Advertisement
| the tropic of chaos: Tropic of Chaos Christian Parenti, 2011-06-28 From Africa to Asia and Latin America, the era of climate wars has begun. Extreme weather is breeding banditry, humanitarian crisis, and state failure. In Tropic of Chaos, investigative journalist Christian Parenti travels along the front lines of this gathering catastrophe--the belt of economically and politically battered postcolonial nations and war zones girding the planet's midlatitudes. Here he finds failed states amid climatic disasters. But he also reveals the unsettling presence of Western military forces and explains how they see an opportunity in the crisis to prepare for open-ended global counterinsurgency. Parenti argues that this incipient climate fascism -- a political hardening of wealthy states-- is bound to fail. The struggling states of the developing world cannot be allowed to collapse, as they will take other nations down as well. Instead, we must work to meet the challenge of climate-driven violence with a very different set of sustainable economic and development policies. |
| the tropic of chaos: The Soft Cage Christian Parenti, 2007-10-15 On a typical day, you might make a call on a cell phone, withdraw money at an ATM, visit the mall, and make a purchase with a credit card. Each of these routine transactions leaves a digital trail for government agencies and businesses to access. As cutting-edge historian and journalist Christian Parenti points out, these everyday intrusions on privacy, while harmless in themselves, are part of a relentless (and clandestine) expansion of routine surveillance in American life over the last two centuries-from controlling slaves in the old South to implementing early criminal justice and tracking immigrants. Parenti explores the role computers are playing in creating a whole new world of seemingly benign technologies-such as credit cards, website cookies, and electronic toll collection-that have expanded this trend in the twenty-first century. The Soft Cage offers a compelling, vitally important history lesson for every American concerned about the expansion of surveillance into our public and private lives. |
| the tropic of chaos: Tropic of Cancer (Harper Perennial Modern Classics) Henry Miller, 2012-01-30 Miller’s groundbreaking first novel, banned in Britain for almost thirty years. |
| the tropic of chaos: Radical Hamilton Christian Parenti, 2020-08-04 ALEXANDER HAMILTON AS YOU’VE NEVER SEEN HIM BEFORE: This bold, revisionist biography of the polarizing Founding Father reframes the founding of the United States and the history of capitalism. “Wide-ranging, carefully researched, and forcefully written.” —Alan Taylor, author of Thomas Jefferson's Education In retelling the story of the radical Alexander Hamilton, Parenti rewrites the history early America and global economic history writ large. For much of the twentieth century, Hamilton—sometimes seen as the bad boy of the founding fathers or portrayed as the patron saint of bankers—was out of fashion. In contrast his rival Thomas Jefferson, the patrician democrat and slave owner who feared government overreach, was claimed by all. But more recently, Hamilton has become a subject of serious interest again. He was a contradictory mix: a tough soldier, austere workaholic, exacting bureaucrat, yet also a sexual libertine, and a glory-obsessed romantic with suicidal tendencies. As Parenti argues, we have yet to fully appreciate Hamilton as the primary architect of American capitalism and the developmental state. In exploring his life and work, Parenti rediscovers this gadfly as a path breaking political thinker and institution builder. In this vivid historical portrait, Hamilton emerges as a singularly important historical figure: a thinker and politico who laid the foundation for America's ascent to global supremacy—for better or worse. |
| the tropic of chaos: Dragon in the Tropics Javier Corrales, Michael Penfold, 2011-02-01 Since he was first elected in 1999, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Frías has reshaped a frail but nonetheless pluralistic democracy into a semi-authoritarian regime—an outcome achieved with spectacularly high oil income and widespread electoral support. This eye-opening book illuminates one of the most sweeping and unexpected political transformations in contemporary Latin America. Based on more than fifteen years' experience in researching and writing about Venezuela, Javier Corrales and Michael Penfold have crafted a comprehensive account of how the Chávez regime has revamped the nation, with a particular focus on its political transformation. Throughout, they take issue with conventional explanations. First, they argue persuasively that liberal democracy as an institution was not to blame for the rise of chavismo. Second, they assert that the nation's economic ailments were not caused by neoliberalism. Instead they blame other factors, including a dependence on oil, which caused macroeconomic volatility; political party fragmentation, which triggered infighting; government mismanagement of the banking crisis, which led to more centralization of power; and the Asian crisis of 1997, which devastated Venezuela's economy at the same time that Chávez ran for president. It is perhaps on the role of oil that the authors take greatest issue with prevailing opinion. They do not dispute that dependence on oil can generate political and economic distortions—the resource curse or paradox of plenty arguments—but they counter that oil alone fails to explain Chávez's rise. Instead they single out a weak framework of checks and balances that allowed the executive branch to extract oil rents and distribute them to the populace. The real culprit behind Chávez's success, they write, was the asymmetry of political power. |
| the tropic of chaos: Tropic of Chaos Christian Parenti, 2011-06-28 An investigative journalist visits the economically and politically battered post-colonial nations around the earth's mid-latitudes and reveals how extreme weather in the era of climate change is breeding banditry, humanitarian crises and state failure. |
| the tropic of chaos: Tropic of Venice Margaret Doody, 2007-02 In this journey through the work of artists and the writings of travelers who have been both smitten and repelled by the influence of Venice, Margaret Doody explores ways in which this is a city profoundly unlike any other on earth—and one that simultaneously unsettles and reveals many of our most deeply rooted cultural values. |
| the tropic of chaos: Mortal Chaos: Speed Freaks Matt Dickinson, 2013-01-03 Butterfly effect: The scientific theory that a single occurence, no matter how small, can change the course of the universe forever. A father and son diving off the coast of Hawaii, with the sharks closing in. A scientist in a forest under attack from a savage bear. A young girl who has been kidnapped by drug dealers in Rio. The teenagers surfing on top of a speeding bullet train. For them, and many others, things will never be the same again. Some will live. Many will die. All are connected. The action is non-stop in this tense and compelling adventure. |
| the tropic of chaos: Fierce Climate, Sacred Ground Elizabeth Marino, 2015-09-15 With three roads and a population of just over 500 people, Shishmaref, Alaska seems like an unlikely center of the climate change debate. But the island, home to Iñupiaq Eskimos who still live off subsistence harvesting, is falling into the sea, and climate change is, at least in part, to blame. While countries sputter and stall over taking environmental action, Shishmaref is out of time. Publications from the New York Times to Esquire have covered this disappearing village, yet few have taken the time to truly show the community and the two millennia of traditions at risk. In Fierce Climate, Sacred Ground, Elizabeth Marino brings Shishmaref into sharp focus as a place where people in a close-knit, determined community are confronting the realities of our changing planet every day. She shows how physical dangers challenge lives, while the stress and uncertainty challenge culture and identity. Marino also draws on Shishmaref’s experiences to show how disasters and the outcomes of climate change often fall heaviest on those already burdened with other social risks and often to communities who have contributed least to the problem. Stirring and sobering, Fierce Climate, Sacred Ground proves that the consequences of unchecked climate change are anything but theoretical. |
| the tropic of chaos: Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor Rob Nixon, 2011-06-01 “Slow violence” from climate change, toxic drift, deforestation, oil spills, and the environmental aftermath of war occurs gradually and often invisibly. Rob Nixon focuses on the inattention we have paid to the lethality of many environmental crises, in contrast with the sensational, spectacle-driven messaging that impels public activism today. |
| the tropic of chaos: Lockdown America Christian Parenti, 2000 Lockdown America documents the horrors and absurdities of militarized policing, prisons, a fortified border, and the war on drugs. Its accessible and vivid prose makes clear the links between crime and politics in a period of gathering economic crisis. |
| the tropic of chaos: The Climate Swerve Robert Jay Lifton, 2017-10-10 Longlisted for the PEN America/E.O. Wilson Prize for Literary Science Writing Well worth the read. . . . [A] prescient handoff to the next generation of scholars. —The Washington Post From one of the world’s foremost thinkers (Bill Moyers), a profound, hopeful, and timely call for an emerging new collective consciousness to combat climate change Over his long career as witness to an extreme twentieth century, National Book Award-winning psychiatrist, historian, and public intellectual Robert Jay Lifton has grappled with the profound effects of nuclear war, terrorism, and genocide. Now he shifts to climate change, which, Lifton writes, presents us with what may be the most demanding and unique psychological task ever required of humankind, what he describes as the task of mobilizing our imaginative resources toward climate sanity. Thanks to the power of corporate-funded climate denialists and the fact that with its slower, incremental sequence, [climate change] lends itself less to the apocalyptic drama, a large swathe of humanity has numbed themselves to the reality of climate change. Yet Lifton draws a message of hope from the Paris climate meeting of 2015 where representatives of virtually all nations joined in the recognition that we are a single species in deep trouble. Here, Lifton suggests in this lucid and moving book that recalls Rachel Carson and Jonathan Schell, was evidence of how we might call upon the human mind—our greatest evolutionary asset—to translate a growing species awareness—or climate swerve—into action to sustain our habitat and civilization. |
| the tropic of chaos: The Green New Deal and the Future of Work Craig Calhoun, Benjamin Y. Fong, 2022-08-30 Catastrophic climate change overshadows the present and the future. Wrenching economic transformations have devastated workers and hollowed out communities. However, those fighting for jobs and those fighting for the planet have often been at odds. Does the world face two separate crises, environmental and economic? The promise of the Green New Deal is to tackle the threat of climate change through the empowerment of working people and the strengthening of democracy. In this view, the crisis of nature and the crisis of work must be addressed together—or they will not be addressed at all. This book brings together leading experts to explore the possibilities of the Green New Deal, emphasizing the future of work. Together, they examine transformations that are already underway and put forth bold new proposals that can provide jobs while reducing carbon consumption—building a world that is sustainable both economically and ecologically. Contributors also debate urgent questions: What is the value of a federal jobs program, or even a jobs guarantee? How do we alleviate the miseries and precarity of work? In key economic sectors, including energy, transportation, housing, agriculture, and care work, what kind of work is needed today? How does the New Deal provide guidance in addressing these questions, and how can a Green New Deal revive democracy? Above all, this book shows, the Green New Deal offers hope for a better tomorrow—but only if it accounts for work’s past transformations and shapes its future. |
| the tropic of chaos: The Secure and the Dispossessed Nick Buxton, Ben Hayes, 2016 An exploration into how the elite exploit the impact of climate change and how communities can resist this process. |
| the tropic of chaos: Other Geographies Sharad Chari, Susanne Freidberg, Vinay Gidwani, Jesse Ribot, Wendy Wolford, 2017-07-27 An international group of distinguished scholars pay homage to and build on the work of one of the most influential thinkers of our time, Michael Watts. Shows how Michael Watts’ research, writings, teaching and mentoring have relentlessly pushed boundaries, transforming his chosen field of geography and beyond Spans an array of topics including the political economy and ecology of African societies, governmentality and territoriality in various Southern contexts, food security, cultural materialist expositions of capitalism, modernity and development across the postcolonial world Builds on his legacy, exploring its theoretical, analytical, and empirical implications and proposing exciting new possibilities for further exploration in the tracks of Watts |
| the tropic of chaos: Storming the Wall Todd Miller, 2017-08-21 RECIPIENT OF THE 2018 IZZY AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM Every so often a book comes along that can dramatically change, or elevate, one's thinking about a global problem. Much like Naomi Klein's books, Todd Miller’s Storming the Wall is such a book and deserves far more attention and discussion.—Izzy Award Judges, Ithaca College *** Named one of the 15 Books on Climate Change That Are Essential Reading - Esquire A galvanizing forecast of global warming's endgame and a powerful indictment of America's current stance.—Kirkus Reviews As global warming accelerates, droughts last longer, floods rise higher, and super-storms become more frequent. With increasing numbers of people on the move as a result, the business of containing them—border fortification—is booming. In Storming the Wall, Todd Miller travels around the world to connect the dots between climate-ravaged communities, the corporations cashing in on border militarization, and emerging movements for environmental justice and sustainability. Reporting from the flashpoints of climate clashes, and from likely sites of futures battles, Miller chronicles a growing system of militarized divisions between the rich and the poor, the environmentally secure and the environmentally exposed. Stories of crisis, greed and violence are juxtaposed with powerful examples of solidarity and hope in this urgent and timely message from the frontlines of the post-Paris Agreement era. Todd Miller's writings about the border have appeared in the New York Times, Tom Dispatch, and many other places. Praise for Storming the Wall Nothing will test human institutions like climate change in this century—as this book makes crystal clear, people on the move from rising waters, spreading deserts, and endless storms could profoundly destabilize our civilizations unless we seize the chance to re-imagine our relationships to each other. This is no drill, but it is a test, and it will be graded pass-fail—Bill McKibben, author Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet As Todd Miller shows in this important and harrowing book, climate-driven migration is set to become one of the defining issues of our time.... This is a must-read book.—Christian Parenti, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, author of Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence Todd Miller reports from the cracks in the walls of the global climate security state—militarized zones designed to keep powerful elites safe from poor and uprooted peoples.... Miller finds hope—hope that may not survive in Trumpworld.—Molly Molloy, Research librarian for Latin America and the border at New Mexico State University and creator of Frontera List Miller delivers a prescient and sober view of our increasingly dystopian planet as the impacts of human-caused climate disruption continue to intensify.—Dahr Jamail, award-winning independent journalist, author of The End of Ice Todd Miller's important book chronicles how existing disparities in wealth and power, combined with the dramatic changes we are causing in this planet's ecosystems, mean either we come together around our common humanity or forfeit the right to call ourselves fully human.—Robert Jensen, author of The End of Patriarchy, Plain Radical, and Arguing for Our Lives |
| the tropic of chaos: Climate Change in Prehistory William James Burroughs, 2005-06-13 How did humankind deal with the extreme challenges of the last Ice Age? How have the relatively benign post-Ice Age conditions affected the evolution and spread of humanity across the globe? By setting our genetic history in the context of climate change during prehistory, the origin of many features of our modern world are identified and presented in this illuminating book. It reviews the aspects of our physiology and intellectual development that have been influenced by climatic factors, and how features of our lives - diet, language and the domestication of animals - are also the product of the climate in which we evolved. In short: climate change in prehistory has in many ways made us what we are today. Climate Change in Prehistory weaves together studies of the climate with anthropological, archaeological and historical studies, and will fascinate all those interested in the effects of climate on human development and history. |
| the tropic of chaos: Why Nations Fail Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson, 2013-09-17 NEW YORK TIMES AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER • From two winners of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, “who have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for a country’s prosperity” “A wildly ambitious work that hopscotches through history and around the world to answer the very big question of why some countries get rich and others don’t.”—The New York Times FINALIST: Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Financial Times, The Economist, BusinessWeek, Bloomberg, The Christian Science Monitor, The Plain Dealer Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine? Is it culture, the weather, or geography that determines prosperity or poverty? As Why Nations Fail shows, none of these factors is either definitive or destiny. Drawing on fifteen years of original research, Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson conclusively show that it is our man-made political and economic institutions that underlie economic success (or the lack of it). Korea, to take just one example, is a remarkably homogenous nation, yet the people of North Korea are among the poorest on earth while their brothers and sisters in South Korea are among the richest. The differences between the Koreas is due to the politics that created those two different institutional trajectories. Acemoglu and Robinson marshal extraordinary historical evidence from the Roman Empire, the Mayan city-states, the Soviet Union, the United States, and Africa to build a new theory of political economy with great relevance for the big questions of today, among them: • Will China’s economy continue to grow at such a high speed and ultimately overwhelm the West? • Are America’s best days behind it? Are we creating a vicious cycle that enriches and empowers a small minority? “This book will change the way people think about the wealth and poverty of nations . . . as ambitious as Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel.”—BusinessWeek |
| the tropic of chaos: Tropic of Orange Karen Tei Yamashita, 1997 An apocalypse of race, class, and culture, fanned by the media and the harsh L.A. sun. |
| the tropic of chaos: The Oldest Trick in the Book Ben M. Debney, 2021-07-18 This book investigates the normalisation of blame-shifting within ideological discourse as a broad feature of history, working from Churchill’s truism that history is written by the victors. To that end, it explores historical episodes of political persecution carried out under cover of moral panic, highlighting the process of ‘Othering’ common to each and theorising a historical model of panic-driven scapegoating from the results. Building this model from case studies in witch panic, communist panic and terrorist panic respectively, The Oldest Trick in the Book builds an argument that features common to each case study reflect broader historical patterning consistent with Churchill’s maxim. On this basis it argues that the periodic construction of bogeymen or ‘folk demons’ is a useful device for enabling the kind of victim-playing and victim-blaming critical to protecting elite privilege during periods of crisis and that in being a recurring theme historically, panic-driven scapegoating retains great ongoing value to the privileged and powerful, and thus conspicuously remains an ongoing feature of world politics. |
| the tropic of chaos: Symphony for the City of the Dead M.T. Anderson, 2017-02-07 Originally published: Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2015. |
| the tropic of chaos: Tropic of Capricorn Henry Miller, 2015-06-04 A cult modern classic, Tropic of Capricorn is as daring, frank and influential as Henry Miller first novel, Tropic of Cancer A story of sexual and spiritual awakening, Tropic of Capricorn shocked readers when it was published in 1939. A mixture of fiction and autobiography, it is the story of Henry V. Miller who works for the Cosmodemonic telegraph company in New York in the 1920s and tries to write the most important work of literature that was ever published. Tropic of Capricorn paints a dazzling picture of the life of the writer and of New York City between the wars: the skyscrapers and the sewers, the lust and the dejection, the smells and the sounds of a city that is perpetually in motion, threatening to swallow everyone and everything. 'Literature begins and ends with the meaning of what Miller has done' Lawrence Durrell 'The only imaginative prose-writer of the slightest value who has appeared among the English-speaking races for some years past' George Orwell 'The greatest American writer' Bob Dylan Henry Miller (1891-1980) is one of the most important American writers of the 20th century. His best-known novels include Tropic of Cancer (1934), Tropic of Capricorn (1939), and the Rosy Crucifixion trilogy (Sexus, 1949, Plexus, 1953, and Nexus, 1959), all published in France and banned in the US and the UK until 1964. He is widely recognised as an irreverent, risk-taking writer who redefined the novel and made the link between the European avant-garde and the American Beat generation. |
| the tropic of chaos: Climate Change and the Nation State Anatol Lieven, 2020-03-05 'This is one of those rare books that have something really important to say. Anatol Lieven is telling his fellow realists that at this moment the world's great powers are far more threatened by climate change than they are by each other' Ivan Krastev, author of The Light That Failed In the past two centuries we have experienced wave after wave of overwhelming change. Entire continents have been resettled; there are billions more of us; the jobs done by countless people would be unrecognizable to their predecessors; scientific change has transformed us all in confusing, terrible and miraculous ways. Anatol Lieven's major new book provides the frame that has long been needed to understand how we should react to climate change. This is a vast challenge, but we have often in the past had to deal with such challenges: the industrial revolution, major wars and mass migration have seen mobilizations of human energy on the greatest scale. Just as previous generations had to face the unwanted and unpalatable, so do we. In a series of incisive, compelling interventions, Lieven shows how in this emergency our crucial building block is the nation state. The drastic action required both to change our habits and protect ourselves can be carried out not through some vague globalism but through maintaining social cohesion and through our current governmental, fiscal and military structures. This is a book which will provoke innumerable discussions. |
| the tropic of chaos: Climate Chaos Brian Fagan, Nadia Durrani, 2021-09-21 A thirty-thousand-year history of the relationship between climate and civilization that teaches powerful lessons about how humankind can survive. Human-made climate change may have begun in the last two hundred years, but our species has witnessed many eras of climate instability. The results have not always been pretty. From Ancient Egypt to Rome to the Maya, some of history’s mightiest civilizations have been felled by pestilence and glacial melt and drought. The challenges are no less great today. We face hurricanes and megafires and food shortages and more. But we have one powerful advantage as we face our current crisis: the past. Our knowledge of ancient climates has advanced tremendously in the last decade, to the point where we can now reconstruct seasonal weather going back thousands of years and see just how people and nature interacted. The lesson is clear: the societies that survive are those that plan ahead. Climate Chaos is a book about saving ourselves. Brian Fagan and Nadia Durrani show in remarkable detail what it was like to battle our climate over centuries and offer us a path to a safer and healthier future. |
| the tropic of chaos: Creating an Ecological Society Fred Magdoff, Chris Williams, 2017-05-29 Aiming squarely at replacing capitalism with an ecologically sound and socially just society, Magdoff and Williams provide accounts of how a new world can be created from the ashes of the old. They show that it is possible to envision and create a society that is genuinely democratic, equitable, and ecologically sustainable. And possible--not one moment too soon--for society to change fundamentally and be brought into harmony with nature. --From publisher description. |
| the tropic of chaos: Capitalism in the Web of Life Jason W. Moore, 2015-08-18 Integrating both social and historical factors, this radical analysis of the development of capitalism reveals the ever-deepening relationship between capital and ecology Finance. Climate. Food. Work. How are the crises of the twenty-first century connected? In Capitalism in the Web of Life, Jason W. Moore argues that the sources of today’s global turbulence have a common cause: capitalism as a way of organizing nature, including human nature. Drawing on environmentalist, feminist, and Marxist thought, Moore offers a groundbreaking new synthesis: capitalism as a “world-ecology” of wealth, power, and nature. Capitalism’s greatest strength—and the source of its problems—is its capacity to create Cheap Natures: labor, food, energy, and raw materials. That capacity is now in question. Rethinking capitalism through the pulsing and renewing dialectic of humanity-in-nature, Moore takes readers on a journey from the rise of capitalism to the modern mosaic of crisis. Capitalism in the Web of Life shows how the critique of capitalism-in-nature—rather than capitalism and nature—is key to understanding our predicament, and to pursuing the politics of liberation in the century ahead. |
| the tropic of chaos: Disassembly Required Geoff Mann, 2013-08-16 Capitalism is a complex, dynamic, and extraordinarily robust way of organizing human life; it is also a system that achieves prosperity for the few, impoverishes the many, and depletes the commons for all. We know that capitalism is a broken system, in desperate need of change. But, to imagine a different system, we first need to understand how capitalism actually exists today —and be able to explain to others how it works, and why change is needed. Disassembly Required is an attempt to meet these challenges. It offers an anti-capitalist analysis of capitalism, and, even more important, it explains why it is anti-capitalist. It does not stop at claiming that the present way of organizing the “economic” aspects of our lives is politically indefensible and ecologically unsustainable, but digs into the details of capitalist institutions and the economics that justify them. From money and markets to the subprime crisis, it explains the fundamental features of contemporary capitalism and how they contribute, sometimes in surprising ways, to overall capitalist dynamics. “A brilliantly lucid book. Mann illuminates the basic principles of modern capitalism, their expressions in contemporary economies and states, and their devastating socio-ecological consequences for working people everywhere. This is a must-read if we are to envision ways of organizing our common planetary existence that are not based upon the illusory promises of market fundamentalism and the suicidal ideology of endless economic growth.”—Neil Brenner, New State Spaces “Geoff Mann is a new breed of monkey-wrencher. He knows that contemporary capitalism has a perverse habit of dismantling itself and gives us a toolkit to build a new, more socially just edifice.”—Andy Merrifield, Magical Marxism “Insightful and incisive, thoughtful and thorough, filled with new avenues for thinking about resistence. Pass this one by at your own peril.”—Matt Hern, Common Ground in a Liquid City “An essential handbook for understanding ‘actually existing’ capitalism, and thus the world as it really is—rather than as it is theorized and justified by the dissembling high priests of mainstream academia, policy, and politics.”—Christian Parenti, Tropic of Chaos |
| the tropic of chaos: The Scientific Way of Warfare Antoine J. Bousquet, 2022-06-15 Bousquet's landmark book examines the impact of key technologies and scientific ideas on the theory and practice of warfare and the handling of the perennial tension between order and chaos on the battlefield. Spanning the entire modern era, from the Scientific Revolution to the present, it offers a systematic account of modern warfare as the constitution of increasingly complex assemblages of bodies and machines whose integration rests upon a military assimilation of scientific thought. Reflecting the pervasive influence of scientific conceptual frameworks upon warfare, modern armies have been successively organised by reference to the paradigmatic technologies of the clock, engine, computer, and network. Conversely, major scientific developments and technological breakthroughs have become intertwined with the experience of war, especially since the Second World War's unprecedented mobilisation of scientific rationality and technical expertise. This increasingly tight symbiosis between science, technology, and war is at the heart of both the tremendous powers and enduring pathologies displayed by the contemporary military machine. In this new and revised edition, Bousquet extends the analysis to encompass the latest developments in the scientific way of warfare in the midst of renewed great power competition and a wave of technological innovation in artificial intelligence and robotics. |
| the tropic of chaos: Realising REDD+ Arild Angelsen, 2009-01-01 REDD+ must be transformational. REDD+ requires broad institutional and governance reforms, such as tenure, decentralisation, and corruption control. These reforms will enable departures from business as usual, and involve communities and forest users in making and implementing policies that a ect them. Policies must go beyond forestry. REDD+ strategies must include policies outside the forestry sector narrowly de ned, such as agriculture and energy, and better coordinate across sectors to deal with non-forest drivers of deforestation and degradation. Performance-based payments are key, yet limited. Payments based on performance directly incentivise and compensate forest owners and users. But schemes such as payments for environmental services (PES) depend on conditions, such as secure tenure, solid carbon data and transparent governance, that are often lacking and take time to change. This constraint reinforces the need for broad institutional and policy reforms. We must learn from the past. Many approaches to REDD+ now being considered are similar to previous e orts to conserve and better manage forests, often with limited success. Taking on board lessons learned from past experience will improve the prospects of REDD+ e ectiveness. National circumstances and uncertainty must be factored in. Di erent country contexts will create a variety of REDD+ models with di erent institutional and policy mixes. Uncertainties about the shape of the future global REDD+ system, national readiness and political consensus require exibility and a phased approach to REDD+ implementation. |
| the tropic of chaos: Tropic of Violence Nathacha Appanah, 2020-05-19 |
| the tropic of chaos: Catastrophism Sasha Lilley, David McNally, Eddie Yuen, James Davis, 2012-10-05 We live in catastrophic times. The world is reeling from the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression, with the threat of further meltdowns ever-looming. Global warming and myriad dire ecological disasters worsen—with little if any action to halt them—their effects rippling across the planet in the shape of almost biblical floods, fires, droughts, and hurricanes. Governments warn that there is no alternative to the bitter medicine they prescribe—or risk devastating financial or social collapse. The right, whether religious or secular, views the present as catastrophic and wants to turn the clock back. The left fears for the worst, but hopes some good will emerge from the rubble. Visions of the apocalypse and predictions of impending doom abound. Across the political spectrum, a culture of fear reigns.? Catastrophism explores the politics of apocalypse—on the left and right, in the environmental movement—and examines why the lens of catastrophe can distort our understanding of the dynamics at the heart of these numerous disasters—and fatally impede our ability to transform the world. Lilley, McNally, Yuen, and Davis probe the reasons why catastrophic thinking is so prevalent, and challenge the belief that it is only out of the ashes that a better society may be born. The authors argue that those who care about social justice and the environment should jettison doomsaying—even as it relates to indisputably apocalyptic climate change. Far from calling people to arms, they suggest, catastrophic fear often results in passivity and paralysis—and, at worst, reactionary politics.? |
| the tropic of chaos: Planet of Slums Mike Davis, 2007-09-17 Celebrated urban theorist Davis provides a global overview of the diverse religious, ethnic, and political movements competing for the souls of the new urban poor. |
| the tropic of chaos: The Tropic of Eternity Tom Toner, 2018-07-26 Perfect for fans of Iain M. Banks and Peter F. Hamilton. It is the 147th century. The mighty era of Homo Sapiens is at an end. In the Westerly Provinces of the Old World, the hunt is on for the young queen Arabis, and the beast that holds her captive. In the brutal hominid Investiture, revolution has come. The warlord Cunctus, having seized the Vulgar worlds, invites every Prism to pick a side. In the Firmament, once the kingdom of the Immortal Amaranthine, all ships converge on the foundry of Gliese. The grandest battle in the history of mammalian kind has begun. Perception, ancient machine spirit, must take back its mortal remains in a contest for the Firmament itself. Ghaldezuel, now the Grand Marshal of Cunctus' new empire, must travel to the deepest lagoon in the Investiture, a place where monsters dwell. Captain Maril, lost amongst the Hedron Stars, finds himself caught between colossal powers the likes of which he'd never dreamt. And for Aaron the Long-Life, he who has waited so very, very long for his revenge, things are only getting started . . . '(An) unceasing display of wonders...This third novel honours the accomplishments of and promises of the first two, and serves as a fitting capstone to a unique creation...' Paul Di Filippo, Locus Magazine 'The final book in Toner's ridiculously ambitious trilogy will force you to redefine what space opera can do... ' Barnes & Noble 'Among the most significant works of science fiction released in recent years' TOR.COM [The Promise of the Child] |
| the tropic of chaos: Tropic of Stupid Tim Dorsey, 2022-01-04 Serge A. Storms embarks on a tour to meet his long-lost relatives in this madcap entry in the bestselling series from Florida's compulsively irreverent and shockingly funny (Boston Globe) Tim Dorsey. Devoted Floridaphile Serge Storms is a lover of history, so he's decided to investigate his own using one of those DNA services from late-night TV. Excited to construct a family tree, he and his sidekick Coleman hit the road to meet his kin. Along the way, he plans to introduce Coleman to the Sunshine State's beautiful parks where he can brush up on his flora, fauna, and wildlife, and more importantly, collect the missing stamps for his park passport book. But as the old saying goes, the apple doesn't fall far . . . Serge is thrilled to discover he may be related to a notorious serial killer who's terrorized the state for twenty years and never been caught. Which one of his newfound relatives will be the one to help him hunt down this deranged maniac? Serge doesn't know that a dogged investigator from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is also hot on the trail. Then Serge meets a park ranger who's also longing to make a family re-connection. But all is not as it appears on the surface, and Serge's newfound friendship in the mysterious swamps of Florida may lead to deadly results. Finding his own relatives has made Serge understand the importance of family. Of course he'll do anything to help . . . |
| the tropic of chaos: Nexus Henry Miller, 2007-12-01 Nexus, the last book of Henry Miller's epic trilogy The Rosy Crucifixion, is widely considered to be one of the landmarks of American fiction. In it, Miller vividly recalls his many years as a down-and-out writer in New York City, his friends, mistresses, and the unusual circumstances of his eventful life. |
| the tropic of chaos: Sustainable Development - Relationships to Culture, Knowledge and Ethics Ignacio Ayestaran, 2011 The emergence of a global and technological world and its accelerating, dissemination before the beginning of the 21st century does not only give rise to technological, economic, social, environmental, political, and educational tasks. Significant philosophical questions, epistemic reflections, and cultural debates result. The aim of this book is to provide information about epistemic, ethical, and cultural implications of sustainable development on an interdisciplinary and international level. |
| the tropic of chaos: Postgenocide Klejda Mulaj, 2021-03-15 This volume introduces 'postgenocide' as a novel approach to study genocide and its effects after mass killing has ended. It investigates how the material violence of genocide translates into contests over memory, remembrance, and laws, and the re-imagining of political community. Contributions come from academics across a broad range of disciplines, including law, political science, sociology, and ethnography Chapters in this volume explore the various permutations of genocide harms, and scrutinise the efficacy of genocide laws and the prospects for their enforcement. Others engage with socio-political responses to genocide, including efforts to reconciliation, as well as genocide's impacts on victims' communities. Contributions examine the reconstruction of genocide narratives in the display of victims' objects in museums, galleries, and archives.This book brings together cutting edge research from a variety of disciplines, to address formerly overlooked themes and cases, exploring what a diversity of perspectives can bring to bear on genocide scholarship as a whole. |
| the tropic of chaos: Ramblin' Bob Dayton Lummis, 2012-05 The stage and film actor Peter Holden (Parkhurst) has called Dayton Lummis a cosmic town crier. Indeed, that he is, and more. This latest volume, Ramblin' Bob, will reveal that. Read it! The California social critic Tom Englezos said of Lummis's previous collection of acerbic thoughts and often politically incorrect observations: I thoroughly-and absolutely-enjoyed NOTES. I was informed, and-often-outraged! Great stuff. Damn! I hope you have more coming. A lot more! Ramblin' Bob is more. And still more... |
| the tropic of chaos: Eco-Nihilism Wendy Lynne Lee, 2017-02-22 Eco-Nihilism: The Philosophical Geopolitics of the Climate Change Apocalypse argues that there are no versions of conquest capital compatible with the fact of a finite planet, and that the pursuit of growth is destined to not only exhaust our planetary resources, but generate profound social injustice and geopolitical violence in its pursuit. |
| the tropic of chaos: Care of Souls, Care of Polis Ryan LaMothe, 2017-07-25 In the fields of pastoral care and pastoral theology, there are times when a book signals a paradigm shift. This is one such book. LaMothe develops a political pastoral theology that is used to examine critically political, economic, and societal structures and practices. In the first part of the book, LaMothe argues that care and pastoral care are political concepts, which, along with the notion of justice, can be used as a hermeneutical framework to assess macropolitical and macroeconomic realities. Included in this section is the notion of civil and redemptive discourse, necessary for the survival and flourishing of persons and polis. The last section of the book examines U.S. Empire, capitalism, class, classism, and other pressing political issues using the hermeneutical lens of care. |
Tropic: Intelligent Spend Management Solution
Tropic unifies your spend data and processes, delivering real insights and decisive action. Go beyond spend management with AI agents and expert support to drive real business impact.
Our Story | Tropic
Today, Tropic combines robust spend management capabilities and unbiased software supplier intelligence in one solution, giving buyers maximum leverage and unmatched confidence to …
Onboarding Guide: Setup, Uploads, and Configuration – Tropic …
Jun 3, 2025 · Tropic staff extracts metadata from these documents to set up contract records. This unlocks several features in the Tropic platform, including renewal reminders and spend …
Accounting | Tropic
Streamlined processes replace tedious manual work. Tropic's AI helps accounting teams get ahead of variances in contracted and actual spend, while providing real-time visibility into …
What is Tropic? – Tropic help center
Dec 11, 2024 · Tropic helps you simplify and optimize the way you buy and manage software and services. By combining experienced negotiators with AI-driven tools and actionable insights, …
2025 Software Spend Report | Tropic - Resources
Discover why hundreds of companies choose Tropic to gain visibility and control of their spend.
Help by topic – Tropic help center
What is Tropic? Glossary of Tropic Terminology; Tropic Platform Overview; Optimize Contract Management: Upload Your Documents to Tropic; Tropic Change Management: Successful …
Procurement | Tropic
Tropic centralizes your vendor ecosystem, automates contract tracking, streamlines approval workflows, and proactively identifies cost-saving opportunities. With complete visibility into …
Getting Started with the Tropic API and Webhooks
Feb 11, 2025 · The Tropic API empowers you to programmatically manage your software procurement and spend optimization workflows. Built on REST principles, our API provides …
The Bottom Line Blog | Tropic
Tropic's new features empowers finance and procurements teams with advanced AI and analytics, including a natural language interface, variance analysis, public API and webhooks, …
Tropic: Intelligent Spend Management Solution
Tropic unifies your spend data and processes, delivering real insights and decisive action. Go beyond spend management with AI agents and expert support to drive real business impact.
Our Story | Tropic
Today, Tropic combines robust spend management capabilities and unbiased software supplier intelligence in one solution, giving buyers maximum leverage and unmatched confidence to …
Onboarding Guide: Setup, Uploads, and Configuration – Tropic …
Jun 3, 2025 · Tropic staff extracts metadata from these documents to set up contract records. This unlocks several features in the Tropic platform, including renewal reminders and spend …
Accounting | Tropic
Streamlined processes replace tedious manual work. Tropic's AI helps accounting teams get ahead of variances in contracted and actual spend, while providing real-time visibility into …
What is Tropic? – Tropic help center
Dec 11, 2024 · Tropic helps you simplify and optimize the way you buy and manage software and services. By combining experienced negotiators with AI-driven tools and actionable insights, …
2025 Software Spend Report | Tropic - Resources
Discover why hundreds of companies choose Tropic to gain visibility and control of their spend.
Help by topic – Tropic help center
What is Tropic? Glossary of Tropic Terminology; Tropic Platform Overview; Optimize Contract Management: Upload Your Documents to Tropic; Tropic Change Management: Successful …
Procurement | Tropic
Tropic centralizes your vendor ecosystem, automates contract tracking, streamlines approval workflows, and proactively identifies cost-saving opportunities. With complete visibility into …
Getting Started with the Tropic API and Webhooks
Feb 11, 2025 · The Tropic API empowers you to programmatically manage your software procurement and spend optimization workflows. Built on REST principles, our API provides …
The Bottom Line Blog | Tropic
Tropic's new features empowers finance and procurements teams with advanced AI and analytics, including a natural language interface, variance analysis, public API and webhooks, …
