Society and culture: general Books

Book SynopsisWhat do cinematic “universes,” cloud archiving, and voice cloning have in common? They’re in the business of foreverizing – the process of revitalizing things that have degraded, failed, or disappeared so that they can remain active in the present. To foreverize something is to reanimate it, to enclose and protect it from time and the elements, and to eradicate the feeling of nostalgia that accompanies loss. Foreverizing is a bulwark against instability, but it isn’t an infallible enterprise. That which is promised to last forever often does not, and that which is disposed of can sometimes last, disturbingly, forever. In this groundbreaking book, American philosopher Grafton Tanner develops his theory of foreverism: an anti-nostalgic discourse that promises growth without change and life without loss. Engaging with pressing issues from the ecological impact of data storage to the rise of reboot culture, Tanner tracks the implications of a society averse to nostalgia and reveals the new weapons we have for eliminating it.Trade Review“An enlightening and inspiring contribution. A most welcome text to sharpen our vigilance in a world that has become amnesiac.”François J. Bonnet, author of After Death“Nostalgia, like authenticity, is an affliction that has been reconceived as aspiration. Tanner's Foreverism suggests that longing for past experiences and has become an alibi for a disappointment which has become structural, and which consigns us to endless consumption as a form of alienated work.”Rob Horning, former editor of Real LifeTable of Contents1. When Nothing Ever Ends 2. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost 3. Trapped In The Present 4. Now And Forever

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Book SynopsisTwitch is the leading live streaming platform in most of the world and an integral part of contemporary digital gaming culture. Millions of people broadcast their game play (as well as other activities) to over a hundred million people who regularly visit the site. In this accessible book, Mark R. Johnson offers both a synthesis of existing Twitch research and a new way to understand Twitch as a public forum for gaming. Drawing on ideas of the ancient Greekagoraor public forum, Johnson demonstrates how Twitch has become the key location for game players looking to understand what is contemporary, relevant, and important in modern gaming culture. He argues that Twitch has constructed a particular kind of public forum for gaming, an understanding which emerges from analysing the platform through its technological infrastructure, its streamers and viewers, its broadcast content, and its tightly knit communities. While this forum helps shape gaming culture, it also exhibits many of gami

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Book SynopsisHow can we hope to understand social inequality without considering race, class, and gender in tandem? How do they interact with other categories such as sexuality, citizenship, and ableism? How does an inclusive analysis of domination and privilege move us closer to solutions touching the lives of diverse populations? In this updated edition of her popular introduction, Mary Romero presents intersectionality as a core facet of the sociological imagination. One-dimensional approaches are no longer acceptable: we must examine all systems of oppression simultaneously, and how they integrate and work with or against each other to shape life experiences. Recognizing the dynamics of patriarchy, capitalism, and white supremacy, Romero shows how social inequality is maintained or minimized in various social settings and interactions. The new edition is updated with the latest literature and theoretical insights, as well as addressing contemporary political issues and conservative backlash, from immigrant detention and abortion restrictions to attacks on Critical Race Theory. Offering an overview of scholarly and activist tradition in the development of intersectionality as a lens to enrich our understandings of social life, this introductory text will be an invaluable and welcome resource for all students of sociology.

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Book SynopsisWe are living in turbulent times, witnessing renewed international conflict, resurgent nationalism, declining multilateralism, and a torrent of hostile propaganda. How are we to understand these developments and conduct diplomacy in their presence? Nicholas J. Cull, the distinguished historian of propaganda, revisits the international media campaigns of the past in the light of the challenges of the present. His concept of Reputational Security deftly links issues of national image and outreach to the deepest needs of any state, rescuing them from the list of low-priority optional extras to which they are so often consigned in the West. Reputational Security, he argues, comes from being known and appreciated in the world. With clarity and determination, Cull considers core tasks, approaches, and opportunities available for international actors today, including counterpropaganda, media development, diaspora diplomacy, cultural work, and – perhaps most surprisingly of all – media disarmament. This book is crucial for all who care about responding to the threat of malign media disruption, revitalizing international cooperation, and establishing the Reputational Security we and our allies need to survive and flourish. Reputational Security is enlightening reading for students and scholars of public diplomacy, international relations, security studies, communications, and media, as well as practitioners.Trade Review“Reputational Security introduces a radical new way to understand how democracies can respond to the information war threat posed by authoritarian regimes. Urgent reading for anyone who wants to understand how we can compete in the digital age while staying true to our declared values.”Peter Pomerantsev, Johns Hopkins University“A transformational reframing of public diplomacy for the digital age that builds a compelling case for a country’s reputation as an essential, even primary, source of legitimacy. This book should be required reading for policymakers and diplomats responsible for defending national interests in a contested information space.”Vivian Walker, Executive Director, US Advisory Commission on Public DiplomacyTable of ContentsPreface and AcknowledgementsList of FiguresIntroduction: Reputation and Soft Power: Image and Action in World AffairsChapter One: Reputational Security: Frame, Objective and AgendaChapter Two: Technology and Reputational Security: Historical Cases of Media Disruption and AdoptionChapter Three: Pushing Back: Counter-Propaganda and Reputational SecurityChapter Four: Media Development: A Tool for Reputational SecurityChapter Five: Information Disarmament: A Forgotten Element of Reputational SecurityChapter Six: Diaspora Diplomacy: From History to Reputational SecurityChapter Seven: Cultural Diplomacy, Cultural Relations, and Reputational SecurityChapter Eight: Rethinking US Public Diplomacy: The Apparatus of Reputational SecurityConclusion: The Reckoning: Reputational Security and Russia’s War in UkraineNotesSelected BibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisWhile Bourdieu's work on cultural production, the reproduction of inequality and the rise of the modern state is well known, his writings on the phenomena of internationalization and imperialism have received much less attention. Bourdieu's analyses of the international circulation of ideas and the imperialisms of the universal where two political powers, such as the United States and France, clash on matters of cultural legitimacy generated multiple research programmes on topics ranging from translation and scientific exchange to global economic policy. The constitution of globalized domains where national problems like unemployment, ethnicity and poverty are subjected to international import-export processes serves to naturalize the dominant vision of dominant countries and impose it on national political contexts. Freedom, democracy and human rights have been constituted as universal values and some countries claim to embody these values more than others. However, historical analysis shows that things are not so simple and that the actual content given to these values does not necessarily have the universality they claim. For example, the claim to universality of past colonial or imperial policies arouses suspicion in the eyes of some, to the point of calling into question the very idea of universality. But it is possible to move beyond the alternative between, on the one hand, a naïve belief in universality and, on the other, a disenchanted relativism that sees the universal as nothing more than a disingenuous way to legitimize particular interests. Bourdieu argues that the theory of fields enables us to move beyond this alternative by showing that the struggle for the universal can produce its own forms of universality that transcend particular interests. This volume of Bourdieu's writings on internationalization, imperialism and the struggle for the universal will be of interest to students and scholars in sociology, anthropology, politics and the social sciences and humanities generally.

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Book SynopsisThe definition of power varies across disciplines. Social scientists tend to deal with social power, philosophers of technology with the relation between technology and society, and ecologists with the relation between natural and social power. Concepts of power and technology are freely used but this relationship is complex and multifaceted.In this analytic and ambitious textbook, Jan van Dijk brings these perspectives together to provide a more comprehensive answer. In attempting to integrate social, technical, and natural power into one framework, he develops a general concept of power which unites all three the first time such an attempt has been made. The author argues that it is important to look at these concepts together:natural power is not simply a resource for technology and society, and its inclusion is crucial given the ecological impact of technologies.Overall, nine forms of power which comprise the framework are discussed in each chapter force, construction

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Book SynopsisMigrant workers in the West are at the frontline of the precarious condition that is coming to dominate economic life in neoliberal societies. Yet despite the highly insecure and exploitative working conditions they routinely face, labour mobilizations by precarious workers are rare. In this immersive portrait of the daily realities of precarious migrant labour, Panos Theodoropoulos found work in Glasgow's warehouses, factories and kitchens to uncover the ways that precarity is lived and contested. Connecting the realms of structure, subjectivity and culture, his analysis shows that precarity not only dictates workers' labour conditions, but socializes them in an individualist, survival-oriented struggle that erodes solidarities and enforces its own neoliberal logic. Crucially, however, precarity and the wider neoliberal culture are unable to erase workers' material awareness and experience of class injustice. It is on this basis that the foundations of new forms of struggle must be laid. Blending interviews, ethnographic notes and social theory,The Precarious Migrant Workeroffers a unique glimpse into our increasingly precarious social reality and will be a valuable resource for scholars, students and activists interested in issues of migration, precarity and resistance.

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Book SynopsisConcepts like freedom, equality and justice have many uses and even more misuses. In seeking to manage an increasingly complex world, it is more important than ever to think carefully about the meaning of such concepts which are central to policy debates and integral to implementing effective social policy around the world. This concise and readable book is a guide to those essential social policy concepts. In addition to freedom, equality and justice, the book covers concepts like social risks and rights that are critical for understanding welfare states, and examines social policies through the lenses of power, recognition and investment. It also reflects on the role of social policy in addressing the biggest challenges that humanity faces in the twenty-first century, including the megatrends of inequality and climate change. Drawing on key works and examples from diverse contexts, this book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students of social policy, sociology, social work and other social sciences, as well as researchers, policymakers, practitioners and activists looking for an accessible introduction to the heart of social policy.

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Book SynopsisFeminism has been defeated. Once a politics, feminism is now a philosophy, an epistemology, a method. Once for women, it is now for everyone. Once in pursuit of liberation, it now seeks only inclusion. InFeminism, Defeated, Kate Phelan traces the depoliticization and ultimately, the defeat of feminism. She recovers the second-wave view of men and women as sex-classes, enemies, political kinds, a view more radical than the contemporary view of men and women as social constructs. She also describes how poststructuralism displaced this view and replaced it with another. In this view, the sex/gender binary constructs men and women, and excludes the gender nonconforming. As this view replaced the second-wave one, the injustice of men's oppression of women was replaced by that of exclusion, and the goal of women's liberation was replaced by that of inclusion. Thus did feminism become the trans-inclusionary movement as which we now know it, and Phelan shows that this shift was not the progression of feminism; it was the betrayal of it. In this highly original and persuasive study, she argues that the recent emergence of a new gender-critical feminism presents a moment of opportunity to reclaim feminism's political project.

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Book SynopsisWhen your world is upended, how do you react? Who do you become? New York Times columnists, illustrator Julia Rothman and writer Shaina Feinberg, seek answers to these questions and more in this gorgeously illustrated collection of sometimes heartbreaking, always illuminating first-person stories. Based on one of Feinberg and Rothman's columns in the New York Times, “How We Got By: New Yorkers’ Advice for Getting Through a Crisis,” How We Got By is an ambitious journalistic undertaking rendered in an artful, collectable package. Each accompanied by one of Rothman’s full-colour illustrated portraits, these personal accounts touch on a wide variety of subjects, from money and business to relationships, family, trauma, and death. A window into the world of how others think, feel, and, ultimately, survive, How We Got By invites us to remember our shared humanity as well as our truly extraordinary resilience.

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Book SynopsisIn this accessible and sophisticated exploration of the nature and workings of social and political power, Mark Haugaard examines the interrelation between domination and empowerment. Building upon the perspectives of Steven Lukes, Michel Foucault, Amy Allen, Hannah Arendt, Anthony Giddens, Pierre Bourdieu and others, Haugaard offers a clear theoretical framework, delineating power in four interrelated dimensions.The first and second dimensions of power entail two different types of social conflict. The third dimension concerns tacit knowledge, uses of truth and reification. Drawing upon genealogical theory and accounts of slavery as social death, the fourth dimension of power concerns the power to create social subjects. The book concludes with an original normative pragmatist power-based account of democracy.Offering lucid and entertaining illustrations of complex theoretical perspectives, this book is essential reading for undergraduates, postgraduates and academics, while offering an indispensable guide for activists wishing to understand domination, resistance and empowerment.Trade Review'The Four Dimensions of Power is eminently readable as an introduction to the central power debates for the student, yet stimulating and provocative for the specialist.'Stewart Clegg, Distinguished Professor, University of Technology, Sydney‘Hugely impressive. Haugaard embraces a wide range of issues and of relevant thinkers and theories and skilfully deploys the various analytical distinctions that have surfaced in discussion of power—all within a framework that gives the reader the sense of moving both forward and deeper. The product of many years of reflection, this readable book achieves something very important indeed.’Steven Lukes, Professor of Sociology, New York University and author of Power: A Radical View'Power is one of the most important and yet complex concepts through which we make sense of social and political life. And no-one rivals Mark Haugaard in analysing equally carefully and vividly the many dimensions of power. The magnum opus of one of the most powerful and imaginative social theorists of our time.'Rainer Forst, Professor of Political Theory and Philosophy, Goethe University Frankfurt'Pushing the standard actor-agency model toward Wittgenstein, Schutz, Austin, and cultural theory, Haugaard produces a dazzling new map of the subtle and complex intertwinings that political and social power consist of.'Jeffrey C. Alexander, Lillian Chavenson Saden Professor of Sociology, Yale University -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction: Conceptions of power and an overview1 The first dimension of power: Violence, coercion and authority 2 The second dimension of power: Conflicts over structures or deep conflict, and dominant ideology3 The first and second dimensions of power contrasted: Deep versus shallow conflict and resistance4 The third dimension of power: Practical consciousness knowledge, consciousness raising, the natural attitude and the social construction of reasonable/unreasonable5 The third dimension continued: Conventions, reification, the sacred and essentialism 6 The third dimension continued: Descartes’ error, reification of truth and fallible truth7 The fourth dimension of power: The making of the social subject8 The fourth dimension continued: Social death through slavery, death-camps and solitary confinement 9 Normative analysis of the four dimensions of power: A pragmatist approach: what is power for?References

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Book SynopsisA strong emotional attachment to the memory of empire runs deep in British culture. In recent years, that memory has become a battleground in a long-drawn ideological war, inflecting debates on race, class, gender, culture, the UK’s future and its place in the world. This provocative and passionate book surveys the scene of the imperial memory wars in contemporary Britain, exploring how the myths that structure our views of empire came to be, and how they inform the present. Taking in such diverse subjects as Rory Stewart and inter-war adventure fiction, man’s facial hair and Kipling, the Alt-right and the Red Wall, Imperial Nostalgia asks how our relationship with our national past has gone wrong, and how it might be improved.Trade ReviewOne of The Guardian's best books of 2021.'It can feel, at times, that the culture wars aimed at sowing division in Britain are going to tear us apart. Peter Mitchell's fantastic new book, however, provides grounds for optimism and teaches us that the answer is to be informed. And there is no better, no more elegant, and no more erudite guide than Mitchell. An essential book for these disconcerting times.'Sathnam Sanghera, author of Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain'There are very few writers I can think of who combine Peter Mitchell's intelligence, moral clarity, and elegant prose. Every line in this book is rousing. You will not only learn something about our warped understanding of our past. You will also want to do something about it. 'Nesrine Malik, Guardian columnist and author of We Need New Stories: Challenging the Toxic Myths Behind Our Age of Discontent'This is a brilliant account of Britain’s ideological present where the national past is mythologized into simplistic fables that benefit retrograde political forces. With forensic insight and in lively prose, Mitchell shows us how nostalgic fantasies of imperial rightness and whiteness are at the heart of a multitude of concocted cultural battles that seek to prevent a necessarily difficult reckoning with real history.'Priyamvada Gopal, author of Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial Resistance and British Dissent'Mitchell writes with eloquence, unsparing contempt for reactionary charlatanism, and a commitment to historical rigor that the objects of his most incisive criticism could learn from (but won’t). All of which make this book one of the more perceptive and vital interventions that have emerged from an otherwise reductive and inadequate discourse surrounding Britain’s imperial past.' Jacobin 'Peter Mitchell takes this national fixation with an imagined past as a lens through which to understand some current political battles.'Gargi Bhattacharyya, Red Pepper'Mitchell's account of imperial nostalgia is deeply transnational. This is an important point, and it is not to be taken for granted: frequently, leftist critics of imperial nostalgia resort to a national exceptionalism of their own, lamenting the state of "normal island" and comparing it unfavourably to its European neighbours.'Meghan Tinsley, Ethnic and Racial Studies -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction1 Associative magic: nostalgic time and the revolt against mourning2 Inventing the tradition: how nostalgia made an empire3 Sovereign bodies: Britain’s imperial present4 ‘The best and most perfect virtue’: empire, race and free speech in the battle for the university5 The adventures of the Imperial Wonder Boy: Rory Stewart and the fantasy of innocence6 ‘Degraded underfoot perverse creatures’: empire and the languages of classConclusion: escaping the empireFurther readingBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisThis book brings together a range of Indigenous perspectives, forming a global network of writers, thinkers, and scholars connected by common investments in Indigenous futures. -- .

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Book Synopsis'Speckled with anecdotes, insights and surprises. It is great fun - and utterly timely' Sunday Times 'Standage writes with a masterly clarity' New York Times 'The product of deep research, great intelligence and burnished prose . . . It is rare that I encounter a non-fiction author whose prose is so elegant that it is worth reading for itself. Standage is a writer of this class' Wall Street Journal Beginning around 3,500 BC with the wheel, and moving through the eras of horsepower, trains and bicycles, Tom Standage puts the rise of the car – and the future of urban transport – into a broader historical context. Our society has been shaped by the car in innumerable ways, many of which are so familiar that we no longer notice them. Why does red mean stop and green mean go? Why do some countries drive on the left, and some on the right? How did cars, introduced only a little over a century ago, change the way the world was administered, laid out and policed, along with experiences like eating and shopping? And what might travel in a post-car world look like? As social transformations from ride-sharing to the global pandemic force us to critically re-examine our relationship with personal transportation, A Brief History of Motion is an essential contribution to our understanding of how the modern world came to be.Trade ReviewSpeckled with anecdotes, insights and surprises . . . It is great fun – and utterly timely * Sunday Times *Eminently readable . . . Standage writes with a masterly clarity * New York Times Book Review *The product of deep research, great intelligence and burnished prose . . . An unusually astute futurist, Mr. Standage offers observations about where we are now and where we might be heading that should be taken seriously . . . It is rare that I encounter a nonfiction author whose prose is so elegant that it is worth reading for itself. Mr. Standage is a writer of this class * Wall Street Journal *There was a gap in the market for an accessible book that tied together the technology and politics of cars, and Standage has filled it beautifully. Pithy anecdotes make the book readable; the central question – that of what comes next – makes it worth reading * Financial Times *Richly rewarding . . . [Standage] starts at the beginning, with the advent of the wheel (probably in Eastern Europe in around 3500 BC), and then traces its astonishing impact on human history . . . Contains a great deal to fascinate -- Book of the Week * The Week *Informative and utterly entertaining, it should serve as a helpful manual for negotiating our future * The Herald *Tom Standage has a gift for explaining how our modern world came to be and might evolve. In A Brief History of Motion, his skills as a historian and his trademark insight and wit shine in a way that will make your mind whir every time you hop on a bike or get behind the wheel of a car. This book is full of surprises and an absolute delight -- Ashlee Vance, New York Times bestselling author of Elon MuskPerceptive, pragmatic, but never pedestrian, this is an irrepressible survey of how we’ve travelled through the ages, and it zips along like the most pleasurable of journeys -- Simon Garfield, New York Times-bestselling author of Just My Type and On the MapOn the past, present, and future of transportation, Tom Standage has crafted the book to read, full of anecdote and keen observation, and seamlessly written -- Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics, George Mason University, and New York Times-bestselling author of The Great Stagnation and Average Is OverTom Standage takes us on a quick spin, from no wheels for anybody to nobody at the wheel—much of it over back roads that were entirely new to me -- George Dyson, author of Turing’s Cathedral and AnalogiaThere aren’t many books this entertaining that also provide a cogent crash course in ancient, classical and modern history * Los Angeles Times on 'A History of the World in Six Glasses' *An extraordinary and well-told story on a much neglected dimension of history * Financial Times on 'An Edible History of Humanity' *

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Book SynopsisIntroducing the new ‘How To…’ series from #Merky Books: unlock your potential with our short, practical pocket-sized guides._______________________________________________________How to Change It: your indispensable guide to activismIs it possible to create real change? How can we as individuals help to solve some of the biggest issues of today? How can we overcome injustice and inequality wherever we are? Where does power sit, and how can we get it?How to Change It provides the answers to these questions, and many more. In three simple steps - educate, organise and agitate - artist and organiser Joshua Virasami sets out several lessons for successful campaigning, drawing on the experience and actions of a number of activist and political movements, including Extinction Rebellion, Occupy and Black Lives Matter.Written by Joshua VirasamiIntroduced by Patrisse Cullors: artist, organiser and freedom fighter from Los Angeles and co-founder of Black Lives Matter. She is the author of critically acclaimed When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir._______________________________________________________Designed to inspire and encourage readers to unlock their potential and provoke change, the How To series offers a new model in publishing, helping to break down knowledge barriers and uplift the next generation.Creatively presented and packed with clear, step-by-step, practical advice, this series is essential reading for anyone seeking guidance to thrive in the modern world. Curate your bookshelf with these collectible titles.

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Book SynopsisThe concept of 'subculture' is an invaluable tool to frame the study of non-normative and marginal cultures for social and cultural scholars. This international collection uncovers the significance of meaning-making in the processes of defining, studying and analyzing subcultural phenomena. Examining various dimensions of interpretivism, the book focuses on overarching concerns related to interpretation as well as day-to-day considerations that affect researchers' and members' interpretations of subcultural phenomena. It reveals how and why people use specific conceptual frames or methods and how those shape their interpretations of everyday realities. This is an unprecedented contribution to the field, explaining the interpretive processes through which people make sense of subcultural phenomena.

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Book SynopsisIn today's digital world, platforms are everywhere, shaping our social and cultural landscapes. This groundbreaking book shows how platforms are not just technical systems, but complex networks involving diverse people, practices and values. It explores a wide range of digital platforms, using insights from science and technology studies, anthropology, sociology and cultural theories to offer fresh perspectives on how platforms, media and devices function and evolve. Blending ethnographic work with technical analysis, this is essential reading for anyone wanting a deeper understanding of the digital age.

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

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Book Synopsis'Soros has become a standard bearer for liberal democracy' Financial TimesGeorge Soros - universally known for his philanthropy, progressive politics and investment success, and now under sustained attack from the far right, nationalists, and anti-Semites around the world - gives an impassioned defence of his core belief in open society.George Soros is among the world's most prominent public figures. He is one of the history's most successful investors and his philanthropy, led by the Open Society Foundations, has donated over $14 billion to promote democracy and human rights in more than 120 countries. But in recent years, Soros has become the focus of sustained right-wing attacks in the United States and around the world based on his commitment to open society, progressive politics and his Jewish background. In this brilliant and spirited book, Soros offers a compendium of his philosophy, a clarion call-to-arms for the ideals of an open society: freedom, democracy, rule of law, human rights, social justice, and social responsibility as a universal idea. In this age of nationalism, populism, anti-Semitism, and the spread of authoritarian governments, Soros's mission to support open societies is as urgent as it is important.

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Book SynopsisGeorge Soros is among the world's most prominent public figures. He is one of the history's most successful investors and his philanthropy, led by the Open Society Foundations, has donated over $14 billion to promote democracy and human rights in more than 120 countries. But in recent years, Soros has become the focus of sustained right-wing attacks in the United States and around the world based on his commitment to open society, progressive politics and his Jewish background. In this brilliant and spirited book, Soros offers a compendium of his philosophy, a clarion call-to-arms for the ideals of an open society: freedom, democracy, rule of law, human rights, social justice, and social responsibility as a universal idea. In this age of nationalism, populism, anti-Semitism, and the spread of authoritarian governments, Soros's mission to support open societies is as urgent as it is important.

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Book SynopsisA physician's 'provocative' (Boston Globe) and 'timely' (Ibram X. Kendi, New York Times Book Review) account of how right-wing backlash policies have deadly consequences — even for the white voters they promise to help In election after election, conservative white Americans have embraced politicians who pledge to make their lives great again. But as Dying of Whiteness shows, right-wing policies put these voters' very health at risk—and in the end, threaten everyone's well-being. Physician and sociologist Jonathan M. Metzl travels across America's heartland seeking to better understand the politics of racial resentment and its impact on public health. Interviewing a range of Americans, he uncovers how racial anxieties led to the repeal of gun control laws in Missouri, fueled massive cuts to schools and social services in Kansas, and stymied healthcare reform across the country. Although such measures promised to restore g

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Book SynopsisThis book was the first to sketch the full dimensions of the nation's voluntary sector, give it a name (the independent sector), explain its unfamiliar metabolism, and imagine its enormous unused potential for defining the central problems of an industrial society accurately and acting on them effectively. Upon publication, George Gallup said the book has sparked "the most dramatic shift in American thinking since the New Deal."Table of ContentsIntroduction to the Transaction Edition, A Personal Summary, 1 Resignation, Right and Left, 2 Why the Conservatives Can't Win, 3 Why the Liberals Can't Win, 4 That Was the Dream That Was, 5 The Rediscovery of Independent Action, 6 The Independent Sector, 7 The Failure of the Independent Sector, 8 What Took Us So Long?, 9 The Independent Sector's Driving Force, 10 The Independent Sector's Discipline, 11 Accepting the Competitive Challenge, 12 How to Compete with Government, 13 Business and the Public Business, 14 The Giant Stirs, 15 The Churches: Center of Concern, 16 Foundations: Citizen Risk Capital, 17 Chief Citizens in Politics, 18 Big Brotherhood or a Free Society, Afterword

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Book SynopsisIn this landmark effort to understand African American people in the New World, Gunnar Myrdal provides deep insight into the contradictions of American democracy as well as a study of a people within a people. The title of the book, An American Dilemma, refers to the moral contradiction of a nation torn between allegiance to its highest ideals and awareness of the base realities of racial discrimination. The touchstone of this classic is the jarring discrepancy between the American creed of respect for the inalienable rights to freedom, justice, and opportunity for all and the pervasive violations of the dignity of blacks.The appendices are a gold mine of information, theory, and methodology. Indeed, two of the appendices were issued as a separate work given their importance for systematic theory in social research. The new introduction by Sissela Bok offers a remarkably intimate yet rigorously objective appraisal of Myrdal—a social scientist who wanted to see himself as an analytic intellectual, yet had an unbending desire to bring about change. An American Dilemma is testimonial to the man as well as the ideas he espoused.When it first appeared An American Dilemma was called "the most penetrating and important book on contemporary American civilization" by Robert S. Lynd; "One of the best political commentaries on American life that has ever been written" in The American Political Science Review; and a book with "a novelty and a courage seldom found in American discussions either of our total society or of the part which the Negro plays in it" in The American Sociological Review. It is a foundation work for all those concerned with the history and current status of race relations in the United States.Table of ContentsVI: Justice; 24: Inequality of Justice; 25: The Police and Other Public Contacts; 26: Courts, Sentences and Prisons; 27: Violence and Intimidation; VII: Social Inequality; 28: The Basis of Social Inequality; 29: Patterns of Social Segregation and Discrimination; 30: Effects of Social Inequality; VIII: Social Stratification; 31: Caste and Class; 32: The Negro Class Structure; IX: Leadership and Concerted Action; 33: The American Pattern of Individual Leadership and Mass Passivity; 34: Accommodating Leadership; 35: The Negro Protest; 36: The Protest Motive and Negro Personality; 37: Compromise Leadership; 38: Negro Popular Theories a; 39: Negro Improvement and Protest Organizations; 40: The Negro Church; 41: The Negro School; 42: The Negro Press; X: The Negro Community; 43: Institutions; 44: Non-Institutional Aspects of the Negro Community; XI: An American Dilemma; 45: America Again at the Crossroads

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Book Synopsis"Linda-Marie Barrett offers a generous, intelligent, and deeply loving guide to building spaces where real people can gather for real conversation about real topics. Drawing upon her experience as a bookseller and her own story of how bringing women together into literary salons elevated her own life from anxiety and disconnection to vibrancy and joy, Barrett has written more than a simple how-to book here; she has delivered a call to reclaim the joy of presence, dialogue, and the transformative power of story." —Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, LoveA practical and personal exploration of the transformative power of salons-in many cases, a next-level evolution of a book club—with hosting advice tailored for different goals, budgets, and personalities. Salons are enjoying a renaissance worldwide. More structured than a hangout or casual dinner party, and oftentimes an evolution of a successful book club, salons can spark lively discussions and help develop a joyful, intentional community. Blending focused and informed advice with heartfelt reflection, book industry professional Linda-Marie Barrett shares her experience hosting salons at her home—the lessons learned as well as the life-changing connections she discovered—and guides readers through the whats, whys, and hows of creating their own salons.Learn how to cultivate deep conversations and authentic connection using Barrett’s clear guidelines and real-life examples, including helpful suggestions for handling even challenging scenarios. Readers will also hear directly from members of Linda-Marie’s Black Swan Salon, who share their perspectives along with advice for how to build a better salon. As a bonus, this book includes 14 salon starter kits, each on a different theme, to help readers host with confidence.

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Book SynopsisThe incomparable Rebecca Solnit, author of more than a dozen acclaimed, prizewinning books of nonfiction including Men Explain Things To Me, brings the same dazzling writing to the essays in The Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness; hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "globally wide-ranging and topically urgent and the Boston Globe as "luminous and precise.". As the title suggests, the territory of Solnit's concerns is vast, and in her signature alchemical style she combines commentary on history, justice, war and peace, and explorations of place, art, and community, all while writing with the lyricism of a poet to achieve incandescence and wisdom. Gathered here are celebrated iconic essays along with little-known pieces that create a powerful survey of the world we live in, from the jungles of the Zapatistas in Mexico to the splendors of the Arctic. This rich collection tours places as diverse as Haiti and Iceland; movements like Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring; an original take on the question of who did Henry David Thoreau's laundry; and a searching look at what the hatred of country music really means. Solnit moves nimbly from Orwell to Elvis, to contemporary urban gardening to 1970s California macrame and punk rock, and on to searing questions about the environment, freedom, family, class, work, and friendship. It's no wonder she's been compared in Bookforum to Susan Sontag and Annie Dillard and in the San Francisco Chronicle to Joan Didion. The Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness proves Rebecca Solnit worthy of the accolades and honors she's received. Rarely can a reader find such penetrating critiques of our time and its failures leavened with such generous heapings of hope. Solnit looks back to history and the progress of political movements to find an antidote to despair in what many feel as lost causes. In its encyclopedic reach and its generous compassion, Solnit's collection charts a way through the thickets of our complex social and political worlds. Her essays are a beacon for readers looking for alternative ideas in these imperiled times.Trade Review"What to call a journalist who writes about place while avoiding the subjects of luxury hotels, remote restaurants and urbane oddities? Not a travel writer, surely. And not an adventurer. One could do worse than answer with 'Rebecca Solnit'." --The New York Times Book Review "Solnit's signature blend of history, science, justice, and the personal illustrates each location just as she finds it, with a sense of specificity, sensitivity, and empathy." --Elle "Insights that are acute and meaningful... [It] leads to a different, more layered understanding of the world around us." --Utne Reader "Thoughtful, eloquent and often inspiring essays." --Kirkus Reviews "The 29 essays that make up Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness are global in their reach, combining meditations on history, politics, science, art, literature, climate change and natural disasters, and take us from the snowy tundra of the Arctic to the carnival-filled streets of New Orleans." --The Daily Beast "One mesmerizing volume...these lyrical essays stress the importance of collective action and community." --Publishers Weekly "Refreshingly coherent, profoundly smart." --BBC News "Globally wide-ranging and topically urgent ... will surely solidify her reputation as one of our most independent and necessary freelance intellectuals." --Los Angeles Review of Books "An amazing potpourri...she brings a clarity to the messiness of ideas." --Minnesota Public Radio "One of our most provocative, thoughtful essayists." --Austin American-Statesman "A sublime collection of essays... a remarkable read." --Brain Pickings "Beautifully written and fiercely argued...showcases the work of an impressive intellect and a brilliant writer." --Shelf Awareness "Whatever the subject, let's just get out of the way and let the gifted woman write." --Foreword Reviews "One of the most magnificent writers of our time." --The Guardian "Solnit's essays showcase the range and power not only of nonfiction, but of words themselves." --The Rumpus "Interesting, insightful and always surprising." --Houston Chronicle "Lives up to the promise of its ambitious title." --KQED, San Francisco "Solnit's finely wrought essays probe lofty issues in ways that make them feel intensely personal." --O: The Oprah Magazine "Luminous and precise, Solnit persuades, educates, and inspires." --The Boston Globe "It's sort of an encyclopedia and sort of isn't. It's really an anthology disguised as an encyclopedia. But no matter what label you attach to it, the important thing to remember about this book is that it was written by Rebecca Solnit, one of the best nonfiction writers working today." --Chicago Tribune

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Book SynopsisStéphen Rostain’s book is a culmination of 25 years of research on the extensive human modification of the wetlands environment of Guiana and how it reshapes our thinking of ancient settlement in lowland South America and other tropical zones. Rostain demonstrates that populations were capable of developing intensive raised-field agriculture, which supported significant human density, and construct causeways, habitation mounds, canals, and reservoirs to meet their needs. The work is comparative in every sense, drawing on ethnology, ethnohistory, ecology, and geography; contrasting island Guiana with other wetland regions around the world; and examining millennia of pre-Columbian settlement and colonial occupation alike. Rostain’s work demands a radical rethinking of conventional wisdom about settlement in tropical lowlands and landscape management by its inhabitants over the course of millennia.Trade Review"This book is part of a new phase in Amazonian cultural geography and anthropology, and shows that the field is branching and spreading...As landscape archaeology and geography of the Amazon develops, this book can serve as a key text on raised field agriculture in a particular geographic context, and as an introduction to pre-Columbian agricultural systems more generally."- John Walker, University of Central Florida, AAG Review of BooksTable of ContentsForeword by Philippe Descola, Acknowledgements, Introduction: So Much Water! Chapter 1: Indigenous Agricultural savoir-faire Chapter 2: Humans and Environment Chapter 3: Terra Cognita: 10,000 Years of Human Impact Chapter 4: A Natural Garden or a Domesticated Forest? Chapter 5: 500 Years of Solitude, Conclusion: East of Eden References Index

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Book SynopsisA new generation of indigenous researchers is taking its place in the world of social research in increasing numbers. These scholars provide new insights into communities under the research gaze and offer new ways of knowing to traditional scholarly models. They also move the research community toward more sensitive and collaborative practices. But it comes at a cost. Many in this generation have met with resistance or indifference in their journeys through the academic system and in the halls of power. They also often face ethical quandaries or even strong opposition from their own communities. The life stories in this book present the journeys of over 30 indigenous researchers from six continents and many different disciplines. They show, in their own words, the challenges, paradoxes, and oppression they have faced, their strategies for overcoming them, and how their work has produced more meaningful research and a more just society.Table of Contents1: The Journey Begins; 2: The Process that Led Me to Become an Indigenous Researcher; 3: I Never Really Had Any Role Models; 4: Indigenism, Public Intellectuals, and the Forever Opposed—Or, the Makings of a “Hori Academic”; 5: Becoming a Kaupapa M?ori Researcher; 6: An African Narrative: The Journey of an Indigenous Social Researcher in South Africa; 7: Drawn from the Traditions of Cameroon: Lessons from Twenty-One Years of Practice; 8: Indigenous Research with a Cultural Context; 9: Being and Becoming an Indigenous Social Researcher; 10: Indigenous Researcher's Thoughts: An Experience from Research with Communities in Burkina Faso Using Participatory Methods; 11: Becoming an Indigenous Researcher in Interior Alaska: Sharing the Transformative Journey; 12: An Aboriginal Health Worker's Research Story; 13: Nurturing the Gift of Understanding Different Realities; 14: Inuujunga: The Intricacy of Indigenous and Western Epistemologies in the Arctic; 15: The Context within: My Journey into Research; 16: Prospects and Challenges of Becoming an Indigenous Researcher; 17: Hinerauwh?riki 1 : Tapestries of Life for Four M?ori Women in Evaluation; 18: Research in Relationship with Humans, the Spirit World, and the Natural World; 19: Lens from the “Bottom of the Well”; 20: Neyo way in ik issi: A Family Practice of Indigenist Research Informed by Land; 21: A Native Papua New Guinea Researcher; 22: From Refusal to Getting Involved in Romani Research; 23: Interpreting the Journey: Where Words, Stories Formed; 24: The Onward Journey

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Book SynopsisAn updated edition of the beloved final volume in Joseph Campbell?s monumental Masks of God series, Creative Mythology tells the inner story of humanity?s entire philosophical, spiritual, and artistic history since the Dark Ages, ultimately positioning each of us as the creator of our own mythology. In this fourth and final volume in The Masks of God series ? Joseph Campbell?s major work of comparative mythology ? the preeminent mythologist looks at the birth of the modern, individualistic mythology as it developed in Europe beginning in the twelfth century. Tracing the disintegration of orthodox tradition up through the radical art and philosophies of the late twentieth century, Campbell arrives at an astonishing insight: modern humans are the first to witness the creation of myth and position themselves as the center of their own mythology. Upon completing Creative Mythology, he wrote that his work on The Masks of God had confirmed his long-held belief in the unity of humanity, ?which has everywhere unfolded in the manner of a single symphony, with its themes announced, developed, amplified and turned about, distorted, reasserted, and, today, in a grand fortissimo of all sections sounding together, irresistibly advancing to some kind of mighty climax, out of which the next great movement will emerge.? Updated with new illustrations that support Campbell?s perceptive analysis of human cultural evolution, this new edition of Creative Mythology remains as vital, revelatory, and urgent as the original did upon publication more than half a century ago.

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Book SynopsisEthnography is an increasingly important research method in the private sector, yet ethnographic literature continues to focus on an academic audience. Sam Ladner fills the gap by advancing rigorous ethnographic practice that is tailored to corporate settings where colleagues are not steeped in social theory, research time lines may be days rather than months or years, and research sponsors expect actionable outcomes and recommendations. Ladner provides step-by-step guidance at every turn--covering core methods, research design, using the latest mobile and digital technologies, project and client management, ethics, reporting, and translating your findings into business strategies. This book is the perfect resource for private-sector researchers, designers, and managers seeking robust ethnographic tools or academic researchers hoping to conduct research in corporate settings. More information on the book is available at http://www.practicalethnography.com/.Table of ContentsChapter 1 IntroductionChapter 2 Using Theory in EthnographyChapter 3 Managing a Private-Sector Ethnography ProjectChapter 4 Ethnographic ToolsChapter 5 Managing ClientsChapter 6 Ethical EthnographyChapter 7 SamplingChapter 8 FieldworkChapter 9 AnalysisChapter 10 ReportingChapter 11 Beyond Ethnography

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Book SynopsisFeagin and Cobas provide the first in-depth examination of the everyday racism faced by middle-class Latinos. Based on a national survey, we learn how a diverse group of talented Latinos Mexican Americans, Puerto Rican Americans, Cuban Americans, and others respond to and cope with the commonplace white racial framing and discriminatory practices. Drawing on extensive interviewing, the authors address the recurring discrimination of ordinary whites directed against Spanish speakers and individuals with presumed Latino phenotypes. These incidents occur in everyday encounters, such as when male and female Latinos travel or shop. The book also chronicles the mistreatment that Latinos face from immigration officials when they cross US borders and from the police when they are racially profiled outside Latino areas. Critical and conforming Latino responses to recurring white discrimination are also extensively examined, as well as the diverse Latino reactions to remedial programs like affirmative action and to the ideal of assimilation into the proverbial US melting pot. "Trade Review“One of the more vibrant debates among contemporary scholars of race and immigration concerning the racial fate of Latinos” —American Journal of Sociology “An outstanding overview of theories of racism…an excellent read for students and scholars in the field. Summing Up: Highly recommended.” —CHOICE “Latinos Facing Racism is an up to date, clear and well documented [book] that highlights the pervasiveness of the dynamics of racial discrimination still active in American society.” —Iperstoria “Feagin and Cobas wake the daydreamer who assumed in 2013 that Latinos are now viewed as American as apple pie, that they are seen as the warp and weave of our nation’s fabric. With passionate prose and solid scholarship, they point out the stereotypes, images, words, narratives, ways of speaking, and other white racial framings that perpetuate two ranks of American citizens. Their volume is a needed memorandum to remind us that the freedom from discrimination has not been achieved in the United States.” —Otto Santa Ana, University of California–Los Angeles “The explanatory power of the ‘white racial frame,’ grounded in compelling histories, elucidates these detailed accounts of Latino experiences in the United States. Attention to the power of the frame to shape these experiences is balanced by emphasis on a long tradition of Latino resistance. An original, important, and useful book.” —Jane H. Hill, University of Arizona Table of Contents1. Racializing Latinos 2. Spanish Language: Denigration and Racialization 3. The Racialization of Place and Space: Latinos in Public Spaces 4. Operating Out of the White Frame: Latino Adaptation and Conformity 5. Affirmative Action Programs: Latino Opposition and Support 6. Melting Pot, or Not: Latinos and Whiteness 7. The Great Demographic Shift and the US Future

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Book SynopsisIn this concise introduction, Chad Kautzer demonstrates the shared emancipatory goals and methods of several radical philosophies, from Marxism and feminism to critical race and queer theory. Radical Philosophy examines the relations of theory and practice, knowledge and power, as well as the function of law in creating extralegal forms of domination. Through a critical engagement with the history of philosophy, Kautzer reconstructs important counter-traditions of historical, dialectical, and reflexive forms of critique relevant to contemporary social struggles. The result is an innovative, systematic guide to radical theory and critical resistance.Trade Review“Turn the university upside down! Turn philosophy upside down. Think against the world of destruction and oppression—and cultivate resistance. This book is a terrific place to start, just what we need.” —John Holloway, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico, author of Change the World without Taking Power and Crack Capitalism “Radical Philosophy: An Introduction constitutes a major scholarly contribution without rival. The analysis of domination through the lenses of race, class, gender, and sexuality in the context of a rich historical engagement is a hallmark of Kautzer’s scholarship. The book concludes with a novel conception of the function of whiteness in extra-legal structures of racism. The elegant style renders the book highly readable, which is an important benefit of a text that has much to offer scholars, students, and activists.” — Cynthia Willett, Emory University, author of Interspecies Ethics and Irony in the Age of Empire “ Ever since Socrates, philosophy has been a dangerous endeavor, but it loses its critical edge if practiced only as an academic exercise. Chad Kautzer renews philosophy’s original stance by making a forceful case for an interventionist thinking informed by contemporary social struggles. This book is an indispensable tool for all who want not only to interpret the world but to change it.” — Daniel Loick, Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main, author of The Critique of Sovereignty (Kritik der Souveränität) Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Critical Methodology 2. Marxism and Class Critique 3. Feminism and Queer Theory 4. Antiracism and the Whiteness Problem

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Book SynopsisA radically different approach to social and environmental justice work for fans of adrienne maree brown and Bessel van der KolkInstead of thinking about social justice as a process that starts with changing people''s minds, Embodied Activism understands our bodies--how we feel in them and relate to others through them--as the sites of transformationHow do ordinary people with busy lives leverage our actions in support of liberation, justice, and authentic connection? How can activists and social change-makers avoid burning out? How does the body factor into what our social movements miss? Drawing on the somatic arts, trauma-informed psychology, and anti-oppressive movements, Embodied Activism helps us explore and transform the political realities of our everyday lives in a new way: by harnessing the felt experience of our bodies as the sites of our activism.Rae Johnson teaches us to listen to our body language--and to question body image norms. They show us how to reconnect to our sensual capacities, which we can lose sight of in a non-stop, nervous-system-hijacking world. They give us tools and exercises to nourish ourselves and protect our bodies, minds, and spirits from the toll that activism can take. And they teach us about nonverbal communication styles and how to connect with each other in joyful, authentic community.Embodied Activism is written for embodiment professionals, community organizers, and all readers looking for new tools and perspectives for changing the world, one body at a time.

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Book SynopsisThis book synthesizes the flourishing field of anthropology of infectious disease in a critical, biocultural framework. Leading medical anthropologist Merrill Singer holistically unites the behaviors of microorganisms and the activities of complex social systems, showing how we exist with pathogenic agents of disease in a complex process of co-evolution. He also connects human diseases to larger ecosystems and various other species that are future sources of new human infections. Anthropology of Infectious Disease integrates and advances research in this growing, multifaceted area and offers an ideal supplement to courses in anthropology, public health, development studies, and related fields.Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1: Defining the Anthropology of Infectious Disease; 2: Denizens of the Microbial World; 3: More Than Human; 4: Environmental Disruption, Pluralea Interactions, and Infectious Diseases; 5: Emergent, Reemergent, and Drug-Resistant Infectious Agents; 6: Infectious Disease Syndemics; 7: Inequality, Political Ecology, and the Future of Infectious Diseases

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Book SynopsisA handbook by experts to help you teach radical thought in schools.

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Book Synopsis

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