1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910790157603321

Autore

Friedman Ted

Titolo

Electric Dreams [[electronic resource] ] : Computers in American Culture / / Ted Friedman

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York ; ; London : , : New York University Press, , [2005]

©2005

ISBN

0-8147-2842-1

0-8147-2866-9

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (286 p.)

Disciplina

303.48/33

Soggetti

Computers - History

Computers - Social aspects

Computers and civilization

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 235-255) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction : the dialectic of technological determinism -- Part I. Mainframe culture. Charles Babbage and the politics of computer memory -- Ideologies of information processing: from analog to digital -- Filming the "electronic brain" -- Part II. The personal computer. The many creators of the personal computer -- Apple's 1984 -- The rise of the simulation game -- Part III. The interpersonal computer. Imagining cyberspace -- Dot-com politics -- Beyond Napster -- Linux and utopia -- Conclusion : cybertopia today.

Sommario/riassunto

Electric Dreams turns to the past to trace the cultural history of computers. Ted Friedman charts the struggles to define the meanings of these powerful machines over more than a century, from the failure of Charles Babbage's "difference engine" in the nineteenth century to contemporary struggles over file swapping, open source software, and the future of online journalism. To reveal the hopes and fears inspired by computers, Electric Dreams examines a wide range of texts, including films, advertisements, novels, magazines, computer games, blogs, and even operating systems. Electric Dreams arg



2.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910828994603321

Autore

Straus Scott <1970->

Titolo

Making and unmaking nations : war, leadership, and genocide in modern Africa / / Scott Straus ; cover design, David Baldeosingh Rotstein

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Ithaca, [New York] ; ; London, [England] : , : Cornell University Press, , 2015

©2015

ISBN

0-8014-5567-7

0-8014-7968-1

0-8014-5568-5

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (401 pages)

Disciplina

364.15/10967

Soggetti

Genocide - Africa, Sub-Saharan

Nation-building - Africa, Sub-Saharan

Political leadership - Africa, Sub-Saharan

Africa, Sub-Saharan Politics and government 1960-

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 and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction. The Puzzle of Genocide -- Part I. Concepts and Theory -- Chapter 1. The Concept and Logic of Genocide -- Chapter 2. Escalation and Restraint -- Chapter 3. A Theory of Genocide -- Part II. Empirics -- Chapter 4. Mass Categorical Violence and Genocide in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1960-2008 -- Chapter 5. Retreating From The Brink In Côte D'Ivoire -- Chapter 6. The Politics of Dialogue in Mali -- Chapter 7. Pluralism and Accommodation in Senegal -- Chapter 8. Endangered Arab-Islamic Nationalism in Sudan -- Chapter 9. Fighting for the Hutu Revolution in Rwanda -- Conclusion. Making Nations And Preventing Their Unmaking -- Appendix. Identifying The Risk Of Genocide And Mass Categorical Violence -- References -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

In Making and Unmaking Nations, Scott Straus seeks to explain why and how genocide takes place-and, perhaps more important, how it has been avoided in places where it may have seemed likely or even



inevitable. To solve that puzzle, he examines postcolonial Africa, analyzing countries in which genocide occurred and where it could have but did not. Why have there not been other Rwandas? Straus finds that deep-rooted ideologies-how leaders make their nations-shape strategies of violence and are central to what leads to or away from genocide. Other critical factors include the dynamics of war, the role of restraint, and the interaction between national and local actors in the staging of campaigns of large-scale violence. Grounded in Straus's extensive fieldwork in contemporary Africa, the study of major twentieth-century cases of genocide, and the literature on genocide and political violence, Making and Unmaking Nations centers on cogent analyses of three nongenocide cases (Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, and Senegal) and two in which genocide took place (Rwanda and Sudan). Straus's empirical analysis is based in part on an original database of presidential speeches from 1960 to 2005. The book also includes a broad-gauge analysis of all major cases of large-scale violence in Africa since decolonization. Straus's insights into the causes of genocide will inform the study of political violence as well as giving policymakers and nongovernmental organizations valuable tools for the future.