The Abyss of Freedom

The Abyss of Freedom PDF Author: Slavoj Žižek
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 9780472066520
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Get Book Here

Book Description
An essay by philosopher Slavoj Zizek, with an English translation of Schelling's beautiful and evocative Ages of the World, second draft

The Abyss of Freedom

The Abyss of Freedom PDF Author: Slavoj Žižek
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 9780472066520
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 192

Get Book Here

Book Description
An essay by philosopher Slavoj Zizek, with an English translation of Schelling's beautiful and evocative Ages of the World, second draft

The Abyss

The Abyss PDF Author: Eli Avidar
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442245484
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Get Book Here

Book Description
Eli Avidar looks into the abyss that divides Israel from its Arab neighbors, in order to understand the inherent flaws, prevailing misunderstandings, and tragic mistakes that characterize the relations and bloodletting, and how, if at all possible, to bridge the differences. In doing so, he offers a new perspective about the reality of the Middle East and all the clichés that have transformed the Hebrew-Arab lexicon into a complex and hopeless minefield. It raises the question of whether the ongoing violent conflict between Israel and its neighbors might also be the result of a serious short circuit in communications. Is it possible that Israel, which has invested efforts and resources in knowing its adversaries, never even bothered to properly understand their language and their culture? Is it possible that Israeli leaders, who made their way to the top through the military and were privileged to know the most deeply hidden intelligence secrets, never learned to send messages of peace and reconciliation that the other side could respect and understand? Spanning six decades, the book explains why the main diplomatic initiatives have so far failed to solve the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and what needs to be done to break out of the vicious circle of ignorance and mutual suspicion that characterizes the conflict. Avidar uses his experience as diplomatic advisor to former foreign minister Ariel Sharon and as head of Israel’s representative office in Qatar to reveal secret diplomatic meetings as well as the dynamics of the unique and complex diplomacy of the Middle East. He also tells about the activities of the 504 division of the Israel Defense Forces Intelligence Unit, in which he served as an operator of agents.

The World as Abyss

The World as Abyss PDF Author: Jonathan Pugh
Publisher: University of Westminster Press
ISBN: 1915445310
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 123

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book is about a distinctive ‘abyssal’ approach to the crisis of modernity. In this framing, influenced by contemporary critical Black studies, another understanding of the world of modernity is foregrounded – a world violently forged through the projects of Indigenous dispossession, chattel slavery and colonial world-making. Modern and colonial world-making violently forged the ‘human’ by dividing those with ontological security from those without, and by carving out the ‘world’ in a fixed grid of space and time, delineating a linear temporality of ‘progress’ and ‘development’. The distinctiveness of abyssal thought is that it inverts the stakes of critique and brings indeterminacy into the heart of ontological assumptions of a world of entities, essences, and universal determination. This is an approach that does not focus upon tropes of rescue and salvation but upon the generative power of negation. In doing so, it highlights how Caribbean experiences and writings have been drawn upon to provide an important and distinct perspective for critical thought. "How is it that ontology has come to be seen as the antidote for modernity? While Foucault denigrated ontology as a mistaken and parochial exercise, contemporary social theory holds out the promise that new modes of planetary knowledge will save us from our own excesses. Drawing together long traditions in Caribbean scholarship with Afro-pessimist thought, Pugh and Chandler illustrate how the search for more emancipatory ontologies - relational ontologies, indigenous ontologies, non-human ontologies, etc. – not only misunderstands the problem of modernity but (more importantly) works to veil the negative force that marks both the limit and cause of all such knowledge practices: what they term the abyss. To engage in abyssal thought – as they lay out – is to inhabit a site of refusal: a determination not to be drawn into the lure of ontological ‘correction’ and to recognise that the practice of world making cannot not bear the imprint of colonial violence. Articulated in passionate declarative prose, these authors powerfully illuminate the trap of the emancipatory instinct and the promise of a deconstructive ethic." — Mitch Rose, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, Aberystwyth University, UK “A much-needed intellectual effort in the non-reductionist and non-essentialising style of Pugh and Chandler's previous book. The World as Abyss gives Caribbean thought and culture the place they deserve within critical theory and materialist studies.” — Mónica Fernández Jiménez, Valladolid University, Spain “For some time now scholars have questioned the overly general assumptions about the ‘anthropos’ of the Anthropocene, but much work needs to be done to flesh out what a decolonized Anthropocene might be. Pugh and Chandler’s The World as Abyss provides an original, intriguing and compelling counterpoint to bland Anthropocene humanism (and posthumanism). This timely work explores the poetics of the Caribbean and provides a way to think about the Anthropocene and the future beyond the managerialism of the present. This book is essential reading for those working in the environmental humanities or Anthropocene studies.” — Claire Colebrook, Professor, Penn State University, USA “This book names an apocalypse that began long ago. Pugh and Chandler patiently follow the journey of thought as it travels from the Middle Passage to the Caribbean. This brings them face-to-face with the horror of anti-Black violence, not as just another resource to strip-mine, but as an unavoidable abyss that confines all thought. Its reminder: that we have still not yet begun to think a truly Black world.” — Andrew Culp, Professor, California Institute of the Arts, USA "With the force of a manifesto, the intensity of a polemic, and the nuance of a treatise, this book sets out to disavow the disavowal of Colonial violence in the making of the contemporary world and thought. Learning from Caribbean thinkers, writers, and poets, it sets to work unworking, desedimenting and deconstructing, the violent ontological foundations by which anti-Black worlds maintain and reproduce their innocence and ignorance. Replaying and reiterating, extending and multiplying, gestures of refusal – refusals of subjection, of History, of Geography, of meaning, of Being – there is the refusal of the World as it is and of the World as it could be. The World as Abyss artfully combines a critique of the historical forces which make and unmake the contemporary moment with the suspension of horizons, of ends, of grounds. What emerges in the wake is an intensification of the generative capacity of this refusal; voids, arrhythmia, counter-times, displacements, dislocations, the abyssal. First as threat and then as promise" — Paul Harrison, Associate Professor of Human Geography, Durham University, UK

Upheaval from the Abyss

Upheaval from the Abyss PDF Author: David M. Lawrence
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 9780813530284
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 332

Get Book Here

Book Description
Not some eldrich Lovecrafted monster or high-tech Hollywood virtual creation, nor even de-hibernating earth itself has made the most impact when it rose from the ocean depths, says Lawrence, a freelance journalist with a background in biology and geology. It has been the theories of the geological history of the plant. He narrates the development of the theory of plate tectonics from its continental- drift larval stage to its mainstream triumph in the later 1960s. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR.

Spirals in Time

Spirals in Time PDF Author: Helen Scales
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472911377
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 313

Get Book Here

Book Description
The beautifully written story of shells and their makers, and our relationships with them. Seashells are the sculpted homes of a remarkable group of animals: the molluscs. These are some of the most ancient and successful animals on the planet. But watch out. Some molluscs can kill you if you eat them. Some will kill you if you stand too close. That hasn't stopped people using shells in many ways over thousands of years. They became the first jewelry and oldest currencies; they've been used as potent symbols of sex and death, prestige and war, not to mention a nutritious (and tasty) source of food. Spirals in Time is an exuberant aquatic romp, revealing amazing tales of these undersea marvels. Helen Scales leads us on a journey into their realm, as she goes in search of everything from snails that 'fly' underwater on tiny wings to octopuses accused of stealing shells and giant mussels with golden beards that were supposedly the source of Jason's golden fleece, and learns how shells have been exchanged for human lives, tapped for mind-bending drugs and inspired advances in medical technology. Weaving through these stories are the remarkable animals that build them, creatures with fascinating tales to tell, a myriad of spiralling shells following just a few simple rules of mathematics and evolution. Shells are also bellwethers of our impact on the natural world. Some species have been overfished, others poisoned by polluted seas; perhaps most worryingly of all, molluscs are expected to fall victim to ocean acidification, a side-effect of climate change that may soon cause shells to simply melt away. But rather than dwelling on what we risk losing, Spirals in Time urges you to ponder how seashells can reconnect us with nature, and heal the rift between ourselves and the living world.

Journey to the Heart of the Abyss

Journey to the Heart of the Abyss PDF Author: London Shah
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0759555060
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 384

Get Book Here

Book Description
The sequel to London Shah's thrilling futuristic mystery The Light at the Bottom of the World, perfect for fans of Illuminae and These Broken Stars Leyla McQueen has finally reunited with her father after breaking him out of Broadmoor, the illegal government prison—but his freedom comes at a terrible cost. As Leyla celebrates his return, she must grapple with the pain of losing Ari. Now separated from the boy who has her heart and labeled the nation’s number one enemy, Leyla must risk illegal travel through unchartered waters in her quest for the truth behind her father's arrest. Across Britain, the fallout from Leyla's actions has escalated tensions between Anthropoid and non-Anthropoid communities, bringing them to an all-time high. And, as Leyla and her friends fight to uncover the startling truths about their world, she discovers her own shocking past—and the horrifying secrets behind her father’s abduction and arrest. But as these long-buried truths finally begin to surface, so, too, do the authorities’ terrible future plans. And if the ever-pervasive fear prevents the people from taking a stand now, the abyss could stay in the dark forever.

At the Abyss

At the Abyss PDF Author: Thomas Reed
Publisher: Presidio Press
ISBN: 0307414620
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 386

Get Book Here

Book Description
“The Cold War . . . was a fight to the death,” notes Thomas C. Reed, “fought with bayonets, napalm, and high-tech weaponry of every sort—save one. It was not fought with nuclear weapons.” With global powers now engaged in cataclysmic encounters, there is no more important time for this essential, epic account of the past half century, the tense years when the world trembled At the Abyss. Written by an author who rose from military officer to administration insider, this is a vivid, unvarnished view of America’s fight against Communism, from the end of WWII to the closing of the Strategic Air Command, a work as full of human interest as history, rich characters as bloody conflict. Among the unforgettable figures who devised weaponry, dictated policy, or deviously spied and subverted: Whittaker Chambers—the translator whose book, Witness, started the hunt for bigger game: Communists in our government; Lavrenti Beria—the head of the Soviet nuclear weapons program who apparently killed Joseph Stalin; Col. Ed Hall—the leader of America’s advanced missile system, whose own brother was a Soviet spy; Adm. James Stockwell—the prisoner of war and eventual vice presidential candidate who kept his terrible secret from the Vietnamese for eight long years; Nancy Reagan—the “Queen of Hearts,” who was both loving wife and instigator of palace intrigue in her husband’s White House. From Eisenhower’s decision to beat the Russians at their own game, to the “Missile Gap” of the Kennedy Era, to Reagan’s vow to “lean on the Soviets until they go broke”—all the pivotal events of the period are portrayed in new and stunning detail with information only someone on the front lines and in backrooms could know. Yet At the Abyss is more than a riveting and comprehensive recounting. It is a cautionary tale for our time, a revelation of how, “those years . . . came to be known as the Cold War, not World War III.”

Defiant Earth

Defiant Earth PDF Author: Clive Hamilton
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1509519785
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 200

Get Book Here

Book Description
Humans have become so powerful that we have disrupted the functioning of the Earth System as a whole, bringing on a new geological epoch – the Anthropocene – one in which the serene and clement conditions that allowed civilisation to flourish are disappearing and we quail before 'the wakened giant'. The emergence of a conscious creature capable of using technology to bring about a rupture in the Earth's geochronology is an event of monumental significance, on a par with the arrival of civilisation itself. What does it mean to have arrived at this point, where human history and Earth history collide? Some interpret the Anthropocene as no more than a development of what they already know, obscuring and deflating its profound significance. But the Anthropocene demands that we rethink everything. The modern belief in the free, reflexive being making its own future by taking control of its environment – even to the point of geoengineering – is now impossible because we have rendered the Earth more unpredictable and less controllable, a disobedient planet. At the same time, all attempts by progressives to cut humans down to size by attacking anthropocentrism come up against the insurmountable fact that human beings now possess enough power to change the Earth's course. It's too late to turn back the geological clock, and there is no going back to premodern ways of thinking. We must face the fact that humans are at the centre of the world, even if we must give the idea that we can control the planet. These truths call for a new kind of anthropocentrism, a philosophy by which we might use our power responsibly and find a way to live on a defiant Earth.

The Deep Ocean

The Deep Ocean PDF Author: Michael Vecchione
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691230404
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 289

Get Book Here

Book Description
An epic excursion into one of the last great frontiers on Earth The deep ocean comprises more than 90 percent of our planet’s biosphere and is home to some of the world’s most dazzling creatures, which thrive amid extreme pressures, scarce food supplies, and frigid temperatures. Living things down here behave in remarkable and surprising ways, and cutting-edge technologies are shedding new light on these critically important ecosystems. This beautifully illustrated book leads you down into the canyons, trenches, and cold seeps of the watery abyss, presenting the deep ocean and its inhabitants as you have never seen them before. Features a wealth of breathtaking photos, illustrations, and graphics Gives a brief and accessible history of deep-sea exploration Explains the basics of oceanography Covers a marvelous diversity of undersea organisms Describes habitats ranging from continental slopes to hydrothermal vents and abyssal plains Discusses humanity’s impacts on the deep ocean, from fisheries and whaling to global climate change and acidification Written by a team of world-class scientists

The Lure of the Beach

The Lure of the Beach PDF Author: Robert C. Ritchie
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520395573
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 339

Get Book Here

Book Description
A human and global take on a beloved vacation spot. The crash of surf, smell of salted air, wet whorls of sand underfoot. These are the sensations of the beach, that environment that has drawn humans to its life-sustaining shores for millennia. And while the gull’s cry and the cove’s splendor have remained constant throughout time, our relationship with the beach has been as fluid as the runnels left behind by the tide’s turning. The Lure of the Beach is a chronicle of humanity's history with the coast, taking us from the seaside pleasure palaces of Roman elites and the aquatic rituals of medieval pilgrims, to the venues of modern resort towns and beyond. Robert C. Ritchie traces the contours of the material and social economies of the beach throughout time, covering changes in the social status of beach goers, the technology of transport, and the development of fashion (from nudity to Victorianism and back again), as well as the geographic spread of modern beach-going from England to France, across the Mediterranean, and from nineteenth-century America to the world. And as climate change and rising sea levels erode the familiar faces of our coasts, we are poised for a contemporary reckoning with our relationship—and responsibilities—to our beaches and their ecosystems. The Lure of the Beach demonstrates that whether as a commodified pastoral destination, a site of ecological resplendency, or a flashpoint between private ownership and public access, the history of the beach is a human one that deserves to be told now more than ever before.