Polity

We have four new books publishing in the UK today! 📚'In Defence of Populism' by Frank Furedi - A fearless defence of the democratic value of populism. https://lnkd.in/erKDaS5q 📚'Gender: In World Perspective, 5th Edition' by Raewyn Connell & Tristan Bridges - The indispensable guide to gender studies. https://lnkd.in/efD7cNiK 📚'Rethinking the Penal State' by Loïc Wacquant - A major re-assessment of criminal punishment as a core component of the modern state. https://lnkd.in/eYFaeW5t 📚'Empire on the Cheap: The Political Economy of French Colonialism Since 1800' by Denis Cogneau - The benchmark economic history of the French colonial empire and its legacy. https://lnkd.in/e5Ccvu8B #newbooks #nonfiction #politybooks

"Scanlon’s position on the subject of freedom and responsibility is sophisticated and coherent; it finds that nothing about the natural order of causation is incompatible with the ways we legitimately hold people responsible." Delighted to see this review of 'Morality and Responsibility' by T.M Scanlon in the London review of Books. https://lnkd.in/eZEjB5bw

"This timely and excellent book reminds us all that warfare is fundamentally environmental and that we need to recognize this in our contemporary understanding of violence." Delighted to see this review of Darya Tsymbalyuk's 'Ecocide in Ukraine' in International Affairs. https://lnkd.in/eAU6QZW3

Stuart Jeffries, author of 'A Short History of Stupidity' explores the concept of stupidity from the ideas of ancient philosophers to today’s age of AI, examining how it has been defined throughout history and how it is monetized and exploited in contemporary culture. Watch him on Story in the Public Square, a podcast series from @PBS. https://lnkd.in/eATk47Qp

“an intelligent and courageous critique of how modern identity politics, victimhood culture, and the decolonisation of the curriculum entrap and divide society.” - History Reclaimed review 'Not Your Victim' by Marie Kawthar Daouda. https://lnkd.in/eJnBEaMe

We have one new book out in the UK today. 📚'Transformations in Critical Theory: Decentrings, Openings, Futures' by Maeve Cooke - A renewal of critical theory for the 21st century. See more: https://lnkd.in/eYUEBpxy #nonfiction #newbook #indiebooks

We can't change the world by voting with our wallets—but here's what we can do. Listen to Michael Maniates, author of 'The Living Green Myth', on the Planet Critical podcast https://lnkd.in/eTP9jDTq 

Chekhov's fiction offers a subtle yet powerful message: another life is possible. Something can always happen to our lives – a possibility that breaks the monotony of servitude and points to a different, more liberated existence. This is the way to approach all these brief tales of lost lives, nights filled with tears and joy, landscapes, or love, against the cynicism of those who believe that time is destined to replicate the same. In these glimmers, new forms of life arise – noble and sensible shapes that we occasionally perceive and may strive to unfold if we have the courage to do so. Jacques Rancière, using Chekhov's stories as a lens, sees literature not as a source of knowledge but as a catalyst for reshaping the fabric of being. He illuminates the profound capability of literature: positioning us within the landscape of freedom, transparent about the distance it holds from the reality of servitude, yet unwavering in the standards it sets, inviting us to strive towards them. Distant Freedom: Essay on Chekhov by Jacques Ranciere is out now and available worldwide. https://lnkd.in/eHQEnmxa #nonfiction #newbook #ranciere #chekhov

One of the most decisive and irreversible consequences of the Spanish conquest of the Americas was the alphabetic revolution which changed the forms of communication in indigenous societies. Writing, paper and books arrived in the Americas with the conquistadors and they were used as weapons by the Spanish to subjugate local populations and impose Christianity on them. The written word of the conquerors was a key medium of colonization: orders from the imperial metropole were written down, local resources and valuables were recorded and books conveyed knowledge coming from Europe. The children of indigenous elites, trained in humanist values, were soon more familiar with Latin and the Bible than with the beliefs of their ancestors, and the use of Latin instilled new modes of reasoning and thought. By imposing European languages and writing systems, the conquistadors also inculcated a belief in the superiority of the written word and even its holiness. And yet despite this, indigenous people were able to resist alphabetic colonization in other ways, thanks to their extraordinary creativity. By putting language, writing and printing at the centre of his analysis, Serge Gruzinski develops a fresh perspective on the colonization and conversion of the indigenous people of the Americas and enables us to observe in detail how ideas intermingle when two civilizations collide. The Language of the Conquerors: When Amerindians Spoke Latin in Sixteenth-Century Mexico by Serge Gruzinski is out now and available worldwide. https://lnkd.in/e2nUibU5 #nonfiction #politybooks #newbook

American history is, in part, a history of immigration – of waves of people from other lands making their way to America's shores. Immigration: How the Past Shapes the Present argues that the past is critical in understanding current immigration; that a new historical perspective offers important insights into what is happening today. Foner examines both the facts of immigration in the past and how they are perceived – the stories, myths, and memories that color how we think of immigration today and the politics that govern it. This new historical perspective helps us understand contemporary nativism, distinguishes what is new from long-established patterns, reveals how legacies of earlier immigration shape the lives of present-day arrivals, and offers a fresh look at what lies ahead. The book is especially relevant at a time when immigration history is being made – on an almost daily basis – yet scholarship on today's immigration does not always consider the past. Drawing on a wealth of historical and contemporary research, the book makes a clear and powerful case for writing history into the study of contemporary immigration. Immigration: How the Past Shapes the Present by Nancy Foner is out now in the US and available worldwide. See more: https://lnkd.in/eKb-kVws #nonfiction #newbooks #politybooks