February 9, 2012

Association of American University Presses Turns 75

The Association of American University Presses (AAUP) was officially founded on February 8, 1937 (Happy Birthday). Yesterday the AAUP web published an essay by Brenna McLaughlin looking at what led university presses to form an association. (According to the AAUP,...

February 8, 2012

Michael Marder: Resist Like a Plant! On the Vegetable Life of Political Movements

In the most recent issue of Peace Studies Journal, Michael Marder, author of the forthcoming Plant Thinking: Toward a Philosophy of Vegetative Life, examines the recent Occupy movements and its possible connections to vegetal life. Arguing that the politics of...

February 8, 2012

William K. Tabb on the Great Recession and the Lessons Learned and Not Learned

“What the decision-makers at the Fed and Treasury appear not to have learned is the most important lesson of all: that the financial sector has grown too large, too dangerous, and too parasitic.”—William K. Tabb In the concluding chapter to...

February 7, 2012

Jonathan Lyons on Islam, Women, and the West

“The expropriation of the rhetoric of women’s rights under Islam in order to unleash deadly violence on Muslim nations shows just how much the struggle for women’s equality has become a discursive one rather than a material one.”—Jonathan Lyons In...

February 7, 2012

The Restructuring of Capitalism in Our Time

The following excerpt is from our featured book The Restructuring of Capitalism in Our Time, by William K. Tabb: Not long ago the near collapse of the financial system discredited the excessive financialization central to contemporary American capitalism. By the...

February 7, 2012

New Book Tuesday: Camera Historica and New Titles from Hong Kong University Press

Our weekly list of new books includes the following: Camera Historica: The Century in Cinema Antoine de Baecque Japanese Cinema Goes Global: Filmworkers’ Journeys Yoshiharu Tezuka Dictionary of Hong Kong Biography Edited by May Holdsworth and Christopher Munn Creatures’ Paradise:...

February 6, 2012

Book Giveaway!: The Restructuring of Capitalism in Our Time by William Tabb

This week our featured book is The Restructuring of Capitalism in Our Time, by William Tabb. Throughout the week we will highlight aspects of the book but we are also offering a free copy of the book to one lucky...

February 3, 2012

Better Food Through Science — The Kitchen as Laboratory

“We strongly believe that the proper use of the scientific method in the areas of food design, production, and distribution can be of great benefit to society.”—Cesar Vega and David J. McClements We conclude our week-long feature on The Kitchen...

February 2, 2012

Bacon: The Slice of Life — The Kitchen as Laboratory

“Whether used as a breakfast meat, a cooking ingredient, or strictly for flavoring, bacon is one of the most universally enjoyed foods in the world. It is hard to deny that bacon is an important part of our most fundamental...

February 1, 2012

Michael Neuman Discusses Doctors Without Borders and Humanitarian Negotiaons

In a recent episode of The Leonard Lopate Show, Michael Neuman discusses Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed: The MSF Experience, which he co-edited with Claire Magone and Fabrice Weissman. The book has been published on the 40th anniversary of the international medical...

February 1, 2012

The Science of a Grilled Cheese Sandwich from The Kitchen as Laboratory

It is not everyday that we have the opportunity to have a post on grilled cheese sandwich, so we were glad to see that The Kitchen as Laboratory: Reflections on the Science of Food and Cooking opens with Jennifer Kimmel’s...

February 1, 2012

Patrick Bolton on Sovereign Wealth Funds

In an interview with Columbia Business School’s Ideas at Work, Patrick Bolton discussed sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and the new book he co-edited with Joseph Stiglitz and Frederic Samama, Sovereign Wealth Funds and Long-Term Investing. (A sovereign wealth fund is...