The USA has a long history of blaming social problems on the effects of synthetic drugs. Tracing the history of these anti-drug movements, this book sets out to show that synthetic chemicals inspire so much fear not because they are uniquely dangerous, but because they bring into focus deeply-rooted public concerns about social and cultural upheaval. The author highlights the role of the communications media in spreading anti-drug scares, and argues that proponents of the war on drugs use synthetic panics to scapegoat society's "others" and exacerbate racial, class and inter-generational conflict.
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In this remarkably concise, yet massively researched, volume, Michael Swartz lays the historical and hermeneutical foundations for a massive revision of the idea of late antique Judaism as an essentially text- and logocentric intellectual tradition. His elegantly written argument will challenge scholars--and, one hopes, their students--for years to come!-Martin S. Jaffee, With gestures to the music of John Cage and the meaning of fashion, Michael Swartz explores the manifold ways that ancient Jews believed God could speak through worldly things: animals and dreams, zodiac and temple, priestly vestments and the flowing of blood. Using such diverse sources as ancient synagogue mosaics and liturgical poetry, Swartz shows with economy and insight that formative Judaism looked well beyond the Torah to find divine intention.-David Frankfurter,
Philip Jenkins is Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies at Pennsylvania State University. He is the author of numerous books including Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in America and Synthetic Panics: The Symbolic Politics of Designer Drugs, available from NYU Press.
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