Book Launch with Brian Rappert: Performing Deception

SPIN is delighted to co-host the book launch for SPIN-ster Brian Rappert’s new book as part of our events series with the SWDTP

Join us and our fascinating panellists for an evening to discuss the book and its themes, including a Q & A session. The event will be held online, through Zoom. All are welcome. Sign up here!

Panelists:

• Clare Birchall
• Susan Maret
• Todd Landman

About the Book

In Performing Deception, Brian Rappert reconstructs the practice of entertainment magic by analysing it through the lens of secrecy, deception and learning, as he goes about studying conjuring himself. Through this novel meditation on reasoning and skill, Rappert elevates magic from the undertaking of mere trickery to an art that offers the basis for rethinking our possibilities for acting in the modern world.

Performing Deception covers a wide range of theories in sociology, philosophy, psychology and elsewhere in order to offer a striking assessment of the way secrecy and deception are woven into social interactions, as well as the illusionary and paradoxical status of expertise.

About the Author

Brian Rappert is a Professor of Science, Technology and Public Affairs at the University of Exeter. His long-term interest has been the examination of the strategic management of information, particularly in relation to armed conflict. His books include Controlling the Weapons of War: Politics, Persuasion, and the Prohibition of Inhumanity; Biotechnology, Security and the Search for Limits; and Education and Ethics in the Life Science. More recently he has been interested in the social, ethical, and political issues associated with researching and writing about secrets, as in his books Experimental Secrets, How to Look Good in a War and Dis-eases of Secrecy.

Have a look at our previous SPIN events here