Book talks address politics, uncertainty and economic fears

Per Pinstrup-Andersen
Pinstrup-Andersen
Adam Seth Levine
Levine
Laura Tach
Tach

Political distrust, economic fears and uncertainty about the future as the 2016 presidential election approaches are among the prominent themes of books featured in the Chats in the Stacks series hosted by Cornell University Library this semester.

Cornell authors discussing their new titles include political scientist Adam Seth Levine, assistant professor of government, whose “American Insecurity: Why Our Economic Fears Lead to Political Inaction” (Princeton University Press) offers perspective on political engagement shaping financial well-being. Levine’s talk is Thursday, Sept. 10 at 4:30 p.m. in 107 Olin Library.

Agricultural economist Per Pinstrup-Andersen, a 2001 World Food Prize laureate and the H.E. Babcock Professor Emeritus of Food, Nutrition and Public Policy in the Division of Nutritional Sciences, sheds light on price volatility in global food systems in his book “Food Price Policy in an Era of Market Instability” (Oxford University Press). He speaks Sept. 24 at 4 p.m. in 160 Mann Library, the Stern Seminar Room.

Sociologist Laura Tach, assistant professor of policy analysis and management, is co-author of  “It’s Not Like I’m Poor: How Working Families Make Ends Meet in a Post-Welfare World” (University of California Press). In her talk, Oct. 21 at 4 p.m. in 160 Mann Library, Tach will discuss families interviewed for the book, and ways to strengthen the safety net for those earning low wages – who often rely on the earned-income tax credit and tax refunds to build savings for the future and invest in education.

Applied economics and management professors Harry de Gorter and David Just explain how biofuel policy and price volatility led to global food crises in 2007-08 and 2010-11 in “The Economics of Biofuel Policies” (Palgrave-McMillan), and they will discuss the book Nov. 5 at 4 p.m. in 160 Mann Library.

Chats in the Stacks also features new faculty books on poetry, the mechanisms of romantic attachment, and religion and culture.

Jonathan Culler, the Class of 1916 Professor of English and Comparative Literature, discusses the Western lyric tradition and his critical study “Theory of the Lyric” (Harvard University Press), Oct. 7 at 4:30 p.m. in 107 Olin Library.

Associate professor of human development Cindy Hazan and associate professor of psychology Vivian Zayas will discuss the groundbreaking multilevel and interdisciplinary study of adult relationships in their co-edited volume “Bases of Adult Attachment: Linking Brain, Mind and Behavior” (Springer Publishing), Oct. 29 at 4 p.m. in 160 Mann Library.

Ethics, politics, traditions of piety and current sectarian tensions in the Muslim world are among the topics in Chiara Formichi’s “Shi’ism in South East Asia” (C. Hurst & Co. Publishers), to be published in November. Formichi, assistant professor of Southeast Asian studies, discusses her critical findings Nov. 4 at 4:30 p.m. in 107 Olin Library.

All book talks in the series are free and open to the public, with refreshments provided and books available for purchase and signing.

Media Contact

Joe Schwartz