Society & Social Sciences Books

Fascinating profiles of modern writers and artists who tapped the political potential of fairy talesJack Zipes has spent decades as a "scholarly scavenger," discovering forgotten fairy tales in libraries, flea markets, used bookstores, and internet...

A major new history of the genocide of Roma and Jews during World War II and their entangled quest for historical justice.Jews and Roma died side by side in the Holocaust, yet the world did not recognize their destruction equally. In the years and...

How to put democracy at the heart of AI governance.Artificial intelligence and machine learning are reshaping our world. Police forces use them to decide where to send police officers, judges to decide whom to release on bail, welfare agencies to decide...

An essential history of Wahhbism from its founding to the Islamic StateIn the mid-eighteenth century, a controversial Islamic movement arose in the central Arabian region of Najd that forever changed the political landscape of the Arabian Peninsula and...

How reforms limiting electoral misconduct completed the process of democratizationBetween 1850 and 1918, many first-wave democracies in Europe adopted electoral reforms that reduced the incidence of electoral malfeasance. Drawing on analysis of...

A revealing collection of quotations from world-renowned artist Damien Hirst.Hirst-isms is a collection of quotations - bold, surprising, often humorous, and always insightful - from celebrated artist Damien Hirst, whose controversial work explores the...

A richly illustrated exploration of Mina Loy's art and writingsMina Loy (18821966) was one of the most iconoclastic figures in modernism. A groundbreaking poet, she also left an indelible mark in painting, drawing, prose, art criticism, and fashion. Mina...

A major history of Afghanistan and its changing political culture.Afghanistan traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world, from the Mughal Empire in the sixteenth century to the...

An invigorating exploration of the pleasures and social benefits of conversationTalking Cure is a timely and enticing excursion into the art of good conversation. Paula Marantz Cohen reveals how conversation connects us in ways that social media never...

From the New York Times bestselling author, the fascinating story of U.S. economic policy from Kennedy to Biden filled with lessons for today.In this book, Alan Blinder, one of the world's most influential economists and one of the field's best writers,...

How organizations developed in history, how they operate, and how research on them has evolvedOrganizations are all around us: government agencies, multinational corporations, social-movement organizations, religious congregations, scientific bodies,...

A comprehensive and richly illustrated introduction to the world of viruses.As parasites that are often hundreds of times smaller than bacteria, viruses exist in and on everything, everywhere. Rapidly evolving, they are highly opportunistic and...

How the classic mirror test served as a portal for scientists to explore questions of self-awarenessSince the late eighteenth century, scientists have placed subjects-humans, infants, animals, and robots-in front of mirrors in order to look for signs of...

An in-depth look at why non-Jewish Poles are trying to bring Jewish culture back to life in Poland today.Since the early 2000s, Poland has experienced a remarkable Jewish revival, largely driven by non-Jewish Poles with a passionate new interest in all...

How California's counterculture of the 1960s to 1980s profoundly shaped-and was shaped by-West Coast artistsThe 1960s exert a special fascination in modern art. But most accounts miss the defining impact of the period's youth culture, largely incubated...

How a nineteenth-century lawsuit over the estate of a wealthy Tunisian Jew shines new light on the history of belongingIn the winter of 1873, Nissim Shamama, a wealthy Jew from Tunisia, died suddenly in his palazzo in Livorno, Italy. His passing...

A comprehensive and illuminating account of the history of credit in America-and how it continues to divide the haves from the have-notsThe Economy of Promises is a far-reaching study of credit in nineteenth- and twentieth-century America. Synthesizing...

A unique collection of brilliant quotations from the legendary Pop artistOne of the most influential artists of his time and ours, Andy Warhol is nearly as renowned for what he said as for what he did. Indeed, he is so quotable that things he never said...

For decades, African nations have fought for the return of countless works of art stolen during the colonial era and placed in Western museums. In Africa's Struggle for Its Art, Bndicte Savoy brings to light this largely unknown but deeply important...

The extraordinary life story of the celebrated artist and writer, as told through four decades of intimate letters to her beloved motherBarbara Chase-Riboud has led a remarkable life. After graduating from Yale's School of Design and Architecture, she...

Featuring never-before-seen drawings by the renowned contemporary artist, a beautiful facsimile edition that reveals the working process of an extraordinary creative mindSketchbook reproduces original working drawings and sketches by the contemporary...

Tracing the rise of evangelicalism and the decline of mainline Protestantism in American religious and cultural lifeHow did American Christianity become synonymous with conservative white evangelicalism? This sweeping work by a leading historian of...

In a society marked by extreme inequality of income and opportunity, why should economists care about how people feel? The truth is that feelings of well-being are critical metrics that predict future life outcomes. In this timely and innovative account,...

How foreign lending weakens emerging nations.In the nineteenth century, many developing countries turned to the credit houses of Europe for sovereign loans to balance their books and weather major fiscal shocks such as war. This reliance on external...

Why populations brutalized in war elect their tormentorsOne of the great puzzles of electoral politics is how parties that commit mass atrocities in war often win the support of victimized populations to establish the postwar political order. Violent...

Translating Myself and Others is a collection of candid and disarmingly personal essays by Pulitzer Prizewinning author Jhumpa Lahiri, who reflects on her emerging identity as a translator as well as a writer in two languages.With subtlety and emotional...

How decolonization and the cold war influenced literature from Africa, Asia, and the CaribbeanHow did superpower competition and the cold war affect writers in the decolonizing world? In The Aesthetic Cold War, Peter Kalliney explores the various ways...

Celebrated artist Keith Haring (19581990) has been embraced by popular culture for his signature bold graphic line drawings of figures and forms. Like other graffiti artists in the 1980s, Haring found an empty canvas in the advertising panels scattered...

An up-close account of how Nigerians' self-reliance in the absence of reliable government services enables official dysfunction to strengthen state power.When Nigerians say that every household is its own local government, what they mean is that the...

An incisive and sympathetic examination of the case for ending the practice of imprisonmentDespite its omnipresence and long history, imprisonment is a deeply troubling practice. In the United States and elsewhere, prison conditions are inhumane,...

In 2015, the anonymous leak of the Panama Papers brought to light millions of financial and legal documents exposing how the super-rich hide their money using complex webs of offshore vehicles. Spiderweb Capitalism takes you inside this shadow economy,...

Most of us understand that a person's place in society can close doors to opportunity, but anything is possible when we dream about what might be, or so we think. Dreams of a Lifetime reveals that what and how we dream-and whether we believe our dreams...

Leading historians provide perspective on Trump's four turbulent years in the White HouseThe Presidency of Donald J. Trump presents a first draft of history by offering needed perspective on one of the nation's most divisive presidencies. Acclaimed...

A major new history of capitalism from the perspective of the indigenous peoples of Mexico, who sustained and resisted it for centuries The Mexican Heartland provides a new history of capitalism from the perspective of the landed communities surrounding...

A sweeping history of Latin American republicanism in the nineteenth centuryBy the 1820s, after three centuries under imperial rule, the former Spanish territories of Latin America had shaken off their colonial bonds and founded independent republics. In...

Sicily and the strategies of empire in the poetic imagination of classical and medieval EuropeIn the first century BC, Cicero praised Sicily as Rome's first overseas province and confirmed it as the mythic location for the abduction of Proserpina, known...

A bold new interpretation of Augustine's virtue of hope and its place in political lifeWhen it comes to politics, Augustine of Hippo is renowned as one of history's great pessimists, with his sights set firmly on the heavenly city rather than the public...

A panoramic history of American individualism from its nineteenth-century origins to today's bitterly divided politicsIndividualism is a defining feature of American public life. Its influence is pervasive today, with liberals and conservatives alike...

What a Mushroom Lives For pushes today's mushroom renaissance in compelling new directions. For centuries, Western science has promoted a human- and animal-centric framework of what counts as action, agency, movement and behaviour. But, as Michael...

How institutions shape the American presidency. This incisive undergraduate textbook emphasises the institutional sources of presidential power and executive governance, enabling students to think more clearly and systematically about the American...

A necessary reckoning with America's troubled history of injustice to Indigenous people.After One Hundred Winters confronts the harsh truth that the United States was founded on the violent dispossession of Indigenous people and asks what reconciliation...

How international relations theory can be applied to a zombie invasionWhat would happen to international politics if the dead rose from the grave and started to eat the living? Daniel Drezner's groundbreaking book answers the question that other...

Words for the Heart is a captivating treasury of emotion terms drawn from some of India's earliest classical languages. Inspired by the traditional Indian genre of a 'treasury' - a wordbook or anthology of short texts or poems - this...

'A book as urgent as the moment that produced it.' - Jelani Cobb, Columbia Journalism SchoolLong before the pandemic, Ruha Benjamin was doing groundbreaking research on race, technology, and justice, focusing on big, structural changes...

*One of Times Higher Education's Best Books of 2015**Winner of the 2016 Gregory Bateson Prize, The Society for Cultural Anthropology**One of Flavorwire's 10 Best Books by Academic Publishers in 2015**Winner of the 2016 Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic...

One of the most groundbreaking artists to emerge in American art in the 1960s, Hannah Wilke consistently challenged the prevailing narratives of women's bodies and their representation throughout her career, until her untimely death in 1993. Wilke...

A spellbinding look at the philosophical and moral implications of animal dreaming.Are humans the only dreamers on Earth? What goes on in the minds of animals when they sleep? When Animals Dream brings together behavioural and neuroscientific research on...

How tech giants are reshaping spirituality to serve their religion of peak productivity.Silicon Valley is known for its lavish perks, intense work culture, and spiritual gurus. Work Pray Code explores how tech companies are bringing religion into the...