Books published by Princeton University Press

How ordinary urban objects influence our behavior, exacerbate inequality, and encourage social changeAssumptions about human behavior lie hidden in plain sight all around us, programmed into the design and regulation of the material objects we encounter on a daily basis. In the Midst of Things takes an in-depth look at the social lives of five objects commonly found in the public spaces of New York City and its suburbs, revealing how our interactions with such material things are our primary point of contact with the social, political, and economic forces that shape city life.Drawing on groundbreaking fieldwork and a wealth of original interviews, Mike Owen Benediktsson shows how we are in the midst of things whose profound social role often goes overlooked. A newly built lawn on the Brooklyn waterfront reflects an increasingly common trade-off between the marketplace and the public good. A cement wall on a New Jersey highway speaks to the demise of the postwar American dream. A metal folding chair on a patch of asphalt in Queens exposes the political obstacles to making the city livable. A subway door expresses the simmering conflict between the city and the desires of riders, while a newsstand bears witness to our increasingly impoverished streetscapes.In the Midst of Things demonstrates how the material realm is one of immediacy, control, inequality, and unpredictability, and how these factors frustrate the ability of designers, planners, and regulators to shape human behavior.

A groundbreaking reinterpretation of early Judaism, during the millennium before the study of the Bible took center stageEarly Judaism is often described as the religion of the book par excellenceΓÇöa movement built around the study of the Bible and steeped in a culture of sacred bookishness that evolved from an unrelenting focus on a canonical text. But in The Closed Book, Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg argues that Jews didnΓÇÖt truly embrace the biblical text until nearly a thousand years after the Bible was first canonized. She tells the story of the intervening centuries during which even rabbis seldom opened a Bible and many rabbinic authorities remained deeply ambivalent about the biblical text as a source of sacred knowledge.Wollenberg shows that, in place of the biblical text, early Jewish thinkers embraced a form of biblical revelation that has now largely disappeared from practice. Somewhere between the fixed transcripts of the biblical Written Torah and the fluid traditions of the rabbinic Oral Torah, a third category of revelation was imagined by these rabbinic thinkers. In this ΓÇ£third Torah,ΓÇ¥ memorized spoken formulas of the biblical tradition came to be envisioned as a distinct version of the biblical revelation. And it was believed that this living tradition of recitation passed down by human mouths, unbound by the limitations of written text, provided a fuller and more authentic witness to the scriptural revelation at Sinai. In this way, early rabbinic authorities were able to leverage the idea of biblical revelation while quarantining the biblical text itself from communal life.The result is a revealing reinterpretation of ΓÇ£the people of the bookΓÇ¥ before they became people of the book.

A panoramic cultural and legal history that traces the roots of antisemitism and racism to early Christian theologySince the earliest days of Christianity, theologians expressed pervasive anxiety about Jews as equal members of society, and, with European expansion in the early modern period, that anxiety extended to people of color. This troubling legacy still haunts us today. Christian Supremacy demonstrates how theological and legal frameworks created by the church centuries ago laid the seeds of antisemitism and anti-Black racism and reveals why Christian identity lies at the heart of the worldΓÇÖs violent white supremacy movements.In a powerful historical narrative spanning nearly two millennia, Magda Teter describes how Christian theology of late antiquity cast Jews as ΓÇ£children born to slavery,ΓÇ¥ and how the supposed theological inferiority of Jews became inscribed into law, creating tangible structures that reinforced a sense of Christian domination and superiority. With the dawn of European colonialism, a distinct brand of European Christian supremacy found expression in the legally sanctioned enslavement and exploitation of people of color, later taking the form of white Christian supremacy in the New World.Drawing on a wealth of primary evidence ranging from the theological and legal to the philosophical and artistic, Christian Supremacy is a profound reckoning with history that traces the roots of the modern rejection of Jewish and Black equality to an enduring Christian heritage of exclusion, intolerance, and persecution.

"A one-volume, single-authored reference book featuring scholarly essays on key terms that appear in the Qur'an"--

"Mina Loy (1882-1966) was one of the most inscrutable artists and poets of the twentieth century. Born in London and formally trained as an artist in London, Munich, and Paris, Loy was elected as a member of the Salon d'Automne in Paris at the age of 23. Her modernist enlightenment came through her introduction to the Italian Futurists, and her subsequent structurally startling and provocative poetry and manifesto-writing brought her immediate notoriety and the embrace of the American avant-garde. Upon her arrival in New York in 1916 she was featured as the prototype of the "Modern Woman" in a profile in the New York Evening Sun. Her writings were published in Camera Work, Little Review, Rogue, and elsewhere, and her art was included in the groundbreaking 1917 Independents' Exhibition. She was Marcel Duchamp's date for the Blind Man's Ball-a friendship that lasted throughout their lives, as Duchamp organized Loy's final exhibition in 1955. Today, Loy is remembered primarily as a poet. Mina Loy: Strangeness Is Inevitable is the first book to examine the full scope of her career, including her visual work. The book follows Loy on her transatlantic passage to America as an immigrant in 1936 and features over 50 of her paintings, drawings, and constructions alongside a selection of her poetry and writings, all of which reveal her omnivorous creativity as an image-maker, author, and cultural arbiter. These works are complemented by extensive, never-before-assembled archival materials that provide context for her art within the arc of her extraordinary life. Contributing authors will show how indispensable of a force she was in introducing Italian futurism to America, radicalizing the aspirations of feminism, expanding the aesthetics of surrealism, and presaging American pop art through her assemblage constructions. Introducing the full breadth of Loy's creative expression-painting, drawing, poetry, prose, art criticism, and fashion design-Mina Loy presents the remarkable vision of this iconoclast"--

A spectacularly illustrated journey into the intimate communities that native trees share with animals, insects, fungi, and microbesYou can tell a lot about a tree from the company it keeps. James Nardi guides you through the innermost unseen world that trees share with a wondrous array of creatures. With their elaborate immune responses, trees recruit a host of allies as predators and parasites to defend against uninvited advances from organisms that chew on leaves, drain sap, and bore into wood. Microbial life thrives in the hidden spaces of leaf scales, twigs, and bark, while birds, mammals, and insects benefit from the more visible resources trees provide. In return, animals help with pollination, seed dispersal, and recycling of nutrients. The Hidden Company That Trees Keep blends marvelous storytelling with beautiful illustrations and the latest science to reveal how the lives of trees are intertwined with those of their diverse companions.Features a wealth of richly detailed drawings accompanied by breathtaking images of microscopic landscapes on leaf, bark, and root surfacesIncludes informative fact boxesDraws on new discoveries in biology and natural historyWritten by one of the worldΓÇÖs leading naturalists

The ultimate photographic field guide to North American insectsThis amazing field guide enables you to identify all 783 families of insects currently recognized in the United States and Canada. Richly illustrated with more than 3,700 stunning photos along with keys to families for many of the orders, Insects of North America features a comprehensive introduction that discusses classification and nomenclature, insect diversity, global threats, the latest collecting and curatorial techniques, and the many ways these remarkable organisms impact society. Combined with in-depth taxonomic coverage, this is the essential resource for both professionals and amateurs interested in the most diverse group of animals on the planet.Covers all 783 insect families known to occur in the United States and CanadaFeatures more than 3,700 color photos, with nearly every photo identified to species levelIncludes an illustrated glossary for easy reference in the fieldThe first field companion of its kind since the publication of the Peterson guide in 1970Ideal for entomology courses of all levelsAn invaluable resource for anyone interested in insects

"Explores the science and alchemy of old-growth forests and makes a compelling case for their protection. Many foresters are proponents of forest management while ecologists and conservation biologists believe that the healthiest forests are those we leave alone. Joan Maloof brings together the scientific data we have about old-growth forests, drawing on diverse fields of study to explain the ecological differences among forests of various ages. She describes the life forms and relationships that make old-growth forests unique--from salamanders and micro-snails to plants that communicate through fungi--and reveals why human attempts to manage forests can never replicate nature's sublime handiwork. Maloof invites you to discover the power of these fragile realms that are so inextricably connected to our planet, our fellow species, and our spirits. With drawings by Andrew Joslin that illustrate scientific concepts and capture the remarkable beauty of ancient trees, this revised and expanded edition of Nature's Temples sheds new light on the special role forests play in removing carbon from the atmosphere and shares what we know about the interplay between wildfires and ancient forests"--

"It is not an exaggeration to say that the honey bee is the most well understood insect. We know more about Drosophila genetics, but our integrative understanding of that species pales in comparison to our understanding of every facet of honey bee biology. Despite the tremendous growth in our understanding of honey bee biology, the last comprehensive book on topic was published in 1987. In this book, Brian Johnson offers a comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of honey bee biology. The book covers classic topics such as physiology, communication, division of labor, and reproduction as well as areas that were barely known decades ago such as genomics, cognition, toxicology, and immunity. He concludes with a discussion of honey bees as managed pollinators and conservation issues. Throughout, Johnson also offers his analysis and evaluation of key studies and areas of research. Ultimately, this book is likely to be the new standard reference on honey bee biology and an invaluable resource for anyone with a serious interest in these fascinating organisms"--

"In this work, the prominent political philosopher Philip Pettit embarks on a massive undertaking to offers major new accounts of the foundations of the state and the nature of justice. In doing so Pettit builds a new theory of what the state is and what it ought to be, addresses the normative question of how justice serves as a measure of the success of a state, and the way it should operate in relation to its citizens and other people"--

The second volume in a landmark commentary on an important and influential work of ancient philosophyThis is the second volume of a groundbreaking commentary on one of the most important works of ancient philosophy, the Enneads of PlotinusΓÇöa text that formed the basis of Neoplatonism and had a deep influence on early Christian thought and medieval and Renaissance philosophy. This volume covers Enneads IV and V, which focus on two of the principal ΓÇ£hypostasesΓÇ¥ of PlotinusΓÇÖs ontological system, namely the soul and the Intellect. Paul Kalligas provides an analytical exegesis of the arguments, along with an account of PlotinusΓÇÖs principal sources, references to other parts of his work, and a systematic evaluation of his overarching theoretical aspirations. A landmark contribution to Plotinus scholarship, this is the most detailed and extensive commentary ever written for the whole of the Enneads.

How foreign lending weakens emerging nationsIn the nineteenth century, many developing countries turned to the credit houses of Europe for sovereign loans to balance their books and weather major fiscal shocks such as war. This reliance on external public finance offered emerging nations endless opportunities to overcome barriers to growth, but it also enabled rulers to bypass critical stages in institution building and political development. Pawned States reveals how easy access to foreign lending at early stages of state building has led to chronic fiscal instability and weakened state capacity in the developing world.Drawing on a wealth of original data to document the rise of cheap overseas credit between 1816 and 1913, Didac Queralt shows how countries in the global periphery obtained these loans by agreeing to "e;extreme conditionality,"e; which empowered international investors to take control of local revenue sources in cases of default, and how foreclosure eroded a country's tax base and caused lasting fiscal disequilibrium. Queralt goes on to combine quantitative analysis of tax performance between 1816 and 2005 with qualitative historical analysis in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, illustrating how overreliance on external capital by local leaders distorts their incentives to expand tax capacity, articulate power-sharing institutions, and strengthen bureaucratic apparatus.Panoramic in scope, Pawned States sheds needed light on how early and easy access to external finance pushes developing nations into trajectories characterized by fragile fiscal institutions and autocratic politics.

Why some of Asia's authoritarian regimes have democratized as they have grown richer-and why others haven'tOver the past century, Asia has been transformed by rapid economic growth, industrialization, and urbanization-a spectacular record of development that has turned one of the world's poorest regions into one of its richest. Yet Asia's record of democratization has been much more uneven, despite the global correlation between development and democracy. Why have some Asian countries become more democratic as they have grown richer, while others-most notably China-haven't? In From Development to Democracy, Dan Slater and Joseph Wong offer a sweeping and original answer to this crucial question.Slater and Wong demonstrate that Asia defies the conventional expectation that authoritarian regimes concede democratization only as a last resort, during times of weakness. Instead, Asian dictators have pursued democratic reforms as a proactive strategy to revitalize their power from a position of strength. Of central importance is whether authoritarians are confident of victory and stability. In Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan these factors fostered democracy through strength, while democratic experiments in Indonesia, Thailand, and Myanmar were less successful and more reversible. At the same time, resistance to democratic reforms has proven intractable in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Reconsidering China's 1989 crackdown, Slater and Wong argue that it was the action of a regime too weak to concede, not too strong to fail, and they explain why China can allow democracy without inviting instability.The result is a comprehensive regional history that offers important new insights about when and how democratic transitions happen-and what the future of Asia might be.

The law, Holmes said, is no brooding omnipresence in the sky. "e;If that is true,"e; writes David Luban, "e;it is because we encounter the legal system in the form of flesh-and-blood human beings: the police if we are unlucky, but for the (marginally) luckier majority, the lawyers."e; For practical purposes, the lawyers are the law. In this comprehensive study of legal ethics, Luban examines the conflict between common morality and the lawyer's "e;role morality"e; under the adversary system and how this conflict becomes a social and political problem for a community. Using real examples and drawing extensively on case law, he develops a systematic philosophical treatment of the problem of role morality in legal practice. He then applies the argument to the problem of confidentiality, outlines an affordable system of legal services for the poor, and provides an in-depth philosophical treatment of ethical problems in public interest law.

A Traffic of Dead Bodies enters the sphere of bodysnatching medical students, dissection-room pranks, and anatomical fantasy. It shows how nineteenth-century American physicians used anatomy to develop a vital professional identity, while claiming authority over the living and the dead. It also introduces the middle-class women and men, working people, unorthodox healers, cultural radicals, entrepreneurs, and health reformers who resisted and exploited anatomy to articulate their own social identities and visions. The nineteenth century saw the rise of the American medical profession: a proliferation of practitioners, journals, organizations, sects, and schools. Anatomy lay at the heart of the medical curriculum, allowing American medicine to invest itself with the authority of European science. Anatomists crossed the boundary between life and death, cut into the body, reduced it to its parts, framed it with moral commentary, and represented it theatrically, visually, and textually. Only initiates of the dissecting room could claim the privileged healing status that came with direct knowledge of the body. But anatomy depended on confiscation of the dead--mainly the plundered bodies of African Americans, immigrants, Native Americans, and the poor. As black markets in cadavers flourished, so did a cultural obsession with anatomy, an obsession that gave rise to clashes over the legal, social, and moral status of the dead. Ministers praised or denounced anatomy from the pulpit; rioters sacked medical schools; and legislatures passed or repealed laws permitting medical schools to take the bodies of the destitute. Dissection narratives and representations of the anatomical body circulated in new places: schools, dime museums, popular lectures, minstrel shows, and sensationalist novels. Michael Sappol resurrects this world of graverobbers and anatomical healers, discerning new ligatures among race and gender relations, funerary practices, the formation of the middle-class, and medical professionalization. In the process, he offers an engrossing and surprisingly rich cultural history of nineteenth-century America.

Why does society oscillate between intense interest in public issues and almost total concentration on private goals? In this classic work, Albert O. Hirschman offers a stimulating social, political, and economic analysis dealing with how and why frustrations of private concerns lead to public involvement and public participation that eventually lead back to those private concerns. Emerging from this study is a wide range of insights, from a critique of conventional consumption theory to a new understanding of collective action and of universal suffrage.