Simon Harrison

David H. Fleming

This book dives into the mise-en-scène of contemporary China to explore the “becoming cinema” of Chinese cities, societies, and subjectivities. Set in the wake of China’s radical and rapid period of urbanization and infrastructural transformation, and situating itself in the processual city of Ningbo, the book combines empirical, ficto-critical, and philosophical methods to generate a dynamic account of everyday life as new forms of consumer culture bed in. Harnessing a Realist approach that allows for different scales of analysis, the book zooms in on five architectural assemblages including: surreal real estate showrooms; a fragmented history museum; China’s “first and best” Sino-foreign university; a new “Old town”; and weird gamified “any-now(here)-spaces.” Together these modern arrangements and machines for living cast light upon the broader picture sweeping up greater China.

Cinematicity, Society and Millennial China

Chinese Urban Shi-nema

Many anthropological accounts of warfare in indigenous societies have described the taking of heads or other body parts as trophies. But almost nothing is known of the prevalence of trophy-taking of this sort in the armed forces of contemporary nation-states. This book is a history of this type of misconduct among military personnel over the past two centuries, exploring its close connections with colonialism, scientific collecting and concepts of race, and how it is a model for violent power relationships between groups.

Hunting and the Enemy Body in Modern War

Dark Trophies

Augustine's dialogue De libero arbitrio (On Free Choice) is, with his Confessions and City of God, one of his most important and widely read works. It contains one of the earliest accounts of the concept of 'free will' in the history of philosophy. Composed during a key period in Augustine's early career, between his conversion to Christianity and his ordination as a bishop, it has often been viewed as a an incoherent mixture of his 'early' and 'late'thinking. Simon Harrison offers an original account of Augustine's theory of will, taking seriously both the philosophical arguments and literary form of the text. Relating De libero arbitrio to other key texts of Augustine's, in particular the City of God and the Confessions, Harrison shows that Augustine approaches the problemof free will as a problem of knowledge: how do I know that I am free?, and that Augustine uses the dialogue form to instantiate his 'way into the will'.

The Theological and Philosophical Significance of De libero arbitrio

Augustine's Way into the Will:The Theological and Philosophical Significance of De libero arbitrio

Kung Fu 4 Girlz is an original and unique title. In a funky, handbag-sized format, the book gives practical advice on self-defence techniques in every day situations. You're being hassled at the bar? The man sitting next to you on the bus is getting too close for comfort? Kung Fu 4 Girlz gets you out of these tricky spots with style and lot of humour. What makes Kung Fu 4 Girlz different is its design and its attitude. As well as being a highly qualified martial artist, Simon Harrison is also a vibrant and exciting illustrator. The book will explode with colour and cool. Whilst the self-defence techniques are real and highly usable, we're calling Kung Fu 4 Girlz 'humour' because it's a desirable gift purchase and really does have something of the Worst Case Scenario about it!

Self-defence for Divas

Kung Fu for Girls

Establishing the inseparability of grammar and gesture, this book explains what determines when, how, and why we gesture.

Where Language, Minds, and Bodies Intersect

The Impulse to Gesture

Western societies draw crucially on concepts of the 'individual' in constructing their images of the ethnic group and nation and define these in terms of difference. This study explores the implications of these constructs for Western understanding of social order and ethnic conflicts. Comparing them with the forms of cultural identity characteristic of Melanesia as they have developed since pre-colonial times, the author arrives at a surprising conclusion: he argues that these kinds of identities are more properly and adequately viewed as forms of disguised or denied resemblance, and that it is these covert commonalities that give rise to, and prolong, social divisions and conflicts between groups.

Simon Harrison

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