the Present through Narrating the Past  David Clark11 Framing Jewish Identity in the Museum of Moroccan Judaism  Sophie Wagenhofer12 The Framing of the Jew: Paradigms of Incorporation and Difference in the Jewish Heritage Revival in Poland  Magdalena WaligorskaPART IV: HOW REAL IS THE EUROPEAN JEWISH REVIVAL?13 Beyond Virtual Jewishness: Monuments to Jewish Experience in Eastern Europe  Ruth Ellen Gruber14 Unsettling Encounters: Missing Links of European Jewish Experience and Discourse  Francesco Spagnolo15 Virtual Transitioning into Real: Jewishness in Central Eastern Europe  Annamaria Orla-Bukowska16 Virtual, Virtuous, Vicarious, Vacuous? Toward a Vigilant Use of Labels  Erica Lehrer17 Response  Ruth Ellen GruberContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisHow Jews use media to connect with one another has profound consequences for Jewish identity, community, and culture. This volume explores how the use of media can both create communities and divide them because of how different media shape actions and project anxieties, conflicts, and emotions. Taken together, the essays presented here consider how Jewish use of media at home and in the street, as well as in the synagogue and in school, affects the individual’s sense of ethnic and religious affiliation. They include closely observed case studies, in various national contexts, of the role of popular film, television, records, the Internet, and smartphones, as well as the role of print media, now and historically. They raise fascinating questions about how Jews and Jewish institutions harness, tolerate, or resist media to create their sense of social belonging as Jews within the wider society.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Media, Mediation, and Jewish CommunitySimon J. Bronner and Caspar BattegayPart I. The Impact of Texts on, and in, Jewish Community1. Sixteenth-Century Jewish Makers of Printed Books and the Shaping of Late Renaissance Jewish Literacy Pavel Sládek 2. Settings of Silver: The Feminization of the Jewish Sabbath, 1920--1945Amy K. Milligan3. Contemporary Israeli Midrash and the Construction of a Dialogic Intragroup DiscourseTsafi Sebba-ElranPart II. Media, Performance, and Popular Discourse in the Formation of Jewish Community4. The Jewish Atlantic: Diaspora and Popular MusicCaspar Battegay5. The Hidden Legacies of Jewish Traditions and the Global Allure of Psychotherapy: A Case Study of the Israeli TV Series BetipulDiana L. Popescu6. Propagating Modern Jewish Identity in Madagascar: A Contextual Analysis of One Community’s Discursive StrategiesNathan P. Devir7. Telling Jokes: Connecting and Separating Jews in Analogue and Digital CultureSimon J. BronnerPart III. Virtual Spaces for Jews in a Digital Age8. Going Online to Go ‘Home’: Yizkor Books, Cyber-Shtetls, and Communities of LocationRachel Leah Jablon9. The Second Life of Judaism: A History of Religious Community and Practice in Virtual SpacesJulian Voloj and Anthony Bak Buccitelli10. Rethinking Jewishness in Networked Publics: The Case of Post-Communist HungaryAnna ManchinContributorsIndex

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Book SynopsisThis book presents important position statements by scholars who have made contribution to the understanding of the social and political mechanisms underlying Aldo Moro's targeting and death. It covers Giuseppina Mecchia's exploration of philosophical understandings of the Moro kidnap and murder.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Remembering Aldo Moro Prelude: 'A Long Preparation for Dying'? The Life of Aldo Moro, 1916–1978 Part I: Modes of Emplotment 1. Aldo Moro and the Tragic Afterlife of a Melodrama 2. Lost Leaders: The Deaths of James Cook and Aldo Moro Compared Part II: Tropes, Language, and Trauma 3. Doxa, Orthodox, Paradox, Heterodox, Oxymoron: Aldo Moro's Lettere dalla prigione del popolo 4. oro as Figure of Speech: The Displaced Confessions of the Women of the Brigate Rosse 6. Moro, Morucci, Moretti: Oxymoron and the Prison of Political Language Part III: The Body of Moro 7. Moro's Body between Enlightenment and Postmodernism: Terror, Murder, and Meaning in Jean Baudrillard and Leonardo Sciascia 8. Unbury that Body: The Tragic Palinode of a Generation in Marco Baliani's Corpo di stato Part IV: Mediating Moro 9. Imago Moro: Medi-a-(c)tion on Aldo Moro 10. Locations of Moro: The Kidnap in the Cinema 11. Fictions: The Moro Affaire in Primetime Drama

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Book SynopsisScotland''s culture is vigorous and vibrant, energised by questions of history and identity, by interpretations of the past and by the possibilities for the future. At this key moment, earlier identities are being re-examined and re-presented, and personal and cultural histories are being redefined and reconsidered in contemporary life and literature. It is these themes of re-examination, re-presentation, redefinition and reconsideration that the eleven essays in this volume explore. Together, they show how the multifarious roots embedded in contemporary Scottish life and letters bear fruit - often in surprising ways - and how the re-creation and reimagination of Scottish culture, its identities and its tropes, are being developed by a range of leading Scottish writers.

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Book SynopsisJavanmardi is one of those Persian terms that is heard frequently in discussions associated with Persian identity, and yet its precise meaning, conveying all the nuances inherent within it, is so difficult to comprehend. A number of equivalents have been offered, including chivalry and manliness, and while these terms are not incorrect, javanmardi transcends them. The concept encompasses character traits of generosity, selflessness, hospitality, bravery, courage, honesty, truthfulness and justice - and yet there are occasions when the exact opposite of these is required for one to be a javanmard. At times it would seem that being a javanmard is about knowing and doing the right thing, although this is not an adequate definition at all. The present collection is the product of a three-year project, financed by the British Institute of Persian Studies on the theme of `Javanmardi in the Persianate world'. The articles in this volume represent the sheer range, influence and importance that the concept has had in contributing and creating Persianate identities over the past one hundred and fifty years. A conscious decision was taken to make the contributions as wide-ranging as possible. Rather than focus, for example, on medieval Sufi manifestations of javanmardi, both medieval and modern studies were encouraged, as were literary, artistic, archaeological and sociological studies among others. The opening essays examine the concept's origin in medieval history and legends throughout a geographical background that spans from modern Iran to Turkey, Armenia and Bosnia, among both Muslim and Christian communities. Subsequent articles explore modern implications of javanmardi within such contexts as sportsmanship, political heroism, gender fluidity, cinematic representations and the advent of digitalisation.

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Book SynopsisIn the early 1250s Mongke Khan, grandson and successor of the mighty Mongol emperor, Genghis Khan, sent out his youngerbrothers Qubilai and Hulegu to consolidate his grip on power. Hulegu was welcomed into Iran while his older brother, Qubilai, continued to erode the power of the Song emperors of southern China. In 1276 he finally forced their submission and peacefully occupied their capital, Hangzhou. The city enjoyed a revival as the cultural capital of a united China and was soon filled with traders, adventurers, artists, entrepreneurs, and artisans from throughout the great Mongol Empire includinga prosperous, influential and seemingly welcome community of Persians. In 1281, one of their number, Al al-Din, built thePhoenix Mosque in the heart of the city where it still stands today. This study of the mosque and the Ju-jing Yuan cemetery,today as a lake-side public park, casts light on an important and transformative period in Chinese history, and perhaps themost important period in Chinese Islamic history. The book is published in the Persian Studies Series of the British Instituteof Persian Studies.

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Book SynopsisWhether it is in Madrid's cafe s or in Barcelona's fish markets, van den Brinks takes you on a trip through Spain where tasting and smelling are the key occupations. You will see the shop windows in Madrid displaying pig's trotters, the famous Serrano ham, or typical Spanish sweet cakes. You will taste crispy pig's ears but also a rich chickpeas soup. You will smell the strong coffee and the damping tortilla when breakfasting out of doors. With historical background and personal memories and associations van den Brink put down a lively description of Spain, its culture and traditions both in the city and the countryside. This story focuses on enjoying various Spanish dishes in both exquisite restaurants and more commonplace settings.

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Book SynopsisA tribute to Errol Walton Barrow who gave Barbadians their indepedence.

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Book SynopsisWe Are the Mutants is a critical reassessment of what is arguably the most discussed and beloved stretch of movies in Hollywood history. Documenting the period between the arrival of US combat troops in Vietnam and the end of President Ronald Reagan’s second term, the book forgoes the usual and restrictive exemplars of “auteur cinema,” and instead focuses on an eclectic selection of films and genres — horror, documentary, disaster, vigilante action, neo-noir, post-apocalyptic sci-fi — to track this period's tumultuous transformation in American life, culture, and politics. By exploring cult classics like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Escape from New York, as well as studio blockbusters like The Exorcist and Fatal Attraction, We Are the Mutants rewrites the history of modern American cinema and, in doing so, the history of America itself.Trade Review“A highly enjoyable read for film fans hungry for an alternative point of view. The writing is intelligent, detailed, and well-researched without drifting into the academic and dry, and its arguments are frequently invigorating and thought-provoking.”"An intriguingly sharp and offbeat study of US cinema from the 60s to the 80s."

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Book SynopsisFinland, Cultural Lone Wolf is the story of an accomplished nation and her extraordinary people. Pursuing a "Lone Wolf" policy, Finland raised itself from a struggling, war-battered state in 1945 to one of the most developed countries in the world. The exponential rise of Nokia from tire and timbers to leading the world's telecommunication industry is indicative of the Finns and their characteristic business style. These remarkable people speak a language unique in its origins and have kept their cultural identity intact despite the influences of powerful neighbors, Sweden and Russia. Uniquely qualified to write about Finalnd, best-selling author Richard Lewis traces the fascinating Finnish origins, as well as her history, geography, values and culture. His extensive experience with Finnish business provides him with keen insight on leadership style, negotiation strategies and the uniquely Finnish suomi-kuva (Finland image). And Lewis shines when describing Finnish humor, complete with hilarious jokes and stories. Finland, Cultural Lone Wolf shows a nation and a writer at their best.Trade ReviewLewis attributes Finnish achievements in the last century to the culture rather than to political or business prowess. -- Nancy J. Adler, Ph.D., McGill University, Montreal, Canada * Reference & Research Book News *Richard Lewis brings his extensive knowledge of Finland to a wide audience, capturing the mystery and setting the context for its continued success. Finland, Cultural Lone Wolf is a book of many insights—about Finland and the world beyond. * Matthew Kirk, British Ambassador to Finland *

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Book SynopsisA tongue-in-cheek and unexpectedly revealing exploration of human behaviour.

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Book SynopsisThe classic account of the sleazy days gone by of New York City's Times Square, before Disney and megatourism wiped it clean.

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Book SynopsisDescartes boldly claimed: "I think, therefore I am." But one might well ask: Why do we think? How? When and why did our human ancestors develop language and culture? In other words, what makes the human mind human? Evolution of Mind, Brain, and Culture offers a comprehensive and scientific investigation of these perennial questions. Fourteen essays bring together the work of archaeologists, cultural and physical anthropologists, psychologists, philosophers, geneticists, a neuroscientist, and an environmental scientist to explore the evolution of the human mind, the brain, and the human capacity for culture. The volume represents and critically engages major theoretical approaches, including Donald's stage theory, Mithen's cathedral model, Tomasello's joint intentionality, and Boyd and Richerson's modeling of the evolution of culture in relation to climate change. No recent publication combines this breadth of evidential and theoretical perspective. The essays range in topic from the macroscopic (the evolution of social cooperation) to the microscopic (examining genetic data to infer evolutions in brain structure and function), and from the ancient (paleoanthropological reconstructions of hominin cognitive abilities) to the modern (including modern hominin's similarities to our primate cousins). Considered together, these essays constitute a fascinating, detailed look at what makes us human. PMIRC, volume 5

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Book SynopsisA “funny, poignant, dishy, and even enlightening” adventure through a tight-knit world of drag performers making art, mayhem, and dreaming of making it big, this book is “the story of America now” (Alexander Chee, The New York Times). In How You Get Famous, journalist Nicole Pasulka raucously documents the rebirth of the New York drag scene, following a group of iconoclastic performers with undeniable charisma, talent, and a hell of a lot to prove. In the past decade, drag has become a place where edgy, competitive showoffs can find security in a callous and over priced city, a shot at real money, and a level of recognition queer people rarely achieve. But can drag keep its edge as it travels from the backroom to the main stage? A “joyful and scrappy” (Esquire) portrait of the 21st-century search for celebrity and community, How You Get Famous is “dripping in plush detail and drama” (Mother Jones) and “stitched together with great respect and love” (The Guardian). It’s the story of an aimless coat check worker who sweet-talked his way into hosting a drag show at a Brooklyn dive bar, a pair of teenagers sneaking into clubs and pocketing tips to help support their families, and eclectic performers who have managed to land a spot on TV and millions of followers…all colliding in an unprecedented account of a subculture on the brink of becoming a cultural phenomenon.“If you like to have a good time, you want to read this book!”—BuzzFeedTrade Review“Funny, poignant, dishy and even enlightening... it’s the story of America now.” —Alexander Chee, The New York Times“Takes us tumbling down a glittery rabbit hole... a vivid portrait of a singular subculture: joyful and scrappy.” —Esquire“Original and compelling… stitched together with great respect and love.” —The Guardian“If you thought you knew everything there was to know about drag in New York, think again. How You Get Famous tackles Brooklyn’s rich and often labyrinthine history of drag with journalistic precision. Never afraid to embrace chaos and nuance, this is a book that’s both informative and, like so many of the divas it takes as its subjects, wildly entertaining.” —John Paul Brammer, author of Hola Papi“Can a queer subculture hit the big time without losing its edge? In this richly reported account, Pasulka takes readers on a riotous tour through a spiky demimonde on the verge of breaking through.” —Sara Marcus, author of Girls to the Front“Nicole Pasulka brings the underground world of Brooklyn drag to fabulous life, exploring the triumphs, heartaches, compromises, and catastrophes of trying to achieve fame in a fishbowl—all reality, no television.” —Hugh Ryan, author of When Brooklyn Was Queer“Every generation moves to New York City for fame, fortune, and love; this one did it in heels. Nicole Pasulka has written a shady and fabulous history of our time.” —Choire Sicha, author of Very Recent History“Dripping in plush detail and drama.” —Mother Jones“If you like to have a good time, you want to read this book!” —Buzzfeed“Spills the hot-mess tea—then reads the leaves to divine the myriad things drag has meant and could be.” —Jeremy Atherton Lin, author of Gay Bar

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Book SynopsisFor forty years, life in Afghanistan has been shaped by wars, the destruction of heritage, terrorist attacks, everyday fears and hopes, and migrations. In 2001, the Taliban government was overthrown by an international coalition bringing hopes of stability and reconstruction. The intervention did not however bring total peace. In this period of optimism, a number of international creation programs were set up as young Afghan artists returned from exile. Artists in the country - either self-taught having grown up under a Taliban regime that banned images, or trained during their exile - had no heritage to take on and no classical rules to break: anything seemed possible. Kharmohra is named after a gland taken from a donkey's neck that, on drying, becomes as hard as stone and is said to bring happiness by making the owner's most secret dreams come true. The metaphor is used to show how contemporary Afghan art is a long way from the romantic expectations with which Westerners often approach the country. The artists explore a wide variety of forms and media to express the horror of terrorism and the omnipresent shadow of death looming over the hostile urban environment. The works stand as an often humorous testimony to the peace that was promised but never delivered and the bitter illusions this fostered. All express a spirit of revolt against the most oppressive traditional forces that repress women and homosexuals as well as the Hazara ethnic group. Through their artistic practices, the artists show how salvation, however slight, is achievable.

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Book SynopsisThis book explores how the media frame environmental and scientific disputes faced by American Indian communities. Most people will never know what it is like to live on an Indian reservation in North America, or what it means to identify as an American Indian. However, when conflicts embroil Indigenous folk, as shown by the protests over a crude oil pipeline in 2016 and 2017, camera crews and reporters descend on “the rez” to cover the event. The focus of the book is how stories frame clashes in Indian Country surrounding environmental and scientific disputes, such as the Dakota Access Pipeline construction, and the discovery of an ancient skeleton in Washington. The narratives told over social media and news programs often fail to capture the issues of key importance to Native Americans, such as sovereignty: the right to self- governance. The book offers insight into how the history of Indian-settler relations sets the stage for modern clashes, and examines American Indian knowledge systems, and how they take a back seat to mainstream approaches to science in discourse.Table of Contents1. Introduction.2. Buckshot for Brains: Cultivation of the American Indian Mind.3. Hunting for Trophies and the Underbelly of Race.4. The Underpinnings of Discourse.5. We Came to Fight a Black Snake.6. How resistance crystallized to resilience in the Kennewick Man controversy.7. Concluding Remarks.

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