Anti-Crisis

by Janet Roitman

Crisis is in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and the Congo; in housing markets, money markets, financial systems, state budgets, and sovereign currencies. In Anti-Crisis , Janet Roitman steps back from the cycle of crisis production to ask not just why we declare so many crises but also what sort of analytical work the concept of crisis enables. What, she asks, are the stakes of crisis ? Taking responses to the so-called subprime mortgage crisis of 2007–2008 as her case in point, Roitman engages with the work of thinkers ranging from Reinhart Koselleck to Michael Lewis, and from Thomas Hobbes to Robert Shiller. In the process, she questions the bases for claims to crisis and shows how crisis functions as a narrative device, or how the invocation of crisis in contemporary accounts of the financial meltdown enables particular narratives, raising certain questions while foreclosing others.

Genres: Anthropology, Politics, Academic

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Margarita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before you go blathering on about how this or that is a "crisis": Read this book!

[Jeroen van Deelen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was deeply interesting. Roitman really provides quite a profound cogitation about the the term ‘crisis’ and its historical and contemporary conceptualisation. Reads more like a thesis or a dissertation than a book, but nonetheless it remains equally enjoyable.

[Sabrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only 82 pages of actual “book” 1/3 of which is the author recapping another author and is so steeped in academic speak it’s nearly unreadable. Had such high hopes. Interesting concept, abysmal execution.

[laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made some points, but unnecessarily dense and inaccessible. Also, I was still left wondering why the author bothered?

[sabe★ · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesante pero lamida d culo a obama (?)

[Dave · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a Goodreads Giveaway ARC of Anti-Crises, by Janet Roitman. First and foremost, thank you to Ms. Roitman for providing this advanced copy of her book, and thank you to Goodreads for hosting and making it all happen.

I found this to be more a thesis paper - suitable for colleagues and peers. A limited audience.

I went into this book with a different idea of what it was about, so felt a small 'crisis' as I worked through the article with my handy dictionary ever close at hand. The terminology used is definitely geared to those accustomed to using the lingo on more of a day-to-day basis. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Again, limiting the audience for a purpose.

I read from Acknowledgments through the Notes, and I have to say, I came away with a void. My take-away is this: This book is an accumulation of thoughts, ideas, and theories of the author and peers to create further discussion on the topic of "What is Crisis" as used in [relatively] modern language.

I give the book a 1-star because I believe that I am the wrong audience for this topic. Other 'heavy thinkers' engaged in the need to decipher what crises is may find this book "an instant classic", as Bill Maurer declares on the back cover.