Bøker av Jack Simmons

American culture is changing, a sentiment echoed in phrases such as ';the new normal,' and ';in these uncertain times,' that regularly introduce all forms of public discourse now, signally a national sense of vulnerability and transformation. Cultural shifts generally involve multiple catalysts, but in this collection the contributors focus on the role changing discourse norms play in cancel culture, corporatism, the counter-sexual revolution, racialism, and a radically divided political climate. Three central themes arise in the arguments. First, that contemporary discourse norms emphasize outcomes rather than shared understanding, which support institutional and political goals but contribute to the contemporary political divide, and the notion that we are engaged in a zero-sum game. These discourse norms give rise to a form of Adorno's administered world, such that we order society according to dominant opinions, which generally means those well acclimated to institutional and corporate culture. Finally, as Arendt feared, the personal has become political, meaning that the toxic public discourse invades private discourse, reducing personal autonomy and leaving us perpetually under the scrutiny of institutional authority.

Jack Simmons sympathetically tells the history of the railways and describes every major aspect of their equipment and operations: permanent way, buildings, locomotives, rolling stock, signalling and labour relations. He also makes journeys through the Pennines, Scotland, Essex and Southern England on which he acts as observer and guide.