February 20, 2020

Q&A: Jennifer Clark on Uneven Innovation

“Uneven Innovation problematizes the smart city project, showing us the many ways that it continues—rather than disrupts—underlying patterns of inequality, precariousness, and powerlessness. Clark’s insightful critique is not only a call for action, her work draws to light the ‘operational standards’...

February 19, 2020

Erasing History: A Conspiracy Against Equality

By Alex George and S. Anand

“Beef, Brahmins, and Broken Men is that rare achievement, a work that combines meticulous historical scholarship. . . with a passionate, persuasive call to action.” ~Wendy Doniger, author of The Hindus: An Alternative History B. R. Ambedkar spent his life battling Untouchability and...

February 19, 2020

New from Our Distributed Presses!

Our weekly list of new books is now available! Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Design with Nature Now Edited by Frederick Steiner, Richard Weller, Karen M’Closkey, and Billy Fleming In 1969, Ian McHarg’s seminal book Design with Nature set forth a new...

February 19, 2020

Jennifer Clark on the Paths Toward Smart Cities

“A superb, original, and informative intervention into ongoing debates about what a smart city is and its implications across all cities. Grounded in significant original and secondary research, Clark links smart cities to urban innovation and the production of markets,...

February 18, 2020

New Book Tuesday! Becoming Guanyin and more!

Our weekly list of new books is now available! From the Premodern East Asia: New Horizons series Becoming Guanyin Artistic Devotion of Buddhist Women in Late Imperial China Yuhang Li Yuhang Li examines how lay Buddhist women in late imperial...

February 14, 2020

Book Excerpt! The Outside Thing, By Hannah Roche (introduction)

“This theoretically sophisticated reading of three lesbian writers—Stein, Hall, and Barnes—is at once playful and serious. Roche’s insistence on the queerness of desire, romance, and love between women takes feminist modernist studies in an exciting new direction.” ~Laura Doan, author...

February 14, 2020

Alfred Wallace’s Problem: Can the Theory of Evolution Explain Language?

By Herbert S. Terrace

“With characteristic clarity, [Terrace] gives a convincing account of language evolution in Darwinian terms, without appeal to miracles. This is an important new approach to an old and vexed problem.​” ~Michael Corballis, author of The Truth About Language: What It...

February 14, 2020

“Not cinema”?: Joker (2019) and the State of the (Superhero) Nation in 2020

By Terence McSweeney and Rebecca Cohen

Joaquin Phoenix claimed the Oscar for best actor for his performance in Joker, solidifying the movie’s position at the forefront of current cinema. Terence McSweeney, author of Avengers Assemble!: Critical Perspectives on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a forthcoming volume...

February 13, 2020

Book Excerpt! Plum Shadows and Plank Bridge, By Mao Xiang and Yu Huai, translated and edited by Wai-yee Li

“Wai-yee Li’s translations of these famous Chinese memoirs of romantic brio and pathos from the seventeenth century are a marvel of precision, elegance, and wit—a perfect match for the book’s sensual, tragic contents. Her brilliant annotations and supplemental translations help...

February 13, 2020

Book Excerpt! To Fulfill These Rights, by Amaka Okechukwu

“I learned something new and interesting on nearly every page. This is an excellent empirical engagement with affirmative action. Amaka Okechukwu’s updated racial formation theory is smart, compelling, and engaging.” ~Ellen Berrey, author of The Enigma of Diversity: The Language...

February 13, 2020

Equal Gold Bands: Reflecting on Lesbian Marriage Plots

By Hannah Roche

“This theoretically sophisticated reading of three lesbian writers—Stein, Hall, and Barnes—is at once playful and serious. Roche’s insistence on the queerness of desire, romance, and love between women takes feminist modernist studies in an exciting new direction. ” ~Laura Doan,...

February 12, 2020

Book Excerpt! A Couple of Soles, by Li Yu, translated by Jing Shen and Robert E. Hegel

“An entertaining example of seventeenth century Chinese drama made quite accessible to English-reading audiences. Of both literary and historical interest, and offering quite enjoyable drama, comedy, and romance, it’s well worth a look.” ~Complete Review We are continuing our celebration...