Consciousness in Indian Philosophy: Illuminating Mind, World, and Self

Consciousness has been a central theme of Indian philosophy for more than 2500 years. Returning to the theories that originated in the Classical age, Matthew MacKenzie presents the first comprehensive overview of Indian views about the nature and structure of consciousness. MacKenzie looks to the Upanisads and the early Buddhist discourses for the roots of […]

The Upright Farmer: Racial Capitalism and Agricultural Modernization in Burkina Faso

Debates over African agricultural development have been deeply polarized between those who see capitalism and modern technology as saving African farmers and those who see those forces as destroying them. The Upright Farmer reframes this debate through a flagship case of agricultural modernization: the cotton sector of Burkina Faso, where farmers have rapidly adopted pesticides […]

Time, & Its Monument

Human folly is to believe our ziggurat is real, a really long time. But as Geology’s founder Sir George Lyell declared only as recently as 1830, “Amidst the vicissitudes of the earth’s surface, species cannot be immortal, but must perish, one after another, like the individuals which compose them.” Alternately, the Talking Heads circa 2009 […]

Explaining and Illustrating the Laozi: The Earliest Commentaries on the Daodejing

Although the ancient Chinese text Laozi–also known as the Daodejing–is highly popular worldwide, few Anglophone readers are familiar with the history of how the Chinese themselves have interpreted it. This volume aims to introduce students and general readers to the two earliest surviving commentaries on the Laozi, through translations that are approachable for non-specialists and […]

Meritocracy in Early Chinese Political Thought

This volume explores a range of conceptions of politically relevant merit found in the philosophical texts of pre-Qin China (before 221BCE). It demonstrates both that the role accorded to political merit was substantial and that the ideas of what constituted politically relevant merit were heavily contested. Through a focus on four texts, the Xunzi, the […]

The Mountains Are Calling: Tourists and the Unmaking of Yosemite National Park

From the first party of tourists in 1855 to the millions who visit today, Yosemite’s visitors have played a primary role in shaping the park’s history. Visitors drove Yosemite’s development and, ultimately, its popularity, but in doing so, they have turned out to be the greatest threat to the very experiences they seek. In histories […]

Dyeing for Entertainment: Dyeing, Painting, Breakdown, and Special Effects for Costumes

Dyeing for Entertainment encompasses a wide range of methods of theatrical painting and dyeing to create beautiful artistic products for theatre, film, TV, opera, and themed entertainment. Featuring examples from renowned international artisans in the field, this book provides a wealth of information on creating and changing colors, prints, and surface textures of fabric using […]

America, A Love Story

New poems on love, family, and art from the author of Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden America, A Love Story is Camille T. Dungy’s powerful testament to living and loving as a Black woman and mother in today’s America, and her first book of poetry in almost a decade. Piercingly honest and […]

Short games and active learning in political science: Beating the clock

As political science instructors have increasingly turned to games and simulations in the classroom to educate and engage their students, scholars have worked not only to demonstrate their effectiveness, but also to justify their use to occasionally skeptical colleagues. With instructional time always at a premium, this book focuses exclusively on short games and simulations: […]