Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Book Description

This innovative and lively book is quite unlike any other introduction to postcolonialism. Robert Young examines the political, social, and cultural after-effects of decolonization by presenting situations, experiences, and testimony rather than going through the theory at an abstract level. He situates the debate in a wide cultural context, discussing its importance as an historical condition, with examples such as the status of aboriginal people, of those dispossessed from their land, Algerian rai music, postcolonial feminism, and global social and ecological movements. Above all, Young argues, postcolonialism offers a political philosophy of activism that contests the current situation of global inequality, and so in a new way continues the anti-colonial struggles of the past.

Customer Reviews:

Helpful book........2006-11-05

This book is a general review of the postcolonial literature. It's realy easy to understand because the use of language is not complex and the concepts are very well explained. After rreading this book you will have the required knowledge to read a postcolonial piece of work. I recommend this book for someone who is reading postcolonial literature for the first time. :)

Unhelpful.......2006-08-18

I found this book very unhelpful. I agree with the reviewer Luiza about its shortcomings.

Political, Passionate, Engaging and Effective.......2006-06-05

In the introduction the author tells us that "Postcolonialism is about turning the world upside down and looking at it from a different perspective, that is, from the perspective of the disenfranchised people, a majority of whom come from the developing world" (2). The author then proceeds to show us the world from "their" eyes. His approach is unconventional; he presents "a montage" in which we see the bombing of Baghdad from an Iraqi's perspective, the plight of the homeless peasants in Brazil, the rape and torture of Algerians by the French in colonial Algeria, the forced unveilings of Muslim women under the American imposed Shah in Iran, the displacement of 200,000 Adivasi villagers because of the World Bank sponsored construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam, the CIA's overthrow of Patrice Lumumba, the president of the newly liberated Congo, and mass starvation in countries with surpluses of food. These slices of the lives and struggles of the disenfranchised peoples make the reader feel their pain and suffering. We experience the injustices of the world and view the imposition of Western culture and values as a form of violence and oppression; we come to understand the Third World's ambivalent, if not hostile, feelings toward the West.

This may seem radical since the Western world prefers to ignore the harsh realties that exist in developing nations and within its own societies. The prosperous are taught that current systems (political and economic) promise equality, justice and prosperity for all and that our interventions overseas have been of a benevolent nature. Thus, by showing another perspective, a perspective in which all these ideas are turned upside down, may strike the uninitiated as subversive. But, that's precisely the point. Postcolonialism specifically seeks to subvert the West's understanding of itself (as good), of different cultures (as inferior) and of its relation to these cultures (as kind and beneficial). It argues that all understandings of historical relations, as well as all forms of knowledge, are inherently political as they authorize one group's view of reality over another's.

A previous reviewer claims that this work reads like a pamphlet. I think this is because it has an emotional impact on the reader, which can be particularly disconcerting for someone who has never seen the world from this perspective and is resistant to giving it any validity. But, this glimpse of the world through the eye's of the Westerner's Other is also what makes this introduction so unique and effective. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in becoming acquainted with this subject on an intellectual and emotional level. However, if you're looking for a critique of Postcolonialism, this is not the book for you.

A brilliant book--it could change your life.......2006-04-13

If you don't want to have any of your views challenged or at least put in question, then don't read this book. You can learn from this book: it tells you about a different world, which is probably not your own. If you just want someone to tell you about the world you already know, then there are many many other books around that do that. This book takes you on a journey of discovery around the earth, showing you what it looks like, how it feels, when the third world comes first, not last. It will be different, it may make you feel uncomfortable, you may feel that it is turning your world upside down, but its an amazing, positive and heartening experience you will never forget.

A pamphlet of the crudest sort.......2006-02-07

Entirely useless for those who need a quick, encyclopedia-like idea of what this multivalent word actually means. For a reader looking for what the series promises - an introduction - it appears as a confusing hodge-podge of quotes from works of fiction, information about Algerian rai music which the author raves about like a teenager, all-too-familiar diatribes about pet causes of Attac and their ilk (evil companies exploiting hapless Africans etc.). It drips with political correctness of a mind-numbingly simplistic sort, embraces the rallying cries of postcolonialism (as a political movement) without the slightest hint of distance or criticism or, indeed, without even as much as discussing the merits of the claims in question. This book is a pamphlet of the crudest sort, by no means a work of scholarship.

Evolution: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

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An excellent summary of current knowledge

Evolution: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Brian Charlesworth
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192802518

Book Description

Less than 450 years ago, all European scholars believed that the earth was the centre of a universe that was at most a few million miles in extent, and that the planets, sun, and stars all rotated around this centre. Less than 250 years ago, they believed that the universe was created essentially in its present state about 6000 years ago. Less than 150 years ago, the special creation by God of living species was still dominant. The relentless application of the scientific method of inference from experiment and observation, without reference to religious, or governmental authority has completely transformed our view of our origins and relation to the universe, in less than 500 years. Few would dispute that this programme has been spectacularly successful, particularly in the twentieth century. This book is about the crucial role of evolutionary biology in transforming our view of human origins and relation to the universe, and the impact of this idea on traditional philosophy and religion. The purpose of this book is to introduce the general reader to some of the most important basic findings, concepts, and procedures of evolutionary biology, as it has developed since the first publications of Darwin and Wallace on the subject, over 140 years ago. Evolution provides a unifying set of principals for the whole of biology; it also illuminates the relation of human beings to the universe and each other. In addition, many aspects of evolution have practical importance; for instance, the rapid evolution of resistance by bacteria to antibiotics and of HIV to antiviral drugs are pressing medical problems.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent summary of current knowledge.......2005-11-07

It is a sign of the times that the authors on occasion take a defensive attitude to their subject. Creationism, for whatever reason, has proved remarkably adaptive and, strange as it may seem, evolutionary biologists still feel obliged to painstakingly lay out the evidence for evolution per se, rather than just discuss its mechanisms or trace its history.

The Charlesworths do a good job of this, albeit in a rather dry, academic style that may not suit readers that just want a light, readable introduction to the basic principles of evolution.

The book contains a fairly heavy dose of microbiology, as the authors go to some lengths to detail the biological functions underlying heredity and evolution. This is useful revision for readers with high school science, but tough going for the complete beginner. Similarly, the style is plain and succinct but never light or breezy. This is not a dummy's guide.

Evolution theory took a spectacular wrong turn in the latter part of the 20th century with the emergence of the idea that selection acts only at the gene level, a view popularized by Dawkins's The Selfish Gene. This bizarre notion gained a considerable following and was the subject of a heated dispute between Dawkins and Gould that ended only with the latter's death. Thankfully, sanity has been restored and it is now once again recognized that selection can take place at any level, and it is refreshing to see the Charlesworths, in this book, stating unequivocally (p 74) that there can be selection at species level and at other levels (p 73). Interestingly, there is an extract from a very favorable review by Dawkins of this book, on the back cover. Did he skip pages 73 and 74 or has he at last seen the light?

This series is prone to typos and the mutant printing gene has not been bred out of this particular book. Figure 19 is a monumental example. It is printed in landscape rather than portrait mode, effectively sideways (you'd have to see it to understand) thus leaving half the page blank and half the figure missing. The birds and mammals are therefore cruelly pruned from the tree of life. OUP really should get a grip.

Look elsewhere if you want a true introductory text, but select this if you want an excellent summary of the current state of knowledge of evolution and its underlying biological processes.

Myth: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

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Myth: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Robert A. Segal
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192803476

Book Description

This book is not about myths, but about approaches to myth, from all of the major disciplines, including science, religion, philosophy, literature, and psychology. The fate of the preternaturally beautiful Adonis is one of the main fables upon which Segal focuses, in an attempt to analyse the various different theories of myth. Where the theory does not work, he substitutes another myth, showing that, for all their claims to all-inclusiveness, certain theories, in fact, only apply to specific kinds of myths. A uniform set of questions is provided, to elucidate both the strengths and the weaknesses of the conjectures. A survey of the past 300 years of theorizing on myth, this book takes into account the work of such prominent thinkers as Albert Camus, Claude Levi-Strauss, Roland Barthes, C. G. Jung, and Sigmund Freud. Finally, Segal considers the future study of myth, and the possible function of myth in the world as the adult equivalent of play.

Rousseau: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

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Assumes too much and does not deliver on the Rest

Rousseau: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Robert Wokler
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192801988

Book Description

One of the most profound thinkers of modern history, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-78) was a central figure of the European Enlightenment. He was also its most formidable critic, condemning the political, economic, theological, and sexual trappings of civilization along lines that would excite the enthusiasm of romantic individualists and radical revolutionaries alike. In this study of Rousseau's life and works Robert Wokler shows how his philosophy of history, his theories of music and politics, his fiction, educational and religious writings, and even his botany, were all inspired by visionary ideals of mankind's self-realization in a condition of unfettered freedom. He explains how, in regressing to classical republicanism, ancient mythology, direct communion with God, and solitude, Rousseau anticipated some post-modernist rejections of the Enlightenment as well.

Customer Reviews:

Assumes too much and does not deliver on the Rest.......2007-05-15

Rousseau is one of the giants of western thought and also one of the most controversial. Although I am no expert on Rousseau, his influence is too profound in history and current political thought to give him short shrift.

In this (not really too slim) volume, there is much food for thought -- perhaps too much: there is a lot of presumed knowledge of the generation and Rousseau's contemporaries. That, at times, is a little disconcerting and can only be remedied by a good read of contempory thinkers.

Like most contemporary biographies, there is a tendency to deemphasise the major, more popular currents of the subjects thougths. There is also an attempt to get more milage out of his idle reveries... and lesser known works. Not that Emile is one of the lesser works, but much of the volume deals with this work and manages, with critical aplomb, to link these ideas back into the mainstream of Rosseau's political thought, that functioned so much on his critical assumptions of psychology.

I found it hard going at times... I wanted more of a balance in some of the chapters. The writing could be clearer at times, but one could do a lot worse than to choose this volume as their critical introduction to one of the greatest French thinkers.

Bossuet: Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)

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Bossuet: Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)
Jacques Bossuet
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Bodin: On Sovereignty (Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought)

ASIN: 0521368073

Book Description

This is the first ever English rendition of the classic statement of divine right absolutism in French, published in 1707 when the power and glory of the French ancien régime was at its zenith. Patrick Riley has provided full supporting materials including a chronology, guide to further reading and brief notes on persons mentioned, in addition to a lucid introduction placing Bossuet's bibliocentric politics in their historical and intellectual context.

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Don't judge this book by its cover...
THE VERY BEST ON CLASSICAL AI
A great exposition of the fundamentals and more.

Artificial Intelligence: The Very Idea
John Haugeland
Manufacturer: Bradford Book
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0262081539

Customer Reviews:

Don't judge this book by its cover..........2002-08-01

Don't judge this book by its cover-or at least by its title. Haugeland's Artificial Intelligence: The Very Idea does not adequately serve as a general introduction to the conceptual underpinnings and philosophical background of the quest to create an artificial mind. Rather, it focuses on one specific approach to how natural and man-made thought works: "thinking...essentially is rational manipulation of mental symbols." (p. 4) Haugeland plows forward with this as his core assumption, barely noting that some AI researchers see thought from a very different perspective (for example, the connectionists) and others find the whole enterprise fraught with theoretical difficulty (such as Dreyfus).

So Haugeland's story is that of a particular theory of mind that held predominance for several decades (what the author himself dubs "good, old-fashioned artificial intelligence" or "GOFAI", p. 112) but is now gradually being superceded. His introduction to this story concludes with a description of the Turing test and a justification for its use, and a brief statement of the efficacy of describing a system in different-even contradictory-ways through different "organizational levels". (p. 9) Of all the ideas presented in the book, this last one has the greatest promise for applicability beyond GOFAI.

Chapter 1, "The Saga of the Modern Mind", is a condensed bit of intellectual history. Haugeland introduces the philosophical children of the Copernican revolution-Hobbes, Descartes, and Hume-and the ways they grappled with understanding the world of the mental with the ideas that had proven so effective in the physical sciences. We soon encounter the "paradox of mechanical reason": if reason is the meaningful manipulation of symbols, and meanings are not physical entities, then how can machines manipulate them? (p. 39)

Chapter 2 serves as an extended definition of "Automatic Formal Systems", that is, computers. This material is the most challenging in the text, but the important concepts (formal games, digital systems, medium independence, etc.), are well-described, except for finite playability. The students I tutored through this work found it impossible to determine just what point was being made, and so did I.

How does one assign meanings-connections to the "real", outside world-to the symbols that a computer manipulates? This question is taken up in Chapter 3, "Semantics"-and answered, it seems, by sleight-of-hand. Haugeland gives to this the name "the formalist's motto": "if you take care of the syntax, the semantics will take care of itself". (p. 106) Neither I nor my students found this simple resolution at all satisfying. In every example of a formal game that the author presents, whatever semantic interpretation it has is provided from outside the system.

Chapter 4, "Computer Architecture", charts the milestones of computing. It begins with the analytical engine, and lauds Babbage's single-handed invention of programming without noting, however, that a human mind does not resemble the tabula rasa of a computer's memory bank. Moving quickly to the twentieth century, we get insightful descriptions of Turing machines, von Neumann machines (which turn out to be the kind of computer we are accustomed to), the mind-bending tree-structured LISP machines, and Newell's pragmatic production machines.

Chapter 5, "Real Machines", might be better titled "Real Problems". Haugeland presents some of the brick walls that AI research has run into. These can be grouped into the phenomenon of the combinatorial explosion: in order to interact with the real world in a manner that demonstrates "common sense", an AI must have access to an impossibly large store of information (while accessing what it needs in due time), and be able to consider an equally impossibly large set of potential courses of action. (p. 178) Methods to restrict what the AI has to consider, such as the focus on "micro-worlds", result in a system with no sense. Haugeland acknowledges these problems, and offers nothing but hope in scientific and technological progress to answer them.

Chapter 6, "Real People", develops means by which the sense that humans exhibit, and machines are far from realizing. Dennett's intentional stances and Grice's conversational implicatures are intelligent-if partial-characterizations of perspicuous reasoning. They are, however, frustratingly slippery for computer programmers, so it's not surprising that Haugeland, with some exasperation, groups them together under the "nonasininity canon": "An enduring system makes sense to the extent that, as understood, it isn't making [a rear] of itself." (p. 219) I feel that, if a reader has followed the author this far, then he or she deserves better than this.

Yet Haugeland and his colleagues are bound to feel frustration. Computers are electromechanical in nature, while humans are neurochemical. Computers can engage in numerical calculation with speed and precision, while most people find mathematics to be their most difficult school subject. Computers are tools that we devised to assist us. Human behavior was forged in the four-billion cauldron of evolution, and psychologists have barely begun to sort out the seething stew of vestigial loves, hates, and motivations that shape our behavior. And honest cognitive science will admit that humans and supercomputers are each masters of two separate, very different worlds. At the end, Haugeland finally admits this possibility-without contemplating the alternatives to the computation theory of might that this possibility demands.

THE VERY BEST ON CLASSICAL AI.......2000-02-08

This is the very best book on classical AI. However, there's a catch, as classical AI has many pitfalls, such as the frame problem or the symbol grounding problem. But there are ways to overcome these pitfalls, and if you want to see what's really hot in AI today you should check out Douglas Hofstadter's Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies.

A great exposition of the fundamentals and more........1999-03-22

This is a great exposition of the fundamental notions involved in the philosophy of AI. While at first look may appear like a good undergraduate read, it is, in fact, quite subtle and deep in most of the material it touches. Great scholarship.

Science and Religion: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

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Science and Religion: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
Thomas Dixon
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0199295514

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Science, the Very Idea (Key Ideas)
Steve Woolgar
Manufacturer: Ellis Horwood, Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0745800424

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The Very Idea of Radical Hermeneutics

Manufacturer: Humanities Press Intl
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0391040081

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