Fear of Small Numbers: An Essay on the Geography of Anger (Public Planet Books)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.22 (798 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0822338637 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 176 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-02-28 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
“Arjun Appadurai is already known as the author of striking new formulations which have greatly illuminated contemporary global developments, notably in Modernity at Large. The book is alive with new and original ideas, essential food for thought not just for scholars, but for all concerned with these issues.”—Charles Taylor, author of Modern Social Imaginaries. In this new book, he tackles the most burning and perplexing problems of collective violence which beset us today
A leading theorist of globalization, Appadurai turns his attention to the complex dynamics fueling large-scale, culturally motivated violence, from the genocides that racked Eastern Europe, Rwanda, and India in the early 1990s to the contemporary “war on terror.” Providing a conceptually innovative framework for understanding sources of global violence, he describes how the nation-state has grown ambivalent about minorities at the same time that minorities, because of global communication technologies and migration flows, increasingly see themselves as parts of powerful global majorities. Why, then, in this era of intense globalization, has there been a proliferation of violence, of ethnic cleansing on the one hand and extreme forms of political violence against civilian populations on the other?Fear of Small Numbers is Arjun Appadurai’s answer to that question. Powerful, provocative, and timely, Fear of Small Numbers is a thoughtful invitation to rethink what violence is in an age of globalization.. By exacerbating the inequalities produced by globalization, the volatile, slippery relationship between majorities and minorities foments the desire to eradicate cultural difference.Appadurai analyzes the darker side of globalization: suicide bombings; anti-Americanism; the surplus of rage manifest in televised beheadings; the clash of global ideologies; and the difficulties that flexible
Five Stars Athmi One of the best books I've ever read. Scary, real, well-written and worthwhile This seems to be a season of scary books, nonfiction but full of emotion. I have mentioned Amy Chua's "World on Fire" and my hesitation to read it in any but tiny doses. Now I have finished a book more moderate in its first impression, but strong and ultimately quite inspi. "Complex answer to a simple problem" according to apmb. Appadurai's work, Fear of Small Numbers, is not as profound as his Modernity at Large. He breaks down the issue of ethnic and political violence to the fact that, through globalization, the differences between groups have been getting smaller and smaller. This decrease in