Based on observed dynamic interaction among natural, socio-cultural and political factors, the main proposition adopted in the book is that politics are inherent in all human relations, that thought is constrained by interacting subjective and objective variable factors, that intellectual conservatism cannot catch up with dynamic intellectual reality, that ideology restrains intellectual emancipation, and that intellectual suppression is inherent in socio-political relations among individual and collective entities.
"Galileo's Middle Finger is historian Alice Dreger's eye-opening story of life in the trenches of scientific controversy. Dreger's chronicle begins with her own research into the treatment of people born intersex (once called hermaphrodites). Realization of the shocking surgical and ethical abuses conducted in the name of "normalizing" intersex children's gender identities moved Dreger to become an internationally recognized patient rights activist. But even as the intersex rights movement succeeded, Dreger began to realize how some fellow activists were using lies and personal attacks to silence scientisis whose data revealed uncomfortable truths about humans. In researching one case, Dreger suddenly became a target of just these kinds of attacks. Troubled, she decided to try to understand more -- to travel the country and seek a global view of the nature and costs of these damaging battles. Galileo's Middle Finger describes Dreger's long and harrowing journeys between the two camps for which she felt equal empathy: social justice activists determined to win and researchers determined to put hard truths before comfort. What emerges is a lesson about the intertwining of justice and truth-- and about the importance of responsible scholars and journalists to our fragile democracy." --
The International Forum for Social Development was a 3 year project undertaken by the United Nations. Department of Economic and Social Affairs between 2001 and 2004 to promote international cooperation for social development and supporting developing countries and social groups not benefiting from the globalization process. This publication provides an overview and interpretation of the discussions and debates that occurred at the four meetings of the Forum for Social Development held at the United Nations headquarters in New York, within the framework of the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development.
An invitation to readers from every walk of life to rediscover the impractical splendors of a life of learning In an overloaded, superficial, technological world, in which almost everything and everybody is judged by its usefulness, where can we turn for escape, lasting pleasure, contemplation, or connection to others? While many forms of leisure meet these needs, Zena Hitz writes, few experiences are so fulfilling as the inner life, whether that of a bookworm, an amateur astronomer, a birdwatcher, or someone who takes a deep interest in one of countless other subjects. Drawing on inspiring examples, from Socrates and Augustine to Malcolm X and Elena Ferrante, and from films to Hitz's own experiences as someone who walked away from elite university life in search of greater fulfillment, Lost in Thought is a passionate and timely reminder that a rich life is a life rich in thought. Today, when even the humanities are often defended only for their economic or political usefulness, Hitz says our intellectual lives are valuable not despite but because of their practical uselessness. And while anyone can have an intellectual life, she encourages academics in particular to get back in touch with the desire to learn for its own sake, and calls on universities to return to the person-to-person transmission of the habits of mind and heart that bring out the best in us. Reminding us of who we once were and who we might become, Lost in Thought is a moving account of why renewing our inner lives is fundamental to preserving our humanity.
This book is a collection of descriptive and analytical articles. These, which were recently written, deal with socio-political developments at the local, regional and global levels. It is the view of the author that forward or backward change is caused by seen and unseen dynamic socio-political, cultural, psychological and ideological factors, that full-freedom is fiction, that politics is a major driving force in society, and that, to improve human relations, there is a need for better communication between cultures. Dynamics of change implies that all factors are relevant in the explanation of events and developments. The author maintains that reality is wider than explanation and that, in order to help in the achievement of peaceful existence, there is a need to narrow socio-economic gaps nationally and internationally. The author maintains that, in order for peoples to know their miserable reality, they need to deal with reality frankly, honestly and directly. It is very difficult to achieve progress and awakening without democratization and the establishment justice and civil society.
A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice "A brilliant and empathetic guide to the far corners of global capitalism." --Jenny Odell, author of How to Do Nothing From FSGO x Logic: stories about rural China, food, and tech that reveal new truths about the globalized world In Blockchain Chicken Farm, the technologist and writer Xiaowei Wang explores the political and social entanglements of technology in rural China. Their discoveries force them to challenge the standard idea that rural culture and people are backward, conservative, and intolerant. Instead, they find that rural China has not only adapted to rapid globalization but has actually innovated the technology we all use today. From pork farmers using AI to produce the perfect pig, to disruptive luxury counterfeits and the political intersections of e-commerce villages, Wang unravels the ties between globalization, technology, agriculture, and commerce in unprecedented fashion. Accompanied by humorous “Sinofuturist” recipes that frame meals as they transform under new technology, Blockchain Chicken Farm is an original and probing look into innovation, connectivity, and collaboration in the digitized rural world. FSG Originals × Logic dissects the way technology functions in everyday lives. The titans of Silicon Valley, for all their utopian imaginings, never really had our best interests at heart: recent threats to democracy, truth, privacy, and safety, as a result of tech’s reckless pursuit of progress, have shown as much. We present an alternate story, one that delights in capturing technology in all its contradictions and innovation, across borders and socioeconomic divisions, from history through the future, beyond platitudes and PR hype, and past doom and gloom. Our collaboration features four brief but provocative forays into the tech industry’s many worlds, and aspires to incite fresh conversations about technology focused on nuanced and accessible explorations of the emerging tools that reorganize and redefine life today.
Too many people everywhere are angry with their governments. Some would even tell you they are mad. People are frustrated because they feel their elites and governments failed to provide them the basic services that governments are supposed to provide: freedom, peace and security, trusted civil service, and above all an economy and a socio-economic environment that help citizens to work, provide food, education and health services for their families. Many feel the dreams they were pursuing became nightmares. That the political elites, oftentimes beholden to their self-interest while paying lip service to the common good and to money, are bankrupting our moral capital and international goodwill. Governments, systems, and bureaucracies are perceived as incompetent, corrupt, and rigged in favor of the 1% rich, thus keeping the 99% poor hostage. In essence, many people believed that what we now have is a system of modern day slavery where the rich exploit and enslave the poor. Whence the call for revolution to fundamentally change the greed-centered ideologies of tyranny, oppression, and exploitation on which the status quo is founded. Humanity is at a crossroads. We either climb to the mountaintop or slide down to the valleys of death. ere would be hope if we revisit and critically evaluate the official narrative of history imposed by "the victors". There would be hope if we start a genuine conversation about narratives. There would be hope if we start a culture of careful listening. There would be hope if we seek to attain a deeper human understanding of life and the real meaning of the pursuit of happiness. It is time to learn the lessons of old, engage in a rethinking of the human story of barbarism and civilization, and invest in serving the common good of all people. When people open their minds and hearts, they can attain a new awakening and a liberation capable of leading us to realize, at this eleventh hour, a New 21st Century Humanism whose time has come. This has been the author's vision and life's purpose and journey that powered his passion for life's beauty and gave him the bliss of inner peace he wishes for all of humanity.
This book is a collection of descriptive and analytical articles. The articles, which were recently written, deal with developments and events at the local, regional and global levels. It is the view of the author that forward and backward change is caused by dynamic seen and unseen factors of different qualities, full freedom is imaginary, politics is a major driving force in society, and that, to improve human relations, there is a need for a better communication between human cultures. Dynamics of change implies that all factors are relevant in the explanation of developments. The author maintains that reality is wider than explanation and that, in order to help in the achievement of peaceful existence, there is a need to narrow socio-economic gaps nationally and internationally.
