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About the Author

Harvey Molotch holds a joint appointment as Professor of Metropolitan Studies and Sociology at New York University and Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Includes the name: Harvey Luskin Molotch

Obras de Harvey Molotch

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Sexo
male

Membros

Resenhas

Bought this for my Kindle. Price: $9.99. Price for the Nook is $60. WTF?
 
Marcado
ecw0647 | 1 outra resenha | Sep 30, 2013 |
The book actually begins with a chapter on how badly designed toilets—especially public toilets—are, and how that disproportionately disadvantages people who are poor and/or female. This does fit with the general theme: we get what we design for, and by ignoring human factors and presuming evil we are designing our public spaces to be ever more difficult to deal with for people of good faith, yet no safer against people who pay attention to the brittleness of “hardened” security measures. Nor are we safer against natural disasters, preferring to fight the waters with levees (that we then don’t fully maintain) to consider measures like a planned retreat from rising sea levels. It’s a depressing book, despite Molotch’s chapter-ending recommendations for, essentially, being nicer to each other and designing spaces and institutions based on trust—at this point, it’s just so hard to imagine things like “let responders on the ground make more of the decisions.”… (mais)
1 vote
Marcado
rivkat | 1 outra resenha | May 21, 2013 |
Molotch offers a fresh, provocative perspective, absent the diatribes we almost always hear whenever security is the topic. He successfully explains the problems with our current approach, starting with a foundation about the real trade-offs we need to understand. More security might, at best, mean more safety. It also means other type of risk can increase, as our very way of life is eroded in the process. I've read a number of commentaries with similar arguments, but none were this thoughtful.
 
Marcado
jpsnow | 1 outra resenha | Oct 13, 2012 |
I first found this book when I was making a booklist for National Bathroom Reading Month, & I thought it was just a novelty. But rather than being a gag, this collection of essays is a serious academic study! Full disclosure: I didn't read all the essays-a couple of them, if you'll pardon the pun, were a bit dry. What I did read was eye-opening & fascinating-some of my favorites were: "Only Dogs are Free to Pee: New York City Cabbies' Search for Civility"; "Sex Separation: The Cure-All for Victorian Social Anxiety"; "Pissing Without Pity: Disability, Gender, & the Public Toilet"; & "Why Not Abolish Laws of Urinary Segregation?" When I first picked up this book, my co-workers were grossed out, as if I were reading something dirty for a perverse thrill. On the contrary, these essays brought front & center for me issues about toilet use-something I do every day without much thought-for the differently abled, for transsexuals, for anyone waiting in a long line or trying to cram themselves, a large handbag, & a child into a tiny uniform cubicle. However, you also won't want to miss the book's numerous "Rest Stops": Judgemental Urinals, Trucker Bomb (what do truckers do for bathroom breaks on a long haul?), Thai Students Get Transsexual Toilet, Flirting with the Boundary (one way mirrors allow for a transparent bathroom experience), & more!… (mais)
 
Marcado
shalulah | 1 outra resenha | Oct 28, 2011 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
4
Membros
169
Popularidade
#126,057
Avaliação
½ 3.5
Resenhas
5
ISBNs
16
Idiomas
1

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