Books by Scott Wilson

Melancology addresses the notorious musical genre black metal as a negative form of environmental writing that ';blackens' the cosmos. This book conjures a new word and concept that conjoins ';black' and ';ecology': melancology, a word in which can be heard the melancholy affect appropriate to the conjunction. Black metal resounds from the abyss and it is precisely only in relation to its sonic forces that the question of intervention in the environment arises in the articulation of melancology with ethics. That is, in deciding ';which way out' we should take, in deciding with what surpluses to dwell, with what waste, what detritus or decay in a process of unbinding with sonic forces that traverse an earth choking in wealth and death. The book thus provides a provocative and challenging contribution both to popular and intellectual debates on ecology.

This book looks at how American rap/metal has engaged with America's defining role in the world after the Cold War. It offers a highly original approach in relating rap/metal to critical theories of economy and culture and introduces a new method of cultural analysis based on theories of negativity and expenditure. -- .

This book analyzes the rise of civil society and legal contentiousness in China as the author examines how AIDS carriers and pollution victims pursue justice. His case studies highlight the development of civil society as well as the limitations to the "politics of justice" as the system balances between the rule of law and regime stability.

This text offers examples of ways of reading literary and cultural texts in the light of Bataille's work. The chapters explore Bataillean notions such as heterology, transgression and eroticism, demonstrating their significance for both contemporary and futural modes of cultural analysis.