1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910563075703321

Autore

Collings David <1959->

Titolo

Stolen future, broken present : the human significance of climate change / / David A. Collings

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Ann Arbor, Michigan : , : Open Humanities Press, , 2014

©2014

ISBN

9781607853145

Edizione

[First edition.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (241 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Collana

Critical Climate Change

Soggetti

Human beings - Effect of climate on

Climatic changes - Social aspects

Climatic changes - Political aspects

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references.

Nota di contenuto

Climate change will happen to you -- What we could do -- Time's up -- The impossible revolution -- The stolen future -- The ruins to come -- The broken present -- A slow and endless horror -- Infinite responsibility -- Making reparation: offset your life -- Bear no children -- The god of the whirlwind.

Sommario/riassunto

"This book argues that climate change has a devastating effect on how we think about the future. Once several positive feedback loops in Earth's dynamic systems, such as the melting of the Arctic icecap or the drying of the Amazon, cross the point of no return, the biosphere is likely to undergo severe and irreversible warming. Nearly everything we do is premised on the assumption that the world we know will endure into the future and provide a sustaining context for our activities. But today the future of a viable biosphere, and thus the purpose of our present activities, is put into question. A disappearing future leads to a broken present, a strange incoherence in the feel of everyday life. We thus face the unprecedented challenge of salvaging a basis for our lives today. That basis, this book argues, may be found in our capacity to assume an infinite responsibility for ecological disaster and, like the biblical Job, to respond with awe to the alien voice that speaks from the whirlwind. By owning disaster and accepting our small place within the



inhuman forces of the biosphere, we may discover how to live with responsibility and serenity whatever may come."--Publisher's description

2.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910779670003321

Autore

Chapman Jessica M.

Titolo

Cauldron of Resistance : Ngo Dinh Diem, the United States, and 1950's Southern Vietnam / / Jessica M. Chapman

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Ithaca, NY : , : Cornell University Press, , [2013]

©2013

ISBN

0-8014-6741-1

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (293 p.)

Collana

The United States in the World

Disciplina

327.59707309045

Soggetti

Asian Studies

Military History

United States Foreign relations Vietnam (Republic)

Vietnam (Republic) Foreign relations United States

Vietnam (Republic) Politics and government

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [251]-267)and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Preface -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- 1. Anticolonialism in Vietnam's Wild South -- 2. The Crucible of Southern Vietnamese Nationalism and America's Cold War -- 3. "Sink or Swim with Ngo Dinh Diem" -- 4. The "Sect" Crisis of 1955 and America's Miracle Man in Vietnam -- 5. Destroying the Sources of Demoralization: Ngo Dinh Diem's National Revolution -- 6. A Different Democracy: South Vietnam's Referendum to Depose Bao Dai -- 7. The Making of a Revolution in South Vietnam -- Conclusion -- Appendix: Select Vietnamese Names with Diacritics -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

In 1955, Ngo Dinh Diem organized an election to depose chief-of-state Bao Dai, after which he proclaimed himself the first president of the newly created Republic of Vietnam. The United States sanctioned the



results of this election, which was widely condemned as fraudulent, and provided substantial economic aid and advice to the RVN. Because of this, Diem is often viewed as a mere puppet of the United States, in service of its Cold War geopolitical strategy. That narrative, Jessica M. Chapman contends in Cauldron of Resistance, grossly oversimplifies the complexity of South Vietnam's domestic politics and, indeed, Diem's own political savvy. Based on extensive work in Vietnamese, French, and American archives, Chapman offers a detailed account of three crucial years, 1953-1956, during which a new Vietnamese political order was established in the south. It is, in large part, a history of Diem's political ascent as he managed to subdue the former Emperor Bao Dai, the armed Hoa Hao and Cao Dai religious organizations, and the Binh Xuyen crime organization. It is also an unparalleled account of these same outcast political powers, forces that would reemerge as destabilizing political and military actors in the late 1950's and early 1960's.Chapman shows Diem to be an engaged leader whose personalist ideology influenced his vision for the new South Vietnamese state, but also shaped the policies that would spell his demise. Washington's support for Diem because of his staunch anticommunism encouraged him to employ oppressive measures to suppress dissent, thereby contributing to the alienation of his constituency, and helped inspire the organized opposition to his government that would emerge by the late 1950's and eventually lead to the Vietnam War.