Wars and Capital by Éric Alliez; Maurizio Lazzarato; Ames Hodges (Translator)

$35.00 NZD

Category: Social Science | Series: Semiotext(e) / Foreign Agents Ser. | Reading Level: very good

A critique of capital through the lens of war, and a critique of war through the lens of the revolution of 1968."We are at war," declared the President of the French Republic on the evening of November 13, 2015. But what is this war, exactly?In Wars and Capital, ric Alliez and Maurizio Lazzarato propose a counter-history of capitalism to recover the reality of the wars that are inflicted on us and denied to us. We experience not the ideal war of philosophers, but wars of class, race, sex, and gender; wars of civilization and the environment; wars of subjectivity that are raging within populations and that constitute the secret motor of liberal governmentality. By naming the enemy (refugees, migrants, Muslims), the new fascisms establish their hegemony on the processes of political subjectivation by reducing them to racist, sexist, and xenophobic slogans, fanning the flames of war among the poor and maintaining the total war philosophy of neoliberalism.Because war and fascism are the repressed elements of post-'68 thought, Alliez and Lazzarato not only read the history of capital through war but also read war itself through the strange revolution of '68, which made possible the passage from war in the singular to a plurality of wars--and from wars to the construction of new war machines against contemporary financialization. It is a question of pushing "'68 thought" beyond its own limits and redirecting it towards a new pragmatics of struggle linked to the continuous war of capital. It is especially important for us to prepare ourselves for the battles we will have to fight if we do not want to be always defeated. ...Show more

You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto by Jaron Lanier

$15.00 NZD

Category: Social Science | Reading Level: good

Something went wrong around the start of the 21st century. Individual creativity began to go out of fashion. Music became an endless rehashing of the past. Scientists were in danger of no longer understanding their own research. Indeed, not only was individual creativity old-fashioned but so were indivi duals themselves. The crowd was wise. Machines, specifically computers, were no longer tools to be used by human minds - they were better than humans. Welcome to the world of the digital revolution. Yet what if, despite Web 2.0, despite OpenSource, despite the wisdom of crowds, and the creation of Wikipedia, only people are meaningful? After all, when the printing press was invented, the mechanism was ultimately less impressive than the authors. What if, by devaluing individuals, we are deadening creativity, risking weaker design in engineering and science, losing democracy, and reducing development in every sphere? Jaron Lanier delivers a searing manifesto in support of the human and reflects on the good and bad developments in design and thought 20 years after the invention of the web. This is a deeply felt defence of the individual from an author uniquely qualified to comment on the way technology interacts with our culture. ...Show more

Brotherhood of Warriors: Behind Enemy Lines with a Commando in One of the World's Most Elite Counterterrorism Units by Aaron Cohen

$12.00 NZD

Category: Social Science | Reading Level: good

At the age of eighteen, Aaron Cohen left Beverly Hills to prove himself in the crucible of the armed forces. He was determined to be a part of Israel's most elite security cadre, akin to the American Green Berets and Navy SEALs. After fifteen months of grueling training designed to break down each indiv idual man and to rebuild him as a warrior, Cohen was offered the only post a non-Israeli can hold in the special forces. In 1996 he joined a top-secret, highly controversial unit that dispatches operatives disguised as Arabs into the Palestinian-controlled West Bank to abduct terrorist leaders and bring them to Israel for interrogation and trial. Between 1996 and 1998, Aaron Cohen would learn Hebrew and Arabic; become an expert in urban counterterror warfare, the martial art of Krav Maga, and undercover operations; and participate in dozens of life-or-death missions. He would infiltrate a Hamas wedding to seize a wanted terrorist and pose as an American journalist to set a trap for one of the financiers behind the Dizengoff Massacre, taking him down in a brutal, hand-to-hand struggle. A propulsive, gripping read, Cohen's story is a rare, fly-on-the-wall view into the shadowy world of "black ops" that redefines invincible strength, true danger, and inviolable security. ...Show more

The Forever War: Dispatches from the War on Terror by Dexter Filkins

$12.00 NZD

Category: Social Science

There are already many books on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and about the War on Terror - but this is something very different. In "The Forever War", award-winning "New York Times" correspondent Dexter Filkins does not analyse how these wars happened and why, or where they have succeeded or failed ; instead, he captures with searing immediacy, the human experience - and tragedy - of war. We meet Iraqi insurgents and American soldiers, Afghan rebels and Taliban clerics. We travel to deserts and glaciers and mountaintops, to the scene of public amputations and executions, to suicide bombings and into the homes of the bombers themselves. The result is a visceral understanding of the War on the Terror, its victims, the people who fight it and the way these people feel. ...Show more

A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright

$10.00 NZD

Category: Social Science | Reading Level: good

Explains how our current predicament - the runaway growth in human population, consumption and technology, and the consequent pressure this places on earth, air and water - is as old as civilization. We need to understand the patterns of progress to avoid a disasterous outcome. "Ronald Wright is an hist orical philosopher with a profound understanding of other cultures." - Jan Morris There is a audio version of this book, which has been broadcast on National Radio. First published 2004. ...Show more

Crimes Against Humanity: The Struggle For Global Justice by Geoffrey Robertson

$16.00 NZD

Category: Social Science | Reading Level: very good

When it was first published in 1999, Crimes Against Humanity called for a radical shift from diplomacy to justice in international affairs. In vivid, non-legalese prose, leading human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson made a riveting case for holding political and military leaders accountable in internat ional courts for genocide, torture, and mass murder. Since then, fearsome figures such as Charles Taylor, Laurent Gbagbo, and Ratko Mladic have been tried in international criminal court, and a global movement has rallied around the human rights framework of justice. Any such legal framework requires constant evolution in order to stay relevant, and this newly revised and expanded volume brings the conversation up to date. In substantial new chapters, Robertson covers the protection of war correspondents, the problem of piracy, crimes against humanity in Syria, nuclear armament in Iran, and other challenges we are grappling with today. He criticizes the Obama administration's policies around "targeted killing" and the trials of Khalid Sheik Mohammed and other "high value" detainees. By rendering a complex debate accessible, Robertson once again provides an essential guide for anyone looking to understand human rights and how to work toward a more complete blueprint for justice. ...Show more

The Establishment: And How They Get Away with It by Owen Jones

$12.00 NZD

Category: Social Science | Reading Level: very good

In The Establishment Owen Jones, author of the international bestseller Chavs, offers a biting critique of the British Establishment and a passionate plea for democracy. Behind our democracy lurks a powerful but unaccountable network of people who wield massive power and reap huge profits in the process . In exposing this shadowy and complex system that dominates our lives, Owen Jones sets out on a journey into the heart of our Establishment, from the lobbies of Westminster to the newsrooms, boardrooms and trading rooms of Fleet Street and the City. Exposing the revolving doors that link these worlds, and the vested interests that bind them together, Jones shows how, in claiming to work on our behalf, the people at the top are doing precisely the opposite. In fact, they represent the biggest threat to our democracy today - and it is time they were challenged. Owen Jones was born in Sheffield, grew up in Stockport, and studied history at Oxford. His first book, the international bestseller Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class, was long-listed for the Guardian First Book Award and chosen as one of The New York Times top 10 non-fiction books of 2011. In 2013 he received the Young Writer of the Year prize at the Political Book Award. He is a columnist for the Guardian and a frequent broadcaster. ...Show more

Our Shadowed Present: Modernism, Postmodernism and History by J. C. D. Clark

$25.00 NZD

Category: Social Science | Reading Level: very good

This work is a defence of tradition and continuity, it contends that conservatism in the economic sphere married to liberalism in the cultural domain has become the contemporary intellectual reflex. This union is, according to Clark, deeply hostile to public morality, antipathetic to civic engagement an d destructive to our sense of tradition. ...Show more

Perfectible Body: The Western Ideal of Physical Development by Kenneth Dutton

$20.00 NZD

Category: Social Science | Reading Level: very good

Male Trouble: A Crisis in Representation by Abigail Solomon-Godeau

$20.00 NZD

Category: Social Science | Series: Interplay Ser. | Reading Level: very good

Why did the male nude dominate French art through the French Revolution and then largely disappear? In this pioneering book which challenges received ideas about masculinity and neoclassical visual culture, Abigail Solomon-Godeau shows how the masculine ideal, whether in the guise of virile hero or pass ive youths, then or now, raises important questions about the fashioning of masculinity itself. ...Show more

Truth: A Guide for the Perplexed by Simon Blackburn

$12.00 NZD

Category: Social Science | Reading Level: good

We all like to think we value and abide by it - but what is the truth? In a world with so many contradictory beliefs, habits and religions, does any such thing really exist? Simon Blackburn's wise, witty and stimulating new book is a sure-footed companion through this thorny territory, showing us the di fferent ways in which we have interpreted and sought the truth from classical to modern times. Getting to grips with the issues that touch all of us, Truth asks: are there really such things as moral absolutes or good and evil? Can we maintain any form of personal integrity in a society awash with cults, astrology, Feng shui homeopathy and self-help? Or should every viewpoint be given respect, however absurd we may think it? This essential guide to truth, the enemies of truth and the wars that have been fought between them steers a clear path through ideas such as relativism and absolutism, toleration and belief, objectivity and knowledge and the new religions of 'Science' and 'the Market'. First published May 2005. ...Show more

Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes, and Politics by Charles Krauthammer

$25.00 NZD

Category: Social Science | Reading Level: very good

From America's preeminent columnist, named by the Financial Times the most influential commentator in the nation, the long-awaited collection of Charles Krauthammer's essential, timeless writings.   A brilliant stylist known for an uncompromising honesty that challenges conventional wisdom at every turn, Krauthammer has for decades daz­zled readers with his keen insight into politics and government. His weekly column is a must-read in Washington and across the country. Now, finally, the best of Krauthammer's intelligence, erudition and wit are collected in one volume.   Readers will find here not only the country's leading conservative thinker offering a pas­sionate defense of limited government, but also a highly independent mind whose views--on feminism, evolution and the death penalty, for example--defy ideological convention. Things That Matter also features several of Krautham­mer's major path-breaking essays--on bioeth­ics, on Jewish destiny and on America's role as the world's superpower--that have pro­foundly influenced the nation's thoughts and policies. And finally, the collection presents a trove of always penetrating, often bemused re­flections on everything from border collies to Halley's Comet, from Woody Allen to Win­ston Churchill, from the punishing pleasures of speed chess to the elegance of the perfectly thrown outfield assist.   With a special, highly autobiographical in­troduction in which Krauthammer reflects on the events that shaped his career and political philosophy, this indispensible chronicle takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the fashions and follies, the tragedies and triumphs, of the last three decades of American life. ...Show more