MITPressLog

Democracy Now! Interview with Iranian Dissident Journalist Akbar Ganji

Iran’s preeminent political dissident, investigative journalist Akbar Ganji was in front of the United Nations on Thursday, leading a 3-day hunger strike to demand the release of all prisoners of conscience in Iran. In 2001, Ganji was imprisoned for six years for writing about the murders of dissident intellectuals and was finally released after an 80 day hunger strike. Leili Kashani interviewed Akbar Ganji for Democracy Now! about the demands of the strike as he stood in front of banner with a list of the names of known political detainees in Iran. (Translated by Faramarz Farbod). 

Mark Dowie on Living on Earth

Investigative journalist Mark Dowie talked to Steve Curwood of PRI's Living on Earth about his latest book, Conservation Refugees, which details how major conservation groups have disenfranchised and uprooted indigenous peoples in their quest to establish protected lands. As Dowie explains to Curwood, the century-long history of these groups' efforts is a frustrating mix of good intentions and not-so-good methods:

DOWIE: This is an institution called conservation that is trying to do the right thing for the planet and for all of us really. I mean protecting biological diversity is essential to the future of human life, so they are good guys. They've just been doing it the wrong way for a hundred years. And I think now they would agree with me.

You can read a transcript of the interview here or listen to streaming audio here.

The Trouble with Titles

“Getting a title is a lot like drawing cards in a poker game. You keep on drawing and they’re all worthless but if you can last at it long enough you always get a good hand finally.”

--Ernest Hemingway

Titles. We talk about them a lot around the press. Well, we mostly discuss troublesome titles: those that refuse to be clear, concise, and clever (or the 3 c's of successful titles). Titles (which I made up)like All about Monkeys and Tall Chicks would stand out as particularly egregious, especially for a university press. What becomes difficult is when an author feels married to his or her Frankenstein of a title. All about Monkeys is clear and concise, but not very clever. Tall Chicks is clever and concise, but not that clear. Is the book really about tall chicks?

Some of the best non-fiction titles (Freakonomics, The End of Food, Loneliness as a Way of Life,and Hamlet on the Holodeck ) all follow the 3C rule. What Hemingway, in the quote above, alludes to is the process of title making. It is widely recognized that some of Hemingway’s best titles came from his combing the Bible and other old English hymns. But the single characteristic of a winning title is that the author (or publisher) stayed at the poker table long enough to draw “a good hand finally.”

The New York Times recently ran an article about books feeding off of popular titles. I sure hope the Freakonomics cannibalization stops soon. 

What are some of your favorite MIT Press titles?

Expanding Access to Books: Implications of the Google Books Settlement Agreement

Journals Senior Editor Karie Kirkpatrick chimes in on the recent Google settlement event in Boston: 

 

On Wednesday, the Boston Public Library hosted a lively panel on the Google Book Search settlement, the approval for which is currently in the hands of the court. Authors, librarians, publishers, scholars, and other stakeholders packed the Rabb Lecture Hall to hear firsthand about the particulars of the settlement and how it would impact them.

Engineering Director Daniel Clancy started the engaging discussion by providing a brief history and mission of the Google Book Searchproject, highlighting events leading up to the lawsuit settlement (Google's partnerships with libraries, claims of fair use, and the Authors Guild and Association for American Publishers lawsuits). Clancy noted that this project, which has fundamentally changed access and discovery to book content as Google seeks to digitize the world's library, has brought a lot of exposure to publishers and to content that would not otherwise be used. Ann Wolpert, Director of MIT Libraries, called the settlement a "phenomenal change" and noted that Google Book Search is "wonderful as a product," but like the other panelists she expressed several concerns about the the project going forward.

Perhaps the word of the evening was "queasiness." Wolpert discussed her queasiness about commercialization, Google's control over institutional subscription costs for the product, as well as its control over orphan works with the establishment of the Book Rights Registry. Hal Abelson, MIT Professor of Computer Science and Technology, expressed his queasiness about the overwhelming "transformation of written culture" and his uneasiness surrounding the road Google could take regarding privacy and censorship. Harvard Law School Professor John Palfrey, who initiated the term "queasiness" for the evening, asked the audience, "are we going to be OK with [Google] having control over this in ten years?"

And yet, the overall message of the evening was the importance of access. Google is fundamentally transforming libraries, the publishing industry, and the way people search and discover information. As queasy as the panelists and any audience member may be about Google's strong hand in digitizing the world's books, as Palfrey strongly notes, no one else had the "chutzpah" to take on this impressive feat. His message to librariansand publishers: "We blew it. Google got it first. . . . It's game over."

After listening to the details of the plan and pondering all of the viewpoints presented that evening, all parties involved must now sit back and see what the court decides. If the settlement is approved, it will be interesting to see how the stakeholders help shape Google Book Search's future. Stay tuned.

PS: The Boston Globe's D.C. Denison also wrote about the event. 

about that Coming Insurrection...

Semiotext(e)'s recent publication of an English translation of The Coming Insurrection has gotten some extreme responses from the media, whether adulatory or angry. And certainly Glenn Beck's reaction on Fox News has been getting a lot of attention - his is an alarmist reaction with some odd hints of admiration, in which he compares the anonymously written text to the pamplets of our founding fathers! But perhaps the noteworthy detail of his seven-minute monologue on the book was his admission that he had yet to read it. Unfortunately, this sort of pre-reading critique has defined too many of the reactions to the book so far (with some worthy exceptions—some of them, not surprisingly, from booksellers. Those who are interested in a more informed view on the book, then, might like to read a statement about it from Sylvère Lotringer.

Sylvère is the general editor of Semiotext(e), and has taught French literature and philosophy at Columbia University for over thirty years. The following article appeared last week in translation in the Italian communist paper Il Manifesto:

On The Coming Insurrection, by The Invisible Committee
Sylvère Lotringer

Inspired by Guy Debord and the Situationist International and Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological thesis on the “new spirit of capitalism,” the analyses provided by the Invisible Committee in The Coming Insurrection are in line with the post-1968 French theories that Semiotext(e) has introduced in English-speaking countries for the last thirty years. Anticipating the social decomposition enforced by consumer society and the end of traditional class struggles, post-Marxist French theorists (Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, Jean Baudrillard, etc.) resolutely turned to late capitalism itself to provide a new impetus for subversive political strategies. That these theories would have mostly come from France is not surprising: alone in Europe, post-'68 France has steadfastly resisted any change and refused to reprocess or integrate the insights provided by the powerful student-led rebellion. Instead of offering creative outlets or credible alternatives to widespread social dissatisfaction, the successive governments, whether socialist or conservative, have opted for a repressive approach to social unrest and Utopian yearnings. The recent imprisonment in France of the “Tarnac Nine” on undefined and unproven charges, and their eventual release, only confirms this insensitive and misguided response.

Like the Situationist pamphlet that preceded the eruption of May '68, The Coming Insurrection brilliantly registers the “misery” of everyday life in contemporary France and, by extension, throughout the First World, where aimless social mobilization and compulsion to work have replaced more classical forms of social control. Coming on the heels of the revolt in Greece and the explosion of the Paris suburbs, this book is first and foremost a sign of desperation, a warning and an appeal for another kind of life that the people in charge should have better paid attention to instead of playing “precogs” at their own expense. Criminalizing ruthlessly what remains, at bottom, a temptation on the part of the young generation to opt creatively out of an empty rat race and experiment with new forms of “communality,” is a huge political mistake. Whether the “Invisible Committee” provokingly calls this new form of collective solidarity “communism” or not, is hardly the problem. They are not they only ones today to make this calculated claim.

Like the French theorists who preceded them, the Invisible Committee advocates turning the very weapons of the system against itself, and it is very ironical that the Sarkozy government mobilizing en masse its “reality-police” managed to give the book’s message a degree of reality that it didn’t have to start with. The overkill backfired. Instead of crushing the alleged threat in the bud, the French government made it resonate across Europe and the New World. That it was picked up by Glenn Beck, a loose cannon of the American Right, and broadcast over Fox News with wildly overblown warnings with a background of blazing cities, is no surprise either. Conservatives have a lot to gain from overstating the danger that disenfranchised radicals may represent. Jon Stewart adequately nailed Beck when he said: “Finally, a guy who says what people who aren’t thinking are thinking.” The Invisible Committee is certainly thinking, and it is thinking for people who need more thinking, and not less, to account for the pervasive forms of cooptation released by contemporary society. What is more important than Beck’s burlesque rant (whether it is taken seriously or not) is that the book may help rekindle a much needed reflection on a capitalist system that has dramatically faltered and ceased to provide an unquestionable response to the world’s predicament. Beyond the specific actions the Committee advocates, often rhetorically, the immediate impact that The Coming Insurrection is having on the young generation is indicative of a lingering disaffection from a society that has lost its rationale, but keeps blindly moving on to God knows where. It has managed to touch a chord that hasn’t finished resonating.

HOT! Festival in New York

The HOT! Festival is a month-long showcase of queer performances in New York's Dixon Place. This year, two fall Semiotext(e) authors are taking to the stage: Penny Arcade and Bruce Benderson.

Penny Arcade is presenting the centerpiece of the festival, a new peformance called "Old Queen", about the legendary "old queens" of the Lower East Side:

Old Queen, Arcade's theatrical memoir, evokes the magic and memory of the gay men who raised her: from little known figures like Jamie Andrews, who would shortly later transform David Bowie from a folksinger to a glitter glam rock star. He was the gay man who took her in off the streets, gave her a place to live, and took her from performing on the streets to the stages of The Playhouse Of The Ridiculous and the Warhol Factory. These men range from Jackie Curtis, Bobby Beers, Ritta Redd, Herbert Hunke, Joel Markman, to seminal figures like John Vacarro, Charles Henri Ford, HM Koutoukas, Taylor Mead, Jack Smith, and Andy Warhol. Old Queen is the latest offering from a veteran playwright and performance artist at the peak of her powers. Expect Arcade's signature blend of spot-on impersonations, trenchant wit, and theatrical political humanism. It's an intoxicating combination you won't want to miss! Two special performances where Penny develops the work in front of you!

Old Queen runs until July 25th - don't miss it!

Penny's autobiographical work, Bad Reputation, is coming out from Semiotext(e) this October.

On Thursday, East Village Boys present writer Bruce Benderson, winner of France's Prix de Flore prize. He will be reading from his book Pacific Agony (coming out this September from Semiotext(e)). Pacific Agony is a satirical travelogue through the Pacific Northwest. Miss Nancy Matthews will play the role of "Narcissa Whitman Applegate, of the Daughters of the Oregon Trial Historical Committee". From the book:

I gazed out my window on the sea of dark clouds as my shaking seat jiggled the image into double vision; and I pictured the flat, geometrically divided western landscapes below, wondering why anyone still bothered to travel in this cookie-cutter country. What was the use of visiting identical reproductions of the same Wal-Mart or adding new encounters of equally streamlined mentality to the roster? As far as I was concerned, everything had been shorn from the same cloth, woven for years in the drab bungalows of suburban North America.

Should be a good time for all - you can buy tickets at the HOT! Festival website.

Apollo: Progress in Technology?

David Mindell looks at the turn in technological progress since the historic moon landing 40 years ago today:   

Forty years ago, Neil Armstrong’s definitive line of technical poetry, “Tranquility base here, the Eagle has landed,” marked a human achievement that still inspires awe. It also challenges the twentieth century idea of progress and helps us redefine it for the future.

We often hear that progress in technology is incremental, an ever upward arc of performance. Apollo showed how a perfect storm of politics, engineering and skilled pilots can leap ahead of ordinary rules. Yet we have not returned to the moon, not ventured to mars, and only rarely, if ever, matched Apollo’s excitement in subsequent human spaceflights. Apollo remains an historical anomaly that undermines our twentieth-century notions of progress.

Public discourse today is fond of measuring progress with Moore’s law about the power of the microchip. Back in the twentieth century, it was aviation and spaceflight that marked technology’s advance, relentlessly breaking barriers. Leading the way, the Apollo astronauts’ role was carefully crafted to epitomize the modern heroic explorer: the man who risks his life in a far away place for the national or scientific good. Apollo 11 followed Charles Lindbergh’s flight by only forty two years. Higher, faster, farther were the watchwords, and history suggested the progress might continue indefinitely.

Apollo’s six lunar landings seemed like a point on that upward curve, but in fact they were its apogee. For some, twentieth-century progress seemed to stop right about 1970. People assumed they would soon fly on supersonic airliners, but the American super sonic transport SST project was canceled in 1970 (even its European competitor, the Concorde, stopped flying six years ago). Apollo was celebrated as the start of a new wave of human exploration, but forty years later the six lunar landings remain the highest, the fastest, the farthest that humans have ever gone.

Award News: Awards Roundup

We'd like to congratulate all of our recent book award winners. A quick summary:

Matthew Kirschenbaum's book Mechanisms won the George A. and Jeanne S. DeLong Prize in Book History given by the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading & Publishing (SHARP). SHARP annually awards this $1000 prize to the author of the best book on any aspect of the creation, dissemination, or uses of script or print.

Rich Ling’s book New Tech, New Ties was the recipient of the 2009 Erving Goffman Award for Outstanding Scholarship in the Ecology of Social Interaction. This award, presented by the Media Ecology Association, is given to an outstanding publication that focus on social situations, symbolic interaction, interpersonal communication, nonverbal communication, social space, temporal rhythms, rules of engagement, performance of roles, and the presentation of self in everyday life.

Being Watched by Carrie Lambert-Beatty won the de la Torre Bueno Prize given by the Society of Dance History Scholars (SDHS). The chair of the prize committee, Yatin Lin, wrote: I'm pleased to inform you that your beautifully written book Being Watched: Yvonne Rainer and the 1960s, has won the highest acclaim of all three of our committee members, and has been chosen the winner of the 2008 de la Torre Bueno Award. As I am sure you know, The de la Torre Bueno Prize® is awarded annually to the book published in the preceding year in the English language that makes the most significant contribution to advancing the field of dance studies for that year. Named after José Rollins de la Torre Bueno, the first university press editor to develop a list of titles in dance studies, the Bueno Prize has recognized scholarly excellence in the field since 1973.

Dauvergne’s The Shadows of Consumption was the co-winner of the Society for Human Ecology’s 2009 Gerald L. Young Book Award. This award is given annually to a book that exemplifies the high standard of scholarly work in the field of human ecology.

View from the Booth - ICRA

Recently, Senior Editor Ada Brunstein attended the International Conference on Robotics and Automation where she promoted our robust robotics and and artificial intelligence titles as well as to scope out what is new and exciting in the field.  In addition to working our booth, there was definitely a lot to see.  Here's a taste:

This year’s ICRA was held in Kobe, Japan where my most challenging task of the week was ordering food in a restaurant with no English speakers or English writing anywhere. I dined with four roboticists (and if the question is how many roboticists does it take to order dinner in Japan, the answer is way more than we had there). After much pointing and gesturing (and with some help from a few very friendly locals) we ended up with a basket full of dead fish on the table. From there we had to choose the ones we wanted, easy enough, and explain how we wanted them cooked – really not so easy.

Next to the food, robots were definitely the highlight. This conference has quite a few robotic displays, from those that will one day roam the surface of other planets to those that will one day roam the surface of our living rooms. My favorite by far is Keepon, a little bot that looks like two yellow nerf balls sitting on top of one another. There’s a Wii-type application where you hold a remote control kind of thing and when you bop up and down, he bops up and down with you. When you sway side to side, he sways with you. It’s quite endearing and is meant to ultimately be used to enhance social skills and interaction among kids with various disabilities.

The Best Place to Live?

Money magazine just released the annual Best Places to Live rankings and three Massachusetts towns made it into the top 20. Milton at number 5, Acton at 16, and Hopkinton at 19.

Milton squeezed into the top 5, according to Money, because it has good schools, low crime, and plentiful space devoted to parks and recreation areas, as well as its proximity to employment in Boston.

The winner of this years title of Best Place to Live? Louisville, CO.