January 19, 2011

Alain Badiou on Democracy — From "Democracy in What State?"

“We will only ever be true democrats, integral to the historic life of peoples, when we become communists again. Roads to that future are gradually becoming visible even now.”—Alain Badiou Yesterday we posted an excerpt from Giorgio Agamben’s contribution to...

January 19, 2011

What do Americans Think of China?

With Hu Jintao visiting the United States this week, Barack Obama will have to navigate a variety of both international and domestic issues. How does China’s rise as an economic and military power affect the American public? Conventional wisdom often...

January 18, 2011

Giorgio Agamben on Democracy

“Is it meaningful to call oneself a democrat? And if so, how do you interpret the word?” In the recently published Democracy in What State? , a group of iconic and iconoclastic thinkers responded to the above question. This timely...

January 18, 2011

Ted Striphas: "Your Favorite Book Store. Now Digital"

Ted Striphas, author of The Late Age of Print: Everyday Book Culture from Consumerism to Control (now available in paperback, recently surveyed left behind when his local Borders bookstore closed in Bloomington, Indiana on his blog The Late Age of...

January 14, 2011

Olivier Roy Talks to the New Humanist about Holy Ignorance

“The more you believe the less you know – or the less you want to know [and that] is the exact definition of holy ignorance.”—Olivier Roy The above quote comes from a recent interview with the New Humanist and Olivier...

January 13, 2011

New York City Mayors and Snow

Having recently published biographies of New York City mayors—America’s Mayor: John V. Lindsay and the Reinvention of New York and Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City—we’ve been following Mayor Bloomberg’s recent battles with snow storms. While the...

January 12, 2011

Clare Palmer on Animal Ethics in Context

In a fascinating essay published in Rorotoko, Clare Palmer recently wrote about the aims and arguments of her new book Animal Ethics in Context . As the title of her book suggests, Palmer is interested in exploring the argument that...

January 11, 2011

New Book Tuesday

The following books are now available: Clio Wired: The Future of the Past in the Digital Age Roy Rosenzweig Workers, Unions, and Global Capitalism: Lessons from India Rohini Hensman Beyond the Final Score: The Politics of Sport in Asia (new...

January 10, 2011

Barthes after Barthes — Sylvère Lotringer on The Preparation of the Novel

In the current issue of Frieze Sylvère Lotringer offers an uncommonly perceptive and thoughtful assessment of Roland Barthes’s life’s work and his attempt to prepare for and write a novel after the death of his mother. Barthes’s thoughts about writing...

January 7, 2011

Columbia University Press Outstanding Academic Titles for 2010 from Choice

Congratulations to the 10 books named as Choice Outstanding Academic Titles for 2010! Every year, Choice subject editors single out for recognition the most significant print and electronic works reviewed in Choice during the previous calendar year. Appearing annually in...

January 6, 2011

Dan Rather recommends "My Life with the Taliban"

On the facebook page for his program Dan Rather Reports, Dan Rather himself recommended My Life with the Taliban, by Abdul Salam Zaeef. Here’s what Rather wrote about the book: Have just read My Life With the Taliban, by Abdul...

January 6, 2011

Guobin Yang: On the Persistence of Online Activism in China

Tonight Guobin Yang, author of The Power of the Internet in China: Citizen Activism Online will be part of a panel discussion on China’s new media landscape at the Asia Society. The event coincides with the paperback edition of The...