Jane Jacobs: Dark Age Ahead (2004)

In this indispensable book, urban visionary Jane Jacobs–renowned author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities and The Economy of Cities–convincingly argues that as agrarianism gives way to a technology-based future, we stand on the brink of a new dark age, a period of cultural collapse. Jacobs pinpoints five pillars of our culture that are in serious decay: community and family; higher education; the effective practice of science; taxation, and government; and the self-regulation of the learned professions. The corrosion of these pillars, Jacobs argues, is linked to societal ills such as environmental crisis, racism, and the growing gulf between rich and poor.

But this is a hopeful book as well as a warning. Drawing on her vast frame of reference–from fifteenth-century Chinese shipbuilding to Ireland’s cultural rebirth–Jacobs suggests how the cycles of decay can be arrested and our way of life renewed. Invigorating and accessible, Dark Age Ahead is not only the crowning achievement of Jane Jacobs’ career, but one of the most important works of our time.

Publisher Random House, 2004
ISBN 1400062322, 9781400062324
Length 241 pages

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Theodor W. Adorno: Adorno: The Stars Down to Earth and Other Essays on the Irrational in Culture (1994)

The Stars Down to Earth shows us a stunningly prescient Adorno. Haunted by the ugly side of American culture industries he used the different angles provided by each of these three essays to showcase the dangers inherent in modern obsessions with consumption. He engages with some of his most enduring themes in this seminal collection, focusing on the irrational in mass culture – from astrology to new age cults, from anti-semitism to the power of neo-fascist propaganda. He points out that the modern state and market forces serve the interest of capital in its basic form. Stephan Crook’s introduction grounds Adorno’s arguments firmly in the present where extreme religious and political organizations are commonplace – so commonplace in fact that often we deem them unworthy of our attention. Half a century ago Theodore Adorno not only recognised the dangers, but proclaimed them loudly. We did not listen then. Maybe it is not too late to listen now.

Edited with an Introduction by Stephen Crook
Publisher Routledge, 1994
Routledge classics
ISBN 0415105684, 9780415105682
176 pages

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Nicola Mullenger, Annette Wolfsberger (eds.): Cultural Bloggers Interviewed (2010)

Cultural blogging is not (yet) a well-known category within the blogosphere and LabforCulture wanted to find out more. Who blogs? What are they blogging about? Which audiences and communities are being engaged? What are the economic models and how sustainable are they? These are some of the questions that are explored in the new Cultural Bloggers Interviewed publication.

With Annette Wolfsberger, we delved into the cultural blogging scene in a series of interviews with nine renowned European bloggers including: Anne Helmond, Robert Misik, Alek Tarkowski, Marta Peirano and José de Vicente, Alessandro Ludovico and Régine de Batty.

The bloggers were interviewed in 2009 and were challenged to answer questions about their motivation, business models and subsequent opportunities that came from starting their blogs. With a thought-provoking introduction about the role of blogs by Guardian journalist and blogger Mercedes Bunz, this publication is a must for anyone considering the future role of cultural bloggers and online publishing.

Interviews: Annette Wolfsberger
Idea: Angela Plohman
Editors: Nicola Mullenger and Annette Wolfsberger
Publisher: LabforCulture, Amsterdam 2010
ISBN 978-1-906496-50-0
Published under Creative Commons Licence 3 (Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported).

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