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Talking to Robots: A Brief Guide to Our Human-Robot Futures
by David Ewing DuncanOne of Time magazine's '32 Books You Need to Read This Summer' -- 'a riveting read'.'Intensely readable, downright terrifying, and surprisingly uplifting.'Vanity Fair'A fascinating work of imaginative futurology, a science journalist takes a look at our current technologies and anticipates the human-robot future that could await us - one full of warrior bots, politician bots, doctor bots and sex bots.'One of Barbara VanDenburgh's '5 Books Not to Miss', USA TodayOne of the best summer reads of 2019, according to top authors David Baldacci and Elizabeth Acevedo on USA Today's Today programme. 'A refreshing variation on the will-intelligent-robots-bring-Armageddon genre . . . this colorful mixture of expert futurology and quirky speculation does not disappoint' Kirkus ReviewsWhat robot and AI systems are being built and imagined right now? What do they say about us, their creators? Will they usher in a fantastic new future, or destroy us? What do some of our greatest thinkers, from physicist Brian Greene and futurist Kevin Kelly to inventor Dean Kamen, geneticist George Church and filmmaker Tiffany Shlain, anticipate for our human-robot future? For even as robots and AI intrigue us and make us anxious about the future, our fascination with robots has always been about more than the potential of the technology - it also concerns what robots tell us about being human.From present-day Facebook and Amazon bots to near-future 'intimacy' bots and 'the robot that swiped my job' bots, bestselling American popular science writer David Ewing Duncan's Talking to Robots is a wonderfully entertaining and insightful guide to possible future scenarios about robots, both real and imagined.Featured bots include robot drivers; doc bots; politician bots; warrior bots; sex bots; syntheticbio bots; dystopic bots that are hopefully just bad dreams; and ultimately, God Bot (asdescribed by physicist Brian Greene). These scenarios are informed by discussions with well-known thinkers, engineers, scientists, artists, philosophers and others, who share with us their ideas, hopes and fears about robots. David spoke with, among others, Kevin Kelly, David Baldacci, Brian Greene, Dean Kamen, Craig Venter, Stephanie Mehta, David Eagleman, George Poste, George Church, General R. H. Latiff, Robert Seigel, Emily Morse, David Sinclair, Ken Goldberg, Sunny Bates, Adam Gazzaley, Tim O'Reilly, Tiffany Shlain, Eric Topol and Juan Enriquez.These discussions, along with some reporting on bot-tech, bot-history and real-time societal andethical issues with robots, are the launch pads for unfurling possible bot futures that are informed by how people and societies have handled new technologies in the past.The book describes how robots work, but its primary focus is on what our fixation with botsand AI says about us as humans: about our hopes and anxieties; our myths, stories, beliefs andideas about beings both real and artificial; and our attempts to attain perfection.We are at a pivotal moment when our ancient infatuation with human-like beings with certainattributes or superpowers - in mythology, religion and storytelling - is coinciding with ourability to actually build some of these entities.
Talking to Robots: A Brief Guide to Our Human-Robot Futures
by David Ewing DuncanOne of Time magazine's '32 Books You Need to Read This Summer' -- 'a riveting read'.'Intensely readable, downright terrifying, and surprisingly uplifting.'Vanity Fair 'A fascinating work of imaginative futurology, a science journalist takes a look at our current technologies and anticipates the human-robot future that could await us - one full of warrior bots, politician bots, doctor bots and sex bots.'One of Barbara VanDenburgh's '5 Books Not to Miss', USA Today One of the best summer reads of 2019, according to top authors David Baldacci and Elizabeth Acevedo on USA Today's Today programme. 'A refreshing variation on the will-intelligent-robots-bring-Armageddon genre . . . this colorful mixture of expert futurology and quirky speculation does not disappoint' Kirkus ReviewsWhat robot and AI systems are being built and imagined right now? What do they say about us, their creators? Will they usher in a fantastic new future, or destroy us? What do some of our greatest thinkers, from physicist Brian Greene and futurist Kevin Kelly to inventor Dean Kamen, geneticist George Church and filmmaker Tiffany Shlain, anticipate for our human-robot future? For even as robots and AI intrigue us and make us anxious about the future, our fascination with robots has always been about more than the potential of the technology - it also concerns what robots tell us about being human.From present-day Facebook and Amazon bots to near-future 'intimacy' bots and 'the robot that swiped my job' bots, bestselling American popular science writer David Ewing Duncan's Talking to Robots is a wonderfully entertaining and insightful guide to possible future scenarios about robots, both real and imagined.Featured bots include robot drivers; doc bots; politician bots; warrior bots; sex bots; syntheticbio bots; dystopic bots that are hopefully just bad dreams; and ultimately, God Bot (asdescribed by physicist Brian Greene). These scenarios are informed by discussions with well-known thinkers, engineers, scientists, artists, philosophers and others, who share with us their ideas, hopes and fears about robots. David spoke with, among others, Kevin Kelly, David Baldacci, Brian Greene, Dean Kamen, Craig Venter, Stephanie Mehta, David Eagleman, George Poste, George Church, General R. H. Latiff, Robert Seigel, Emily Morse, David Sinclair, Ken Goldberg, Sunny Bates, Adam Gazzaley, Tim O'Reilly, Tiffany Shlain, Eric Topol and Juan Enriquez.These discussions, along with some reporting on bot-tech, bot-history and real-time societal andethical issues with robots, are the launch pads for unfurling possible bot futures that are informed by how people and societies have handled new technologies in the past.The book describes how robots work, but its primary focus is on what our fixation with botsand AI says about us as humans: about our hopes and anxieties; our myths, stories, beliefs andideas about beings both real and artificial; and our attempts to attain perfection.We are at a pivotal moment when our ancient infatuation with human-like beings with certainattributes or superpowers - in mythology, religion and storytelling - is coinciding with ourability to actually build some of these entities.
Talking to Robots: Tales from Our Human-Robot Futures
by David Ewing DuncanAward-winning journalist David Ewing Duncan considers 24 visions of possible human-robot futures—Incredible scenarios from Teddy Bots to Warrior Bots, and Politician Bots to Sex Bots—Grounded in real technologies and possibilities and inspired by our imagination. What robot and AI systems are being built and imagined right now? What do they say about us, their creators? Will they usher in a fantastic new future, or destroy us? What do some of our greatest thinkers, from physicist Brian Greene and futurist Kevin Kelly to inventor Dean Kamen, geneticist George Church, and filmmaker Tiffany Shlain, anticipate about our human-robot future? For even as robots and A.I. intrigue us and make us anxious about the future, our fascination with robots has always been about more than the potential of the technology–it’s also about what robots tell us about being human.
Talking to Strangers: Anxieties of Citizenship since Brown v. Board of Education
by Danielle S. Allen"Don't talk to strangers" is the advice long given to children by parents of all classes and races. Today it has blossomed into a fundamental precept of civic education, reflecting interracial distrust, personal and political alienation, and a profound suspicion of others. In this powerful and eloquent essay, Danielle Allen, a 2002 MacArthur Fellow, takes this maxim back to Little Rock, rooting out the seeds of distrust to replace them with "a citizenship of political friendship. "Returning to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954 and to the famous photograph of Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Little Rock Nine, being cursed by fellow "citizen" Hazel Bryan, Allen argues that we have yet to complete the transition to political friendship that this moment offered. By combining brief readings of philosophers and political theorists with personal reflections on race politics in Chicago, Allen proposes strikingly practical techniques of citizenship. These tools of political friendship, Allen contends, can help us become more trustworthy to others and overcome the fossilized distrust among us. Sacrifice is the key concept that bridges citizenship and trust, according to Allen. She uncovers the ordinary, daily sacrifices citizens make to keep democracy working and offers methods for recognizing and reciprocating those sacrifices. Trenchant, incisive, and ultimately hopeful, Talking to Strangers is nothing less than a manifesto for a revitalized democratic citizenry.
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know
by Malcolm GladwellMalcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Revisionist History and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Outliers, offers a powerful examination of our interactions with strangers--and why they often go wrong. <P><P>How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn't true? <P><P>Talking to Strangers is a classically Gladwellian intellectual adventure, a challenging and controversial excursion through history, psychology, and scandals taken straight from the news. He revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, the suicide of Sylvia Plath, the Jerry Sandusky pedophilia scandal at Penn State University, and the death of Sandra Bland---throwing our understanding of these and other stories into doubt. <P><P>Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don't know. And because we don't know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world. In his first book since his #1 bestseller, David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell has written a gripping guidebook for troubled times. <P><P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Talking to the Dead: Religion, Music, and Lived Memory among Gullah/Geechee Women
by LeRhonda S. Manigault-BryantTalking to the Dead is an ethnography of seven Gullah/Geechee women from the South Carolina lowcountry. These women communicate with their ancestors through dreams, prayer, and visions and traditional crafts and customs, such as storytelling, basket making, and ecstatic singing in their churches. Like other Gullah/Geechee women of the South Carolina and Georgia coasts, these women, through their active communication with the deceased, make choices and receive guidance about how to live out their faith and engage with the living. LeRhonda S. Manigault-Bryant emphasizes that this communication affirms the women's spiritual faith--which seamlessly integrates Christian and folk traditions--and reinforces their position as powerful culture keepers within Gullah/Geechee society. By looking in depth at this long-standing spiritual practice, Manigault-Bryant highlights the subversive ingenuity that lowcountry inhabitants use to thrive spiritually and to maintain a sense of continuity with the past.
Talking to the Girls: Intimate and Political Essays on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
by Edvige Giunta and Mary Anne TrasciattiCandid and intimate accounts of the factory-worker tragedy that shaped American labor rights On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out on the eighth floor of the Asch Building in Greenwich Village, New York. The top three floors housed the Triangle Waist Company, a factory where approximately 500 workers, mostly young immigrant women and girls, labored to produce fashionable cotton blouses, known as “waists.” The fire killed 146 workers in a mere 15 minutes but pierced the perpetual conscience of citizens everywhere. The Asch Building had been considered a modern fireproof structure, but inadequate fire safety regulations left the workers inside unprotected. The tragedy of the fire, and the resulting movements for change, were pivotal in shaping workers' rights and unions. A powerful collection of diverse voices, Talking to the Girls: Intimate and Political Essays on the Triangle Fire brings together stories from writers, artists, activists, scholars, and family members of the Triangle workers. Nineteen contributors from across the globe speak of a singular event with remarkable impact. One hundred and eleven years after the tragic incident, Talking to the Girls articulates a story of contemporary global relevance and stands as an act of collective testimony: a written memorial to the Triangle victims.
Talking with Serial Killers: Sleeping with Psychopaths (Talking with Serial Killers)
by Christopher Berry-DeeExclusive, first-hand accounts of the men and women who have slept with infamous killers in a book praised as “terrifying . . . true crime at its best” (Daily Express).Bestselling true crime writer and criminologist Christopher Berry-Dee turns his attention to a new kind of victim: the wives and partners of serial murderers who remained unaware of exactly who they had fallen for until after their other half’s arrest or, in some cases, conviction. Only upon Peter’s arrest did Sonia Sutcliffe first discover that her husband was leading a secret existence as the Yorkshire Ripper. The wife of the Hillside Strangler only learned of her husband’s crimes when state police smashed down her door in search of him. When finding out the truth, these innocents have to face the grim reality of betrayal and deceit and often experience guilt for not having recognized the killer in their home. Christopher Berry-Dee speaks directly with killers and their oblivious loved ones to get inside the minds of the men and women who fall for murderers.
Tall Buildings and the City: Improving the Understanding of Placemaking, Imageability, and Tourism (The Urban Book Series)
by Kheir Al-KodmanyThe chaotic proliferation of skyscrapers in many cities around the world is contributing to a decline in placemaking. This book examines the role of skyscrapers and open spaces in promoting placemaking in the city of Chicago. Chicago’s skyscrapers tell an epic story of transformative architectural design, innovative engineering solutions, and bold entrepreneurial spirit. The city’s public plazas and open spaces attract visitors, breathe life, and bring balance into the cityscape. Using locational data from social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, along with imagery from Google Earth, fieldwork, direct observations, in-depth surveys, and the combined insights from architectural and urban design literature, this study reveals the roles that socio-spatial clusters of skyscrapers, public spaces, architecture, and artwork play to enhance placemaking in Chicago. The study illustrates how Chicago, as the birthplace of skyscrapers, remains a leading city in tall building integration and innovation. Focusing on some of the finest urban places in America, including the Chicago River, the Magnificent Mile, and the Chicago Loop, the book offers meaningful architectural and urban design lessons that are transferable to emerging skyscraper cities around the globe.
Tall Man
by Chloe HooperEarly in 2005 Chloe Hooper was drawn into the bewildering and tragic case of Cameron Doomagee, an Aboriginal man on Australia's Palm Island, who died in police custody within one hour of his arrest. Like Joan Didion and Norman Mailer, Hooper brings a novelist's eye for detail and an acute understanding of character to this story. She explores the daily lives of these people, the role of the mythology and superstition, the impact of landscape, and the history of devastating repression, addiction and violence among the Aboriginal people. Hooper is brought to Palm Island by the lawyer representing Doomagee. She spends months garnering the trust of all involved. She recreates both the dramatic events of one morning and all the forces, "individual and historic" that led up to it. And then she chronicles the trial of the charismatic police Sergeant charged with manslaughter, "the first police office in Australia ever to be charged over a death in custody. This is an outstanding account of a landmark episode in Australian history, a searing story of racial conflict that will resonate with American readers.
Tall Tales and Half Truths of Billy the Kid (American Legends)
by John LeMay“A great exposé . . . that humorously captures the many myths that Americans are willing to believe and that make up the tapestry of the Old West.” —Former Representative Morgan NelsonWhile many respectable books on Billy the Kid aim to demystify his illusory life, this one-of-a-kind collection proudly has no such intention. Find all of the untold and potentially true—but very unlikely and highly embellished—stories of the Kid’s life, death and enthralling life thereafter. Be thrilled by sightings of Billy’s ghost riding through old Fort Sumner and marvel at his search for the fabled Lost Adams Diggings. Wonder at the mysterious thefts of his tombstone and discover the famed desperado’s dozen or so doppelgangers who posthumously popped up all across the Southwest. Courtesy of yarn-spinning raconteurs of yore, author John LeMay unveils the many forgotten and discarded tales of the legendary William H. Bonney, an everlasting emblem of the American West.
Tambú: Curaçao's African-Caribbean Ritual and the Politics of Memory (Ethnomusicology Multimedia)
by Nanette de JongAs contemporary Tambú music and dance evolved on the Caribbean island of Curaçao, it intertwined sacred and secular, private and public cultural practices, and many traditions from Africa and the New World. As she explores the formal contours of Tambú, Nanette de Jong discovers its variegated history and uncovers its multiple and even contradictory origins. De Jong recounts the personal stories and experiences of Afro-Curaçaoans as they perform Tambu–some who complain of its violence and low-class attraction and others who champion Tambú as a powerful tool of collective memory as well as a way to imagine the future.
Tamed: From Wild to Domesticated, the Ten Animals and Plants That Changed Human History
by Alice RobertsAn “epic and joyous” (Adam Rutherford) history of our species, using recent scientific discoveries to explore humanity’s domestication of the plants and animals that have allowed human civilization to thrive. “An excellent point of entry for anyone who wants to understand the new deep human history and what it portends.”—The Guardian Dogs became our companions. Wheat fed booming populations. Cattle gave us meat and milk. Corn fueled the growth of empires. Potatoes brought feast and famine. Chickens inspired new branches of science. Rice promised a golden future. Horses gave us strength and speed. Apples provided harvestable sweetness. Humans tamed them all. For hundreds of thousands of years, our ancestors were just one wild species among many, their survival dependent on the whims of nature. Then, gradually, we began to tame the plants and animals all around us—and ourselves. Combining genetics, archaeology, evolutionary biology, and anthropology, Tamed tells the story of the greatest revolution in human history, revealing the fascinating origins of crucial domesticated species and how they, in turn, transformed us. Dogs, our first natural ally, aided Ice Age–era hunters and gatherers. Domesticated horses led to new ideas about hunting and combat in the Eurasian Steppe. The reliability of wheat and corn allowed humans to settle down and build civilizations of unprecedented complexity. As she uncovers the astounding global implications of domestication, Alice Roberts urges us to look again at our relationship with the natural world—and our incredible influence upon it.
Tamed: Ten Species that Changed our World
by Alice Roberts**'A masterpiece of evocative scientific storytelling.' BRIAN COX****'Will appeal to fans of Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens'. Mail on Sunday **The extraordinary story of the species that became our allies.Dogs became our companionsWheat fed a booming populationCattle gave us meat and milkMaize fuelled the growth of empiresPotatoes brought us feast and famineChickens led us to wonder about tomorrowRice promised us a golden futureHorses gave us strength and speedApples travelled with usHUMANS TAMED THEM ALLFor hundreds of thousands of years, our ancestors depended on wild plants and animals to stay alive – until they began to tame them.Combining archaeology and cutting-edge genetics, Tamed tells the story of the greatest revolution in human history and reveals the fascinating origins of ten crucial domesticated species; and how they, in turn, transformed us. In a world creaking under the strain of human activity, Alice Roberts urges us to look again at our relationship with the natural world – and our huge influence upon it.AN ECONOMIST AND MAIL ON SUNDAY 'BOOK OF THE YEAR' 2017
Tamerlane and the Jews
by Michael ShterenshisThis book provides a general introduction to the history of Jewish life in 14th century Asia at the time of the conqueror Tamerlane (Timur). The author defines who are the Central Asian Jews, and describes the attitudes towards the Jews, and the historical consequences of this relationship with Tamerlane. Left alone to live within a stable empire, the Jews prospered under Tamerlane. In founding an empire, Tamerlane had delivered Central Asia from the last Mongols, and brought the nations of Transoxonia within the orbit of Persian civilisation. The Central Asian Jews accepted this spirit and preserved it until modern times in their language and culture.
Tamil Brahmans: The Making of a Middle-Class Caste
by Haripriya Narasimhan C. J. Fuller“An impressive biography. . . . [A] standard reference in the scholarship of Tamil Nadu and the conundrum of caste and class.” —American AnthropologistA cruise along the streets of Chennai—or Silicon Valley—filled with professional young Indian men and women, reveals the new face of India. In the twenty-first century, Indians have acquired a global visibility of rapid economic advancement and prowess in the information technology industry. C. J. Fuller and Haripriya Narasimhan examine one group who have taken part in this development: Tamil Brahmans—a formerly traditional, rural, high-caste elite who have transformed themselves into a new middle-class caste in India, the United States, and elsewhere.Fuller and Narasimhan offer the most comprehensive look at Tamil Brahmans to date, examining Brahman migration to urban areas, transnational migration, and how the Brahman way of life has translated to both Indian cities and American suburbs. They look at modern education and the new employment opportunities afforded by engineering and IT. They examine how Sanskritic Hinduism and traditional music and dance have shaped Tamil Brahmans’ middle-class sensibilities and how middle-class status is related to the changing position of women. Above all, they explore the complex relationship between class and caste systems and the ways in which hierarchy has persisted in modernized India.“An essential read.” —Radhika Santhanam, The Hindu“An indispensible read not just for all those who wish to understand caste formation . . . but for Tamil Brahmans themselves. It will help them rethink the notion that their professional achievements are somehow . . . rooted in their caste and see them instead as a product of the opportunities provided by the colonial and postcolonial state.” —Nandini Sundar, Delhi University
Tamil Cinema in the Twenty-First Century: Caste, Gender and Technology (Media, Culture and Social Change in Asia)
by Selvaraj Velayutham and Vijay DevadasTamil Cinema in the Twenty-First Century explores the current state of Tamil cinema, one of India’s largest film industries. Since its inception a century ago, Tamil cinema has undergone major transformations, and today it stands as a foremost cultural institution that profoundly shapes Tamil culture and identity. This book investigates the structural, ideological, and societal cleavages that continue to be reproduced, new ideas, modes of representation and narratives that are being created, and the impact of new technologies on Tamil cinema. It advances a critical interdisciplinary approach that challenges the narratives of Tamil cinema to reveal the social forces at work.
Tamil Cinema: The Cultural Politics of India's other Film Industry (Media, Culture and Social Change in Asia)
by Selvaraj VelayuthamHitherto, the academic study of Indian cinema has focused primarily on Bollywood, despite the fact that the Tamil film industry, based in southern India, has overtaken Bollywood in terms of annual output. This book examines critically the cultural and cinematic representations in Tamil cinema. It outlines its history and distinctive characteristics, and proceeds to consider a number of important themes such as gender, religion, class, caste, fandom, cinematic genre, the politics of identity and diaspora. Throughout, the book cogently links the analysis to wider social, political and cultural phenomena in Tamil and Indian society. Overall, it is an exciting and original contribution to an under-studied field, also facilitating a fresh consideration of the existing body of scholarship on Indian cinema.
Tamil Nadu Government Standard 8 Tamil Medium Second Term - Social Science
by Tamil Nadu GovernmentStandard 8 Tamil Medium,Second Term sylabus for the subject Social Science.
Tamil Nationalism in Sri Lanka: Counter-history as War after the Tamil Tigers (Routledge Contemporary South Asia Series)
by A.R. Sriskanda RajahThis book examines Tamil nationalism in Sri Lanka and provides insights on how Tamil nationalism has survived the destruction of the Tamil Tigers after May 2009 and continues to thrive, despite the absence a charismatic leadership to lead it or a centralised organisation to mobilise the Tamils along ethnic nationalistic lines. The ethnic nationalist ideology shaped-up by the Tamil Tigers continues to remain the driving force of the Tamil polity in Sri Lanka and the Diaspora. Using a Foucauldian counter-historical theoretical framework, the author analyses and offers answers to these questions: What is keeping Tamil nationalism alive despite the demise of the Tamil Tigers over a decade ago? Why do many Tamils in Sri Lanka and abroad refuse to accept a Sri Lankan political identity? How are Tamils able to continue on a nationalist path despite the absence of a unified political leadership? The book argues that Tamil nationalism has survived the latter’s destruction because it has become counter-historical. It is this that has allowed, despite the internecine rivalries between Tamil political parties and Diaspora groups, the Tamil nationalist spirit to remain alive. The author also suggests that counter-history has, for many Tamil political parties and Diaspora groups, become the means of waging war, other than through an armed struggle, against the Sri Lankan state. Based on field research, interviews and documentary analysis, the book provides empirical and unique insights on Foucault’s thesis that power is multifaceted and can function in the absence of centralized mechanisms. This book will be of interest to researchers in the fields of Politics and International Relations, in particular those working on ethnic nationalism, post-armed conflict peacebuilding/conflict resolution, the politics in Sri Lanka, diaspora politics and Foucault.
Tamil Oratory and the Dravidian Aesthetic: Democratic Practice in South India (Cultures of History)
by Bernard BateThis is a book about the newness of old things. It concerns an oratorical revolution, a transformation of oratorical style linked to larger transformations in society at large. It explores the aesthetics of Tamil oratory and its vital relationship to one of the key institutions of modern society: democracy. Therefore this book also bears on the centrality of language to the modern human condition.Though Tamil oratory is a relatively new practice in south India, the Dravidian (or Tamil nationalist) style employs archaic forms of Tamil that suggest an ancient mode of speech. Beginning with the advent of mass democratic politics in the 1940s, a new generation of politician adopted this style, known as "fine," or "beautiful Tamil" (centamil), for its distinct literary virtuosity, poesy, and alluring evocation of a pure Tamil past. Bernard Bate explores the centamil phenomenon, arguing that the genre's spectacular literacy and use of ceremonial procession, urban political ritual, and posters, praise poetry are critical components in the production of a singularly Tamil mode of political modernity: a Dravidian neoclassicism. From his perspective, the centamil revolution and Dravidian neoclassicism suggest that modernity is not the mere successor of tradition but the production of tradition, and that this production is a primary modality of modernity, a new newness-albeit a newness of old things.
Tamilaga Varalarum Panpadum
by V. T. ChellamThis book talk in detail the history of Tamil people and their rich heritage and culture right from the era of Sangam Literature and covers the eras of the great dynasties that ruled the land like Cholas and Pallavas and goes on to talk about the post independence era.
Taming Cannibals: Race and the Victorians
by Patrick BrantlingerIn Taming Cannibals, Patrick Brantlinger unravels contradictions embedded in the racist and imperialist ideology of the British Empire. For many Victorians, the idea of taming cannibals or civilizing savages was oxymoronic: civilization was a goal that the nonwhite peoples of the world could not attain or, at best, could only approximate, yet the "civilizing mission" was viewed as the ultimate justification for imperialism. Similarly, the supposedly unshakeable certainty of Anglo-Saxon racial superiority was routinely undercut by widespread fears about racial degeneration through contact with "lesser" races or concerns that Anglo-Saxons might be superseded by something superior—an even "fitter" or "higher" race or species. Brantlinger traces the development of those fears through close readings of a wide range of texts—including Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Fiji and the Fijians by Thomas Williams, Daily Life and Origin of the Tasmanians by James Bonwick, The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Culture and Anarchy by Matthew Arnold, She by H. Rider Haggard, and The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. Throughout the wide-ranging, capacious, and rich Taming Cannibals, Brantlinger combines the study of literature with sociopolitical history and postcolonial theory in novel ways.
Taming Childhood?: A Critical Perspective on Policy, Practice and Parenting
by Rob Creasy Fiona CorbyThis book explores the links between recent reports of increasing levels of unhappiness and mental health problems amongst children and young people, and changes within childhood which restrict and reduce opportunities for children to develop and maintain resilience. Although in academic terms children may be viewed as beings, Creasy and Corby posit that there is much to suggest that for parents, practitioners and policy-makers, children are primarily seen as becomings. The book argues that viewing children as becomings, together with the idea that childhood is fraught with danger, contributes to practices and policies which can be seen as making childhood tame. This taming of childhood leads to an impoverished childhood that does not provide the space that children need to grow and develop. Furthermore, Taming Childhood? challenges the idea that young adults are 'snowflakes', unable to cope with everyday pressures. Students and scholars across a range of social science disciplines will find this book of interest.
Taming Manhattan: Environmental Battles in the Antebellum City
by Catherine McneurFrom 1815 to 1865, as city blocks encroached on farmland to accommodate Manhattan's exploding population, prosperous New Yorkers developed new ideas about what an urban environment should contain--ideas that poorer immigrants resisted. As Catherine McNeur shows, taming Manhattan came at the cost of amplifying environmental and economic disparities.