Stanford University Press Blog

American Academy of Religion Conference 2020

 

To capture some of the spirit of gathering together in the AAR exhibit hall, we offer this virtual space, showcasing our new authors, award-winning books, and highlights from the last year of religion publishing at SUP.

 

Events

New Books and New SUP Authors

2021 Religion Catalog

From the SUP Blog Archives

New in Stanford Digital Projects

This Year’s Award Winners

AAR Resources

 

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Events

 

All times are listed in Eastern Standard Time

 

Stanford University Press

Meet David J. Halperin, author of Intimate Alien: The Hidden Story of the UFO (Stanford University Press)

Tuesday, December 1, 1:00 PM–1:30 PM

UFOs are a religious phenomenon—a UFO encounter is a bona fide religious experience, UFO lore a religious myth. As a collective cultural dream, UFOs transport us to the outer limits of that most alien yet intimate frontier, our own inner space. In his new book David Halperin, Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and lifelong specialist in Judaica, explores what UFOs and UFO belief mean for us as individuals, as a culture, as a species.

 

Stanford University Press Publishing with Stanford University Press

Tuesday, December 1, 2:00 PM– 2:30 PM

Interested in pitching your book to Stanford University Press? This brief presentation, led by SUP’s Executive Editor for the Humanities Erica Wetter, will cover the proposal and submissions process, including: What are the key components of a strong proposal? What makes a project stand out? What should you expect during peer review? What happens after a book is contracted? And, how can you make the most of your publishing experience? A Q&A period will conclude the event.

 

American Anthropological Association Conference 2020

 

 

To capture some of the spirit of gathering together in the AAA exhibit hall, we offer this virtual space, showcasing our new authors, award-winning books, and highlights from the last year of anthropology publishing at SUP.

 

New in Stanford Digital Projects

New Books and New SUP Authors

2021 Anthropology Catalog

This Year’s Award Winners

AAA Resources

 

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New in Stanford Digital Projects

Feral Atlas

The More-Than-Human Anthropocene »

EDITED BY ANNA L. TSING, JENNIFER DEGER, ALDER SAXENA KELEMAN and FEIFEI ZHOU

Every event in human history has been a more-than-human event. When hunter-gatherers burn the land, they cooperate with herbs that seed quickly and grasses that sprout after fires, attracting game. Inside us, intestinal bacteria make it possible for us to digest our food. Other things, living and nonliving, make it possible to be human. Yet powerful habits of thought over the last centuries have made this statement less than obvious. With the arrival of the idea of the Anthropocene, we move away from such thinking to reconsider how human and nonhuman histories are inextricably intertwined.

Election Season Books

In anticipation of November 3^rd we have composed a recommended reading list focused around voting, politics, history, rights, law, and social movements.

 

Ballot Blocked

The Political Erosion of the Voting Rights Act »

JESSE H. RHODES

SERIES: STANFORD STUDIES IN LAW AND POLITICS

Voting rights are a perennial topic in American politics. Recent elections and the Supreme Court's decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which struck down key enforcement provisions in the Voting Rights Act (VRA), have only placed further emphasis on the debate over voter disenfranchaisement. Over the past five decades, both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have consistently voted to expand the protections offered to vulnerable voters by the Voting Rights Act. And yet, the administration of the VRA has become more fragmented and judicial interpretation of its terms has become much less generous. Why have Republicans consistently adopted administrative and judicial decisions that undermine legislation they repeatedly endorse?

Ballot Blocked shows how the divergent trajectories of legislation, administration, and judicial interpretation in voting rights policymaking derive largely from efforts by conservative politicians to narrow the scope of federal enforcement while at the same time preserving their public reputations as supporters of racial equality and minority voting rights.

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Voting Together

Intergenerational Politics and Civic Engagement among Hmong Americans »

CAROLYN WONG

SERIES: ASIAN AMERICA

Hmong American immigrants first came to the United States as refugees of the Vietnam War. Forty years on, they have made a notable impact in American political life. They have voter participation rates higher than most other Asian American ethnic groups, and they have won seats in local and state legislative bodies. Yet the average level of education among Hmong Americans still lags behind that of the general U.S. population and high rates of poverty persist in their community, highlighting a curious disparity across the typical benchmarks of immigrant incorporation.

Carolyn Wong analyzes how the Hmong came to pursue politics as a key path to advancement and inclusion in the United States. Drawing on interviews with community leaders, refugees, and the second-generation children of immigrants, Wong shows that intergenerational mechanisms of social voting underlie the political participation of Hmong Americans.

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Middle East Studies Association Conference 2020

 

MESA is a favorite event of the year for us at Stanford University Press, and we’ll miss seeing you all in person. To capture some of the spirit of gathering together in the MESA Book Bazaar, we offer this virtual space, showcasing our new authors, award-winning books, and highlights from the last year of Middle East studies publishing at SUP.

 

Virtual Events

New Books and New SUP Authors

2021 Middle East Studies Catalog

This Year’s Award Winners

SUP Author Panels at MESA

From the SUP Blog Archives

New in Stanford Digital Projects

MESA Resources

 

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Virtual Events

 

Book Talk: A SUP Virtual Event

Kate Wahl, editor-in-chief, and SUP authors Narges Bajoghli and Sherene Seikaly discuss book publishing. In a broad-ranging conversation, they share experiences with and advice about writing and research, developing proposals and manuscripts, and approaching publishers.

 

Stanford Studies in Middle Eastern and Islamic Societies and Cultures

Recorded on July 22, 2020, series editors Joel Beinin and Laleh Khalili join in conversation with SUP authors Darryl Li and Nahid Siamdoust and editor-in-chief Kate Wahl to discuss the state of the series and publishing interests for the future.

 

Persianate Selves: Memories of Place and Origin Before Nationalism, by Mana Kia

Recorded on July 31, 2020, Mana Kia discusses her new book with Nile Green, Afshin Marashi, and Katherine Schofield.

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Highlights from our Fall 2020 Sale

Do you need something to read? Here are some suggestions.

 

If you love cute animals, especially cats, then try:

 

 

A Unified Theory of Cats on the Internet »

E.J. WHITE

The advertising slogan of the social news site Reddit is "Come for the cats. Stay for the empathy." Journalists and their readers seem to need no explanation for the line, "The internet is made of cats." Everyone understands the joke, but few know how it started. A Unified Theory of Cats on the Internet is the first book to explore the history of how the cat became the internet's best friend.

Internet cats can differ in dramatic ways, from the goth cats of Twitter to the glamourpusses of Instagram to the giddy, nonsensical silliness of Nyan Cat. But they all share common traits and values. Bringing together fun anecdotes, thoughtful analyses, and hidden histories of the communities that built the internet, Elyse White shows how japonisme, punk culture, cute culture, and the battle among different communities for the soul of the internet informed the sensibility of online felines. Internet cats offer a playful—and useful—way to understand how culture shapes and is shaped by technology.

 

If you are contemplating the complexities of work and technology:

 

 

Dreams of the Overworked  »

Living, Working, and Parenting in the Digital Age

CHRISTINE M. BECKMAN and MELISSA MAZMANIAN

In Dreams of the Overworked, Christine M. Beckman and Melissa Mazmanian offer vivid sketches of daily life for nine families, capturing what it means to live, work, and parent in a world of impossible expectations, now amplified unlike ever before by smart devices. The stories in this book challenge the seductive myth of the phone-clad individual, by showing that beneath the plastic veneer of technology is a complex, hidden system of support—our dreams being scaffolded by retired in-laws, friendly neighbors, spouses, and paid help. This book makes a compelling case for celebrating the structures that allow us to strive for our dreams, by supporting public policies and community organizations, challenging workplace norms, reimagining family, and valuing the joy of human connection.

 

A Look at SUP's DH Virtual Exhibit

SUP is excited to present our titles for the Digital Humanities conference

 

In lieu of our booth exhibit, please enjoy this Virtual Book Exhibit and receive a 30% discount and free shipping to the US and Canada on the books listed below using the discount code S20XDH-FM

 

Stanford Digital Projects

 

The nascent fields of digital humanities and computational social sciences have ballooned in recent years. Emergent technologies and scholars’ increasing fluency with these technologies are providing academics with new ways to visualize, analyze, and interpret data. Yet, there are no formal channels for publication or consistent peer review standards for digital projects. Our initiative, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, allows us to advance a publishing process that helps authors develop their concept (in both content and form) and reach their market effectively to confer the same level of academic credibility on digital projects as print books receive

 

Constructing the Sacred »

Visibility and Ritual Landscape at the Egyptian Necropolis of Saqqara

ELAINE A. SULLIVAN

"Unimaginable in any other format, this publication is a one-stop shop for our attempt to untangle the significance of Saqqara over time."

—Peter Der Manuelian, Harvard University

 

Utilizing 3D technologies, Constructing the Sacred addresses ancient ritual landscape from a unique perspective to examine development at the complex, long-lived archaeological site of Saqqara, Egypt. Sullivan focuses on how changes in the built and natural environment affected burial rituals at the temple due to changes in visibility. Flipping the top-down view prevalent in archeology to a more human-centered perspective puts the focus on the dynamic evolution of an ancient site that is typically viewed as static.

Start reading Elaine A. Sullivan's entry for the SUP blog Archaeological Landscapes And 3d Technologies »

 

 

Black Quotidian »

Everyday History in African-American Newspapers

MATTHEW F. DELMONT

Winner of the 2019 Garfinkel Prize in Digital Humanities, sponsored by the American Studies Association (ASA) - Digital Humanities Caucus.

 

"Turning Black History Month on its head, Matthew Delmont insists that black life is not and cannot be limited to big events, past greats, or historical study in specified time slots. Distinctive and unique, Black Quotidian provides students an opportunity to examine the nuances and complexities of black life inside and outside the classroom."

—Nishani Frazier, Miami University

 

Black Quotidian explores everyday lives of African Americans in the twentieth century. Drawing on an archive of digitized African-American newspapers, Matthew F. Delmont guides readers through a wealth of primary resources that reveal how the Black press popularized African-American history and valued the lives of both famous and ordinary Black people. Claiming the right of Black people to experience and enjoy the mundane aspects of daily life has taken on a renewed resonance in the era of Black Lives Matter, an era marked by quotidian violence, fear, and mourning.

Pride 2020 Recommended Reading

Free for commercial use. Via Pixabay.

 

To celebrate Pride 2020 we have composed a recommended reading list focused around LGBTQ history, activism, and art.

 

 

Before Trans »

Three Gender Stories from Nineteenth-Century France

RACHEL MESCH

"Before Trans is an exceedingly well-written, layered, and compelling account of three overlapping gender-variant biographies. These individuals' stories have never been told together, and Rachel Mesch's beautiful braiding of their lives and loves, their desires and disappointments, offers a fresh and original take on trans history."

—Jack Halberstam, author of The Queer Art of Failure

 

Before the term "transgender" existed, there were those who experienced their gender in complex ways. Before Trans examines the lives and writings of Jane Dieulafoy (1850–1916), Rachilde (1860–1953), and Marc de Montifaud (1845–1912), three French writers whose gender expression did not conform to nineteenth-century notions of femininity.

Dieulafoy, Rachilde, and Montifaud established themselves as fixtures in the literary world of fin-de-siècle Paris at the same time as French writers, scientists, and doctors were becoming increasingly fascinated with sexuality and sexual difference. Even so, the concept of gender identity as separate from sexual identity did not yet exist. Before Trans explores these three figures' lifelong efforts to articulate a sense of selfhood that did not precisely align with the conventional gender roles of their day. Their intricate, personal stories provide vital historical context for our own efforts to understand the nature of gender identity and the ways in which it might be expressed.

Watch Before Trans: A Virtual Event »

Read Behind the Scenes of Gender Stories: A Q&A with Rachel Mesch »

 

 

Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique »

SA’ED ATSHAN

"This utterly brilliant book will be a classic. Sa'ed Atshan's comprehensive study of queer Palestinian activism provides a rich understanding of the complex intersections of selfhood, activism, and belonging."

—Tom Boellstorff, University of California, Irvine, author of The Gay Archipelago: Sexuality and Nation in Indonesia

 

From Ramallah to New York, Tel Aviv to Porto Alegre, people around the world celebrate a formidable, transnational Palestinian LGBTQ social movement. Solidarity with Palestinians has become a salient domain of global queer politics. Yet LGBTQ Palestinians, even as they fight patriarchy and imperialism, are themselves subjected to an "empire of critique" from Israeli and Palestinian institutions, Western academics, journalists and filmmakers, and even fellow activists. Such global criticism has limited growth and led to an emphasis within the movement on anti-imperialism over the struggle against homophobia.

Sa'ed Atshan explores critical junctures in the history of Palestinian LGBTQ activism, revealing the queer Palestinian spirit of agency, defiance, and creativity, in the face of daunting pressures and forces working to constrict it. Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique explores the necessity of connecting the struggles for Palestinian freedom with the struggle against homophobia.

 

Social Justice Recommended Reading

In light of current events we have composed a recommended reading list focused around social justice,  fighting racism, history, and human rights.

 

 

Crook County»
Racism and Injustice in America's Largest Criminal Court

NICOLE GONZALEZ VAN CLEVE

Winner of the 2019 ASA Distinguished Scholarly Book Award, sponsored by the American Sociological Association (ASA).

 

Winner of the 2017 Eduardo Bonilla-Silva Outstanding Book Award, sponsored by the Society for the Study of Social Problems.

 

NAACP Image Award Nominee for an Outstanding Literary Work from a debut author.

 

"Gonzalez Van Cleve's account of the American criminal justice system, based on thousands of hours of careful observation behind the doors of the Chicago–Cook County courthouse, reveals the paradoxes and pain of our modern legal culture, including the effects on the punished and punishers alike. As Van Cleve's investigation so startlingly lays bare, just because legal institutions profess to be colorblind does not make it so. Reading Crook County helps us see the difference."

—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University

 

Americans are slowly waking up to the dire effects of racial profiling, police brutality, and mass incarceration, especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods and communities of color. The criminal courts are the crucial gateway between police action on the street and the processing of primarily black and Latino defendants into jails and prisons. And yet the courts, often portrayed as sacred, impartial institutions, have remained shrouded in secrecy, with the majority of Americans kept in the dark about how they function internally. Crook County bursts open the courthouse doors and enters the hallways, courtrooms, judges' chambers, and attorneys' offices to reveal a world of punishment determined by race, not offense.

Crook County's powerful and at times devastating narratives reveal startling truths about a legal culture steeped in racial abuse. Defendants find themselves thrust into a pernicious legal world where courtroom actors live and breathe racism while simultaneously committing themselves to a colorblind ideal. Gonzalez Van Cleve urges all citizens to take a closer look at the way we do justice in America and to hold our arbiters of justice accountable to the highest standards of equality.

 

 

When Words Trump Politics »

Resisting a Hostile Regime of Language

ADAM HODGES

Trumpism has not only ushered in a new political regime, but also a new regime of language—one that cries out for intelligent and informed analysis. When Words Trump Politics takes insights from linguistic anthropology and related fields to decode, understand, and ultimately provide non-expert readers with easily digestible tools to resist the politics of division and hate.

Adam Hodges's short essays address Trump's Twitter insults, racism and white nationalism, "truthiness" and "alternative facts," #FakeNews and conspiracy theories, Supreme Court politics and #MeToo, Islamophobia, political theater, and many other timely and controversial discussions. Hodges breaks down the specific linguistic techniques and processes that make Trump's rhetoric successful in our contemporary political landscape. He identifies the language ideologies, word choices, and recurring metaphors that underlie Trumpian rhetoric. Trumpian discourse works in tandem with media discourse—Hodges shows how Trump often induces journalists and social media agents to recycle and strengthen his spectacular and misleading claims.

Those who study democracy have long emphasized the need for an informed electorate. But being informed on political issues also demands a keen understanding of the way language is used to convey, discuss, debate, and contest those issues. When Words Trump Politics analyzes the political rhetoric of today. The actionable insights in this book give journalists, politicians, and all Americans the successful tools they need to respond to the politics of hate. When Words Trump Politics is an essential resource for political resistance, for anyone who cares about freeing democracy from the spell of demagoguery.

A Look at SUP's SHAFR Virtual Exhibit

SUP is excited to present new titles in the history of American foreign relations and the US in the world. While we wish we could meet with you face-to-face in New Orleans, Acquisitions Editor Margo Irvin is taking pitches from authors working on topics within international Cold War history; American empire and the history of science, technology, and medicine; and projects situated in the Pacific world, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America. 

In lieu of our booth exhibit, please enjoy this Virtual Book Exhibit and receive a 30% discount and free shipping to the US and Canada on the books listed below using the discount code S20XSHAFR-FM. Offer ends 7/31/2020.

 

Oilcraft: The Myths of Scarcity and Security That Haunt U.S. Energy Policy »

ROBERT VITALIS

A bracing corrective to the myths that have shaped economic, military, and diplomatic policy, dispelling our oil-soaked fantasies of dependence.

There is a conventional wisdom about oil—that the U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf is what guarantees access to this strategic resource; that the "special" relationship with Saudi Arabia is necessary to stabilize an otherwise volatile market; and that these assumptions in turn provide Washington enormous leverage over Europe and Asia. Except, the conventional wisdom is wrong.

Robert Vitalis debunks the myths to reveal "oilcraft," a line of magical thinking closer to witchcraft than statecraft. Oil is a commodity like any other: bought, sold, and subject to market forces. Thus, the first goal of this book is to expose the suspect fears of oil scarcity and conflict. The second goal is to investigate the significant geopolitical impact of these false beliefs.

 

Learning the Lessons of Modern War »

EDITED BY THOMAS G. MAHNKEN

Learning the Lessons of Modern War uses the study of the recent past to illuminate the future. More specifically, it examines the lessons of recent wars as a way of understanding continuity and change in the character and conduct of war.

The volume brings together contributions from a group of well-known scholars and practitioners from across the world to examine the conduct of recent wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East, South America, and Asia. The book's first section consists of chapters that explore the value of a contemporary approach to history and reflect on the value of learning lessons from the past. Its second section focuses on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Chapters on Iraq discuss the lessons of the Iraq War, the British perspective on the conflict, and the war as seen through the lens of Saddam Hussein's military. Chapters on Afghanistan discuss counterinsurgency operations during the war, Britain's experience in Afghanistan, raising and training Afghan forces, and U.S. interagency performance. The book's third section examines the lessons of wars involving Russia, Israel, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Georgia, and Colombia. It concludes by exploring overarching themes associated with the conduct of recent wars.

 

Political Fallout: Nuclear Weapons Testing and the Making of a Global Environmental Crisis »

TOSHIHIRO HIGUCHI

Political Fallout is the story of one of the first human-driven, truly global environmental crises—radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons testing during the Cold War—and the international response. Beginning in 1945, the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union detonated hundreds of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, scattering a massive amount of radioactivity across the globe. The scale of contamination was so vast, and radioactive decay so slow, that the cumulative effect on humans and the environment is still difficult to fully comprehend.

The international debate over nuclear fallout turned global radioactive contamination into an environmental issue, eventually leading the nuclear superpowers to sign the landmark Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) in 1963. Bringing together environmental history and Cold War history, Toshihiro Higuchi argues that the PTBT, originally proposed as an arms control measure, transformed into a dual-purpose initiative to check the nuclear arms race and radioactive pollution simultaneously. Political Fallout addresses the implications of science and policymaking in the Anthropocene—an era in which humans are confronting environmental changes of their own making.

Association of University Presses Releases Equity and Anti-Racism Statement

Stanford University Press emphatically supports the statement of equity and anti-racism made by our trade group the Association of University Presses:

June 2, 2020 (New York, NY; Washington, DC)—The Association of University Presses (AUPresses) holds among our core values diversity and inclusion. As an organization and as a community, we mourn the lost lives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others, stolen by the systemic racism at work in the US. We condemn police brutality and other forms of socially sanctioned racist violence. And we stand in solidarity with all who continue to seek justice, to imagine equity, and to enact a different world.

Many of our member presses put the values of diversity and inclusion into the world in a tangible way, playing major roles over the last few decades in amplifying the voices of scholars who originated African American Studies, Native Studies, and LGBTQ studies, among other groundbreaking fields. These works are readily available to provide insights and are frequently cited as resources in response to police brutality or white supremacist violence.

But we have only to look to evidence such as that found in the Lee & Low Diversity Baseline Survey, indicating in 2019 that our ranks are 76% white, to know that holding a value is not sufficient. Every day our professional community—just as our personal communities—must work towards equity, towards inclusion, and towards justice.

Today we issue the AUPresses Statement on Equity and Anti-Racism, declaring that upholding these core values requires "introspection, honesty, and reform of our current practices, the interests they serve, and the people and perspectives they exclude." Drafted by our Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, taken through a rigorous review process by our Equity, Justice, and Inclusion (EJI) Committee, and approved by the AUPresses Board of Directors, this statement points a way forward:

"Only with systems of accountability in place to protect and lift up those who have been historically harmed and silenced by our collective inaction will we succeed in dismantling the white supremacist structure upon which so many of our presses and parent institutions were built. How to support these efforts sustainably across the industry must be considered a priority for the Association, its members, and its executive board as well as the main focus of the Equity, Justice, and Inclusion Committee."

We acknowledge with gratitude the volunteer efforts of our EJI Committee, Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, and Gender, Equity, and Cultures of Respect Task Force in calling us to this work. Download a PDF of the Statement on Equity and Anti-Racism.

Our inaugural EJI Community Read is another piece of this witness and work, and many member presses are organizing their staffs to read these essential selections: White Fragility by Robin D'Angelo (Beacon, 2018) and Invisible People by Alex Tizon (Temple, 2019). Our community's full list of nominations for the Community Read project provides a wider lens through which to understand current events across the US as people protest and seek to right the wrongs of systematic racism and the long injustices of white supremacy.

As a community of publishers we are called to discuss and absorb what these authors have to say and to act on our colleagues' specific recommendations—such as explicitly anti-racist training for managers, amelioration of the no- and low-wage entry points to our industry, and new recruitment and promotion strategies—with a goal of making equity a lived experience.

George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Michael Brown. The devastating list goes on and on. Yes, say their names. Yes, do the reading. But we must also live and work as though we have listened.

TimeToRead Recommendations

Don't miss the final days of free shipping on online orders through our website with the discount code TIMETOREAD-FM. SUP is helping independent booksellers and bookstores by pledging 5% of its online sales in April and May to The Book Industry Charitable Foundation.

 

 

We asked our editors "what SUP book you'd most like to read, now that we all (in theory) have TimeToRead?" These are their top book recommendations:

 

 

The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open U.S. History Textbook, Vol. 1: To 1877 »

Edited by JOSEPH L. LOCKE and BEN WRIGHT

Recommended by: Alan Harvey, Director

I’m fortunate enough to see every book as it progresses through the Press, and I dip into each one to a greater or lesser degree. But actually relaxing and letting a book soak over me is rare. Our books inform and educate, and I have certainly learned a lot from titles like Artful Design or The Cult of the Constitution. But the current pandemic leads me to want a bigger picture, something foundational, spanning centuries. That leads me to The American Yawp. I’m not embarrassed to admit that American history wasn’t top of the curriculum at school in England, and this book has helped fill in many holes in my understanding of my adopted country.

Nakba Day Recommended Reading

A girl in a protest on Nakba Day 2010, Hebron, West Bank. Image has been cropped. Photo by Shy Halatzi, CC-BY-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. 

 

To reflect on Nakba Day we have composed a recommended reading list focused around Palestinian experience.

 

 

Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine »

By NOURA ERAKAT

Winner of the 2019 Palestine Book Awards, sponsored by the Middle East Monitor (MEMO).

 

Bronze Medal in the 2020 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) - Current Events I (Political/Economic/Foreign Affairs) category, sponsored by the Independent Publisher Book Awards.

 

Justice in the Question of Palestine is often framed as a question of law. Yet none of the Israel-Palestinian conflict's most vexing challenges have been resolved by judicial intervention. Occupation law has failed to stem Israel's settlement enterprise. Laws of war have permitted killing and destruction during Israel's military offensives in the Gaza Strip. The Oslo Accord's two-state solution is now dead letter.

Justice for Some offers a new approach to understanding the Palestinian struggle for freedom, told through the power and control of international law. Focusing on key junctures—from the Balfour Declaration in 1917 to present-day wars in Gaza—Noura Erakat shows how the strategic deployment of law has shaped current conditions. Over the past century, the law has done more to advance Israel's interests than the Palestinians'. But, Erakat argues, this outcome was never inevitable.

"Noura Erakat's incisive exploration of the role of law in shaping the development of Israel/Palestine reveals the consistent genuflection of international legal institutions to Israel's reliance on well-established colonial practices. She also forcefully argues that the skillful use of international law as a tool of struggle can be generative of hope and possibility—for Palestine and the world. Justice for Some is precisely the book we need at this time."

—Angela Y. Davis, author of Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement

Earth Day Week Recommended Reading

Books about sustainability, nature, and the environment.

Free for commercial use. Via Pixabay.

 

We have composed a recommended reading list for Earth Day Week 2020.

 

 

Limits: Why Malthus Was Wrong and Why Environmentalists Should Care »

By GIORGOS KALLIS

How did we come to think of the planet and its limits as we do? Limits reclaims, redefines, and makes an impassioned plea for limits—a notion central to environmentalism—clearing them from their association with Malthusianism and the ideology and politics that go along with it. Giorgos Kallis rereads reverend-economist Thomas Robert Malthus and his legacy, separating limits and scarcity, two notions that have long been conflated in both environmental and economic thought. 

"Malthus is a key figure for understanding how to survive the twenty-first century, yet Kallis shows we have spent the last two hundred years misunderstanding him. Quirky, provocative, and engaging,  Limits is a must-read book for environmentalists and anti-environmentalists alike."

—Bill Adams, University of Cambridge

 

 

The Green Bundle: Pairing the Market with the Planet »

By MAGALI A. DELMAS with DAVID COLGAN

Magali A. Delmas and David Colgan argue that many green products now offer the total package—a "green bundle" that checks the environmental box, but also offers improved performance, health benefits, savings, and status. To help consumers cut through the noise and make their best decisions, we need new strategies. The award-winning The Green Bundle offers some of the best and most effective communication techniques for pushing consumers in the right direction. If you are looking to win over the convenient consumer or understand how companies can create the next tipping point in green consumption, this is the research-based, practical guide for you.

"The Green Bundle offers penetrating insight into green products, showing how businesses can fully realize this latent market. Synthesizing behavioral economics, human psychology, and basic business principals, the authors set forth a brilliant but practical guide on how to ignite consumer interest in sustainably produced goods."

—Steve McCormick, former CEO of The Nature Conservancy and former President of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Distracting Reads Part 2

Recommended reading for right now

Free shipping on all online orders » with the discount code TIMETOREAD-FM until April 30

 

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting social distancing we have composed a recommended reading list focused around books that will engage, fascinate, and delight.

 

 

Artful Design: Technology in Search of the Sublime, A MusiComic Manifesto »

By GE WANG

 Do you want to embrace your creative side? Try Artful Design. What we make, makes us. This is the central tenet of Artful Design, a photorealistic comic book that examines the nature, purpose, and meaning of design. Using music as a universal phenomenon that has evolved alongside technology, this book breaks down concrete case studies in computer-mediated toys, tools, games, and instruments, including the best-selling app Ocarina. Ge Wang implores us to both embrace and confront technology, not purely as a means to an end, but in its potential to enrich life. 

Interested in this book? Consider tuning in every Wednesday 1 PM for Artful Design Television an online, multi-format weekly series encompassing artful design, music, coding, critical making with helpings of history and philosophy. No experience needed; it's free and all are welcome. For details or to register please visit the Artful Design TV page.

Silver in the Graphic Novel/Drawn Book - General category in the 2019 Independent Publisher Book Awards

 

 

 

The Costs of Connection: How Data Is Colonizing Human Life and Appropriating It for Capitalism »

By NICK COULDRY and ULISES A. MEJIAS

Just about any social need is now met with an opportunity to "connect" through digital means. But this convenience is not free—it is purchased with vast amounts of personal data transferred through shadowy backchannels to corporations using it to generate profit. The Costs of Connection uncovers this process, this "data colonialism," and its designs for controlling our lives. Confronting the alarming degree of surveillance already tolerated, the book offers a stirring call to decolonize the internet and emancipate our desire for connection.

"A profound exploration of how the ceaseless extraction of information about our intimate lives is remaking both global markets and our very selves. The Costs of Connection represents an enormous step forward in our collective understanding of capitalism's current stage, a stage in which the final colonial input is the raw data of human life. Challenging, urgent, and bracingly original."

—Naomi Klein, Gloria Steinem Chair of Media, Culture, and Feminist Studies, Rutgers University

 

 

Motherhood: A Confession »

By NATALIE CARNES

Thinking about what it means to be a parent? Try Motherhood. What if Augustine's Confessions had been written not by a man, but by a mother? How might her tales of desire, temptation, and transformation differ from his? In this memoir, Natalie Carnes describes giving birth to a daughter and beginning a story of conversion strikingly unlike Augustine's—even as his journey becomes a surprising companion to her own.

The challenges Carnes recounts will be familiar to many parents. She wonders what and how much she should ask her daughter to suffer in resisting racism, patriarchy, and injustice.

Distracting Reads Part 1

Recommended reading for right now

Free shipping on all online orders » with the discount code TIMETOREAD-FM until April 30

 

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting social distancing we have composed a recommended reading list focused around books that will engage, fascinate, and delight.

 

 

Intimate Alien: The Hidden Story of the UFO »

By DAVID J. HALPERIN

Sitting inside and wondering about life, the universe, and visible and invisible invaders? Try Intimate Aliens. The power and fascination of the UFO has nothing to do with space travel or life on other planets. It's about us, our longings and terrors, and especially the greatest terror of all: the end of our existence. This is a book about UFOs that goes beyond believing in them or debunking them and to a fresh understanding of what they tell us about ourselves as individuals, as a culture, and as a species.

"David Halperin doesn't believe in the literal reality of flying saucers, but he understands that they needn't physically exist to teach us lessons about a culture that sees them. Part folklorist and part psychologist, Halperin reads our UFO mythos like an alienist analyzing an extended collective dream."

—Jesse Walker, author of The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory

 

 

 

Invisible Companions: Encounters with Imaginary Friends, Gods, Ancestors, and Angels »

By J. BRADLEY WIGGER

Have you been thinking about the potential heights of creativity and imagination? In his award-winning book Invisible Companions J. Bradley Wigger travels five countries on three continents to hear children describe their invisible friends—one-hundred-year-old robins and blue dogs, dinosaurs and teapots, pretend families and shape-shifting aliens—companions springing from the deep well of childhood imagination. Drawing on these interviews, as well as a new wave of developmental research, he finds a fluid and flexible quality to the imaginative mind that is central to learning, co-operation, and paradoxically, to real-world rationality.