Synopses & Reviews
Challenging the conception of empowerment associated with the Black Power Movement and its political and intellectual legacies in the present, Darieck Scott contends that power can be found not only in martial resistance, but, surprisingly, where the black body has been inflicted with harm or humiliation.
Theorizing the relation between blackness and abjection by foregrounding often neglected depictions of the sexual exploitation and humiliation of men in works by James Weldon Johnson, Toni Morrison, Amiri Baraka, and Samuel R. Delany, Extravagant Abjection asks: If were racialized through domination and abjection, what is the political, personal, and psychological potential in racialization-through-abjection? Using the figure of male rape as a lens through which to examine this question, Scott argues that blackness in relation to abjection endows its inheritors with a form of counter-intuitive power—indeed, what can be thought of as a revised notion of black power. This power is found at the point at which ego, identity, body, race, and nation seem to reveal themselves as utterly penetrated and compromised, without defensible boundary. Yet in Extravagant Abjection, “power” assumes an unexpected and paradoxical form.
In arguing that blackness endows its inheritors with a surprising form of counter-intuitive power—as a resource for the political present—found at the very point of violation, Extravagant Abjection enriches our understanding of the construction of black male identity.
Review
“According to Darieck Scott, the awful legacies of racial difference and debasement are not inevitable. And so in Extravagant Abjection, he deftly paves the way for new understandings of the history and culture of black power and violence. His work is theoretically exciting and sophisticated, offering invaluable lessons: that the violent pressure of black history—the pressure of its terrible subordination—can be relieved, often in unexpected ways. Scott helps us see, even in the most humiliating and violent of scenes, an entire horizon of other, sometimes pleasurable, possibilities of resistance.”
“A powerful theoretical statement in the emerging field of black queer studies, Extravagant Abjection makes the bold claim that it is necessary to work through and not simply to ‘white wash’ the political, social, ideological, and psychological consequences of what Darieck Scott names ‘black abjection.’ Building upon the insights of the more articulate practitioners of bondage and submission, Sadism and Masochism, Scott’s readings of key texts in twentieth century Black American literature are at once sophisticated, provocative, creative, and indeed titillating. This book will surely become a ‘dark’ classic.”
Review
"[T]he book's principle value is in providing an outstanding compilation of succinct, policy-relevant, and up-to-date contributions from key thinkers in the field of climate finance. The fact that they do not always agree should not prevent this book, as a whole, from making a significant contribution towards political agreement on climate finance mechanisms, governance, and regulation." -Climate Law,
Review
“Climate Finance provides a remarkably up-to-date and comprehensive analysis of strategies for financing measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions. The concise and diverse contributions will help to inform both general public debate and negotiations at Copenhagen and beyond.”
-Robert O. Keohane,author of Power and Governance in a Partially Globalized World
Review
“Climate Finance is an extraordinary book. It sheds light on issues that will be with us in the years to come. It analyzes complex subjects and explains in coherent and convincing words what needs to be done and how. The book is a genuine treasure chest I would hope that everybody who has a stake in climate issues will read it.”
-Georg Kell,Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact
Review
"[Scott] arrives at the provocative notion that it is the black body's status as brought into being by and through past trauma that makes it best positioned to tap the inherent powers of abjection."-American Literature,
Synopsis
Part of the American Literatures Initiative Series
2011 Winner of the Alan Bray Memorial Book Award presented by the Modern Language Association Challenging the conception of empowerment associated with the Black Power Movement and its political and intellectual legacies in the present, Darieck Scott contends that power can be found not only in martial resistance, but, surprisingly, where the black body has been inflicted with harm or humiliation.
Theorizing the relation between blackness and abjection by foregrounding often neglected depictions of the sexual exploitation and humiliation of men in works by James Weldon Johnson, Toni Morrison, Amiri Baraka, and Samuel R. Delany, Extravagant Abjection asks: If we're racialized through domination and abjection, what is the political, personal, and psychological potential in racialization-through-abjection? Using the figure of male rape as a lens through which to examine this question, Scott argues that blackness in relation to abjection endows its inheritors with a form of counter-intuitive power--indeed, what can be thought of as a revised notion of black power. This power is found at the point at which ego, identity, body, race, and nation seem to reveal themselves as utterly penetrated and compromised, without defensible boundary. Yet in Extravagant Abjection, "power" assumes an unexpected and paradoxical form.
In arguing that blackness endows its inheritors with a surprising form of counter-intuitive power--as a resource for the political present--found at the very point of violation, Extravagant Abjection enriches our understanding of the construction of black male identity.
Synopsis
Preventing risks of severe damage from climate change not only requires deep cuts in developed country greenhouse gas emissions, but enormous amounts of public and private investment to limit emissions while promoting green growth in developing countries. While attention has focused on emissions limitations commitments and architectures, the crucial issue of what must be done to mobilize and govern the necessary financial resources has received too little consideration. In
Climate Finance, a leading group of policy experts and scholars shows how effective mitigation of climate change will depend on a complex mix of public funds, private investment through carbon markets, and structured incentives that leave room for developing country innovations. This requires sophisticated national and global regulation of cap-and-trade and offset markets, forest and energy policy, international development funding, international trade law, and coordinated tax policy.
Thirty-six targeted policy essays present a succinct overview of the emerging field of climate finance, defining the issues, setting the stakes, and making new and comprehensive proposals for financial, regulatory, and governance mechanisms that will enrich political and policy debate for many years to come. The complex challenges of climate finance will continue to demand fresh insights and creative approaches. The ideas in this volume mark out starting points for essential institutional and policy innovations.
About the Author
Richard B. Stewart is a professor of environmental and administrative law at NYU School of Law, where he directs the Hauser Global Law School Program and the Center for Environmental and Land Use Law.
Benedict Kingsbury is a professor of international law at NYU School of Law and Director of the Institute for International Law and Justice.
Bryce Rudyk is a research fellow in international environmental law at the Center for Environmental and Land Use Law at NYU School of Law.