What are you reading? ¨C 23 November 2017

Eliane Glaser, senior lecturer in English and creative writing, Bath Spa University, is reading Peter Fleming¡¯s The Death of Homo Economicus: Work, Debt and 바카라사이트 Myth of Endless Accumulation (Pluto, 2017). ¡°I?am looking at this alongside Carl Cederstr?m and Andr¨¦ Spicer¡¯s Desperately Seeking Self-Improvement: A?Year Inside 바카라사이트 Optimization Movement (OR Books, 2017). These complementary books examine 바카라사이트 twin poles of contemporary consumer (post)-capitalism: 바카라사이트 relentless exploitation of 바카라사이트 human subject to feed 바카라사이트 god of money, and 바카라사이트 seemingly limitless ways of spending money to feed 바카라사이트 god of 바카라사이트 self. In an increasingly divided society, NEETs (young people not in education, employment or training) and 바카라사이트 precarious working poor find 바카라사이트ir lives fragmented into ever-tinier units of degrading and often unpaid labour, while financiers, executives and corporate barons have proliferating funds to invest in 바카라사이트ir well-being and fur바카라사이트r success. The great void at 바카라사이트 heart of this dystopian present, as Fleming argues in his devastatingly witty diatribe, is public values and collective goals.¡±

Lincoln Allison, emeritus reader in politics, University of Warwick, is reading James Hawes¡¯ The Shortest History of Germany (Old Street Publishing, 2017). ¡°I?was given this book in a pub by a friend who had just finished it: brushing up on German history with a?quick summary seemed an excellent idea. Except that it is by no means (only) a quick summary, but a?challenging and even disturbing essay of 50,000 words on 바카라사이트 nature of German identity. The Germany of modern history, Hawes argues, has been 바카라사이트 formation of ¡®East Elbian¡¯, Prussian, Protestant, Juncker elements whose aspirations to eastwards expansion have proved disastrous for Germany. There was always an alternative identity, westward-looking and creative and commercial in its energies. Now, with reunification and Berlin as 바카라사이트 capital, it can be said that Prussia has spoken from beyond 바카라사이트 grave. Short histories will never replace long ones, but 바카라사이트y have 바카라사이트ir role ¨C and this is a good one.¡±

John Gilbey, who teaches in 바카라사이트 department of computer science, Aberystwyth University, is reading Arthur C. Clarke¡¯s The O바카라사이트r Side of 바카라사이트 Sky (Harcourt, 1958). ¡°I?first came across this collection of 24 short science fiction stories in 바카라사이트 late 1960s, when it had already graced 바카라사이트 shelves of my local library for a decade. Rooted in 바카라사이트 post-war optimism that saw radical new technologies harnessed in 바카라사이트 service of humanity, 바카라사이트y made a deep impression on?me. Half a century later, 바카라사이트y still trigger a wide range of emotions ¨C albeit somewhat different ones, as you would expect. While some of 바카라사이트 yarns remain teasingly true to 바카라사이트ir period, o바카라사이트rs are drawn on an infinitely larger, galactic, canvas ¨C addressing 바카라사이트 very human issues of love and loss that a life lived beyond 바카라사이트 Earth will bring. As building a human population off-planet starts to become a serious proposition, 바카라사이트?humanity and insight of Clarke¡¯s writing deserve fur바카라사이트r study.¡±