Comparative politics Books
Johns Hopkins University Press Democratic Transitions
Book SynopsisThis unique book should be valuable for political leaders, civil society activists, journalists, scholars, and all who want to support democratic transitions.Trade ReviewDemocratic Transitions is a balanced, thoughtful, empirically-based volume that adds an important dimension to our understanding of both the theoretical and the policy issues surrounding the spread of democracy abroad. It is a major addition to the literature on post-authoritarian transitions and on the "how-to" of consolidating democracy after dictatorship. In an era of undue pessimism about the fate of democracy worldwide, it is a timely reminder of how democratic transitions can be made to work. Orbis: A Journal of World Affairs ... In evoking all of these collective distilled experiences from some of the world most successful politicians from recent decades, Bitar and Lowenthal also convey their passion for democracy forcefully, and they enable the college freshman and the scholar to understand better the events and processes that have shaped the world for the better in which we live. ReVistaTable of ContentsForewordPrefaceIntroductionChapter 1.BrazilChapter 2. ChileChapter 3. GhanaChapter 4. IndonesiaChapter 5. Mexico Chapter 6. The PhilippinesChapter 7. Poland Chapter 8. South AfricaChapter 9. SpainChapter 10. Women Activists in Democratic TransitionsChapter 11. From Authoritarian Rule toward Democratic GovernanceAcknowledgmentsAbout the Editors and ContributorsSelected BibliographyIndex
£36.34
Rowman & Littlefield The Political Economy of Russia
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewNeil Robinson has assembled an impressive group of specialists to explore the many challenges facing Russia as it searches for a sustainable development strategy. -- Peter Rutland, Wesleyan UniversityThe Political Economy of Russia offers excellent analyses of the relationships between the state, the economy, and society in the post-Soviet Russian Federation. It is a significant contribution not only to the study of Russia but to the comparativist debates on the varieties of capitalism. The book includes studies of taxation, property rights, demography, and agriculture. It shows that, far from being an 'energy superpower,' Russia belongs to the semiperiphery of the world system and that the state under Putin and Medvedev continues to play a predatory rather than a developmental role. -- Peter J. S. Duncan, University College LondonThis volume examines the link between the development of Russia's economic and political regimes, focusing on how the link has been influenced not only by Soviet legacies but also by the realities of energy, agricultural, and demographic conditions. This work introduced this reviewer to the concept of Russia's "political capitalist" system, a concept that will add new dimensions to class discussions. While edited volumes often suffer from uneven coverage or quality, editor Robinson (Univ. of Limerick, Ireland) avoids this problem, providing an excellent overview in the introduction, followed by a chapter that puts Russia's political economy in context. Chapter 3 ("Revenue Imperatives") starts from the premise that power inevitably finds wealth, and explains how Russia's pattern of revenue extraction influenced state-society relations. Chapter 4 ("Systemic Stalemate") expands this idea, using corporate case studies (Yukos, Toaz) to explore the tensions between developmental and predatory aspects of state intervention. Chapter 5 explores the political economy of Russia's demographic crisis, examining both state policy and societal attitudes toward immigrants and pronatalism. Chapters 6 and 7 focus on problems that agriculture and oil present to Russia's political economy. Final chapters place Russia's economy in global perspective and describe the political dysfunctions of Russian capitalism. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction: The Political Problems of Russian Capitalism Neil Robinson Chapter 2: The Contexts of Russia’s Political Economy: Soviet Legacies and Post-Soviet Policies Neil Robinson Chapter 3: Revenue Imperatives: State over Market in Postcommunist Russia Gerald M. Easter Chapter 4: Systemic Stalemate: Reiderstvo and the Dual State Richard Sakwa Chapter 5: The Political Economy of Russia’s Demographic Crisis: States and Markets, Mothers and Migrants Linda J. Cook Chapter 6: Change in Agriculture: The Development of Russia’s Private Farming Stephen K. Wegren Chapter 7: Russia’s Potential Role in the World Oil System: Reciprocal Dependency, Global Integration, and Positive Unintended Consequences Andrew Barnes Chapter 8: Russia as Semiperiphery: Political Economy, the State, and Society in the Contemporary World System Paul T. Christensen Chapter 9: Conclusion: The Political Dysfunctions of Russian Capitalism Neil Robinson
£40.00
PublicAffairs If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the
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£24.00
Siete Cuentos Editorial '68: El otoño mexicano de la masacre de
Book SynopsisIn Mexico City on the night of October 2, 1968, at least two hundred students—among thousands protesting election fraud and campaigning for university reform—were shot dead in a bloody showdown with government troops in Tlatelolco Square. The bodies were collected and trucked away and the cobblestones washed clean. Hundreds more were arrested, and imprisoned for years. To this day, no one has been held accountable for the acts of savagery and these events are nowhere to be found in official histories. One member of the crowd that night, Paco Taibo, would become an international literary figure. ’68 is his account of the events of October 2, and of the student movement that preceded them. In provocative, anecdotal prose, Taibo claims for history “one more of the many unredeemed and sleepless ghosts that live in our lands.”
£14.41
Lynne Rienner Publishers Inc Asia Pacific in World Politics
Book SynopsisCapturing the most recent currents in world affairs—without sacrificing historical context—the second edition of Asia Pacific in World Politics reflects more than a decade of new developments.The focus on the region’s major state actors has now been broadened to include an entirely new chapter on India and greatly expanded treatment of both Russia and Australia. The role of international organizations is also thoroughly covered, as are the conflicts involving Taiwan and Korea and the complexities of international politics in Southeast Asia.Incorporating discussions of security broadly defined, political economy, development, human rights, refugees, and much more, this up-to-date text offers an introduction to Asia Pacific’s dynamic role in world politics that will encourage students to engage with contemporary issues and debates.Trade ReviewCogently written, [this book] provides an excellent introduction to East and Southeast Asia. History is used creatively to cast light on the current context in the Asia Pacific and [provide] clues about how the future could unfold." - Varun Sahni, Contemporary Southeast Asia "An excellent introductory overview of Asia-Pacific international relations." - Kazuhiko Noguchi, Pacific Affairs"McDougall provides an excellent prognosis of the likely future directions in Asia Pacific international politics.... Highly recommended." - ChoiceTable of Contents Asia Pacific in World Politics THE MAJOR POWERS IN THE REGION The United States: A Declining Influence? China: The Rising Power Japan: Not to Be Ignored China and the United States: The Central Dynamic Japan and the United States: A Key Alliance? China and Japan: A Contentious Relationship CONFLICTS IN NORTHEAST ASIA Taiwan: Where to Next? The Two Koreas: A Continuing Impasse CHANGING DYNAMICS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA International Politics in Southeast Asia Indonesia: An Emerging Power? OTHER KEY REGIONAL ACTORS India: Moving into Asia Pacific Russia: Losing Ground Australia: "Down Under" but Engaged International Organizations: A Growing Role CONCLUSION Emerging Themes
£24.65
Lynne Rienner Publishers Inc Understanding Contemporary Russia
Book SynopsisRussia today is in many ways different from the country portrayed a decade ago in the first edition of Understanding Contemporary Russia. With an upsurge of both national pride - despite a struggling economy - and civil society activism, with a palpable tension between the support for democratic values and the intense desire for political stability, with an increased role in world politics that puts Putin in the headlines almost daily, contradictions and complexities abound. These contradictions, complexities, and much more are captured in this new edition. The authors provide sophisticated yet accessible introductions to the country’s history, domestic politics, economy, foreign policy, society, and culture. The result is a well-grounded exploration of the realities of contemporary Russia.Trade ReviewPraise for the previous edition:“A solid and insightful introduction to Russia...thoughtful and balanced...[It is] a valuable addition to Russian studies.” —The Russian Review“A great background reader for those looking for a quick and fairly complete evaluation of the many sides of Russia.” —ChoiceTable of ContentsIntroduction M.L. Bressle Russia: A Geographic Preface D.J.B. Shaw The Historical Context S.G. Marks Politics M.L. Bressler The Economy W. Pyle International Relations A.C. Lynch Ethnicity and Identity K.E. Graney Population, Health, and Migration T. Heleniak The Environment and Environmental Movement L.A. Henry Women in a Changing Context S.L. Henderson Religion O. Kazmina Literature and Film A. Barker Trends and Prospects M.L. Bressler
£33.09
Pitchstone Publishing Against the New Politics of Identity: How the
Book SynopsisIn Against the New Politics of Identity, philosopher Ronald A. Lindsay offers a sustained criticism of the far-reaching cultural transformation occurring across much of the West by which individuals are defined primarily by their group identity, such as race, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation.Driven largely by the political Left, this transformation has led to the wholesale grouping of individuals into oppressed and oppressor classes in both theory and practice. He warns that the push for identity politics on the Left predictably elicits a parallel reaction from the Right, including the Right's own version of identity politics in the form of Christian nationalism.As Lindsay makes clear, the symbiotic relationship that has formed between these two political poles risks producing even deeper threats to Enlightenment values and Western democracy. If we are to preserve a liberal democracy in which the rights of individuals are respected, he concludes, the dogmas of identity politics must be challenged and refuted. Against the New Politics of Identity offers a principled path for doing so.
£17.05
Seven Stories Press,U.S. Cubanthropy: Two Futures That Happened While You
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£15.26
Baraka Books Israel, A Beachhead in the Middle East: From
Book SynopsisOne US military leader has called Israel “the intelligence equivalent of five CIAs.” An Israeli cabinet minister likens his country to “the equivalent of a dozen US aircraft carriers,” while the Jerusalem Post defines Israel as the executive of a “superior Western military force that” protects “America’s interests in the region.” Arab leaders have called Israel “a club the United States uses against the Arabs,” and “a poisoned dagger implanted in the heart of the Arab nation.” Israel’s first leaders proclaimed their new state in 1948 under a portrait of Theodore Herzl, who had defined the future Jewish state as “a settler colony for European Jews in the Middle East under the military umbrella of one of the Great Powers.” The first Great Power to sponsor Herzl’s dream was Great Britain in 1917 when foreign secretary Sir Arthur Balfour promised British support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. In 1967 Israel launched a successful war against the highly popular Arab nationalist movement of Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, the most popular Arab leader since the Prophet Mohammed. Nasser rallied the world’s oppressed to the project of throwing off the chains of colonialism and subordination to the West. He inspired leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, and Muammar Gaddafi. Viewing Israel as a potentially valuable asset in suppressing liberation movements, Washington poured billions into Israel’s economy and military. Since 1967, Israel has undertaken innumerable operations on Washington’s behalf, against states that reject US supremacy and economic domination. The self-appointed Jewish state has become what Zionists from Herzl to an editor of Haaretz, the liberal Israeli newspaper, have defined as a watch-dog capable of sufficiently punishing neighboring countries discourteous towards the West.Stephen Gowans challenges the specious argument that Israel controls US foreign policy, tracing the development of the self-declared Jewish state, from its conception in the ideas of Theodore Herzl, to its birth as a European colony, through its efforts to suppress regional liberation movements, to its emergence as an extension of the Pentagon, integrated into the US empire as a pro-imperialist Sparta of the Middle East.Trade ReviewStephen Gowans' book is a concise and pertinent de-mythologizing of Zionist propaganda, from early Zionists and founders, to the fascist global right leadership at present ... a tantalizing historical read, and a huge and valuable resource text, both." —John Steppling, Counterpunch"This book is a timely response to three groups: those yet to grasp that Israel in its current form is an outrage comparable to apartheid South Africa; those who recognise this truth but fail (as had many sincere opponents of apartheid) to see the bigger picture of a Faustian bargain with Western elites; those who say the USA is a vassal—a client state of Israel." —Philip Roddis, Steel City Scribblings
£23.70
Rutgers University Press Caribbean Migrations: The Legacies of Colonialism
Book Synopsis2021 Choice Outstanding Academic Title With mass migration changing the configuration of societies worldwide, we can look to the Caribbean to reflect on the long-standing, entangled relations between countries and areas as uneven in size and influence as the United States, Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica. More so than other world regions, the Caribbean has been characterized as an always already colonial region. It has long been a key area for empires warring over influence spheres in the new world, and where migration waves from Africa, Europe, and Asia accompanied every political transformation over the last five centuries. In Caribbean Migrations, an interdisciplinary group of humanities and social science scholars study migration from a long-term perspective, analyzing the Caribbean's "unincorporated subjects" from a legal, historical, and cultural standpoint, and exploring how despite often fractured public spheres, Caribbean intellectuals, artists, filmmakers, and writers have been resourceful at showcasing migration as the hallmark of our modern age.Trade Review"Profoundly interdisciplinary and nearly Pan-Caribbean in scope, Caribbean Migrations transforms our understanding of how migration has shaped the Caribbean and how Caribbean migration has shaped the United States. The analysis of Caribbean people on the move, asserting political power across digital platforms and through art, explodes the long-held notion that Caribbean migration is the story of flight from poverty to a better life in the United States and breaks down the boundary between Caribbean and American Studies." -- Leah Rosenberg * co-editor of Beyond Windrush: Rethinking Postwar West Indian Literature *"The starting point of Caribbean Migrations is a series of reflections that help illuminate the fascinating legal fiction that is Puerto Rico's 'unincorporated' status, using the unique experiences of Puerto Rican subjects as a poignant counterpoint and a compelling framework to understand Caribbean migration more generally. Together, the essays in this collection offer a rich blueprint to understand pervasive as well as new forms of colonialism, virtual and real citizenship, affect, and structural violence in a post-disaster world." -- Guillermina De Ferrari * author of Community and Culture in Post-Soviet Cuba *"All in all the book represents a rich contribution to an international literature constantly transforming the way we view and try to understand the links between colonialism, migration and identity, and particularly in the case of the Caribbean and Caribbean diasporas." * Ethnic and Racial Studies *"The essays emphasize the geo-strategic ambitions of the US in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, especially Puerto Rico. However, the theoretical breadth of the volume sheds new light on migration throughout the Caribbean region, as well as the formation of transnational identities in other parts of the world. This study is a must read for Caribbean studies specialists and postcolonial scholars. Highly recommended." * Choice *Table of ContentsContents List of Illustrations List of Figures Introduction: Another Archive on Migration by Anke Birkenmaier Chapter 1: A Permanent Periphery: Caribbean Migration Flows and The World Economy by Alejandro Portes Part 1: Unincorporated Subjects (Puerto Rico, Guam) Chapter 2: The Role of State Actors in Puerto Rico’s Long Century of Migration (1899-2015) by Carlos Vargas-Ramos Chapter 3: ’May God Take Me to Orlando’: The Puerto Rican Exodus to Florida before and after Hurricane Maria by Jorge Duany Chapter 4: Caribbean Mediascapes: Ruins, Debt in Puerto Rico by Jossianna Arroyo Chapter 5: Circumscribed Citizenship: Caribbean American Visibility by Vivian Halloran Chapter 6: From Father to Humanitarian: Charting the Intimacies and Discontinuities of Ricky Martin’s Social Media Presence by Edward Chamberlain Chapter 7: Terripelagoes: Archipelagic Thinking in Culebra (Puerto Rico) and Guam by Yolanda Martínez-San Miguel Part 2: Technologies of Representation (Cuba, Jamaica) Chapter 8: The Caribbean in the US Imagination: Travel Writing, Annexation, and Slavery by Daylet Domínguez Chapter 9: Afro-Cubana Feminisms: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Havana by Devyn Spence Benson Chapter 10: Going Back to Cuba: How Enclaves of Memory Stimulate Returns and Repatriations by Iraida H. López Chapter 11: The Floating Generation. Cuban Art in the Post-Soviet Period (1991-2017) by Rafael Rojas Chapter 12: ‘It would make a rat puke’: Diasporic Thinking in Contemporary Jamaican Art Practices by Jane Bryce Part 3: Languages of the Diaspora (Hispaniola, United States) Chapter 13: Kreyòl Sung, Kreyòl Understood: Haitian Songwriter BIC (Roosevelt Saillant) Reflects on Language and Poeticsby Rebecca Dirksen and Kendy Vérilus Chapter 14: Migration and Its Discontents: The Dominican Films of Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas by Anke Birkenmaier Chapter 15: Transnational Hispaniola: The First Decade in Support of a New Paradigm for Haitian and Dominican Studies by Kiran C. Jayaram and April J. Mayes Chapter 16: New Points of the Rhizome: Rethinking Caribbean Relation in U.S. Latino Poetry by Emily A. Maguire Acknowledgments Bibliography Notes on Contributors Index
£44.65
Universitatsverlag Winter New Perspectives on Transatlantic Relations:
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£38.00
Logos Verlag Berlin GmbH Beyond Europe: Central Asia, the Middle East and
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£65.18
Logos Verlag Berlin GmbH The Process of Shaping the Formal and Informal
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£66.07
Logos Verlag Berlin GmbH Nationalist Discourses in Hungary and Turkey
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£76.23
Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft Beyond the Territory Within the Nation: Diasporic
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£19.50
Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft Eu's Policy of Democracy Promotion: Strategies
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£56.25
Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft Transformation, Politics and Implementation:
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£39.75
Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft Bilateral Diplomacy and Eu Membership: Case Study
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£47.25
Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft Grenzforschung: Handbuch Fur Wissenschaft Und
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£84.75
Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft New Realities in Foreign Affairs: Diplomacy in
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£24.00
Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft United by Violence, Divided by Cause?: A
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£42.75
Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft Still a Century of Corporatism?: Models of
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£31.50
Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft Energy Regionalism in Ecowas and the Eu: A
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£92.25
Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft The Diffusion of Morality Policies: State-Level
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£45.90
Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft Opposition Party Behavior and Minority Government
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£56.25
V&R Unipress Storfall fur die gute Nachbarschaft?: Deutsche
Book SynopsisText in German. The oil crisis in autumn 1973 is considered to be the decisive turning point in the 1970s. It painfully demonstrated the dependence of the western industrialized countries on Arab oil. Using the example of Franco-German relations, the author asks whether there was cooperation in energy policy and how this was actually structured. On the one hand, using historical primary sources, she examines the behavior and political strategies of the German and French governments. On the other hand, the search for multilateral solutions is presented. Case studies provide insights into the civil society level. This first systematic analysis of Franco-German relations in the field of energy policy shows that energy policy was of great importance for the bilateral relationship, even if the results of Franco-German cooperation remained extremely low.
£75.00
Silkworm Books / Trasvin Publications LP The Ninth Panchen Lama (1883-1937): A Life at the
Book SynopsisThis biography of the Ninth Panchen Lama, the second highest spiritual authority in Tibetan Buddhism, offers new insights into the tumultuous history of the relations between China and Tibet at the start of the twentieth century. It demonstrates how the Panchen Lama's flight from his monastery on the night of December 22, 1923, remains an essential characterizing event of Tibet's modern history. His flight from his country set the stage for Chinese Republican, and later Communist, control over the selection of his successors, with repercussions even today for Sino-Tibetan relations. This is the first publication in an innovative new series of research work on Asia, a collaboration between the École Française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO) and Silkworm Books to translate French publications for an English-language readership.
£38.00
NUS Press Unraveling Myanmar's Transition: Progress,
Book SynopsisThe optimism provoked by Myanmar's political reforms in 2011-2012 has now given way to a sense that the uneven nature of change in this nation of 54 million has lead to instability and uncertainty. The liberalization of critical sectors and expansion of certain freedoms - such as political and legal opportunities for expression and mobilization - contrasts with the entrenchment of structural problems. It becomes ever more difficult to tackle ethnic marginalization and conflict, over-dependence on natural resource extraction, inadequate public services, and problems of under-capacity in the civilian bureaucracy.The result is the build up of a toxic environment in which classism, racism, and bigotry threaten to rend Myanmar's already delicate social fabric. The contributors to this volume bring unique perspectives and methodologies to bear to unravel Myanmar's tangled challenges. Whether it is through studying corruption by analyzing the country's real estate bubble, assessing civil society advocacy capacity against extractive industries, or gauging the strength (and surprising weakness) of Myanmar's military, the volume employs unconventional approaches and analytical rigor to address a fundamental question: is Myanmar itself unraveling?Trade Review“Variously wide-ranging and penetrating, the essays assembled in this volume examine Myanmar's short decade of dramatic political and social change in all its complexity. . . . Dense with original research and fresh interpretations of what is happening in Myanmar and why, they bode well for the future of scholarship on this no-longer overlooked country at the nexus of South and Southeast Asia.”
£36.55
