Udhaya is a virile hedonist, an angsty writer, a discriminating connoisseur, a reverent francophile and an abrasive critic, Time-tested, seasoned and experienced, he transports the reader to the rustic streets of Thanjavur, the buzzing locality of Mylapore, the boondocks of Delhi, the most engaging historical whereabouts of France, Thailand and Morocco, and (quite often) his beloved's bedroom with uncensored personal anecdotes. unabashedly raw, undeniably true to life and pluckily critical, Marginal Man anatomizes the personalities and the sexual nature of its vast and curious cast and the eidos of multiple societies with a fine scalpel.
This book is an extraordinary work of scholarship in its own right, as well as an essential companion to the work of its subject, one of Canada's most important minds.
The story of Jemmy Jock Bird, the son of a Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company and a Cree woman, is a little-known, yet fascinating, part of the mythology of the northern fur trade. Caught between opposing sides of a dual heritage, Bird situated himself firmly in both worlds. Hired as an undercover 'confidential servant', he crossed into US territory to bring furs taken by Cree and Peigan hunters to his British employers. Later, he served both nations, and his tribal friends, in the negotiation of the 1855 Blackfoot peace treaty and the 1877 Canadian Treaty 7. In this creative non-fiction account, Jackson reconstructs the life of this intriguing individual, using materials from the Hudson's Bay Archives, the Montana Historical Society, and Bird's descendants living on the American Blackfoot Reservation in Browning, Montana.
A sociologist and former fashion model takes readers inside the elite global party circuit of "models and bottles" to reveal how beautiful young women are used to boost the status of men Million-dollar birthday parties, megayachts on the French Riviera, and $40,000 bottles of champagne. In today's New Gilded Age, the world's moneyed classes have taken conspicuous consumption to new extremes. In Very Important People, sociologist, author, and former fashion model Ashley Mears takes readers inside the exclusive global nightclub and party circuit—from New York City and the Hamptons to Miami and Saint-Tropez—to reveal the intricate economy of beauty, status, and money that lies behind these spectacular displays of wealth and leisure. Mears spent eighteen months in this world of "models and bottles" to write this captivating, sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking narrative. She describes how clubs and restaurants pay promoters to recruit beautiful young women to their venues in order to attract men and get them to spend huge sums in the ritual of bottle service. These "girls" enhance the status of the men and enrich club owners, exchanging their bodily capital for as little as free drinks and a chance to party with men who are rich or aspire to be. Though they are priceless assets in the party circuit, these women are regarded as worthless as long-term relationship prospects, and their bodies are constantly assessed against men's money. A story of extreme gender inequality in a seductive world, Very Important People unveils troubling realities behind moneyed leisure in an age of record economic disparity.
Mixed race studies is one of the fastest growing, as well as one of the most important and controversial areas in the field of race and ethnic relations. Bringing together pioneering and controversial scholarship from both the social and the biological sciences, as well as the humanities, this reader charts the evolution of debates on 'race' and 'mixed race' from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century. The book is divided into three main sections: tracing the origins: miscegenation, moral degeneracy and genetics mapping contemporary and foundational discourses: 'mixed race', identities politics, and celebration debating definitions: multiraciality, census categories and critiques. This collection adds a new dimension to the growing body of literature on the topic and provides a comprehensive history of the origins and directions of 'mixed race' research as an intellectual movement. For students of anthropology, race and ethnicity, it is an invaluable resource for examining the complexities and paradoxes of 'racial' thinking across space, time and disciplines.
Black Social Science and the Crisis of Manhood, 1890-1970 describes the young black male crisis, why we are largely unfamiliar with the story of the black superman, and why this matters to contemporary debates. It does so by returning to the work of those original black social scientists to explore the ways in which they understood the challenges of black manhood, offered substantive critiques of the nation’s race, class, and gender systems, and worked to construct a progression. The careful study of their work reveals the centrality of gender to discussions of race and class, and also new possibilities for understanding and discussing black men. This book offers a look at pioneering black social scientists as well as a history of the changing perceptions, ideals, and shifting depictions of black and white manhood over nearly a century.
Writing to his brother, G’Ra Asim reflects on building his own identity while navigating Blackness, masculinity, and young adulthood—all through wry social commentary and music/pop culture critique How does one approach Blackness, masculinity, otherness, and the perils of young adulthood? For G’Ra Asim, punk music offers an outlet to express himself freely. As his younger brother, Gyasi, grapples with finding his footing in the world, G’Ra gifts him with a survival guide for tackling the sometimes treacherous cultural terrain particular to being young, Black, brainy, and weird in the form of a mixtape. Boyz n the Void: a mixtape to my brother blends music and cultural criticism and personal essay to explore race, gender, class, and sexuality as they pertain to punk rock and straight edge culture. Using totemic punk rock songs on a mixtape to anchor each chapter, the book documents an intergenerational conversation between a Millennial in his 30s and his zoomer teenage brother. Author, punk musician, and straight edge kid, G’Ra Asim weaves together memoir and cultural commentary, diving into the depths of everything from theory to comic strips, to poetry to pizza commercials to mapping the predicament of the Black creative intellectual. With each chapter dedicated to a particular song and placed within the context of a fraternal bond, Asim presents his brother with a roadmap to self-actualization in the form of a Doc Martened foot to the behind and a sweaty, circle-pit-side-armed hug. Listen to the author’s playlist while you read! Access the playlist here: https://sptfy.com/a18b
The first full-scale sociological survey of the assimilation of minorities in America, this classic work presents significant conclusions about the problems of prejudice and discrimination in America and offers positive suggestions for the achievement of a healthy balance among societal, subgroup, and individual needs.
