New Books Network
Public Policy
Philosophy August 2, 2021

The Right to Know

Epistemic Rights and Why We Need Them

Lani Watson

Hosted by Robert Talisse
We often talk as if individuals have entitlements to certain kinds of information: medical test results, political representatives’ voting records, crime statistics, and the like. We also talk as if …

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South Asian Studies August 2, 2021

Everyday State and Politics in India

Government in the Backyard in Kalahandi

Sailen Routray

Hosted by Aparna Gopalan
Set in the eastern state of Odisha in a district known as the “Somalia of India,” Everyday State and Politics in India: Government in the Backyard in Kalahandi (Routledge 2018) …
Sociology July 29, 2021

How Green Became Good

Urbanized Nature and the Making of Cities and Citizens

Hillary Angelo

Hosted by Richard Ocejo
As projects like Manhattan's High Line, Chicago's 606, China's eco-cities, and Ethiopia's tree-planting efforts show, cities around the world are devoting serious resources to urban greening. Formerly neglected urban spaces and …
Anthropology July 28, 2021

Boasians at War

Anthropology, Race, and World War II

Anthony Q. Hazard

Hosted by Alex Golub
The realities of race that continue to plague the United States have direct ties to anthropology. Anthropologists often imagine their discipline as inherently anti-racist and historically connected to social …
Systems and Cybernetics July 27, 2021

Systems Approaches to Making Change: A Practical Guide

Martin Reynolds and Sue Holwell (Retired)

Hosted by Kevin Lindsay
Practitioners from all professional domains are increasingly confronted with incidences of systemic failure, yet poorly equipped with appropriate tools and know-how for understanding such failure, and the making of systemic …
Political Science July 26, 2021

Congress and the First Civil Rights Era, 1861-1918

Jeffery A. Jenkins and Justin Peck

Hosted by Susan Liebell
Jeffrey Jenkins and Justin Peck’s new book Congress and the First Civil Rights Era, 1861-1918 (U Chicago Press, 2021) explores how Congressional Republicans enacted laws aimed at establishing an inclusive, multiracial …
Eastern European Studies July 26, 2021

Protected Children, Regulated Mothers

Gender and the "Gypsy Question" in State Care in Postwar Hungary, 1949–1956

Eszter Varsa

Hosted by Leslie Waters
Historian Eszter Varsa’s new book Protected Children, Regulated Mothers: Gender and the 'Gypsy Question' in State Care in Postwar Hungary, 1949–1956 (Central European UP, 2020) examines child protection in Stalinist …
Medicine July 23, 2021

Distributing Condoms and Hope

The Racialized Politics of Youth Sexual Health

Chris A. Barcelos

Hosted by Rachel Pagones
Distributing Condoms and Hope: The Racialized Politics of Youth Sexual Health (U California Press, 2020) is a feminist ethnographic account of how youth sexual health programs in the racially and …
Sociology July 22, 2021

Chasing World-Class Urbanism

Global Policy Versus Everyday Survival in Buenos Aires

Jacob Lederman

Hosted by Sneha Annavarapu
What makes some cities world class? Increasingly, that designation reflects the use of a toolkit of urban planning practices and policies that circulates around the globe. These strategies—establishing creative districts …
Political Science July 22, 2021

Executive Policymaking

The Role of the OMB in the Presidency

Meena Bose and Andrew Rudalevige

Hosted by Lilly Goren
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is sometimes described as “the most important governmental office no one has ever heard of” and it certainly occupies a very important position …
Education July 21, 2021

Neurodiversity Studies

A New Critical Paradigm

Anna Stenning, Hanna Bertilsdotter Rosqvist and Nick Chown

Hosted by Christina Bosch
Since the term was popularized in the 1960s, a “paradigm shift” seems second in difficulty only to the primary task of identifying one to begin with. This is because a …
Intellectual History July 20, 2021

The Work of Politics

Making a Democratic Welfare State

Steven Klein

Hosted by Tejas Parasher
The Work of Politics: Making a Democratic Welfare State (Cambridge University Press 2020) advances a new understanding of how democratic social movements work with welfare institutions to challenge structures of …
Critical Theory July 20, 2021

For Abolition

Essays on Prisons and Socialist Ethics

David Scott

Hosted by Rachel Stuart
According to Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) 'Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.' Connecting the politics of abolition to wider emancipatory struggles …
Political Science July 19, 2021

Democracy Declined

The Failed Politics of Consumer Financial Protection

Mallory E. SoRelle

Hosted by Susan Liebell
Americans rely on credit to provide for their food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and other daily necessities and the 2008 financial crisis demonstrated how they relied on private financial institutions that …
Gender Studies July 19, 2021

Militarized Maternity

Experiencing Pregnancy in the U. S. Armed Forces

Megan D. McFarlane

Hosted by Lee Pierce
The rights of pregnant workers as well as (the lack of) paid maternity leave have increasingly become topics of a major policy debate in the United States. Yet, few discussions …
Sex, Sexuality, and Sex Work July 16, 2021

The Borders of AIDS

Race, Quarantine, and Resistance

Karma R. Chávez

Hosted by Rachel Stuart
As soon as US media and politicians became aware of AIDS in the early 1980s, fingers were pointed not only at the gay community but also at other countries and …
Science, Technology, and Society July 13, 2021

The Economics of Sustainable Food

Smart Policies for Health and the Planet

Nicoletta Batini

Hosted by Christopher Gambino
In The Economics of Sustainable Food: Smart Policies for Health and the Planet (Island Press, 2021), Dr. Nicoletta Batini, and co-authors, unpack the true cost of food production. While the …
Critical Theory July 13, 2021

State Secrecy and Security

Refiguring the Covert Imaginary

William Walters

Hosted by Catriona Gold
In State Secrecy and Security: Refiguring the Covert Imaginary (Routledge, 2021), William Walters calls for secrecy to be given a more central place in critical security studies and elevated to become …
Education July 12, 2021

Obstinate Education

Reconnecting School and Society

Gert Biesta

Hosted by Kai Wortmann
What should the relationship between school and society be? Obstinate Education: Reconnecting School and Society (Brill, 2019) argues that education is not just there to give individuals, groups and societies what …
Islamic Studies July 9, 2021

Faith in Freedom

Muslim Immigrant Women Experiences of Domestic Violence

Nafiseh Ghafournia

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
In Faith in Freedom: Muslim Immigrant Women’s Experiences of Domestic Violence (Melbourne University Press, 2019), Nafiseh Ghafournia explores questions of domestic violence in the context of Muslim immigrant women in …