This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1987.
"This book shows that a large part of the British empire's history took place in the minds of distant readers who were by turns inspired, entranced, and agonized by English literature"--
Blending architecture, design, and technology, a visual tour through futures past via the objects we have replaced, left behind, and forgotten. So-called extinct objects are those that were imagined but were never in use, or that existed but are now unused—superseded, unfashionable, or simply forgotten. Extinct gathers together an exceptional range of artists, curators, architects, critics, and academics, including Hal Foster, Barry Bergdoll, Deyan Sudjic, Tacita Dean, Emily Orr, Richard Wentworth, and many more. In eighty-five essays, contributors nominate “extinct” objects and address them in a series of short, vivid, sometimes personal accounts, speaking not only of obsolete technologies, but of other ways of thinking, making, and interacting with the world. Extinct is filled with curious, half-remembered objects, each one evoking a future that never came to pass. It is also a visual treat, full of interest and delight.
In an age of frequent wars, conflicts, and existential risks that transcend borders, the old paradigm of war is a moral abomination and in effect a suicide pact for humanity. The forces of violence, tribalism, and domination are deeply entrenched. Finding peace demands a revolution of the human spirit - one that begins with each of us. War is Obsolete draws on insights from psychology, history, and inspiring peacemakers. It demonstrates the shattering costs of armed conflict, that require a roadmap to a more just and sustainable future. At its core, this book is about the choices before us as a civilization: will we remain captive to cycles of trauma, dehumanization, and escalating violence? Or bring Peace, Happiness and Prosperity to our Homelands? With chapters on transforming conflict through nonviolence, the power of diplomacy, and envisioning a peace economy, War is Obsolete offers a comprehensive roadmap. But it is more than techniques; it nurtures the qualities of empathy, compassion, and moral imagination that make peace possible. From the interpersonal to the international, it shows how we can all be agents rejecting domination and ushering in a new paradigm of partnership. Blending narrative storytelling, incisive analysis, and profound spiritual vision, War is Obsolete issues an urgent summons to our better angels. In these pages, the path of peace emerges not as a utopian dream but a practical necessity - the only way to meet our generational calling to create a just, sustainable, and truly human future. The choice is ours. To ensure broad accessibility, this book is priced affordably. It is my sincere hope that by making this resource widely available, it can have a meaningful, positive impact. If my book "War is Obsolete: How to bring Peace, Happiness, Prosperity to your Homeland, instead of war and death", can save even one life or bring a measure of happiness to a single individual, I will feel a deep sense of fulfillment and happiness myself. I will be grateful to be able to make a difference through this work.
