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The modern world seems trapped between fantasies of infinite
pleasure and the prospects of total global catastrophe. Global
Media Apocalypse explores these contrary imaginings through an
evolving cultural ecology of violence. Articulated through the
global media, these apocalyptic fantasies express a profoundly
human condition of crisis.
The modern world seems trapped between fantasies of infinite
pleasure and the prospects of total global catastrophe. Global
Media Apocalypse explores these contrary imaginings through an
evolving cultural ecology of violence. Articulated through the
global media, these apocalyptic fantasies express a profoundly
human condition of crisis.
Language Wars is a fascinating account of the relationship between
the media, culture and new forms of global, political violence.
Using an innovative approach, Jeff Lewis shows how language and the
media are implicated in global terrorism and the US-led reprisals
in the war on terror. Through an examination of the language of
terrorism and war, Lewis illuminates key events in the current wave
of political violence - the 9/11 attacks on New York and the
Pentagon, the Beslan siege, the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq,
the Bali bombings and the ongoing occupation in the Middle East. He
argues that the language used to report incidents of violence has
changed, not just in official channels but in wider cultural
contexts, and shows the impact this has on social perceptions.
Lewis deconstructs these new discourses to reveal how Islam has
been construed as the antagonist of freedom, democracy and the rule
of law. Ideal for students of media studies and cultural studies,
this is a subtle account of the relation between language and
culture that exposes a dangerous new east-west divide in popular
discourse.
A stunning photographic journey through the seasons; These 145
spectacular color photographs celebrate nature's cycles in a
splendid and diverse southern garden. Each month for more than six
years, Carol and Hugh Nourse have explored the paths and
collections of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens,
capturing the kaleidoscope of its seasons. In this large-format,
beautifully produced volume, we move by season and scale from
detailed close-ups to atmospheric vistas. From the subdued blues of
a snow-covered garden to the dazzling golden light on scarlet
leaves in autumn, the Nourses' keen and affectionate eyes have
captured not only the living forms, but the essence of a garden in
all its changing moods. A general introduction traces the history
and development of this public garden, and brief sectional essays
describe the special features of the Garden in each season. The
sequence begins aptly with the glorious explosion of spring and
meanders joyfully through the waxing and waning of the seasons to
the stark forms of winter. An ""Under Glass"" section showcases
tropical and subtropical jewels in the three-story conservatory. In
the foreword, Garden director Jeff Lewis points out that the
Nourses' photographs enable us to ""notice details we might
otherwise miss - symmetry, texture, form, color."" Dedicated
volunteers with the Garden's Plant Conservation Program, the
Nourses champion conservation in a uniquely powerful way by simply
letting the beauty of nature speak for itself. As they turn our
eyes to the intricate, fragile beauty of tiny wildflowers and lacy
ruffles of peeling bark, we begin to see this and all gardens with
new wonder.
Humans of the advanced world are the most violent beings of all
times. This violence is evident in the conditions of perpetual
warfare and the accumulation of the most powerful and destructive
arsenal ever known to humankind. It is also evident in the
devastating impact of advanced world economy and cultural practices
which have led to ecological devastation and the current era of
mass species extinction. -one of only six mass extinction events in
planetary history and the only one caused by the actions of a
single species, humans. This violence is manifest in our
interpersonal relationships, and the ways in which we organize
ourselves through hierarchical systems that ensure the wealth and
privilege of some, against the penury and misery of others. In this
new and highly original book, Jeff Lewis argues that violence is
deeply inscribed in human culture, thinking and expressive systems
(media). Lewis contends that violence is not an inescapable feature
of an aggressive human nature. Rather, violence is laced through
our desires and dispositions to communalism and expressive
interaction. From the near extinction of all Homo sapiens, around
74,000 years ago, the invention of culture and media enabled humans
to imagine and articulate particular choices and pleasures.
Organized intergroup violence or warfare emerged through the
exercise of these choices and their expression through larger and
increasingly complex human societies. This agitation of amplified
desire, hierarchical social organization and mediated knowledge
systems has created a cultural volition of violent complexity which
continues into the present. Media, Culture and Human Violence
examines the current conditions of conflict and harm as an
expression of our violent complexity.
Bali and Balinese culture have become central to western imaginings
of 'the east.' Along with its natural beauty and tropical
sensuality, Bali's rich and complex culture has proved intensely
alluring for western artists, scholars, and travelers. However, as
this aesthetic imagining and desire for beauty have evolved into a
mass tourism industry, the island people and their culture have
experienced radical and rapid transformation. While many in the
international community were stunned by the horror of the militant
bombings in 2002 and 2005, these attacks were merely the apex of a
profound and ongoing crisis which resonates through the period of
Bali's modernization and engagement with the global economy of
pleasure. Bali's Silent Crisis examines and elucidates the complex
cultural and political environment of contemporary Bali. The book
explains the conditions of crisis in Bali in terms of a powerful
collision of cultural elements and trends, focusing specifically on
the double matrix of 'desire' and 'violence' that has characterized
Bali's recent past. Moving beyond a simple opposition between
'tradition' and 'the modern', this book reveals a society that is
struggling to reconcile its own profound aesthetic and sense of
historical identity with the intense agonisms that are generated
through rapid social and cultural change. Through its thematic
approach, Bali's Silent Crisis presents an image of community
trauma, creative resilience and pluralization. The book records the
challenges and horrors associated with transition, as well as the
formidable beauty that remains intrinsic to the island's sense of
cultural destiny.
Humans of the advanced world are the most violent beings of all
times. This violence is evident in the conditions of perpetual
warfare and the accumulation of the most powerful and destructive
arsenal ever known to humankind. It is also evident in the
devastating impact of advanced world economy and cultural practices
which have led to ecological devastation and the current era of
mass species extinction. -one of only six mass extinction events in
planetary history and the only one caused by the actions of a
single species, humans. This violence is manifest in our
interpersonal relationships, and the ways in which we organize
ourselves through hierarchical systems that ensure the wealth and
privilege of some, against the penury and misery of others. In this
new and highly original book, Jeff Lewis argues that violence is
deeply inscribed in human culture, thinking and expressive systems
(media). Lewis contends that violence is not an inescapable feature
of an aggressive human nature. Rather, violence is laced through
our desires and dispositions to communalism and expressive
interaction. From the near extinction of all Homo sapiens, around
74,000 years ago, the invention of culture and media enabled humans
to imagine and articulate particular choices and pleasures.
Organized intergroup violence or warfare emerged through the
exercise of these choices and their expression through larger and
increasingly complex human societies. This agitation of amplified
desire, hierarchical social organization and mediated knowledge
systems has created a cultural volition of violent complexity which
continues into the present. Media, Culture and Human Violence
examines the current conditions of conflict and harm as an
expression of our violent complexity.
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