In precarious and tumultuous times, schemes of social support, including cash transfers, are increasingly indispensable. Yet the inadequacy of the nation-state frame of membership that such schemes depend on is becoming evermore evident, as non-citizens form a growing proportion of the populations that welfare states attempt to govern. In Presence and Social Obligation, James Ferguson argues that conceptual resources for solving this problem are closer to hand than we might think....

Development, it is generally assumed, is good and necessary, and in its name the West has intervened, implementing all manner of projects in the impoverished regions of the world. When these projects fail, as they do with astonishing regularity, they nonetheless produce a host of regular and unacknowledged effects, including the expansion of bureaucratic state power and the translation of the political realities of poverty and powerlessness into "technical" problems awaiting solution by "d...

This book takes a fresh look at a wide range of life's big questions and provides a resource as readers search for answers individually or together in group discussion. The goal is to explore how Christian faith relates to aspects of modern science, the problems of suffering and evil, and issues such as gender and sexuality, war and peacemaking, immigration, artificial intelligence, and life after death. It also considers historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus and the biblical p...

Astronomy Explained Upon Sir Isaac Newton's Principles and Made Easy to Those Who Have Not Studied Mathematics is a comprehensive and accessible guide to the wonders of the universe, written by James Ferguson and first published in the 18th century. This classic work aims to demystify the complex principles of astronomy by presenting them in a clear and straightforward manner, specifically designed for readers without a background in mathematics. Drawing upon the revolutionary theories of ...

In Give a Man a Fish James Ferguson examines the rise of social welfare programs in southern Africa, in which states make cash payments to their low income citizens. More than thirty percent of South Africa's population receive such payments, even as pundits elsewhere proclaim the neoliberal death of the welfare state. These programs' successes at reducing poverty under conditions of mass unemployment, Ferguson argues, provide an opportunity for rethinking contemporary capitalism ...

Once lauded as the wave of the African future, Zambia's economic boom in the 1960s and early 1970s was fueled by the export of copper and other primary materials. Since the mid-1970s, however, the urban economy has rapidly deteriorated, leaving workers scrambling to get by. Expectations of Modernity explores the social and cultural responses to this prolonged period of sharp economic decline. Focusing on the experiences of mineworkers in the Copperbelt region, James Ferguson trace...

Of all the sciences cultivated by mankind, Astronomy is acknowledged to be, and undoubtedly is, the most sublime, the most interesting, and the most useful. For, by knowledge derived from this science, not only the bulk of the Earth is discovered, the situation and extent of the countries and kingdoms upon it ascertained, trade and commerce carried on to the remotest parts of the world, and the various products of several countries distributed for the health, comfort, and conveniency of it...

James Fergusson (1808-86) became one of the most respected architectural historians of India. His 1876 account was revised in two volumes in 1910 by archaeologist James Burgess (1832-1916) and architect Richard Spiers (1838-1916). Lavishly illustrated, it remains of relevance to students of Indian and Asian architecture.

Both on the continent and off, “Africa” is spoken of in terms of crisis: as a place of failure and seemingly insurmountable problems, as a moral challenge to the international community. What, though, is really at stake in discussions about Africa, its problems, and its place in the world? And what should be the response of those scholars who have sought to understand not the “Africa” portrayed in broad strokes in journalistic accounts and policy papers but rather specific places and socia...

The Anti-Politics Machine (1990) examines how international development projects are conceived, researched, and put into practice. It also looks at what these projects actually achieve. Ferguson criticizes the idea of externally-directed ‘development’ and argues that the process doesn’t take proper account of the daily realities of the communities it is intended to benefit. Instead, they often prioritize technical solutions for addressing poverty and ignoring its social and political dimen...

A dedicated field guide to the world's raptorsRaptors – predatory birds that include the falcons, eagles, hawks, harriers, buzzards, kites and the Osprey – have been watched, admired, studied and painted from ancient times. Our understanding of the biology, ecology and taxonomy of these birds was condensed into one of the finest monographs of the century to date, Raptors of the World, by James Ferguson-Lees and David Christie.This field guide represents the...

This book provides a timely analysis of the politics, philosophy, and history of Chinese power, focusing on social, strategic, and diplomatic trends that have shaped China for over three thousand years. Chinese elites have used the past to inform the present, but have also mobilized new ideas to address the country’s rapid transition to global power. China’s intellectual world can draw on a surprisingly pluralist legacy. When Chinese thinkers assess “power,” they bring to bear their classi...