theglobaljournal.net: Latest activities of group #10

Straight Talk

2012-03-06T18:20:31Z

What Will Work: Fighting Climate Change with Renewable Energy, Not Nuclear Power, Kristin Shrader-Frechette, Oxford University Press, £27 .50

It is one of the most common stories of mankind, to be repeated time and again: a few greedy individuals make profit at the expense of the populace. Take the financial scandal on Wall Street, speculators and the price of oil at the exchange market, or, in this case, climate change antagonists. Who exactly benefits from polluting the atmosphere? The environment? People? No. It’s the utility companies, their stakeholders and their paid spokespersons. Unfortunately, the general public cannot discern between what are scientific facts and what are downright lies. But thanks to Kristin Shrader-Frechette, Professor at the Department of Biological Sciences and Department of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame we now learn why some deny that global warming is happening. We learn what is really at stake when we build new nuclear power plants. We learn that nuclear fission is not the answer to climate change, contrary to what many leaders, including the Obama administration, tell the public. With three post-docs in her pockets, biology, economics and hydrogeology, Shrader- Frechette takes the reader through the common pro-nuclear arguments and refutes them by relying on scientific evidence, logic and behind-the-scene investigations. Her powerful arguments are well thought through and quite easy to understand. One danger of reading the book is that it can infuriate the reader. As she demystifies the entire nuclear energy agenda, taking the reader through its scientific, medical, economic and ethical applications, the author reveals what must be today’s biggest scandal. Just consider some of her arguments. Reducing the carbon footprint by way of nuclear fission makes no sense because when one counts all 14 cycles of a nuclear power plant, it is evident that its creation, maintenance and dismantling require more energy than the nuclear reactor will generate in its lifetime. Furthermore, civil nuclear proliferation increases the chances of terrorist attack: it requires very little plutonium to make weapons, and already nuclear storage sites worldwide cannot explain how some plutonium has gone missing from their stocks. Or, those who live close to a “normally” functioning nuclear reactor are more at risk of cancer, especially children, who are 38 times as vulnerable to radioactivity as adults. Clearly, nuclear power plants are neither efficient nor safe. Yet last month the Obama administration authorized the creation of two nuclear power plants, costing the taxpayers $14 billion. But why do leaders pursue nuclear power as an answer to the energy crisis and energy security despite all the factors against it? Desperate as the situation might seem, the book offers compelling answers and solutions to one of our generation’s most pressing issues. Shrader- Frechette’s fiery tone is invigorating, and one can only wish for today’s leaders to be as conscientious, courageous and honest as she is.

—J.H.

Urban Planning is Key

2012-03-06T18:16:12Z

The Very Hungry City: Urban Energy Efficiency and the Economic Fate of Cities, Austin Troy, Yale University Press, £25.00/$28.00/20,00 €

In his new book Austin Troy shows how urban environment management is an important component of any solution addressing the energy crisis and climate change. As an associate professor at the University of Vermont and former city Planning Commissioner, the author’s obvious passion for urban energy efficiency and his straightforward and conversational writing style makes a somewhat dry topic truly fascinating. The book is sprinkled with the author’s pictures and personal anecdotes from field trips that took him across the United States and Europe. The reader thus gains insight into a Scandinavian urban redevelopment project that serves as a role model to the rest of the world or into the house of a Hollywood actor, who decided to turn his house “green.” A unique and rather clever feature of the book is its mini chapters on the different forms of existing energy and their sustainability, such as tar sands, nuclear fission, biofuels and wind; all to demonstrate to the reader that there is no “silver bullet” solution and that energy efficiency and energy conservation must absolutely be part of any serious action plan. The first part of the book outlines the energy crisis that cities worldwide are facing while the second part is all about solutions. Yet to the author’s credit he does not present the reader with a tedious list that has been regurgitated time and again. Instead, Troy delivers his message by going back to the historical roots of the problem and by using real-life examples, proving that it is possible for very hungry cities to go on a healthy diet.

—J.H.

Beyond Words

2012-03-06T18:12:34Z

Dignity in Adversity: Human Rights in Troubled Times, Seyla Benhabib, Polity Books, 21,60 €

Never has the human rights discourse been so ubiquitous and so contested at the same time. Never has the international human rights regime been so elaborated and so undermined by new discourses and practices emerging in a global order in transition. From human rights violation justified through claims to cultural relativism, restrictive human rights policies based on the principle of state sovereignty, and abuse of human rights discourse to justify military interventionism, it is the very moral and philosophical foundation of the human rights cosmopolitan project that seems to be wavering. Looking beyond the apparent tension between universalism, cultural diversity and state sovereignty, Seyla Benhabib provides us with a rich and complex web of conceptual approaches to see through the global political challenges of our times. Rejecting the fetishization of cultures as ahistorical holistic worldviews, Benhabib insists on the force of “communicative freedom” which enables peoples to interpret and articulate the universal in concrete contexts of self-governing polities through what she calls “democratic iterations”. She firmly believes in the often underrated “jurisgenerative power” of human rights norms which empowers new actors across borders by creating new vocabularies for claimmaking and new channels for mobilization and therefore calls for new forms of democratic participation through transnational discursive communities to accommodate the increasing uncoupling of territoriality, sovereignty, and citizenship. Produced as a collection of essays written between 2006 and 2012, the book offers a comprehensive presentation of Benhabib’s main philosophical works, which makes it dense reading. With a “cosmopolitanism without illusion” as a normative agenda, one might regret that so little empirical ground is provided to support the author’s pleasantly bold thinking, and that, her own cultural background put aside, there is no encounter with nonwestern classical and modern thought in her otherwise balanced and culturally sensitive analysis.

–F.G.

The New Frontier

2012-03-06T18:07:58Z

The End of Straight Supremacy, Realizing Gay Liberation, Shannon Gilreath, Cambridge University Press, $26.95/£18.99

Shannon Gilreath writes his new book with a certain fire that is at first sight off-putting. Throughout, Gilreath wavers between alienating not only the hetero community but also the gay community. While admitting that his book is radical and that it will be considered ‘extremist,’ Gilreath maintains its necessity in pointing to an emergency: Gaynocide – caused by ‘Heteroarchy’. His message is that this pervasive heteroarch renders current equality dialogue victim to its oppression. One can only hope that his radical language does not block the average reader from taking his point seriously – that seeking equal rights in traditional institutions is not truly seeking equality. Those institutions are laden with gender stereotypes – based on dominance versus docility – and the gay community finds itself coerced to act out stale gender norms created long ago by ‘straight’ men. The End of Straight Supremacy is hashing out a “new order in which homosexuality is something other than the absence of heterosexuality and where Gay people are more than counterfactual to straight supremacy.” Gilreath’s work is as important to the gay community as it is to the hetero community – calling for an evaluation of the equality movement from all angles. It may not be a book for the faint of heart – those easily offended by a four letter word beginning with the letter F or by graphic psychoanalysis of raw pornography - but it is likely that Gilreath is hoping this very audience will take a gander at his piece. After recovering from the shock of his radical language, one can admire his smart analysis of hetero-dominance and the dire need to finally reject clinging to the gender binary.

–M.B.

Mooncake and Dragon-Whisker Noodles

2012-03-06T18:03:16Z

Chinese Food, Liu Junru, Cambridge University Press, £12.99

Do you know when to eat a mooncake? Dragon-whisker noodles? And that if you show up unexpectedly at the door of a Mongolian tent they will prepare a feast with a whole lamb to welcome you? As millions across the world recently welcomed the year of the Dragon, and China’s clout and soft power are reaching today far beyond the former Chinese empire, Liu Junru’s book is a mustread for anyone seeking to understand China and its culinary culture and traditions. On a first trip to China, the neophyte will quickly realize how food bears an importance out of the ordinary in Chinese people’s daily lives. In a country where the first question people ask each other when they meet is not “how are you?” but rather “have you had your meal already?” in-depth knowledge of China’s eating and drinking habits is mandatory for businessmen and travelers alike. Liu Junru’s book is a true gem; the author navigates comfortably through the vast array of Chinese culinary traditions; the author’s writing style is clear, concise and unassuming, in a leisurely way unveiling the secrets of Chinese cuisine, history and cooking techniques, the intricacies of table etiquette, and new trends in eating habits. Liu Junru explores the main eight Chinese culinary traditions and ventures to explain eating habits, taboos and cooking customs of Chinese national minorities. The reader quickly learns the basics in the fine art of mixing the “five flavors” and skillfully combining food colors to please the eye, and how to guarantee health benefits from the food we eat. Crisp and captivating, this book makes a comprehensive and pleasant read; the perfect travel companion on a long-haul, China-bound flight.

–I.M.

Empowerment in Afghanistan

2012-03-06T17:59:54Z

The Favored Daughter: One Woman’s Fight to Lead Afghanistan into the Future, Fawzia Koofi with Nadene Ghouri, Palgrave Macmillan, £16.99/$26.00

Fawzia Koofi’s new book gives a rare and gripping insight into the life and reflections of an Afghan woman who fought against all likelihood to become Afghanistan’s first female Parliament Speaker. The book’s graceful and vivid language allows the reader to become Koofi’s shadow, accompanying this brave woman throughout her extraordinary journey. The powerful story begins with her birth to Wakil Abdul Rahman, member of the Afghan Parliament and his second wife. Her father’s 19th child with his second wife out of seven, Koofi was left to die because her mother wanted a boy. Nonetheless, Koofi survived thanks to her mother’s mercy and remorse. She endured the deaths of her closest family members and survived assassination attempts on her own life. Despite these incredible hardships, Koofi did not lose hope. She found purpose and strength in helping people, especially rural women and children. To read how Koofi, despite all adversity and misfortunes, empowered herself is profoundly inspiring. But the book is not only about Koofi. Its underlying theme is Afghanistan’s future. The book confronts the salient question on how to construct a new Afghan identity, one that does not pay tribute to the brutality and inhumanity of the Mujahidin, the Taliban, and the current war on terror, but one that includes the Afghans’ rich history and culture. Koofi believes in an Afghan identity that is based both on traditions and on human rights, civility and the rule of law. This book comes just at a time when the United States is planning to withdraw its troops. The spellbinding story refocuses the attention of a desensitized world on Afghanistan’s potential and future.

–J.H.

The Humanitarian With Humour

2012-03-06T17:55:24Z

Breaking the Rules: Working for the UN Can Be Fun. And it Can Also Do Some Good Provided One Is Ready to Lie, Fib, Obfuscate and Break All the Rules, Alexander Casella, Tricorne, 30 €

Tracing his life, first as a journalist and then as an agent of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Alexander Casella brings us back into some of the most relevant events of our contemporary history: the war in Vietnam and the Cold War period. Casella was born in Naples, Italy, but grew up in Geneva where he fled in 1943 as a refugee, being the son of a Jewish pianist and choreographer from Prague. He is flattered when someone describes him as “the Swiss cynic,” when cynicism is interpreted as a lack of trust in the motivation of others and in particular “of those who claim to act for selfless or lofty motives.” From Hanoi to Beirut and from New York to Bangkok, the author describes his two decades of career on the frontline of humanitarian action in an exceptional narrative style. No one is safe from his critical analysis. Including himself. Self-righteous, dull and careerist characters stand out from the humanitarian world he portrays. His writing is funny, provocative, and full of references to details that can hardly be found anywhere else. Casella tells a story where comedy and tragedy harmoniously alternate, keeping the reader totally fascinated by his incredible life. In the end, despite a picture where mediocracy and lack of accountability seem to rule in the international organizations, the author gives his readers hope, and shows that “working for UN can be fun and that something good can still be done if one is ready to lie, fib, obfuscate and break all the rules.”

–N.Z.

Women Are Not Children

2012-03-06T17:51:16Z

On The Frontlines: Gender, War, And The Post-Conflict Process, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Dina Francesca Haynes and Naomi Cahn, Oxford University Press, £18.99, $29.95

In On The Frontlines: Gender, War, And The Post-Conflict Process, Aolain, Haynes and Cahn provide an accessible guide for practitioners to better understand the pervasiveness of gender insensitivity in post-conflict reconstruction. The authors address a wide range of processes from peacekeeping to legal reform and social justice, analyzing the detrimental effects of a lack of gender mainstreaming in each, and proposing ways in which gender analyses can be inserted, ameliorating some of these effects. For the authors, universal post-conflict reconstruction practices leave out the intricacies and dynamics of sex and age, thereby ignoring key stakeholders in the peace process. Categorizing women as victims of the conflict and grouping them alongside children, takes away their agency, disempowering them and leaving them voiceless when, in fact, they have unique perspectives and solutions that must be taken into account. Gender is about women and men, boys and girls, and each grouping has a different perspective from their location in the conflicted society’s structure. This means that, for example, rape must be prosecuted as a war crime, and that both men and women must be able to testify to rape and see justice delivered to their rapists. The authors also discuss the importation of deleterious gendered practices by the international community, oftentimes through peacekeepers coming from their own gender-stratified societies. The book is comprehensive and detailed, providing practical explanations for why gender awareness and sensitivity must be given voice if reconstruction is to be successful.

–G.W.

Policing the Shadows?

2012-03-06T17:46:43Z

One Nation Under Surveillance: A New Social Contract to Defend Freedom Without Sacrificing Liberty, Simon Chesterman, Oxford University Press, £20.00

According to leading legal scholar Simon Chesterman, we are now living in a ‘post‑privacy world’. Democratic governments enjoy access to more information about their constituents than at any point in human history. Traditional distinctions between ‘unseemly’ but necessary foreign spying, and domestic surveillance, have been irrevocably eroded through a combination of ‘forward-leaning’ counter-terrorism strategies, a revolution in communications technology, and an increasing public acquiescence to the sharing of personal data as daily routine. While battles continue to be waged over privacy, the war, we are told, will be lost.

In One Nation Under Surveillance, Chesterman turns instead to what he views as the more fundamental questions that we as a society must face. Namely, if data mining, biometric identification and the like are here to stay, should we not focus on how personal information is used, rather than distract ourselves with the minutiae of what is collected? More precisely, how can citizens ensure the public accountability of clandestine and insular intelligence services whose operations (and abuses) have traditionally been cloaked in secrecy? Unlike the production line of journalistic tomes contributing to a burgeoning post‑9/11 ‘brave new world’ literature, One Nation Under Surveillance is rich in theory and crafted with a scholarly eye. Chesterman concisely surveys the political history and jurisprudential treatment of intelligence activities, before providing an engaging comparative perspective on the flawed approaches pursued by the United States, United Kingdom and United Nations in recent times. The final section, however, is at once the book’s most compelling, but brief, one. While the subtitle of One Nation Under Surveillance promises a ‘new social contract’ to navigate the inherent and enduring tensions between security and liberty, Chesterman ultimately offers less a concrete proposal, and more a nuanced – yet realist – vision of the appropriate limits and role of government surveillance.

—A.K.

Back in the Subway

2012-03-06T17:40:55Z

Subway by Bruce Davidson, Steidl 48€

For several years now, publisher Steidl has been republishing photographers whose work, often out of print, represents a cornerstone in the story of photography and its dissemination. In this way, artists such as Robert Frank, William Eggleston or Lewis Baltz – who have always believed in the importance of publication in book form – have been able to bring their work to the public eye again. Now photographer Bruce Davidson will see his work reprinted. Following Circus, England/Scotland 1960 and the magnificent collection Outside Inside, printed in 2009, his series on the New York metro, Subway, has just been reissued.

When Davidson carried out this work, in the early 80s, the New York subway was a dangerous place: no day passed without some act of aggression or violence. In the fine introductory text, the photographer explains how he prepared himself, like an athlete or explorer, to face any situation, to overcome fear and to venture out on the rail network well beyond Manhattan, through devastated or well-kempt neighborhoods. He describes the poverty, the unlikely encounters by day or by night, and how he dared to take pictures with flash amidst this human magma. Beyond the views and the voyage framed by the train windows, beyond the incredible presence of taggers’ graffiti dripping endlessly all over the carriages, Subway is a book portraying men and women, rich and poor, in a theatre that neutralizes all social differences. Davidson began the work in black and white, but, quickly struck by the combination of artificial light and metallic reflections from the surface of the train, was persuaded that the images required color. This is exceptional in his oeuvre. Subway is a rainbow ride from slums to city skyline. We encounter the human condition through a unique collection of portraits and attitudes, captured in the cool tones of the legendary kodachrome. Bruce Davidson remains faithful to the human commitment that drew him to photograph life in Harlem or the Civil Rights Movement – a story told by a perceptive and generous observer.

By B. F.