Critical Issues in Public Art: Content, Context, and Controversy

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Critical Issues in Public Art: Content, Context, and Controversy
Harriet F. Senie
Manufacturer: Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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CRITICAL ISSUES IN PUBLIC ART, CONTENT, CONTEXT, AND CONTROVERSY
harriet F and Webster, Sally, editors Senie
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Critical Issues in Public Art: Content, Context and Controversy
Harriet Senie
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Critical Issues in Public Art: Content, Context, and Controversy.

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Critical Issues in Public Art: Content, Context, and Controversy.
Harriet F. Senie
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
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ASIN: B000M43JB6

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Craft Case Painting with Watercolours (Classic Craft Cases)

Manufacturer: Kudos Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 1845103262

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Painting with Watercolours (Craft Cases)

Manufacturer: Kudos Books
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Binding: Hardcover
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Book Description

Why Paint Cats The Ethics of Feline Aesthetics by Burton Silver and Heather Busch

Why did a woman in California pay an artist $5,000 to paint her cat to look like a pig? What made a New York stockbroker spend even more than that to have the image of Charlie Chaplin painted on his cat's posterior? WHY PAINT CATS reveals that, far from being an amusement for the idle rich, this seemingly aberrant behavior is part of a new art movement that claims to promote a better understanding of the cats in our lives. Following the international success of their previous collaboration of feline aesthetics, WHY CATS PAINT, Burton Silver and Heather Busch turn their scholarly attention to the cat as canvas. The authors detail all the latest trends in the movement, including the highly controversial Retromingent Expressionism, drawing conclusions that will provoke and amuse, startle and enlighten. Exhaustively researched and lavishly illustrated, this insightful and engaging book raises important ethical questions and explores the rights of pet owners to reinvent their cats in the name of art.

Customer Reviews:

A great book to bring to a Party.......2007-08-01

I bought this work on the way to a party a few years ago.. It became an instant hit. People who were shy and didnt know anyone, bored children, happy party people, everyone took a few minutes to pore through this book, talk about it to their neighbors.. and debate which cats they liked best, and what they they thought of the idea of cat painting.

A splendid, funny, thought provoking book, that will forever cahnge the way you look at cats.

Also too small!.......2007-03-28

I did not notice these were miniature books only 4" by 4", you can't see any of the paintings they are too small.

Why Hoax the Public .......2007-03-24

I give this one star only because I must - if zero were an option I would have chosen it. IF, and I repeat IF, there is any truth to these painted cats, and they are not, as I strongly suspect, a product of Photoshop on the computer, then why indeed paint cats? Obviously the Cat in question does not desire to be painted. He is already beautiful just as he was created. Obviously the answer is to provide some frivolous sense of self importance to the owner of the cat. If indeed, as I have read, it costs up to $15,000 every three months to keep the cat nicely painted, I think that someone has more money than they know what to do with, and I pity the person who has nothing better to do with his time and money. Not to mention I pity the Cat. Also, I cannot imagine that this could be done without putting the cat under anesthesia, because such intricate artwork could not be done on a living creature who was less than comatose. Anesthesia carries risk, especially to cats, who are hard to keep under Anesthesia. Put your $60,000 annually into a charity and do some good with it - help feed the needy. If your ego is in such sad shape that you need a painted Cat to feel important, spend some of it on Psychoanalysis. Shame on you! Leave the cat to his natural beauty.

Beautiful Book.......2007-03-19

You won't believe your eyes! Someone came up with a truly novel idea. A fun book!

Imaginative Yet So Not So.......2007-02-28

Photos distributed on the web raised my eyebrows, first at the thought that people would do this to their cats, and then at the growing sense that the photos were doctored. Even so, they are a trip. I am certain that someone somewhere has been inspired to paint or bleach their cats, and one only hopes the cats come out of it all relatively unscathed. Well done.

Book Description

Now in its twenty-seventh year, LA 411 continues to be the single-most truated and widely-used directory for the film and television production industry in Southern California. LA 411 has earned its unofficial name as The Bible for below-the-line production needs because of its

* complete coverage of the industry

* rigorous editorial procedures

* reputation for quality and integrity

Book Description

The highest visual quality and most comprehensive production listings serving the New York Tri-State area. Anyone working in television, commercial, film or video production in the New York region knows that NY 411 is 100% reliable. This resourceful Bible lists only professionally-qualified companies and individuals with a rigorous editorial screening process that 411 PUBLISHING exclusively guarantees. Contains more listings than ever. Includes High Def 411 supplement.

NY 411 has helped me with so many last minute problems! I needed to get a generator sent to a location by 4:45 p.m. one day, and I was able to contact a company that would deliver it to me at a location about a mile from their place in NYC. All thanks to NY 411! -- Sondra Levey, Production Assistant

Customer Reviews:

an independent filmmaker from NYC.......2005-07-22

A handsome and vastly comprehensive guide through every avenue of film and tv production. Crammed with useful, easily accessible information. Punctuated with rich photographs. A must have for anyone involved in film production.

New York 411 (New York 411, Production Resource 2005-2006)

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New York 411 (New York 411, Production Resource 2005-2006)
Kevin L.J. Davis 411 Publishing
Manufacturer: 411 Publishing, Kevin L.J. Davis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: 097640270X

Product Description

The Tri-State Area's Professional Reference Guide fo Film, TV, & Video. 2005-2006, 7th edition for NYC.

Book Description

10 b/w illustrations,6 x 9
Comprehensive list of sheet music published in the South during the war
Covers all of the known bands of the Confederate army Confederate music extended far beyond "Dixie" and "The Yellow Rose of Texas" and in fact played a significant role throughout the Civil War. From the recruiting songs that celebrated early war efforts to the "lost cause" songs of the Confederacy's last days, this new study chronicles how soldiers and civilians coped with war through their music. Included are many never-before-told histories of patriotic anthems, sentimental songs, operas, and minstrel shows.

Customer Reviews:

Singing the New Nation.......2002-09-25

This is a study of music and songwriting in the Confederacy.

Abel sees nationalism as consciously spearheaded from above, a "goal" aimed at by the higher classes and imposed upon the hoi polloi (sic). Though some of the more propagandistic songs may certainly reflect such a deliberate effort, it's noteworthy that this view of Confederate nationalism contradicts the analyses of scholars such as McPherson and Gallagher.

Abel's discussion of field calls is useful, and he's certainly picked an under-discussed topic. Though I didn't find his analysis entirely convincing, the history of individual songs (I was glad to know I'm not the only person who thinks the words of "Dixie" are lame) was interesting. I'd have liked to see a bit more on ballads and traditional music which would have been known to soldiers of the period, but then that's not the focus of the book.

Probably a "get from the library" rather than a "buy" book for most readers.

A History Book That's a Pleasure to Read!.......2000-05-30

I have to admit- I only acquired this book to do a little research and extract a few things from it but went on to read it cover to cover. Very enjoyable and I'd recommend it for historians, Civil War buffs and re-enactors, American music scholars and anyone else who likes a well researched history book on a subject overlooked for far too long!

singing the new nation.......2000-02-26

I wrote this book to show how Confederate music during the war reveals the social history of the South during the war. The book is not a bibliogrpahy of sheet music nor simply a collection of lyrics. Instead, it uses the lyrics and covers from various pieces of sheet music to illustrate what Southerns believed they were fighting for and the feelings they had about their families, homes and their fate. These songs bound Southerners from different classes and different regions together, thereby creating a collective sense of nationalism. The songs also provided an outlet for people who were otherwise restrained in their emotions, to express their feelings in public. It also traces the history of some of the better known Southern songs such as "Dixie" and the "Bonnie Blue Flag" and describes the integral place of field music and brass bands in the war effort.

A delightful look at the music that inspired a generation.......2000-02-05

Never before has a work so enchanted me. My grandfather used to sing the delightful ditties contained in this broad work by E. Lawrence Abel. From Goober Peas to John Brown's Body this book invoked my memories of the past and told me the history behind the songs I only knew before by name. Bruce Catton was be proud.

A delightful look at the music that inspired a generation.......2000-02-05

Singing in the New Nation How Music Shaped the Confederacy, 1861-1865

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Singing in the New Nation How Music Shaped the Confederacy, 1861-1865
Abel E. Lawrence
Manufacturer: Stackpole Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UEFN58

SINGING THE NEW NATION: HOW MUSIC SHAPED THE CONFEDERACY, 1861-1865

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SINGING THE NEW NATION: HOW MUSIC SHAPED THE CONFEDERACY, 1861-1865
E. Lawrence Abel
Manufacturer: Stackpole Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J3TEDM

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A great exercise for brain, being fun at the same time

Fun for your brain

Good Educational Toy

good blocks & puzzles, but not set up well for a game

A must have game!

Tangram Puzzles: 500 Tricky Shapes to Confound & Astound/ Includes Deluxe Wood Tangrams
Chris Crawford
Manufacturer: Sterling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

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Book Description

It's endless fun! Opening this beautiful 2-color, lie-flat hardcover spiral book is like unlocking a treasure chest filled with puzzles and creative activities. Begin by taking the seven high-quality wooden tans (NOT cheap and sharp plastic)out of the resealable case bound sturdily inside. Now, you're ready to play--and to solve up to 500 mysterious tangram puzzles, using the seven simple shapes that can be put together again and again in countless figures and forms. Sometimes they're easily solved; other times, the puzzles are baffling. Decide just how hard you want a game to be! Set the clock and challenge your friends to a race, or do these brain stumpers on your own by arranging the pieces so they all touch, lie flat, or don't overlap. Make two separate shapes from a single set. If you happen to feel artistic, tell a story with the tangrams or create beautiful silhouettes for pure pleasure. One thing is for sure: you'll always find this ancient test-of-wits enjoyable, fascinating, and perplexing.

Customer Reviews:

A great exercise for brain, being fun at the same time.......2007-04-07

A very nicely made product - the wooden pieces are very smooth without any splinters or sharp edges. The puzzles are awesome - during my pass-time, I try making these - some take a few minutes to solve, but some could take a few hours. It is so interesting that my daughter was trying to put together some when she was 4. You have 501, not 500 puzzles, because you have to arrange them to form a square to put them back in the packing pouch. Some of the puzzles are un-imaginable - I could not believe that you could make many of the shapes with the wooden pieces provided. The author/creator should be honored for his creativity.

I recommend this to anyone from 4 to 100+ years old - You are never too young to start training your brain, and never too old to stop. I would have bought it even if it cost twice of what it costs now.

Fun for your brain.......2007-01-05

I use this tangram puzzle with my junior high school students. The shapes are challenging, and offer great visual/spatial exercise for young minds. The book is big and has lots of puzzles to choose from. The puzzle pieces are nice too.

Good Educational Toy.......2006-07-19

This Tangram set and book are very good quality. Tangrams are excellent learning tools for spatial understanding and problem solving. Because of the nature of this toy, it is much more versatile than regular puzzles. The same pieces are used over and over to solve the many different 'puzzles' which are presented in the book. (The solutions are also given at the back of the book.)

I have only one criticism of this product. I wish it came with a container for the pieces.

good blocks & puzzles, but not set up well for a game.......2005-05-30

The blocks are sanded wood with smooth corners, so they're nice to work with, and assembled into a square are about 4" x 4". Be aware that each book comes with one set of blocks, so if two people want to compete, you'll need to purchase two books or somehow come up with a second set of blocks.

The spiral binding makes it easy to prop the book open to any page, but there are about 18 tangrams shown per page, so it's too easy to "cheat" and compare the image you're currently working on to previous/subsequent ones. It would be more challenging if you could only see one tangram at a time.

A must have game!.......2004-09-22

My older son's piano teacher has a set of puzzle in his studio. All the kids are fascinated by playing with it, including my 3-year-old younger son. Even though it's for 8 and order, it appears that all ages enjoy this game trenmendeously. It's a great game to have at home and also a great gift for other kids.

Book Description

In this remarkable and elegant work, acclaimed Yale Law School professor Kenji Yoshino fuses legal manifesto and poetic memoir to call for a redefinition of civil rights in our law and culture.

Everyone covers. To cover is to downplay a disfavored trait so as to blend into the mainstream. Because all of us possess stigmatized attributes, we all encounter pressure to cover in our daily lives. Given its pervasiveness, we may experience this pressure to be a simple fact of social life.
Against conventional understanding, Kenji Yoshino argues that the demand to cover can pose a hidden threat to our civil rights. Though we have come to some consensus against penalizing people for differences based on race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, and disability, we still routinely deny equal treatment to people who refuse to downplay differences along these lines. Racial minorities are pressed to “act white” by changing their names, languages, or cultural practices. Women are told to “play like men” at work. Gays are asked not to engage in public displays of same-sex affection. The devout are instructed to minimize expressions of faith, and individuals with disabilities are urged to conceal the paraphernalia that permit them to function. In a wide-ranging analysis, Yoshino demonstrates that American civil rights law has generally ignored the threat posed by these covering demands. With passion and rigor, he shows that the work of civil rights will not be complete until it attends to the harms of coerced conformity.
At the same time, Yoshino is responsive to the American exasperation with identity politics, which often seems like an endless parade of groups asking for state and social solicitude. He observes that the ubiquity of the covering demand provides an opportunity to lift civil rights into a higher, more universal register. Since we all experience the covering demand, we can all make common cause around a new civil rights paradigm based on our desire for authenticity–a desire that brings us together rather than driving us apart.
Yoshino’s argument draws deeply on his personal experiences as a gay Asian American. He follows the Romantics in his belief that if a human life is described with enough particularity, the universal will speak through it. The result is a work that combines one of the most moving memoirs written in years with a landmark manifesto on the civil rights of the future.

“This brilliantly argued and engaging book does two things at once, and it does them both astonishingly well. First, it's a finely grained memoir of young man’s struggles to come to terms with his sexuality, and second, it's a powerful argument for a whole new way of thinking about civil rights and how our society deals with difference. This book challenges us all to confront our own unacknowledged biases, and it demands that we take seriously the idea that there are many different ways to be human. Kenji Yoshino is the face and the voice of the new civil rights.” -Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed

“Kenji Yoshino has not only given us an important, compelling new way to understand civil rights law, a major accomplishment in itself, but with great bravery and honesty, he has forged his argument from the cauldron of his own experience. In clear, lyrical prose, Covering quite literally brings the law to life. The result is a book about our
public and private selves as convincing to the spirit as it is to the
mind.” -Adam Haslett, author of You Are Not A Stranger Here

“Kenji Yoshino's work is often moving and always clarifying. Covering elaborates an original, arresting account of identity and authenticity in American culture.”
-Anthony Appiah, author of The Ethics of Identity and Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor Of Philosophy at Princeton University

“This stunning book introduces three faces of the remarkable Kenji Yoshino: a writer of poetic beauty; a soul of rare reflectivity and decency; and a brilliant lawyer and scholar, passionately committed to uncovering human rights. Like W.E.B. DuBois's The Souls of Black Folk and Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, this book fearlessly blends gripping narrative with insightful analysis to further the cause of human emancipation. And like those classics, it should explode into America's consciousness.”
-Harold Hongju Koh Dean, Yale Law School and former Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights

“Covering is a magnificent work - so eloquently and powerfully written I literally could not put it down. Sweeping in breadth, brilliantly argued, and filled with insight, humor, and erudition, it offers a fundamentally new perspective on civil rights and discrimination law. This extraordinary book is many things at once: an intensely moving personal memoir; a breathtaking historical and cultural synthesis of assimilation and American equality law; an explosive new paradigm for transcending the morass of identity politics; and in parts, pure poetry. No one interested in civil rights, sexuality, discrimination - or simply human flourishing - can afford to miss it.”
-Amy Chua, author of World on Fire

“In this stunning, original book, Kenji Yoshino demonstrates that the struggle for gay rights is not only a struggle to liberate gays---it is a struggle to free all of us, straight and gay, male and female, white and black, from the pressures and temptations to cover vital aspects of ourselves and deprive ourselves and others of our full humanity. Yoshino is both poet and lawyer, and by joining an exquisitely observed personal memoir with a historical analysis of civil rights, he shows why gay rights is so controversial at present,
why “covering” is the issue of contention, and why the “covering demand,” universal in application, is the civil rights issue of our time. This is a beautifully written, brilliant and hopeful book, offering a new understanding of what is at stake in our fight for
human rights.”
-Carol Gilligan, author of In a Different Voice

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Jewel In A Field.......2007-06-13

Dean Yoshino has given us a lesson using the perfect mixture of poetry and prose in this his latest work. Reading it was like listening to a Aretha Franklin: refreshing! But most importantly, the work will act as a bridge between minority groups; limning aspects of experience that we all--- religious, sexual, and ethnic--- have in common. That is to say, it will help us to understand how the laws of the land apply to all who are pressured to conform to majority norms.

Uneven, but fascinating........2007-06-06

Kenji Yoshino is obviously a skilled writer. He is also a sharp thinker: the concepts covered here require a deft hand and skilled thought in order to not come off as a trite "Be your authentic self" pep talk. His assessment of human culture's demands on its minorities (at least those he is familiar enough with to speak for) are well put. Certain portions (especially in the early chapters) seem excessivly verbose. However, where the book really comes unglued is the uneasy marriage of personal narrative and political discourse. Both are clearly written by someone passionate and well versed in the subject matter. But the blending of two styles, while sometimes quite successful (and touching), can make this less than an easy read at times. Still, if you're not bothered by the blending (or better yet, if you're intrugued by it) this book has more than a few great ideas to chew on. Flawed or not, this is an intriguing and thought-provoking read.

Gay and Lesbian Rights.......2007-05-10

Anyone interested in the state of our country today should read this book about the civil rights movement of today.

The dark side of assimilation.... exposed!.......2007-04-06

This should be required reading for all everyone in civil rights work and all lawmakers. The only place this book falls short is in the areas it doesnt discuss that all women, and straight WASP males need to understand for THEMSELVES about the covering demands made on THEM. Since these are out of Yoshino's experience one can not fault him much on that score. He points those groups in the right direction however. This is a wonderful but painful book. It is meant to provoke thought. It is not a simple tirade against conformity but something deeper. It is a starting point for thinking and discussing our civil rights.

I would also highly recommend the first half of this book to anyone who counsels people on questions of their sexual identity.

If you care about the state of our culture, read this book.......2006-11-10

In Covering, Kenji Yoshino presents a new paradigm for civil rights. By weaving his own personal story of life as a gay, Japanese American man with the legal history of the civil rights struggle of gays and lesbians, Professor Yoshino creates a new, compelling genre of literature. In a bold move that bucked the traditional legal "neutral voice" treatise, Professor Yoshino makes himself and the law available to everyone, including legal scholars. Without a hint of jargon, this book shows how the status and treatment of gays and lesbians has moved from conversion to passing to now covering. His own identity development has passed through similar phases.
Covering is a mechanism through which an individual with some "disfavored" or non-dominant idenity traits downplays those traits in order to retain employment, avoid abuse, and generally navigate through the world. When we all recognize the way that covering affects us, whether it is the Black woman who is refused the right to wear cornrows (a real case involving American Airlines), or Professor Yoshino being told by colleague to be a gay professional, not a professional gay, we can move towards a new vision of civil rights. The author advocates not for the dismantling of all covering demands - some are legitimate - but that we force the discussion why a particular demand is being made.
Notably, Professor Yoshino's paradigm does not exclude anyone; in fact, its power lies in the fact that even the most privileged person (typically white heterosexual men from wealthy protestant families) can relate to the idea that they shouldn't be forced to downplay elements of his identity. We all have skin in the game when we move away from strict group-based identity politics to recognizing the inherent right we all have to express our idenity in non-conformist ways.
One criticism I have, though, is that there is no clear format for these discussions. Although Professor Yoshino states that we need to move away from legal solutions and start with the culutral context, I have a hard time imagining the format for an individual from an oppressed group "discussing" the demand to cover with their oppressor. For example, if someone with flashy rims on their car is stopped and fined under the pretext of some traffic safety regulation, if would be difficult to engage the officer in a discussion of why this law is being unfairly targeted to his attempt at expressing his cultural identity.
Perhaps the best solution is that we all need to read this book. Everyone. Spread the word. Give it as a holiday gift. Start these discussions in your homes, schools, and communities. Under this paradigm, we could all live freer, more fulfilled lives.

Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights.(Book review): An article from: Michigan Law Review

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Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights.(Book review): An article from: Michigan Law Review
Paul Horwitz
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Michigan Law Review, published by Thomson Gale on April 1, 2007. The length of the article is 9747 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights.(Book review)
Author: Paul Horwitz
Publication: Michigan Law Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 105 Issue: 6 Page: 1283(18)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

The spread of Islam around the globe has blurred the connection between a religion, a specific society, and a territory. One-third of the world's Muslims now live as members of a minority. At the heart of this development is, on the one hand, the voluntary settlement of Muslims in Western societies and, on the other, the pervasiveness and influence of Western cultural models and social norms. The revival of Islam among Muslim populations in the last twenty years is often wrongly perceived as a backlash against westernization rather than as one of its consequences. Neofundamentalism has been gaining ground among a rootless Muslim youth -- particularly among the second- and third-generation migrants in the West -- and this phenomenon is feeding new forms of radicalism, ranging from support for Al Qaeda to the outright rejection of integration into Western society.

In this brilliant exegesis of the movement of Islam beyond traditional borders and its unwitting westernization, Olivier Roy argues that Islamic revival, or "re-Islamization," results from the efforts of westernized Muslims to assert their identity in a non-Muslim context. A schism has emerged between mainstream Islamist movements in the Muslim world -- including Hamas of Palestine and Hezbollah of Lebanon -- and the uprooted militants who strive to establish an imaginary ummah, or Muslim community, not embedded in any particular society or territory. Roy provides a detailed comparison of these transnational movements, whether peaceful, like Tablighi Jama'at and the Islamic brotherhoods, or violent, like Al Qaeda. He shows how neofundamentalism acknowledges without nostalgia the loss of pristine cultures, constructing instead a universal religious identity that transcends the very notion of culture. Thus contemporary Islamic fundamentalism is not a single-note reaction against westernization but a product and an agent of the complex forces of globalization.

Customer Reviews:

A new foundation for understanding modern Islam's sentiments and radicalism.......2006-12-11

Globalized Islam: The Search for a new Ummah pinpoints growing Islam militancy not abroad but in the West, arguing that the revival of Islam among Muslims over the last few decades is more a force of the pressures of globalization than a reaction to the West. In moving beyond the traditional, more common ' East versus West' argument, GLOBALIZED ISLAM provides a new foundation for understanding modern Islam's sentiments and radicalism, offering an essential key to understanding not evident in similar-sounding discussions.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Excellent analysis, although slightly verbose, but very insightful.......2006-01-09

This book picks aparts the predjudices and simplifications used in popular culture, media, etc. and gets to the heart of how individual Muslims are reacting to (not necessarily against) globalization and westernization. I can't put it down, and it is an extremely helpful introduction to the politics of Islam in the Middle East, Western Europe, and the United States (and even a bit of East and South Asia).

Interesting Points, Difficult Reading.......2005-05-27

This is a quite interesting, but somewhat difficult to read, book on the movement of Islamic people away from the traditional countries to live in the West. Obviously they bring their religion with them, yet at the same time they live in the west and generally have adopted Western ways.

Intermixed with this is discussion on the more radical elements of Muslim people. He especially talks a lot about Ben Ladin and other armed groups such as Palestinians, Chechens, the Balkans and others. He appears to view them as only the radical fringe.

When he talks about Christians, he generalizes, ignoring the radical fundamental fringe in the United States that blows up abortion clinics; and the conflict in Northern Ireland. This may well be due to his being French and living in Europe.

The points he makes are sometimes difficult to understand, but that may well be because of the language. I'd hate to have someone review a book I'd written in French.

Where is Islam headed?.......2004-12-28

There are plenty of ideas in this book. And I think it is worth reading, even though I rarely agreed with Roy's arguments or his conclusions.

The author begins by saying that "culturalists" say that "Islam is the issue." And he disagrees with them. Yes, the culturalists include just about everyone: Islamists, moderate Muslims, Islamophobes, anti-Islamophobes, and orientalists. But not him. He's not so sure it even makes sense to discuss a Muslim culture. And he sees what most of us think of as Islamic struggles actually being examples of nationalism and ethnicity. While Islam may provide some people with a sense of identity, he points out that in the war against Israel, there's no real difference politically between the seculars and the Islamists. And he asks if jihad is really closer to Marx (Karl, not Harpo or Groucho) than it is to the Koran.

I sort of blinked when I read that. While it might be true, I didn't quite agree with Roy's logic. He continued by explaining that the Chechens and the Levantine Arabs are engaged in liberation struggles. I think he's wrong about the Levantine Arabs. I see their struggle as being neither pro-religious, nor pro-nationalistic, nor even pro-ethnic, but very specifically anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-ethnic, and against human rights. Roy calls the Levantine Arabs a people, but I see them as an antipeople who have no positive goals for themselves that need to be satisfied but only goals of hurting a people they have banded together to fight. All this is quite the opposite of a liberation struggle. And using Islam as a means to get people to identify with one side in this fight does indeed make Islam at least part of the issue.

Roy continues by discussing the fact that Muslims still come up with polemics against competing religions. According to the author, Christians, for the most part, do not. Well, the Catholics do not. The Evangelicals and the Christian Right Wing do. And Roy concludes that the Christians aren't really competing against Islam. But once again, I think he's overlooking the possibility that some people might consider polemics to be poor form. I'm as willing as anyone to discuss the advantages of polytheism over monotheism. But I do not want to appear as though I am trying to impose religious practices on others.

Next, the author discusses the Westernization of Islam. Some of this section was quite interesting, especially the age-old differences between Sufis and Salafis. And later, there is a section on the future of Muslim terrorism and questions of deterritorialization. Once again, I had to ask what he really meant by that. Muslim terrorists exist in time and space just like the rest of us. At best, he meant to differentiate between explicit state support and implicit support from many of the people in a state.

Near the end of the book, Roy says that this is a time of great intellectual confusion. As an example, anti-imperialist "supporters" of Women's Rights support the Taliban! Well, if he thinks he is confused, that is fine. I'm not. If you support the Taliban, you do not support Women's Rights.

Yes, it is true that some Christian moderates are in an alliance with some Muslim fundamentalists. Some of them appear to be in this alliance to fight against Christian fundamentalists and Jews. And it may be interesting to see why. And yes, some Jewish moderates and Christian fundamentalists are allied as well, just to defend themselves. Once again, it may be interesting to see if these alliances extend to anything more than that. And I think it could be a good idea to investigate the very rare alliances of Muslim moderates and Jewish fundamentalists. But I think Roy has not offered us much merely by saying that there are alliances which cut across religious and political boundaries.

I found the book interesting, and I think it contains some intriguing facts.

One thing right.......2004-11-17

One thing is 100% correct here. Islamism is a direct reaction tot he west, employing western concepts like 'human rights' and such other odd ideas to then attack the west. THe Islamic world was much more liberal and moderate before it came into contact with the west. The current wave of terrorism and hatred is based much more on islamic reading and studying in the west then actually the original 'Islamic civilization' before contact with the west. for instance the hatred of 'womens rights' is more based on a hatred of the western woman, then it is the way Islamic women actually used to act. The anti-semitism of modern islam is anothee aspect that was wholly stolen from the West. The search for the 'real' islam is a waste and this book is correct in understanding the Islamism is merely a search, like communism, for a third way. It is the wests coddling of Islam that has emboldened its most fanatic members, it is the lefts support of terrorism that created the 'left wing' terrorism that then transformed into militant Islamic terrorism, it is the wests self hatred that has made Islam hate the west.

Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah.(Book review): An article from: Middle East Quarterly

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Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah.(Book review): An article from: Middle East Quarterly
Stephen Schwartz
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
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General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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This digital document is an article from Middle East Quarterly, published by Thomson Gale on June 22, 2007. The length of the article is 459 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah.(Book review)
Author: Stephen Schwartz
Publication: Middle East Quarterly (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 22, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 14 Issue: 3 Page: 78(2)

Article Type: Book review

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Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah.(Book review): An article from: Real Estate Issues

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Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah.(Book review): An article from: Real Estate Issues
Bowen H. "Buzz" McCoy
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This digital document is an article from Real Estate Issues, published by Thomson Gale on June 22, 2006. The length of the article is 1372 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah.(Book review)
Author: Bowen H. "Buzz" McCoy
Publication: Real Estate Issues (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 22, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 31 Issue: 1 Page: 56(2)

Article Type: Book review

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Globalized Islam : The Search for a New Ummah (The Ceri Series in Comparative Politics and International Studies)

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Globalized Islam : The Search for a New Ummah (The Ceri Series in Comparative Politics and International Studies)
Olivier Roy
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ASIN: B000MUBL9C

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Globalized Islam: The Search For A New Ummah
Olivier Roy
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
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ASIN: B000OPQIQ6

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A complete photographic study of the 20 species of Wading birds as well as their habitat

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