{"product_id":"fear-of-small-numbers-an-essay-on-the-geography-of-anger-9780822338635","title":"Fear of Small Numbers: An Essay on the Geography of Anger","description":"The period since 1989 has been marked by the global endorsement of open markets, the free flow of finance capital and liberal ideas of constitutional rule, and the active expansion of human rights. Why, then, in this era of intense globalization, has there been a proliferation of violence, of ethnic cleansing on the one hand and extreme forms of political violence against civilian populations on the other?\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eFear of Small Numbers\u003c\/i\u003e is Arjun Appadurai's answer to that question. A leading theorist of globalization, Appadurai turns his attention to the complex dynamics fueling large-scale, culturally motivated violence, from the genocides that racked Eastern Europe, Rwanda, and India in the early 1990s to the contemporary \"war on terror.\" Providing a conceptually innovative framework for understanding sources of global violence, he describes how the nation-state has grown ambivalent about minorities at the same time that minorities, because of global communication technologies and migration flows, increasingly see themselves as parts of powerful global majorities. By exacerbating the inequalities produced by globalization, the volatile, slippery relationship between majorities and minorities foments the desire to eradicate cultural difference.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAppadurai analyzes the darker side of globalization: suicide bombings; anti-Americanism; the surplus of rage manifest in televised beheadings; the clash of global ideologies; and the difficulties that flexible, cellular organizations such as Al-Qaeda present to centralized, \"vertebrate\" structures such as national governments. Powerful, provocative, and timely, \u003ci\u003eFear of Small Numbers\u003c\/i\u003e is a thoughtful invitation to rethink what violence is in an age of globalization.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eArjun Appadurai is the John Dewey Professor in the Social Sciences at The New School, where he is also Senior Advisor for Global Initiatives. His books include \u003ci\u003eModernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization\u003c\/i\u003e and the collection \u003ci\u003eGlobalization\u003c\/i\u003e, also published by Duke University Press. He is a cofounder of the journal \u003ci\u003ePublic Culture\u003c\/i\u003e, founder of the nonprofit PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge, Action, and Research) in Mumbai, cofounder and codirector of ING (Interdisciplinary Network on Globalization), and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has served as a consultant or advisor to a wide range of public and private organizations, including the Ford, Rockefeller, and MacArthur foundations; UNESCO; the World Bank; and the National Science Foundation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Duke University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50544106963218,"sku":"9780822338635","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_897fa9d2-94f5-4537-9cf3-047bbb8af4f1.jpg?v=1731520848","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/fear-of-small-numbers-an-essay-on-the-geography-of-anger-9780822338635","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}