Habit has long preoccupied a wide range of theologians, philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, and neuroscientists. In Habit’s Pathways Tony Bennett explores the political consequences of the varied ways in which habit’s repetitions have been acted on to guide or direct conduct. Bennett considers habit’s uses and effects across the monastic regimens of medieval Europe, in plantation slavery and the factory system, through colonial forms of rule, and within a range of medicalized pathologies. He brings these episodes in habit’s political histories to bear on contemporary debates ranging from its role in relation to the politics of white supremacy to the digital harvesting of habits in practices of algorithmic governance. Throughout, Bennett tracks how habit’s repetitions have been articulated differently across divisions of class, race, and gender, demonstrating that although habit serves as an apparatus for achieving success, self-fulfilment, and freedom for the powerful, it has simultaneously served as a means of control over women, racialized peoples, and subordinate classes.

Why are there so many nature metaphors - clouds, rivers, streams, viruses, and bugs - in the language of the internet? Why do we adorn our screens with exotic images of forests, waterfalls, animals and beaches? In Technobiophilia: Nature and Cyberspace, Sue Thomas interrogates the prevalence online of nature-derived metaphors and imagery and comes to a surprising conclusion. The root of this trend, she believes, lies in biophilia, defined by biologist E.O. Wilson as 'the innate attraction to life and lifelike processes'. In this wide-ranging transdisciplinary study she explores the strong thread of biophilia which runs through our online lives, a phenomenon she calls 'technobiophilia', or, the 'innate attraction to life and lifelike processes as they appear in technology'. The restorative qualities of biophilia can alleviate mental fatigue and enhance our capacity for directed attention, soothing our connected minds and easing our relationship with computers. Technobiophilia: Nature and Cyberspace offers new insights on what is commonly known as 'work-life balance'. It explores ways to make our peace with technology-induced anxiety and achieve a 'tech-nature balance' through practical experiments designed to enhance our digital lives indoors, outdoors, and online. The book draws on a long history of literature on nature and technology and breaks new ground as the first to link the two. Its accessible style will attract the general reader, whilst the clear definition of key terms and concepts throughout should appeal to undergraduates and postgraduates of new media and communication studies, internet studies, environmental psychology, and human-computer interaction. www.technobiophilia.com

A classic ethnography reveals the worlds of amateur musicians. Back in print with a new preface. A landmark in the study of music and culture, this acclaimed volume documents the remarkable scope of amateur music-making in the English town of Milton Keynes. It presents in vivid detail the contrasting yet overlapping worlds of classical orchestras, church choirs, brass bands, amateur operatic societies, and amateur bands playing jazz, rock, folk, and country. Notable for its contribution to wider theoretical debates and its influential challenge to long-held assumptions about music and how to study it, the book focuses on the practices rather than the texts or theory of music, rejecting the idea that only selected musical traditions, "great names," or professional musicians are worth studying. This opens the door to the invisible work put in by thousands of local people of diverse backgrounds, and how the pathways creatively trodden by amateur musicians have something to tell us about both urban living and what it is to be human. Now with a new preface by the author, this long-awaited reissue of The Hidden Musicians will bring its insights and innovations to a new generation of students and scholars.

An acclaimed historian’s “compellingly told” year-by-year account of the pioneering efforts to conquer the American West in the mid-nineteenth century (The Guardian). In all the sagas of human migration, few can top the drama of the journey by Midwestern farmers to Oregon and California from 1840 to 1849—between the era of the fur trappers and the beginning of the gold rush. Even with mountain men as guides, these pioneers literally plunged into the unknown, braving all manner of danger, including hunger, thirst, disease, and drowning. Employing numerous illustrations and extensive primary sources, including original diaries and memoirs, McLynn underscores the incredible heroism and dangerous folly on the overland trails. His authoritative narrative investigates the events leading up to the opening of the trails, the wagons and animals used, the roles of women, relations with Native Americans, and much else. The climax arrives in McLynn’s expertly re-created tale of the dreadful Donner party, and he closes with Brigham Young and the Mormons beginning communities of their own. Full of high drama, tragedy, and triumph, “rarely has a book so wonderfully brought to life the riveting tales of Americans’ trek to the Pacific” (Publishers Weekly).

The OECD countries have widely differing traditions regarding basic vocational training. This report describes the internal logic and workings of some of these different systems.

This book explores the phenomenon of data – big and small – in the contemporary digital, informatic and legal-bureaucratic context. Challenging the way in which legal interest in data has focused on rights and privacy concerns, this book examines the contestable, multivocal and multifaceted figure of the contemporary data subject. The book analyses "data" and "personal data" as contemporary phenomena, addressing the data realms, such as stores, institutions, systems and networks, out of which they emerge. It interrogates the role of law, regulation and governance in structuring both formal and informal definitions of the data subject, and disciplining data subjects through compliance with normative standards of conduct. Focusing on the ‘personal’ in and of data, the book pursues a re-evaluation of the nature, role and place of the data subject qua legal subject in on and offline societies: one that does not begin and end with the inviolability of individual rights but returns to more fundamental legal principles suited to considerations of personhood, such as stewardship, trust, property and contract. The book’s concern with the production, use, abuse and alienation of personal data within the context of contemporary communicative capitalism will appeal to scholars and students of law, science and technology studies, and sociology; as well as those with broader political interests in this area.

It was late August 1939. Nature’s glorious colors had begun to gradually alter Europe’s picturesque landscape. For those graced with a window to peer through...the peaceful serenity of autumn was time for many to pause for reflective introspection. But Adolph Hitler was poised to alter that landscape. Tracks of Our Tears, the sequel to From Promise to Peril, continues to follow the fortunes of the glamorous Marta, a world-renowned German violin virtuoso, and her intellectually gifted, lifelong best friend, Anna, whose Jewish family has been destroyed by the Nazi Holocaust. Anna’s prodigious intellect, and her deep connection to Marta’s influential family has won her a false identity and an undercover role for German Intelligence. She, and an increasingly disillusioned group of high-ranking officers, begin scheming for Hitler’s downfall. Akin to moving chess pieces, this secretive collaboration skillfully establishes Hitler’s confidence in them and over time, deceptively uses their influence to alter the course of the war. Despite their vastly different religious ancestry, the closeness between Anna and Marta is unshakable, inspiring their remarkable formidability to overcome the tyranny and violence surrounding them. Meanwhile, a poor but precocious young adolescent named Julia, witnesses the genocide of her family during the German invasion of Poland. Instantly she becomes an orphan of war. Now being alone and innocent, but neither helpless nor defeated, Julia begins her inspirational journey. Relying upon keen insight and unshakable courage, Julia awakens her own inherent determination to not only survive her ordeal, but to impactfully avenge the unspeakable tragedy befalling her family. This richly researched tale enfolds fascinating historical characters and incidents into its fictional storyline while painting a vivid and absolutely devastating portrait of WWII, wreaking havoc on Eastern Europe and its peoples. At the same time, however, it deftly weaves the threads of its narrative into a beautiful tapestry illustrating the endurance of the human spirit.