Society and culture: general Books

Book SynopsisDalit writers' publications challenge mainstream literature. A collection of short fiction by Tamil Dalit writers, with an Introduction by P Sivakami, raises a regional voice against caste discrimination in India. 14 writers contribute to shaping language and poetics.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWeaving in stories she has lived through and those that have been painstakingly entrusted to her, the journal takes us to a world both familiar and unknown. Translated from the 2017 Hindi publication of the journal Deh Hi Desh, the book guides us through Europe in a way that most shy away from, one that shows.

Read more less

Book SynopsisScion is a major literary feat, and Bhyrappa is a master raconteur, displaying all his talents at their best.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat the Rains Foretold relates an origin myth of Kerala and its people. N. Mohanan's work is an introspection into the mind of the protagonist, Vararuchi, and the tragic arc of his life. Young Vararuchi was an accomplished scholar, who sought to challenge destiny and overturn its writ. He was offered the coveted seat of the Royal Pundit at the King's court, but demurs and declares he wishes to pursue the truth.On hearing a prophecy that he is destined to marry the child of a Pariah couple, Vararuchi seeks to subvert fate. Later he marries Panchami, the beautiful and accomplished young daughter of a Brahmin, but learns she is the same child. They have twelve children, who are forsaken at his bidding as he pursues his quest for knowledge.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 2004, Dinesh Thakur exposed Ranbaxy's drug test result fabrication, leading to industry-wide scrutiny. Investigative journalist Katherine Eban reveals widespread fraud in Indian pharma, questioning major players' integrity. The book uncovers a disturbing reality of deceit and corruption in the industry.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisLetters written by Alicia Ajayi, Stuart Bertolotti-Bailey, Claudia Doms, Nell Donkers, Maarin Ektermann, Rosen Eveleigh, Maryam Fanni, Saara Hannus, Eik Hermann, Paul John, Maria Juur, Ott Kagovere, Maarja Kangro, Arja Karhumaa, Kristina Ketola Bore, Nicole Killian, Rachel Kinbar, Tuomas Kortteinen, Keiu Krikmann, Kadri Laas, Else Lagerspetz, Lieven Lahaye, James Langdon, Jungmyung Lee, Kai Lobjakas, Michelle Millar Fisher, Maria Muuk, Sheere Ng, Sandra Nuut, Laura Pappa, Jack Self, Indrek Sirkel, Paul Soulellis, Triin Tamm, Laura Toots, Alice Twemlow, Loore Viires, Sean Yendrys, Justin Zhuang. Dear Friend(20192022), a monthly snail mail project was initiated by Sandra Nuut and Ott Kagovereat the Graphic Design Department of the Estonian Academy of Arts. The letters were born with the idea to cultivate design writing culture and connect with the community at home and abroad. The publishing project dedicated itself to covering ideas, events, and more in design and visual culture in a le

Read more less

Book SynopsisText in Arabic. The series of four books takes a look at different geo-political, historical, and socio-economical aspects of China and its development as a country. Malamih Aldimouqratia Alsiniyya highlights the historical period in which modernization in China took place and explores how the foundations were laid for democracy as an inevitable product of this development.

Read more less

Book SynopsisText in Arabic. The series of four books takes a look at different geopolitical, historical, and socio-economical aspects of China and its development as a country. Asrar Altanmiat Al Iqtisadiat Alsiynia provides an overview of Chinas economic development over a period of more than a century.

Read more less

Book SynopsisText in Arabic. Master of the Craftsman navigates the Ottoman World of Damascus, documenting the living styles of the Damascusites and their political conditions with governors, who were linked by merchants, craftsmen, dignitaries, and the elders of Karat.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn a fast-moving world we're often overloaded with differing opinions, conflicting data and changing advice. In this essential guide, Noreena Hertz offers practical steps to how to make better, smarter decisions.Why should you be wary of experts?Are emails destroying your ability to think?How do you know which sources of information are credible?Whose advice should you trust?Eyes Wide Open' will help you through the data deluge and show you how to make better and smarter decisions.By weaving together cutting-edge research with real-world examples from Hollywood to Harry Potter, NASA to World War II spies, Hertz constructs a path to more astute and empowered decision-making in ten clear steps. With razor-sharp insight and an instinct for thought-provoking storytelling, she offers counterintuitive, effective guidance for making better choiceswhether you are a businessperson, a professional, a patient, or a parent.Eyes Wide Open' is a game-changing book that empowers readers to become conTrade Review‘A practical guide to critical thinking in the digital age that is as useful for students as it is for CEOs … Most books of this type urge us to do what they say and everything will be fine. Hertz’s is an antidote to this kind of thinking.’ Daisy Goodwin, The Sunday Times ‘Hertz is a bestselling author who also advises prime ministers, heads of companies and international organisations such as the World Bank. Her aim is to alert us to myriad ways in which irrational factors influence our decisions.’ Toby Young, Mail on Sunday ‘Noreena Hertz has written perceptive books about the growth of global capitalism and international debt. Now she's turned her attention to the information age with “Eyes Wide Open” … She's right on the money with a directive that we should become 'challengers' of so-called expert advice.’ Janet Street Porter, Independent ‘A brilliant writer … and formidable researcher.’ Times Higher Education Supplement ‘”Eyes Wide Open” is comprehensive – it covers everything from the use and abuse of statistics and numerical techniques (including a depressing reminder that most of our political leaders can barely count) to the need to be qualitative in our decisions.’ Management Today 'A wise, witty and inspirational guide to decision-making' Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of ‘Jerusalem: The Biography’ ‘Helps you to survive the digital deluge… It's provocative, helpful and funny’ Martha Lane Fox ‘Provides great insights into how we make decisions and how we should be making them. It brilliantly combines academic research with a very pragmatic and helpful approach’ – Michael Lynton, CEO of Sony Entertainment, Inc. 'Witty, well-researched and practical … an invaluable guide for anyone facing tough decisions in today’s complex world' Dominic Barton, Global CEO of McKinsey & Co.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat do you do next if you have walked on the moon? How do you follow the first perfect 10 in Olympic history? How do you move on after surviving a plane crash? Some people will forever be defined by a single moment.Trade Review‘If someone is renowned for a single moment or achievement, what do they do next? Chris Wright picks out 16 such characters from recent history and asks them this very question. An entertaining portrait of those whose public contribution can be summed up in a one-line epitaph’ Daily Mail

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review“Without turning linguistic or lyrical cartwheels, Jerkins lucidly articulates social dynamics that have dictated the realities of American black women for centuries…. Indeed, [This Will Be My Undoing] is a book I wish everyone in this country would read.” — New York Times Book Review “In Morgan Jerkins’s remarkable debut essay collection, This Will Be My Undoing, she is a deft cartographer of black girlhood and womanhood. From one essay to the next, Jerkins weaves the personal with the public and political in compelling, challenging ways. Her prodigious intellect and curiosity are on full display throughout this outstanding collection. The last line of the book reads, ‘You should’ve known I was coming,’ and indeed, in this, too, Jerkins is prescient. With this collection, she shows us that she is unforgettably here, a writer to be reckoned with.” — Roxane Gay Morgan Jerkins is a star, a force, a blessing, a scholar and a critic, and now can add great American essayist to that list! I found myself sighing, nodding, gasping, laughing, and crying while reading this collection–but mostly cheering! We can all sleep well at night knowing this country will inherit heart, mind, and soul like this. It’s safe to say I’ve never read anyone this young–barely at quarter life!–who can understand herself, those around her, past and present, with such dignity and clarity and generosity. Intersectionality in America is dissected, investigated, celebrated and challenged all without being pedantic or preachy or pretentious. And Jerkins is the sort of benevolent intellectual you want to spend time with–who will never lie to you, but also will never let you lie to her. I’ve long known that feminism and arts and media owe so much to the excellent work of black women and This Will be My Undoing is yet another testament to that. — Porochista Khakpour, author of Sons & Other Flammable Objects, The Last Illusion, and Sick “Each chapter provides insightful, personal, and frank analysis of how several identities can and do overlap with one another.” — Library Journal Review “There’s a radical honesty and warmth in these essays, no matter the topic.” — Alexander Chee, author of Edinburgh and Queen of the Night “Threaded together by prose that is at once tender and disarming, Morgan Jerkins’s debut collection is an invitation to conversation with a ferocious intellect and a singular, uncompromising voice. In essays that confront the forces of anti-blackness and misogyny, Jerkins demonstrates that being unflinching does not require that we be unmoved. Readers who encounter this debut will be hard-pressed not to have felt something shifted within themselves when they put it down.” — Alana Massey, author of All the Lives I Want “Jerkins is one of the smartest young writers of her generation, and this is an insightful, revelatory collection of personal essays about a variety of today’s important issues. So fantastic.” — Bookriot “Jerkins’ forthright examination of her own experiences leads to a triumphant reclaiming of blackness in all its power.” — Booklist “Jerkins’s debut collection of essays forces readers to reckon with the humanity black women have consistently been denied. Her writing is personal, inviting, and fearless as she explores the racism and sexism black women face in America... [a] gorgeous and powerful collection.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Jerkins has strong character, and This Will Be My Undoing is likely just the beginning of her influence on the role of black women in the United States. As she is careful to point out, she is just one voice and her story doesn’t speak for all black women, but with any luck her one voice will inspire other voices to add to the chorus of change.” — Shelf Awareness “A beautiful example of possibility, nuance and passion coexisting, even in our heightened political moment…there is a brutal honesty Jerkins brings to the experiences of black girls and women that is vital for us to understand as we strive toward equality, toward believing women’s voices and experiences, and toward repairing the broken systems that have long defined our country.” — Los Angeles Times “In This Will Be My Undoing, Jerkins confronts the real world and her own real life — including deeply private aspects of growing up black and female, confronting racism, sexism, her Christian upbringing, family secrets, and community fault lines.” — Boston Globe “Combining memoir and criticism, Jerkins’s potent “mental fermentation” broods on black female oppression and the limits of racial equality in a society dominated by white people who have “fooled themselves into believing that they are unraced.” — O, The Oprah Magazine “The boldness of Jerkins’ voice in This Will Be My Undoing is built on a raw honesty drawn from deep wells of shame and vulnerability.... That bareness makes This Will Be My Undoing a vital book, and one that stands out not only as a prominently political and personal work from a black female voice, but also as one of the first to emerge from [Jerkins’s] generation.” — San Francisco Chronicle “The truth about a writer being anointed a Voice of the Generation is that it’s also a curse… [but Morgan Jerkins’] exhilarating new essay collection This Will Be My Undoing makes her a leading contender for the title — and the writer most likely to rewrite the rules for it, too…If this collection is any indication, [Jerkins’] blueprint for a lifelong intellectual and creative enterprise will continue to challenge, thrill, and delight her readers throughout a long career.” — Salon “In her piercing debut essay collection… Jerkins is equally critical of the social structures in place to erase the black narrative and the pressures from within black communities to ensure that their daughters conform to white ideals—often through physical means, like the arduous process of hair straightening. She also doesn’t shy away from exploring different experiences of blackness—or wrestling with the ways the black experience is unique from those of non-white women of color.” — VICE “In her debut release, Morgan Jerkins takes readers through life as a black woman on the street, in foreign countries, on dates, at the workplace, in the beauty parlor — everywhere, anywhere. An essential and vital read, This Will Be My Undoing is destined to become a classic essay collection on race and feminism.” — Bustle “In her first book of essays, Morgan Jerkins holds nothing back... [she] skillfully ties together personal experience with cultural critique.... [and] her voice is strong and clear.” — Bust Magazine “Jerkins takes the reader to deeply personal and, at times, uncomfortable places. She chronicles her struggles with dating and heartbreak, unflinchingly guides her reader through a personal surgical procedure and wrestles with a variety of different gazes: that of white men and white women, but also of potential lovers, of her host families and other people in Japan and Russia, of her black female peers and, most important, her own evolving view of herself.” — The Root “Beautifully crafted… what makes [Jerkins’] writing so powerful is her ability to point to precise moments that oppression was at work and unpack it for readers, who may not be black, female, or consider themselves feminists, but who will still understand the emotional impact that prejudice carries. Her personal experiences are political, but in ways that challenge previous feminist declarations about which experiences mattered and how to interpret them.” — Signature Reads “Jerkins examines pop culture, misogyny, black history and racism. She reflects on growing up in Atlantic and Gloucester counties and unravels what it means to be a black woman in today’s society, seamlessly weaving the personal with the political in powerful essays such as ‘A Lotus for Michelle.’” — New Jersey Monthly “At its best, the book reveals complicated, messily human responses to knotty problems. Never intended as the final word on the black female experience in America today, it uncovers the effect of social forces on one perceptive young woman.” — Kirkus Reviews

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewTim is a supremely gifted storyteller who writes with brutal honesty and stylish gallows humor about the GOP’s toxic mix of opportunists, joy riders, and grifters who enabled Donald Trump’s rise and guaranteed his enduring grip on the Republican Party. Tim takes a scalpel to the malignant tumor smothering American democracy by dissecting his own friends and onetime colleagues. The most valuable contribution of Tim’s book may be the anthropological examination of just how little separates a ‘normal’ Republican from an activist working to overthrow a free and fair presidential election. — Nicolle Wallace Tim’s smart and witty takes on the current madness of our political times has been my balm of Gilead. In this book, Tim examines what makes some people abandon their principles to align with the current center of power and what makes others hold fast to their convictions in spite of finding themselves suddenly on the outs. As a former Republican partisan, Tim breaks it all down in precise bombs of truth and keen insight into some of the more awful truths of human nature when it comes to the allure of power. — Jane Lynch Mea culpa and tell-all, Tim Miller’s Why We Did It reveals why and how a generation of Republican politicos bent the knee to a president so many of them privately feared and despised. — David Frum From any dark experience springs something hopeful and good. In the Trump years, that bright side has been Tim and his compatriots who took up arms to fight the MAGA scourge. Before this book, I understood why the crazies and kooks went along with Trump, but now I fully grasp why smart, supposedly ‘normal’ Republicans did, too. Tim’s observations are clear-eyed, wise, brutally honest, and darkly hilarious. Everyone should read this book, especially fellow Democrats who want to better understand our political foes. — James Carville When the history of this era is written, the dominant question will likely be, How did this happen? Tim Miller’s Why We Did It offers a crucial insider’s answer to that question. It’s a must-read report from the belly of the beast detailing how the unimaginable becomes inevitable. Looking back at a career in politics and being horrified at what you were part of is not the most fun exercise in life. Tim examines his role with clear honesty, sadness, and an amusing sense of the absurd. This is a big, important book. Read it. — Stuart Stevens

Read more less

Book Synopsis#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!President Trump''s nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has written a revolutionary road map to saving our children from leftist indoctrination.Behind a smokescreen of ?preparing students for the new industrial economy,? early progressives had political control in mind. America?s original schools didn?t just make kids memorize facts or learn skills; they taught them to think freely and arrive at wisdom. They assigned the classics, inspired love of God and country, and raised future citizens that changed the world forever.Today, after 16,000 hours of K-12 indoctrination, our kids come out of government schools hating America. They roll their eyes at religion and disdain our history. We spend more money on education than ever, but kids can barely read and write?let alone reason with discernment. Western culture is on the ropes. Kids are bored and aimless, flailing for purpose in a system that says racial and gender identity is everything.Battle for the AmericanMindis the untold story of the Progressive plan to neutralize the basis of our Republic ? by removing the one ingredient that had sustained Western Civilization for thousands of years. Pete Hegseth and David Goodwin explain why, no matter what political skirmishes conservatives win, progressives are winning the war?and control the ?supply lines? of future citizens.Reversing this reality will require parents to radically reorient their children?s education; even most homeschooling and Christian schooling are infused with progressive assumptions. We needto recover a lost philosophy of education ? grounded in virtue and excellence ? that can arm future generations to fight for freedom. It?s called classical Christian education. Never heard of it? You?re not alone.Battle for the American Mindis more than a book; it?s a field guide for remaking school in the United States.We?ve ceded our kids? minds to the left for far too long?this book gives patriotic parents the ammunition to join an insurgency that gives America a fighting chance.Whether you''re a conservative looking to push back against the progressive agenda or simply someone who cares about the education of our children, this book is for you.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor 20 years Garrett Hardin has been our most hardnosed thinker about ecological problems...Filters Against Folly makes provocative reading. -- Michael Crichton The ecological problems facing our world present a forum for experts to offer slogans and solutions on all sides of the issue, but leave most of us confused and unsure of the future. In this bracing book, Garrett Hardin offers a plan for clear thinking about these dangers. He shows how the filters of literacy, understanding what words really mean; numeracy, being able to quantify and interpret information; and ecolacy, assessment of complex interactions over time, can allow anyone to make sensible judgments about ecological issues--even in the face of a barrage of confusing expertise. Filters Against Folly offers an antidote to some of the more perverse and dangerous irrationalities of our time: wishful self-delusion, educated incapacity, and foolhardy optimism...If ever this

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat binds societies together and how can these social orders be structured in a fair way? Jeffrey C. Alexander''s masterful work, The Civil Sphere, addresses this central paradox of modern life. Feelings for others - the solidarity that is ignored or underplayed by theories of power or self-interest - are at the heart of this novel inquiry into the meeting place between normative theories of what we think we should do and empirical studies of who we actually are. Solidarity, Alexander demonstrates, creates inclusive and exclusive social structures and shows how they can be repaired. It is not perfect, it is not absolute, and the horrors which occur in its lapses have been seen all too frequently in the forms of discrimination, genocide, and war. Despite its worldly flaws and contradictions, however, solidarity and the project of civil society remain our best hope: the antidote to every divisive institution, every unfair distribution, every abusive and dominating hierarchy. This grand,Trade ReviewThe Civil Sphere offers grand theorizing in ways that remind us of both what we are and what we can be. Jeffrey Alexander offers sociology at least a place from which it may begin again. * The New Republic *The Civil Sphere is [a] crowning achievement ... that masterfully reconnects the normative and the empirical in ways that fill an important gap in our cultural discourse today ... A work of great importance, an enduring contribution to the literature on civil society and democracy. Its influence will be felt in political, cultural, and theoretical sociology for decades to come. * American Journal of Sociology *A genuine masterpiece ... America's best, and best-known, social theorist defends the project of civil society and its utopia of democratic inclusion * not only as an ideal, but also as an idea, which is already partly institutionalized.Constellations *This subtle and hugely informative work ... offers not only acute theoretical discussion of the civil society concept, but also generous and expansive accounts of social movements of race and gender, and the theory and practice of multiculturalism and assimilation (two chapters on the Jewish experience are especially compelling). * Contemporary Sociology *The Civil Sphere offers a bold and original thesis about the critically important role that civil societies play in Western democracies. Although I will challenge Alexander's thesis, it is important to state at the outset that The Civil Sphere is a valuable book packed with rich social histories, lively engagements with ancient and contemporary theories, and novel interpretations. There is much to be learned here about the historic and sociological nature of racial, gender, and ethnic oppressions, and the struggles waged to over throw them. * Aldon Morris, Sociological Quarterly *The Civil Sphere is truly a masterful and groundbreaking work, the rare and ambitious kind that does not just contribute to one of the many ongoing conversations in sociology, but brings them together and reorients them. It will undoubtedly confirm and reinforce Jeffrey Alexander's reputation as one of the foremost sociological theorists of our day. Indeed, reading The Civil Sphere generated the same sense of intellectual excitement that I experienced the first time I read Durkheim or Weber or Habermas * and for similar reasons: The Civil Sphere addresses big and important questions about freedom, inequality, and solidarity.Chad Goldberg, Sociological Quarterly *The Civil Sphere is... rich in its empirical descriptions and resourceful and suggestive in terms of its conceptual and theoretical framework. The book will challenge and shape the discussions in cultural sociology for many years to come. * Cultural Sociology *From the point of view of contemporary sociology, one of its most distinctive and welcome features is its judicious use of sociological theory and data to advance a particular vision of justice. As such it is a book about the need to place justice at the centre of the sociological enterprise. From the point of view of contemporary critical social theory, one of its most distinctive and welcome features is its insistence that good social theories have a disclosing power that is practically efficacious. As such it is also a book about the illuminating power of theory. Its most significant contribution, however, is its presentation of a strong vision of civil society and the case it makes for taking up the project of civil repair. By arguing persuasively that the civil sphere is a great achievement of Western modernity, and by encouraging us to work towards its realization, the book itself is a remarkable achievement. * Philosophy and Social Criticisms *The Civil Sphere is a major work that is going to change the state of the debate in many fields ... It aims to provide a new theory of contemporary society, based on a new interpretation of solidarity [that] is a radical challenge to political economy. * European Journal of Social Theory *A tour de force of sociology, political science, and philosophy, [its] repercussions might be felt for decades to come... This is a book worth reading by both social scientists and the general public, for its persuasiveness can inspire us to imagine that another world is possible * Mediterranean Quarterly *All sociologists, social scientists or writers probably nurture some secret ambition of writing a mega book that will immortalize them by its originality, the persuasiveness of arguments, impact, or its sheer size. For Jeffrey Alexander, this is it. A magisterial book, a contribution to social theory that will be talked about, criticized and never overlooked. * Asian Journal of Social Science *Jeffrey Alexander's The Civil Sphere is nothing less than an attempt to create a new theory of civil society for the 21st century through an almost equally ambitious attempt to reground the discipline of sociology. * Journal of Communication *A major work of cultural and political sociology, exploring the possibilities of civility as action and civil sphere as a public domain ... The Civil Sphere can taken as conclusive evidence that sociology is alive and well, and more importantly relevant to modern social action. * Citizenship Studies *The Civil Sphere is the best book in sociology that I have read in many years ... It will find its place on the shelf with the other great classics of sociology. [A] great work. * Perspectives: Newsletter of the Theory Section of the American Sociological Association *The book is an exercise in forging theory as a tool for democratic practice. * Thesis Eleven *Arguably the most probing and insightful examination of civil society in America since Tocqueville's Democracy in America. He offers a penetrating and original causal interpretation of the success of the Civil Rights Movement, and addresses with understanding and fresh perspective the question of Jewish assimilation in post-civil rights America. Alexander's long awaited book establishes a new benchmark for cultural sociology and social theory with its rigorous theoretical and historical analysis of transformative societal change. * Victor Nee, Goldwin Smith Professor of Sociology, Cornell University *Jeffrey Alexander's The Civil Sphere is the most important, effective, and readable book in his distinguished career. A powerful and provocative account of civil society, this brilliant piece of theorizing is fueled by an expansive moral vision. Alexander punctures the overblown claims of other thinkers both left and right, and stunningly combines theoretical vigor with a subtle, becoming humility in the face of the best achievements and most compelling aspirations of the civil sphere. * Michael Schudson, Professor of Communication, University of California at San Diego *An original portrait of civil society which addresses issues which must be addressed if we are to live in peace with those unlike ourselves. The Civil Sphere is remarkable for its clarity and depth of exposition. All readers will benefit from Alexander's ideas: he does not try to batter the reader into submission; instead, he embodies the very ideal of civil society, by inviting the reader to argue with him. In sum, an extraordinary and necessary book. * Richard Sennett, Professor of Sociology, The London School of Economics *This is a Herculean labor in which Alexander not only deconstructs the discourse of 'civil society' but reevaluates the entire tradition of political and social thought which attempted to establish, justify, and actualize this abstract idea. * Hayden White, Professor Emeritus of the History of Consciousness, University of California *Long recognized as one of the world's foremost intellects, in The Civil Sphere Jeffrey Alexander delivers a masterpiece. In this breathtakingly erudite tour of literature, history, philosophy, and social science scholarship, from Hannah Arendt to Woody Allen, Alexander takes on in a single volume both foundational questions of the human condition and the political exigencies of our day. The result is a book that will wholly transform the conceptual landscape; from this point forward we will recognize that the civil sphere's potential for social justice can only be an ongoing project, never a finished achievement. * Margaret R. Somers, Professor of Sociology, University of Michigan *The Civil Sphere is at once an energizing ideal for democratic society, and a source of violations of its own ethos. Jeffrey Alexander's well-argued book identifies this crucial level on which liberal democratic societies must operate and offers an insightful and non-reductive account of the struggles against such violations, for what he calls 'civil repair'. He provides fascinating analyses, among other events, of the civil rights movements, and of modern anti-Semitism. * Charles Taylor, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, McGill University *Table of ContentsPART I. CIVIL SOCIETY IN SOCIAL THEORY; 1. POSSIBILITES OF JUSTICE; 2. REAL CIVIL SOCIETIES: DILEMMAS OF INSTITUTIONALIZATION; 3. BRINGING DEMOCRACY BACK IN: REALISM, MORALITY, SOLIDARITY; PART II. STRUCTURES AND DYNAMICS OF THE CIVIL SPHERE; 4. DISCOURSES: LIBERTY AND REPRESSION; 5. COMMUNICATIVE INSTITUTIONS: PUBLIC OPINION, MASS MEDIA, POLLS, ASSOCIATIONS; 6. REGULATIVE INSTITUTIONS (1): VOTING, PARTIES, OFFICE; 7. REGULATIVE INSTITUTIONS (2): THE CIVIL FORCE OF LAW; 8. CONTRADICTIONS: UNCIVILIZING PRESSURES AND CIVIL REPAIR; PART III. SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN THE CIVIL SPHERE; 9. SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AS CIVIL TRANSLATIONS; 10. GENDER AND CIVIL REPAIR: THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD THROUGH M/OTHERHOOD; 11. RACE AND CIVIL REPAIR (1): DUALITY AND THE CREATION OF A BLACK CIVIL SOCIETY; 12. RACE AND CIVIL REPAIR (2): THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND COMMUNICATIVE SOLIDARITY; 13. RACE AND CIVIL REPAIR (3): CIVIL TRAUMA AND THE TIGHTENING SPIRAL OF COMMUNICATION AND REGULATION; 14. RACE AND CIVIL REPAIR (4). REGULATORY REFORM AND RITUALIZATION; PART IV. MODES OF INCORPORATION INTO THE CIVIL SPHERE; 15. INTEGRATION BETWEEN DIFFERENCE AND SOLIDARITY; 16. ENCOUNTERS WITH THE OTHER; 17. THREE PATHWAYS TO INCORPORATION; 18. THE JEWISH QUESTION: ANTI-SEMITISM AND THE FAILURE OF ASSIMILATION; 19. ANSWERING THE JEWISH QUESTION IN AMERICA: BEFORE AND AFTER THE HOLOCAUST; 20. CONCLUSION: CIVIL SOCIETY AS A PROJECT; NOTES; BIBLIOGRAPHY; INDEX

Read more less

Book SynopsisSince the 1940s Americans and Britons have come to enjoy an era of rising material abundance. Yet this has been accompanied by a range of social and personal disorders, including family breakdown, addiction, mental instability, crime, obesity, inequality, economic insecurity, and declining trust. Avner Offer argues that well-being has lagged behind affluence in these societies, because they present an environment in which consistent choices are difficult to achieve over different time ranges and in which the capacity for personal and social commitment is undermined by the flow of novelty. His approach draws on economics and social science, makes use of the latest cognitive research, and provides a detailed and reasoned critique of modern consumer society, especially the assumption that freedom of choice necessarily maximizes individual and social well-being. The book falls into three parts. Part one analyses the ways in which economic resources map on to human welfare, why choice is soTrade ReviewAvner Offer's latest sparkling and intellectually pugnacious contribution to his protean bibliography represents a tour de force of scholarship and provocative argument... this is an enormously rich and highly penetrating and stimulating study, based on vast and perceptive reading and research. It is also novel in its substance and approach. * Barry Supple, The English Historical Review *An intriguing book...one of Britain's most subtle thinkers about how we live now. * Will Hutton, The Observer *[A] powerful argument... This is a book that uses the tools of economics to illuminate the myopic lens through which economics views the world. * Barry Schwartz, London Review of Books *Avner Offer inserts a moral dimension into the study of economic history that has been missing since R.H. Tawney, offering a warning of the undesirable consequences of the pursuit of individual self-interest. * M.J. Daunton, Economic History Review *...an intelligent, original, provocative, and moralistic book which should make historians think extremely seriously about important questions, even if they find themselves in disagreement with his approach. * M.J. Daunton, Economic History Review *This insightful book provides a fresh and refreshing new look at life in the United States and Britain over the past half century...provides invaluable insights. * John F Helliwell, EH.NET *A brilliantly argued book. * William Skidelsky, Prospect *..always fascinating and thought provoking, Offer's range of reference is remarkably broad. He travels confidently across the social-science spectrum. * Howard Davies, THES *In the 1960s and 1970s, economists started worrying about environmental and social limits to growth. Avner Offer has added a weighty new critique to this tradition. * The Economist *The book is an invaluable source of information on changing attitudes and practices in the US and Britain since the end of the second world war. * Samuel Brittan, Financial Times *an uncompromising work of scholarship * Martin Vander Weyer, The Spectator *...diligently and readably exposes the extent to which the past 25 years have forced people in the English-speaking world to believe that there is no alternative to dual-income workaholic consumerism, the "hedonic treadmill". * Oliver James, The Guardian *Sceptics who want some political muscle behind the diagnosis of our discontents will enjoy Avner Offer's account of why more means worse... * Boyd Tonkin and Christina Patterson, The Independent *Offer makes many compelling and interesting arguments that are backed by a wealth of data and analysis. * Charles Kenny, Business History Review *This is a wide, wise, and careful book. * Joy Parr, Journal of Economic History *Offer's narrative of a complex and difficult topic is masterful. * Barnaby Marsh, Economic and Human Biology *Offer's analysis of the complex relationship between economic markets and relationships and non-economic dynamics such as love, regard and esteem, and the impact of affluence on these interrelated systems, is superb. * Helen Laville, The Americas *The experience of reading The Challenge of Affluence is suffused with a pervasive suspicion that this might just be one of the most important books you have read. * Tim Jackson, Social Policy and Administration *a fascinating, ambitious, wide-ranging, freewheeling, and sometimes exasperating book about the perils of affluence. * Bruce G. Carruthers, American Journal of Sociology *Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. Introduction ; PART ONE: EVALUATING AFFLUENCE ; 2. Economic Welfare Measures and Human Well-Being ; 3. Passions and Interests: Self-Control and Well-Being ; 4. Myopic and Rational Choice ; 5. Between the Gift and the Market: The Economy of Regard ; PART TWO: IN THE MARKETPLACE ; 6. The Mask of Intimacy: Advertising and Well-Being ; 7. Epidemics of Abundance: Body-Weight and Self-Control ; 8. Household Appliances and the Use of Time ; 9. The American Automobile Frenzy of the 1950s ; 10. Driving Prudently: American and European ; PART THREE: SELF AND OTHERS ; 11. Affluence and the Pursuit of Status ; 12. Inequality Hurts ; 13. All You Need is Love? Mating since the 1950s ; 14. Women and Children Last: The Ebbing of Commitment ; 15. Conclusion

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe decline in power, popularity and prestige of religion across the modern world is not a short-term or localized trend nor is it an accident. It is a consequence of subtle but powerful features of modernization. Renowned sociologist, Steve Bruce, elaborates the secularization paradigm and defends it against a wide variety of recent attempts at rebuttal and refutation. Using the best available statistical and qualitative evidence Bruce considers the implications for the secularization paradigm of the extent to which new religious movements or New Age spiritualities are replacing religion; changes in the nature and power of folk religion and superstition; rational choice alternatives to the secularization paradigm; the popularity and political influence of religion in the USA; religious change in the developing world; reactions to Islam in Europe; and the effects of recent controversies over the public place of religion. Bruce presents a robust defence of the secularization paradigm, cTrade ReviewBruce conceives of a delightful analogy for secularisation. He imagines a wave on a retreating tide every time the wave rises to meet the shore, it moves a little further out to sea. He argues that although religion experiences ebbs and flows, it is ultimately retreating as its transmission from one generation to the next weakens. It is the use of such powerful analogies, as well as the author having a masterful overview of the subject, that makes this an impressively clear and comprehensive book. It offers students an accessible guide to the study of secularisation and, as academic books go, it is a page-turner. * Journal of Contemporary Religion *hard-hitting but clear and sometimes witty... a useful critique... It is a book which will help some people to face the facts about the decline of religion in the West more honestly. * Graham Gould, Journal of Theological Studies *a passionate, compelling and responsive book that acts as a useful collation of all recent studies on belief and religiosity seen through a critical eye. * Eliza Filby, Journal of Ecclesiastical History *Table of Contents1. Describing Secularization ; 2. Explaining Secularization ; 3. Clarifying Secularization ; 4. Religion Outside the Churches ; 5. Contemporary Spirituality ; 6. Superstition ; 7. The Supply-side Alternative ; 8. Unexceptional America ; 9. Secularization Elsewhere ; 10. Will Conflict Reverse Secularization?

Read more less

Book SynopsisRenowned contemporary commentator Anatol Lieven anatomizes American nationalism - its roots, its defining features, and its recent radicalization - and just how greatly this is contributing to the paralysis of effective government in what remains the world's most powerful and important countryTrade ReviewLieven's analysis of the American scene is both alarming and informative in equal parts. * Northern Echo *Lieven is a veteran journalist, Professor of War Studies at Kingâs College London and author of books about Russia, Ukraine, the Baltics and Chechnya. In America Right or Wrong, he draws on his deep reading in American intellectual history and personal experiences studying and working in the United States to produce an ambitious, thoughtful and useful book. * Survival: Global Politics and Strategy *Table of ContentsPreface ; Introduction ; 1. An Exceptional Nationalism? ; 2. Splendor and Tragedy of the American Creed ; 3. The Embittered Heartland ; 4. Fundamentalists and Great Fears ; 5. The Legacy of the Cold War ; 6. American Nationalism, Israel, and the Middle East ; Conclusion ; Notes ; Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisAudre Lorde was not only a famous poet; she was also one of the most important radical black feminists of the past century. Her writings and speeches grappled with an impressive broad list of topics, including sexuality, race, gender, class, disease, the arts, parenting, and resistance, and they have served as a transformative and important foundation for theorists and activists in considering questions of power and social justice. Lorde embraced difference, and at each turn she emphasized the importance of using it to build shared strength among marginalized communities. I Am Your Sister is a collection of Lorde''s non-fiction prose, written between 1976 and 1990, and it introduces new perspectives on the depth and range of Lorde''s intellectual interests and her commitments to progressive social change. Presented here, for the first time in print, is a major body of Lorde''s speeches and essays, along with the complete text of A Burst of Light and Lorde''s landmark prose works Sister Outsider and The Cancer Journals. Together, these writings reveal Lorde''s commitment to a radical course of thought and action, situating her works within the women''s, gay and lesbian, and African American Civil Rights movements. They also place her within a continuum of black feminists, from Sojourner Truth, to Anna Julia Cooper, Amy Jacques Garvey, Lorraine Hansberry, and Patricia Hill Collins. I Am Your Sister concludes with personal reflections from Alice Walker, Gloria Joseph, Johnnetta Betsch Cole, Beverly Guy-Sheftall, and bell hooks on Lorde''s political and social commitments and the indelibility of her writings for all who are committed to a more equitable society.Trade ReviewThis book, clearly a labor of love by three colleagues who also call themselves friends, meets its objectives and more...This invaluable collections enables us to hear Lorde's voice again and to use the life lessons she shared with us. * Women's Review of Books *A thorough survey, to say the least...I Am Your Sister reveals Lorde's legacy anew. * Bitch Magazine *The editors of this abundant feast of a book remind us of the importance of Audre Lorde's work, which for 40 years has served as a foundation and catalyst for questions of identity, difference, power and social justice. There is much to ponder, discuss, teach and revere in this compilation. * Ms. Magazine *I Am Your Sister is a collection for those who want and need to be introduced to Audre Lorde's thinking, and it is a great anthology for those who have read and been inspired by Lorde's writing all of their lives...a celebration, an honoring, and a thoughtful presentation of who Lorde was...an eye opener to how the struggles of past times continue to be what we grapple with today...a tool for survival--a teacher to help us realize our possibilities for change. * Feminist Review *I Am Your Sister combines some of Lorde's most powerful essays with previously unavailable writings, as well as reflections on her work from other influential artists and activists. * Southern Voice *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Create Your Own Fire: Audre Lorde and the Tradition of Black Radical Thought, Rudolph P. Byrd ; Part I: From Sister Outsider and A Burst of Light ; 1. The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action ; 2. Sexism: An American Disease in Blackface ; 3. Sadomasochism: Not About Condemnation: An Interview with Audre Lorde, Susan Leigh Star ; 4. I Am Your Sister: Black Women Organizing Across Sexualities ; 5. Apartheid U.S.A. ; 6. Turning the Beat Around: Lesbian Parenting 1986 ; 7. A Burst of Light: Living with Cancer ; Part II: My Words Will Be There ; 8. Eva's Man by Gayl Jones: A Review ; 9. Self-Defi nition and My Poetry ; 10. Introduction: Movement in Black by Pat Parker ; 11. My Words Will Be There ; 12. Foreword to the English Edition of Farbe bekennen: Afro-deutsche Frauen auf den Spuren ihrer Geschichte ; 13. Preface to a New Edition of Need: A Chorale for Black Woman Voices ; 14. Poet as Teacher-Human as Poet-Teacher as Human ; 15. Poetry Makes Something Happen ; 16. My Mother's Mortar ; Part III: Difference and Survival ; 17. Difference and Survival: An Address at Hunter College ; 18. The First Black Feminist Retreat: July 6, 1977 ; 19. When Will the Ignorance End? Keynote Speech at the National Third World Gay and Lesbian Conference, ; October 13, 1979 ; 20. An Address Delivered as Part of the "Litany of Commitment" at the March on Washington, August 27, 1983 ; 21. Commencement Address: Oberlin College, May 29, 1989 ; 22. There Is No Hierarchy of Oppression ; 23. What Is at Stake in Lesbian and Gay Publishing Today: The Bill Whitehead Award Ceremony, 1990 ; 24. Is Your Hair Still Political? ; Part IV: Reflections ; 25. Audre Lorde: My Shero, My Teacher, My Sister Friend, Johnnetta Betsch Cole ; 26. Audre's Voice, Alice Walker ; 27. Lorde: The Imagination of Justice, bell hooks ; 28. Remembering Audre Lorde, Gloria I. Joseph ; Epilogue. Bearing Witness: The Legacy of Audre Lorde, Beverly Guy-Sheftall ; Contributors ; Selected Bibliography ; Chronology

Read more less