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On critique: a sociology of emancipation

Boltanski, Luc
"The relationship between sociology and social critique has haunted the discipline since its origins. Does critique divert sociology from its scientific project? Or is critique the ultimate goal of sociology, without which the latter would be a futile activity disconnected from the concerns of ordinary people? This issue has underpinned two divergent theoretical orientations that can be found in the discipline today: the critical sociology that was developed in its most elaborate form by Pierre Bourdieu, and the pragmatic sociology of critique developed by Luc Boltanski and his associates. In critical sociology, description in terms of power relations underscores the potency of mechanisms of oppression, the way the oppressed passively endure them, going so far in their alienation as to adopt the values that enslave them. Pragmatic sociology, by contrast, describes the actions of human beings who rebel but who are endowed with reason. It stresses their ability, in certain historical conditions, to rise up against their domination and construct new interpretations of reality in the service of critical activity. In this major new book Boltanski develops a framework that makes it possible to reconcile these seemingly antagonistic approaches - the one determinist and assigning the leading role to the enlightening science of the sociologist, the other concerned to stick as closely as possible to what people say and do. This labour of unification leads him to rework central notions such as practice, institution, critique and, finally, ‘social reality,' all with the aim of contributing to a contemporary renewal of practices of emancipation."--
Polity 2011-04-18 191 pages

The hidden god: a study of tragic vision in the Pensées of Pascal and the tragedies of Racine

Goldmann, Lucien
A new edition of a major philosophical work This remarkable text, first published in 1964, was a landmark of its era and remains, in the words of Michael Löwy, a work of “remarkable richness.” Drawing on Georg Lukács’ History and Class Consciousness , Lucien Goldmann applies the concept of “world visions” to flesh out the similarities between Pascal’s Pensées and Kant’s critical philosophy, contrasting them with the rationalism of Descartes and the empiricism of Hume. For Goldmann, a leading exponent of the most fruitful method of applying Marxist ideas to literary and philosophical problems, the “tragic vision” marked an important phase in the development of European thought, as it moved from rationalism and empiricism to the dialectical philosophy of Hegel, Marx and Lukàcs. Here he offers a general approach to the problems of philosophy, of literary criticism, and of the relationship between thought and action in human society.
Verso 2016-12-06 426 pages

The Jewish presence: essays on identity and history

Dawidowicz, Lucy S.
What does it mean to be a Jew? In the twenty essays included here, best-selling author Lucy S. Widowhood examines many aspects of modern Jewish life, concentrating on the central experiences of our era- the search for meaning of one's existence as a Jew;bridging the past and the present; reconciling tradition and the Holocaust. While she describes the evolution of American Judaism and surveys its present condition, the author also shows us the continuities between Old world and New World Judaism as she evokes the modern Jew's struggle between faith and secularism
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1978 308 pages

Marxism Unmasked From Delusion to Destruction

Ludwig Von Mises
We can't sit under Mises at his famous Vienna private seminar. We can't go back in time and attend his New York seminar, or follow him to his speaking engagements that he held in the 50s and 60s.But thanks to this second volume in a thrilling series (here is volume one), we do have access to what he said. He is warm, funny, passionate, and learned. This book provides a candid look at the man and his teaching style. It demonstrates his dazzling command over the material, and teaches in a breezier way than his treatises.This volume contains nine lectures delivered over one week, from June 23, to July 3, 1952, at the San Francisco Public Library. Mises was at his prime as a teacher and lecturer. He shares a lifetime of learning on topics that were (and remain) central to American public life.As the title indicates, his main focus is on Marxism. He discusses Marx and his place in the history of ideas, the destruction wrought by his dangerous ideology, the manner in which his followers have covered up his errors, and how the Marxists themselves have worked for so long to save Marxism from itself. He discusses Marxist claims about history and refutes the smear of the industrial revolution.The approach is systematic but casual. So the reader encounters wonderful insights in the form of short asides. For example: "The worst thing that can happen to a socialist is to have his country ruled by socialists who are not his friends."As a lecturer, he is steady and relentless. The reader can nearly "hear" him speaking through the prose. And there are times when Mises reveals a level of rhetorical passion that you would never encounter in print. That's because what is printed here are not pre-prepared lectures in the sense that they were written out. They were transcribed by Bettina Bien Greaves from what he actually said.Thus can we hear this passage:It is not true, as Marx said, that the improvements in technology are available only to the exploiters and that the masses are living in a state much worse than on the eve of the Industrial Revolution. Everything the Marxists say about exploitation is absolutely wrong! Lies! In fact, capitalism made it possible for many persons to survive who wouldn't have otherwise.Some readers of Mises's larger works have said that while his rigor is dazzling, the man himself can seem remote. Whether or not you agree with this observation, Mises comes across in these lectures as brilliant but very warm and charming in an old world sense.This approach is particularly fruitful in the last four of the lectures, which cover topics such as savings, interest, inflation, profit and loss, and the place of foreign investment. The lecture on interest rates, for example, must surely rank as one of the best explanations of this complicated topic. He recounts the history of the attempt to suppress interest rates, from the ancient world to the modern period. He explains why this cannot work because interest is merely the objective sign of a phenomenon that is integral to human action. As he moves on to money, Mises reveals himself to be tougher on the issue of fiduciary media than he was when he wrote his 1912 book The Theory of Money and Credit.In response to a question Mises says: "In the future no additional banknotes should be issued, no additional credit should be entered on a bank subject to check, unless there is 100 percent coverage in money."Also not to be missed is Mises's wry defense of "money cranks": at least they were only more consistent than the advocates of Keynesian and monetarism.Mises was clearly pressed for time, so he had to be at once thorough and move quickly through the material. It's still not "light reading" by the normal standards, but for people who want to see a great mind at work, this has a wonderful element of spontaneity about it that attracts and teaches at the same time.
Ludwig von Mises Institute 2019 110 pages

Winning at casino gambling

Stuart, Lyle
Winning at Casino Gambling tells you everything you've ever wanted to know about casino games. It covers craps, blackjack, baccarat and slot machines. ( Stuart recently won $20,000 with a Royal Flush on a progressive poker machine.) Nearly twenty years ago, a remarkable book came onto the market. It was called Casino Gambling for the the Winner, and, until this volume, has been hailed by many as the most savvy book on casino gambling ever published.Casino Gambling for the Winner described ten consecutive winning visits to Las Vegas with six figure winnings. It showed the player how it can be done. No detail was spared. Nothing was held back.United States Senator Harry Reid, then a member of the Nevada Gaming Commission, said, "Don't set foot in another casino until you have read this book." Mario Puzo, author of the The Godfather, declared, "This is the only book that ever gave me a winning day in Las Vegas!"Through the years, readers continually asked Lyle Stuart to write an updated book as honest and helpful as the original. He finally decided it was time to do just that. In his new book, Winning at Casino Gambling, Stuart sums up the gaming wisdom accumulated from more than forty years of playing casino games. This includes a period when he was part owner of a Las Vegas casino and carries through today.Winning at Casino Gambling is not one of that constant stream of books that pour out each year by writers who couldn't win a casino bet if the odds were stacked in their favor. Stuart knows whereof he writes. Just recently, The Grand in Atlantic City held its first V.I.P. tournament in bacarat. Stuart entered - the first tournament he played in a decade.He won First Prize which, together with his tournament table winnings, came to more than $125, 000.
Barricade Books 1995 320 pages

Zipporah

Halter, Marek
More than three thousand years ago, a black child was found on the shore of the Red Sea. She was given the name Zipporah, 'the bird'. But because of the colour of her skin, her fate was sealed: in the tribal lands where she lived, no man would want her as a wife. But one day, as she was drawing water at a well, Zipporah met a man like no other she'd met before. An outcast like herself, his name was Moses and he was a fugitive from Egypt.A passionate lover and a generous wife, Zipporah the Black, the stranger, the non-Jew, was to share Moses' destiny. Thanks to her, he would forget his fears and hear the message of God, bequeathing to mankind laws that, even today, protect the weak against the strong.But alas for Zipporah, her love for Moses would condemn her: for among the Hebrews of the Exodus her status as a black woman was to have catastrophic consequences ...A forgotten protagonist of the Old Testament, Zipporah was the embodiment of intelligence and love. potential of the role given to Moses, her emotional bravery and strength in adversity making her, like Sarah, an astonishing modern heroine: a woman for her - and our - troubled times.
Bantam Press 2005 271 pages

The art of blessing the day: poems with a Jewish theme

Piercy, Marge
A prize-winning collection of old and new poems that celebrate the Jewish experience, about which the poet Lyn Lifshin writes: "An exquisite book. The whole collection is strong, passionate, and poignant, but the mother and daughter poems, fierce and emotional, with their intense ambivalence, pain and joy, themes of separation and reconnecting, are among the very strongest about that difficult relationship." Lifshin continues, "These striking, original, beautifully sensuous poems do just that. Ordinary moments--a sunset, a walk, a private religious ritual--are so alive in poems like 'Shabbat moment' and 'Rosh Hodesh.' In the same way that she celebrates ordinary moments, small things become charged with memories and feelings: paper snowflakes, buttons, one bird, a bottle-cap flower made from a ginger ale top and crystal beads. "She celebrates the body in rollicking, gusto-filled poems like 'Belly good' and 'The chuppah,' where 'our bodies open their portals wide.' So much that is richly sensuous: 'hands that caressed you, . . . untied the knot of pleasure and loosened your flesh till it fluttered,' and lush praise for 'life in our spines, our throats, our knees, our genitals, our brains, our tongues.' "I love the humor in poems like 'Eat fruit,' the nostalgia and joy in 'The rabbi's granddaughter and the Christmas tree,' the fresh, beautiful images of nature--'In winter . . .the sun hangs its wizened rosehip in the oaks.' "I admire Piercy's sense of the past alive in the present, in personal and social history. The poems are memorials, like the yahrtzeit candle in a glass. 'We lose and we go on losing,' but the poems are never far from harsh joy, the joy that is 'the wine of life.' "Growing up haunted by Holocaust ghosts is an echo throughout the book, and some of the strongest poems are about the Holocaust, poems that become the voices of those who had no voice: 'What you carry in your blood is us, the books we did not write, music we could not make, a world gone from gristle to smoke, only as real now as words can make it.' "Marge Piercy's words make such a moving variety of experiences beautifully and forcefully real."
Alfred A. Knopf 1999 175 pages

A wall in Jerusalem: hope, healing, and the struggle for justice in Israel and Palestine

Braverman, Mark
Violence in Israel and Palestine has become the norm. Do we even understand this conflict? Do we know where it comes from? Why can't the two sides reach agreement? Can Jews and Palestinians find a way to coexist? An American Jew, Mark Braverman thought he understood the reasons for Israel's existence. But when he visited the region and began to understand the forces that are fueling and perpetuating the conflict, he realized just how far we are from achieving peace. From the bustling communities on either side of the Jerusalem barrier, to the historical lessons of the Nazi Holocaust and South African apartheid, to the foremost voices in theology and conflict resolution today, Braverman answers the questions above and offers a course of action both at home and abroad to realize peace.
Jericho Books 2013-11-05 275 pages