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The Culture of Calamity
by Kevin RozarioTurn on the news and it looks as if we live in a time and place unusually consumed by the specter of disaster. The events of 9/11 and the promise of future attacks, Hurricane Katrina and the destruction of New Orleans, and the inevitable consequences of environmental devastation all contribute to an atmosphere of imminent doom. But reading an account of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, with its vivid evocation of buildings "crumbling as one might crush a biscuit," we see that calamities--whether natural or man-made--have long had an impact on the American consciousness. Uncovering the history of Americans' responses to disaster from their colonial past up to the present, Kevin Rozario reveals the vital role that calamity--and our abiding fascination with it--has played in the development of this nation. Beginning with the Puritan view of disaster as God's instrument of correction, Rozario explores how catastrophic events frequently inspired positive reactions. He argues that they have shaped American life by providing an opportunity to take stock of our values and social institutions. Destruction leads naturally to rebuilding, and here we learn that disasters have been a boon to capitalism, and, paradoxically, indispensable to the construction of dominant American ideas of progress. As Rozario turns to the present, he finds that the impulse to respond creatively to disasters is mitigated by a mania for security. Terror alerts and duct tape represent the cynical politician's attitude about 9/11, but Rozario focuses on how the attacks registered in the popular imagination--how responses to genuine calamity were mediated by the hyperreal thrills of movies; how apocalyptic literature, like the best-selling Left Behind series, recycles Puritan religious outlooks while adopting Hollywood's style; and how the convergence of these two ways of imagining disaster points to a new postmodern culture of calamity.The Culture of Calamitywill stand as the definitive diagnosis of the peculiarly American addiction to the spectacle of destruction.
The Culture of Cities (Forbidden Bookshelf #19)
by Mark Crispin Miller Lewis Mumford Thomas FisherA visionary survey of urbanism from the Middle Ages to the late 1930s, with a new introduction by Thomas Fisher Considered among the greatest works of Lewis Mumford--a prolific historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and longtime architecture critic for the New Yorker--The Culture of Cities is a call for communal action to "rebuild the urban world on a sounder human foundation." First published in 1938, this radical investigation into the human environment is based on firsthand surveys of North American and European locales, as well as extensive historical and technological research. Mumford takes readers from the compact, worker-friendly streets of medieval hamlets to the symmetrical neoclassical avenues of Renaissance cities. He studies the squalor of nineteenth-century factory towns and speculates on the fate of the booming twentieth-century Megalopolis--whose impossible scale, Mumford believes, can only lead to its collapse into a "Nekropolis," a monstrosity of living death. A civic visionary, Mumford is credited with some of the earliest proposals for ecological urban planning and the appropriate use of technology to create balanced living environments. In the final chapters of The Culture of Cities, he outlines possible paths toward utopian future cities that could be free of the stressors of the Megalopolis, in sync with the rhythms of daily life, powered by clean energy, integrated with agricultural regions, and full of honest and comfortable housing for the working class. The principles set forth by these visions, once applied to Nazi-occupied Europe's razed cities, are still relevant today as technological advances and overpopulation change the nature of urban life.
The Culture of Colonialism: The Cultural Subjection Of Ukaguru (African Systems of Thought)
by T. O. BeidelmanWhat did it mean to be an African subject living in remote areas of Tanganyika at the end of the colonial era? For the Kaguru of Tanganyika, it meant daily confrontation with the black and white governmental officials tasked with bringing this rural people into the mainstream of colonial African life. T. O. Beidelman's detailed narrative links this administrative world to the Kaguru's wider social, cultural, and geographical milieu, and to the political history, ideas of indirect rule, and the white institutions that loomed just beyond their world. Beidelman unveils the colonial system's problems as it extended its authority into rural areas and shows how these problems persisted even after African independence.
The Culture of Contentment
by John Kenneth GalbraithA concise, contumacious critique of the complacent class that rules America in the interest of its own comfort, by distinguished economist Galbraith (emeritus, Harvard U.).
The Culture of Copying in Japan: Critical and Historical Perspectives (Japan Anthropology Workshop Series)
by Rupert CoxThis book challenges the perception of Japan as a ‘copying culture’ through a series of detailed ethnographic and historical case studies. It addresses a question about why the West has had such a fascination for the adeptness with which the Japanese apparently assimilate all things foreign and at the same time such a fear of their skill at artificially remaking and automating the world around them. Countering the idea of a Japan that deviously or ingenuously copies others, it elucidates the history of creative exchanges with the outside world and the particular myths, philosophies and concepts which are emblematic of the origins and originality of copying in Japan. The volume demonstrates the diversity and creativity of copying in the Japanese context through the translation of a series of otherwise loosely related ideas and concepts into objects, images, texts and practices of reproduction, which include: shamanic theatre, puppetry, tea utensils, Kyoto town houses, architectural models, genres of painting, calligraphy, and poetry, ‘sample’ food displays, and the fashion and car industries.
The Culture of Defeat: On National Trauma, Mourning, and Recovery
by Wolfgang Schivelbusch Jefferson ChaseHow defeated nations have handled it.
The Culture of Democracy: A Sociological Approach to Civil Society (Cultural Sociology)
by Bin XuAgainst the bleak backdrop of pressing issues in today&’s world, civil societies remain vibrant, animated by people&’s belief that they should and can solve such issues and build a better society. Their imagination of a good society, their understanding of their engagement, and the ways they choose to act constitute the cultural aspect of civil society. Central to this cultural aspect of civil society is the &“culture of democracy,&” including normative values, individual interpretations, and interaction norms pertaining to features of a democratic society, such as civility, independence, and solidarity. The culture of democracy varies in different contexts and faces challenges, but it shapes civic actions, alters political and social processes, and thus is the soul of modern civil societies. The Culture of Democracy provides the first systematic survey of the cultural sociology of civil society and offers a committed global perspective. It shows that, as everyone is eager to have their voice heard, cultural sociology can serve as an &“art of listening,&” a thoroughly empirical approach that takes ideas, meanings, and opinions seriously, for people to contemplate significant theoretical and public issues.
The Culture of Digital Fighting Games: Performance and Practice (Routledge Studies in New Media and Cyberculture)
by Todd HarperThis book examines the complex network of influences that collide in the culture of digital fighting games. Players from all over the world engage in competitive combat with one another, forming communities in both real and virtual spaces, attending tournaments and battling online via internet-connected home game consoles. But what is the logic behind their shared playstyle and culture? What are the threads that tie them together, and how does this inform our understanding of competitive gaming, community, and identity? Informed by observations made at one of the biggest fighting game events in the world – the Evolution Series tournament, or "EVO" – and interviews with fighting game players themselves, this book covers everything from the influence of arcade spaces, to the place of gender and ethnicity in the community, to the clash of philosophies over how these games should be played in the first place. In the process, it establishes the role of technology, gameplay, and community in how these players define both themselves and the games that they play.
The Culture of Education
by Jerome BrunerThis is a book of essays about education. In this commentary on the possibilities of education, eminent psychologist Jerome Bruner explains how education can usher children into their culture, though it often fails to do so. Bruner explores new and rich ways of approaching many of the classical problems that perplex educators.
The Culture of Enterprise in Neoliberalism: Specters of Entrepreneurship (Routledge Advances in Sociology #87)
by Tomas MarttilaThis book provides an empirical study of the increasing importance of the concept of the entrepreneur in the context of the neoliberal cultural paradigm. Using the theoretical framework of the post-structural discourse theory and methods of qualitative discourse analysis, the book describes the changes in political discourse that resulted in the increasing dominance of the figure of the entrepreneur after the late 1980s.
The Culture of Exception: Sociology Facing the Camp (International Library of Sociology)
by Bulent Diken Carsten B. LaustsenWe live in an ever-fragmenting society, in which distinctions between culture and nature, biology and politics, law and transgression, mobility and immobility, reality and representation, seem to be disappearing. This book demonstrates the hidden logic beneath this process, which is also the logic of 'the camp'. Social theory has traditionally interpreted the camp as an anomaly, as an exceptional site situated on the margins of society, aiming to neutralize its 'failed citizens' and 'enemies'. However, in contemporary society, 'the camp' has now become the rule and consequently a new interrogation of its logic is necessary.In this exceptional volume, the authors explore the paradox of the camp, as representing both an old fear of enclosure and a new dream of belonging. They illustrate their arguments by drawing on contemporary sites of exemption - such as refugee camps, rape camps and favelas - as well as sites of self-exemption including gated communities, party tourism and celebrity cultures.
The Culture of Feedback: Ecological Thinking in Seventies America
by Daniel BelgradWhen we want advice from others, we often casually speak of “getting some feedback.” But how many of us give a thought to what this phrase means? The idea of feedback actually dates to World War II, when the term was developed to describe the dynamics of self-regulating systems, which correct their actions by feeding their effects back into themselves. By the early 1970s, feedback had become the governing trope for a counterculture that was reoriented and reinvigorated by ecological thinking. The Culture of Feedback digs deep into a dazzling variety of left-of-center experiences and attitudes from this misunderstood period, bringing us a new look at the wild side of the 1970s. Belgrad shows us how ideas from systems theory were taken up by the counterculture and the environmental movement, eventually influencing a wide range of beliefs and behaviors, particularly related to the question of what is and is not intelligence. He tells the story of a generation of Americans who were struck by a newfound interest in—and respect for—plants, animals, indigenous populations, and the very sounds around them, threading his tapestry with cogent insights on environmentalism, feminism, systems theory, and psychedelics. The Culture of Feedback repaints the familiar image of the ’70s as a time of Me Generation malaise to reveal an era of revolutionary and hopeful social currents, driven by desires to radically improve—and feed back into—the systems that had come before.
Culture Of Health In Practice: Innovations In Research, Community Engagement, And Action
by Alonzo L. PloughThis book concerns the importance of achieving health equity throughout the United States. Its publication is timely, given the major challenges in American health care in recent years. These include reductions in health care coverage, the loss of funding to tackle social determinants of health, and the growing risks associated with climate change. The abundant data that document health inequities in housing, education, incarceration, income, opportunity, and so much else in the United States reveal the extent of the health-based challenges the nation faces as a whole. <P><P>With these issues in mind, this book tackles a variety of topics centered on a "Culture for Health," and includes contributions from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's (RWJF) Sharing Knowledge to Build a Culture of Health conferences. The first part of this volume concerns the assets intrinsic to cultural identity and the contribution to the nation's well-being that this diversity brings. Next, the book calls attention to the places where people spend much of their time and shows how each setting has the power to generate health, or to undermine it. Finally, this book closes with a section on a broad range of interconnected topics that have drawn considerable attention from many fields and brought new perspectives to the table.
The Culture of Homelessness
by Megan RavenhillDespite an extensive literature on homelessness there is surprisingly little work that investigates the roots of homelessness by tracking homeless people over time. In this fascinating and much-needed ethnographic study, Megan Ravenhill presents the results of ten years' research on the streets and in the hostels and day-centres of the UK, incorporating intensive interviews with 150 homeless and formerly homeless people as well as policy makers and professionals working with homeless people. Ravenhill discusses the biographical, structural and behavioural factors that lead to homelessness. Amongst the important and unique features of the study are: the use of life-route maps showing the circumstances and decisions that lead to homelessness, a systematic study of the timescales involved, and a survey of people's exit routes from homelessness. Ravenhill also identifies factors that predict those most vulnerable to homelessness and factors that prevent or considerably delay the onset of homelessness.
Culture Of Honor
by Dov Cohen Richard E NisbettIn the United States, the homicide rate in the South is consistently higher than the rate in the North. In this brilliantly argued book, Richard Nisbett and Dov Cohen use this fact as a starting point for an exploration of the underlying reasons for violence.According to Nisbett and Cohen, the increased tendency of white southerners to commit certain kinds of violence is not due to socioeconomic class, population density, the legacy of slavery, or the heat of the South; it is the result of a culture of honor in which a man's reputation is central to his economic survival. Working from historical, survey, social policy, and experimental data, the authors show that in the South it is more acceptable to be violent in response to an insult, in order to protect home and property, and to aid in socializing children. These values are reflected not only in what southerners say, but also in the institutional practices of the South, the actions of Southerners, and their physiological responses to perceived affronts.In this lively and intriguing account, the authors combine bold theory and careful methodology to reveal a set of central beliefs that can contribute to increased violence. More broadly, they show us the interaction between culture, economics, and individual behavior. This engaging study will be of interest to students, educated lay readers, and scholars.
Culture Of Honor
by Richard E Nisbett Dov CohenIn the United States, the homicide rate in the South is consistently higher than the rate in the North. In this brilliantly argued book, Richard Nisbett and Dov Cohen use this fact as a starting point for an exploration of the underlying reasons for violence. According to Nisbett and Cohen, the increased tendency of white southerners to commit certain kinds of violence is not due to socioeconomic class, population density, the legacy of slavery, or the heat of the South; it is the result of a culture of honor in which a man’s reputation is central to his economic survival. Working from historical, survey, social policy, and experimental data, the authors show that in the South it is more acceptable to be violent in response to an insult, in order to protect home and property, and to aid in socializing children. These values are reflected not only in what southerners say, but also in the institutional practices of the South, the actions of Southerners, and their physiological responses to perceived affronts. In this lively and intriguing account, the authors combine bold theory and careful methodology to reveal a set of central beliefs that can contribute to increased violence. More broadly, they show us the interaction between culture, economics, and individual behavior. This engaging study will be of interest to students, educated lay readers, and scholars.
Culture Of Honor
by Richard E Nisbett Dov CohenIn the United States, the homicide rate in the South is consistently higher than the rate in the North. In this brilliantly argued book, Richard Nisbett and Dov Cohen use this fact as a starting point for an exploration of the underlying reasons for violence.According to Nisbett and Cohen, the increased tendency of white southerners to commit certain kinds of violence is not due to socioeconomic class, population density, the legacy of slavery, or the heat of the South; it is the result of a culture of honor in which a man's reputation is central to his economic survival. Working from historical, survey, social policy, and experimental data, the authors show that in the South it is more acceptable to be violent in response to an insult, in order to protect home and property, and to aid in socializing children. These values are reflected not only in what southerners say, but also in the institutional practices of the South, the actions of Southerners, and their physiological responses to perceived affronts.In this lively and intriguing account, the authors combine bold theory and careful methodology to reveal a set of central beliefs that can contribute to increased violence. More broadly, they show us the interaction between culture, economics, and individual behavior. This engaging study will be of interest to students, educated lay readers, and scholars.
Culture Of Honor
by Richard E Nisbett Dov CohenPsychologists trace the higher rate of homicide by southern whites to cultural heritages of the original settlers rather than to poverty, the legacy of slavery, or the high temperature. Among the English cavaliers who initially settled the area, they say, and also among the Scotch-Irish who arrived a century later, a man's reputation was the key to his economic survival. That has imbedded in the culture such a hypersensitivity to insult that arguments often lead to murder. If purely geographical factors were at work, they point out, then the murder rate for blacks would be higher in the south as well. Paper edition (unseen), $12. 95. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc. , Portland, Or.
The Culture Of Immodesty In American Life And Politics
by Michael P. Federici Richard M. Gamble Mark T. MitchellBy identifying and illustrating aspects of American culture that are out of sync with the modest republicanism that gave rise to the United States in the late eighteenth century, the contributors to this volume expose the vulgarity and excess of American culture.
Culture of Inequality: Changing Hindu–Muslim Relations in Maharashtra
by Amod N. Damle Nilu H. DamleThis book offers a historical perspective on the changing Hindu–Muslim relationship in India through a study of syncretic traditions in Kurundwad, Maharashtra. It explores the social and cultural dynamics between the two communities and analyses underlying issues of caste hierarchy, Hindu hegemony, and social dominance. The volume focuses on how the realization of cultural distinctiveness, politics of identity, and the struggle for dominance have played a role in shaping Hindu–Muslim relations in Maharashtra. Through field interviews conducted over three years, the authors contextualise and analyse the nature of cultural hybridity in Kurundwad and how the relationship has changed over the years. The book also focuses on notions of tolerance and inequality and provides insights into the reasons for the growing distinctiveness in cultural and religious identity in Kurundwad since the 1990s, in the aftermath of the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the Shah Banu verdict. The book provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the relationship between Hindus and Muslims in India. It will be of great interest to researchers and students of sociology, politics, modern history, cultural studies, minority studies, and South Asian studies.
The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations
by Christopher LaschWhen The Culture of Narcissism was first published, it was clear that Christopher Lasch had identified something important: what was happening to American society in the wake of the decline of the family over the last century. The book quickly became a bestseller. This edition includes a new afterword, "The Culture of Narcissism Revisited."
The Culture of Nature: North American Landscape from Disney to Exxon Valdez
by Alexander WilsonSince it was first published in 1991, few books have come close to capturing the depth and breadth of Alexander Wilson’s innovative ecocultural compendium The Culture of Nature. His work was one of the first of its kind to investigate the ideology of the environment, to critique the future according to Disney, and illustrate that the ways we think, teach, talk about, and construct the natural world are as important a terrain as the land itself. Extensively illustrated and meticulously researched, this edition is exquisitely revised and reissued for the Anthropocene.
The Culture of Pain
by David MorrisThis is a book about the meanings we make out of pain. The greatest surprise I encountered in discussing this topic over the past ten years was the consistency with which I was asked a single unvarying question: Are you writing about physical pain or mental pain? The overwhelming consistency of this response convinces me that modern culture rests upon and underlying belief so strong that it grips us with the force of a founding myth. Call it the Myth of Two Pains. We live in an era when many people believe--as a basic, unexamined foundation of thought--that pain comes divided into separate types: physical and mental. These two types of pain, so the myth goes, are as different as land and sea. You feel physical pain if your arm breaks, and you feel mental pain if your heart breaks. Between these two different events we seem to imagine a gulf so wide and deep that it might as well be filled by a sea that is impossible to navigate.
A Culture of Rapid Improvement: Creating and Sustaining an Engaged Workforce
by Raymond C. FloydBecome a corporate change agent Learn to implement and cultivate a culture of improvement with the assistance of one of the world’s most respected experts Managing a business so that it achieves a supreme pace of improvement requires that all members of an organization can and do make their best contributions to the success of the enterprise. Management must provide employees with a shared set of values and beliefs so that they can decide for themselves how to behave in accordance with the expectations of a nurturing and empowering culture. A Culture of Rapid Improvement is intended for those leaders seeking to encourage dramatic improvement within their organizations. It shows these change agents how they can— · Develop the shared values and beliefs that serve as the foundation for a dynamic culture · Engage all employees to join the new culture and provide opportunities for these stakeholders to initiate and participate in improvement · Measure, evaluate, and manage the performance of the new culture Filled with lessons garnered from practical examples, this text is based on Raymond C. Floyd's 40 years of industrial management experience, including his more than 20 years at Exxon Mobil. He is the winner of a Shingo Prize and also holds the unique distinction of having led businesses from two different industries that were both recognized by IndustryWeek magazine as being among the Best Plants in America. If you approach the task of improvement with proper action and full participation, improvement is not just possible, but inevitable. At six months, you will notice a difference in your organizational culture; at the end of two years, you will be operating with near–world-class performance.
The Culture of Religious Pluralism (Explorations: Contemporary Perspectives on Religion)
by Richard WentzReligious pluralism has been a defining characteristic of the American experience since colonial times. In the twentieth century, as American society has become more radically pluralistic, the issue of religious identity is once again in flux. Providing a historical context, Richard Wentz examines the challenges that pluralism presents to denominationalism and civil religion and considers the contributions secularism and the New Age movement have made to the culture of religious pluralism. Finally, Wentz calls for a new pluralism based on civility and respect, a reimmersion into our religious traditions, and an extension of ourselves into the traditions of others.