Denial: The Unspeakable Truth

by KeithKahn-Harris (Author), Keith Kahn-Harris (Author)

New
hardcover

$17.44

I want to show what denialism seeks to prevent; the exposure of dark desire. It is only when we look directly at this darkness that we can truly grasp why it is so unspeakable.' The Holocaust never happened. The planet isn't warming. Vaccines harm children. There is no such thing as AIDS. The Earth is flat. Denialism comes in many forms, often dressed in the garb of scholarship or research. It's certainly insidious and pernicious. Climate change denialists have built well-funded institutions and lobbying groups to counter action against global warming. Holocaust deniers have harried historians and abused survivors. AIDS denialists have prevented treatment programmes in Africa. All this is bad enough, but what if, as Keith Kahn-Harris asks, it actually cloaks much darker, unspeakable, desires? If denialists could speak from the heart, what would we hear? Kahn-Harris sets out not to unpick denialists' arguments, but to investigate what lies behind them. The conclusions he reaches are shocking and uncomfortable. In a world of `fake news' and `post-truth', are the denialists about to secure victory?

Synopsis

I want to show what denialism seeks to prevent; the exposure of dark desire. It is only when we look directly at this darkness that we can truly grasp why it is so unspeakable.' The Holocaust never happened. The planet isn't warming. Vaccines harm children. There is no such thing as AIDS. The Earth is flat. Denialism comes in many forms, often dressed in the garb of scholarship or research. It's certainly insidious and pernicious. Climate change denialists have built well-funded institutions and lobbying groups to counter action against global warming. Holocaust deniers have harried historians and abused survivors. AIDS denialists have prevented treatment programmes in Africa. All this is bad enough, but what if, as Keith Kahn-Harris asks, it actually cloaks much darker, unspeakable, desires? If denialists could speak from the heart, what would we hear? Kahn-Harris sets out not to unpick denialists' arguments, but to investigate what lies behind them. The conclusions he reaches are shocking and uncomfortable. In a world of `fake news' and `post-truth', are the denialists about to secure victory?

$17.44

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More Information

Format: hardcover
Publisher: Notting Hill Editions
Published:
ISBN 10: 1910749966
ISBN 13: 9781910749968
Book Overview: * Previous books on denialism have focused on debunking; Denial: The Unspeakable Truth goes to the heart of the phenomenon by asking what denialists' true desires are. * Denial: The Unspeakable Truth explains how denialism is transforming rapidly into an even more dangerous `post-denialism'. * Denial: The Unspeakable Truth offers suggestions for how to get out of our present bind. * Hard-hitting and often shocking, Denial: The Unspeakable Truth does not flinch from engaging with some of our culture's darkest thoughts

Author Bio

escribing himself as `professionally curious', Dr Kahn-Harris has wide-ranging interests. He has researched and published widely on heavy metal music and culture, and the British Jewish community. He also writes about politics, society and culture. A sociologist by training, Kahn-Harris lectures at Leo Baeck and Birkbeck Colleges. He runs the European Jewish Research Archive at the Institute for Jewish Policy Research. Since receiving his PhD from Goldsmiths College, he has developed a career deliberately intended to bridge the academic and non-academic world. He has conducted research and taught at a number of universities in the UK and elsewhere, as well as working as a freelance research consultant for a number of Jewish communal and interfaith dialogue non-profits. He has contributed to both academic and non-academic publications as a writer and editor, and has reviewed for a number of publications including The Guardian, The Independent, Times Literary Supplement, New Humanist, The Forward, The Jewish Chronicle, The Tablet and more.