Innovatively combining existentialist philosophy with cutting edge post-structuralist and psychoanalytic perspectives, this book boldly reconsiders market freedom. Bloom argues that present day capitalism has robbed us of our individual and collective ability to imagine and implement alternative and more progressive economic and social systems; it has deprived us of our radical freedom to choose how we live and what we can become.Since the Great Recession, capitalism has been incre...

The liberating promise of big data and social media to create more responsive democracies and workplaces is overshadowed by a nightmare of election meddling, privacy invasion, fake news and an exploitative gig economy.Yet, while regressive forces spread disinformation and hate, 'guerrilla democrats' continue to foster hope and connection through digital technologies.This book offers an in-depth analysis of platform-based radical movements, from the online coalitions of vote...

The story of a girl who made a wish. The story of a man with a question.Pamphilos of the Ardiae has spent ten years of his life sailing to every corner of the Aegean in search of an Oracle who can tell him what he needs to know. Tonight, his travels come to an end, and his question is answered.

For postcolonial Africa, modernization was seen as a necessary outcome of the struggle for independence and as crucial to the success of its newly established states. Since then, the rhetoric of modernization has pervaded policy, culture, and development, lending a kind of political theatricality to nationalist framings of modernization and Africans' perceptions of their place in the global economy. These 15 essays address governance, production, and social life; the role of media; and the...

The book brings together research topics having a broad focus on human and climate change impacts on the terrestrial ecosystems in the tropics in general and more specifically from the most significant and vulnerable Himalayan ecosystem. A total of 16 contributions included in the book cover a diverse range of global change themes such as the impacts of changing temperature and precipitation on soil ecosystems, forest degradation, extent and impacts of invasive species, plant responses to ...

Do new "smart" technologies such as AI, robotics, social media, and automation threaten to disrupt our society? Or does technological innovation hold the potential to transform our democracies and civic societies, creating ones that are more egalitarian and accountable?Disruptive Democracy explores these questions and examines how technology has the power to reshape our civic participation, our economic and political governance, and our entire existence. In this innovative...

Nativism and Capitalism: From Colonial Hauntings to Radical Indigenous Futures offers a sweeping reappraisal of nativism as a central force within global capitalism rather than a simple reaction against it. Peter Bloom shows how the figure of the “native”, inherited from colonial rule, continues to shape how capitalist modernity organizes scarcity, hierarchy, and belonging.From 19th-century empire to today’s far-right populisms, the book traces how contemporary movements convert ec...

San Francisco, until the mid-1940s, was a city that lived by its own rules, fast and loose. Formed by the gold rush and destroyed by the 1906 earthquake, it served as a pleasure palace for the legions of men who sought their fortunes in the California foothills. For the women who followed, their only choice was to support, serve, or submit.Inez Burns was different. She put everyone to shame with her dazzling, calculated, stone-cold ambition.Born in the slums of San Francisc...

Having the Time of My Life is a rich account of Peter Chapel's life, depicting the people, places, and events that he wishes to remember and acknowledge. This memoir shows how everything and everyone around him genuinely enriched his life and brings back poignantly remembered fragments of his history.Chapel comes from a big family—thirteen children, only eleven of whom grew to adulthood. Here he shares the quality of the family bonding he and his siblings experienced growi...

The 21st century is the age of "neo-liberalism" – a time when the free market is spreading to all areas of economic, political and social life. Yet how is this changing our individual and collective ethics? Is capitalism also becoming our new morality? From the growing popular demand for corporate social responsibility to personal desire for "work-life balance" it would appear that non-market ideals are not only surviving but also thriving. Why then does it seem that capitalism remains as ...

Has political resistance has lost its ability to confront political and economic power and achieve social change? Despite its best intentions, resistance has often become incorporated and neutered before it achieves its aims, as new forms of power absorb it and turn it towards their own ends.Since the Enlightenment, the opposing forces of power and resistance have framed our view of society and politics. Exploring that development, this book shows how resistance can, ironically, re...

Uncanny Histories in Film and Media brings together a stellar lineup of established and emergent scholars who explore the uncanny twists and turns that are often occluded in larger accounts of film and media. Prompted by fresh archival research and new conceptual approaches, the works included here probe the uncanny as a mode of historical analysis that reveals surprising connections and unsettling continuities. The uncanny stands for what often eludes us, for what remains unfamil...