Featured Monthly Releases  – January  2026

January opens the year with a sense of renewal and momentum, setting the tone for the months ahead. Discover our featured releases for this month.

The Failure of the Voice Referendum and the Future of Australian Democracy

This book examines the failed 2023 Voice referendum as a pivotal moment in Australian democracy, shaped by misinformation, political distrust and a transformed media landscape. Bringing together First Nations and non-Indigenous scholars, it analyses the legal, political and historical factors that influenced the campaign and its defeat. The volume situates the loss within Australia’s long record of constitutional failure while reaffirming the continuing importance of Indigenous representation, structural reform and democratic renewal.

Sentimental Songs, Melodrama and Filmic Narrative in Bollywood’s Golden Age (1951–1963)

This study explores how songs shaped narrative, emotion and memory in Hindi cinema during Bollywood’s Golden Age, challenging their treatment as secondary cinematic elements. Drawing on Indian theories of emotion, particularly rasa, alongside colonial melodramatic traditions, the book argues that songs were central to cinema’s ethical and cultural role in post-colonial India. Through close analysis of key films and auteurs, such as Raj Kapoor and Guru Dutt, it demonstrates how sentimentality and melodrama structured the cinematic experience of the period.

Cavell’s Ontology of Film: The World Viewed After Half a Century

This edited volume revisits Stanley Cavell’s The World Viewed fifty years after its publication, reassessing its significance for film philosophy today. Contributors explore Cavell’s engagement with modernism, scepticism and romanticism while extending his ideas to contemporary digital media and ecological crisis. The collection positions Cavell’s work as an enduring framework for understanding mediated relations to the world in an age of technological and environmental uncertainty.

Beyond the Metrics

This interdisciplinary monograph investigates how fitness apps, wearables and social media reshape self-image, identity and mental well-being under conditions of constant monitoring. Drawing on expertise in UX design, sport psychology and embodied performance, the authors analyse the psychological pressures of self-tracking, comparison and aesthetic ideals. The book advocates for more ethical and inclusive fitness technologies that prioritise well-being over perfection and performance metrics.

To view other titles, visit: www.anthempress.com

For proposal submissions or enquiries, contact: proposal@anthempress.com