Author: Berghahn Books

Hot Off the Presses- New Book Releases

European Foundations of the Welfare State, by Franz-Xavier Kaufmann, translated by John Veit-Wilson, foreword by Anthony B. Atkinson

Fortune and the Cursed, the Sliding Scale of Time in Mongolian Divination, by Katherine Swancutt

Investigating Srebrenica: Institutions, Facts, Responsibilities, edited by Isabelle Delpla, Xavier Bougarel, and Jean-Louis Fourn

Journeys into Madness: Mapping Mental Illness in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, edited by Gemma Blackshaw and Sabine Wieber

Learning from the Children: Childhood, Identity and Culture in a Changing World, edited by Jacqueline Waldren and Ignacy-Marek Kaminski

A Lover’s Quarrel with the Past: Romance, Representation, Reading, by Ranjan Ghosh

The Making of the Pentecostal Melodrama: Religion, Gender and Media in Kinshasa, by Katrien Pype

Ordinary Lives and Grand Schemes: An Anthropology of Everyday Religion, edited by Samuli Schielke and Liza Debevec

The Politics of Educational Reform in the Middle East: Self and Other in Textbooks and Curricula, edited by Samira Alayan and Achim Rohde, and Sarhan Dhouib

Revisiting Feminist Approaches to Art Therapy, edited by Susan Hogan

Advice from the Editors: Turning Your Dissertation into a Manuscript

A very good friend of mine will defend her dissertation next month. The progress of said dissertation has been a topic of many conversations, and I’ve been reminded of the long haul it is to write a book-length piece of scholarship: the work, the anxiety, the lulls in motivation followed by reinvigoration, meetings with advisors, revisions, time, energy, inspiration, loss of sleep, and sheer sweat. She even said at one point, “I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.” And I am reminded of this most keenly when a prospective author submits a proposal that is clearly an unrevised dissertation and I must ask whether or not the text has been revised into a book. Whether the dissertation process for this author is part of the more recent or more distant past, a first-time author is not always ready to learn that the book publishing process (from manuscript to printed tome) is approximately one and a half to two years. Don’t put away your long-distance running shoes—ever. You will always need them as a scholar and a writer. And of the long publishing process, which goes much more quickly than it seems it will at the outset, where do you begin with the dissertation? Continue reading “Advice from the Editors: Turning Your Dissertation into a Manuscript” →

Win a Copy of Michael Haneke’s Cinema: The Ethics of the Image

As the Berghahn Books blog wraps up it’s third week of existence, we’re excited to announce our first contest. To be entered to win a copy of Michael Haneke’s Cinema: The Ethics of the Image by Catherine Wheatley, follow Berghahn Books on Facebook by 5 p.m. EST Monday. We’ll select a winner at random from our new followers.

The first English-language analysis of Michael Haneke’s work, Michael Haneke’s Cinema offers a critical analysis of the Austrian director’s first eight feature films. Drawing on the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant and Stanley Cavell, Catherine Wheatley, introduces a new way of marrying film and moral philosophy, which explicitly examines the ethics of the film viewing experience. This critically acclaimed work was shortlisted for the Best Moving Image Book by the And/Or Book Awards and the 2009 Willy Haas and was the Sight and Sound Magazine Book of the Month  in September, 2009.

Event Announcement: Book Launch for Journeys into Madness: Mapping Mental Illness in the Austro-Hungarian Empire

The latest addition to Berghahn’s Austrian and Habsburg Studies series, Journeys into Madness, co-edited by Gemma Blackshaw and Sabine Wieber, launches at the Freud Museum London on 26 June 2012. The editors, along with many of the authors, will be there to talk to members of the public about the book, and advance copies will be available to purchase at the event. Gemma’s essay for the book considers the intriguing case of the ‘mad’ Austrian writer, Peter Altenberg. The book launch is combined with the UK première of her recent documentary film collaboration with award-winning artist and filmmaker David Bickerstaff, Peter Altenberg: The Little Pocket Mirror, which introduces the life and work of this troubled man to English-speaking audiences. To find out more information, and to book a place to attend the book launch and film screening see http://www.freud.org.uk/events/74694/altenberg-the-little-pocket-mirror/. Continue reading “Event Announcement: Book Launch for Journeys into Madness: Mapping Mental Illness in the Austro-Hungarian Empire” →

Get to Know Berghahn- Kyle Perry

Get to Know Berghahn is a recurring interview feature that introduces the hardworking people behind the scenes at Berghahn. This week’s subject is Journals Assistant Kyle Perry.

1. How long have you been at Berghahn? What did you do before that?
I’ve been at my current position for about four months, and before that I was an intern for two. I graduated in May of 2011 and my only job between Skidmore College and Berghahn Books was a brief summer working in the fashion industry. Suffice it to say, that wasn’t my true calling. I’m very happy to be working in the journals department here at Berghahn!

2. What do you read when you aren’t reading Berghahn books?
Normally I’d say fiction, but recently it’s been essay collections. Pulphead by John Jeremiah Sullivan was so amazing it’s almost not fair, and I read Sloane Crosley’s two books, I Was Told There’d Be Cake and How Did You Get This Number? in about three days. I also love Zadie Smith, Colson Whitehead, Dan Chaon, and anything Dave Hill tweets.

3. What’s a skill or talent you have that no one at the office knows about?
I’m really good at Scrabble. I used to know all of the two-letter words, Q words without the U, and had a method of keeping track of the tiles so I always knew what was left in the bag. My mug is even Scrabble-related, but I guess at this point I’m just bragging.

4. Where would you want to live if you could move the Berghahn offices anywhere? Why?
It’s corny, but Brooklyn is where I want to live right now, so I’d stay put. Or maybe the Galápagos Islands. Less people. More penguins.

5. What’s your favorite thing about working at Berghahn?
The people! It’s such a great mix of personalities and everyone is so encouraging and helpful. I feel very lucky to have been welcomed into the Berghahn family.

I also love that the job helped me discover new roles in the publishing process I never would have expected to like. If you’d asked me a year ago if I’d want to get into marketing, I probably would have said no. Now, it’s something I’m extremely excited to continue learning.

Lastly, we work in DUMBO where food trucks apparently have the ability to multiply weekly. That’s wonderful, too.

In the News: The University of Virginia President Controversy and the Changing US University

The forced resignation of University of Virginia President Terry Sullivan only two years into her tenure has felt like a major news story from the start for UVA alums like me. But what began as a local story about the university’s first female president beloved by students and faculty and forced out for opaque reasons by a board of visitors dominated by members of the state’s business community, quickly became a significant national story with multiple articles in the Washington Post, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Slate, and countless blogs.

The inscrutability of the board’s motives has at once been the central driver of interest in the story and given rise to a few conspiracy theories. However, I’ve found the story to be easier to understand in light of insights gleaned from a recent issue of Learning and Teaching in the Social Sciences (LATISS) on “Learning under Neoliberalism: Ethnographies of Governance in Higher Education“ (Subscription required). Continue reading “In the News: The University of Virginia President Controversy and the Changing US University” →

Behind the Cover: The Improbable Story of the Image on the Cover of Holocaust Survivors

Behind the Cover is an occasional series on book covers and the stories that accompany them.

Cover images: the all-important marketing tool that can perfectly capture the content and feel of a book—or cause people to glance over it, bored. Some images we toil over, going back and forth between options because co-editors disagree, we disagree, or the perfect image remains elusive despite our perseverance. Then there are the no-brainers when the authors have pre-picked images that work perfectly and after the original design is chosen the image hardly gets a second thought.

Holocaust Survivors by Dalia Ofer, Françoise S. Ouzan, and Judy Tydor Baumel-Schwartz was one of the latter. The editors had a number of images they found at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. In image after image of expectant, haunting faces of liberated concentration camp prisoners, their eyes shone with a glint of freedom. After everything, they still had some hope for life. Perfect.

A few months later when it was time to publish the book, we faced a typical scramble to get a high resolution picture with proper permissions and then the book was off to press! It was the end of the year and as I headed upstate for the holidays, the only things on my mind were those sugar plums.

But then four months later, I found an excited email in my junk mail box. It was a woman asking about the image on the cover of Holocaust Survivors. Continue reading “Behind the Cover: The Improbable Story of the Image on the Cover of Holocaust Survivors” →

Get to Know Berghahn- Abby Major

Get to Know Berghahn is a recurring interview feature that introduces the hardworking people behind the scenes at Berghahn. This week’s subject is Publicity and Marketing Associate Abby Major.

Q: How long have you been at Berghahn? What did you do before that?
A: It’s hard to believe, but I’m celebrating my one year anniversary at Berghahn this month! I started working here about two weeks after graduating from Wesleyan University in May 2011. I had just received my BA in Wesleyan’s College of Social Sciences program when I moved to New York and joined the company. It was quite an adventure and a lot of change all at once, but I was warmly welcomed by everyone in the office, despite being the youngest and newest member of the team!

Q: What do you read when you aren’t reading Berghahn books?
A: Unsurprisingly, I do a lot of reading, and my taste in books is pretty eclectic – I’m happy to switch from historical fiction to a biography to science fiction and fantasy depending on my mood (I keep a running list of what I want to read, so I always have a few suggestions as soon as I finish something). After studying history, economics, and political science in school, I’m still enjoying the freedom to read mostly fiction in my spare time. I’ve also been trying to take advantage of the free digitized classics, and that’s helped me try some new things I probably wouldn’t have otherwise picked up.

Q: What’s a skill or talent you have that no one at the office knows about?
A; Well, the office already knows how good I am at brewing a strong pot of coffee in the morning, so that’s not much of a secret…. I guess I need to take up an instrument or learn to juggle by the next interview.

Q: Where would you want to live if you could move the Berghahn offices anywhere? Why?
A: It’s no secret at Berghahn that this country girl is still not sure how she feels about the hustle and bustle of New York City (though I really can’t complain with our new Brooklyn location – Trees! Water!), so I think I’d suggest we relocate somewhere a bit more rural. Maybe we could open a satellite office in dairy country in central Pennsylvania where I grew up. Farm fresh milk for our morning coffee… who wouldn’t want that?

Q: What’s your favorite thing about working at Berghahn?
A: The Berghahn Books family is made up of wonderful people, and I feel really lucky to work with them every day. Everyone here is really passionate and dedicated to what we do, and I think that shows in the quality of what we produce. Because of our size, it is truly a collaborative process, and you are able to see exactly how all the pieces come together and how impossible it would be without each contribution. Of course, my co-workers would probably prefer if the office weren’t small enough for me to holler questions to them instead of sending an email!

Hot Off the Presses- New Book Releases

Recent Releases from Berghahn Books:
Ambiguous Pleasures: Sexuality and Middle-Class Self-Perceptions in Nairobi, by Rachel Spronk
Collaborators Collaborating: Counterparts in Anthropological Knowledge and International Research Relations, edited by Monica Konrad
Conversion and the Politics of Religion in Early Modern Germany, edited by David M. Luebke, Jared Poley, Daniel C. Riley, and Warren Sabean
Cultures of Colour: Visual, Material, Textual, edited by Chris Horrocks
Czechs, Germans, Jews: National Identity and the Jews of Bohemia, by Kate?ina ?apková, translated by Derek and Marzia Paton
Dark Trophies: Hunting and the Enemy Body in Modern War, by Simon Harrison
Marginal at the Center: The Life Story of a Public Sociologist, by Baruch Kimmerling, translated by Diana Kimmerling
Moving Subjects, Moving Objects: Transnationalism, Cultural Production and Emotions, edited by Maruška Svašek
Postcolonial Migrants and Identity Politics: Europe, Russia, Japan, and the United States in Comparison, edited by Ulbe Bosma, Jan Lucassen, Gert Oostindie
Walls, Borders, Boundaries: Spatial and Cultural Practices in Europe, edited by Marc Silberman, Karen E. Till, and Janet Ward