Search results for ""Author Mark Kingwell""

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Book SynopsisAn urgent, timely, and political analysis of the boredom that dominates our everyday immersion in distracting technologies.Trade Review"Addicted to your screens? Constantly scrolling in search of elusive mental stimulation or happiness? The University of Toronto philosophy professor and prolific author offers an antidote to our constant immersion in technology." The Globe & Mail"Kingwell examines the sources and effects of boredom to highlight how we might create conditions for a richer and more meaningful life. Replete with subtle distinctions and arguments and references to literature, philosophy, and current events, this short book is nevertheless written in accessible, jargon-free language. Recommended." Choice"Kingwell constructs a vibrant argument with deep stakes. If we do not address our neoliberal boredom, including through regulating the Interface, we risk forfeiting selfhood and our sense of purpose. "We can truly find ourselves again in boredom," Kingwell writes. "We can discover what we temporarily lost, that is, knowing what to do with ourselves."" The Brooklyn Rail

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Book SynopsisThis book traces the history of the idea of citizenship, and argues for a new model for the next century. In the style of Michael Ignatieff's The Needs of Strangers, Kingwell takes a long look at what citizenship has meant in the past and what it means today.Trade ReviewMark Kingwell is a beautiful writer, a lucid thinker, and a patient teacher. Here, he expertly guides readers through the philosophical questions about what makes a just society. His insights are intellectual anchors in a fast-changing world. -- Naomi Klein, author of No LogoMark Kingwell proves a delightful companion down the ethical byways of contemporary life, with proper attention to ancient precedents and modern temptations. He thinks philosophy should be both relevant and charming, and shows that thinking aloud is refreshing. Disagree as we may—and I sometimes do—I find him a boon companion. -- Todd Gitlin, Professor of culture, journalism and sociology, New York UniversityThe writing is elegant, often poetic. It appeals to the thoughtful reader who thrives on insights into the way humans interact or who enjoys a rich tapestry of concepts and ideas and the thinkers behind them. * The Globe and Mail, (Toronto) *Kingwell has become our Socrates, not only directing attention to our self-created crisis of global significance, but also pointing very specifically to the way out of it. * The Gazette, (Montreal) *A moving and necessary book. -- Georgia Strait, VancouverGlobal growing pains now being felt are a signal that we need to start addressing the social virtues of participatory democracy, not just the economic benefits of capitalism. In a style that is refreshingly free of both starry-eyed idealism and doom-laden cynicism, Kingwell examines this challenge. * The New Presence, (Prague) *A piquant political-philosophical examination of the meaning of citizenship in these heady times. * The Edmonton Journal *Table of ContentsPart 1 The World We Have Part 2 Rights and Duties Chapter 3 The Perfect Citizen Chapter 4 The Evil of Banality Chapter 5 Hope's Imagination Part 6 Virtues and Vices Chapter 7 A Friendship Chapter 8 Challenges to Virtue Chapter 9 The Pact of Civility Part 10 Spaces and Dreams Chapter 11 In the Arcades Chapter 12 Postcultural Identities Chapter 13 Places to Dream Part 14 The World We Want

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Book Synopsis There are many ways to approach the subject of public space: the threats posed to it by surveillance and visual pollution; the joys it offers of stimulation and excitement, of anonymity and transformation; its importance to urban variety or democratic politics. But public space remains an evanescent and multidimensional concept that too often escapes scrutiny. The essays in Rites of Way: The Politics and Poetics of Public Space open up multiple dimensions of the concept from architectural, political, philosophical, and technological points of view. There is some historical analysis here, but the contributors are more focused on the future of public space under conditions of growing urbanization and democratic confusion. The added interest offered by non-academic work - visual art, fiction, poetry, and drama - is in part an admission that this is a topic too important to be left only to theorists. It also makes an implicit argument for the crucial role that art, not just public art, plays in a thriving public realm. Throughout this work contributors are guided by the conviction, not pious but steely, that healthy public space is one of the best, living parts of a just society. The paths of desire we follow in public trace and speak our convictions and needs, our interests and foibles. They are the vectors and walkways of the social, the public dimension of life lying at the heart of all politics. Trade Review"Containing fiction and visual art in addition to more conventional essays, this book is a lively discussion of the role that public spaces play--or could play--in modern cities." -- Research Book News, February 2010, 201002"The collection soon departs from its foundation in urbanism and takes a provokative, interdisciplinary turn, offering work by a rich assortment of voices, including a political theorist on subversive public spaces conducive to play and social deliberation as work, by a philosopher on how the city is public by definition, a novelist on characters struggling with a city's overlapping physical and social conventions, a new-media artist on the transformative effect of street festivals, and an art historian on the resurgence of outdoor art. Lisa Robertson's blending of poetry, urban geography, social history, and the arts in her excerpt, `Seven Walks from the Office for Soft Architecture,' provides a fitting conclusion to a collection that will prove of interest to anyone concerned with what she calls the `spiritual domain'--as much the land stretching out from our persons, as our immediate surroundings that contain the mutable threshold between within and without (170). It is up to us to rap on the glass." -- Patrick Barron, University of Massachusetts, Boston -- Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, 17:4, Autumn 2010, 201102"To most familiar issues of public space and its fate, this collection brings insights that should be fatal to naive assumptions." -- Jon Spayde -- Public Art Review, Spring/Summer 2010, 201007Table of Contents Rites of Way: The Politics and Poetics of Public Space, edited by Mark Kingwell and Patrick Turmel Introduction: Rites of Way, Paths of Desire Mark Kingwell and Patrick Turmel PART I Masters of Chancery: The Gift of Public Space Mark Kingwell We Wuz Robbed Joe Alterio PART II Public Space: Lost and Found Ken Greenberg Architecture and Public Space Alberto Pérez-Gómez The Enduring Presence of the Phenomenon of the ""Public"": Thoughts from the Arena of Architecture and Urban Design George Baird Private Jokes, Public Places: An Excerpt Oren Safdie PART III Holistic Democracy and Physical Public Space John Parkinson Public Spaces and Subversion Frank Cunningham Take to the Streets! Why We Need Street Festivals to Know Our Civic Selves Shawn Micaleff How Insensitive: An Excerpt Russell Smith PART IV Beauty Goes Public Nick Mount Protect the Net: The Looming Destruction of the Global Communications Environment Ron Deibert The City as Public Space Patrick Turmel ... walks from the office for soft architecture Lisa Robertson Contributors Index About the Contributors Joe Alteri is a San Francisco-based illustrator, comic artist, and animator. His work has appeared both nationally and internationally, in editorial as well as in advertising. Joe is best for RobotsAndMonsters.org, a project which trades custom comic art for donations to a good cause. Joe's work has appeared both nationally and internationally, in editorial as well as in advertising. He is working on his first graphic novel, due out next year. More of his work can be seen at http://www.joealterio.com. George Baird is dean of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto and partner in the Toronto-based architecture and design firm Baird Sampson Neuert Architects Inc. Author of Alvar Aalto (1968) and The Space of Appearance (1995), he is also the co-editor, with Charles Jencks, of Meaning in Architecture (1969) and, with Mark Lewis, of Queues, Rendezvous, Riots: Questioning the Public in Art and Architecture (1995). Robin Collyer has been exhibiting sculpture and photography since 1971. He is best known for his three-dimensional works that use industrial materials, found objects, and images from advertising and media. Photography has always played an equal role in his practice, sharing with his sculpture, an analysis of architectural forms, the urban landscape, and issues of representation. His photo work has included critical views of photographic content, urban and natural landscapes, and digital technology. Collyer has represented Canada in international exhibitions such as documenta 8 1987 and the Venice Biennale 1993. He has works in numerous public and private collections in Canada and internationally. He is represented by Gilles Peyroulet et Cie., Paris, and the Susan Hobbs Gallery in Toronto. Frank Cunningham is a member of the University of Toronto's Cities Centre and a professor of philosophy and political science at the university. He is the author of numerous articles and books on political theory, including Democratic Theory and Socialism (1987), The Real World of Democracy Revisited (1994), and Theories of Democracy: A Critical Introduction (2002). Ron Deibert is an associate professor of political science and director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto. He is a co-founder and a principal investigator of the OpenNet Initiative, the director of the psiphon censorship circumvention software project, and co-founder and director of the Information Warfare Monitor. Deibert has published numerous articles, chapters, and two books on issues related technology, media, and world politics. Architect and urban designer Ken Greenberg has played a leading role on a broad range of assignments in highly diverse urban settings in North America and Europe. Much of his work focuses on the rejuvenation of downtowns, waterfronts, and neighbourhoods, as well as campus master planning. In each city, with each project, his strategic, consensus-building approach has led to coordinated planning and a renewed focus on urban design. Current efforts include work on plans for Toronto's Lower Don Lands (involving reshaping the mouth of the Don River into an urban estuary where it enters Toronto Harbour), a strategic master plan for Boston University's Charles River Campus, plans for the renewal of Grange Park in association with the Art Gallery of Ontario, and plans for the Calgary Riverwalk along the Bow and Elbow Rivers. Mark Kingwell is a professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto and a contributing editor of Harper's Magazine. He is the author of eleven books of political and cultural theory, including most recently Concrete Reveries: Consciousness and the City (2008) and Opening Gambits: Essays on Art and Philosophy (2008). He is the recipient of the Spitz Prize in political theory and National Magazine Awards for both essays and columns, and in 2000 was awarded an honorary DFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design for contributions to theory and criticism. He is currently at work on a philosophical biography of the pianist Glenn Gould. Lisa Klapstock is a Toronto-based artist who has exhibited her work extensively in Canada and Europe as well as doing residencies in Rotterdam, Helsinki, Copenhagen, and Banff. Her work is in the institutional collections of the Musée de la Photographie, Belgium; the Museet for Fotokunst, Denmark; the National Portrait Gallery of Canada; the Kamloops Art Gallery; the Winnipeg Art Gallery; the Art Gallery of Windsor; and the Art Gallery of Hamilton. She is represented in Canada by Jessica Bradley Art + Projects and Diane Farris Gallery. More information can be found at http://www.lisaklapstock.com. Shawn Micallef is the associate editor at Spacing magazine and co-founder of [murmur], the location-based mobile-phone documentary project. He writes about cities, culture, buildings, art, and whatever is interesting in various books, magazines, and newspapers. Stroll, his monograph of Toronto from a flaniêur's perspective, will be published by Coach House Press in 2010. Nick Mount teaches Canadian literature at the University of Toronto. He is the author of When Canadian Literature Moved to New York, which won the 2005 Gabrielle Roy Prize. John Parkinson is a senior lecturer in politics at the University of York, U.K., specializing in democratic theory and practice and theories of the policy process. His book, Deliberating in the Real World, was published by Oxford University Press in 2006, while his Democracy and Public Space project will result in another book with OUP in 2010. He has also published articles on the House of Lords, restorative justice, and referendums in New Zealand and Switzerland. Alberto Pérez-Gómez is the Bronfman Professor of Architectural History at McGill University. He has lectured extensively around the world and is the author of numerous articles published in major periodicals and books. He is also co-editor of a well-known series of books entitled Chora: Intervals in the Philosophy of Architecture. His book Architecture and the Crisis of Modern Science (1983) won the Alice Davis Hitchcock Award in 1984. Later books include the erotic narrative theory Polyphilo, or The Dark Forest Revisited (1992), Architectural Representation and the Perspective Hinge (co-authored with Louise Pelletier, 1997), and most recently, Built upon Love: Architectural Longing after Ethics and Aesthetics (2006). Lisa Robertson is a poet and critic, previously based in Vancouver and now living in Oakland, California. Her books of poetry include Debbie: An Epic, nominated for a Governor General's Award in 1997; The Weather, winner of the Relit Award in 2001; and Rousseau's Boat, winner of the bpNichol Chapbook Award in 2005. Her collection of essays relating to architecture, urban design, and contemporary art practice, Occasional Works and Seven Walks from the Office for Soft Architecture, was published in 2003. Robertson has held residencies at the University of Cambridge; the University of California, San Diego; Capilano College; The American University of Paris; and the University of California, Berkeley, and she is now artist in residence at California College of the Arts. Her current work is centring on urban ambient sound recording and composing; she is constructing a prosody of noise. Oren Safdie is a playwright-in-residence at La MaMa E.T.C. in New York and the interim artistic director of the Malibu Stage Company in Los Angeles, where Private Jokes, Public Places first debuted. Other plays include West Bank, UK, The Last Word, Jews & Jesus, Fiddler Sub-terrain, Smother, Broken Places, and La Compagnie, which he developed into a half-hour pilot for CBS. As a screenwriter, he scripted the films You Can Thank Me Later and Bittersweet. He has also written for Dwell and Metropolis magazines. His new play, The Bilbao Effect, will debut in 2009/2010. Russell Smith's most recent novel, Muriella Pent, was nominated for the Rogers Fiction Prize and the IMPAC Dublin Award. He writes a weekly column on culture for The Globe and Mail and speaks frequently on CBC Radio in English and French. His new novel, Girl Crazy, will be published by HarperCollins Canada in 2010. He lives in Toronto. Patrick Turmel is an assistant professor of philosophy at Université Laval in Quebec City. His main research interests are moral and political philosophy. He has published articles and book chapters on ethics and political philosophy and on issues pertaining to cities and justice. He is also co-editor of Penser les institutions (Presses de l'Université Laval), due out in 2010.

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Book SynopsisMark Kingwell is as at home discussing Battlestar Galactica as he is civility, can find the Plato in popular culture, and sees in idleness a deeply revolutionary gesture. In Measure Yourself Against the Earth, he brings his heady mixture of critical intelligence and infectious enthusiasm to bear on film, aesthetics, politics, leisure, literature and much more, showing us how each can help us to imagine and achieve the society we want. The concept of "the gift" unites many of these essays: it is in this idea, Kingwell argues persuasively, in which we may be able to refashion the real world of democracy. "An activist, fugitive democracy. A living democracy that is no opaque demand but a real thing--a society. Democracy: the gift we keep on giving each other." Smart, engaged, and wide ranging, Mark Kingwell's Measure Yourself Against the Earth confirms its author as among our leading cultural theorists and philosophers.Trade ReviewListed among the top 75 books of 2015 by The Hill Times Praise for Mark Kingwell and Measure Yourself Against the Earth "[Measure Yourself Against the Earth] is written in a fun, almost whimsical, tone that befits the topic, and lends well to readability"--Library Journal "Mark Kingwell is a beautiful writer, a lucid thinker and a patient teacher ... His insights are intellectual anchors in a fast-changing world."--Naomi Klein, author of No Logo "Illuminates on almost every page."--The Los Angeles Times "An original approach to where we are as a civilization."--The Washington Post "An engaging collection from an urbane, observant writer of admirably lucid prose."--Kirkus Reviews "Smoothly splicing together personal narrative, philosophical inquiry and historical analysis, frequent Harper's contributor [Mark] Kingwell ... wears his learning lightly."--Publishers' Weekly "The writing is elegant, often poetic. It appeals to the thoughtful reader who thrives on insights into the way humans interact."--The Globe & Mail "An enlivening continuation on Kingwell's previous work as well as a good place to start for those new to him."--The Globe & Mail

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Book SynopsisWith COVID-19 comes a heightened sense of everyday risk. How should a society manage, distribute, and conceive of it? As we cope with the lengthening effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic, considerations of everyday risk have been more pressing, and inescapable. In the past, everyone engaged in some degree of risky behaviour, from mundane realities like taking a shower or getting into a car to purposely thrill-seeking activities like rock-climbing or BASE jumping. Many activities that seemed high-risk, such as flying, were claimed basically safe. But risk was, and always has been, a fact of life. With new focus on the risks of even leaving the safety of our homes, it’s time for a deeper consideration of risk itself. How do we manage and distribute risks? How do we predict uncertain outcomes? If risk can never be completely eliminated, can it perhaps be controlled? At the heart of these questions—which govern everything from waking up each day to the abstract mathematics of actuarial science—lie philosophical issues of life, death, and danger. Mortality is the event-horizon of daily risk. How should we conceive of it?Trade ReviewPraise for On Risk "Kingwell offers a slender, thoughtful, sometimes meandering disquisition on risk that “is inflected (or infected) by the virus, but not precisely about the virus—except as it grants new urgency to old questions of risk and politics. A host of cultural allusions—from Shakespeare to the Simpsons, Isaiah Berlin to Irving Berlin, Voltaire, Pascal, and Derrida—along with salient academic studies inspire Kingwell to examine the many contradictory ways that humans handle risk ... An entertaining gloss on an enduring conundrum."—Kirkus Reviews Praise for Mark Kingwell “Kingwell is dauntingly well-read … a gifted noticer … a lively writer [who] cites The Simpsons as often as Immanuel Kant. [Readers] are rewarded with neat, unexpected insights.” —Globe & Mail “[Kingwell] has grown into a pretty clever jack-of-almost-everything.”—National Post “Mark Kingwell is a beautiful writer, a lucid thinker and a patient teacher … His insights are intellectual anchors in a fast-changing world.”—Naomi Klein

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Book SynopsisThe Adventurer’s Glossary takes readers on their own semantic exploration. Through more than 500 terms, sourced from Shakespeare, military and biker jargon, hip hop and surfer slang, and beyond, Joshua Glenn considers meaning and selfhood. This diverting survey, paired with copious illustrations by cartoonist Seth, is introduced by Mark Kingwell.Trade Review"A case for 'adventure' as a literary as well as a quasi-athletic genre and attitude, with a philosopher's aerial approach, a set of literary recommendations, and a great deal of cultural history baked into a very skimmable A to Z." Stephanie Burt, author of Don't Read Poetry: A Book about How to Read Poems"I read The Adventurer's Glossary with great interest and mounting enthusiasm; there is no book quite like it. I found surprises on nearly every page." Lucy Sante, author of Maybe the People Would Be the Times“Even the committed non-adventurer will have plenty to chew on: the obscure terminology and attendant descriptions are just plain fun. For whoever chooses to embark on this campaign — and however they choose to navigate it — there’s lots to explore. Or, to borrow several of Glenn and Kingwell’s terms, The Adventurer’s Glossary is a crackerjack corker, so fire away, Flanagan!” Literary Review of Canada

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Book SynopsisKuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects, founded in 1987 in Toronto, is one of most innovative architectural offi ces in North America today. They have made a name for themselves both for their integrated design process embodying collaboration with experts, clients and future users as well as the diversity of their aesthetically refined and finely detailed designs. The work ranges from cultural institutions such as the Toronto International Film Festival and Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis to ecologically innovative concepts such as Manitoba Hydro Place in Winnipeg, developed with leading climate engineers Transsolar of Stuttgart. A respectful approach toward the integration of heritage buildings is also a characteristic feature, illustrated by the designs for the Royal Conservatory and the Gardiner Museum in Toronto. Finally, educational and research facilities are also a strong focus in KPMB’s work exemplified by the Centre for Innovation and Governance Campus in Waterloo, Ontario, and the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management in Toronto, as well as future projects for the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT) and Princeton University in the United States.

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Book SynopsisAS FEATURED IN THE OCCUPY WALL STREET PROTEST LIBRARY Everybody knows a brown-noser when they see one. But how about a freeter? A workbrickle? A jack? Can they tell downsizing from greybearding or brightsizing? With The Idler's Glossary (2008), Mark Kingwell and Joshua Glenn offered a spirited defense of leisure. As confirmed idlers themselves, they assured us their Glossary could provide "everything you need to know about how to conduct a life." Today, however, as we recover from the worst global recession since 1929, the work-world is a very different place. In order to understand it better, our anti-capitalist etymologists are therefore putting down their cigars, picking up their shovels, and drudging out English from the ditch of corporate jargon. For anyone who's ever had to moil for high muckety-mucks, The Wage Slave's Glossary is essential reading--as the moral wit of Kingwell & Glenn is indispensable to the present age.Trade Review"A tiny, lovely book, beautifully designed and illustrated by Seth, delightful to pick up and hold in your hand"-Geist "Exhausted demonstrators looking for the lightest reading they can find, at least in the literal sense, might want to pick up Joshua Glenn and Mark Kingwell's "Wage Slave's Glossary," a nifty pocket-size volume also spotted on the shelves in Zuccotti Park. A follow-up to the authors' "Idler's Glossary," the book provides energized Marxists and depressed Dilberts alike a witty guide to terms like "air family" (the false sense of community among co-workers), "afternoon farmer" (19th-century slang for someone who wastes the entiremorning), "keeping up with the Joneses" (the title of a popular cartoon that first appeared in 1913) and "on the wallaby" (Australian for "tramping the country on foot, looking for work"), not to mention more self-explanatory terms. ("Bossnapping," anyone?)" --New York Times "A fun dictionary of modern office idioms and new economy jargon." --The Atlantic "A wry brand of enlightenment ... a pocket-sized guide to the terms of paid labor." --Boston Globe "A light-serious compilation against capitalism run amok." --Globe & Mail "The Wage Slave's Glossary is a grand and saddening tour of language past and present ... a labor of love, and worth your money and time."-- Michael LeddyOrange Crate Art

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