Political control and freedoms Books

Book SynopsisContrary to the usual image of the press as cantankerous, obstinate, and ubiquitous in its search for truth, Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky depict how an underlying elite consensus largely structures all facets of the news.

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Book SynopsisHow insurgencies—enabled by digital devices and a vast information sphere—have mobilized millions of ordinary people around the world. In the words of economist and scholar Arnold Kling, Martin Gurri saw it coming. Technology has categorically reversed the information balance of power between the public and the elites who manage the great hierarchical institutions of the industrial age: government, political parties, the media. The Revolt of the Public tells the story of how insurgencies, enabled by digital devices and a vast information sphere, have mobilized millions of ordinary people around the world. Originally published in 2014, The Revolt of the Public is now available in an updated edition, which includes an extensive analysis of Donald Trump’s improbable rise to the presidency and the electoral triumphs of Brexit. The book concludes with a speculative look forward, pondering whether the current elite class can bring about a reformation of the democratic process and whether new organizing principles, adapted to a digital world, can arise out of the present political turbulence.Trade Review“All over the world, elite institutions from governments to media to academia are losing their authority and monopoly control of information to dynamic amateurs and the broader public. This book, until now only in samizdat (and Kindle) form, has been my No. 1 handout for the last several years to anyone seeking to understand this unfolding shift in power from hierarchies to networks in the age of the internet.” —Marc Andreessen, cofounder, Netscape and Andreessen Horowitz “We are in an open war between publics with passionate and untutored interests and elites who believe they have the right to guide those publics. Gurri asks the essential question: Can liberal representative democracy survive the rise of the public?” —Roger Berkowitz, founder and academic director of the Hannah Arendt Center, professor of politics and human rights at Bard CollegeTable of ContentsPRELUDE TO A TURBULENT AGEHODER AND WAEL GHONIMMY THESISWHAT THE PUBLIC IS NOTPHASE CHANGE 2011A CRISIS OF AUTHORITYTHE FAILURE OF GOVERNMENTNIHILISM AND DEMOCRACYCHOICES AND SYSTEMSFINALE FOR SKEPTICSRECONSIDERATIONS: TRUMP, BREXIT, AND FAREWELL TO ALL THAT

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Book SynopsisIn her first book since the widely acclaimed Strangers in Their Own Land, National Book Award finalist and bestselling author Arlie Russell Hochschild now ventures to Appalachia, uncovering the "pride paradox" that has given the right''s appeals such resonance.For all the attempts to understand the state of American politics and the blue/red divide, we''ve ignored what economic and cultural loss can do to pride. What happens, Arlie Russell Hochschild asks, when a proud people in a hard-hit region suffer the deep loss of pride and are confronted with a powerful political appeal that makes it feel "stolen"?Hochschild''s research drew her to Pikeville, Kentucky, in the heart of Appalachia, within the whitest and second-poorest congressional district in the nation, where the city was reeling: coal jobs had left, crushing poverty persisted, and a deadly drug crisis struck the region. Although Pikeville was in the political center thirty

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Book SynopsisFollowing a remarkable epoch of greater dispersion of wealth and opportunity, we are inexorably returning towards a more feudal era marked by greater concentration of wealth and property, reduced upward mobility, demographic stagnation, and increased dogmatism. If the last seventy years saw a massive expansion of the middle class, not only in America but in much of the developed world, today that class is declining and a new, more hierarchical society is emerging. The new class structure resembles that of Medieval times. At the apex of the new order are two classes—a reborn clerical elite, the clerisy, which dominates the upper part of the professional ranks, universities, media and culture, and a new aristocracy led by tech oligarchs with unprecedented wealth and growing control of information. These two classes correspond to the old French First and Second Estates. Below these two classes lies what was once called the Third Estate. This includes the yeomanry, which is made up largely of small businesspeople, minor property owners, skilled workers and private-sector oriented professionals. Ascendant for much of modern history, this class is in decline while those below them, the new Serfs, grow in numbers—a vast, expanding property-less population. The trends are mounting, but we can still reverse them—if people understand what is actually occurring and have the capability to oppose them.Trade Review“The social and economic divide which Kotkin has identified is certainly real, and very easy for those who have spent all their time on one side to overlook.… Kotkin’s warning in this timely, compelling, and well-written book should be heeded.”—Quillette “Kotkin rightfully places his finger on a phalanx of attitudes, beliefs, and practices of our recently ascendant economic elite and their apologists and allies in the symbol-mongering institutions.”—Richard M. Reinsch, Law & Liberty “Among the books that could end up defining the times in which we find ourselves here in the United States and throughout the world—from South America to Italy to the South China Sea—Kotkin’s work is not as widely read and discussed. But it ought to be.”—John Loftus, National Review “The alarm Kotkin sounds is all the more courageous and credible coming from an old-school progressive like him, and shows that the left’s realignment around the interests of tech oligarchs and the gospel of wokeism won’t go without internal pushback.”—The American Conservative “Kotkin marshals a host of arresting economic data to demonstrate the widening gulf between the feudal lords and everyone else.”—The Russell Kirk Center “A triumph.”—Front Porch Republic

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWinner of the 2016 PROSE Award in Philosophy, Association of American Publishers "Provides valuable insights into an important and timely subject."--Michiko Kakutani, New York Times Book Review "[T]he book crackles with brilliant insights and erudition, while also managing to explain the arcane preoccupations of analytic philosophy in a way that's accessible to a wider audience."---Bookforum "How Propaganda Works deserves huge praise and should be read by anyone who cares about politics and language. Its trove of tools and insights is impossible to completely summarise here."--The National "As with other books that expose hidden patterns in American political life from a great height (those that come to mind are Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent and Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow), the lofty perspective of How Propaganda Works challenges researchers to fill in gaps with more detailed, particular explanations of how and why."--Stephen Siff, Journalism & Mass Communications Quarterly "Rich and thoughtful... The best way to fight propaganda is to become savvier about how it manipulates, how it actually works, as Stanley does in his work."--Desmog Canada "Brilliant and incisive."--Survival: Global Politics and Strategy "[A] timely and important work that contributes a good deal of theoretical understanding to a crucial yet relatively neglected topic of inquiry."--Spinwatch "A book uniquely suited to its time... An example of political philosophy at its finest."--Voegelinview "Stanley tracks propaganda's history across continents and through decades, illuminating its power to make people vote against their own best interests. And what he has found is [that] the words being used may be as important as the politics behind them."--Nick Osbourne, Boston Globe "Citing examples ranging from historical racism in America to Citizens United, Stanley's critique of propaganda and ideology will only prove more influential as public and political opinion is further polarized... [A] useful examination of propaganda's pervasiveness."--Kirkus Reviews "Stanley has produced a highly stimulating book that brings the issue of propaganda to the attention of political philosophers and draws on an impressive range of philosophical and social scientific sources to illustrate his analysis and provide support for his claims. It is bound to be widely discussed and debated."--Jonathan Wolff, Analysis "A searching, eclectic, lively and personal book."--Matthew Festenstein, Political TheoryTable of ContentsPreface IX Introduction: The Problem of Propaganda 1 1 Propaganda in the History of Political Thought 27 2 Propaganda Defined 39 3 Propaganda in Liberal Democracy 81 4 Language as a Mechanism of Control 125 5 Ideology 178 6 Political Ideologies 223 7 The Ideology of Elites: A Case Study 269 Conclusion 292 Acknowledgments 295 Notes 305 Bibliography 335 Index 347

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Book SynopsisA New York Times Bestseller! “I hope we wake up quickly because history shows it’s a small window in which people can fight back before it is too dangerous to fight back.”—Naomi Wolf on Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson Tonight In a stunning indictment, best-selling author Naomi Wolf lays out her case for saving American democracy. In authoritative research and documentation Wolf explains how events parallel steps taken in the early years of the 20th century’s worst dictatorships such as Germany, Russia, China, and Chile. The book cuts across political parties and ideologies and speaks directly to those among us who are concerned about the ever-tightening noose being placed around our liberties. In this timely call to arms, Naomi Wolf compels us to face the way our free America is under assault. She warns us–with the straight-to-fellow-citizens urgency of one of Thomas Paine’s revolutionary pamphlets–that we have little time to lose if our children are to live in real freedom. “Recent history has profound lessons for us in the U.S. today about how fascist, totalitarian, and other repressive leaders seize and maintain power, especially in what were once democracies. The secret is that these leaders all tend to take very similar, parallel steps. The Founders of this nation were so deeply familiar with tyranny and the habits and practices of tyrants that they set up our checks and balances precisely out of fear of what is unfolding today. We are seeing these same kinds of tactics now closing down freedoms in America, turning our nation into something that in the near future could be quite other than the open society in which we grew up and learned to love liberty,” states Wolf. Wolf is taking her message directly to the American people in the most accessible form and as part of a large national campaign to reach out to ordinary Americans about the dangers we face today. This includes a lecture and speaking tour, and being part of the nascent American Freedom Campaign, a grassroots effort to ensure that presidential candidates pledge to uphold the constitution and protect our liberties from further erosion. The End of America will shock, enrage, and motivate–spurring us to act, as the Founders would have counted on us to do in a time such as this, as rebels and patriots–to save our liberty and defend our nation.Trade ReviewLibrary Journal (starred review)- This latest offering from best-selling author Wolf, The Beauty Myth, is a harbinger of an age that may finally see the patriarchal realm of political discourse usurped. Here is Wolf's compellingly and cogently argued political argument for civil rights, not women's rights. She contributes this call to action to a canon that from Plato and Aristotle to Hobbes and Locke and forward, with a few exceptions (e.g., Hannah Arendt), has been largely populated by men. Wolf's work is actually closer to the agitated, passionate polemics of Emma Goldman than the ponderous, philosophical musings of Arendt. Readers will appreciate her energy and urgency as she warns we are living through a dangerous "fascist shift" brought about by the Bush administration. Her chapters outline the "Ten Steps to Fascism" citing historical corollaries (as well as the pigs in Orwell's Animal Farm), with headings like "Invoke an External and Internal Threat," "Establish Secret Prisons," and "Target Key Individuals." In other words, fascism can exist without dictatorship. Her book's publication through a small press in Vermont that is committed to "the politics and practice of sustainable living" rather than through a large trade house is itself a political act. Highly recommended for all collections. -- Theresa Kintz, Wilkes Univ., Wilkes-Barre, PA"One of the most important books that's been written, certainly in the last decade or two, and perhaps in my lifetime."--Thom Hartmann, best-selling author and host of The Thom Hartmann Radio Program"Naomi Wolf 's End of America is a vivid, urgent, mandatory wake-up call that addresses momentous issues of tyranny, democracy, and survival."--Blanche Wiesen Cook, author of the three-volume Eleanor Roosevelt and distinguished professor at John Jay College "Naomi Wolf sounds the alarm for all American patriots. We must come together as a nation and recommit ourselves to the fundamental American idea that no president, whether Democrat or Republican, will ever be given unchecked power."--Wes Boyd, co-founder, MoveOn.org"The framers of our Constitution fully understood that it can happen here. Patriots like Madison, Paine, and Franklin would certainly applaud Naomi Wolf and recognize her as a sister in their struggle."--Mark Crispin Miller, author of Fooled Again"You will be shocked and disturbed by this book. Most Americans reject outright any comparison of post 9/11 America with the fascism and totalitarianism of Nazi Germany or Pinochet's Chile. Sadly, the parallels and similarities, what Wolf calls the 'echoes' between those societies and America today, are all too compelling."--Michael Ratner, Center for Constitutional RightsTable of ContentsPreface Introduction: Ten steps 1. The founders and the fragility of democracy 2. Invoke an external and internal threat 3. Establish secret prisons 4. Develop a paramilitary force 5. Surveil ordinary citizens 6. Infiltrate citizens' groups 7. Arbitrarily detain and release citizens 8. Target key individuals 9. Restrict the press 10. Cast criticism as "espionage" and dissent as "treason" 11. Subvert the rule of law Conclusion: The patriot's task

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Book SynopsisFrom New York Times bestselling author Naomi Wolf, Facing the Beast is a devastating, detailed account of wrongthink, deplatforming, and an unexpected political, personal, and spiritual transformation that followed during one of the most divisive times in American history. In this uncompromising investigation into today’s most urgent issues, Naomi Wolf uses her own wildly politicized pilgrimage—from New York Times bestselling author and high-level Democratic consultant to a journalist cast out from the elite political and social circles she once moved through—as a stunning narrative framework that is both chilling and incisive. Wolf’s sin? Doing the job that good journalists once prided themselves on: asking questions, challenging authority, and, during one of the most politically divisive moments in modern history, exposing the many failures of the public health response during the COVID-19 pandemic by chronicling the dangerous descent of our democracy into tyranny, censorship, and totalitarianism. Unable to remain silent in the shadows and unwilling to collude with the mainstream, Wolf bravely covers topics that few other writers dare to address critically for fear of being deplatformed. Facing the Beast explores reproductive rights, medical freedom, the uncurious thought-policing of the “progressive” left, the Second Amendment, the criminal relationship between the FDA and Pfizer—Wolf’s clear writing repeatedly shines light in the dark corners of our fractured society. A decades-long champion of free speech, freedom of the press, and the Constitution, Wolf found herself not only in the midst of a political rebirth but a spiritual transformation as well—one in which the events of the day could only be described in terms of good, evil, and a metaphysical quest on the nature of reality. For readers of Matt Taibbi, Glenn Greenwald, and Bari Weiss, Facing the Beast is a fearless indictment of legacy media and the political class, as well as a brutal reminder that searching for and defending the truth can be dangerous. “Naomi Wolf is one of the bravest, clearest-thinking people I know. The reason you hear the forces of repression so desperately trying to dismiss her is because she is right.”—Tucker CarlsonTrade Review“When Western leaders abandoned reason and embraced the ideology of force several years ago, Naomi Wolf was one of few who understood instantly what was happening. She decided to tell the full truth about it all the time, no matter what. The result has been a thrilling inspiration to those of us who’ve followed it, and for the first time is collected here in one place. Read Facing the Beast to understand what bravery looks like.”—Tucker Carlson“In the crisis of our lives and of everything we call civilization, Naomi Wolf has been a prescient observer, a keen analyst, and brave fighter for truth and freedom. Everything in her life and career prepared her for this moment. We all owe her a debt of gratitude for what she has done and continues to do for the great cause. Like her last book, Facing the Beast stands as a testament to truth in times gone mad.”—Jeffrey Tucker, president, Brownstone Institute“Today’s world has been constructed to divide us. Naomi Wolf has seen through the lies and deception. In her personal journey, described in Facing the Beast, she unequivocally came to understand the universal principle—that all of humanity is connected. Dr. Wolf fights for our God-given rights and freedoms. I am honored to call her friend.”—Edward Dowd, author of Cause Unknown

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Book SynopsisTribes and Politics in Yemen tells the story of the Houthi conflict in Sa'dah Province, Yemen, as seen through the eyes of the local tribes. In the West the Houthi conflict, which erupted in 2004, is often defined through the lenses of either the Iranian-Saudi proxy war or the Sunni-Shia divide. Yet, as experienced by locals, the Houthi conflict is much more deeply rooted in the recent history of Sa'dah Province. Its origins must be sought in the political, economic, social and sectarian transformations since the 1960s civil war and their repercussions on the local society, which is dominated by tribal norms. From the civil war to the Houthi conflict these transformations involve the same individuals, families and groups, and are driven by the same struggles over resources, prerogatives, and power. This book is based on years of anthropological fieldwork expertise both on the ground and through digital anthropological approaches. It offers a detailed account of the local complexities of the Houthi conflict and its historical background and underscores the absolute imperative of understanding the highly local, personal, and non-ideological nature of internal conflict in Yemen.Trade Review'Remarkable.'‘An excellent book . . . an indispensable read to anyone with an interest in Yemeni politics, both past and present.’'Brandt . . . has delved deeply into the emergence and evolution of the Houthi phenomenon and explains in extensive detail the entangled and incredibly complex roots of the conflict . . . she has done so thoroughly, convincingly and admirably . . . . an invaluable glimpse into the complexity of Yemeni society and politics.''As a writer and researcher on Yemen, this is the book I've been waiting for. A thorough, painstakingly assembled account of the rise of one of the world's least understood rebel groups - it makes for a riveting read. This is an indispensable addition to the pool of knowledge on Yemen and a must read for everyone who wants to understand why we are here today.' -- Peter Salisbury, Senior Research Fellow, Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House'The most detailed and comprehensive analysis to date of the Houthi conflict in Yemen, providing critical insights into the rise of the Houthis as a national movement and how a local conflict metastasized into a regional one. Published as the Saudi-led "Operation Decisive Storm" is still in full swing, this long overdue and well-researched book will help readers understand how Yemen became a laboratory for new wars in the Middle East.' -- Gabriele vom Bruck, Senior Lecturer at School of Oriental and African Studies; author of Islam, Memory and Morality in Yemen: Ruling Families in Transition'Marieke Brandt's book is a fascinating piece of ethnography and history. Through exceptional fieldwork in the northern highlands of Yemen, it explores the minute details and roots of a political and religious phenomenon that remains fundamental to our understanding of the contemporary Arabian Peninsula.' -- Laurent Bonnefoy, researcher at the CERI/Sciences Po, author of Salafism in Yemen: Transnationalism and Religious Identity‘This book provides a deep and comprehensive insight into the complex “Houthi conflict” by studying its political, tribal and personal dynamics. Brandt pays great attention to the wide spectrum of local causes that explain the conflict’s onset, persistence, and expansion on the basis of a “bottom-up” social anthropological approach.’ -- Horst Kopp, former professor at University of Erlangen-Nuremberg; researcher on the urban and rural geography of Yemen'Brandt's detailed, even intimate, analysis of the Houthi movement's history, internal social dynamics and relations with local and regional actors is essential reading for understanding its current and prospective role in Yemen's politics. Beyond Yemen, the book demonstrates the importance of anthropological analysis in explaining local and national politics.' -- Helen Lackner, Research Associate at London Middle East Institute, School of Oriental and African Studies; author of Yemen in Crisis: Autocracy, Neo-Liberalism and the Disintegration of a State

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Book SynopsisA Uyghur poet''s piercing memoir of life under the most coercive surveillance regime in history''Essential reading''AI WEIWEI, author of 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows''Deserves to be read widely''FINANCIAL TIMESAs his friends disappeared one by one, it became clear to Tahir Hamut Izgil that fleeing his home in Xinjiang was his family's only hope.In this unforgettable story of courage and survival, Tahir charts the Chinese government's ongoing destruction of the Uyghur community and way of life in spare, gripping, finely tuned prose.Waiting to Be Arrested at Night is an urgent call for the world to awaken to a humanitarian catastrophe, and a moving tribute to those Uyghurs whose voices have been silenced.

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Book SynopsisA #1 national bestseller in hardcover. The Daily Wire and Verdict conservative podcast titan takes the good fight to the evil and grammatically challenged woke intelligensia who engage in political blackballing, censorship, and the twisting of words to mean their exact opposite. A call to arms for sanity and liberty from decades of leftist brainwashing.“Every single American needs to read Michael Knowles’s Speechless. I don’t mean ‘read it eventually.’ I mean: stop what you’re doing and pick up this book.” —CANDACE OWENS "The most important book on free speech in decades—read it!” —SENATOR TED CRUZ A New Strategy: We Win, They Lose The Culture War is over, and the culture lost. The Left’s assault on liberty, virtue, decency, the Republic of the Founders, and Western civilization has succeeded. You can no longer keep your social media account—or your job—and acknowledge truths such as: Washington, Jefferson, and Columbus were great men. Schools and libraries should not coach children in sexual deviance. Men don’t have uteruses. How did we get to this point? Michael Knowles of The Daily Wire exposes and diagnosis the losing strategy we have fallen for and shows how we can change course—and start winning. In the groundbreaking Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds Knowles reveals: How the “free speech absolutists” gave away the store The First Amendment does not require a value-neutral public square How the Communists figured out that their revolution could never succeed as long as the common man was attached to his own culture Where political correctness came from How, comply or resist, political correctness is a win-win game for the bad guys Why taking our stand on “freedom of speech” helps put atheism, decadence, and nonsense on the same plane with faith, virtue, and reality The real question: Will we shut down drag queen story hour, or cancel Abraham Lincoln? For 170 years the First Amendment was compatible with prayer in public school How the atheists got the Warren Court to rule their way To this day, there’s a First Amendment exception for obscenity. What exactly is the argument that perverts’ teaching toddlers to twerk is not obscene? Read Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds if you want to learn how to take the fight to the enemy.

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Book Synopsis'Please please please read Mindf*ck' - Richard Dawkins What if you could peer into the minds of an entire population? What if you could target the weakest with rumours that only they saw? In 2016, an obscure British military contractor turned the world upside down. Funded by a billionaire on a crusade to start his own far-right insurgency, Cambridge Analytica combined psychological research with private Facebook data to make an invisible weapon with the power to change what voters perceived as real. The firm was created to launch the then unknown Steve Bannon's ideological assault on America. But as it honed its dark arts in elections from Trinidad to Nigeria, 24-year-old research director Christopher Wylie began to see what he and his colleagues were unleashing. He had heard the disturbing visions of the investors. He saw what CEO Alexander Nix did behind closed doors. When Britain shocked the world by voting to leave the EU, Wylie realised it was time to expose his old associates. The political crime of the century had just taken place - the weapon had been tested - and nobody knew.Trade ReviewAn invaluable primer on psychological warfare and behaviour modification ... Given that Wylie was at the heart of this work, and that he displayed real sociological understanding of what the data was revealing, his account provides a useful, crystal-clear exposition of the power of psychographic profiling when it's done right. * The Observer *Fascinating and hugely readable ... valuable and revelatory * Sunday Times *Freewheeling and profane ... Wylie covers plenty of ground, explaining in illuminating and often scary detail how Cambridge Analytica exploited the data to create Facebook pages that would needle "neurotic, conspiratorial citizens," propagating an outraged solidarity. * New York Times *If you want to understand the darker side of the digital revolution - and what a threat to democracy it is - you must read this book. As we watch our own democracy wavering in a blizzard of online dirty tricks I can think of nothing more relevant right now. In this astonishing insider story Wylie explains how the 'Trump revolution' and the 'Brexit Shock' were achieved by often-illegal manipulation - and proposes a series of safeguards of the digital commons for the future. I hope every citizen reads this.MindF*ck demonstrates how digital influence operations, when they converged with the nasty business of politics, managed to hollow out democracies... And his personal story, woven into the book's narrative, illustrates the confusion of our current political era as well as the challenge to Wylie's fellow members of the social media generation as they seek identities real and imagined, physical and virtual. * Washington Post *Merits close attention, as it goes a long way to making sense of the current political landscape ... a devastating indictment of a political culture out of control * The Herald *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWinner of a 2008 Lannan Notable Book Award, Lannan Foundation "[A] comprehensive diagnosis of our failings as a democratic polity by one of our most seasoned and respected political philosophers... Democracy Incorporated is a devastating critique of the contemporary government of the United States--including what has happened to it in recent years and what must be done if it is not to disappear into history along with its classic totalitarian predecessors."--Chalmers Johnson, Truthdig "[Democracy Incorporated provides] a rare, chilling analysis of intellectual critics of democracy. If democracy means more than occasional elections and protection of those rights that are compatible with economic and political elites' interests, Wolin's analysis of our democratic predicament is shocking, solid, and fundamentally correct."--C. P. Waligorski, Choice "Sheldon Wolin has produced an ambitious and broad-ranging book that examines the current state of democracy in America... Wolin argues that the unquestioned faith in the virtues of free market capitalism has dramatically narrowed the range of policy options that are on the table when debate turns to resolving the US's ills...[T]his is a trenchant and powerful volume."--Alex Waddan, International Affairs "Of the many books I've read or skimmed in the past seven years that attempted to get inside the social and political debacles of the present, none has had the chilling clarity and historical discernment of Sheldon S. Wolin's Democracy Incorporated. Building on his fifty years as a political theorist and proponent of radical democracy, Wolin here extends his concern with the extinguishing of the political and its replacement by fraudulent simulations of democratic process."--Jonathan Crary, Artforum "[W]e need to understand the deep roots of our present troubles ourselves and Wolin's book is an excellent beginning."--Toby Grace, Out in Jersey "Democracy Incorporated acts as an antidote to unconstrained corporate power and an elitist obsession and should be widely read by all those who cherish democracy and civil liberty."--Shih-Yu Chou, Political Studies Review "[Wolin] provides a rich narrative of the struggle of elites and the demos from ancient Greece through the writing of the U.S. Constitution and into the present, and the corporate-managed politics that has emerged will survive no matter which party holds Congress or the presidency."--Coleman Fannin, Journal of Church and State "Despite being written shortly before both the financial crisis and the Obama victory, the main lineaments of his analysis are still alarmingly cogent."--Tom Angier, Marx & Philosophy Review of Books

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Book SynopsisA firsthand account and incisive analysis of modern protest, revealing internet-fueled social movements’ greatest strengths and frequent challengesTrade Review“Tufekci believes that digital-age protests are not simply faster, more responsive versions of their mid-century parents. They are fundamentally distinct.”—Nathan Heller, New Yorker"This comprehensive, thought-provoking work makes a valuable contribution to understanding recent political developments and provides a clear path by which grassroots organizers can improve future efforts."—Publishers Weekly"Twitter and Tear Gas is packed with evidence on how social media has changed social movements, based on rigorous research and placed in historical context."—Hannah Kuchler, Financial Times“Tufecki has written an important book that offers a granular assessment of contemporary digital protest. . . Altogether, Tufecki offers a textured chronicle of the dynamics of several movements and the hopes of activists.”—Silvio Waisbord, Social Forces"A striking and original conclusion: today’s low barrier for organizing a movement can also lead to its long-term frustrations. Tufekci’s superb book will define the debate on social protest for years to come."—Dani Rodrik, author of Economic Rules: The Rights and Wrongs of the Dismal Science"Tufekci is undoubtedly the most qualified person in the world to explain the meaning of political collective actions catalyzed and coordinated by social media. She knows the technology, the social science, and the politics—and she is the rare academic observer who was at the scene, from Istanbul to Cairo to New York."—Howard Rheingold, author of Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution"Incisive and illuminating, Tufekci’s book arrives at the perfect moment, right when we desperately need our activism to become smarter and more effective than ever before, or else."— Astra Taylor, author of The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age and co-founder of the Debt Collective"Many have asked why people rebel, but few describe how. Here, Tufekci uses firsthand observation to offer an intelligent and informed examination of the tools and nature of today’s political protests."—Vali Nasr, author of The Dispensable Nation and The Shia Revival"For all the claims that new technologies afford grassroots movements new power, research on the topic is rare. Tufekci's book provides just that—and a cautionary conclusion."—Doug McAdam, author of Deeply Divided: Racial Politics and Social Movements in Postwar America

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Book SynopsisTrump has it. Obama owned it. Putin would kill for it; if you've got Spinfluence, then you can twist the truth, influence opinion and control the masses. The new Fake News Special Edition of the Spinfluence comes fully loaded with the latest highly-classified information about the most toxic propaganda on the planet. Is Fake News responsible for a conman winning the Whitehouse? Who is really guilty of pedalling alternative facts'? The first edition of Spinfluence was banned in dozens of countries around the world, so get your hands on a copy of the new Fake News Special Edition and discover the secrets behind the spin before it's too late. Spinfluence will appeal to crooked politicians, media manipulators and corporate big-wigs alike, in fact anyone interested in how to exploit people for profit or power. Covering fun techniques and tactics such as emotional hijacking, brainwashing and hysteria harnessing - Spinfluence is a glorious and insightful read about how to bend the truth and subvert the will of the herd.

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Book SynopsisThis vivid and fascinating collection of propaganda spans over a century a visual feast illustrating how persuasion, manipulation and fear were used to influence populations around the world. Do you know what propaganda looks like? A mural showing Saddam Hussein on horseback. A colossal cut-out of Benito Mussolini mounted on Milan Cathedral. A film of North Korea's Kim Jong Un parading an intercontinental ballistic missile. A Pakistani newspaper advertisement calling for Jehad' (sic). A soldier firing condoms from his gun in a Ugandan AIDS awareness and prevention campaign. A traditional Azerbaijani rug celebrating the achievements of Soviet space travel, with portraits of Gagarin, Tereshkova (and of course Lenin). Juxtaposing material from conflicting ideologies, Propagadopolis presents the broadest range of shocking, unusual and visually arresting images, encompassing all regions and eras of the modern age to demonstrate how propaganda has been wielded to evoke emotions,

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2017 "Impressively researched, including access to recently declassified material . . . Rider's extensive research is presented in a series of compelling and interconnected examples, all of which support and sustain his thesis."--H-Net "Throughout his well-written examination of these matters, Rider exhibits considerable skill as an historian. . . . With Cold War Games, Rider has contributed an essential work to the scholarship regarding the cultural dimensions of international politics."--Journal of Sport History"Rider provides an in-depth expose of the considerable value granted to athletic success... Highly recommended."--Choice "This book is well researched and will appeal to popular culture fans who are interested in sports diplomacy and the Olympic Games. The scholarship is immensely impressive, with an excellent section of notes that the reader will find as informative as the text."--Journal of American Culture"A particularly fascinating piece of diplomatic history."--Diplomat and International Canada"The scholarship is immensely impressive. There is nothing in the literature of the early Cold War that competes with this book. Rider convincingly makes the case for the secret role of the U.S. government in international sports."--Robert Edelman, author of Serious Fun: A History of Spectator Sports in the USSR"Rider has explored this subject in depth and detail not previously seen in our field. 'No stone unturned' is one thought generated after having read the book. Very impressive."--Stephen Wenn, co-author of Selling the Five Rings: The IOC and the Rise of Olympic Commercialism

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Book SynopsisAn incredible memoir of North Korea by a woman who defied the government to keep her family alive.Trade Review"Have the courage to read this book and listen to a clear, honest voice from the shadows and darkness that dissolve humanity." -- Ha Jin, National Book Award winner of Waiting "Not just a story of one woman's escape from North Korea, Lucia Jang's work has painted a vivid portrait of daily life in a country that few of us truly know. Stars between the Sun and Moon is a welcome addition to the growing oeuvre of memoirs by North Korean refugees and should be read widely by those interested in North Korea and the enduring tenacity of humanity." -- Billy Davis, campaigns & strategy officer, European Alliance for Human Rights in North Korea (EAHRNK)

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Book SynopsisThe bestselling author of Simpler offers a powerful, provocative, and convincing argument for protecting people from their own mistakes Based on a series of pathbreaking lectures given at Yale University in 2012, this powerful, thought-provoking work by national best-selling author Cass R. Sunstein combines legal theory with behavioral economics to make a fresh argument about the legitimate scope of government, bearing on obesity, smoking, distracted driving, health care, food safety, and other highly volatile, high-profile public issues. Behavioral economists have established that people often make decisions that run counter to their best interestsproducing what Sunstein describes as behavioral market failures. Sometimes we disregard the long term; sometimes we are unrealistically optimistic; sometimes we do not see what is in front of us. With this evidence in mind, Sunstein argues for a new form of paternalism, one that protects people against serious errors but also recognizes the risk of government overreaching and usually preserves freedom of choice. Against those who reject paternalism of any kind, Sunstein shows that choice architecturegovernment-imposed structures that affect our choicesis inevitable, and hence that a form of paternalism cannot be avoided. He urges that there are profoundly moral reasons to ensure that choice architecture is helpful rather than harmfuland that it makes people's lives better and longer.Trade Review"Cass Sunstein’s quest is an important one."—Andrew Stark, TLS"While we tend to think that offering information merely allows us to choose our means more carefully, without affecting what ends we actually want to pursue, Sunstein argues quite convincingly that for that government to highlight certain information may actually affect our goals."—Sarah Conly, author of Against Autonomy: Justifying Coercive Paternalism

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Book SynopsisThe problem with expertise?and the dark side of the equation ?knowledge = power.?Experts are not infallible. Treating them as such has done us all a grave disservice and, as The Weaponization of Expertise makes painfully clear, given rise to the very populism that all-knowing experts and their elite coterie decry. Jacob Hale Russell and Dennis Patterson use the devastating example of the COVID-19 pandemic to illustrate their case, revealing how the hubris of all-too-human experts undermined?perhaps irreparably?public faith in elite policymaking. Paradoxically, by turning science into dogmatism, the overweening elite response has also proved deeply corrosive to expertise itself?in effect, doing exactly what elite policymakers accuse their critics of doing.A much-needed corrective to a dangerous blind faith in expertise, The Weaponization of Expertise identifies a cluster of pathologies that have enveloped many institutions meant to help referee expert knowledge, in particular a disavowal of the doubt, uncertainty, and counterarguments that are crucial to the accumulation of knowledge. At a time when trust in expertise and faith in institutions are most needed and most lacking, this work issues a stark reminder that a crisis of misinformation may well begin at the top.

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Book SynopsisAn evocative blend of travel writing, politics and literature, offers a window into the contemporary Palestinian literary scene.Trade Review'A masterful work. Di Cintio weaves together history with a sense of place, character and dialogue infused with humour, to produce a contemporary portrait of a people who continue to resist both occupation and simple categorisation.' Selma Dabbagh; 'Di Cintio's lucid account of present-day Palestine is the inspired portrait of a nation in dialogue with its ghosts past and future affirming its right to be. This is a necessary book for our bewildered times.' Alberto Manguel; 'A powerful journey through Palestine's contemporary culture, where silenced authors defend themselves, female writers speak loudly and stolen private libraries are restored.' Atef Abu Saif; 'One of the best travel writers of his generation ... Marcello Di Cintio tells compelling and engrossing stories with his customary mix of vivid detail, a strong sense of history, a lovely sense of humour and, above all, a fascination with the human race in all its contradictions.' Margaret MacMillan, author of Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World; 'What [Di Cintio] does do, bravely and forcefully, and with impressive commitment, is to bear witness to the suffering of people.' The Guardian; '[Di Cintio] writes well, unpicking some of the world's trouble spots in spare and lucid prose.' Literary Review; `Di Cintio writes with clarity and grace, [and] portrays the writers with modesty and empathy ... Even for a reader familiar with Palestinian literature, Pay No Heed to the Rockets uncovers stories from the past with emotional vivacity and brings to life the lengths to which prisoners went in order to educate themselves and others, and to write ... Di Cintio weaves together history with a sense of place and infuses character with dialogue and humour to produce a contemporary portrait of a people who continue to resist both occupation and simple categorisation in this masterful work.' Electronic Intifada; 'With humility, respect, and great sensitivity, [Di Cintio] seeks out writers, people skilled at telling stories, and asks them to narrate their own situations. The result is a document that captures not only the manifold sorrows and injustices of Palestinian life but something of its beauty, its joys, and its yearning.' Ben Ehrenreich, author of The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine; `A compelling read ... forces awareness in the reader of a Palestine beyond our limited imagination.' Middle East Monitor; `Interweaving history and politics, the book introduces Western readers to the modern Palestinian literary scene while celebrating the rich diversity of voices that comprise it. Illuminating reading from a highly engaged author.' Kirkus Reviews; `Traveling through the West Bank, into Jerusalem, across Israel, and into Gaza, Di Cintio reveals life in contemporary Palestinian territories through the lens of its authors, books, and literature. He meets writer Maya Abu-Alhayyat at Cafe Ramallah, smoking a nargileh under a poster of Elvis. He finds the cultural hub of Gaza at the Gallery Cafe, where he chats with theater impresario Jamal Abu al-Qumsan. Throughout he finds "no life undarkened...by conflict" but also "no life wholly defined" by it either.' National Geographic

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Book SynopsisWe are far less free than we like to think. In Creating Freedom, Raoul Martinez exposes the mechanisms of control that pervade our lives and the myths on which they depend. Exploring the lottery of our birth, the coercive influence of concentrated wealth, and the consent-manufacturing realities of undemocratic power, he shows that our faith in free media, free markets, free elections and free will is dangerously misplaced. Written with empathy and imagination, this scholarly, fierce and profoundly hopeful manifesto makes a dazzling case for creating freedom on our own terms.Trade ReviewCreating Freedom is quite magnificent in its intelligence, acuity, scope, human warmth and - most importantly - hope! My book of the year -- STEPHEN FRYWhat makes it exceptional is its sophisticated philosophical argument. . . This year's essential text for thinking radicals -- STEWART JEFFRIES * * Guardian * *Strong arguments . . . epic in scope . . . [A] manifesto . . . to enlighten citizens stuck in an illusion of democracy -- HELEN WARRELL * * Financial Times * *A unique contribution to a subject -- discussed for more than two millennia -- where unique contributions are rare indeed . . . Beautifully written, vigorously argued and remarkably researched . . . No one has examined the issues of freedom and moral responsibility in such an extensive and fascinating context, or done more to show that these issues are not ivory tower debates but absolutely life and death issues for individuals and quite possibly for our species. If the movement that Martinez celebrates and champions is ever to occur, this book will be a valuable stimulus and an essential guide -- BRUCE WALLERMartinez speaks for a generation living through a profound mismatch between their aspirations for freedom and creativity and the thudding conformity a society, driven by the market, demands -- PAUL MASONComes the moment; comes the book. A 'manifesto for real and radical change'. This is a brilliant and timely analysis of our political landscape and the ideals which should inform how we reshape the world -- HELENA KENNEDY QCThought-provoking . . . sound and persuasive . . . Eminently readable with a an elegance of style not often found in theoretical works. It is no less than a rallying cry to take back the substance rather than the illusions of our freedoms * * New Internationalist * *Provocative, powerful and important, Creating Freedom is a rigorous exploration of what's gone wrong with our society and how to make it right -- SUSAN SARANDONI've been working my way through, highlighter in hand, at times thinking "why bother! Just highight the whole thing". Super impressive -- DAVID BYRNEEveryone trying to puzzle through how to deal with the madness of the world - and the forces destroying it - should read this book -- JOHANN HARIIn this stunning and lucid book, Raoul Martinez re-assesses our past, re-examines our present, and re-imagines our future. It's such an exciting and compelling read that you almost don't notice at first how radical it is. Creating Freedom makes me think that we humans are on the cusp of our next big step - and it's this kind of thinking that will carry us over -- BRIAN ENOThis discussion of the impossibility of ultimate moral responsibility is extremely well written, aphoristic in places, and philosophically right on target -- GALEN STRAWSONA profound and interesting project -- NICK DAVIESAn impassioned social and political critique with glimmers of hope for change . . . An intelligent, rigorous manifesto * * Kirkus * *Creating Freedom presents a stunning treatise; the freedoms within our society are illusory or entirely antithetical to actual liberty... The author, and the arguments within his book, have a tendency to leave a reader feeling enlivened, stirred and provoked... Martinez has arguments to make your head spin... The difficulty of imagining this new moral landscape seems daunting, but in the company of Raoul Martinez it seems a tiny bit more likely * * Irish Times * *Every now and then you read a book that's so good you want to recommend it to everyone. [This] is such a book. It's a clear and convincing plea for freedom and democracy, and against capitalism and inequality, and it really opens your eyes to things that you might have felt, but couldn't yet formulate * * Vice * *

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Book Synopsis''Astonishing, powerful, so important at this time'' - Margaret Atwood (on Twitter)''Riveting . . . intricate and surprising'' - The New York Times''Reading it will change you, perhaps forever'' - San Francisco ChronicleAn electrifying memoir set in the Salvadoran Civil War:the true story of a young poet who becomes an activist through a trial by fireCarolyn Forché, an American poet, is 27 when a mysterious stranger called Leonel appears on her doorstep, having driven direct from El Salvador. Her friend has heard rumours about who he might be - a communist, a CIA operative, a sharpshooter, a motorcycle racer, a revolutionary, a small coffee farmer - but nobody seems to know for certain. Captivated for reasons she doesn''t fully understand, she accepts his invitation to visit and learn about his country, and so becomes enmeshed in the early stages of a brutal civil conflict which will ultimately see the SalvTrade ReviewOnce Forché's story gathers momentum, it's hard to let the narrative go . . . Riveting . . . intricate and surprising * The New York Times *Indispensable . . . unflinching . . . Forché offers up a vast human landscape of terror, desperation and perseverance that stretches far beyond mere borders. It's more documentary than self-portrait, more camera than mirror. Reading it will change you, perhaps forever * San Francisco Chronicle *Gripping . . . 'I could just as well write my poetry from the quiet of my own study,' Forché writes, 'but I had known since childhood that human suffering demanded a response, everywhere and always.' A portrait of the artist as political and poetic ingenue, What You Have Heard Is True is just such a response, a riveting account of how she made good on that conviction. It bears eloquent witness to injustice and atrocity and to how observing them shaped a fearless poet * The Washington Post *Extraordinary . . . Written with a thriller writer's knack for narrative tension and a poet's gorgeous sentences and empathy . . . Though it took Forché half a lifetime to fully share what she saw - this time is also more cryptically recalled in her second book of poems, The Country Between Us (1982) - now is precisely when we need to see it * NPR *Her memoir traces her journey from political innocence to experience, and, in doing so, offers a model to others who might take the same journey . . . She remembers as much as possible, and the resulting memoir, once read, is difficult to forget * The Atlantic *Forché looks with a poet's acute grasp of sensory detail ... She meets priests, poets, campesinos, retired generals ... She runs from death squads, acknowledges American complicity in Salvadoran military's tactics, searches for the bodies of friends dumped on the black sand beaches. One can imagine this memoir being made into a film in the mould of The Killing Fields ... Written with great care, this clear-eyed memoir and its evocative black-and-white photos bear powerful witness to the atrocities committed by a government to repress its own impoverished citizens * Daily Telegraph *Forché ... writes with a startling, visceral clarity about grotesque events ... With her poems, and now with this exceptionally well-written and engrossing memoir, [Forché] has borne witness, remembered, tried to see. She has spent many years of her life telling the stories of El Salvador ... What You Have Heard Is True paints a stark, tangible and unforgettable picture of a nation descending into civil war and raises fascinating questions about the role of the observer ... Her writing has a way of scratching images into the memory * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisAn engaging guide to the most important free speech rules, rationales, and debates, including the strongest arguments for and against protecting the most controversial speech, such as hate speech and disinformation. This concise but comprehensive book engagingly lays out specific answers to myriad topical questions about free speech law, and also general explanations of how and why the law distinguishes between protected and punishable speech. Free Speech provides the essential background for understanding and contributing to our burgeoning debates about whether to protect speech with various kinds of controversial content, such as hate speech and disinformation: the applicable legal tenets and the strongest arguments for and against them. The book focuses on modern First Amendment law, explaining the historic factors that propelled its evolution in a more speech-protective direction - in particular, the Civil Rights Movement. It highlights the many cases, involving multiple issues, in

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Book SynopsisThis book develops a sophisticated account of propaganda and its intriguing history. It begins with a brief overview of Western propaganda, including Ancient Greek theories of rhetoric, and traces propaganda’s development through the Christian era, the rise of the nation-state, World War I, Nazism, Communism, and the present day. The core of the book examines the ethical implications of various forms of persuasion, not only hate propaganda but also insidious elements of more generally acceptable communication such as advertising, public relations, and government information, setting these in the context of freedom of expression. This new edition is updated throughout, and includes additional revelations about a key atrocity story of World War I.Trade Review“Propaganda and the Ethics of Persuasion is a book we need now more than ever. It is a stand-alone resource for those who don’t know anything about propaganda, want a refresher, or want to see how propaganda has fared in the digital age. Marlin’s clear, strong writing brings home the enormity of propaganda’s reach and the danger it represents to all of us.” — Tim Blackmore, University of Western Ontario“In the tradition of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Jacques Ellul’s Propaganda, this book will become a classic of the 21st century as theirs were of the 20th. Its substance, exceptional clarity and unsettling relevance show a master teacher at work.” — Clifford G. Christians, University of Illinois“… [Randal] Marlin’s book should be on the bookshelf of any serious scholar of propaganda and persuasion.” — Gary James Jason, Dialogue“… the acknowledged classic in the field”— William Lyons, Emeritus Fellow of Trinity College DublinComments on the first edition:“Concerted efforts to ‘direct the thought of the world’ have become a dominant feature of modern life, notably in the more free societies, where direct coercion is less feasible. This study is a welcome contribution to increasing public awareness and understanding of these critical matters. It approaches them with historical depth and insightful commentary, also raising and investigating hard questions of propriety and limits that should be the focus of intense concern.” — Noam Chomsky, M.I.T.“ … so terrifyingly relevant to the troubled world of today … excellent book … so measured, so wide-ranging. … ” — Barbara Wright, Trinity College, Dublin“Marlin’s reflections have been well marinated, coming as they do, he tells us, from three decades of studying ‘the day-to-day manifestations of opinion, in newspapers, radio and the university workplace.” — Patrick MacFadden, Literary Review of CanadaTable of ContentsList of IllustrationsPreface to the First EditionPreface to the Second EditionCHAPTER 1: Why Study Propaganda?IntroductionDefinitionTwo Major Propaganda Theorists: George Orwell and Jacques EllulPlan of the BookChapter 2: History of PropagandaIntroductionAthensRomeThe Early Christian EraFrom the Middle Ages to the EnlightenmentThe French Revolution and Its AftermathLater Nineteenth-Century DevelopmentsBritish Propaganda in World War ILeninist PropagandaNazi PropagandaWorld War II to the Present Day, In BriefConclusionCHAPTER 3: Propaganda Technique: An AnalysisIntroductionOverviewDevices Involving Language ManipulationNon-Verbal TechniquesConclusionCHAPTER 4: Ethics and PropagandaIntroduction: What Is Ethics?Ethical TheoriesThe Morality of LyingMisleading without Actually LyingThe Ethics of CommunicationOn the Ethics of PropagandaConclusion: Propaganda and AutonomyCHAPTER 5: Advertising and Public Relations EthicsIntroductionAdvertisingPublic Relations EthicsConclusionCHAPTER 6: Freedom of Expression: Some Classical ArgumentsIntroductionJohn MiltonJohn Stuart MillModern Communications Media: A Free and Open Encounter?Additional Free Speech ArgumentsConclusionCHAPTER 7: The Question of ControlsIntroductionControls on Hate PropagandaAdvertisingGovernment Controls on the MediaThe Media Controls ItselfGovernment InformationAddendum, 2012CHAPTER 8: Propaganda, Democracy, and the InternetThe Achievements and Promise of the InternetUncertainties and Negative FeaturesStrategies for Democratizing the NetPropaganda AnalysisConclusionBibliographyPermission AcknowledgementsIndex

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Book SynopsisFrom Derek Hunter—one of the most entertaining political writers today—comes an insightful, alarming look at how progressives have taken over academia, pop culture, and journalism in order to declare everything liberal great, and everything great, liberal. Progressives love to attack conservatives as anti-science, wallowing in fake news, and culturally backwards. But who are the real denialists here? There are three institutions in American life run by gatekeepers who have stopped letting in anyone who questions their liberal script: academia, journalism, and pop culture. They use their cult-like groupthink consensus as proof that science, reporting, and entertainment will always back up the Democrats. They give their most political members awards, and then say the awards make their liberal beliefs true. Worse, they are using that consensus to pull the country even further to the left, by bullying and silencing dissent from even those they''ve allowed in. Just a few years ago, the media pretended they were honest brokers. Now a CNN segment is seven liberals versus a sacrificial lamb. MSNBC ate their sacrificial lamb. Well, Chris Matthews did. Tired of being forced to believe or else, Derek Hunter exposes the manufactured truths and unwritten commandments of the Establishment. With research and a biting, sarcastic wit, he explains: The growing role of celebrities in the political world, and movies with a message that dominate awards season, but rarely the box office. The unquestioning reporting on studies that don’t prove what they say they prove. The hidden bias of fact-checking, when the media cherry picks which facts they check. Celebrity scientists like Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson blending liberal activism with pretend expertise outside their fields. Clever, controversial, and convincing, Derek Hunter''s book gets to the root of America''s biggest cultural war lies.

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Book SynopsisBorders harm all of us: they must be abolished.Borders divide workers and families, fuel racial division, and reinforce global disparities. They encourage the expansion of technologies of surveillance and control, which impact migrants and citizens both.Bradley and de Noronha tell what should by now be a simple truth: borders are not only at the edges of national territory, in airports, or at border walls. Borders are everyday and everywhere; they follow people around and get between us, and disrupt our collective safety, freedom and flourishing. is a passionate manifesto for border abolition, arguing that we must transform society and our relationships to one another, and build a world in which everyone has the freedom to move and to stay.Trade ReviewAgainst Borders demonstrates the clarifying power of applying abolitionist politics to the issue of borders. In doing so, it achieves a rare unity of theory and practice, combining profound analysis with pointers to radical action. -- Arun KundnaniThe arguments in this elegant and powerful book are entirely reasonable and pragmatic and yet utterly revolutionary, proposing an abolitionist political imagination and a horizon of liberation. -- Michael HardtA book that invites us to dream of a reconfigured world where the borders between nation states no longer control and define us. -- Stella DadzieA refreshing, well-argued and moving proposal for 'non-reformist reforms' that would demolish one of the cruellest components of the capitalist state, written with a non-sectarian openness and a utopian imagination -- Owen HatherleyAn accessible, detailed examination of how borders function. A must read for anyone who wants to get to grips with the case for border abolition. -- Maya Goodfellow, author of Hostile EnvironmentAn incisive exploration of how borders operate in the 21st century. -- Emily Kenway * openDemocracy *Against Borders: The Case for Abolition is a compelling and much-needed primer on abolishing borders. By de-bunking common myths, presenting historical analysis, and guiding readers through contemporary social movements, Gracie Mae Bradley and Luke de Noronha passionately and accessibly lay out the vision and necessity for a world without borders. -- Harsha Walia, author Border and Rule & Undoing Border Imperialism

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"With a mixture of sober social science analysis and engaging personal travelogue, Lieberman defends the country’s record, particularly its ability to sustain for several decades a dynamic democracy with free and fair elections, a vibrant press, and an independent judiciary. He also ably documents South Africa’s achievements in improving education, housing, and public health, showing that, over the last 25 years, the country has mostly matched or surpassed the accomplishments of comparable upper-middle-income countries. . . . He writes lucidly about the economic and political shortcomings on which other accounts focus, but he makes an eloquent case for the remarkable progress South Africa has made in the wake of apartheid’s brutal legacy."---Nicolas van de Walle, Foreign Affairs"Lieberman’s analysis evaluates South Africa as a country, not as a miracle. Rather than being the bearer of the promise of democracy, the world can evaluate South Africa, Lieberman says, on its record of government performance, which has much to laud. . . . Important."---Carolyn Holmes, Washington Post

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Book Synopsis‘Heavily sourced, crisply written and deeply alarming.’ The Times ‘This is a remarkable book with a chilling message.’ Guardian The Chinese Communist Party is determined to reshape the world in its image. Its decades-long infiltration of the West threatens democracy, human rights, privacy, security and free speech. Throughout North America and Europe, political and business elites, Wall Street, Hollywood, think tanks, universities and the Chinese diaspora are being manipulated with money, pressure and privilege. Hidden Hand reveals the myriad ways the CCP is fulfilling its dream of undermining liberal values and controlling the world.Trade Review‘A remarkable book with a chilling message… The book’s convincing message is plain… Everyone must stay on their guard.’ -- Will Hutton, Guardian‘Revelatory… A detailed and necessary examination.’ * Sunday Times *‘Hidden Hand is heavily sourced, crisply written and deeply alarming.’ * The Times *'Hidden Hand should be required reading for our diplomats, intelligence analysts, military officers and businesspeople.' * The Australian *'An in-depth explanation of how China conducts its operations to gain important knowledge – ranging from tech secrets to financial information.' * International Business Times *'It takes courage to prod somnolent liberal democracies out of their complacent and dangerous incomprehension of the CCP. We are in Hamilton’s and Ohlberg’s debt.' -- Journal of Democracy'[Hidden Hand] should be required reading for anyone working in government and policy, the private sector, or media — really, for anyone with a stake in resisting the shadowy machinations of a totalitarian regime that seeks to exert its will on free societies.' * National Review *

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Book Synopsis''People can only be free in relation to one another.''Three exhilarating and inspiring essays in which the great twentieth-century political philosopher argues that there can be no freedom without politics, and no politics without freedom.One of twenty new books in the bestselling Penguin Great Ideas series. This new selection showcases a diverse list of thinkers who have helped shape our world today, from anarchists to stoics, feminists to prophets, satirists to Zen Buddhists.

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Book SynopsisA radical and thought-provoking polemic which examines the foundational myths at the centre of current culture warsTrade ReviewAn acute and nuanced interrogator of contemporary prejudices, Nesrine Malik writes with immense moral courage and intellectual power -- PANKAJ MISHRANesrine Malik writes with urgent eloquence about the world we live in, applying her brilliant mind to some of the most important debates of our age. She's right: we do need new stories. Most of all though, we need this book -- ELIZABETH DAYWe live in confusing and chaotic times - an age where the values many took for granted are being questioned, where universal rights are being casually denied. WE NEED NEW STORIES is the first book I've read that makes sense of where we are, and of what we will lose if we don't wake up. An urgent, totally essential book -- SATHNAM SANGHERANesrine Malik's new book stares into the heart of our current seething political volcano and gives it a cool hosing down. With careful analysis and a great historian's expertise for synthesising a huge amount of information into a clear arc, she engages in a powerful and persuasive debunking exercise * OBSERVER *WE NEED NEW STORIES is a plea for greater diversity and essential reading, at a time when politics is so divisive, for anyone with an interest in current or social affairs -- Lucy Whetman * THE i NEWSPAPER *A rigorous study of our predicament . . . An expansive, structural interrogation of the status quo that draws on a wealth of research and interviews -- Helen Charman * GUARDIAN *Malik has important things to say . . . her arguments echoed powerfully in my mind long after I had put the book down -- Melissa Benn * FINANCIAL TIMES *[Malik] presents her case persuasively, with admirable clarity, and in doing so cuts through a lot of the messy, often befuddling noise. Clear, accessible . . . well-researched and thorough -- Rachel Andrews * IRISH TIMES *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"One of Bloomberg’s Best Nonfiction Books of 2021""Shortlisted for the Gladstone Book Prize, Royal Historical Society""Shortlisted for the ECPR Political Theory Prize, European Consortium for Political Research""[A] path-breaking study. . . . The hitherto unexplored relationship between these two giants is fascinating not just for its simmering acrimony but because, as a pair, they are as much alike as they are antipodes."---Norman Lebrecht, Wall Street Journal"An impeccably researched work, providing lucid explanation of the political thought of both Arendt and Berlin, and successfully brings the arguments of both (and their flaws) into sharp relief."---Caroline Ashcroft, Perspectives on Politics"The tone of the book is thoughtful and equable; the writing is admirably clear; and Hiruta certainly provides a fair and detailed chronology of the Arendt/Berlin encounters and of Berlin’s various expressions of hostility."---Jeremy Waldron, Society"Contextualized, dialogical, and even-handed."---Richard Shorten, The Review of Politics"Historically careful and theoretically rich."---Shmuel Lederman, German Studies Review"[An] even-handed study. . . .The book sheds a great deal of light on the protagonists and on essential historical and political issues so significant for our time." * Paradigm Explorer *

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Book SynopsisA collection of interviews with some of the world's leading progressive thinkers on the movement for Palestinian liberation and its connections to struggles for justice across the globe.As more and more people align themselves with the Palestinian people, Palestine in a World on Fire provides the global perspective and analysis needed to inform how we forge ahead on this path of newfound solidarity. Editors Ilan Pappé and Katherine Natanel have gathered a collection of interviews that are intimate, challenging, and rigorousmany of them conducted before October 7th but still startlingly prescient. The interviewees connect the struggle for Palestinian liberation to various liberatory movements around the world, simultaneously interrogating and recontextualizing their own positions given the ongoing aggression in Palestine. This incredible group includes Angela Y. Davis, Noam Chomsky, Judith Butler, Nadine El-Enany, Gabor Mate, Mustafa Barghouti, Yanis Varoufakis, Paul Gilroy, Elias Khoury, Gayatri Spivak, and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian.Palestine in a World on Fire highlights the centrality of Palestine in struggles shared across the world: capitalism, imperialism, misogyny, neo-colonialism, racism, and more. Each conversation tackles urgent events and unfolding dynamics, and the scholar-activists interviewed here provide invaluable perspectives and insights, illuminating the richness and relevance of recent scholarship on Palestine.

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Book SynopsisCan a woman have a penis? Is the West forever stained by racism? Are we all going to die from climate change? To the liberal establishment of London, New York or Sydney, the answer to all of these questions is 'Yes'. And anyone who disagrees is a racist, climate-denying transphobe. Our elites have become convinced of some very strange and extreme ideas. And yet there is precious little pushback against them. Critics are cowed by the threat of shaming, cancellation, even arrest. The new orthodoxies of our age are risible, and yet the space for dissent is shrinking. We need more heretics. Throughout history, it has been those brave enough to puncture the prevailing groupthink who have propelled society forward. But they are in shockingly short supply today. In this collection of original essays, Brendan O'Neill remakes the case for heresy - and commits a few heresies of his own along the way.Trade Review"Brendan O'Neill brings a sharp eye and cutting wit to the follies of our times. You must read this book before it's banned by the new inquisition." - Tony Abbott, former prime minister of Australia; "Brendan O'Neill is the reincarnation of Christopher Hitchens, a devil's advocate who is willing to always state his case clearly, convincingly and courageously." - Nick Gillespie, editor-at-large for Reason; "A timely and powerful defence of Enlightenment values written by one of the most notable free thinkers of our time." - Andrew Doyle, author of The New Puritan; "The best, and funniest, writer we have on the multiple insanities gripping the Western world." - Rod Liddle, columnist for the Sunday Times; "One of the world's funniest and fiercest critics of groupthink." - Andrew Bolt, columnist and Sky News Australia host; "One of Britain's sharpest social commentators." - Daily Telegraph; "An obnoxious intellectual wind-up merchant." - Guardian

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Book SynopsisTells the history of the US post-World War II gun boom through the dynamics of consumer capitalism and Cold War ideology, the combination of which resulted in a vast number of Americans arming themselves to the teeth and centering their political identity on their guns.Trade ReviewIlluminating, timely . . . . an original way of understanding a stunning and enduring increase in gun ownership in the US . . . . McKevitt offers a compelling argument about where the extremity of America's permissiveness toward deadly weaponry originated and how debates on the Second Amendment's meaning have evolved in response to shifting cultural preoccupations. He also makes a persuasive appeal for how the human costs of mass gun ownership could be mitigated."—Kirkus Reviews

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Book SynopsisMultiple New York Times best-selling author Dr. Joseph Mercola and Ronnie Cummins, founder and director of the Organic Consumers Association, team up to expose the truth—and end the madness—about COVID-19. Since early 2020, the world has experienced a series of catastrophic events—a global pandemic caused by what appears to be an engineered coronavirus; international lockdowns and border closings causing widespread business closures, economic collapse, and massive unemployment; and an unprecedented curtailment of civil liberties and freedoms in the name of keeping people safe by locking them up in their homes. We are now living in a world that is increasingly ruled, not by our democratic systems and institutions, but by public health fiat, carried out by politicians who rule by instilling fear and panic. In The Truth About COVID-19, Dr. Mercola and Cummins reveal new and emerging evidence that: The SARS-CoV-2 virus was, indeed, lab-engineered and emerged from a negligently managed bioweapons lab in Wuhan, China The global pandemic was long anticipated by global elites who have used it to facilitate and hide the largest upward transfer of wealth in human history PCR testing, case counts, morbidity, and vaccine safety and efficacy data have been widely manipulated and misrepresented Obesity, diabetes, and heart disease are known to worsen COVID-19 outcomes, but the junk food industry continues to push its agenda at the expense of public health Safe, simple, and inexpensive treatment and prevention for COVID-19 have been censored and suppressed to create a clear path for vaccine acceptance Effectiveness of the vaccines has been wildly exaggerated and major safety questions have gone unanswered The good news in all of this is that we can take control of our health and that, together, we have the power to unite and fight back for our health, democracy, and freedom. The time is now for a global awakening. As Dr. Mercola and Cummins remind us, this is the fight of our lives.Trade Review"The most mind-blowing book I've read lately."—Ben Greenfield, New York Times bestselling author

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Book Synopsis You’re entitled to your own opinion but not your own factsFantasy is the USA’s primary product. From the Pilgrim Fathers onward America has been a place where renegades and freaks came in search of freedom to create their own realities with little objectively regulated truth standing in their way. The freedom to invent and believe whatever the hell you like is, in some ways, an unwritten constitutional right. But, this do-your-own-thing freedom also is the driving credo of America's current transformation where the difference between opinion and fact is rapidly crumbling. So how did we get to this weird pseudo-reality, where science and objective facts are dismissed in favour of opinions and wild speculation, or indeed, fantasies? The post truth, fake news, free-for-all mentality isn’t exactly a new phenomenon. If you want to understand Trump's America, how the lines between reality and illusion have become dangerously blurred, you have to go back to the very beginning and take a dizzying road trip across five centuries of crackpot delusion and make-believe from Salem to Scientology.Fantasyland is a journey that connects the dots between crazed franchises of true believers – a rich freak show tapestry from Mormons to Flat-Earthers and satanic panic, new age quacks to anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorists of every stripe, creationists to climate change deniers, UFO-obsessives to gun-toting libertarians, showmen hucksters from P T Barnum to Trump himself, all topped off with a dangerous dose of anti-government paranoia and pseudoscience. Along the way, New York Times bestselling author Kurt Andersen has created a unique and raucous history of America and a new paradigm for understanding our post-factual world.Trade ReviewNot only a must-read for anyone wanting to understand Trump’s America but also a laugh-out-loud undiluted pleasure -- Will Storr, author of SelfieThis is an important book - the indispensable book - for understanding America in the age of Trump. It’s an eye-opening history filled with brilliant insights, a saga of how we were always susceptible to fantasy, from the Puritan fanatics to the talk-radio and Internet wackos who mix show business, hucksterism, and conspiracy theories. -- Walter Isaacson, author of Steve JobsFantasyland presents the very best kind of idea – one that, in retrospect, seems obvious, but which took a seer like Kurt Andersen to piece together. The thinking and the writing are both dazzling; it is at once a history lesson and an oh-so-modern cri de coeur; it’s an absolute joy to read, and will leave your brain dancing with excitement long after you’re done -- Stephen Dubner, co-author of FreakonomicsAn absorbing, must-read polemic. * Newsday *The most important book that I have read this year. -- Lawrence O'Donnell * The Last Word, MSNBC *

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Book SynopsisThe most powerful story in stamp history, revealing the little icons at the heart of wartime propaganda

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Book SynopsisWho am I? The question today haunts every society in the Western world. Legions of people—especially the young—have become unmoored from a firm sense of self. To compensate, they join the ranks of ideological tribes spawned by identity politics and react with frenzy against any perceived threat to their group. As identitarians track and expose the ideologically impure, other citizens face the consequences of their rancor: a litany of “isms” run amok across all levels of cultural life, the free marketplace of ideas muted by agendas shouted through megaphones, and a spirit of general goodwill warped into a state of perpetual outrage. How did we get here? Why have we divided against one another so bitterly? In Primal Screams, acclaimed cultural critic Mary Eberstadt presents the most provocative and original theory to come along in recent years. The rise of identity politics, she argues, is a direct result of the fallout of the sexual revolution, especially the collapse and shrinkage of the family. As Eberstadt illustrates, humans have forged their identities within the kinship structure from time immemorial. The extended family, in a real sense, is the first tribe and teacher. But with its unprecedented decline across various measures, generations of people have been set adrift and can no longer answer the question Who am I? concerning primordial ties. Desperate for solidarity and connection, they claim membership in politicized groups whose displays of frantic irrationalism amount to primal screams for familial and communal loss. Written in her impeccable style and with empathy rarely encountered in today’s divisive discourse, Eberstadt’s theory holds immense explanatory power that no serious citizen can afford to ignore. The book concludes with three incisive essays by Rod Dreher, Mark Lilla, and Peter Thiel, each sharing their perspective on the author’s formidable argument. Trade Review "Primal Screams is and should be controversial. It is also quite brilliant. I can think of few books in recent memory that eschews academic and journalistic orthodoxy in as cutting and well defended away. Anyone interested in the roots of our current identity-driven dilemmas would be remiss in not reading it."—The Federalist “Eberstadt is a shrewd, thoughtful analyst of our culture, and scrutinizes her subject through a nonpartisan lens….Primal Screams is, then, important for readers of all political and ideological complexions.”—Washington Examiner “Mary Eberstadt manages the nearly impossible: finding something new—and worthwhile—to say about identity politics. . . . If we see more books about identity politics in the near future, and doubtless we will, they will have to grapple with Eberstadt's argument and take a look through the lens she provides.”—Washington Free Beacon "Mary Eberstadt’s thesis is exactly right, and she backs it up with evidence."—Public Discourse “Eberstadt’s work is not only for conservatives but also for everyone who thinks about contemporary society and finds himself puzzled, worried, or in a foreboding frame of mind about the alarming spike in identity politics as well as suicide, depression, substance abuse, and loneliness.”—National Review “Vintage Eberstadt: clearly argued with conviction. . . . This is a good and helpful book, and the responses of Dreher and company are thought-provoking and constructive. . . . Eberstadt’s greatest strength is her consistent calm and compassionate tone. As such, she offers us a model for how political discussion should be pursued.”—The Gospel Coalition "An incredibly influential, intellectual, precise commentary about current culture, philosophy, and the fate of the post-modern man."—Jonathan Van Maren, LifeSite News "Insightful."—The Conway Daily Sun "I wait for Mary Eberstadt’s books the way some people used to wait for the next Harry Potter installment." —Fr. John Hollowell, Pastor of Annunciation and St. Paul's Catholic Church "Primal Screams provides a cogent, prophetic take on how and why it is that so many well-educated, materially well-off people—after all, this is mostly a Western political development — do not seem to know who they are."—Black Christian News Network One "A cogent, prophetic take on how and why it is that so many well-educated, materially well-off people...do not seem to know who they are." —The Christian Post "Mary Eberstadt is one of America’s foremost public intellectuals." —John Stonestreet, Breakpoint "Primal Screams stands as essential reading for all pastors, educators, church leaders and workers, and, supremely, parents." —John J. Bombaro, The Mod "Mrs. Eberstadt’s study is a welcome contribution to the current crisis in an increasingly secularized society. It is an attempt to pick away at a problem that is a vast tangle of personal motivations, subconscious drives and desires, societal currents, historical trends, socio-economic factors, and the irrational reactions of the mob. She’s done well to hone in on a crucial aspect to shed light on the problem."—Dwight Longenecker, The Imaginative Conservative “Mary Eberstadt’s book is a thought-provoking, informed lead-in to a discussion that the world urgently needs to have.” —Margaret Hickey, Position Papers “A well-researched, powerfully argued, and profound account of the deepest sources of our current cultural crises. Wise and courageous, Mary Eberstadt has written an indispensable book for understanding our time.” —Leon R. Kass, professor emeritus, Committee on Social Thought, The University of Chicago “Primal Screams is a deeply thought-provoking reflection on human nature and the fate of our republic.” —Mary Ann Glendon, Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard University "Some basic questions of identity have overtaken Western politics in the 21st century, and before they can be addressed, they must be understood. With her characteristic clarity and breadth of learning, Mary Eberstadt offers a powerfully persuasive guide to why we are beset by these challenges, and how to take them on." —Yuval Levin, editor of National Affairs “Mary Eberstadt proves, yet again, that she is one of America's most insightful—as well as compassionate—social analysts.”—George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow and William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies, Ethics and Public Policy Center "Mary Eberstadt understands ‘identity politics’ better than its practitioners and critics to date. She considers why so many people need the sense of belonging that identity politics seeks to provide. Her answer is terrifying—a loss that human beings of modern times have suffered but of which we have been almost entirely unaware. Until now.”—Tod Lindberg, author of The Heroic Heart: Greatness Ancient and Modern “It is scarcely a foregone conclusion that our society will return to sanity on questions of sexual morality and marriage. But if we do, then prophets like Mary Eberstadt will be celebrated in song and story.”—Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University “In Primal Screams, Mary Eberstadt responds to the deepest cries of the wounded souls of our time. Read it and share it.”—Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review Institute Table of Contents Introduction: The Myth of the Lone Wolf / 1 PART ONE: PRIMAL SCREAMS 1 The Conversation So Far, and Its Limitations / 19 2 A New Theory: The Great Scattering / 37 3 Supporting Evidence, I: Understanding the “Mine!” in Identity Politics / 63 4 Supporting Evidence, II: Feminism as Survival Strategy / 71 5 Supporting Evidence, III: Androgyny as Survival Strategy / 77 6 Supporting Evidence, IV: How #MeToo Reveals the Breakdown of Social Learning / 89 Conclusion: Thoughts on the Rediscovery of Self / 103 PART TWO: COMMENTARY Rod Dreher / 113 Mark Lilla / 121 Peter Thiel / 129 Afterword / 133 Acknowledgments / 139 Notes / 143 Bibliography / 165 About the Contributors / 169 Index / 171

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Book Synopsis

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