Book Description
Can one explain the power of global capitalism without attributing to capital a logic and coherence it does not have? Can one account for the powers of techno-science in terms that do not merely reproduce its own understanding of the world?
Rule of Experts examines these questions through a series of interrelated essays focused on Egypt in the twentieth century. These explore the way malaria, sugar cane, war, and nationalism interacted to produce the techno-politics of the modern Egyptian state; the forms of debt, discipline, and violence that founded the institution of private property; the methods of measurement, circulation, and exchange that produced the novel idea of a national "economy," yet made its accurate representation impossible; the stereotypes and plagiarisms that created the scholarly image of the Egyptian peasant; and the interaction of social logics, horticultural imperatives, powers of desire, and political forces that turned programs of economic reform in unanticipated directions.
Mitchell is a widely known political theorist and one of the most innovative writers on the Middle East. He provides a rich examination of the forms of reason, power, and expertise that characterize contemporary politics. Together, these intellectually provocative essays will challenge a broad spectrum of readers to think harder, more critically, and more politically about history, power, and theory.
Customer Reviews:
Mitchell continues to innovate.......2004-03-23
Timothy Mitchell writes consistently on the Middle East in ways that challenge the presupposition of field. This book is a collection and revision of many studies previously published, but they are integrated into a whole to provide insights into new ways to consider. The conclusions thereof are wide-ranging, highlighting the falsification and fallacies of behind the reasoned application of universalized logics capital and techno-politics to Egyptian particularities.
Mitchell's most powerful and provocative insights occur in his essays on the history of peasant politics in instances of malaria epidemics, colonial agricultural policies, and violence and the establishment of private property and land 'reforms'. This work likely can bring its insights to bear are on any research currently being done on the Middle East.
Thoughtful and envigorating.......2003-07-27
Mitchell's "Colonising Egypt" transformed my experience as a student in Egypt, so I was looking forward to this work from one of the best minds in in Middle East Studies. "Rule of Experts: Egypt, Techno-Politics, Modernity" does not disappoint. Mitchell's work is self-reflective, de-orientalized, thought-provoking scholarship. Mitchell not only connects contemporary political and postmodern theory to his Egyptian primary sources, but he extends theory in new directions and unique interdisiplinary ways. Mitchell empowers the reader to think critically about the negative influences of power and hegemonic discourse on policy and scholarship to create distorted representations and self-fulfilling, self-replicating prophecies. We need more writers like Mitchell to question and challenge the current theory and expertise that has so much currency and momentum in the echo chambers of the Washington Consensus.
The essays cover a wide range of 20th-century topics from malaria to mapmaking, from the manipulated image of the peasant to techno-political nonsense in current development praxis. I have long believed that developmental applications of modern economic theory are very much a "faith-based" process, and Mitchell has put these thoughts in engaging prose. In addition, I was particularly impressed by the chapter on violence, which helped me frame my own thinking on violence, for example, in Syria, Algeria, or Tunisia, places where not so hidden violence functions as an instrument of power and social control. Mitchell writes eloquently on issues that have troubled most of those who work or live or travel in the developing world and who have not found the right language to express their reservations about the descriptive and prescriptive power of current scholarship and techno-political expertise.
Book Description
Why are sport stars central to celebrity culture? What are the implications of their fame?
Proceeding from a broadly based discussion of heroism, fame and celebrity, Smart addresses a number of prominent modern sports and sport stars, including Michael Jordan (basketball), David Beckham (football), Tiger Woods (golf), Anna Kournikova and the Williams sisters (tennis).
He analyses the development of modern sport in the UK and USA, demonstrating the key economic and cultural factors that have contributed to the popularity of sport stars, while examining issues such as race and gender, the impact of professionalization, growing media coverage, the role of agents and the increasing presence of commercial corporations providing sponsorship and endorsement contracts.
This book situates the sport star as the embodiment of the various tensions of age, class, race, gender and culture. It argues that sporting figures possess an increasingly rare quality of authenticity that gives them the capacity to lift and inspire people. The book is a major contribution to the sociology and culture of sport and celebrity.
Average customer rating:
- An unusual structural approach to China studies
- Excellent beginner insight to Chinese politics and economy
- Well-written and balanced account
- Excellent Overall Picture of China Today
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Understanding China: A Guide to China's Culture, Economy, and Political Structure
John Bryan Starr
Manufacturer: Hill and Wang
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
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Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China
ASIN: 0809094886 |
Amazon.com
Without question, the 21st century will include an increase China's global importance--a situation that is sometimes ground for optimism, sometimes fear. Despite the recent growth of interest in the region, China's political and economic nuances remain widely misunderstood. Those seeking to grasp the complexities of modern-day China will find much to admire in Understanding China, a remarkably concise, fact-filled, and fair-minded survey by Yale professor John Bryan Starr. Written for a general audience, Understanding China fills in historical context while evaluating the major issues facing the People's Republic today, from environmental degradation to exploding population growth. Bryan's conclusion: China's problems are too intractable to support the current political system for much longer. And despite the free-market accommodations of the Deng era, it's not democracy he envisions as China's most likely fate, but rather a political future controlled largely by the People's Liberation Army. It's a grim forecast, but one ably supported by the book's data and statistics.
Book Description
In this succinct, modest, and refreshingly clearheaded book, John Bryan Starr introduces to the uninitiated reader the background, the basic data, and the issues at stake in China's present, crisis-ridden present situation.
Customer Reviews:
An unusual structural approach to China studies.......2000-07-24
This book is considered an introductory overview to China. Well, I have a master's degree in East Asian studies and I still found this book enlightening. The book does an excellent job at explaining China's societal and political structures and how those structures effect the state's decisions and policies. In doing so, the author does not get much into the culture and history of the nation. In this way the book is unusual and, dare I say, unique. To some, the book may seem rather mechanical, but its structural approach serves to reduce bias and prejudice. Too many books purport to explain the entire Chinese nation culturally, but the country is simply too heterogeneous for that approach to be very effective. Other books define China as a slave to its history, but history is just one of many variables. That is why I appreciate the rather mechanical approach this book takes to explaining China's politics and society. That said, however, it might serve the newcomer to Sinology well to read other texts on Chinese culture and history as a primer to this book.
Excellent beginner insight to Chinese politics and economy.......1999-07-22
Tht book examins all levels of China's society. From problems in the economy to how problems are dealt with by the government. The author also summarizes the basic structure of the Chinese government. The range of issues dealt with in this book are an excellent beginning to further investigate China's situation.
Well-written and balanced account.......1999-05-11
Mr. Starr does a good job of covering the economics, politics, and geography of China. It is a great introduction to this developing country. Having recently spent a year in China as a teacher, I agree with most of Starr's findings. Starr demonstrates how China's economy is rapidly growing, but perhaps not fast enough to head off future problems such as food production.
Excellent Overall Picture of China Today.......1998-02-20
"Understanding China" ties together China's geography, recent history, its relationship to Taiwan and Hong Kong, its diversified population, and more, in a way which is easily comprehensible to any reader. What's more, it is thoroughly enjoyable.
Book Description
Focusing on the history of one medical field--rehabilitation medicine--this book provides the first systematic analysis of the underlying forces that shape medical specialization, challenging traditional explanations of occupational specialization.
Customer Reviews:
Wow........1999-11-01
What a great book! You should definitely buy and read this wonderful work of genius!!
Average customer rating:
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From Household To Empire: Society And Economy In Early Colonial New Mexico
Heather B. Trigg
Manufacturer: William P. Clements Center for Southwest Stud
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
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New Mexico
| State & Local
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ASIN: 0816524440 |
Book Description
The early Spanish colonial period in New Mexico provides an opportunity to explore both economic activity within a colony and the relations between colony and homeland. By examining the material remains of this era--from the founding of the colony in 1598 to its demise with the Pueblo Rebellion in 1680--Trigg reveals a more complete picture of colonial life.
Customer Reviews:
Amazing Work.......2007-08-11
A beautiful and stunning documentation of the Yup'ik people and their subsistence practices. Awesome photographic work!
Photojournalist's Account of the Real People.......1999-01-08
Having lived many years among the Yupik in Southwestern Alaska, James Barker does an exceptional job of accurately portraying the cyclical nature of life in rural Alaska. The changing of the seasons and how they affect the gathering and subsistence activities of the Yupik comes across clearly in the photographs. This book is important in the documentation of a way of life that is rapidly being subversed by the global economy which involves oil, stocks, and money.
stunning.......1997-11-17
James Barker tells a story in pictures and words so richly that either of those media may have sufficed. The photos are powerful -- I was awestruct by the originals when I had the chance to see them in an Alaskan art museum --and they tell a story of an ancient culture in transition. The words are mostly the old stories and traditions that are still being passed down to the next generation.
Average customer rating:
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Sites of Desire/Economies of Pleasure: Sexualities in Asia and the Pacific (The Chicago Series on Sexuality, History, and Society)
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Global Sex
ASIN: 0226503046 |
Book Description
Discussions of sexuality in Asia and the Pacific have long been tinged with conceptions of the exotic Orient. Examining a world of erotic encounter between European, Asian, and Pacific people, these essays explore how sexual practices and sexual meanings have been constructed across cultural borders in Thailand, the Philippines, Burma/Myanmar, Japan, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and the Polynesian islands. Considering sexuality as embedded in a complex social and political world structured and saturated by gender, race, and class relations, these scholars challenge the categories with which sex and gender have been named and studied. They examine these sites of desire through specific historic and cultural circumstances, from the first explorations of Europeans, through colonial power, to the contemporary issues of sexual tourism, prostitution, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
A unique and important contribution to the study of sexuality, this book also suggests that the history of sexuality in the West was shaped by myths of the legendary Orient and the exotic "Other."
Average customer rating:
- A subject that needs to be explored
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Colonial Habits: Convents and the Spiritual Economy of Cuzco, Peru
Kathryn Burns , and
Kathryn Burns
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Economic History
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Recreating Africa: Culture, Kinship, and Religion in the African-Portuguese World, 1441-1770
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Peru's Indian Peoples and the Challenge of Spanish Conquest: Huamanga To 1640
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Public Lives, Private Secrets: Gender, Honor, Sexuality, and Illegitimacy in Colonial Spanish America
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The Limits of Racial Domination: Plebeian Society in Colonial Mexico City, 1660-1720
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Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest
ASIN: 0822322919 |
Book Description
In Colonial Habits Kathryn Burns transforms our view of nuns as marginal recluses, making them central actors on the colonial stage. Beginning with the 1558 founding of South America’s first convent, Burns shows that nuns in Cuzco played a vital part in subjugating Incas, creating a creole elite, and reproducing an Andean colonial order in which economic and spiritual interests were inextricably fused.
Based on unprecedented archival research, Colonial Habits demonstrates how nuns became leading guarantors of their city’s social order by making loans, managing property, containing “unruly” women, and raising girls. Coining the phrase “spiritual economy” to analyze the intricate investments and relationships that enabled Cuzco’s convents and their backers to thrive, Burns explains how, by the late 1700s, this economy had faltered badly, making convents an emblem of decay and a focal point for intense criticism of a failing colonial regime. By the nineteenth century, the nuns had retreated from their previous roles, marginalized in the construction of a new republican order.
Providing insight that can be extended well outside the Andes to the relationships articulated by convents across much of Europe, the Americas, and beyond, Colonial Habits will engage those interested in early modern economics, Latin American studies, women in religion, and the history of gender, class, and race.
Customer Reviews:
A subject that needs to be explored.......2000-04-26
Katheryn Burns has written a great book. Her discussion of the spiritual economy is innovative and needs to be explored by more people. Burns uncovers a history that has been neglected by most historians but is integral to one's understanding of colonial Latin America. In short, this is must read for anyone interested in the subject.
Average customer rating:
- Statistics gone crazy
- Everyone who plans to visit Turkey needs this book.
- About Turkey
- About Turkey - A Gem
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About Turkey: Geography, Economy, Politics, Religion, and Culture
Resit Ergener , and
Rashid Ergener
Manufacturer: Pilgrims' Process
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
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General
| Turkey
| Asia
| Travel
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ASIN: 0971060967 |
Customer Reviews:
Statistics gone crazy.......2004-05-05
I'm afraid I have to disagree with the other reviewers here who had nothing but great things to say about this book. It is really little more than a recitation of statistics, and lots of them. There is some analysis, but overall I found it to be a rather bland and uninspiring look into Turkish life. As a resource for statistics on just about anything you can imagine, this book is truly a gold mine, but it reads like an almanac or a CIA World Factbook report. I was really hoping for something more engrossing than this.
Everyone who plans to visit Turkey needs this book........2003-01-09
Turkey is an undiscovered jewel for many Americans. I have had the opportunity to lead groups to Turkey several times and to travel in all parts of the country on my own. Dr. Ergener has served as our guide several times. I have always encouraged the group members to buy his book because it provides the information one needs when traveling in Turkey. Now that the book is available on Amazon.com, I will be able to have tour members secure the book prior to the tour.
About Turkey.......2003-01-05
In these times of world tension and great misunderstanding about people of the Middle East, Dr. Ergener's book educated me about the culture and people of Turkey. I recommend this book to anyone who plans to travel to Turkey. But on a wider scope, I wish that all Americans could read "About Turkey" to increase their awareness about this wonderful country. I made a trip there last year and found that the people were warm and friendly, and that Turkey should be on everyone's travel list. I never realized just how much Turkey's history has impacted the rest of the world. Dr. Ergener's book addresses everything from Turkey's religions, to its history, to current-day politics and world affairs. "About Turkey" is a wonderful, educational, timely read.
About Turkey - A Gem.......2002-12-31
If you want to know about Turkey this gem is the place to begin your journey. Dr. Ergener's clear and concise presentation spared me countless hours of research. He provides a broad perspective and insight into the character and concerns of modern Turkish society and the wondrously colorful mosaic that is Turkey. After reading this informative book I was well prepared to settle comfortably and quickly into my new neighborhood in the delightful old city of Istanbul.
Thank you Dr. Ergener.
Average customer rating:
- Let's finally talk about this!
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The Bidet: Everything There Is to Know from the First and Only Book on the Bidet, an Elegant Solution for Comfort, Health, Happiness, Ecology, and Economy, ... about, the Device That Can Save Your Health
William Bruneau
Manufacturer: William Bruneau
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Plastic Comb
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All 4-for-3 Deals
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ASIN: 0974879908 |
Book Description
This is the very first book on the bidet in the English language. It is possible this is the first book ever published on this topic, anywhere. There are no books on bidets in the U.S. Library of Congress. There is no book available at Amazon, not on eBay, no book Google or Yahoo. Except this one. And this book has the most information on the bidet, anywhere. For book collectors this will be a historic, valuable first edition.
This book tells everything there is to know about bidets. It demystifies and introduces the reader to every type, every use, and every aspect of the various forms of the bidet. The Bidet paints a good picture - that most everyone who actually tries a bidet, will love it, and then they will wonder why they hadn't tried this before. There is a reason why you find bidets in the Presidential Suites of top hotels - but you can easily own a better bidet than that. The Bidet tells you what they are and where to get them.
Everything known about the bidet is covered. A comprehensive consumer's guide of bidet manufacturers lists bidets from each manufacturer and which features each bidet unit supports. The book also has full contact information for all bidet manufacturers, as well as major web re-sellers. This alone is worth the price of the book. This book will enable you to choose the best bidet for your pocketbook and your personal needs.
• Classic bidets, French bidets, bidet a syringe
• Shower toilets, TSBs (toilet seat bidets)
• Handheld units easily attached to the toilet
• Amazingly compact, but very useful portable bidets
All these bidets use surprisingly small amounts of water to wash your derriere clean. Bidets are an amazingly, luxuriously, sybaritically pleasant way to keep yourself very, very clean. This book presents and documents the medical literature that largely supports the many health benefits that bidet users claim.
Finally, the way we currently process our waste involves huge ecological costs that can mostly avoided by using bidets. Startling statistics are presented on the wastefulness of toilet paper, that using bidets you actually end up using less water. The real bottom line is that bidets are cheaper to operate, paying themselves off in a few years.
All the various forms of the bidet are described and their operation fully explained: how each different type of bidet works, its advantages and disadvantages, including how they are installed, and how they are used. There are a number of amusing (but very illustrative) anecdotes about bidets scattered throughout the book. It is an operating manual for using a bidet neatly and effectively.
"The Bidet" brings clarity to a confusing bidet marketplace. This book received significant support from the bidet industry while it was being written, but is an independent work that surveys the industry as a whole. "The Bidet" takes an even-handed look at bidets, while making a pretty objective consumer report on what is in the marketplace.
The Many Benefits of The Bidet
This book describes the many benefits of the bidet for sheer comfort, personal cleanliness, perianal health, good ecology, and superior economy.
Bidets are an easy way to improve your body's health. First of all, your derriere is much cleaner, and thus more comfortable. Those of us who suffer from conditions in our (perianal) nether quarters especially benefit from bidets' treatment.. There are many medical benefits listed in this book that support the therapeutic use of bidets.
Finally, bidets are much cheaper to use than toilets, and using a bidet benefits our environment in a number of ways. Prices vary, and usually reflect the quality of the bidet, but a very functional bidet can be quite inexpensive. This book helps you to find the right bidet for you, and then tells where you can buy it.
Who has a bidet? Much of the civilized world has already embraced one form of the bidet or another. Many Europeans have grown up with them for generations. Most Japanese now have one. Many countries around the world have some form of a bidet. Not many Americans have one - yet. Travelers return from abroad raving about the bidet's seductive graces. Once you experience a bidet, you will become a convert.
One bidet manufacturer surveyed Americans and found 88% of those who tried their bidet were favorably impressed, and 76% said they wanted to buy one.
Addressing Taboo Subjects: This book sensitively addresses subjects that are often shunned and taboo in our culture. These are subjects that many do not like to talk about, yet are essential for top health and well-being. Wry and humorous anecdotes about bidets, their relation to our derrieres, and their use (and misuse) help defuse this difficult subject area, and keep the text light and compelling. Numerous testimonials support the bidets' claims of pleasant efficacy, and give solid reasons to purchase a bidet.
This book is a tremendous bargain. It will repay its purchase price many times over by enabling you to find and purchase the best bidet for your needs. Once you have a bidet, you will be putting money back into your pocket every time you use it. Users feel a lot better and healthier once they start using a bidet, and this book tells you how.
Customer Reviews:
Let's finally talk about this!.......2005-05-20
The Bidet offers everything in comfort. Let's face it, we all need to keep ourselves clean where the sun don't shine.
This book teaches both men and women how to stay clean, while avoiding abrasive toilet paper on sensitive areas. Plus, any woman who is menstruating will use a bidet several times a day.
Books:
- Simpleology: The Simple Science of Getting What You Want
- Small Worlds: The Dynamics of Networks between Order and Randomness (Princeton Studies in Complexity)
- Social Problems: Globalization in the 21st Century
- SPIN Selling
- Strategic Management of Health Care Organizations (5th Edition)
- Talking from 9 to 5: Women and Men at Work
- The 48 Laws of Power
- The Basic Writings of John Stuart Mill: On Liberty, the Subjection of Women and Utilitarianism (Modern Library Classics)
- The Ecology of Commerce
- The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics
Books Index
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- The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright: A Complete Catalog
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Colonising Egypt
Friction: An Ethnography of Global Connection
Environmentality: Technologies of Government and the Making of Subjects (New Ecologies for the Twenty-First Century)
Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of Orientalism (The Contemporary Middle East)
Global Shadows: Africa in the Neoliberal World Order
