Cruelty or Humanity. Rees, Stuart
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CRUELTY OR HUMANITY
“Stuart Rees’s deeply humane and moral book documents and analyses historical, state-sanctioned, global violence and cruelty, while quoting international poems offering compassionate voices of humanity. A compelling, disturbing, inspiring book.”
—Robert S. White, author of Pacifism in English Literature
“In his evocative and unflinching study, Stuart Rees shows us how ‘national interest’ rhetoric often enables outrages upon human dignity. He reminds us not to abandon the victims of state power or to play games with their fate.”
—Clinton Fernandes, University of New South Wales
“Cruelties promoted by policies are often ignored. This book theorises the notion of cruelty in all its forms, from direct violence to a political economy of cruelty. I loved this book.”
—Punam Yadav, University College London
First published in Great Britain in 2020 by
Policy Press, an imprint of
Bristol University Press
University of Bristol
1-9 Old Park Hill
Bristol
BS2 8BB
UK
t: +44 (0)117 954 5940
Details of international sales and distribution partners are available at policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk
© Bristol University Press 2020
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-4473-5697-4 hardcover
ISBN 978-1-4473-5698-1 paperback
ISBN 978-1-4473-5448-2 ePub
ISBN 978-1-4473-5699-8 ePdf
The right of Stuart Rees to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of Bristol University Press.
Every reasonable effort has been made to obtain permission to reproduce copyrighted material. If, however, anyone knows of an oversight, please contact the publisher.
The statements and opinions contained within this publication are solely those of the author and not of the University of Bristol or Bristol University Press. The University of Bristol and Bristol University Press disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any material published in this publication.
Bristol University Press and Policy Press work to counter discrimination on grounds of gender, race, disability, age and sexuality.
Front cover design by Steve Harris and Alex Penny, who crafted the cover from the artistry of sculptor Ben Hammond and photographer James Porto
Bristol University Press and Policy Press use environmentally responsible print partners.
Printed in Great Britain by CMP, Poole
To those with the courage to campaign for peace with justice, for those who have never experienced peace with justice.
Contents
Introduction: towards a theory
2 Values, attitudes, behaviour
6 Cruel or compassionate world?
| Mandelshtam, Osip | The people need poetry |
| Paz, Octavio | Remembrance |
| Akhtmatova, Anna | Requiem |
| Auden, W.H. | Epitaph on a tyrant |
| Fenton, James | Tiananmen |
| Rees, Stuart |
Thanks to Stéphane
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