Central / national / federal government Books

Book SynopsisFoucault saw the notion of parrhesia (truth-telling) as the most important factor for how governments could and should communicate with their people and vice versa. This important collection compiles and analyses Foucault's views on parrhesia to shed new light on his ideas on the importance of truth-telling in democracies.Table of Contents1. Speaking Truth to Power and Power Speaking Truthfully 2. Power: From Productive Submission and Domination to Transformative Capacity 3. The Nature of Critique: Political not Epistemological 4. The Politics of Critique: Political Engagement and Government 5. The Nature of Parrhesia: Political Truth-Telling in Relation to Power/Knowledge/Ethics 6. The Politics of pParrhesia: The Autonomy of Democratic Politics and the Parrhesiastic Pact 7. Leadership and Community: Critique of Obedience and Democratic Paradoxes 8. Political Perspectives: Authority and the Duality of Power, Politics and Politicization

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Book SynopsisJapan is shifting onto a new trajectory for a more muscular national security policy, US-Japan alliance ties functioning for regional and global security, and the encirclement of China's influence in East Asia. The author explores how PM Abe Shinzo's doctrine may prove contradictory and counter-productive to Japanese national interests. Trade Review“This concise volume provides a timely update on recent developments in the security sphere, particularly focusing on the current Abe government’s policies. … The research is thorough and well-presented, though curiously formatted in the style of a collection of short articles. … In sum, this is a very welcome update on Japanese foreign and security policies that does East Asian specialists a notable service through its collation and analysis … .” (Thomas S. Wilkins, Japanese Studies, Vol. 36 (1), June, 2016)“This timely book is a valuable companion to understanding the foreign and security policy initiatives undertaken by the second Abe Shinzō administration. The book’s six brisk chapters assess the origins, domestic impact, and international ramifications of Abe’s security and diplomatic revolution. … this book is required reading for understanding the contours of change in Japan’s security system in the Abe era and it will appeal to Political Science and Japanese Studies scholars, as well as practitioners and students.” (Giulio Pugliese, Asien, Vol. 139, April, 2016)Table of Contents1. Introduction: From 'Yoshida Doctrine' To 'Abe Doctrine'? 2. The Origins And Ideological Drivers Of The 'Abe Doctrine' Ending The 'Post-War Regime', Restoring Great Power Status Constitutional Revision Historical Revisionism, Challenging The K?no Statement, Patriotic Education Yasukuni Shrine And Challenging The Tokyo Tribunals 3. Japan's National Security Under Abe National Security Strategy, National Defence Programme Guidelines, State Secrecy Law Breaching The Arms Export Ban, Militarisation Of ODA Collective Self-Defence Made Reality Radical New Security Precedents 4. The 'Abe Doctrine' And US-Japan Relations Revising The US-Japan Defence Guidelines, Futenma Relocation, TPP Negotiations Fears Of Abandonment, Resistance In Okinawa, Trade Blockages Distrust Over Revisionism And Yasukuni Who Is Entrapping Whom? 5. Japan's Relations Under Abe With China, The Korean Peninsula, And ASEAN Encircling China More Progress With North Korea Than South Korea? Abe Isolates Japan, China Encircles Japan? Sino-Japanese Stalemate? 6. Conclusion: 'Abe Doctrine' As Revolution Or Contradictory Failure? Three Great Contradictions Resentful Realism Redux

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Book SynopsisInstant New York Times BestsellerWashington Post BestsellerUSA Today BestsellerIndie Bound BestsellerAuthors Round the South BestsellerMidwest Indie BestsellerNew York Times bestselling author Sarah Kendzior documents the truth about the calculated rise to power of Donald Trump since the 1980s and how the erosion of our liberties made an American demagogue possible.The story of Donald Trump's rise to power is the story of a buried American history buried because people in power liked it that way. It was visible without being seen, influential without being named, ubiquitous without being overt. Sarah Kendzior's Hiding in Plain Sight pulls back the veil on a history spanning decades, a history of an American autocrat in the making. In doing so, she reveals the inherent fragility of American democracy how our continual loss of freedom, the rise of consolidated corruption, and the secrets behind a b

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Book SynopsisThe New York Times BestsellerA New York Times Notable Book of 2022Named one of Vanity Fair''s Best Books of 2022Not since Robert Caro's Years of Lyndon Johnson have I been so riveted by a work of history. Secret City is not gay history. It is American history.George StephanopoulosWashington, D.C., has always been a city of secrets. Few have been more dramatic than the ones revealed in James Kirchick's Secret City.For decades, the specter of homosexuality haunted Washington. The mere suggestion that a person might be gay destroyed reputations, ended careers, and ruined lives. At the height of the Cold War, fear of homosexuality became intertwined with the growing threat of international communism, leading to a purge of gay men and lesbians from the federal government. In the fevered atmosphere of political Washington, the secret too loathsome to mention held

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsIntroduction PART ONE: BOY TO MAN, 1897-1919 Chapter 1: The Welsh Valleys Childhood, 1897 – 1911 Chapter 2: The South Wales Coalfield 1911 – 1919 PART TWO: THE MAKING OF ANEURIN BEVAN, 1919-34 Chapter 3: Local Politics, 1919-28 Chapter 4: Monmouthshire County Council and Parliament, 1928-34 PART THREE: ESTABLISHING HIMSELF ON THE NATIONAL STAGE, 1934-45 Chapter 5: London and Jennie Lee Chapter 6: Working Class Unity, 1935-1939 Chapter 7: The Second World War, Part I: 1939 to 1942 Chapter 8: The Second World War, Part I: 1942 to 1945 PART FOUR: CABINET MINISTER, 1945-51 Chapter 9: The Labour Government, 1945-1951 Chapter 10: The Creation of the National Health Service Chapter 11: Bevan’s Record on Housing, 1945-51 Chapter 12: Resignation PART FIVE: IN OPPOSITION, 1951-60 Chapter 13: The Bevanites, 1951-55 Chapter 14: The Pragmatic Bevan, 1955-57 Chapter 15: The Final Years, 1958-60 Conclusion Further Reading

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Book SynopsisDuring the past decade, the world reached the point of becoming more urban than not, as the majority of people on the planet now live not in small towns or villages but in provincial, national, and global cities. Scholars have long been fascinated by so-called global cities, world cities, and the urban engines of the global economy. James H. Spencer argues, however, that such an emphasis misses the central fact that urbanization goes well beyond the usual suspects of New York, Tokyo, London, and Shanghai. The author charts urbanization across the Global South and North, resulting in what he describes as a planetary global urban ecosystem. This concept that challenges us to realize that in daily life, their similar physical and social ecosystems that make cities more understandable to each other than to their own rural hinterlands. Spencer's vivid case studies of Addis Ababa, Ho Chi Minh City, Honolulu, and New York draw out the commonalities of our intertwined built and social environmTrade ReviewFueled by advances in electronic communication and transportation technology, the globe is becoming more and more urbanized. Over the past two decades the expanding megacities of the Global South have had and continue to have a profound effect on the character of globalization at this critical historical juncture. Spencer’s book is a path-breaking contribution to our understanding of this process. -- Edmond J. Keller, University of California, Los AngelesThis book illuminates and excites with its fresh approach to globalization and urbanization. Spencer argues for a new approach to understanding contemporary cities, highlighting four cities that are connected to world processes of long-distance interaction. Offering an innovative lens for interpreting and understanding cities in the new century, his work will appeal to new and seasoned students alike. -- Yue-man Yeung, Chinese University of Hong KongJames Spencer’s superb new study points us in a different direction as we struggle to understand the rapid urban transformation sweeping the planet. Spencer argues that an overly heavy emphasis on the change occurring in such 'global cities' as New York, Tokyo, London, and Shanghai is causing us to miss the most important panorama, the urban transformation of Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. He takes us on a grand tour to shift our perspective. He does not want us to miss what is perhaps the most important transformation in world history. -- Elliott Sclar, Columbia UniversityWhether from the perspective of supporters/critics or specialists/nonspecialists, the related processes of globalization and urbanization are two of the defining trends of the 21st century. Spencer utilizes secondary scholarly literature, life stories, popular media, and personal experiences to make sense out of the diversity of the ‘global urban ecosystem.’ While each city has its own history, culture, and physical environment, the attractive ones benefit from three characteristics: economic and productivity efficiencies, differences and diversities, and a global connectivity. In order to provide a picture of what this ecosystem looks like, Spencer devotes four of his seven chapters to a tour of cities that illustrate each of his three types. Two of these cities are from the Global South and represent ‘Do-Your-Timers’ (Saigon and Addis Ababa), and two are from the Global North and represent ‘Old-Timers’ (Honolulu) and ‘For-All-Timers’ (New York). However, ‘every city has elements of each, but it is the particular combination and concentrations that give individuality to any case.’ This well-written, insightful, and informative book should appeal to all professionals and nonprofessionals interested in acquiring a new lens through which to make sense of the interrelated processes of globalization and urbanization. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Urbanization and the Construction of the Global Urban Ecosystem Chapter 2: Urban Histories: Arriving at the Global Urban Ecosystem Chapter 3: Saigon’s “Do-Your-Timers”: Rural Transformation and the Urban Transition in Saigon Chapter 4: “Do-Your-Timers” African Style: Addis Ababa, the Unlikely Capital of Africa Chapter 5: The Indigenous City? Reconciling an Old-Timers' Honolulu with a Global Society Chapter 6: “For-All-Timers”: New York City’s Empire State of Mind Chapter 7: The Global Urban Ecosystem: A Globally Integrated Ecology of Everyday Life Bibliography

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