Joshua Comaroff's Books

Horror in Architecture

The Reanimated Edition

By: Joshua Comaroff,Ong Ker-Shing

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Horror in Architecture

The Reanimated Edition

By: Joshua Comaroff,Ong Ker-Shing

A new edition of this extensive visual analysis of horror tropes and their architectural analogues Horror in Architecture presents an unflinching look at how horror genre tropes manifest in the built environment. Spanning the realms of art, design, literature, and film, this newly revised and expanded edition compiles examples from all areas of popular culture to form a visual anthology of the architectural uncanny. Rooted in the Romantic and Gothic treatment of horror as a serious aesthetic category, Horror in Architecture establishes incisive links between contemporary horror media and its parallel traits found in various architectural designs. Through chapters dedicated to distorted and monstrous buildings, abandoned spaces, extremes of scale, and other structural peculiarities, and featuring new essays on insurgent natures, blobs, and architectural puppets, this volume brings together diverse architectural anomalies and shows how their unsettling effects deepen our fascination with the unreal. Intended for both horror fans and students of visual culture, Horror in Architecture turns a unique lens on the relationship between the human body and the artificial landscapes it inhabits. Extensively illustrated with photographs, film stills, and diagrams, this book retrieves horror from the cultural fringes and demonstrates how its attributes permeate the modern condition and the material world.

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376

Publisher

U of Minnesota Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1452970254

ISBN 13

9781452970257

History from South Africa

Alternative Visions and Practices

By: Joshua Brown

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History from South Africa

Alternative Visions and Practices

By: Joshua Brown

More starkly than any other contemporary social conflict, the crisis in South Africa highlights the complexities and conflicts in race, gender, class, and nation. These original articles, most of which were written by South African authors, are from a special issue of the Radical History Review, published in Spring 1990, that mapped the development of interpretations of the South African past that depart radically from the official history. The articles range from the politics of black movements in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to studies of film, television, and theater as reflections of modern social conflict. History from South Africa is presented in two main sections: discussions of the historiography of South Africa from the viewpoint of those rewriting it with a radical outlook; and investigations into popular history and popular culture—the production and reception of history in the public realm. In addition, two photo essays dramatize this history visually; maps and a chronology complete the presentation. The book provides a fresh look at major issues in South African social and labor history and popular culture, and focuses on the role of historians in creating and interacting with a popular movement of resistance and social change.

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Page Count

486

Publisher

Temple University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0877228485

ISBN 13

9780877228486

African Motors

Technology, Gender, and the History of Development

By: Joshua Grace

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African Motors

Technology, Gender, and the History of Development

By: Joshua Grace

In African Motors, Joshua Grace examines how Tanzanian drivers, mechanics, and passengers reconstituted the automobile into a uniquely African form between the late 1800s and the early 2000s. Drawing on hundreds of oral histories, extensive archival research, and his ethnographic fieldwork as an apprentice in Dar es Salaam's network of garages, Grace counters the pervasive narratives that Africa is incompatible with technology and that the African use of cars is merely an appropriation of technology created elsewhere. Although automobiles were invented in Europe and introduced as part of colonial rule, Grace shows how Tanzanians transformed them, increasingly associating their own car use with maendeleo, the Kiswahili word for progress or development. Focusing on the formation of masculinities based in automotive cultures, Grace also outlines the process through which African men remade themselves and their communities by adapting technological objects and systems for local purposes. Ultimately, African Motors is an African-centered story of development featuring everyday examples of Africans forging both individual and collective cultures of social and technological wellbeing through movement, making, and repair.

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Page Count

266

Publisher

Duke University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1478021276

ISBN 13

9781478021278

Converting the Saxons

A Study of Violence and Religion in Early Medieval Germany

By: Joshua M. Cragle

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Converting the Saxons

A Study of Violence and Religion in Early Medieval Germany

By: Joshua M. Cragle

Utilizing a “crusading ethos,” from 772 to 804 AD, Charlemagne, King of the Franks, waged war against the continental Saxons to integrate them within the growing Frankish Empire and facilitate their conversion to Christianity. While substantial research has been produced concerning various components of Carolingian history, this work offers a unique examination of Charlemagne’s Saxon Wars as a case study for understanding methods of conversion used in the Christianization of Europe, as well as their significance for subsequent conversion strategies employed around the globe. Converting the Saxons builds on prior scholarly research, is grounded in primary sources, and is contextualized with a robust historical introduction. Throughout the text, particular emphasis is given to Christian encounters with paganism and the way paganism was interpreted, confronted, and transformed. Within those encounters, we observe myriad forces of coercion and incentivization used in societal religious conversion, demonstrating the need for a serious reconsideration of the standard narratives surrounding Christian missions. This book provides a scholarly and accessible resource for students and researchers interested in transhistorical methods of conversion, the history of Christianity, Early Medieval paganism, Colonial religious encounters, and the nature of religious conversion.

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Page Count

345

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Published Date

ISBN 10

1000969215

ISBN 13

9781000969214

Tibetan Buddhism among Han Chinese

Mediation and Superscription of the Tibetan Tradition in Contemporary Chinese Society

By: Joshua Esler

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Tibetan Buddhism among Han Chinese

Mediation and Superscription of the Tibetan Tradition in Contemporary Chinese Society

By: Joshua Esler

This study analyzes the growing appeal of Tibetan Buddhism among Han Chinese in contemporary China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. It examines the Tibetan tradition’s historical context and its social, cultural, and political adaptation to Chinese society, as well as the effects on Han practitioners. The author's analysis is based on fieldwork in all three locations and includes a broad range of interlocutors, such as Tibetan religious teachers, Han practitioners, and lay Tibetans.

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Page Count

315

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

1498584659

ISBN 13

9781498584654

A Future and a Hope

Mission, Theological Education, and the Transformation of Post-Soviet Society

By: Joshua T. Searle,Mykhailo Cherenkov

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A Future and a Hope

Mission, Theological Education, and the Transformation of Post-Soviet Society

By: Joshua T. Searle,Mykhailo Cherenkov

After more than twenty years since the fall of the USSR, the evangelical movement in post-Soviet society has entered a crucial phase in its historical development. Setting out a transformative vision of mission and theological education, this book makes an important contribution towards the renewal of the church in this fascinating--but deeply troubled--part of the world. After the violent and disruptive events that followed the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity and Freedom in 2013/14, the evangelical movement in post-Soviet society now has an unprecedented opportunity to become a shining example of a "church without walls." Searle and Cherenkov reflect on the political, social, cultural, and intellectual legacy of the Soviet Union and offer bold and innovative proposals on how the church can rediscover its prophetic voice by relinquishing its debilitating dependence on the state and, instead, expressing solidarity with the people in their legitimate aspirations for freedom and democracy. Notwithstanding the pessimism and lament expressed on many pages, the authors conclude on a positive note, predicting that the coming years will witness a flowering of evangelical ecumenism in action as Christian solidarity flourishes and overflows denominational boundaries and parochial interests.

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Page Count

200

Publisher

Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

1498202535

ISBN 13

9781498202534

Agency in Ancient Writing

By: Joshua Englehardt

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Agency in Ancient Writing

By: Joshua Englehardt

Through the lens of agency, contributors successfully rethink the nature of ancient texts. In so doing they ably demonstrate that when a new theoretical orientation is applied to a taken-for-granted category of data it invigorates both the data and our understanding of the past." —Marcia-Anne Dobres, University of Main Individual agents are frequently evident in early writing and notational systems, yet these systems have rarely been subjected to the concept of agency as it is traceable in archeology. Agency in Ancient Writing addresses this oversight, allowing archeologists to identify and discuss real, observable actors and actions in the archaeological record. Embracing myriad ways in which agency can be interpreted, ancient writing systems from Mesoamerica, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Crete, China, and Greece are examined from a textual perspective as both archaeological objects and nascent historical documents. This allows for distinction among intentions, consequences, meanings, and motivations, increasing understanding and aiding interpretation of the subjectivity of social actors. Chapters focusing on acts of writing and public recitation overlap with those addressing the materiality of texts, interweaving archaeology, epigraphy, and the study of visual symbol systems. Agency in Ancient Writing leads to a more thorough and meaningful discussion of agency as an archaeological concept and will be of interest to anyone interested in ancient texts, including archaeologists, historians, linguists, epigraphers, and art historians, as well as scholars studying agency and structuration theory.

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Page Count

320

Publisher

University Press of Colorado

Published Date

ISBN 10

1457174022

ISBN 13

9781457174025

Animated by Uncertainty

Rugby and the Performance of History in South Africa

By: Joshua D. Rubin

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Animated by Uncertainty

Rugby and the Performance of History in South Africa

By: Joshua D. Rubin

In Animated by Uncertainty, Joshua D. Rubin analyzes South African rugby through the lens of aesthetic politics. Building on 17 months of ethnographic research with rugby coaches, players, and administrators, the author argues that rugby is a form of performance and further that the qualities that define rugby shape the political ends to which the sport can be put. In this respect, Animated by Uncertainty demonstrates that theories of sporting politics cannot afford to overlook the qualities of the sports themselves, and it provides a theoretical approach to illustrate how these qualities can be studied. The book also analyzes the ways that apartheid and colonialism inhere in South African institutions and practices.Drawing inspiration from the observation that South Africans could always abandon rugby if they chose to do so, Rubin highlights how the continuing significance of rugby as a form of performance brings traces of South Africa's apartheid and colonial past into the country's contemporary political moment.

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Page Count

281

Publisher

University of Michigan Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0472129392

ISBN 13

9780472129393

Making Music Indigenous

Popular Music in the Peruvian Andes

By: Joshua Tucker

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Making Music Indigenous

Popular Music in the Peruvian Andes

By: Joshua Tucker

When thinking of indigenous music, many people may imagine acoustic instruments and pastoral settings far removed from the whirl of modern life. But, in contemporary Peru, indigenous chimaycha music has become a wildly popular genre that is even heard in the nightclubs of Lima. In Making Music Indigenous, Joshua Tucker traces the history of this music and its key performers over fifty years to show that there is no single way to “sound indigenous.” The musicians Tucker follows make indigenous culture and identity visible in contemporary society by establishing a cultural and political presence for Peru’s indigenous peoples through activism, artisanship, and performance. This musical representation of indigeneity not only helps shape contemporary culture, it also provides a lens through which to reflect on the country’s past. Tucker argues that by following the musicians that have championed chimaycha music in its many forms, we can trace shifting meanings of indigeneity—and indeed, uncover the ways it is constructed, transformed, and ultimately recreated through music.

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291

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

022660733X

ISBN 13

9780226607337

Modern Occult Rhetoric

Mass Media and the Drama of Secrecy in the Twentieth Century

By: Joshua Gunn

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Modern Occult Rhetoric

Mass Media and the Drama of Secrecy in the Twentieth Century

By: Joshua Gunn

A broadly interdisciplinary study of the pervasive secrecy in America cultural, political, and religious discourse. The occult has traditionally been understood as the study of secrets of the practice of mysticism or magic. This book broadens our understanding of the occult by treating it as a rhetorical phenomenon tied to language and symbols and more central to American culture than is commonly assumed. Joshua Gunn approaches the occult as an idiom, examining the ways in which acts of textual criticism and interpretation are occultic in nature, as evident in practices as diverse as academic scholarship, Freemasonry, and television production. Gunn probes, for instance, the ways in which jargon employed by various social and professional groups creates barriers and fosters secrecy. From the theory wars of cultural studies to the Satanic Panic that swept the national mass media in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Gunn shows how the paradox of a hidden, buried, or secret meaning that cannot be expressed in language appears time and time again in Western culture. These recurrent patterns, Gunn argues, arise from a generalized, popular anxiety about language and its limitations. Ultimately, Modern Occult Rhetoric demonstrates the indissoluble relationship between language, secrecy, and publicity, and the centrality of suspicion in our daily lives.

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Page Count

372

Publisher

University of Alabama Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0817356568

ISBN 13

9780817356569

Diversity in the Structure of Christian Reasoning

Interpretation, Disagreement, and World Christianity

By: Joshua Broggi

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Diversity in the Structure of Christian Reasoning

Interpretation, Disagreement, and World Christianity

By: Joshua Broggi

Diversity in the Structure of Christian Reasoning examines the effect of Christian commitments on rationality. When Christians read scripture, traditions supply concepts that shape what counts as normal, good, and true. This book offers an account of how different communities produce divergent readings of the Bible. It considers two examples from World Christianity, first a Bakongo community in central Africa, and then a Tamil bishop in southern India. Each case displays a relation between tradition and reason that reconfigures the hermeneutical picture developed by Martin Heidegger and Hans-Georg Gadamer. To see what transpires when readers decide about a correct interpretation, this book offers theologians and scholars of religion a fresh strategy that keeps in view the global character of modern Christianity.

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Page Count

250

Publisher

BRILL

Published Date

ISBN 10

9004298053

ISBN 13

9789004298057

Brokered Homeland

Japanese Brazilian Migrants in Japan

By: Joshua Hotaka Roth

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Brokered Homeland

Japanese Brazilian Migrants in Japan

By: Joshua Hotaka Roth

Faced with an aging workforce, Japanese firms are hiring foreign workers in ever-increasing numbers. In 1990 Japan's government began encouraging the migration of Nikkeijin (overseas Japanese) who are presumed to assimilate more easily than are foreign nationals without a Japanese connection. More than 250,000 Nikkeijin, mainly from Brazil, now work in Japan. The interactions between Nikkeijin and natives, says Joshua Hotaka Roth, play a significant role in the emergence of an increasingly multicultural Japan. He uses the experiences of Japanese Brazilians in Japan to illuminate the racial, cultural, linguistic, and other criteria groups use to distinguish themselves from one another. Roth's analysis is enriched by on-site observations at festivals, in factories, and in community centers, as well as by interviews with workers, managers, employment brokers, and government officials.Considered both "essentially Japanese" and "foreign," nikkeijin benefit from preferential immigration policy, yet face economic and political strictures that marginalize them socially and deny them membership in local communities. Although the literature on immigration tends to blame native blue-collar workers for tense relations with migrants, Roth makes a compelling case for a more complex definition of the relationships among class, nativism, and foreign labor. Brokered Homeland is enlivened by Roth's own experience: in Japan, he came to think of himself as nikkeijin, rather than as Japanese-American.

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Page Count

180

Publisher

Cornell University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0801488087

ISBN 13

9780801488085

State of Fear

Policing a Postcolonial City

By: Joshua Barker

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State of Fear

Policing a Postcolonial City

By: Joshua Barker

In State of Fear, Joshua Barker reckons with how fear and violence are produced and reproduced through everyday practices of rule and control. Examining the ethnographic and historical genealogies of Indonesian policing, Barker focuses on the city of Bandung, which is permeated by anxieties about security, in spite of the fact that it’s a relatively safe city according to the data. Drawing from his fieldwork there during the latter years of the authoritarian New Order regime, Barker traces the complex relationship between the state and vigilante groups like neighborhood watch patrols and street gangs. Through interviews with police officers, vigilantes, and street-level toughs, he uncovers a struggle between two visions of social control that continues to animate policing in Indonesia: the modern, bureaucratic approach favored by the state, and a territorial approach that divides the city into fiefdoms overseen by charismatic individuals of authority. Synthesizing insights from in-depth ethnographic, historical, and theoretical work, Barker reveals how authoritarianism can take root not just from the top down but also from the bottom up.

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Page Count

198

Publisher

Duke University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1478059753

ISBN 13

9781478059752

China's Relations with Africa

A New Era of Strategic Engagement

By: Joshua Eisenman,David H. Shinn

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China's Relations with Africa

A New Era of Strategic Engagement

By: Joshua Eisenman,David H. Shinn

Since Xi Jinping’s accession to power in 2012, nearly every aspect of China’s relations with Africa has grown dramatically. Beijing has increased the share of resources it devotes to African countries, expanding military cooperation, technological investment, and educational and cultural programs as well as extending its political influence. This book examines the full scope of contemporary political and security relations between China and Africa. David H. Shinn and Joshua Eisenman not only explain the specific tactics and methods that Beijing uses to build its strategic relations with African political and military elites but also contextualize and interpret them within China’s larger geostrategy. They argue that the priorities of Chinese leaders—including the conflation of threats to the Communist Party with threats to the country, a growing emphasis on relations in the Global South, and a focus on countering U.S. hegemony—have combined to elevate Africa’s importance among policy makers in Beijing. Ranging from diplomacy and propaganda to arms sales and space cooperation, from increasingly frequent People’s Liberation Army Navy port calls in Africa to the rising number of African students studying in China, this book marshals extensive and compelling qualitative and quantitative evidence of the deepening ties between China and Africa. Drawing on two decades of systematic data and hundreds of surveys and in-person interviews, Shinn and Eisenman shed new light on the state of China-Africa relations today and consider what the future may hold.

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Page Count

259

Publisher

Columbia University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0231558228

ISBN 13

9780231558228

Horror in Architecture

The Reanimated Edition

By: Joshua Comaroff,Ong Ker-Shing

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Horror in Architecture

The Reanimated Edition

By: Joshua Comaroff,Ong Ker-Shing

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Solve jigsaw puzzle

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Page Count

376

Publisher

U of Minnesota Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1452970254

ISBN 13

9781452970257

Book's by Joshua Comaroff

Horror in Architecture

Horror in Architecture

History from South Africa

History from South Africa

African Motors

African Motors

Converting the Saxons

Converting the Saxons

Tibetan Buddhism among Han Chinese

Tibetan Buddhism among Han Chinese

A Future and a Hope

A Future and a Hope

Agency in Ancient Writing

Agency in Ancient Writing

Animated by Uncertainty

Animated by Uncertainty

Making Music Indigenous

Making Music Indigenous

Modern Occult Rhetoric

Modern Occult Rhetoric

Diversity in the Structure of Christian Reasoning

Diversity in the Structure of Christian Reasoning

Brokered Homeland

Brokered Homeland

State of Fear

State of Fear

China's Relations with Africa

China's Relations with Africa

Horror in Architecture

Horror in Architecture

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