by Brad Evans (Author), Brad Evans (Author), Henry A. Giroux (Author)
This is a must-read book for anyone ready to transcend fear and imagine a new reality. --Tikkun Disposable Futures makes the case that we have not just become desensitized to violence, but rather, that we are being taught to desire it. From movies and other commercial entertainment to extreme weather and acts of terror, authors Brad Evans and Henry Giroux examine how a contemporary politics of spectacle--and disposability--curates what is seen and what is not, what is represented and what is ignored, and ultimately, whose lives matter and whose do not. Disposable Futures explores the connections between a range of contemporary phenomena: mass surveillance, the militarization of police, the impact of violence in film and video games, increasing disparities in wealth, and representations of ISIS and the ongoing terror wars. Throughout, Evans and Giroux champion the significance of public education, social movements and ideas that rebel against the status quo in order render violence intolerable. Disposable Futures poses, and answers, the pressing question of our times: How is it that in this post-Fascist, post-Cold War era of peace and prosperity we are saddled with more war, violence, inequality and poverty than ever? The neoliberal era, Evans and Giroux brilliantly reveal, is defined by violence, by drone strikes, 'smart' bombs, militarized police, Black lives taken, prison expansion, corporatized education, surveillance, the raw violence of racism, patriarchy, starvation and want. The authors show how the neoliberal regime normalizes violence, renders its victims disposable, commodifies the spectacle of relentless violence and sells it to us as entertainment, and tries to contain cultures of resistance. If you're not afraid of the truth in these dark times, then read this book. It is a beacon of light. --Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination Disposable Futures confronts a key conundrum of our times: How is it that, given the capacity and abundance of resources to address the critical needs of all, so many are having their futures radically discounted while the privileged few dramatically increase their wealth and power? Brad Evans and Henry Giroux have written a trenchant analysis of the logic of late capitalism that has rendered it normal to dispose of any who do not service the powerful. A searing indictment of the socio-technics of destruction and the decisions of their deployability. Anyone concerned with trying to comprehend these driving dynamics of our time would be well served by taking up this compelling book. --David Theo Goldberg, author of The Threat of Race: Reflections on Racial Neoliberalism Disposable Futures is an utterly spellbinding analysis of violence in the later 20th and early 21st centuries. It strikes me as a new breed of street-smart intellectualism moving through broad ranging theoretical influences of Adorno, Arendt, Bauman, Deleuze, Foucault, Zizek, Marcuse, and Reich. I especially appreciated a number of things, including: the discussion of representation and how it functions within a broader logics of power; the descriptions and analyses of violence mediating the social field and fracturing it through paralyzing fear and anxiety; the colonization of bodies and pleasures; and the nuanced discussion of how state violence, surveillance, and disposability connect. Big ideas explained using a fresh straightforward voice. --Adrian Parr, author of The Wrath of Capital: Neoliberalism and Climate Change Politics Brad Evans and Henry A. Giroux are internationally renowned educators, authors, and intellectuals. Together, they curate a forum for Truthout.com that explores the theme of Disposable Futures. Evans is director of histories of violence project at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom. Giroux holds McMaster University Chair for Scholarship in the Public Interest, and is the Paulo Freire Distinguished Scholar in Critical Pedagogy.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
Publisher: City Lights Publishers
Published: 14 Jul 2015
ISBN 10: 0872866580
ISBN 13: 9780872866584
Book Overview: TV & RADIO CAMPAIGN: CBC TV & Radio, Toronto's The Agenda, C-SPAN Book TV, Democracy Now!, NPR-Talk of the Nation, Alternative Radio, Pacifica Network stations/shows, Community and NPR affiliate radio stations around the U.S. including New Dimensions, XM: Bob Edwards Show, Tom Joyner TV and Radio Shows, and Tavis Smiley TV and radio. PRINT CAMPAIGN: Toronto Globe & Mail, LA Times, NY Times, SF Chronicle, Atlantic Monthly, The Nation, New Republic, Wall St Journal, Chronicle of Higher Education . . . We'll send to the trades: PW, Kirkus, Library Journal and Booklist *Original essays in the New York Times' philosophy column, The Stone *UK media pursuits: The Guardian UK, London Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement and more. ONLINE/SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN Giroux and Evans regularly write op-eds for Truthout, Truthdig and Counterpunch. Will send for review/excerpts/opeds, etc. to Shelf Awareness, Salon, Slate, Christian Science Monitor, Huffington Post, Tomdispatch, Truthout, Truthdig, Counterpunch, CommonDreams, Z-Net and Alternet. Will pursue book salon on popular political blog FireDog Lake. We'll promote it on City Lights' Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Tumblr, blog and web site, and on Wikipedia. Active author web sites at: Brad Evans http://historiesofviolence.com, Twitter: @HistofViolence, FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Histories-of-Violence/177840865608235?sk=info Henry Giroux henrygiroux.com; Facebook: www.facebook.com/henry.a.giroux; Twitter @HenryGiroux Promotion via City Lights social media: City Lights Blog, CL Facebook (26K likes), CL Twitter (57K followers), CL Instagram (1500 followers), CL Tumblr (1000 followers), CL Pinterest (1000 followers) ACADEMIC MARKETING *Recommended Reading essay for Consortium. *Promotion of book to academic journals and associations. ENDORSEMENTS Ruthie Gilmore, more to come