Some New Titles from University Presses

EXCEPTIONAL AMERICA is written by Mugambi Jouet who teaches at Stanford Law School. In the description for this book, the publisher (University of California Press), notes that “Anti-intellectualism, conspiracy-mongering, a visceral suspicion of government, and Christian fundamentalism are far more common in America than the rest of the Western world—Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.”  It honestly was a surprise at first to see America described in such anti-intellectual terms relative to other countries, but then I realized how aptly that descriptor fit with recent calls and emails about the need to preserve library funding due to current budget cut proposals.  Jouet explores the growing radicalization of conservative America and what divides us from each other.  This , too, fits with the news: note, for example, the demonstrations being called for the six month anniversary of the election and a Wall Street Journal article (“When the CEO Met the CEO President”) quoting a business leader who says, “if we don’t do something fundamentally different soon, we are going to have class warfare, and that’s a scary thing.”

In the extensively researched and footnoted EXCEPTIONAL AMERICA, Jouet includes a quote from Tocqueville describing Americans as having “a grasp of public affairs, a knowledge of laws and precedents … and an ability to understand them [which] is greater there than in any other place on earth.” Jouet then questions whether this is still true, saying, “in vast segments of modern America, its people are arguably the least informed of all Westerners and the likeliest to ignore the greater good.” Even if they only spend time on a relatively short excerpt, this book will prompt some critical thinking and great discussions for our students.

In BATTLES FOR FREEDOM, Pulitzer Prize winning historian Eric Foner explores some different aspects of American radicalism. Available from independent publisher I.B.Taurus, this book contains 24 pieces written by Foner and published in The Nation over the past forty years. He particularly focuses on the politics of history and the politics of race.  The first piece (“The Men and the Symbols”) deals with the controversy surrounding American “justice” as applied to two immigrants, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. In the last (“Letter to Bernie”), Foner acknowledges Sanders’ role in forcing “the questions of economic inequality and excessive corporate power to the center of our political discourse.” As a side note, our Advanced Placement US History students examining nineteenth century events frequently consult other texts by Foner:  Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men and The Fiery Trial.

From Yale University Press, SOUL OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT provides an overview of freedom of speech and is written by legal expert Floyd Abrams, who has taught at Yale Law School and litigated cases such as the Pentagon Papers and Citizens United. Abrams, too, contrasts, America with other Western democratic states, noting that the First Amendment (his “rock star of the American Constitution”) contains only 45 words, including nine which prohibit the government from “abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.”  Abrams divides his argument into sections which provide some historical context, compares the legal protection in the US to other countries, explains the importance of Bridges v. California, examines the right to be forgotten and the funding of political campaign spending and then concludes with a discussion of ongoing issues like those concerning classified materials. It is that last section which is particularly interesting, since Abrams begins, “having sweeping First Amendment rights does not begin to answer the question of how to use them.” Much to ponder here.
  

 

WE ARE DATA by John Cheney-Lippold was published this week by New York University Press and deals with privacy and the right to be forgotten. As the subtitle notes, Cheney-Lippold is writing about “Algorithms and the Making of Our Digital Selves.”  The cover is very cool, right? And the first chapter explains “algorithmic knowledge production” or “how computers create categories through patterns in data.”  Much of the content, though, is fairly detailed and involves complex ideas and new vocabulary (measureable types, soft biopolitics, dividual privacy, datafied subject relations and so forth). Consequently, WE ARE DATA will have most appeal for those students beyond our high school group.

With some data here and some data there ….

I been reviewing two new books which deal with the collection and application of data. The first is THE AISLES HAVE EYES by Joseph Turow, University of Pennsylvania professor and associate dean.  Turow is pursuing a very interesting topic as his discussion of the reshaping of retail explores the tension between Americans being willing to give up personal data in favor of discounts OR being “resigned to the idea of surveillance.”  

Turow’s subtitle is “How Retailers Track Your Shopping, Strip Your Privacy, and Define Your Power” and he provides numerous examples in a retailing context, although it was sometimes difficult to stay engaged with his argument. At one point, I thought of the way parents used to avoid giving actual birthdates to restaurant chains like Farrell’s Ice Cream when those records were ultimately used by the government to pursue registrants for the selective service draft. The current potential for social discrimination and other misuse is noted as well as the ways in which our preferences are recorded and tracked by smartphones, fitbits and tablets. Turow compares the seeming unconcern with increased observation to a frog eventually boiling as water temperature is very slowly increased. He explains that tracking through other wearables and facial recognition (Face-Six, Emotient, FaceFirst are some of the companies involved) are coming quickly. Turow suggests a few actions, but seems more intent on raising an alarm rather than proposing detailed solutions. THE AISLES HAVE EYES has an index and extensive notes although a full bibliography would be helpful, too. 

THE UNDERGROUND CULINARY TOUR by Damian Mogavero with Joseph D'Agnese is subtitled “How the New Metrics of Today's Top Restaurants Are Transforming How America Eats” so again, we are learning about data applications and their impact on consumers. Here, the authors draw on extensive experience in the restaurant industry. Mogavero concentrates on financial analyses and human resource efforts (training a waitress to open a bottle of wine) in order to show the impact on often fragile bottom lines in the hospitality sector.  A couple of chapters do provide highlights from the annual real-life Underground Culinary Tour which Mogavero conducts; otherwise, this book is best matched with those who have a specialized interest in restaurants or similar businesses where Mogavero’s ideas could be applied. 

University Press and professional reading ….

I recently evaluated two new titles from Yale University Press and can see applications for both at school. First was Haunted by Leo Braudy which, per its subtitle, deals with “Ghosts, Witches, Vampires, Zombies, and Other Monsters of the Natural and Supernatural Worlds.” Braudy, a Professor at the University of Southern California, is already recognized for his work on war, masculinity, and the nature of fame. In his new book, Braudy discusses monsters from nature, man-made, created monsters, the monster from within, and monsters from the past. Haunted is a perfect fit for the Monster Symposium we hold each year wherein our students explore the monster as “other,” as “evil,” and so forth.  Class discussions of texts like Shelley’s Frankenstein or Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray will also be enriched with Braudy’s insights. Recently reviewed in The Wall Street Journal (“The Monsters that Torment Us”), Haunted provides an enlightening read ("Fear is the pervasive topic of our times") in this Halloween (and election!) season.

The second title was The Battle for Syria by Christopher Phillips. This, too, is an excellent piece of scholarship and could be referenced by our Geography and Social Studies classes. A potential concern is the timeliness of this text given the constantly shifting news from the Middle East and Syria in particular. Phillips, however, provides a unique perspective and cogent analysis of underlying involvement of international forces:  US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Iran. The goals, subsequent actions and outcomes fro each are described. We will likely pair The Battle for Syria with Richard Engel’s And Then All Hell Broke Loose.