Reimagining the American Pacific: From South Pacific to Bamboo Ridge and Beyond (New Americanists) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Reimagining the American Pacific: From South Pacific to Bamboo Ridge and Beyond (New Americanists)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Reimagining the American Pacific: From South Pacific to Bamboo Ridge and Beyond (New Americanists). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Reimagining the American Pacific: From South Pacific to Bamboo Ridge and Beyond (New Americanists) ReviewGlobal, US national, and local forces are finely articulated in this rich study of the literatures of Hawai'i and the counter-canons of Pacific possibility. While drenched in academic discourse and theory-speak, Wilson's wry humor and lyricism come through in chapter after chapter revealing the contestatory forces of an American Pacific coming unglued in the post-imperial era. This is an important work, deftly wrought, building upon and transforming what cultural studies can be in the trajectories of Birmingham into Asia/Pacific contexts.Reimagining the American Pacific: From South Pacific to Bamboo Ridge and Beyond (New Americanists) Overview

Want to learn more information about Reimagining the American Pacific: From South Pacific to Bamboo Ridge and Beyond (New Americanists)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility (Sporting) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility (Sporting)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility (Sporting). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility (Sporting) Review
This is an outstanding treatment of bicycles and their relationship to larger quality of life issues in the USA. The key idea s that of "automobility." The book is a powerful and tractable exposition, the only treatment of I know of that is not undertheorized with respect to its subject matter! (And I've read them all...)
His treatment is sociological and normative, not just descriptive and historical (assuming the latter is possible.) Apparently, this is confusing to folks. Building a solid case on a sandy foundation is always going to upset those, who, regardless of disciplinary pedigree, are only satisfied with unassailable assessments...but such is life.
Furness focuses on the *relationships* between bicycles, transportation, the built environment and the larger consumer culture (with its dominant "rugged individualist" psychology and economic "market ideology). He examines the role of the bicycle, both the role it has played and could play, in enhancing (or detracting from) the quality of life emergent among those relationships. In so doing, Furness critically helps point the way forward for bicycle advocacy, from an historically informed perspective on "automobility."
Contrary to the other reviewers, this book is not the least bit ideological. The claims of bias seem confused, even if predictable. Furness does demand critical inquiry, where third-party evidence is what matters, not the parroting of the received wisdom from various "stakeholders" in and around bicycle and transportation circles; and he assumes that ecological concerns should be primary in *any* historical or normative account of *any* technology in 2011; and he assumes that any "black box" discussion of the bicycle - as if the bicycle is ipso facto, an unimpeachable, cosmic good - is a malignant form of ideology all its own. (Which is sure to anger orthodox bicycle advocacy organizations.) These are certainly his assumed departure points. But they are methodological. Such assumptions don't undermine his thesis and discussion about the *politics of automobility* - they ground it. Every critique assumes a departure point. At least Furness' is evidentially, normatively and historically grounded. I would challenge anyone to indicate otherwise...
Furness's book will likely anger traditional bicycle advocates, especially those inclined to classically liberal political perspectives: again, his is not a reductionist treatment that isolates the bicycle in a "black box" as an unequivocal good.
Those who are interested in the decline of the quality of life in the USA; social and mechanical technology; distributed theories of learning and cognition; embodied aesthetics; transportation; the built environment; and social movements, will be fascinated and rewarded by this book. It is excellent precisely because it does not offer definitive answers, much less decontextual, ahistorical ones. It is useful and excellent precisely because so much of it is arguable!One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility (Sporting) Overview

Want to learn more information about One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility (Sporting)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

The Writing of History Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The Writing of History? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Writing of History. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Writing of History ReviewAlong with French intellectual giants such as Lacan, Foucault, Derrida and Levinas, stands Michel de Certeau. Despite being far less kown than these other figures of post-structuralist thought, it has been said that his thought and range of interests exceeded all of them (He studied and taught history, anthropology, sociology, psychoanalysis, theology, literature and French). He deserves to be better well-known in the English speaking world, and will undoubtedly become so, now that his major works have been translated and are available.
This book, The Writing of History, is where de Certeau deals most comprehensively with post-structuralist theory and history, or, more specifically, historiography. Although American academia is still very hesitant about anything smacking of "postmodernism", it is inevitable that they too will have to acknowledge the sea change taking place, and find a place or at least a thought-out response to, theory. Despite definitely locating itself within the post-structuralist camp, de Certeau's work offers a way forward that is neither repulsive nor irrational, but can in fact be seen as liberating and promising. He argues that historians have worked on a principle of exclusion, whereby they draw an artificial line between the past and present, and separate what is "dead" from what is not. Through this navigation, they neglect the fact that they themselves are historical beings - they fail to historicize themselves and to recognize fully the ways in which historical processes shape their own actions, their own writing. They also believe - wrongly - that they are somehow above "politics", and that they may be able to describe politics without being themselves implicated in political processes. Even Foucault, de Certeau argues, fell victim to this trap (see Birth of the Clinic) since he attempts to point out the fundamental basis for knowledge systems without addressing his own basis.
De Certeau's thought cannot be summarized here. I would encourage this book to all historians who are not theory-phobic, especially those who are interested in the possibilities of thinking about ethics and history together (de Certeau is influenced by Levinas, here). Not many are doing this today, and it is a topic worth exploring more fully, especially as we wrestle with problems in the historiography of the holocaust, genocide, oppression, and other important issues.The Writing of History Overview

Want to learn more information about The Writing of History?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Do They Hear You When You Cry Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Do They Hear You When You Cry? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Do They Hear You When You Cry. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Do They Hear You When You Cry ReviewThere are some books that are so wonderful, so intense, that I simply get lost in them for the few days it takes me to finish them, and once I'm done, I want to share it with the world. This is one of those books, a truly moving, inspiring, fascinating, terrifying, heart-breaking and rewarding tale.
Fauziya Kassindja is a Muslim African woman raised by a father she adored who did not adhere to many of the more restrictive Islamic customs relating to women. Upon his death, however, Fauziya is faced with a forced marriage and forced female circumcision and flees first to Germany and then to the United States, where she is promptly locked away in prision, initially denied asylum and kept imprisoned for an unbelievable amount of time.
The story itself is both fascinating and heart-breaking, but Fauziya tells it with such detail and brutal honesty that it becomes even more powerful. She creates a beautiful picture of her childhood in Africa and life with her beloved father and family, and she conveys clearly and easily her naivete about laws and customs as she went first to the strange land and then to the literal and figurative prison of America. Her ambivalence about America - as the land of hope and escape turned jail - is understandable and she describes why a return to the horrors that awaited her at home suddenly seemed better than remaining in the series of prisons to which she was assigned.
What makes Fauziya such a compelling figure - a real heroine - is her honesty and her struggle to stand up for her beliefs. She personifies the adage that courage is being scared but 'doing it anyway.' I grew angrier and angrier at the way in which women are treated here and around the world, that forced mutilation is not 'political' nor grounds for asylum, that gender has such an impact on how people are treated. Her faith in her religion, her love of her family, her wish to give in despite the horror that would greet her return to Africa all made her such a human, touching figure. This is not a book to be missed - everyone should read it - but for those concerned about the treatment of women and female circumcision - and far too many women have to deal with the brutality of it - this book is absolutely essential. When I finished, I wanted to learn more about Fauziya and what happened to her. I certainly hope that she has found the happiness and peace that she so deserves.Do They Hear You When You Cry Overview

Want to learn more information about Do They Hear You When You Cry?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy ReviewIn "the Revolt of the Elites" Christoper Lasch powerfully and persuasively contends that that the values and attitudes of professional and managerial elites and those of the working classes have dramatically diverged. Although the claim is controverted, many of us on the right (especially social conservatives) agree with the quasi-populist/communitarian notion that democracy works best when all members of society can participate in a world of upward mobility and of achievable status. In such a world, members of society will perceive themselves as belonging to the same team and care about ensuring that that team succeeds. But how can society achieve this sort of mutual interdependence if its members are not part of a community of shared values? As Christopher Lasch explains: "[T]he new elites, the professional classes in particular, regard the masses with mingled scorn and apprehension." For too many of these elites, the values of "Middle America" - a/k/a "fly-over country" - are mindless patriotism, religious fundamentalism, racism, homophobia, and retrograde views of women. "Middle Americans, as they appear to the makers of educated opinion, are hopelessly shabby, unfashionable, and provincial, ill informed about changes in taste or intellectual trends, addicted to trashy novels of romance and adventure, and stupefied by prolonged exposure to television. They are at once absurd and vaguely menacing." (28)
The tension between elite and non-elite attitudes is most pronounced with respect to religious belief. While our society admittedly is increasingly pluralistic, "the democratic reality, even, if you will, the raw demographic reality," as Father Neuhaus has observed, "is that most Americans derive their values and visions from the biblical tradition." Yet, Lasch points out, elite attitudes towards religion are increasingly hostile: "A skeptical, iconoclastic state of mind is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the knowledge classes. ... The elites' attitude to religion ranges from indifference to active hostility." (215)
Lash claims that the divergence in elite and non-elite attitudes is troubling for the future of democracy. Its hard for me to gainsay him. Yet, while "The Revolt of the Elites" is sobering - even a tad depressing - it deserves to be read even more widely than it has been. Lasch is no partisan. Conservative proponents of unfettered capitalism get bashed about the head by Lasch just as much as liberal critics of capitalism. Populists will find themselves nodding in agreement with some sections, while communitarians will concur with other sections. About the only folks who will be offended by all of "The Revolt of the Elites" are hardened libertarians and extreme left-liberals. Highly recommended.The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy Overview

Want to learn more information about The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

The Expediency of Culture: Uses of Culture in the Global Era (Post-Contemporary Interventions) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy The Expediency of Culture: Uses of Culture in the Global Era (Post-Contemporary Interventions)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Expediency of Culture: Uses of Culture in the Global Era (Post-Contemporary Interventions). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Expediency of Culture: Uses of Culture in the Global Era (Post-Contemporary Interventions) ReviewAn excellent analysis of the way that matters of culture are deployed by governments in the neoliberal economy, and more. Makes for engrossing reading.The Expediency of Culture: Uses of Culture in the Global Era (Post-Contemporary Interventions) Overview

Want to learn more information about The Expediency of Culture: Uses of Culture in the Global Era (Post-Contemporary Interventions)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Global Transformations: Anthropology and the Modern World Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Global Transformations: Anthropology and the Modern World? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Global Transformations: Anthropology and the Modern World. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Global Transformations: Anthropology and the Modern World ReviewWithout any doubt Trouillot's book has been reviewed in scholarly journals by his colleagues around the world. They have mounted either learned attacks or heaped learned praise on his work. I never read any such reviews. Though I can call myself "anthropologist" with some justification, I cannot say that I have ever moved in the rarefied atmosphere of ratiocination that surrounds GLOBAL TRANSFORMATIONS. I have not engaged in such debates, perhaps from lack of ability, perhaps also from lack of desire to do so. This book is aimed at the highest level of scholars; it is extremely difficult, but if you discipline yourself to hack through the dense jungle of ideas and verbiage, you will glean a rich harvest of thoughts to consider on a wide variety of topics.

GLOBAL TRANSFORMATIONS discusses the previous and future directions of the field of Anthropology in the light of globalization. It is a strong critique of almost everything that has been done up to the present. Anthropology, says the author, has ignored history to its own peril. Anthropologists have fetishized field work--making it into a ritual beloved for its own sake----and continually tried to describe discreet cultures, rather than link their chosen area or people up to wider processes and trends. Anthropology has been too fascinated with "the Other" a.k.a. the Savage. Trouillot makes a big point of arguing that globalization is hardly new, that it is not just a phenomenon of the 1990s and after, but that in their search for the pure, untrammelled "savage", anthropologists did not acknowledge this. There are so many ideas in this book that it reminds me of a smoker who lights one cigarette with another, a continuous cycle of smoke, a filmy tower of ideas that reach up to the stars. Are they all firmly anchored to the earth ? Maybe, maybe not. While there are occasional concrete examples given in the text, and they are excellent, many times I felt as if I had to take it all on faith, not a style that I relish in anthropology books. Trouillot's criticisms are trenchant and well-argued, they are legion. He manages to disparage nearly everyone and all work done so far. As for work that he approves, only a few minor works seem to get the nod. His arguments cover the relationship between academe and politics too. He delineates two models, a nineteenth century one and one that arose in the 1960s. Saying that both are flawed, he hopes that anthropologists could work out a new "model of engagement" that would better reflect the relationship between political power and academic work. Certainly the relationship between power and
anthropologists has been problematic over the whole time the field has existed.
Arriving at the end of this short work of 139 pages (plus notes)-which took me nearly a month to read---my feeling was that I had been painted into a corner. Which way to turn ? Every action seemed politically naïve or incorrect, if I wanted to describe life in some corner of Indonesia or Uruguay, I would have to relate my writing to the legion of negative forces abroad in this world, to weave my way through a vast minefield of caveats and no-nos. The brilliant mass of ideas in the book produced a great gloom in me; I felt that it would be better to stay home and grow strawberries. But, if anthropology is your field, you can't avoid reading this book. If you are young, perhaps you will have the enthusiasm to work out a way in which Trouillot's critique could be coupled with a plan of action. I should say that though GLOBAL TRANSFORMATIONS had a rather depressing effect on me, it is the most interesting or challenging book that I've read for several years. It made me think---perhaps that's why it depressed me.
Global Transformations: Anthropology and the Modern World Overview

Want to learn more information about Global Transformations: Anthropology and the Modern World?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Museum Frictions: Public Cultures/Global Transformations Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Museum Frictions: Public Cultures/Global Transformations? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Museum Frictions: Public Cultures/Global Transformations. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Museum Frictions: Public Cultures/Global Transformations ReviewWhile I found a few gems and insights, this 600-plus page tome needed a good book editor to boil it down to maybe 200 pages. It appears a bunch of noted academics were trying to appear, well, academic, and they succeeded. Single sentences the length of paragraphs, simple words with superfluous suffixes added--I kept saying to myself, "just say it already--stop trying to impress me with how you can bury a simple point in a massive flood of verbage." I reccommend the first book in this series, "Exhibiting Cultures: The Poetics and Politics of Museum Display" (1991) as being much more accessible and helpful.Museum Frictions: Public Cultures/Global Transformations Overview

Want to learn more information about Museum Frictions: Public Cultures/Global Transformations?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Global Pop: World Music, World Markets Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Global Pop: World Music, World Markets? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Global Pop: World Music, World Markets. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Global Pop: World Music, World Markets ReviewThe book is full of insight into "world music," which is mainly a marketing concept but also encompasses most of the world's popular music! This is an academic work that is also enjoyable to read and complements well those studies that focus on the artists and music, such as "World Music: The Rough Guide" and "The Brazilian Sound."Global Pop: World Music, World Markets Overview

Want to learn more information about Global Pop: World Music, World Markets?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Textbook of International Health: Global Health in a Dynamic World Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Textbook of International Health: Global Health in a Dynamic World? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Textbook of International Health: Global Health in a Dynamic World. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Textbook of International Health: Global Health in a Dynamic World ReviewIt is a very nice and comprehensive overview of the major topics of interest in the field on International (Global) Health. It also contains references that can complement your knowledge as well as very good appendixes with information about the international organizations where health is a concerning issue. The text has become the reference book for scholars working and teaching about this important and relatively new specialty.Textbook of International Health: Global Health in a Dynamic World Overview

Want to learn more information about Textbook of International Health: Global Health in a Dynamic World?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...

Essentials of Global Health (Essential Public Health) (Essential Public Health) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Are you looking to buy Essentials of Global Health (Essential Public Health) (Essential Public Health)? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Essentials of Global Health (Essential Public Health) (Essential Public Health). Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Essentials of Global Health (Essential Public Health) (Essential Public Health) ReviewExcellent conditions and arrived on time. The book is amazing, explanations are clear and interesting. Couldn't stop reading it. The case studies are very useful. This is the best book if you want to learn about Global Health.Essentials of Global Health (Essential Public Health) (Essential Public Health) Overview

Want to learn more information about Essentials of Global Health (Essential Public Health) (Essential Public Health)?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now

Read More...