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Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Cultural studies
Systemic and political hostility against the 'left', real and
contrived, has been a key, yet under-recognized aspect of the
history of the modern world for the past two hundred years. By the
1820s, the new, exploitative and destabilizing character of
capitalist industrial production and its accompanying market
liberalizations began creating necessities among the working
classes and their allies for the new, self-protective politics of
'socialism'. But it is evident that, for the new economic system to
sustain itself, such oppositional politics that it necessitated had
to be undermined, if not destroyed, by whatever means necessary.
Through the imperialism of the later 19th century, and with
significant variations, this complex and often highly destructive
dialectical syndrome expanded worldwide. Liberals, conservatives,
extreme nationalists, fascists, racists, and others have all
repeatedly come aggressively and violently into play against
'socialist' oppositions. In this book, Philip Minehan traces the
patterns of such hostility and presents numerous crucial examples
of it: from Britain, France, Germany and the United States; the
British in India; European fascism, the United States and Britain
as they operated in China and Indochina; from Kenya, Algeria and
Iran; and from Central and South America during the Cold War. In
the final chapters, Minehan addresses the post-Cold War, US-led
triumphalist wars in the Middle East, the ensuing refugee crises,
neo-fascism, and anti-environmentalist politics, to show the ways
that the syndrome within which anti-leftist antagonism emerges, in
its neoliberal phase since the 1970s, remains as self-destructive
and dangerous as ever
This in-depth exploration of the history and culture of the
sometimes illegal activity of BASE jumping provides historical and
current information as well as a glimpse into the incredible
adrenaline rush of the sport. BASE jumping is an extreme sport that
has gained significant popularity. To date, there are over 1,400
jumpers who have earned their "BASE number," which means that they
have jumped from a building, an antenna, a span, and a terrestrial
point. And at least one BASE jumper is planning to attempt landing
from a BASE jump without a parachute. BASE Jumping: The Ultimate
Guide examines the history, subculture, and technologies associated
with BASE jumping. Additionally, it considers what the relatively
new expansion of this activity means within the context of how our
society considers danger and risk. After an introduction, its
chapters cover BASE culture and ethics, the sport's origins and
current developments, techniques and equipment, sites and events,
pioneering jumpers and icons of the sport, and future directions.
The author-a former skydiver and BASE jumper himself-draws from
careful research as well as interviews with current BASE jumpers to
both provide historical context and represent the voices of those
participating in the activity. A history of early attempts at human
flight as well as a chronology of fixed object jumping
Illustrations of jumpers, BASE jumping points, and equipment A
glossary of key terms such as "burnt object" and "object strike" A
resource guide with additional information such as numerous films
and websites for BASE organizations
This collection of essays presents new insights into what shaped
and constituted the Renaissance and early modern views of fate and
fortune. It argues that these ideas were emblematic of a more
fundamental argument about the self, society, and the universe and
shows that their influence was more widespread, both geographically
and thematically, than hitherto assumed.
Beauty is a central concept in the Italian cultural imagination
throughout its history and in virtually all its manifestations. It
particularly permeates the domains that have governed the
construction of Italian identity: literature and language. The Idea
of Beauty in Italian Literature and Language assesses this long
tradition in a series of essays covering a wide chronological and
thematic range, while crossing from historical linguistics to
literary and cultural studies. It offers elements for reflection on
cross-disciplinary approaches in the humanities, and demonstrates
the power of beauty as a fundamental category beyond aesthetics.
What was the Scottish Enlightenment? Long since ignored or
sidelined, it is now a controversial topic - damned by some as a
conservative movement objectively allied to the enemies of
enlightenment, placed centre stage by others as the archetype of
what is meant by 'Enlightenment'. In this book leading experts
reassess the issue by exploring both the eighteenth-century
intellectual developments taking place within Scotland and the
Scottish contribution to the Enlightenment as a whole. The Scottish
experience during this period forms the underlying theme of early
chapters, with contributors examining the central philosophy of the
'science of man', the reality of 'applied enlightenment' in
Scotland, and the Presbyterian hostility to the spread of
'heretical' ideas. Moving beyond Scotland's borders, contributors
in later chapters examine the wider recognition of Scotland's
intellectual activity, both within Europe and across the Atlantic.
Through a series of case studies authors assess the engagement of
European intellectuals with Scottish thinkers, looking at the
French interpretation of Adam Smith's notion of sympathy, divergent
approaches to the writing of history in Scotland and Germany, and
the variety of Neapolitan responses to Scottish thought; the final
chapter analyses the links between the 'moderate Enlightenment' in
Scotland and America. Through these innovative studies this book
provides a rich and nuanced understanding of Enlightenment thought
in Scotland and its impact in Europe and North America,
highlighting the importance of placing the national context in a
transnational perspective.
An iconic figure in the movement for Greek independence, Adamantios
Korais (1748-1833) also played a major role in the development and
transmission of Enlightenment ideals. From his early education in
Amsterdam and medical studies in Montpellier, he moved to Paris
where he developed distinctive ideas of political liberalism and
cultural change against the backdrop of the French Revolution. In
Adamantios Korais and the European Enlightenment a team of
specialists explore the multiple facets of Korais' life and
thought. Following a detailed examination of his formative years
and pan-European education, contributors analyse his: translations
and editions of the classics, through which his own early political
ideas took shape views on linguistic reform and its importance for
a sense of national identity liberal critique of the French
Revolution and his evolving conception of political liberty In
Adamantios Korais and the European Enlightenment contributors
present a timely reevaluation of a major figure in the foundation
of modern Greece, and provide a fresh perspective on the
interaction of cultures in the European Enlightenment.
The Cultural History of the Avant-Garde in the Nordic Countries
Since 1975 is the final volume of the four-volume series of
cultural histories of the avant-garde movements in the Nordic
countries. This volume carries the avant-garde discussion forward
to present-day avant-gardes, challenged by the globalisation of the
entertainment industries and new interactive media such as the
internet. The avant-garde can now be considered a tradition that
has been made more widely available through the opening of
archives, electronic documentation and new research, which has
spurred both re-enactments, revisions and continuations of
historical avant-garde practices, while new cultural contexts,
political, technological and ecological conditions have called for
new strategies.
In this dazzling history of the imagination, Patrick Harpur links
together fields as far apart as Greek philosophy and depth
psychology, Renaissance magic and tribal ritual, Romantic poetry
and modern models of the Universe, to trace how myths have been
used to make sense of the world. In so doing he uncovers that
tradition which alchemists imagined as a Golden Chain of initiates,
who passed their mysterious 'secret fire' down through the ages. As
this inspiring book shows, the secret of this perennial wisdom is
of an imaginative insight: a simple way of seeing that re-enchants
our existence and restores us to our own true selves..."His
flame-like knowledge is central to the urgent seriousness of this
book; buy a copy before it vanishes." THE LONDON MAGAZINE ..."It
would be hard to overestimate the value of Harpur's book or to
praise it too highly." RESURGENCE MAGAZINE ..."Once we believed
that truth was 'out there', now we hold that it's 'in here', but if
Harpur is right then it lies in the line of vision between the two"
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY ..."Mr. Harpur links together fields as
far apart as Greek philosophy and depth psychology, Renaissance
magic and tribal ritual, Romantic poetry and the ecstasy of the
shaman, to trace how societies over time have used myths to make
sense of the world. Harpur leads us through history's secret
chambers with such grace of language and insight that we forget the
hour. I would make Harpur's book required reading for every student
of philosophy, depth psychology, and history." DIANNE SKAFTE
Institutions like schools, hospitals, and universities are not well
known for having quality, healthy food. In fact, institutional food
often embodies many of the worst traits of our industrialized food
system, with long supply chains that are rife with environmental
and social problems and growing market concentration in many stages
of food production and distribution. Recently, however, non-profit
organizations, government agencies, university research institutes,
and activists have partnered with institutions to experiment with a
wide range of more ethical and sustainable models for food
purchasing, also known as values-based procurement. Institutions as
Conscious Food Consumers brings together in-depth case studies from
several of promising models of institutional food purchasing that
aim to be more sustainable, healthy, equitable, and local. With
chapters written by a diverse set of authors, including leaders in
the food movement and policy researchers, this book: Documents
growing interest among non-profit organizations and activists in
institutional food interventions through case studies and
first-hand experiences; Highlights emerging evidence about how
these new procurement models affect agro-food supply chains; and
Examines the role of policy and regional or geographic identity in
promoting food systems change. Institutions as Conscious Food
Consumers makes the case that institutions can use their budgets to
change the food system for the better, although significant
challenges remain. It is a must read for food systems
practitioners, food chain researchers, and foodservice
professionals interested in values-based procurement.
At least 200,000 people died from hunger or malnutrition-related
diseases in Spain during the 1940s. This book provides a political
explanation for the famine and brings together a broad range of
academics based in Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and
Australia to achieve this. Topics include the political causes of
the famine, the physical and social consequences, the ways
Spaniards tried to survive, the regime's reluctance to accept
international relief, the politics of cooking at a time of famine,
and the memory of the famine. The volume challenges the silence and
misrepresentation that still surround the famine. It reveals the
reality of how people perished in Spain because the Francoist
authorities instituted a policy of food self-sufficiency (or
autarky): a system of price regulation which placed restrictions on
transport as well as food sales. The contributors trace the massive
decline in food production which followed, the hoarding which took
place on an enormous scale and the vast and deeply iniquitous black
market that subsequently flourished at a time when salaries plunged
to 50% below their levels in 1936: all contributing factors in the
large-scale atrocity explored fully here for the first time.
This book delves into the public character of public theology from
the sites of subalternity, the excluded Dalit (non) public in the
Indian public sphere. Raj Bharat Patta employs a decolonial
methodology and explores the topic in three parts: First, he
engages with 'theological contexts,' by mapping global and Indian
public theologies and critically analysing them. Next, he discusses
'theological companions,' and explains 'theological subalternity'
and 'subaltern public' as companions for a subaltern public
theology for India. Finally, Patta explains 'theological contours'
by discussing subaltern liturgy as a theological account of the
subaltern public and explores a subaltern public theology for
India.
Extractivism has increasingly become the ground on which activists
and scholars in Latin America frame the dynamics of ecological
devastation, accumulation of wealth, and erosion of rights. These
maladies are the direct consequences of long-standing
extraction-oriented economies, and more recently from the expansion
of the extractive frontier and the implementation of new
technologies in the extraction of fossil fuels, mining, and
agriculture. But the fields of sociology, political ecology,
anthropology, and geography have largely ignored the role of art
and cultural practices in studies of extractivism and
post-extractivism. The field of art theory, on the other hand, has
offered a number of texts that put forward insightful analyses of
artwork addressing extraction, environmental devastation, and the
climate crisis. However, an art theory perspective that does not
engage firsthand and in depth with collective action remains
limited and fails to provide an account of the role, processes, and
politics of art in anti- and post-extractivist movements. Creating
Worlds Otherwise examines the narratives that subaltern groups
generate around extractivism, and how they develop, communicate,
and mobilize these narratives through art and cultural practices.
It reports on a six-year project on creative resistance to
extractivism in Argentina and builds on long-term engagement
working on environmental justice projects and campaigns in
Argentina and the UK. It is an innovative contribution to the
fields of Latin American studies, political ecology, cultural
studies, and art theory, and addresses pressing questions regarding
what post-extractivist worlds might look like as well as how such
visions are put into practice.
The history of the relation between religion and Enlightenment has
been virtually rewritten In recent decades. The idea of a fairly
unidirectional 'rise of paganism', or 'secularisation', has been
replaced by a much more variegated panorama of interlocking
changes-not least in the nature of both religion and rationalism.
This volume explores developments in various cultural fields-from
lexicology to geographical exploration, and from philosophy and
history to theology, media and the arts-involved in the
transformation of worldviews in the decades around 1700. The main
focus is on the Dutch Republic, where discussion culture was more
inclusive than in most other countries, and where people from very
different walks of life joined the conversation. Contributors
include: Wiep van Bunge, Frank Daudeij, Martin Gierl, Albert
Gootjes, Trudelien van 't Hof, Jonathan Israel, Henri Krop, Fred
van Lieburg, Jaap Nieuwstraten, Joke Spaans, Jetze Touber, and
Arthur Weststeijn.
Leveller Manifestoes (1944) is a collection of primary manifestoes
issued by the Levellers, the group which played an active and
influential role in the English revolution of 1642-49. This book
collects together rare pamphlets and tracts that are seldom
available, and certainly not in one place for ease of research.
From Revolution to Revolution (1973) examines England, Scotland and
Wales from the revolution of 1688 when William became King, to the
American Revolution of 1776. In this period lies the roots of
modern Britain, as it went from being underdeveloped countries on
the fringe of European civilization to a predominating influence in
the world. This book examines the union of the island, development
of an organized public opinion and national consciousness, as well
as Parliament and its factions, the landed and business classes.
Views on religion, art, architecture and the changing face of the
countryside are also examined, as is the tension between London and
the rest of the island. The important issues of colonial expansions
in Ireland, America, India and Africa are also analysed.
Allegiance in Church and State (1928) examines the evolution of
ideas and ideals, their relation to political and economic events,
and their influence on friends and foes in seventeenth-century
England - which witnessed the beginning of both the constitutional
and the intellectual transition from the old order to the new. It
takes a careful look at the religious and particularly political
ideas of the Nonjurors, a sect that argued for the moral
foundations of a State and the sacredness of moral obligations in
public life.
In The Seal Hunt: Cultures, Economies and Legal Regimes, Nikolas
Sellheim offers a deep analysis of the seal hunt worldwide. He
engages on a journey from the northern to the southern hemisphere
and explores how the seal hunt has shaped cultures all over the
world up to this day. By analysing the different national and
international regimes dealing with the seal hunt, Sellheim shows
how the perception of the seal and the seal hunt has changed over
time and space. Focusing on the European Union and the World Trade
Organization, the volume offers an account on how opposition
towards the seal hunt has found its way onto the international
spheres of governance and trade.
Green Matters offers a fascinating insight into the regenerative
function of literature with regard to environmental concerns. Based
on recent developments in ecocriticism, the book demonstrates how
the aesthetic dimension of literary texts makes them a vital force
in the struggle for sustainable futures. Applying this
understanding to individual works from a number of different
thematic fields, cultural contexts and literary genres, Green
Matters presents novel approaches to the manifold ways in which
literature can make a difference. While the first sections of the
book highlight the transnational, the focus on Canada in the last
section allows a more specific exploration of how themes, genres
and literary forms develop their own manifestations within a
national context. Through its unifying ecocultural focus and its
variegated approaches, the volume is an essential contribution to
contemporary environmental humanities.
A wide-ranging political biography of diplomat, Nobel prize winner,
and civil rights leader Ralph Bunche. A legendary diplomat,
scholar, and civil rights leader, Ralph Bunche was one of the most
prominent Black Americans of the twentieth century. The first
African American to obtain a political science Ph.D. from Harvard
and a celebrated diplomat at the United Nations, he was once so
famous he handed out the Best Picture award at the Oscars. Yet
today Ralph Bunche is largely forgotten. In The Absolutely
Indispensable Man, Kal Raustiala restores Bunche to his rightful
place in history. He shows that Bunche was not only a singular
figure in midcentury America; he was also one of the key architects
of the postwar international order. Raustiala tells the story of
Bunche's dramatic life, from his early years in prewar Los Angeles
to UCLA, Harvard, the State Department, and the heights of global
diplomacy at the United Nations. After narrowly avoiding
assassination Bunche received the Nobel Peace Prize for his
ground-breaking mediation of the first Arab-Israeli conflict,
catapulting him to popular fame. A central player in some of the
most dramatic crises of the Cold War, he pioneered conflict
management and peacekeeping at the UN. But as Raustiala argues, his
most enduring achievement was his work to dismantle European
empire. Bunche perceptively saw colonialism as the central issue of
the 20th century and decolonization as a project of global racial
justice. From marching with Martin Luther King to advising
presidents and prime ministers, Ralph Bunche shaped our world in
lasting ways. This definitive biography gives him his due. It also
reminds us that postwar decolonization not only fundamentally
transformed world politics, but also powerfully intersected with
America's own civil rights struggle.
This book looks at the cultural, political and economic conditions
of British Euroscepticism. Focusing on eight British dystopian
novels, published in the years before the decisive
In/Out-Referendum, and taking into account cultural, political and
economic contexts, Lisa Bischoff shows how the novels' stance
towards the integration project range from slight criticism to
outright hostility. The wide availability of the novels, and the
prominence of both its authors and readers, among which are
political figures David Cameron, Nigel Farage and Daniel Hannan,
amplify the power of literary Euroscepticism. Drawing on cultural
studies, literature and social science, British Novels and the
European Union reveals the many facets of British Euroscepticism.
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