{"product_id":"the-psychic-lives-of-statues-pb","title":"The Psychic Lives of Statues: Reckoning with the Rubble of Empire","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn exploration of global statue controversies and cultural memory\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-tab=\"overview\" class=\"pp-book__right--tab-content show\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom Cape Town to Bristol and Richmond, statues have become sites of resistance and contestation of our imperial past and postcolonial present. \u003cem\u003eThe Psychic Lives of Statues \u003c\/em\u003eby Rahul Rao offers an insightful exploration of these global controversies, demonstrating that beneath their surface lie deeper struggles over race, caste, and the politics of decolonisation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRao takes readers on a journey through South Africa, England, the US, Ghana, India, Australia, and Scotland, revealing how statue controversies have dramatically rearranged the canon of anticolonial political thought. By examining these debates through a personal and literary lens, Rao addresses the multifaceted issues of justice, cultural memory, and belonging.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Psychic Lives of Statues\u003c\/em\u003e examines both the toppling of colonial statues and the raising of postcolonial ones, demonstrating that the statue form as a medium of representation and a bid for immortality is by no means obsolete. Engaging with artists, scholars, and activists, Rao provides fresh perspectives on how societies grapple with and reinterpret the past and present through iconography.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRahul Rao is a Reader in International Political Thought in the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, and Professorial Research Associate at SOAS University of London. He is the author of two books – \u003cem\u003eThird World Protest: Between Home and the World\u003c\/em\u003e (2010) and \u003cem\u003eOut of Time: The Queer Politics of Postcoloniality\u003c\/em\u003e (2020), both published by Oxford University Press. He is a member of the Radical Philosophy editorial collective.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat People Are Saying\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003e\"'The past is not even the past.' Faulkner's words peal like a clear bell in Rahul Rao's unimpeachable, erudite, jewel of a book on the politics of memorialisation. This beautifully written reckoning with history shines a clear light on how far and how tenaciously the shadows of colonialism reach into our lives in the present moment. The bright thread of the author's own experiences that runs through the book is both deeply engaging and humane. This is a necessary and vital piece of work.\"\u003c\/span\u003e Neel Mukherjee, Booker Prize shortlisted author of \u003ci\u003eThe Lives of Others\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003e\"This compulsively readable book clearly and forcefully lays out the stakes of the global debate over statues, monuments and other commemorative practices. It shows us that rather than a superficial skirmish in the culture wars, the struggle over statues is about how we live with and relate to one another, and the urgent fight over equality and dignity in the present.\"\u003c\/span\u003e \u003ca data-lwsa=\"eyJhdXRvbGluayI6dHJ1ZSwiYXV0b19pZCI6IjkzNjYifQ==\" href=\"https:\/\/leftwingbooks.net\/products\/sinews-of-war-and-trade-shipping-and-capitalism-in-the-arabian-peninsula\" title=\"Laleh Khalili\"\u003eLaleh Khalili\u003c\/a\u003e, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003e\"Weaving together scholarship and personal insights, this book is a powerfully grounded and eminently thoughtful contribution to debates around race, caste, class and historical memory. At once considered and stimulating, Rao’s account of how we grapple with the imperial past and present will stay standing even as statues rise and fall over the coming decades.\"\u003c\/span\u003e Priyamvada Gopal, Professor of Postcolonial Studies, University of Cambridge\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003e\"In this beautiful book, Rao reminds us that there are long histories and complex attachments in play whenever people choose to erect or pull down statues. In a work that is both erudite and entertaining, we learn that no memorial is innocent - but humans want to remember. There is no better book on what statues are to public space and why it matters that we continue to think about them.\"\u003c\/span\u003e Gargi Bhattacharyya, Director of Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Racism and Racialisation, University College London\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgements\u003cbr\u003eList Of Abbreviations\u003cbr\u003e1. Fallism And The Endtimes Of Apartheid\u003cbr\u003e2. The Libidinal Lives Of Statues\u003cbr\u003e3. Mahatmas Must Fall\u003cbr\u003e4. Statue Of Impunity\u003cbr\u003e5. The Pitfalls Of Decolonial Consciousness\u003cbr\u003e6. We Are Here Because You Were There\u003cbr\u003eNotes\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Pluto Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67663858434141,"sku":"9780745350783","price":25.95,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0562\/0826\/1213\/files\/psychiclifeofstatues_pb.jpg?v=1791388515","url":"https:\/\/leftwingbooks.net\/fr\/products\/the-psychic-lives-of-statues-pb","provider":"Leftwingbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}