South Africa's post-apartheid narrative is one of democracy and equality--but its flaws run deep, argues Ives S. Loukson. Disclosing prejudices about whiteness, homosexuality, and democracy in the sta
Subjects of Substance traces the ways in which materialist conceptions of selfhood inspire and shape recent U.S. literature. While disciplines like neuroscience and evolutionary biology transform the
Automated facial recognition algorithms are increasingly intervening in society. This book offers a unique analysis of these algorithms from a critical visual culture studies perspective. The first pa
Where do computer games "happen"? The articles collected in this pioneering volume explore the categories of "space," "place," and "territory," featuring in most general theories of space to lay the g
How do people live together in cities shaped by inequality? This comparative ethnography of two African cities, Maputo and Johannesburg, presents a new narrative about social life in cities often desc
Power is the essence of politics. Whoever seeks to understand and master it must understand its logic. Drawing on two decades of international experience in political consulting, Dominik Meier and Chr
This collection investigates the concept of modernity in music and its multiple interpretations in Europe and Asia. Through contributions by both European and Asian musicologists it discusses how a de
This pioneering volume explores the Arctic as an important and highly endangered archive of knowledge about natural as well as human history of the Anthropocene. Focusing on the Arctic as an archive m
Reconnecting migration studies and the theory of valuation, this collection offers an interdisciplinary approach to the study of transnational music practices. Music is here approached as a practice n
Are artists seismographs during processes of transformation? Is theater a mirror of society? And how does it influence society offstage? To address these questions, this collection brings together ana
The beginning of the twentieth century saw a reinterpretation of the concept of the accident. While accidents had traditionally been considered inevitable, modern societies debated their management an
Cultural communities are shaped and produced by ongoing processes of translation understood as aesthetic media practices--such is the premise of this volume. Taking on perspectives from cultural, lite
Business is woven into the very fabric of American life yet rarely surfaces in the nation's literary history. Even in novels about business, it proves an elusive motif that fails to mirror actual busi
As a writer, critic, and philosopher, Stanislaw Brzozowski (1878–1911) left a lasting imprint on Polish culture. He absorbed virtually all topical intellectual trends of his time, adapting them for th
The human capacity for speech has long been celebrated as evidence of our innate civility. Why, then, is public discourse often – and today more than ever, it would seem – so uncivil, even delusional?
How can the paradoxical conceptual overlap of nostalgia and sustainability in cultural constructions of the present be used in order to make previously unexplored territory within the study of culture
In electronic music culture, anonymity practices have long been established as a method of critique of pop star cult and identification regimes. How can scholars research an antirepresentational music
Between 2000 and 2016, China and the UK acquired large areas of land through investment projects in sub-Saharan Africa. Illustrated by numerous rich and nuanced empirical accounts of such projects, Ar
In southern Africa, marriage used to be widespread and common. However, over the past decades marriage rates have declined significantly. Julia Pauli explores the meaning of marriage when only few mar
Fugitive Borders explores a new archive of nineteenth-century autobiographical writing by black authors in North America. For this purpose, Nele Sawallisch examines four different texts written by for
Second-person storytelling is a continually present and diverse technique in the history of literature that appears only once in the oeuvre of an author. Based on key narratives of the postwar period,
How are nations (continued to be) made? In this important contribution to nationalism studies, Dave Poitras explores how nationhood and the idea of living in a world of nations are experienced in the
A new take on Afrofuturism, this book gathers together a range of contemporary voices who, carrying legacies of five hundred years of contact among Africa, Europe, and the Americas, reach toward the s
Can fiction teach us how to live? This study offers a fresh take on the North American short story, exploring how the genre has engaged in the construction and circulation of life knowledge. Echoing t
The ghost as a literary figure has been interpreted in a variety of ways: spiritually, psychoanalytically, sociologically, or allegorically. Following these approaches, Janna Odabas understands ghosts
Nonconformist, nonlinear, unruly thought and action have always led to great works of art, path-breaking inventions, and forward-looking perspectives. But how can this precious good find its way into
How does the far right operate today? This volume presents a unique critical survey of the online and offline tactics, symbols, and platforms that are strategically remixed to stake national and trans
What consequences does the design of the virtual yield for architecture and to what extent can the nature of architecture be used productively to turn game-worlds into sustainable places--over here, i
Research in the field of neurotechnology raises ethical and societal questions and thus represents a particular challenge for public engagement efforts. How should formats of public outreach be shaped
What is the logic of the design process? Departing from this question and focusing on processes of invention and discovery, Tiago da Costa e Silva investigates the characteristic feature of every proj
In the early years of the Cold War, Western nations increasingly adopted strategies of public diplomacy involving popular music. While the diplomatic use of popular music was initially limited to such
Since Mentor, Telemachus’s advisor in Homer’s Odyssey, gave name to the figure of the “wise teacher,” fictional representations of mentoring have permeated different classic and contemporary cultural
Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork among aged Mexican migrants in Chicago, Franziska Bedorf investigates the phenomenon of return migration by tracing how people’s intentions to go back change
The Marxist conception of the division between mental and manual labor is a critical yet unrecognized aspect of contemporary political struggles. Departing from this novel argument, Michael Bray trace
While the concept of the documentary film is well established, interactive documentary is a newly emerging form of nonlinear, nonfiction narrative that animates viewers to control their own path throu
Emerging forms of alternative economy are changing the structure of society, redefining the relationship between center and periphery in the urban fabric. In this context, the arts can play a crucial
Gender impact assessment has been both celebrated as a beacon of hope for the cause of gender equality and criticized as being ineffectual. More than twenty years of gender mainstreaming have demonstr
Collective Actions is one of the most significant artistic practices to emerge from Moscow Conceptualism. The group’s enigmatic idea of ‘empty action’ is the focal point for Marina Gerber’s exploratio
Artistic research has become an established mode of inquiry and knowledge production in many fields. Johanna Schindler examines the collaborative practices of two artistic research projects in the fie
The relationship between economy, finance, and society has become opaque. Quantum leaps in complexity and scale have turned this deeply interdependent web of relations into an area of incomprehensible
