Bøger udgivet af University of Georgia Press

Until recently, the American South has often been treated in isolation by historians and literary critics. In these essays five scholars of southern history and literature evaluate elements of contemporary--and future--southern experience, including place, community, culture, class, gender, and racial roles. Fred Hobson observes in his introductory essay that the U.S. South must be seen in relation to a larger world--the Caribbean and Central and South America, as well as European countries with a similar grounding in hardship and defeat. Moreover, the South can no longer be viewed in black-and-white terms--especially if the subject is race. Joel Williamson's essay challenges fellow historians to broaden their purview by getting acquainted with Gone with the Wind, Elvis Presley, and other phenomena of southern culture(s). Linda Wagner-Martin discusses the innovative ways in which contemporary southern writers such as Charles Frazier take on traditional southern concerns and shows us how "place becomes space" for Alice Walker, Barbara Kingsolver, Cormac McCarthy, and other southern-born writers whose works are often set outside the geographical South. Thadious Davis looks at the "youngsters" of southern poetry, fiction, and drama, revealing how their work reflects a racially and ethnically mixed, digitized, and otherwise reconfigured South. In the writings of Shay Youngblood, Randall Kenan, Donna Tartt, Mona Lisa Salloy, and others, one can see the collapsing of distinctions between the literary and the popular, and a greater comfort with social fluidity and mobility. The concluding essay by Edward Ayers, set in 2076, offers a witty glimpse of things-perhaps-to-come. Through a series of short dispatches from a sixteen-year-old narrator of Scottish-Ghanian-Honduran-Korean-Cherokee descent, Ayers transports us to the Consolidated South that counts Incarceration Incorporated among its largest employers. As these writings signal new depths and directions in southern historical and literary studies, they compose a witty and erudite album of snapshots, revealing a region on the verge of big changes.

At once upholding and refuting the South's conservative image, The Countercultural South explores the politically divergent cultures of resistance created by poor white and working-class black southern men. With humor and insight, Jack Temple Kirby traces these racially and politically opposed cultures back to the antebellum encounter between the anti-capitalistic South and the capitalist individualism identified with the North. In a wide-ranging discussion encompassing the blues, sharecropping, and contemporary black intellectuals, Kirby shows how the needful practice of black labor bargaining in the South resulted in a progressive black tradition of verbal negotiation. The conservative separatism and retro-resistance of rural whites, Kirby argues, is embedded in an inherited and adversarial frontier ethos valuing self-sufficiency and access to wilderness. With the southern landscape imaginatively as well as factually linked to social class, crime--particularly forest arson--becomes the most important form of southern white countercultural expression. Kirby continues his look at white resistance in a review of "redneck" discourse, examining the public reputation of southern whites through a range of cultural phenomena, from literature to country music to the computer network known as BUBBA-L. Original, personal, and artfully written, The Countercultural South offers fresh reflections on southern exceptionalism in American political life and culture.

The Souls of Jewish Folk argues that late nineteenth-century Germany's struggle with its "Jewish question"--what to do with Germany's Jews--served as an important and to-date underexamined influence on W.E.B. Du Bois's considerations of America's anti-Black racism at the turn of the twentieth century. Du Bois is well known for his characterization of the twentieth century's greatest challenge, "the problem of the color line." This proposition gained prominence in the conception of Du Bois's The Souls of Black Folk (1903), which engages the questions of race, racial domination, and racial exploitation. James M. Thomas contends that this conception of racism is haunted by the specter of the German Jew. In 1892 Du Bois received a fellowship for his graduate studies at the University of Berlin from the John F. Slater Fund for the Education of Freedmen. While a student in Berlin, Du Bois studied with some of that nation's most prominent social scientists. What The Souls of Jewish Folk asks readers to take seriously, then, is how our ideas, and indeed intellectual work itself, are shaped by and embedded within the nexus of people, places, and prevailing contexts of their time. With this book, Thomas examines how the major social, political, and economic events of Du Bois's own life--including his time spent living and learning in a late nineteenth-century Germany defined in no small part by its violent anti-Semitism--constitute the soil from which his most serious ideas about race, racism, and the global color line sprang forth.

These twelve previously unpublished essays present innovative and practical ideas for addressing the harmful effects of sprawl. Sprawl is not only an ongoing focus of specialized magazines like Dwell; indeed, Time magazine has cited "recycling the suburbs" as the second of "Ten Ideas Changing the World Right Now." While most conversations on sprawl tend to focus on its restriction, this book presents an overview of current thinking on ways to fix, repair, and retrofit existing sprawl. Chapters by planners, geographers, designers, and architects present research grounded in diverse locales including Phoenix, Arizona; Seattle, Washington; Dublin, Ohio; and the Atlanta, Georgia, and Washington, D.C. metro areas. The authors address head-on the most controversial aspects of sprawl--issues of power and control, justice and equity, and American attitudes about regulating private development. But they also put these issues in practical contexts, bringing in examples of redesign that are already occurring around the country, including the retrofitting of corridors and the repurposing of cul-de-sacs. Whether fixing sprawl requires a "cultural shift" in thinking or a "coordinated effort" by local government, these essays testify that a combination of forethought and creative thinking will be needed.

We the Young Fighters is at once a history of a nation, the story of a war, and the saga of downtrodden young people and three pop culture superstars. Reggae idol Bob Marley, rap legend Tupac Shakur, and the John Rambo movie character all portrayed an upside-down world, where those in the right are blamed while the powerful attack them. Their collective example found fertile ground in the West African nation of Sierra Leone, where youth were entrapped, inequality was blatant, and dissent was impossible. When warfare spotlighting diamonds, marijuana, and extreme terror began in 1991, military leaders exploited the trio's transcendent power over their young fighters and captives. Once the war expired, youth again turned to Marley for inspiration and Tupac for friendship. Thoroughly researched and accessibly written, We the Young Fighters probes terror-based warfare and how Tupac, Rambo, and--especially--Bob Marley wove their way into the fabric of alienation, resistance, and hope in Sierra Leone. The tale of pop culture heroes radicalizing warfare and shaping peacetime underscores the need to engage with alienated youth and reform predatory governments. The book ends with a framework for customizing the international response to these twin challenges.

"If they are going to kill us anyway, we might as well die in our lands." With these words and a shrug of shoulders, a leader of the Unified Peasant Movement of the Aguán (MUCA) explains their decision to occupy more than 20,000 hectares of oil palm plantations in the Bajo Aguán region in Northern Honduras after the military coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya on June 28, 2009. The Coup under the Palm Treesinterrogates the Honduran present, through an exploration of the country's spatiotemporal trajectory of agrarian change since the mid-twentieth century. It tells the double history of how the Aguán region went from a set of "empty" lands to the centerpiece of the country's agrarian reform in the 1980s and a central site for the palm oil industry and drug trade, while a militarized process of state formation took place between the coups of 1963 and 2009. Rather than a case of failed democratic transition, the book shows how the current Honduran crisis--exemplified by massive outmigration towards the United States, blatant narco-state links, and the 2009 coup--is better understood within longer historical processes in which violence, exclusion, and dispossession became the central organizational principles of the state.

This book documents how whiteness can take up space in U.S. cities and policies through well-intentioned progressive policy agendas that support green urbanism. Through in-depth ethnographic research in Kansas City, Chhaya Kolavalli explores how urban food projects--central to the city's approach to green urbanism--are conceived and implemented and how they are perceived by residents of "food deserts," those intended to benefitfrom these projects. Through her analysis, Kolavalli examines the narratives and histories that mostly white local food advocates are guided by and offers an alternative urban history of Kansas City--one that centers the contributions of Black and brown residents to urban prosperity. She also highlights how displacement of communities of color, through green development, has historically been a key urban development strategy in the city. Well-Intentioned Whiteness shows how a myopic focus on green urbanism, as a solution to myriad urban "problems," ends up reinforcing racial inequity and uplifting structural whiteness. In this context, fine-grained analysis of how whiteness takes up space in our cities--even through progressive policy agendas--is moreimportant. Kolavalli examines this process intimately and, in so doing, fleshes out our understanding of how racial inequities can be (re)created by everyday urban actors.

This comprehensive account of U.S.-Bolivian relations presents startling contrasts between the histories, mythologies, and economies of the two countries, debunking the pop-culture myth that Bolivia is a poorer and less modern version of the United States. Kenneth D. Lehman focuses primarily on the countries' relationship during the twentieth century, highlighting periods when Bolivia became important to the United States as a provider of tin during World War II, as a potential source of regional instability during the Cold War, and as a supplier of cocaine to the U.S. market in recent years. While the partnerships forged in these situations have been rooted in mutual self-interest, the United States was--and is--clearly dominant. Repeatedly, the U.S. policy toward Bolivia has moved from assistance to frustration and imposition, and the Bolivian response has intensified from submission to resentment and resistance. Bolivia and the United States presents an illuminating discussion of the real as well as mythical bonds that link these most distant and different neighbors, simultaneously providing an abundance of evidence to show how factors of culture and power complicate and limit true partnership.

From Jesus to J-Setting details the experiences of Black people with diverse sexual identities from ages eighteen to thirty years old. The work examines how the intersection of racial, sexual, gender, and religious identities influence self-expression and lifestyle modalities in this understudied, often hidden population, by exploring how racial, sexual, and religious dynamics play out. Voices in the book illuminate a continuum of decisions--from more traditional (i.e., Black church participation) to nontraditional (i.e., dancing known as J-Setting and spirituality)--and the corresponding beliefs, values, and experiences that emerge under the ever-present specter of racism, homophobia, heterosexism, and for many, ageism. Drawing upon sociology, sociology of religion, black studies, queer studies, inequality, stratification, and cultural studies, Sandra Lynn Barnes explores the everyday lives of young Black people with fluid sexual identities and their everyday forms of individual as well as collective resistance.

In this study, Thomas Leonard examines the history of relations between the United States and the countries of Central America. Placing those relations in their political, cultural, and economic contexts, he illuminates the role of such factors as the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850, William Walker's invasions of Nicaragua, Theodore Roosevelt's corollary to the Monroe Doctrine in 1904, the "Dollar Diplomacy" of the 1910s, and Ronald Reagan's support of the contra war. Central America and the United States is the fourth volume in The United States and the Americas, a series of books assessing relations between the United States and its neighbors to the south and north: Mexico, Central America, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, the Andean Republics (Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia), Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, and Canada. Lester D. Langley is the general editor of the series.

Arguing that climate injustice is one of our most pressing urban problems, this volume explores the possibilities and challenges for more just urban futures under climate change. Whether the situation be displacement within cities through carbon gentrification or the increasing securitization of elite spaces for climate protection, climate justice and urban justice are intimately connected. Contributors to the volume build theoretical tools for interrogating the root causes of climate change, as well as policy failures. They also highlight knowledge produced within communities already seeking transformative change and demonstrate meaningful learning from activist groups working to address the socionatural injustices caused by the impact of climate change. The editors' introduction situates our current climate emergency within historical processes of colonization, racial capitalism, and heteropatriarchy, while the editors' conclusion offers pathways forward through abolition, care, and reparations. Where other books focus on the project of critique, this collection advances real-world politics to help academics, practitioners, and social justice groups imagine, create, and enact more just urban futures under climate change.

Over the last several years, we have experienced a surge in bystander videos of incidents of police brutality directed largely at Black men. Public outrage surrounding police action continues to increase. As public discourse around police brutality and racial inequality largely centers on specific events, there is less information within the public discourse about systemic racism and how race and racism pervade every single aspect of American life. The ways in which Black people are often treated by law enforcement is reflective of larger historical racial inequities and injustices that extend far beyond the criminal justice system and intersect with how Black people access housing and occupy public spaces. Imprisoned focuses on contemporary systemic racism as it relates to the ways in which our criminal justice system intersects with our housing system to create a matrix of inequality. To illustrate the systemic nature of racism in American policing and communities, this book highlights the policies and practices that were put in place during slavery and after Reconstruction that connect to instances of structural racism in contemporary America. This book demonstrates how foundational policies in American history continue to work to the detriment of Black Americans--tying the racist foundations of America to discrimination in our criminal justice system and neighborhoods.

An Unflinching Look is an examination of a unique North American ecosystem in decline, investigated through eighty-five duotone photographs, scientific analysis, and critical interpretation. The project's focus is the area of the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge on Florida's Gulf Coast and the history and fate of its wetlands. Dimmitt began photographing in the salt-damaged sawgrass savannas and spring creeks there as a way of examining and reckoning with the ecosystem loss and of understanding what was becoming of his native Florida. He narrowed his focus to a small, remote area that he knows well and loves. Dimmitt's intention in bearing witness to this loss has been to portray the ruined landscape with respect and beauty. To document the progress of the saltwater intrusion, Dimmitt has rephotographed landscapes that he first photographed more than forty years ago. His photographs reveal the impact of several factors that are causing the loss of an entire ecosystem: rising sea levels caused by global warming, excessive pumping from the underground aquifer, and the contamination of limited natural resources. In addition to Dimmitt's photographs, An Unflinching Look includes contributions from four other experts. Susan Cerulean--the author of several books about Florida's natural environment--provides a foreword that tackles loss and the complicated water and environmental issues raised by the rising sea levels at Chassahowitzka. Matthew McCarthy--a graduate of the University of South Florida College of Marine Science and currently a research scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory--offers a scientific meditation on deforestation along Florida's Gulf Coast using aerial photography to document the increasing saltwater intrusion over a seven-year period. Alison Nördstrom--an independent photography curator, scholar, and writer--offers her expert take on the photographic context for Dimmitt's breathtaking images. And Alexa Dilworth--a native Floridian who was the publishing director and senior editor at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University for more than twenty years--pens an afterword to the book, exploring her experience of natural Florida, the degradation of the state's environment, and Dimmitt's photography. Additionally, distinguished photographer Emmet Gowin contributes a reflection on what is required of a photographer when photographing damaged landscapes.

With Central City's Joy and Pain, Jerome E. Morris explores complex social issues through personal narrative. He does so by blending social-science research with his own memoir of life in Birmingham, Alabama. As someone who lived in the Central City housing project for two transitional decades (1968-91) and whose family continued to reside there until 1999, when the city razed the community, the author provides us with the often unexplored bottom-up perspective on Black public-housing residents' experiences. As Morris's experiential and authoritative narrative voice unfolds in the pages of Central City's Joy and Pain, both the scholarly and lay reader are brought on a journey of what life is like for people who live and die at the intersection of race and poverty in a rapidly evolving southern urban center. The setting of a historic public-housing community provides a rich canvas on which to paint a world through the author's personal experience of growing up there--and his later observations as a researcher and academic. Through its syncopation of personal stories and scholarly research, Central City's Joy and Pain captures what it means to be Black, poor, and full of dreams. In this setting, dreams are realized by some and swallowed up for others in the larger historical, social, economic, and political context of African Americans' experiences during and after the civil rights movement.

"At Treasure Island, a humanly made island in the San Francisco Bay, a performance troupe dressed in hazmat suits articulate gestures that resemble toxic remediation. As they become more attuned to the site and to its history and ecology, enigmatic presences infiltrate their spacetime. Are they from the past, the present, or the future? What is the significance of their sudden arrival? What happens when historical and geological eras converge? Meanwhile, elsewhere, various earth scientists at sites around the globe search for the "golden spike": a telltale geologic marker that synchronously indicates a definitive time change in the strata-a change from the Holocene epoch to the Anthropocene. Within their data is Earth's biography, but how is humanity insinuated within this chronology? Throughout Presence, encounter and contact are the major elements of consequence, action, implication, and resounding significance. Encounter and contact between timeframes, cultures, ecologies, persons, intuitions, ways of living, and worlding. At these junctures are the moments of possibility-of violence and/or of budding community"--

With Central City's Joy and Pain, Jerome E. Morris explores complex social issues through personal narrative. He does so by blending social-science research with his own memoir of life in Birmingham, Alabama. As someone who lived in the Central City housing project for two transitional decades (1968-91) and whose family continued to reside there until 1999, when the city razed the community, the author provides us with the often unexplored bottom-up perspective on Black public-housing residents' experiences. As Morris's experiential and authoritative narrative voice unfolds in the pages of Central City's Joy and Pain, both the scholarly and lay reader are brought on a journey of what life is like for people who live and die at the intersection of race and poverty in a rapidly evolving southern urban center. The setting of a historic public-housing community provides a rich canvas on which to paint a world through the author's personal experience of growing up there--and his later observations as a researcher and academic. Through its syncopation of personal stories and scholarly research, Central City's Joy and Pain captures what it means to be Black, poor, and full of dreams. In this setting, dreams are realized by some and swallowed up for others in the larger historical, social, economic, and political context of African Americans' experiences during and after the civil rights movement.

"Why Any Woman explores pop culture by and about southern women in the 1980s and 1990s in search of forms of regional feminism. Through an examination of the play Crimes of the Heart, the novels Ugly Ways and The Color Purple, the film Thelma & Louise, and the television shows Designing Women and The Oprah Winfrey Show, Williams makes the case that southern women's pop culture was a vital source of various types of feminism during the era of the neoconservative 'backlash.'"--

"If they are going to kill us anyway, we might as well die in our lands." With these words and a shrug of shoulders, a leader of the Unified Peasant Movement of the Aguán (MUCA) explains their decision to occupy more than 20,000 hectares of oil palm plantations in the Bajo Aguán region in Northern Honduras after the military coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya on June 28, 2009. The Coup under the Palm Trees interrogates the Honduran present, through an exploration of the country's spatiotemporal trajectory of agrarian change since the mid-twentieth century. It tells the double history of how the Aguán region went from a set of "empty" lands to the centerpiece of the country's agrarian reform in the 1980s and a central site for the palm oil industry and drug trade, while a militarized process of state formation took place between the coups of 1963 and 2009. Rather than a case of failed democratic transition, the book shows how the current Honduran crisis--exemplified by massive outmigration towards the United States, blatant narco-state links, and the 2009 coup--is better understood within longer historical processes in which violence, exclusion, and dispossession became the central organizational principles of the state.

Survival Strategies is a love story wrapped in a reckoning. Arranged in three parts, this collection of poems follows a narrative arc.The speaker, who is returning to the Sonoran of her birth after many years away, takes us with her on a journey of enlightenment. In the course of the first section, "The Sunniest Place on Earth," we learn that the speaker has developed a deep hatred of the desert (a reflection of herself) due to the way she was treated and what she witnessed while being raised there. As we move through to part 2, "Estivate So You Don't Die," we see the speaker grappling with her past as a sensitive person amid the rugged realities of life in the Southwest. As this section closes, there is a long-form prose poem assembled as a mythopoetic fable titled, "The Mother and the Mountain," that explores her mother's childhood. This section brings revelation to some of what precedes it and reveals the speaker as the buttress of this family who, though an outsider, walks a path first laid by her mother. The final section is titled simply, "After," and as its title suggests, is a short set of poems that wrap up the arc and bring peace to our speaker as she comes to realize she never hated the desert, nor herself, as she is set free by the ocean of the Pacific Northwest.