Political ideologies and movements Books

Book SynopsisAn immersive, beautifully illustrated revelation of Henry David Thoreau’s final project—a monthly almanac of natural phenomena.In the last years of his life, Henry David Thoreau created something new. Part blueprint for a major new work, part scientific chart, and part re-envisioning of the way we experience the passage of time, Thoreau’s Kalendar was more a tool than a text. Comprised of six multipage charts of “general phenomena,” the Kalendar was an instrument for recording not just natural and weather-related phenomena, but also the hidden relations among them—between the skies of one June and the skies of past and future Junes—relations we often feel but can’t quite hold, rooted as we typically are in our own brief moment of linear time. Combining reproductions of Thoreau’s hand-drawn charts with transcriptions of the Kalendar’s text and essays by acclaimed poet and scholar Kristen Case, this gorgeously crafted volume illuminates the final project of one of America’s most treasured writers and naturalists and offers a timeless, transformative vision of how to live harmoniously with the living world around us.

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Book SynopsisThe Bloomsbury Companion to Anarchism is a comprehensive reference work to support research in anarchism. The book considers the different approaches to anarchism as an ideology and explains the development of anarchist studies from the early twentieth century to the present day. It is unique in that it highlights the relationship between theory and practice, pays special attention to methodology, presents non-English works, key terms and concepts, and discusses new directions for the field. Focusing on the contemporary movement, the work outlines significant shifts in the study of anarchist ideas and explores recent debates. The Companion will appeal to scholars in this growing field, whether they are interested in the general study of anarchism or in more specific areas. Featuring the work of key scholars, The Bloomsbury Companion to Anarchism will be an essential tool for both the scholar and the activist.Trade ReviewThe Continuum Companion to Anarchism...attempts something much more ambitious than a basic overview of anarchist theory, offering instead a comprehensive guide to the current state of contemporary anarchist studies...It is indispensable. -- Matthew S. Adams, University of Victoria * European Review of History *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Part 1: Research on Anarchism Ruth Kinna, Introduction Approaches to anarchist research Saul Newman, Research methods and problems: Postanarchism Benjamin Franks, Anarchism and analytic philosophy Allan Antliff, Anarchism and Art History: Methodologies of Insurrection Uri Gordon, Participant Observation Alex Prichard, Anarchy, Anarchism and International Relations Current research in anarchist studies Carissa Honeywell, Anarchism old and new Jonathan Purkis, The hitchhiker as theorist: Re-thinking sociology and anthropology from an anarchist perspective Sandra Jeppesen Holly Nazar, Genders and sexualities in anarchist movements David Goodway, Literature and anarchism Laurence Davis, Anarchism and the future of revolution Andy Price, Social ecology Sara Motta, Leyendo el anarchismo a través de ojos latinoamericanos: Reading Anarchism through Latin American Eyes Ian G. Cook & Joanne Norcup, Geographies and Urban Space Süreyyya Evren, There Ain't No Black in the Anarchist Flag! Race, Ethnicity and Anarchism Ruth Kinna, Where to Now? Future Directions for anarchist research Part 2: Materials for further Research Key terms Resources Bibliography Guide to bibliographical and reference works Selective guide to non-English language sources Bert Altena, The Low Countries David Berry, Anarchism in France Richard Cleminson, Anarchism, anarcho-syndicalism and the libertarian movement in Spain, Portugal and Latin America Pietro Dipaloa, Italian anarchism Gabriel Kuhn, The Nordic Countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden Martin A. Miller, The anarchist revival in Russian historiography John A. Rapp, Chinese works on anarchism in the People's Republic of China (PRC), 1949-2010 Peter Seyferth and Gabriel Kuhn, Anarchist literatures in the German-speaking world Notes on contributors

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Book SynopsisThe Law was originally published as a pamphlet in 1850 by Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850). Bastiat wrote most of his work in the few years before and after the French Revolution of 1848. The Law is considered a classic and his ideas are still relevant today. The essay was published in French in 1850. This piece was published in English as part of Essays on Political Economy (G.P. Putnams & Sons, 1874) with authoritative translation by British economist Patrick James Stirling.

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Book SynopsisIn the wake of the global financial crisis, and ongoing savage government cuts across the world, Garry Leech addresses a pressing and necessary topic: the nature of contemporary capitalism, and how it inherently generates inequality and structural violence. Drawing on a number of fascinating case studies from across the world - including the forced displacement of farmers in Mexico, farmer suicides in India, and deaths from preventable and treatable diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the unsustainable exploitation of the planet's natural resources - Leech provocatively argues that global capitalism constitutes a form of genocide against the poor, particularly in the global South. Essential and eye-opening the book questions the legitimacy of a system that inevitably results in such large-scale human suffering, while going beyond mere critique to offer a more egalitarian, democratic and sustainable global alternative.Trade ReviewCapitalism has long been known as unfair, exploitative and wasteful; and more recently as ecologically destructive. Garry Leech now moves the indictment to the next, and final, stage. With the precision of a skilled prosecutor and the moral force of an Old Testament prophet, Leech reveals the power that moves the world to be actively and structurally genocidal, responsible in its greed and cold calculation for no less than ten million excess deaths a year. As people now increasingly move to take on this deadly system now in profound crisis, they will find this an indispensable guide. * Joel Kovel, author of The Enemy of Nature *Nearly short enough to be read in one sitting, but so powerful that its arguments will survive the ages * Labor Studies Journal *Leech argues, using convincing empirical evidence, of the destructive effects of contemporary capitalism, showing that the only plausible alternative is a socialist perspective. * Samir Amin *At this time of mass rebellions against the global status quo, Garry Leech puts forth a devastating critique of the capitalist system and the ravages it has inflicted on hundreds of millions of people around the world. This timely study will be of great interest to scholars and students. Beyond the academy, its rigorous analysis of the root cause of suffering and injustice on a mass scale and the vision of a socialist alternative based on human development and ecological sustainability will be vital for those on the frontlines of the current global revolt. This is a must read for those participating in the Arab Spring, the Occupy movement, the Latin American revolutions, the anti-austerity protests in Europe, and for all those fighting against the depredations of the genocidal system that is global capitalism. * William I. Robinson, Professor of Sociology, Global Studies, and Latin American Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. What is Structural Genocide? 2. The Logic of Capital 3. Structural Genocide: The Cases of Mexico and India 4. Structural Genocide: The Case of Sub-Saharan Africa 5. The Truly Inconvenient Truth 6. Legitimizing the Illegitimate 7. The Socialist Alternative Conclusion

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Book SynopsisContext is crucial to understanding the causes of political violence and the form it takes. This book examines how time, space and supportive milieux decisively shape the pattern and pace of such violence.

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Book SynopsisEnglish edition.Das Kapital is "a groundbreaking work of economic analysis, but also an unfinished literary masterpiece which, with its multi-layered structure, can be read as a Gothic novel, a Victorian melodrama, a Greek tragedy or a Swiftian satire." Francis Wheen, The Guardian.Though he died in 1883, Karl Marx''s Das Kapital, "the Bible of the working class," has been the book that most shaped twentieth-century history. His theories divided much of the world into two blocs, one embracing communism and the other fearing it, and cast a shadow into the twenty-first century.Although Marx writes as a philosopher and economist presenting an analysis of an economic system, the book is surprisingly readable. It reads like a Gothic novel "whose heroes are enslaved and consumed by the monster they created."Though many disagree with Marx''s conclusions, his analysis has been almost universally respected. Surprisingly, it is Marx, and not Adam Smith who understood the central role of capital. The historian Gareth Stedman Jones wrote:"What is extraordinary about Das Kapital is that it offers a still-unrivalled picture of the dynamism of capitalism and its transformation of societies on a global scale. Das Kapital has now emerged as one of the great landmarks of nineteenth century thought."Das Kapital is a revolutionary book; forged during the political and industrial revolutions of the nineteenth century, it became the keystone of many Communist revolutions of the twentieth century. In this comprehensive analysis of capitalist economics and articulation of his theory of class conflict, Karl Marx (1818-1883) relentlessly argues that the accumulation of capital can only be achieved by bourgeoisie exploitation of the working classes. Das Kapital has not only changed history, but also human thought, becoming a foundational text in materialist philosophy, economics and politics.This volume includes The Communist Manifesto, written with his friend and colleague, Frederick Engels, which not only envisions a wholly equal society in which neither property nor money exist, but suggests that this will be a natural and inevitable consequence of the class struggle that dominates human history.Karl Heinrich Marx (1818 - 1883) was a German-born philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist. He lived in poverty with his wife and four young children in a two-room flat in Soho, London, while writing Das Kapital. In 1845, he wrote, "Philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it," words that capture his spirit and are inscribed on his grave. Later in 1848, in The Manifesto of the Communist Party, with Engels, he famously wrote: "Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communist revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Workers of the world, unite!"Had he lived to see the Russian and Chinese Revolutions, he would have felt vindicated!

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Book SynopsisBetween 1952 and 1954, Jean-Michel Mension haunted Saint- Germain-des-Prés as a member of the legendary Lettrist International, direct progenitor of the Situationist International. In a series of conversations, Mension recounts this very particular vie de boheme whiled away with Guy Debord and a rogues' gallery of hard drinkers and thinkers.The Tribe is a rare, vivid tour of a moment and milieu barely noticed at the time by the tourists who flocked to the Left Bank for a glimpse of Sartre & Co. The rich iconography includes many of Ed van der Elsken's celebrated photographs of "the tribe" and a trove of Letterist leaflets and posters.Trade ReviewThe Tribe relates the Parisian wanderings of a heterogeneous group of individuals who cultivated laziness and revolt, alcohol and talk, drift and chance, creative hopes and encounters ... in the quest of a Rimbaldian derangement of the senses, of detournement of art and daily life by the defiance of order, by vandalism, be delinquency, but also by an altogether contemporary quest for a supersession of Marxism. * Le Monde libertaire *

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Book SynopsisThis book presents the main findings of a comparative qualitative survey conducted in France, Germany, Italy, and Poland.

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Book SynopsisWe are now living in a world where Brexit and Trump are daily realities. But how did this come about? And what does it mean for the future? Populism and ultra-nationalism brought about the rise of Hitler and Mussolini in the 1930s. Now, as Trump sits in the White House, Britain negotiates its way out of the EU, and countries across Europe see substantial gains in support for the extreme Right, award-winning journalist, author, and historian Gwynne Dyer asks how we got here, and where we go next. Dyer examines the global challenges facing us all today and explains how they have contributed to a world of inequality, poverty, and joblessness — conditions which he argues inevitably lead to the rise of populism. The greatest threat to social and political stability, he argues, lies in the rise of automation, which will continue to eliminate jobs, whether politicians admit that it is happening or not. To avoid a social and political catastrophe, we will have to find ways of putting real money into the pockets of those who have no work. But this is not a book without hope. Our capacity for overcoming the worst has been tested again and again throughout history, and we have always survived. To do so now, Dyer argues, we must embrace radical solutions to the real difficulties facing individuals, or find ourselves back in the 1930s with no way out.Trade Review‘Dyer writes with a racy style and provokes as much as he informs.’ * The Independent *‘Dyer writes with easy fluency, with gentle, teasing wit.’ * The Irish Times *‘Thoughtful and thought-provoking.’ * Weekend Herald, Auckland *

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