Email This

Digg this!

 Share & Bookmark

Ron Hassner, War on Sacred Grounds Cornell U. Press, 2009

The Religion, Politics and Globalization Program

Lisa Kron's In the Wake at Berkeley Rep

In this second installment of Ron Hassner's talk, the U.C. Berkeley political scientist addresses, among other things, the notion that religion has motivated most of the wars, or at least the bloodiest ones, throughout history. Also included is more from an interview with the politically inquisitive Lisa Kron.

 Email This

Digg this!

 Share & Bookmark

Ron Hassner, War on Sacred Grounds Cornell U. Press, 2009

The Religion, Politics and Globalization Program at U.C. Berkeley

Lisa Kron's In the Wake at Berkeley Rep

Ron Hassner confronts the argument that religions are naturally conducive to peace. He emphasizes, among other things, the ambiguous and contradictory nature of religious texts and passages. Also, a new play by Lisa Kron points out blind spots in the political consciousness of many middle-class liberals.

 Email This

Digg this!

 Share & Bookmark

Curtis Austin, Up Against the Wall: Violence in the Making and Unmaking of the Black Panther Party U. of Arkansas Press, 2006

Ordinary People Living Extraordinary Lives: The Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi

Why did the Black Panther Party use violent rhetoric? Was the Panthers' struggle for liberation enhanced by their commitment to armed self-defense, or hurt by it? Curtis Austin argues that the Panthers' violent rhetoric both influenced the organization's growth and helped to justify the massive police repression directed against it.

 Email This

Digg this!

 Share & Bookmark

Friedman & Valenti, eds., Yes Means Yes! Visions of Female Sexual Power and A World Without Rape Seal Press, 2009

Feministe

How strong are social pressures to act in a certain way, and what does that have to do with sexual assault and rape? Julia Serano explores the impact of the sexual predator/prey mindset on both women and men. Jill Filipovic asserts that rape is, among other things, a tool of social control; the constant threat of rape, she contends, keeps women afraid and in line.

 Email This

Digg this!

 Share & Bookmark

The Pervert's Guide to Cinema

The Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities

We're bombarded with daily media reports about violence done by individuals, groups, or nations. Slavoj Žižek, cultural critic and provocateur, would have us look behind the visible, overt violence to what lurks beneath. In Violence, Žižek discusses violence in the context of ideology, capitalism, language, and mainstream discussions of tolerance.

 Email This

Digg this!

 Share & Bookmark

Bersani & Dutoit, Caravaggio's Secrets The MIT Press, 1998

In a world of narcissism and violence, how can one person truly be present to another? Is real, open, democratic communication possible given our self-interested selves? In Intimacies, a book he's co-authored with Adam Phillips, Leo Bersani argues that our perceptions of the "other" can and must change. He also suggests new avenues of intimacy based on a kind of narcissism that interested Plato.