Prospects Of Power

Genre -- the articulation of "kind" -- is one of the oldest and most continuous subjects of theoretical and critical commentary. Yet from Romanticism to postmodernism, the concept of genre has been punched with so many holes that today it hardly seems graspable, let alone viable. By combining theory with dialectical literary histories of three significantly different genres -- tragedy, satire, and the essay -- John Snyder reconstructs genre as the figural deployment of symbolic power. One purpose of this approach is to reconcile the recent dismantling of representational and classificatory genres with the incipient notion in post-Althusser Marxism that genre is the crucial mediation between history and aesthetics. Snyder extends certain implications of Aristotle, Benjamin, Bakhtin, Foucault, and Serres. He also offers the first antisystem yet comprehensive genre theory to serve as a fully distinct alternate to Frye's formalist and Genette's structuralist schemes. Finally, Snyder's theory of genre as power opens a way to a fundamentally new theory of literature itself: that aesthetic language deployed as power organizes itself as generic intervention. Three historically dynamic configurations establish the range of all possible genres -- tragedy as power politically deployed as mimesis, satire as power rationally deployed as rhetoric, and the essay as power textually deployed as constative rhetoric. Specific analyses developing this important new theory cover a broad spectrum of literature, from classical to contemporary. Other genres, different media, and a variety of subgenres and modes political and religious -- all acquire fresh significance from the elaborations of Snyder's three selected genres.

Impeccably researched and masterfully written, this book explains how and why humanity is driving itself off the cliff. — Dahr Jamail, author, The End of Ice Weaving together findings from a wide range of disciplines, Power traces how four key elements developed to give humans extraordinary power: tool making ability, language, social complexity, and the ability to harness energy sources ― most significantly, fossil fuels. It asks whether we have, at this point, overpowered natural and social systems, and if we have, what we can do about it. Has Homo sapiens — one species among millions — become powerful enough to threaten a mass extinction and disrupt the Earth's climate? Why have we developed so many ways of oppressing one another? Can we change our relationship with power to avert ecological catastrophe, reduce social inequality, and stave off collapse? These questions — and their answers — will determine our fate.

A component in the America's Energy Future study, Electricity from Renewable Resources examines the technical potential for electric power generation with alternative sources such as wind, solar-photovoltaic, geothermal, solar-thermal, hydroelectric, and other renewable sources. The book focuses on those renewable sources that show the most promise for initial commercial deployment within 10 years and will lead to a substantial impact on the U.S. energy system. A quantitative characterization of technologies, this book lays out expectations of costs, performance, and impacts, as well as barriers and research and development needs. In addition to a principal focus on renewable energy technologies for power generation, the book addresses the challenges of incorporating such technologies into the power grid, as well as potential improvements in the national electricity grid that could enable better and more extensive utilization of wind, solar-thermal, solar photovoltaics, and other renewable technologies.

Examining the global strategic energy issues raised by the use of nuclear power, this study argues that uncertainties about future electricity needs and constraints make the option of nuclear power a clear necessity. However, the author points out the problems posed by existing stockpiles of waste and plutonium, as well as the dismantling of old power stations, and states that a new generation of technologies must be produced to reduce these problems.

The turn of the century has seen the US greatly enhance its military supremacy across the world. It has also played a key role in shaping the international economic order. More recently, however, its world-wide economic domination has started to diminish as other regions and countries have become globally important players. Simon Bromley brings a fresh perspective to these issues, arguing that it is as yet unclear whether the US will be capable of rising to the challenges posed by the new world order. He carefully examines the intricacies of these debates including the American ideology of a liberal international order and the relation of this to the Bush doctrine; US power in the transatlantic arena and US-European integration in relation to the EU and NATO; and the geo-politics of oil. He looks at a range of challenges to US dominance, including the weakening of the dollar; the rapid growth and industrialization of Asia; and the strengths and weaknesses of Bush's foreign policy. This book is set to spark debate amongst students and scholars of international politics, as well as appealing to anyone interested in the changing shape of the international order.

Scholars from the Brookings Institution's Energy Security Initiative and the Hoover Institution's Task Force on Energy Policy offer recommendations for ensuring the security and sustainability of our electricity system now and for future generations through the greater deployment of distributed power systems (DPS). Their report provides a comprehensive survey of the current technology and policy landscape of DPS and offers suggestions for its most effective use, along with warnings on its possible pitfalls.