Making the San Fernando Valley
Making the San Fernando Valley

Author: Laura R. Barraclough

Publisher: University of Georgia Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 0820335622

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In the first book-length scholarly study of the San Fernando Valley—home to one-third of the population of Los Angeles—Laura R. Barraclough combines ambitious historical sweep with an on-theground investigation of contemporary life in this iconic western suburb. She is particularly intrigued by the Valley's many rural elements, such as dirt roads, tack-and-feed stores, horse-keeping districts, citrus groves, and movie ranches. Far from natural or undeveloped spaces, these rural characteristics are, she shows, the result of deliberate urbanplanning decisions that have shaped the Valley over the course of more than a hundred years. The Valley's entwined history of urban development and rural preservation has real ramifications today for patterns of racial and class inequality and especially for the evolving meaning of whiteness. Immersing herself in meetings of homeowners' associations, equestrian organizations, and redistricting committees, Barraclough uncovers the racial biases embedded in rhetoric about “open space” and “western heritage.” The Valley's urban cowboys enjoy exclusive, semirural landscapes alongside the opportunities afforded by one of the world's largest cities. Despite this enviable position, they have at their disposal powerful articulations of both white victimization and, with little contradiction, color-blind politics.

Labors of Fear
Labors of Fear

Author: Aviva Briefel

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2023-06-20

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 1477327231

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

How work and capitalism inspire horror in modern film. American ideals position work as a source of pride, opportunity, and meaning. Yet the ravages of labor are constant grist for horror films. Going back decades to the mad scientists of classic cinema, the menial motel job that prepares Norman Bates for his crimes in Psycho, and the unemployed slaughterhouse workers of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, horror movies have made the case that work is not so much a point of pride as a source of monstrosity. Editors Aviva Briefel and Jason Middleton assemble the first study of horror’s critique of labor. In the 1970s and 1980s, films such as The Shining and Dawn of the Dead responded to deindustrialization, automation, globalization, and rising numbers of women in the workforce. Labors of Fear explores these critical issues and extends them in discussions of recent works such as The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Midsommar, Survival of the Dead, It Follows, Get Out, and Us. Covering films ranging from the 1970s onward, these essays address novel and newly recognized modes and conditions of labor: reproductive labor, emotion work and emotional labor, social media and self-branding, intellectual labor, service work, precarity, and underemployment. In its singular way, horror continues to make spine-tingling sense of what is most destructive in the wider sociopolitical context of US capitalism.

Kerry Washington
Kerry Washington

Author: Joel Newsome

Publisher: Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC

Published: 2017-12-15

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 1502631741

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Actress Kerry Washington has performed for film, television, and Broadway, but when she is off the stage, Washington is an outspoken activist, supporting women's rights and calling attention to other important social issues. Washington's activism and talent have made her respected and admired by both men and women. This book delves into her early influences, including family, education, and career, that made her the women leader she is today, through to her current status as a famed actress and activist.