Download or read book One Market Under God written by Thomas Frank and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2001-09-18 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a book that has been raising hackles far and wide, the social critic Thomas Frank skewers one of the most sacred cows of the go-go '90s: the idea that the new free-market economy is good for everyone. Frank's target is "market populism"—the widely held belief that markets are a more democratic form of organization than democratically elected governments. Refuting the idea that billionaire CEOs are looking out for the interests of the little guy, he argues that "the great euphoria of the late nineties was never as much about the return of good times as it was the giddy triumph of one America over another." Frank is a latter-day Mencken, as readers of his journal The Baffler and his book The Conquest of Cool know. With incisive analysis, passionate advocacy, and razor-sharp wit, he asks where we are headed—and whether we're going to like it when we get there.
Download or read book One Market Under God written by Thomas Frank and published by Doubleday Books. This book was released on 2000 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One Market Under God is a cogent, fiercely entertaining, and often scathing assault on the institutions and pretensions of the new capitalist order and the tyranny of the almighty market. At no other moment in American history have the values of business and the corporation been more nakedly and arrogantly in the ascendant. In One Market Under God, social critic Thomas Frank examines the morphing of the language of American democracy into the cant and jargon of the marketplace. Combining popular intellectual history with a survey of recent business culture, Frank traces an idea he calls "market populism"-the notion that markets are, in some transcendent way, identifiable with democracy and the will of the people. The belief that any criticism of things as they are is elitist can be seen in management literature, where downsizing and ceaseless, chaotic change are celebrated as victories for democracy; in advertising, where an endless array of brands seek to position themselves as symbols of authenticity and rebellion; on Wall Street, where the stock market is identified as the domain of the small investor and common man; in newspaper publishing, where the vogue for focus-group-guided "civic journalism" is eroding journalistic independence and initiative; and in the right-wing politics of the 1990s and the popular social theories of George Gilder, Lester Thurow, and Thomas Friedman. Frank's counterattack against the onslaught of market propaganda is mounted with the weapons of common sense, a genius for useful ridicule, and the older American values of economic justice and political democracy. Lucid and intellectually probing, One Market Under God is tinged with anger, betrayal, and a certain hope for the future.
Download or read book One Market Under God written by Thomas Frank and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2010-02-10 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a book that has been raising hackles far and wide, the social critic Thomas Frank skewers one of the most sacred cows of the go-go '90s: the idea that the new free-market economy is good for everyone. Frank's target is "market populism"—the widely held belief that markets are a more democratic form of organization than democratically elected governments. Refuting the idea that billionaire CEOs are looking out for the interests of the little guy, he argues that "the great euphoria of the late nineties was never as much about the return of good times as it was the giddy triumph of one America over another." Frank is a latter-day Mencken, as readers of his journal The Baffler and his book The Conquest of Cool know. With incisive analysis, passionate advocacy, and razor-sharp wit, he asks where we are headed—and whether we're going to like it when we get there.
Download or read book Branded Nation written by James B. Twitchell and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2004-09-08 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Branding, says James Twitchell, is nothing more than commercial storytelling; brands are the stories that are associated with products. (For example, the special taste of Evian, says Twitchell, is in the brand, not the water.) Branding has become so successful, so ubiquitous that even institutions that we thought were above branding, antithetical to branding, have succumbed. Such cultural institutions as religion, higher education, and the art world have learned to love Madison Avenue or lose market share. Of course, most ministers, university presidents, and museum directors will insist that branding has nothing to do with them, but as Twitchell brilliantly demonstrates in this witty, insightful examination of three of our most important cultural institutions, wherever supply exceeds demand branding follows. The rise of the megachurch epitomizes branding in religion. From its inception the megachurch was designed not to compete with other churches but to bring in the "unchurched," especially men, worshippers who might otherwise be home watching television or strolling through the mall on a Sunday morning. The megachurches have been phenomenally popular, none more so than Willow Creek Community Church, just south of Chicago, one of the oldest megachurches, which Twitchell analyzes in Branded Nation. Colleges and universities have embraced branding as they have grown more alike. Especially among the top schools in the country, the student bodies, the faculties, often even the campuses themselves are practically interchangeable. What distinguishes each school is the story it tells about itself. Now every institution of higher learning has its image organizers, its brand managers, usually in the admissions or development offices, whose job it is to make their institution seem different from all the rest. Even museums, with their multimillion-dollar Monets, have seen the advantages of branding. The blockbuster exhibitions often put familiar paintings in a new context, that is, they provide a new narrative, branding the art. Museums keep expanding their stores, placing them not just near the entrance on the ground floor but throughout the museum, in the galleries themselves. Some museums, such as the Guggenheim, even franchise themselves, turning the institution itself into a brand. In short, high culture is beginning to look more and more like the rest of our culture. In perhaps his most subversive observation, Twitchell doesn't condemn the branding of cultural institutions. On the contrary, he believes that branding may be invigorating our high culture, bringing it to new audiences, making it a more integral part of our lives. Not since Bobos in Paradise has there been such a trenchant, provocative analysis of our world.
Download or read book Rhetorical Occasions written by Michael Bérubé and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2007-09-06 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A nationally known scholar, essayist, and public advocate for the humanities, Michael Berube has a rapier wit and a singular talent for parsing complex philosophical, theoretical, and political questions. Rhetorical Occasions collects twenty-four of his major essays and reviews, plus a sampling of entries on literary theory and contemporary culture from his award-winning weblog. Selected to showcase the range of public writing available to scholars, the essays are grouped into five topical sections: the Sokal hoax and its effects on the humanities; cosmopolitanism, American studies, and cultural studies; daily academic life inside and outside the classroom; the events of September 11, 2001, and their political aftermath; and the potential discursive and tonal range of academic blog writing. In lively and entertaining prose, Berube offers a wide array of interventions into matters academic and nonacademic. By example and illustration, he reminds readers that the humanities remain central to our understanding of what it means to be human.
Download or read book No Rising Tide written by Joerg Rieger and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2009-09-24 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Economics has always had a moral dimension; even free-market mascot Adam Smith was a Christian minister. Yet recent events have renewed and recast theological reflection on the economy as the gospel of prosperity succumbs to large-scale economic crisis. In that light Joerg Rieger explores the many dimensions of today's economic crisis. What are the fundamental shifts taking place in the global economy today, and how are they affecting provision for basic human needs, economic equity, and people's prospects?
Download or read book Free Market Missionaries written by Sharon Beder and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First Published in 2006. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Download or read book Thomas Kinkade written by Alexis L. Boylan and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2011-02-17 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An anthology on American artist Thomas Kincaid, exploring his work and its impact on contemporary art as part of the broader history of American visual culture.
Download or read book Authentic Fakes written by David Chidester and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2005-04-18 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In this dazzling book, Chidester moves effortlessly and insightfully between the serious and solemn and the playful and humorous. The case studies are so very fresh and interesting, and he brings a wonderfully nuanced eye to the material."—Edward T. Linenthal, author of The Unfinished Bombing "Chidester's analysis of popular religion and culture is the most extensive and penetrating that exists."—Wade Clark Roof, author of Spiritual Marketplace "This book is impressively wide-ranging in the scope of its discussion, adding a global dimension for a vantage point that makes it quite unique."—Bruce Forbes, coeditor of Religion and Popular Culture in America
Download or read book Reclaiming the Radical Economic Message of Luke written by David D. M. King and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2022-05-13 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No canonical Gospel is more concerned with wealth and poverty than Luke. A centuries-long debate rages over just how revolutionary Luke’s message is. This book seeks to recover Luke’s radical economic message, to place it in its ancient context, and to tease out its prophetic implications for today. Luke has a radical message of good news for the poor and resistance to wealth. God is shown to favor the poor, championing their struggle for justice while condemning the rich and recommending a sweeping disposal of wealth for the benefit of the poor. This represents a distinct break from the ethics of the Roman Empire and a profound challenge to modern economic systems. Generations of interpreters have worked to file down Luke’s sharp edges, from scribes copying ancient manuscripts, to early Christian authors, to contemporary scholars. Such domestication disfigures the gospel, silencing its critique of an economic system whose unremitting drive for profit and economic growth continues to widen the gap between rich and poor while threatening life-altering, environmental change. It is time to reclaim the bracing, prophetic call of Luke’s economic message that warns against the destructive power of wealth and insists on justice for the poor and marginalized.
Download or read book Natural Selection s Paradox written by Carter Stroud and published by Natural Selection's Paradox. This book was released on 2008-08-21 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An important addition to understanding natural selection, these essays redefine wealth and identify a sustainable spirituality using the perspectives of scientific research and historical wisdom.
Download or read book State Crime in the Global Age written by William J. Chambliss and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-05-13 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: State Crime in the Global Age brings together original writings from leading scholars in the field to explore the many ways that the use and abuse of state power results in grave social harms that outweigh, by far, the consequences of ordinary street crime. The topics covered include the crimes of empire, illegal war, the bombing of civilians, state sanctioned torture, state sacrifice of human lives, and judicial wrongdoing. The book breaks new ground through its examination of the ways globalization has intensified potentials for state crime, as well as bringing novel theoretical understandings of the state to the study of state crime, and exploring strategies for confronting state crime. This book, while containing much that is of interest to scholars of state crime, is designed to be accessible to students and others who are concerned with the ways individuals, social groups, and whole nations are victimized by the misuse of state power.
Download or read book Branded Faith written by Rajkumar Dixit and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2010-06-07 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christianity may be the greatest story ever told, but in Western culture it is losing ground against the powerful forces of secularization. In examining the root causes of this cultural shift, does the church have anything to learn from secular society and the business sector? For decades the church has resisted the idea of using business methodologies in the religious sphere. Yet a closer look reveals that most church hierarchies have borrowed much of their organizational structure from the business sector. But the church is not alone in its borrowing. Today the lines between the church and the business sector are blurred, as both entities influence each other interchangeably. In Branded Faith, Rajkumar Dixit enters an engaging and intellectually stimulating analysis of what the church can learn from the business practices of marketing, branding, and contextualization. Using examples drawn from widely recognized companies such as Nike, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and Subway, Dixit systematically builds a case for the power of a story, and emphasizes the importance of seeking culturally relevant ways to spread it. Those who care deeply about sharing Christianity powerfully and effectively will find in Branded Faith a thoughtful presentation of ideas on how to maintain the integrity of the gospel, while exploring fresh methods of communicating the good news to a postmodern society.
Download or read book Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste written by Philip Mirowski and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2013-07-09 with total page 527 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the onset of the Great Recession, as house prices sank and joblessness soared, many commentators thought that neoliberalism itself was in its death throes. And yet it seems that-post-apocalypse-we've awoken into a second nightmare more ghastly than the first: a political class still blaming government intervention, a global drive for austerity, stagflation, and exploding sovereign debt crises. Philip Mirowski argues that, as in classic studies of cognitive dissonance, neoliberal thought has become so pervasive that any countervailing evidence serves only to further convince disciples of its ultimate truth. Once neoliberalism became a Theory of Everything-a revolutionary account of self, knowledge, information, markets, and government-it could no longer be falsified by mere data from the 'real' economy. In this sharp, witty and deeply informed account-taking no prisoners in his pursuit of 'zombie' economists-Mirowski surveys the wreckage of what passes for economic thought, and finally provides the basis for an anti-neoliberal account of the current crisis and our future prospects.
Download or read book One Market Under God written by Tom Frank and published by . This book was released on 2010-09-30 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Handbook of Research on Transitional Justice and Peace Building in Turbulent Regions written by Cante, Fredy and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2015-12-17 with total page 586 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the era of globalization, awareness surrounding issues of violence and human rights violations has reached an all-time high. In a world where billions of human beings have the potential to create endless destruction, these same individuals are capable of working cooperatively to create adequate solutions to current global problems. The Handbook of Research on Transitional Justice and Peace Building in Turbulent Regions focuses on current issues facing nations and regions where poverty and conflict are endangering the lives of citizens as well as the socio-economic viability of those regions. Highlighting crucial topics and offering potential solutions to problems relating to domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security, as well as political instability, this comprehensive publication is designed to meet the research needs of economists, social theorists, politicians, policy makers, human rights activists, researchers, and graduate-level students across disciplines.
Download or read book The Left at War written by Michael Bérubé and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2009-11-01 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The terrorist attacks of 9/11 and Bush’s belligerent response fractured the American left—partly by putting pressure on little-noticed fissures that had appeared a decade earlier. In a masterful survey of the post-9/11 landscape, renowned scholar Michael Bérubé revisits and reinterprets the major intellectual debates and key players of the last two decades, covering the terrain of left debates in the United States over foreign policy from the Balkans to 9/11 to Iraq, and over domestic policy from the culture wars of the 1990s to the question of what (if anything) is the matter with Kansas. The Left at War brings the history of cultural studies to bear on the present crisis—a history now trivialized to the point at which few left intellectuals have any sense that merely "cultural" studies could have something substantial to offer to the world of international relations, debates over sovereignty and humanitarian intervention, matters of war and peace. The surprising results of Bérubé’s arguments reveal an American left that is overly fond of a form of "countercultural" politics in which popular success is understood as a sign of political failure and political marginality is understood as a sign of moral virtue. The Left at War insists that, in contrast to American countercultural traditions, the geopolitical history of cultural studies has much to teach us about internationalism—for "in order to think globally, we need to think culturally, and in order to understand cultural conflict, we need to think globally." At a time when America finds itself at a critical crossroads, The Left at War is an indispensable guide to the divisions that have created a left at war with itself.
