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Arabian Romantic: Poems on Bedouin Life and Love (Library of Arabic Literature #33)
by null ʿAbdallāh ibn SbayyilLove poems from late nineteenth-century Arabia Arabian Romantic captures what it was like to live in central Arabia before the imposition of austere norms by the Wahhabi authorities in the early twentieth century: tales of robbery and hot pursuit; perilous desert crossings; scenes of exhaustion and chaos when water is raised from deep wells under harsh conditions; the distress of wounded and worn-out animals on the brink of perdition; once proud warriors who are at the mercy of their enemy on the field of battle. Such images lend poignancy to the suffering of the poet’s love-stricken heart, while also painting a vivid portrait of typical Bedouin life. Ibn Sbayyil (ca. 1853–1933), a town dweller from the Najd region of the Arabian Peninsula, was a key figure in the Nabati poetic tradition. His poetry, which is still recited today, broke with the artifice of the preceding generation by combining inherited idiom and original touches reflecting his environment. Translated into English for the first time by Marcel Kurpershoek, Arabian Romantic will delight readers with a poetry that is direct, fluent, and expressive, and that has entertained Arabic speakers for over a century.A bilingual Arabic-English edition.
The Doctors' Dinner Party (Library of Arabic Literature #85)
by null Ibn BuṭlānA witty satire of the medical professionThe Doctors’ Dinner Party is an eleventh-century satire in the form of a novella, set in a medical milieu. A young doctor from out of town is invited to dinner with a group of older medical men, whose conversation reveals their incompetence. Written by the accomplished physician Ibn Buṭlān, the work satirizes the hypocrisy of quack doctors while displaying Ibn Buṭlān’s own deep technical knowledge of medical practice, including surgery, blood-letting, and medicines. He also makes reference to the great thinkers and physicians of the ancient world, including Hippocrates, Galen, and Socrates. Combining literary parody with social satire, the book is richly textured and carefully organized: in addition to the use of the question-and-answer format associated with technical literature, it is replete with verse and subtexts that hint at the infatuation of the elderly practitioners with their young guest. The Doctors’ Dinner Party is an entertaining read in which the author skewers the pretensions of the physicians around the table.An English-only edition.
The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali (Library of Arabic Literature #68)
by null Abū Rayḥān al-BīrūnīA brilliant cross-cultural Arabic interpretation of a key text of yoga philosophyThe Yoga Sutras of Patañjali is the foundational text of yoga philosophy to this day and is still used by millions of yoga practitioners and students worldwide. Written in a question-and-answer format, The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali deals with the theory and practice of yoga and the psychological question of the liberation of the soul from attachments.This book is a new edition and translation into English of the Arabic translation and commentary on this text by the brilliant eleventh-century polymath al-Bīrūnī. Given the many historical variants of the Yoga Sutras, his Kitāb Bātanjali is important for yoga studies as the earliest translation of the Sanskrit text. It is also of unique value as an Arabic text within Islamic studies, given the intellectual and philosophical challenges that faced the medieval Muslim reader when presented with the intricacy of composition, interpretation, and allusion that permeates this translation.A bilingual Arabic-English edition.
Ages of Anxiety: Historical and Transnational Perspectives on Juvenile Justice (Youth, Crime, and Justice #2)
by William S. Bush David S. TanenhausSix compelling histories of youth crime in the twentieth century Ages of Anxiety presents six case studies of juvenile justice policy in the twentieth century from around the world, adding context to the urgent and international conversation about youth, crime, and justice. By focusing on magistrates, social workers, probation and police officers, and youth themselves, editors William S. Bush and David S. Tanenhaus highlight the role of ordinary people as meaningful and consequential historical actors. After providing an international perspective on the social history of ideas about how children are different from adults, the contributors explain why those differences should matter for the administration of justice. They examine how reformers used the idea of modernization to build and legitimize juvenile justice systems in Europe and Mexico, and present histories of policing and punishing youth crime. Ages of Anxiety introduces a new theoretical model for interpreting historical research to demonstrate the usefulness of social histories of children and youth for policy analysis and decision-making in the twenty-first century. Shedding new light on the substantive aims of the juvenile court, the book is a historically informed perspective on the critical topic of youth, crime, and justice.
The Requirements of the Sufi Path: A Defense of the Mystical Tradition (Library of Arabic Literature #73)
by null Ibn KhaldūnSufism through the eyes of a legal scholarIn The Requirements of the Sufi Path, the renowned North African historian and jurist Ibn Khaldūn applies his analytical powers to Sufism, which he deems a bona fide form of Islamic piety. Ibn Khaldūn is widely known for his groundbreaking work as a sociologist and historian, in particular for the Muqaddimah, the introduction to his massive universal history. In The Requirements of the Sufi Path, he writes from the perspective of an Islamic jurist and legal scholar. He characterizes Sufism and the stages along the Sufi path and takes up the question of the need for a guide along that path. In doing so, he relies on the works of influential Sufi scholars, including al-Qushayrī, al-Ghazālī, and Ibn al-Khaṭīb. Even as Ibn Khaldūn warns of the extremes to which some Sufis go—including practicing magic—his work is essentially a legal opinion, a fatwa, asserting the inherent validity of the Sufi path.The Requirements of the Sufi Path incorporates the wisdom of three of Sufism’s greatest voices as well as Ibn Khaldūn’s own insights, acquired through his intellectual encounters with Sufism and his broad legal expertise. All this he brings to bear on the debate over Sufi practices in a remarkable work of synthesis and analysis.A bilingual Arabic-English edition.
Pregnancy and Power, Revised Edition: A History of Reproductive Politics in the United States (Postmillennial Pop)
by null Rickie SolingerA sweeping chronicle of women’s battles for reproductive freedomReproductive politics in the United States has always been about who has the power to decide—lawmakers, the courts, clergy, physicians, or the woman herself. Authorities have rarely put women’s needs and interests at the center of these debates. Instead, they have created reproductive laws and policies to solve a variety of social and political problems, with outcomes that affect the lives of different groups of women differently.Reproductive politics were at play when slaveholders devised “breeding” schemes, when the US government took indigenous children from their families in the nineteenth century, and when doctors pressured Latina women to be sterilized in the 1970s. Tracing the main plot lines of women’s reproductive lives, the leading historian Rickie Solinger redefines the idea of reproductive freedom, putting race and class at the center of the effort to control sex and pregnancy in America over time.Revisiting these issues after more than a decade, this revised edition of Pregnancy and Power reveals how far the reproductive justice movement has come, and the renewed struggles it faces in the present moment. Even after nearly a half-century of “reproductive rights,” a cascade of new laws and policies limits access and prescribes punishments for many people trying to make their own reproductive decisions. In this edition, Solinger traces the contemporary rise of reproductive consumerism and the politics of “free market” health care as economic inequality continues to expand in the US, revealing the profound limits of “choice” and the continued need for the reproductive justice framework.
Pelong ya Ka (African Treasury Series #1)
by null Sophonia Machabe MofokengPelong ya Ka, a collection of essays and sketches in Sotho was first published in 1962 in the Bantu Treasury Series imprint of Witwatersrand University Press. S. Machabe Mofokeng is regarded as one of the greatest essayist and dramatist in Southern Sotho. His first book, Senkatana (a play) was published in 1952.Pelong ya Ka comprises 20 essays which range from meditative, descriptive, and narrative to polemic style, with the tone of voice characterised by melancholy, humour, and satire. The essays span over a wide range of themes, as suggested by their titles, e.g. Pelo (The heart), Bodutu (‘Solitude’), Death (‘Lefu’), Nako (‘Time’), Pampiri (‘Paper’), Ho kganna mmotokara (‘Driving an automobile’), Sepetlele (‘Hospital’), Lenyalo (‘Matromony’), and Boqheku (‘Old age’). Nhlanhla Maake says of this collection “Mofokeng’s essays fuse simplicity with dept.” Pelong ya Ka is part of the African Treasury Series published by Wits University Press.
Getting Started with Windows 8 Apps: A Guide to the Windows Runtime
by Ben DeweyGet a head start on building apps for Windows 8. With a series of examples, this hands-on guide takes you through the process of creating complete touch-enabled apps that respond to native sensors. Through the course of the book, you’ll learn how to work with the Windows Runtime application model while building a Bing Image Search app.If you’re an experienced .NET developer who wants to get up to speed with Windows 8, this book provides the expertise and C# code samples you need.Get a high-level overview of Windows 8 features—from the Start Screen to in-app features such as the Application BarBegin by building a simple app to retrieve Bing image search results from a web serviceLearn about the components needed to complete the app, including UI design, the MVVM architectural pattern, and “tombstoning”Take advantage of native OS features such as tiles, file pickers, and sharing requestsExamine the steps necessary to publish an app to the Windows Store
Astronomy Hacks: Tips and Tools for Observing the Night Sky
by Robert Bruce Thompson Barbara Fritchman ThompsonWhy use the traditional approach to study the stars when you can turn computers, handheld devices, and telescopes into out-of-this-world stargazing tools? Whether you're a first timer or an advanced hobbyist, you'll find Astronomy Hacks both useful and fun. From upgrading your optical finder to photographing stars, this book is the perfect cosmic companion.This handy field guide covers the basics of observing, and what you need to know about tweaking, tuning, adjusting, and tricking out a 'scope. Expect priceless tips and tools for using a Dobsonian Telescope, the large-aperture telescope you can inexpensively build in your garage. Get advice on protocols involved with using electronics including in dark places without ruining the party.Astronomy Hacks begins the space exploration by getting you set up with the right equipment for observing and admiring the stars in an urban setting. Along for the trip are first rate tips for making most of observations. The hacks show you how to:Dark-Adapt Your Notebook ComputerChoose the Best BinocularClean Your Eyepieces and Lenses SafelyUpgrade Your Optical FinderPhotograph the Stars with Basic EquipmentThe O'Reilly Hacks series has reclaimed the term "hacking" to mean innovating, unearthing, and creating shortcuts, gizmos, and gears. With these hacks, you don't dream it-you do it--and Astronomy Hacks brings space dreams to life. The book is essential for anyone who wants to get the most out of an evening under the stars and have memorable celestial adventures.
Data Science with Java: Practical Methods for Scientists and Engineers
by Michael R. BrzustowiczData Science is booming thanks to R and Python, but Java brings the robustness, convenience, and ability to scale critical to today’s data science applications. With this practical book, Java software engineers looking to add data science skills will take a logical journey through the data science pipeline. Author Michael Brzustowicz explains the basic math theory behind each step of the data science process, as well as how to apply these concepts with Java.You’ll learn the critical roles that data IO, linear algebra, statistics, data operations, learning and prediction, and Hadoop MapReduce play in the process. Throughout this book, you’ll find code examples you can use in your applications.Examine methods for obtaining, cleaning, and arranging data into its purest formUnderstand the matrix structure that your data should takeLearn basic concepts for testing the origin and validity of dataTransform your data into stable and usable numerical valuesUnderstand supervised and unsupervised learning algorithms, and methods for evaluating their successGet up and running with MapReduce, using customized components suitable for data science algorithms
macOS Sierra: The book that should have been in the box
by David PogueWith Sierra, Apple brings never-before-seen features to macOS—like Siri voice control, file sharing across all your iOS devices, picture-in-picture mode for iTunes and Safari, and AI photo search. Once again, David Pogue brings his humor and expertise to the #1 bestselling Mac book.Whether you’re a developer or a home-user, this guide offers a wealth of detail on Apple’s OS X 10.12 operating system, this new edition covers everything Sierra has to offer.Perfect for newcomers. Get crystal-clear, jargon-free introduction to the Dock, the macOS folder structure, Safari, Mail, and iCloud.Go in-depth. Learn how to use key new features such as Optimized Storage, the Universal Clipboard, Siri for Mac, and iCloud Drive Sync.Get the full story. David Pogue doesn't stop at telling you how to use macOS features. He wants you to know why to use them—and how to avoid common pitfalls.
Mastering FreeBSD and OpenBSD Security: Building, Securing, and Maintaining BSD Systems
by Yanek Korff Paco Hope Bruce PotterFreeBSD and OpenBSD are increasingly gaining traction in educational institutions, non-profits, and corporations worldwide because they provide significant security advantages over Linux. Although a lot can be said for the robustness, clean organization, and stability of the BSD operating systems, security is one of the main reasons system administrators use these two platforms.There are plenty of books to help you get a FreeBSD or OpenBSD system off the ground, and all of them touch on security to some extent, usually dedicating a chapter to the subject. But, as security is commonly named as the key concern for today's system administrators, a single chapter on the subject can't provide the depth of information you need to keep your systems secure.FreeBSD and OpenBSD are rife with security "building blocks" that you can put to use, and Mastering FreeBSD and OpenBSD Security shows you how. Both operating systems have kernel options and filesystem features that go well beyond traditional Unix permissions and controls. This power and flexibility is valuable, but the colossal range of possibilities need to be tackled one step at a time. This book walks you through the installation of a hardened operating system, the installation and configuration of critical services, and ongoing maintenance of your FreeBSD and OpenBSD systems.Using an application-specific approach that builds on your existing knowledge, the book provides sound technical information on FreeBSD and Open-BSD security with plenty of real-world examples to help you configure and deploy a secure system. By imparting a solid technical foundation as well as practical know-how, it enables administrators to push their server's security to the next level. Even administrators in other environments--like Linux and Solaris--can find useful paradigms to emulate.Written by security professionals with two decades of operating system experience, Mastering FreeBSD and OpenBSD Security features broad and deep explanations of how how to secure your most critical systems. Where other books on BSD systems help you achieve functionality, this book will help you more thoroughly secure your deployments.
iWork '09: The Missing Manual (The\missing Manual Ser.)
by Josh ClarkWith iWork '09, Apple's productivity applications have come of age. Unfortunately, their user guides are stuck in infancy. That's where iWork '09: The Missing Manual comes in. This book quickly guides you through everything you need to know about the Pages word-processor, the Numbers spreadsheet, and the Keynote presentation program that Al Gore and Steve Jobs made famous. Friendly and entertaining, iWork '09: The Missing Manual gives you crystal-clear and jargon-free explanations of iWork's capabilities, its advantages over similar programs -- and its limitations. You'll see these programs through an objective lens that shows you which features work well and which don't. With this book, you will:Produce stunning documents and cinema-quality digital presentationsTake advantage of Mac OS X's advanced typography and graphics capabilitiesLearn how to use the collection of themes and templates included with iWorkGet undocumented tips, tricks, and secrets for each programIntegrate with other iLife programs to use photos, audio, and video clipsLearn why iWork is the topic most requested by Missing Manual fans. One of the few sources available on Apple's incredible suite of programs, iWork '09: The Missing Manual will help you get the best performance out of Pages, Numbers, Keynote, and more in no time.
Distributed Network Data: From Hardware to Data to Visualization
by Alasdair Allan Kipp BradfordBuild your own distributed sensor network to collect, analyze, and visualize real-time data about our human environment—including noise level, temperature, and people flow. With this hands-on book, you’ll learn how to turn your project idea into working hardware, using the easy-to-learn Arduino microcontroller and off-the-shelf sensors.Authors Alasdair Allan and Kipp Bradford walk you through the entire process, from prototyping a simple sensor node to performing real-time analysis on data captured by a deployed multi-sensor network. Demonstrated at recent O’Reilly Strata Conferences, the future of distributed data is already here. If you have programming experience, you can get started immediately.Wire up a circuit on a breadboard, and use the Arduino to read values from a sensorAdd a microphone and infrared motion detector to your circuitMove from breadboard to prototype with Fritzing, a program that converts your circuit design into a graphical representationSimplify your design: learn use cases and limitations for using Arduino pins for power and groundingBuild wireless networks with XBee radios and request data from multiple sensor platformsVisualize data from your sensor network with Processing or LabVIEW
Beautiful Architecture: Leading Thinkers Reveal the Hidden Beauty in Software Design
by Diomidis Spinellis Georgios GousiosWhat are the ingredients of robust, elegant, flexible, and maintainable software architecture? Beautiful Architecture answers this question through a collection of intriguing essays from more than a dozen of today's leading software designers and architects. In each essay, contributors present a notable software architecture, and analyze what makes it innovative and ideal for its purpose. Some of the engineers in this book reveal how they developed a specific project, including decisions they faced and tradeoffs they made. Others take a step back to investigate how certain architectural aspects have influenced computing as a whole. With this book, you'll discover:How Facebook's architecture is the basis for a data-centric application ecosystemThe effect of Xen's well-designed architecture on the way operating systems evolveHow community processes within the KDE project help software architectures evolve from rough sketches to beautiful systemsHow creeping featurism has helped GNU Emacs gain unanticipated functionalityThe magic behind the Jikes RVM self-optimizable, self-hosting runtimeDesign choices and building blocks that made Tandem the choice platform in high-availability environments for over two decadesDifferences and similarities between object-oriented and functional architectural viewsHow architectures can affect the software's evolution and the developers' engagementGo behind the scenes to learn what it takes to design elegant software architecture, and how it can shape the way you approach your own projects, with Beautiful Architecture.
Programming Entity Framework: Creating and Configuring Data Models from Your Classes
by Julia Lerman Rowan MillerTake advantage of the Code First data modeling approach in ADO.NET Entity Framework, and learn how to build and configure a model based on existing classes in your business domain. With this concise book, you’ll work hands-on with examples to learn how Code First can create an in-memory model and database by default, and how you can exert more control over the model through further configuration.Code First provides an alternative to the database first and model first approaches to the Entity Data Model. Learn the benefits of defining your model with code, whether you’re working with an existing database or building one from scratch. If you work with Visual Studio and understand database management basics, this book is for you.Learn exactly what Code First does—and does not—enable you to doUnderstand how property attributes, relationships, and database mappings are inferred from your classes by Code FirstUse Data Annotations and the Fluent API to configure the Code First data modelPerform advanced techniques, such as controlling the database schema and overriding the default model cachingThis book is a continuation of author Julia Lerman’s Programming Entity Framework, widely recognized as the leading book on the topic.
MPLS in the SDN Era: Interoperable Scenarios to Make Networks Scale to New Services
by Antonio Sanchez Monge Krzysztof Grzegorz SzarkowiczHow can you make multivendor services work smoothly on today’s complex networks? This practical book shows you how to deploy a large portfolio of multivendor Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) services on networks, down to the configuration level. You’ll learn where Juniper Network's Junos, Cisco's IOS XR, and OpenContrail, interoperate and where they don’t.Two network and cloud professionals from Juniper describe how MPLS technologies and applications have rapidly evolved through services and architectures such as Ethernet VPNs, Network Function Virtualization, Seamless MPLS, Egress Protection, External Path Computation, and more. This book contains no vendor bias or corporate messages, just solid information on how to get a multivendor network to function optimally.Topics include:Introduction to MPLS and Software-Defined Networking (SDN)The four MPLS Builders (LDP, RSVP-TE, IGP SPRING, and BGP)Layer 3 unicast and multicast MPLS services, Layer 2 VPN, VPLS, and Ethernet VPNInter-domain MPLS ServicesUnderlay and overlay architectures: data centers, NVO, and NFVCentralized Traffic Engineering and TE bandwidth reservationsScaling MPLS transport and servicesTransit fast restoration based on the IGP and RSVP-TEFIB optimization and egress service for fast restoration
Brooklynites: The Remarkable Story of the Free Black Communities that Shaped a Borough
by null Prithi Kanakamedala2025 Gotham Book Prize FinalistMeet the Black Brooklynites who defined New York City’s most populous borough through their search for social justiceBefore it was a borough, Brooklyn was our nation’s third largest city. Its free Black community attracted people from all walks of life—businesswomen, church leaders, laborers, and writers—who sought to grow their city in a radical anti-slavery vision. The residents of neighborhoods like DUMBO, Fort Greene, and Williamsburg organized and agitated for social justice. They did so even as their own freedom was threatened by systemic and structural racism, risking their safety for the sake of their city. Brooklynites recovers the lives of these remarkable citizens and considers their lasting impact on New York City’s most populous borough.This cultural and social history is told through four ordinary families from Brooklyn’s nineteenth-century free Black community: the Crogers, the Hodges, the Wilsons, and the Gloucesters. The book illustrates the depth and scope of their activism, cementing Brooklyn’s place in the history of social justice movements. Their lives offer valuable lessons on freedom, democracy, and family—both the ones we’re born with and the ones we choose. Their powerful stories continue to resonate today, as borough residents fill the streets in search of a more just city.This is a story of land, home, labor, of New Yorkers past, and the legacy they left us. This is the story of Brooklyn.
Forbidden: A 3,000-Year History of Jews and the Pig
by null Jordan D. RosenblumWinner of the 74th National Jewish Book Award: The Jane and Stuart Weitzman Family Award for Food Writing and CookbooksA surprising history of how the pig has influenced Jewish identityJews do not eat pig. This (not always true) observation has been made by both Jews and non-Jews for more than three thousand years and is rooted in biblical law. Though the Torah prohibits eating pig meat, it is not singled out more than other food prohibitions. Horses, rabbits, squirrels, and even vultures, while also not kosher, do not inspire the same level of revulsion for Jews as the pig. The pig has become an iconic symbol for people to signal their Jewishness, non-Jewishness, or rebellion from Judaism. There is nothing in the Bible that suggests Jews are meant to embrace this level of pig-phobia.Starting with the Hebrew Bible, Jordan D. Rosenblum historicizes the emergence of the pig as a key symbol of Jewish identity, from the Roman persecution of ancient rabbis, to the Spanish Inquisition, when so-called Marranos (“Pigs”) converted to Catholicism, to Shakespeare’s writings, to modern memoirs of those leaving Orthodox Judaism. The pig appears in debates about Jewish emancipation in eighteenth-century England and in vaccine conspiracies; in World War II rallying cries, when many American Jewish soldiers were “eating ham for Uncle Sam;” in conversations about pig sandwiches reportedly consumed by Karl Marx; and in recent deliberations about the kosher status of Impossible Pork.All told, there is a rich and varied story about the associations of Jews and pigs over time, both emerging from within Judaism and imposed on Jews by others. Expansive yet accessible, Forbidden offers a captivating look into Jewish history and identity through the lens of the pig.
Ecoart in Action: Activities, Case Studies, and Provocations for Classrooms and Communities
by Amara Geffen, Ann Rosenthal, Chris Fremantle, and Aviva RahmaniReady-to-go, vetted approaches for facilitating artistic environmental projectsHow do we educate those who feel an urgency to address our environmental and social challenges? What ethical concerns do art-makers face who are committed to a deep green agenda? How can we refocus education to emphasize integrative thinking and inspire hope? What role might art play in actualizing environmental resilience?Compiled from 67 members of the Ecoart Network, a group of more than 200 internationally established practitioners, Ecoart in Action stands as a field guide that offers practical solutions to critical environmental challenges. Organized into three sections—Activities, Case Studies, and Provocations—each contribution provides models for ecoart practice that are adaptable for use within a variety of classrooms, communities, and contexts. Educators developing project and place-based learning curricula, citizens, policymakers, scientists, land managers, and those who work with communities (human and other) will find inspiration for integrating art, science, and community-engaged practices into on-the-ground environmental projects. If you share a concern for the environmental crisis and believe art can provide new options, this book is for you!
Realist Ecstasy: Religion, Race, and Performance in American Literature (Performance and American Cultures #2)
by null Lindsay V. RecksonHonorable Mention, Barnard Hewitt Award from the American Society for Theater ResearchExplores the intersection and history of American literary realism and the performance of spiritual and racial embodiment. Recovering a series of ecstatic performances in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American realism, Realist Ecstasy travels from camp meetings to Native American ghost dances to storefront church revivals to explore realism’s relationship to spiritual experience. In her approach to realism as both an unruly archive of performance and a wide-ranging repertoire of media practices—including literature, photography, audio recording, and early film—Lindsay V. Reckson argues that the real was repetitively enacted and reenacted through bodily practice. Realist Ecstasy demonstrates how the realist imagining of possessed bodies helped construct and naturalize racial difference, while excavating the complex, shifting, and dynamic possibilities embedded in ecstatic performance: its production of new and immanent forms of being beside. Across her readings of Stephen Crane, James Weldon Johnson, and Nella Larsen, among others, Reckson triangulates secularism, realism, and racial formation in the post-Reconstruction moment. Realist Ecstasy shows how post-Reconstruction realist texts mobilized gestures—especially the gestures associated with religious ecstasy—to racialize secularism itself. Reckson offers us a distinctly new vision of American realism as a performative practice, a sustained account of how performance lives in and through literary archives, and a rich sense of how closely secularization and racialization were linked in Jim Crow America.
Fear in Our Hearts: What Islamophobia Tells Us about America (North American Religions #5)
by null Caleb Iyer ElfenbeinArgues that anti-Muslim activity reveals how fear is corroding core American valuesIn a 2018 national poll, over ninety percent of respondents reported that treating people equally is an essential American value. Almost eighty percent said accepting people of different racial backgrounds is very important. Yet about half of the general public reported that they doubt whether Muslims can truly dedicate themselves to American values and society. Why do many people who say they believe in equality and acceptance of those of different backgrounds also think that Muslims could be an exception to that rule?In Fear in Our Hearts, Caleb Iyer Elfenbein examines Islamophobia in the United States, positing that rather than simply being an outcome of the 9/11 attacks, anti-Muslim activity grows out of a fear of difference that has always characterized US public life. Elfenbein examines the effects of this fear on American Muslims, as well as describing how it works to shape and distort American society. Drawing on over 1,800 news reports documenting anti-Muslim activity, Elfenbein pinpoints trends, draws connections to the broader histories of immigration, identity, belonging, and citizenship in the US, and examines how Muslim communities have responded.In the face of public fear and hate, American Muslim communities have sought to develop connections with non-Muslims through unprecedented levels of community transparency, outreach, and public engagement efforts. Despite the hostile environment that has made these efforts necessary, American Muslims have faced down their own fears to offer a model for building communities and creating more welcoming conditions of public life for everyone.Arguing that anti-Muslim activity tells us as much about the state of core American values in general as it does about the particular experiences of American Muslims, this compelling look at Muslims in America offers practical ideas about how we can create a more welcoming public life for all in our everyday lives.
The Victims’ Rights Movement: What It Gets Right, What It Gets Wrong
by null Michael VitielloOutlines the successes and failures of the movement to support survivors of violenceThe Victims’ Rights Movement (VRM) has been one of the most meaningful criminal justice reforms in the United States. Every state and the federal government has adopted major VRM laws to enact protections for victims and increase criminal sanctions, and the movement has received support from politicians of all backgrounds. Despite recognition of its excesses, the movement remains an important force in the criminal justice arena.The Victims' Rights Movement offers a measured overview of the successes and the failures of the VRM. Among its widely acknowledged accomplishments are expanded resources to help victims deal with trauma, greater sensitivity to sexual assault victims in many jurisdictions, and increased chances of victims receiving restitution from perpetrators of harm. Conversely, the movement has led to excessive punishment for many defendants and destruction of defendants’ families. It has exacerbated racial inequality in the imposition of the death penalty and criminal sentencing generally, and falsely promises “closure” to crime victims and their families.Michael Vitiello considers whether the VRM serves those injured by crime well by focusing on “victimhood.” He urges a reframing of the movement to fight for universal health care and limits on access to weapons—two policies that would reduce the number of victims and help those who do become victims of crime.
Video Games Have Always Been Queer (Postmillennial Pop #16)
by null Bo RubergArgues for the queer potential of video gamesWhile popular discussions about queerness in video games often focus on big-name, mainstream games that feature LGBTQ characters, like Mass Effect or Dragon Age, Bonnie Ruberg pushes the concept of queerness in games beyond a matter of representation, exploring how video games can be played, interpreted, and designed queerly, whether or not they include overtly LGBTQ content. Video Games Have Always Been Queer argues that the medium of video games itself can—and should—be read queerly.In the first book dedicated to bridging game studies and queer theory, Ruberg resists the common, reductive narrative that games are only now becoming more diverse. Revealing what reading D. A. Miller can bring to the popular 2007 video game Portal, or what Eve Sedgwick offers Pong, Ruberg models the ways game worlds offer players the opportunity to explore queer experience, affect, and desire. As players attempt to 'pass' in Octodad or explore the pleasure of failure in Burnout: Revenge, Ruberg asserts that, even within a dominant gaming culture that has proved to be openly hostile to those perceived as different, queer people have always belonged in video games—because video games have, in fact, always been queer.
The New Arab Urban: Gulf Cities of Wealth, Ambition, and Distress
by Harvey Molotch and Davide PonziniCities of the Arabian Peninsula reveal contradictions of contemporary urbanizationThe fast-growing cities of the Persian Gulf are, whatever else they may be, indisputably sensational. The world’s tallest building is in Dubai; the 2022 World Cup in soccer will be played in fantastic Qatar facilities; Saudi Arabia is building five new cities from scratch; the Louvre, the Guggenheim and the Sorbonne, as well as many American and European universities, all have handsome outposts and campuses in the region. Such initiatives bespeak strategies to diversify economies and pursue grand ambitions across the Earth.Shining special light on Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha—where the dynamics of extreme urbanization are so strongly evident—the authors of The New Arab Urban trace what happens when money is plentiful, regulation weak, and labor conditions severe. Just how do authorities in such settings reconcile goals of oft-claimed civic betterment with hyper-segregation and radical inequality? How do they align cosmopolitan sensibilities with authoritarian rule? How do these elite custodians arrange tactical alliances to protect particular forms of social stratification and political control? What sense can be made of their massive investment for environmental breakthrough in the midst of world-class ecological mayhem?To address such questions, this book’s contributors place the new Arab urban in wider contexts of trade, technology, and design. Drawn from across disciplines and diverse home countries, they investigate how these cities import projects, plans and structures from the outside, but also how, increasingly, Gulf-originated initiatives disseminate to cities far afield.Brought together by noted scholars, sociologist Harvey Molotch and urban analyst Davide Ponzini, this timely volume adds to our understanding of the modern Arab metropolis—as well as of cities more generally. Gulf cities display development patterns that, however unanticipated in the standard paradigms of urban scholarship, now impact the world.