Political ideologies and movements Books

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Book SynopsisSources include open source material but internal secret files and highly classified audiotapes of Saddam Hussein that were made available to researchers at the Conflict Records Research Center at National Defense University and some documents at the Hoover Institution.Trade ReviewAmatzia Baram, a distinguished historian of Saddam Hussein's Iraq, provides novel insights regarding Saddam Hussein's use of Islam in this intelligent new study... The author is a master storyteller. The book, though lengthy and scholarly, is a page-turner... Essential reading for scholars of modern Iraqi history and of Islam and politics. H-Net Reviews

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIn this magisterial work, Schoen, best known as a high-powered pollster and political analyst, presents a provocative and powerfully argued thesis that governments face a crisis of authority that undermines their ability to generate loyalty and support. So profound is this situation that 'we face a crisis that threatens the political and economic foundations of the global order,' he says. Schoen argues that 'the crisis of authority stems from the failure of institutions, especially of government but also of business to provide effective leadership.' The consequence, Schoen writes, is that 'the loss of trust is rendering us, in a collective sense, impotent and inactive in the face of enormous global challenges.' Schoen calls on readers to 'reform and improve international institutional leadership,' to 'strengthen nation-state governance,' and to 'direct specific reform and relief efforts ... in order to ensure that the benefits ... reach the people for whom they're intended.' This book is data rich, and the author never gets out ahead of the evidence. If Schoen's thesis is true, the global crisis of leadership is more of a threat than climate change or international conflicts. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. * CHOICE *As a pollster, commentator, and political strategist, Doug Schoen has made a career of providing invaluable analysis of events and trends. In The End of Authority, Doug sounds the alarm on the rising public distrust of government globally, and offers his ideas for rebuilding confidence—not only in America, but around the world. -- William Jefferson Clinton, former President of the United StatesThe world has always been changing, but never so fast. What is the future of the market economy? Democracy? Liberal values? There are certainly more questions than there are answers, but Schoen gives us more than one could hope with competence, passion and inspiration. -- Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of the Republic of Poland 1995 – 2005An intriguing, timely, stimulating – and helpful – look at the startling breakdown of trust in government, as it becomes more and more authoritarian. Democrat Doug Schoen has impressed this Republican with his heartfelt desire to break the bounds of partisan politics and stop this corrosive rot eating at our body politique. -- Steve Forbes, Chairman and Editor-In-Chief, Forbes, Inc.Over the years, many in Canada have been impressed with the very high quality of Doug Schoen’s research and the incisive nature of his conclusions and commentary. I have followed his work closely and know that this book will further enhance his strong reputation for leadership in the fields of political analysis and public policy in America and elsewhere in the world. -- The Right Honorable Brian Mulroney, Prime Minister of Canada, 1984-1993Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Crisis of Authority Chapter 1: Why the Crisis of Authority Matters Chapter 2: Documenting and Understanding the Loss of Trust Chapter 3: How Trust Works in Democracies and Autocracies Chapter 4: Broken Trust in Democracies and Autocracies Chapter 5: Income Inequality and the Crisis of Capitalism Chapter 6: Income Inequality: What’s Causing It, Why it Matters, and What to Do Chapter 7: Political Corruption and Crony Capitalism Chapter 8: The Rise of Anti-Systemic Politics: Europe and the United States Chapter 9: The Rise of Anti-Systemic Politics: Russia, India, The Middle East, and Africa Chapter 10: Technology: Builder and Betrayer of Trust Chapter 11: The Need for Bold Solutions Conclusion: No Time to Lose

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Book SynopsisThe untold story of how an unlikely anti-Islamic alliance of gay activists, feminists, fascists, evangelical Christians, populist politicians, and surfing rabbis from California fuelled the rise of the hard right across Europe and gave us President Donald J Trump.

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Book SynopsisMeditations on activism following the turbulent 1960s—back in print After the Detroit Rebellion of 1967, James and Grace Lee Boggs decided they should rethink what activism looks like. Pairing with trusted veteran activists Freddy and Lyman Paine, they ruminated on central questions emerging from their politics and activism, and they discussed the purpose and responsibilities human beings share for the future. The recorded dialogue among these four friends invites readers to consider the fundamentals of activism with tough, thought-provoking questions. Their conversations at the Paines’ home on Sutton Island, Maine, not only function as political act but also present unsettling truths and develop connections between philosophy, music, art, gender difference, family structure, Marxism, and more. Conversations in Maine is a call to all citizens to work together and think deeply about the kind of future we can create. Trade Review"Conversations in Maine was an essential text for my generation of radicals."—Robin D.G. Kelley

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Book SynopsisPower & Choice provides a general, comparative introduction to the major concepts and themes of political science. The authorâs goal when writing the book was a text that is conceptually alive and that engages students with concrete examples of analysis without losing them âœin a clutter of definitional minutiae."

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Book SynopsisRage on the Right examines the rise, fall, and reemergence of the militia/alt-right movement from the 1990s through 2018. Using the lenses of history, culture, ideology, and social movement theory Crothers explores the diverse ways contemporary right-wing social movements have used American social and economic context to build themselves into a potent force in American political life. Just as the 1990s militia movement drew life from deeply embedded values and myths central to American political culture and political history, so, too, do the contemporary militia and alt-right movements. Right-wing social movements are as American as apple pieand must be understood as a core and enduring component of American political life. Ideal for undergraduate courses on social movements, political violence, and contemporary political history, this text explores the cultural rootedness of the militia and alt-right in America while also understanding the ways contemporary politics build on historical legacies to promote right wing populism in the United States. Highlights Traces the evolution of the militia and alt-right movements in the United States since the 1990s Situates right-wing populism in its cultural and ideological position in American politics Examines interaction of key events in the history of the militia and alt-right movements in the US with actions of entrepreneurial movement leaders and supporters in government and society Links the rise of the Donald Trump as candidate and president to the (re)emergence of the militia and the alt-right in the United StatesTrade ReviewThis new edition of Rage on the Right has been updated with exceedingly careful and deft descriptions of and explanations for the shifting character of the right wing of the United States political spectrum into the Trump era. A masterful job! -- Charles Lockhart, Texas Christian UniversityIn this new edition, Lane Crothers reminds us that right wing movement politics have found new life in the America of the Trump presidency, underscoring the importance and prescience of Crothers’ analysis. This new edition is most welcome for the insights and analysis it brings to the newest chapter of an old American phenomenon. -- Robert J. Spitzer, Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science, SUNY Cortland, Author, “Guns across America”

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Book SynopsisDr. Richard Bishirjian’s Conservative Rebellion examines the American conservative movement in light of phases of American history in which the life of the American nation took shape from forces and conditions of the American soul. The author argues that the first phase of our common political life was a rebellion that we call the “Spirit of ’76.” That rebellion attempted to preserve the practices, traditions, and customary rights of a tradition of self-government that developed during the 140 years of the Colonial era. That first “Conservative Rebellion,” erupting in Lexington and Concord, was a conservative rebellion whose spirit shapes American politics and society even today through the American conservative “movement.” The author contrasts their rebellion to the revolutionary political religion of President Woodrow Wilson. President Woodrow Wilson’s redemptive desire to destroy the “balance of power politics” of early twentieth century Europe engendered conditions that led to World War II and, ultimately, the Korean War, the war in Vietnam, and two wars by George W. Bush in Afghanistan and Iraq that the President clearly intended to be redemptive from the authoritarian practices of the Middle East. The divisions that trouble American society today were unleashed by Woodrow Wilson’s political religion and continued by Democrat and Republican Presidents alike. The Conservative Rebellion has the potential, the author believes, to replace political religion with lessons learned from the statesmanship of Americans during the Colonial and Founding eras and the mid-twentieth century revival of classical political thought. The renaissance of classical political theory by University of Notre Dame political theorists Stanley Parry, Gerhart Niemeyer, and Eric Voegelin and University of Chicago political scientist Leo Strauss is central to the conservative “rebellion” of twenty-first century American conservatives. Their knowledge that recovery of political order is necessarily based on recovery of spiritual substance and order of American society, culture, and soul is a cautionary lesson that there are no quick fixes to the crises, divisions, and failed Presidents of modern America.Table of ContentsTable of Contents Preface Acknowledgments Metaphysics and philosophy of nature 1. Motion in Aristotle, Newton, and Einstein 2. Teleology: A Shopper's Guide 3. On Aristotle, Aquinas, and Paley: A Reply to Marie George Natural theology 4. Natural Theology Must Be Grounded in the Philosophy of Nature, Not in Natural Science 5. Existential Inertia and the Five Ways 6. The New Atheists and the Cosmological Argument 7. Between Aristotle and William Paley: Aquinas's Fifth Way 8. Why McGinn is a Pre-Theist 9. The Road from Atheism Philosophy of Mind 10. Kripke, Ross, and the Immaterial Aspects of Thought 11. Hayek, Popper, and the Causal Theory of the Mind 12. Why Searle is a Property Dualist Ethics 13. Being, the Good, and the Guise of the Good 14. Classical Natural Law Theory, Property Rights, and Taxation 15. Self-Ownership, Libertarianism, and Impartiality 16. In Defense of the Perverted Faculty Argument

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Book SynopsisSince November’s election, conservative columnists have filled the op-ed pages with calls for a new conservative agenda. In The Next Conservatism, two of the conservative movement’s best-known thinkers, Paul M. Weyrich and William S. Lind, offer exactly that. More, they offer a new kind of conservative agenda, one that reaches far beyond politics to grapple with the sources of our nation’s cultural decay. The Next Conservatism recognizes that culture is more powerful than politics. Nevertheless, it offers an engaging menu of political reforms, all under the rubric of “Restore the Republic!” No enthusiasts of Imperial America at home or abroad, Weyrich and Lind seek limited government, jealous guardianship of civil liberties, and a Washington liberated from the power of the New Class, the interests that feed off our nation’s decay. To these frequent conservative themes, Weyrich and Lind offer something new: a warning of a general crisis of legitimacy of the state itself, which can lead to a Hobbesian state of anarchy. How might we save the state while avoiding the jaws of Leviathan? The Next Conservatism offers innovative ways to thread that needle. Meanwhile, what of America’s culture? Did its decay over the past half-century “just happen”? Weyrich and Lind argue no; rather, much of our degradation was deliberate, the work of the poisonous ideology of cultural Marxism, aka “Political Correctness.” The Next Conservatism takes the reader on a fascinating historical tour of the origins of Political Correctness in the infamous Frankfurt School, a gathering of heretical Marxists whose goal from the outset was the destruction of Western culture. Weyrich and Lind then proceed to “deconstruct” the left’s program for America, debunking Feminism, “racism,” and environmentalism along the way. Reflecting the thought of Russell Kirk, The Next Conservatism condemns ideologies left and right, calling instead for a return to traditional ways of living, ways that reflect wisdom accumulated generation by generation. Only thus, they argue, can conservatives win a culture war many regard as hopelessly lost. Old ways, in turn, lead to a Next Conservatism appropriate for hard times. Virtue, Weyrich and Lind offer, is to be found in modest living, not conspicuous consumption. The Next Conservative agenda rejects environmentalism but includes conservation, the return of the family farm, New Urbanism and the revival of such ‘oldies but goodies” as streetcars and passenger trains. A new theme, Retroculture, sums up a conservatism that recognizes that what worked in the past can work again today, and in the future as well. Our ancestors were no fools, the authors suggest, and “Back to the Future!” can serve as a powerful conservative rallying cry. Having laid the political and cultural groundwork, The Next Conservatism then turns to conservative governance. In foreign policy, the authors call for minimizing foreign entanglements, though with a strong national defense and a military reform to adapt to face Fourth Generation warfare rather than the Second Generation America adheres to. For the economy, the authors call for repairing and expanding our national infrastructure, sound money, and protecting American industry, seeing labor as a potential ally. In both national security and economic security, the authors insist that good governance include moral security; drawing from the New Urbanism, they offer a “moral transect” that allows everyone to do what he wants, but not always where he wants. The public square, they suggest, should be safe for families. Respecting the careful limits on government power a restored republic would embody, The Next Conservatism calls for redeeming America not through legislation but through a new conservative movement. Unlike the old movement, the next conservative movement would be a league of people who pledged to live their lives by the old rules. While conservatives would remain engaged in politics, they would rely on a vastly more powerful force of example, the examples of lives lived well in traditional ways. This next conservative movement would appeal far beyond the ranks of political conservatives, to all Americans who know that something has gone tragically wrong in the life of our nation. The Next Conservatism offers a vision of vast sweep, far beyond anything coming out of Washington. At a time when most Americans find life growing more difficult, it proposes a path to a new America that is also the old America, the good, comfortable America we had and have lost.

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Book SynopsisUnderstanding Revolution concisely, but thoroughly, explains one of the most fundamental sources of political change in the modern world. Designed to be accessible to undergraduate students, the book systematically explores such questions as: What should be defined as a revolution?; Is there a "typical" pattern to the course of a revolution?; What are the roles of ideologies, structures (e.g., the state, class structures in the international system), and individuals in shaping revolutions?; What causes groups to mobilize behind revolutionary leaders?; What happens after a revolutionary group assumes power, or fails?. The discussion highlights points of agreement and debate within the social science literature, and brief case studies of revolutions and revolutionary movements bring concepts to life.Trade ReviewAn excellent primer.... Highly recommended. All undergraduate, graduate, and research collections. One of the best teaching texts I have seen for undergraduate courses on revolution and political violence.One of the best teaching texts I have seen for undergraduate courses on revolution and political violence.Table of Contents Understanding Revolution. The "Life Course" of a Revolution. The Structural Causes of Revolution. The Role of Ideology, Part 1: Liberalism and Nationalism. The Role of Ideology, Part 2: Marxism and Religious Thought. The Sources of Revolutionary Leadership. Mobilizing the Masses. The Outcomes of Revolution. The Study of Revolution. Appendix: Case Studies, 1776-2008.

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Book SynopsisEach political cycle, candidates vying for public office warn that the upcoming election is the most important event of the millennium. For many whose names appear on a ballot, the statement is at least partially accurate: their political future rides on the outcome. The rest of us take such forebodings with a grain of salt. After all, how much damage can a single candidate (even a president) inflict given our time tested system of checks and balances? Turning Point makes the case for “plenty”; Barack Obama’s transformative agenda has indeed remade America – to the detriment of our economy and culture. In his third book, Governor Robert L. Ehrlich details the considerable damage inflicted to date, while analyzing how progressive policy has made America a far more insecure and weaker country. Culled from published opinion pieces authored by the Governor over the last eight years, Turning Point is a concise, articulate indictment of Western European style progressivism brought to America by its most charismatic (and dangerous) salesman. The presidential election of 2016 is a pivotal one. As such, Ehrlich asks whether Obama’s agenda is indeed America’s future. In other words, has the cumulative impact of progressivism reached the point of no return – or – will the next election cycle be a turning point for the return of common sense conservatism? Those of you who subscribe to the former point of view will appreciate Turning Point’s conclusions, if not the accompanying analysis, while readers belonging to the loyal opposition will find plenty of material to keep them up at night. Regardless of which side of the political spectrum you may identify with, however, all will find Governor Ehrlich’s new book an enlightening, if not entertaining read. Enjoy…Trade Review"According to Ehrlich (America: Hope for Change), former Republican Governor of Maryland, the presidency of Barack Obama has been detrimental to the economy and foreign policy of the United Statesnot to mention race relations, family structure, health care, and many other aspects of American life. That is the pessimistic premise of this collection of weekly Baltimore Sun and Washington Post columns spanning President Obama's term in office. They chronicle such noteworthy moments as the optimistic period following the 2012 presidential election, the Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act, and the barbs and mudslinging of the 2012 election and its aftermath. The author captures, in honest, albeit alarmed, fashion, one conservative American's impressions of living under a progressive presidency. However, he never loses his sense of humor, concluding with satirical "what-if" pieces, including an article detailing a news day in an alternate-universe America with President Mitt Romney and an Obama diary entry revealing the "truth" behind the Benghazi terrorist attack. This comprehensive collection will be a necessary read for right-leaning audiences as 2015 begets 2016 and election season gets into full swing." Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisAn authoritative collection of Thomas Paine’s essential writings on American politics and governance—including the landmark Revolutionary War pamphlet, Common Sense After a life of obscurity and failure in England, Thomas Paine came to America in 1774 at age 37. Within fourteen months he published Common Sense, the most influential pamphlet of the American Revolution, and began a career that would see him hailed and reviled in the American nation he helped create. Collected in this volume are Paine's most influential texts. In Common Sense, he sets forth an inspiring vision of an independent America as an asylum for freedom and an example of popular self-government in a world oppressed by despotism and hereditary privilege. The American Crisis, begun during “the times that try men’s souls” in 1776, is a masterpiece of popular pamphleteering in which Paine vividly reports current developments, taunts and ridicules British adversaries, and enjoins his readers to remember the immense stakes of their struggle. They are joined in this invaluable reader by a selection of Paine’s other American pamphlets and his letters to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and others.

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Book SynopsisEuropean history of the past century is full of examples of philosophers, writers, and scholars who supported or excused the worst tyrannies of the age. How was this possible? How could intellectuals whose work depends on freedom defend those who would deny it?   In profiles of six leading twentieth-century thinkers—Martin Heidegger, Carl Schmitt, Walter Benjamin, Alexandre Kojève, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida—Mark Lilla explores the psychology of political commitment. As continental Europe gave birth to two great ideological systems in the twentieth century, communism and fascism, it also gave birth to a new social type, the philotyrannical intellectual. Lilla shows how these thinkers were not only grappling with enduring philosophical questions, they were also writing out of their own experiences and passions. These profiles demonstrate how intellectuals can be driven into a political sphere they scarcely understand, with momentous results.In a new afterword, Lilla traces how the intellectual world has changed since the end of the cold war. The ideological passions of the past have been replaced in the West, he argues, by a dogma of individual autonomy and freedom that both obscures the historical forces at work in the present and sanctions ignorance about them, leaving us ill-equipped to understand those who are inflamed by the new global ideologies of our time.

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Book SynopsisBeginning in 1903, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was divided into opposing sections, one led by Vladimir Lenin, the other by Iulii Martov. Until 1917, Lenin and Martov, an anti-war socialist intellectual from a Jewish background, were equally prominent figures in Russian politics. Both wrote prolifically, and although the books, articles, and pamphlets written by Lenin remain readily available today, those by Martov continue to be difficult to locate in their original Russian or, for that matter, in translation.A Russian-language edition of World Bolshevism was published following Martov’s untimely death in 1923, but it was not until 2000, after decades of censorship, that parts of the book were legally published in Russia. This edition, which includes an introduction by Paul Kellogg, makes Martov’s work available in its complete form to English-speaking audiences for the first time in a hundred years and reintroduces this important thinker to a twenty-first century readership.Table of ContentsForewordIntroductionForeword to the 1923 Russian EditionI. Roots of World Bolshevism II. The Ideology of “Sovietism”III. Decomposition or Conquest of the State?Appendix – Marx and the Problem of the Dictatorship of the ProletariatBibliographyNotes from the 1938 translation by Herman Jerson

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Book SynopsisShirley Smith was one of the most remarkable New Zealanders of the 20th century, a woman whose lifelong commitment to social justice, legal reform, gender equality and community service left a profound legacy. She was born in Wellington in1916. While her childhood was clouded by loss – her mother died when she was three months old and her beloved father, lawyer and later Supreme Court Judge David Smith, served overseas during the war – she had a privileged upbringing. She studied classics at Oxford University, where she threw herself into social, cultural and political activities. Despite contracting TB and spending months in a Swiss clinic, she graduated with a good Second and an intellectual and moral education that would guide her through the rest of her life. She returned to New Zealand when war broke out, and taught classics at Victoria and Auckland University Colleges, before marrying eminent economist and public servant Dr W.B. Sutch in 1944, and giving birth to a daughter in 1945. She kept her surname – unusual at the time – and poured her energy into issues of human rights and social causes. She qualified as a lawyer at the age of 40, and in her career of 40 years broke down many barriers, her relationship with the Mongrel Mob epitomising her role as a champion of the marginalised and vulnerable. In 1974, Bill Sutch was arrested and charged with espionage. After a sensational trial he was acquitted by a jury, but the question of his guilt has never been settled in the court of public opinion. Shirley had reached her own political turning point in 1956, with Khrushchev’s revelations about Stalin and the Hungarian crisis, but she remained loyal to her husband, and the ongoing controversy weighed heavily on her later years. Shirley Smith: An Examined Life tells the story of a remarkably warm and generous woman, one with a rare gift for frankness, an implacable sense of principle, and a personality of complexity and formidable energy. Her life was shaped by some of the most turbulent currents of the 20th century, and she in turn helped shape her country for the better.

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Book SynopsisEvery phase of the Third Reich's foreign policy was determined by its authoritarian leader, Adolf Hitler. Following his rise to power, his political acuity and utter lack of scruple enabled him to achieve numerous diplomatic successes against the well-intentioned but largely ineffectual Anglo-French democracies. First by duplicity, then by bluff and bluster, and finally by brinkmanship, Hitler succeeded in establishing a strengthened and united Greater Germany (Grossdeutschland) in preparation for a Second Great War. This book examines in depth the revanchist foreign policy of Hitler's Germany from 1933 to 1939: the withdrawal of Germany from the League of Nations, German rearmament, the introduction of compulsory military service and the enlargement of the German Armed Forces, the remilitarization of the Rhineland, the notorious Hossbach Conference, the Austrian 'Anschluss', the Munich Conference, the brazen seizures of Bohemia-Moravia and the Memel District, the Danzig crisis, the cynical brokering of the Nazi-Soviet Pact, and the German invasion of Western Poland.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Part I: German Diplomacy and the Inaction of the Western Powers; Part II: Annexation and Expansion; Part III: Preparations for War; Appendix A: The Reich Defence Law, 21 May 1935; Appendix B: The Hossbach Memorandum, 10 November 1937; Appendix C: Operation Otto: The Planned Invasion of Austria, 11 March 1938; Appendix D: Operation Green: The Secret Plan for an Aggressive War against Czechoslovakia, 30 May 1938; Appendix E: The Munich Agreement, 29 September 1938; Appendix F: Decree Regulating the Status of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, 16 March 1939; Appendix G: Memorandum from the German Government Denouncing the Anglo- German Naval Agreement, 27 April 1939; Appendix H: The Pact of Steel (The German-Italian Alliance) and Secret Additional Protocol, 22 May 1939; Appendix I: The Nazi-Soviet Pact (Treaty of Non-Aggression Between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and Secret Additional Protocol, 23 August 1939; Appendix J: Proposal for a Settlement of the Problem of Danzig and the Polish Corridor and of the German-Polish Minorities Question, 31 August 1939; Appendix K: Directive No. 1 for the Conduct of the War, 31 August 1939; Endnotes; Bibliography; Index.

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Book SynopsisAN ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEARHumanity's embrace of openness is the key to our success. The freedom to explore and exchange - whether it's goods, ideas or people - has led to stunning achievements in science, technology and culture. As a result, we live at a time of unprecedented wealth and opportunity. So why are we so intent on ruining it?From Stone Age hunter-gatherers to contemporary Chinese-American relations, Open explores how across time and cultures, we have struggled with a constant tension between our yearning for co-operation and our profound need for belonging. Providing a bold new framework for understanding human history, bestselling author and thinker Johan Norberg examines why we're often uncomfortable with openness - but also why it is essential for progress. Part sweeping history and part polemic, this urgent book makes a compelling case for why an open world with an open economy is worth fighting for more than ever.Trade ReviewClear, colourful and convincing, marshalling evidence from a range of eras and civilisations. [...] The author is often amusing as well as illuminating. * The Economist *No person or society is smart enough or wise enough or noble enough to solve the wicked problems of life by themselves. With clarity and grace, Johan Norberg reminds us that openness to things and ideas from others is the only route to well-being. * Steven Pinker *If we are to recover from the pandemic of 2020, the world needs openness more than ever: open minds, open hearts, open communications, open markets. Johan Norberg's superb book demonstrates, with hundreds of examples, how openness has been the key to the success of our species over 10,000 years and is the secret of prosperity and peace today. * Matt Ridley, author of The Rational Optimist *Johan Norberg has a great story to tell: how, throughout history, open societies have always closed down, but never for good. The tension between closed and open, between trading and tribalism drives both progress and reaction. Why are the virtues and benefits of openness always under threat? We can't live without it, yet too often it seems that we can't live with it either. Norberg has a powerful argument to give us insight and hope that man's curiosity and imagination is unstoppable. * Margaret Heffernan, author of Wilful Blindness *Norberg's excellent book tells us that openness is more than a defensive reaction to those who want to close borders to migrants, trade and new ideas... [it is] a deeply rooted trait that has played a major role in the success of individuals, nations and humanity itself. * Vince Cable *Johan Norberg makes a compelling case that we all thrive -- in every sense -- on 'open'... This is big thinking that deserves everyone's attention. * Michael Blastland, author of The Hidden Half *Johan Norberg reminds us that every great civilization has been destroyed by the end of openness. His essential book, then, is a timely reminder that the fate of our civilization rests on a defense of openness. Strongly recommended. * Andrew Keen, author of The Internet Is Not The Answer *This book is a blast of good sense. * The Economist on Progress *Generates powerful good-news vibes. * Esquire on Progress *Norberg has a strong case and he makes it with energy and charm. A pertinent book for grumpy times. * The Times on Progress *A prophet of anti-pessimism. -- Simon Jenkins * Guardian *Table of Contents0: Traders and tribalists 1: Open exchange 2: Open doors 3: Open minds 4: Open societies 5: Us and them 6: Zero-sum 7: Anticipatory anxiety 8: Fight or flight 9: Open or closed?

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Book SynopsisSince Britain's 2016 referendum on EU membership, the nation has been profoundly split: one side fantasizing that the referendum will never be acted upon, the other entrenched in questionable assumptions about reclaimed sovereignty and independence. Underlying the cleavage are primal myths, deeper histories, and political folk-legends. James Meek,'the George Orwell of our times', goes in search of the stories and consequences arising out of a nation's alienation from itself.In Dreams of Leaving and Remaining, Meek meets farmers and fishermen intent on exiting the EU despite the loss of protections they will incur. He reports on a Cadbury's factory shut down and moved to Poland in the name of free market economics, exploring the impact on the local community left behind. He charts how the NHS is coping with the twin burdens of austerity and an aging population.Dreams of Leaving and Remaining is urgent reporting from one of Britain's finest journalists. James Meek asks what we can recover from the debris of an old nation as we head towards new horizons, and what we must leave behind.There are no easy answers, and what he creates instead is a masterly portrait of an anxious, troubled nation.Trade ReviewSome of it will make you sad, some of it will make you furious, but you are guaranteed to be left feeling that you understand this country much better. * John Lanchester, author of Capital and Whoops! [For Private Island] *He crafts beautiful and vivid passages that turn what could be a dry subject into a highly readable study. -- Owen Jones * New Statesman [For Private Island] *A book that stands as one of the most powerful critiques of the mess that is Britain's economy. -- Aditya Chakrabortty * Guardian [For Private Island] *A devastating account of the privatisation dogma of the past 25 years... As demolition jobs go, this can hardly be bettered. -- John Kampfner * Observer [For Private Island] *An energetic and colourfully told polemic against privatisation. * Financial Times [for Private Island] *Meek listens hard . His reportage . demonstrate[s] a sensibility and empathy that are his wont. * Financial Times *Provocative and persuasive. * Herald Scotland *A beautiful collection by a renowned essayist. -- Stephen Bush * Guardian *Meek is brilliant at focusing on a particular case to tell a bigger story. * Labour Briefing *[Meek] explores the slow-moving processes behind the sudden shock of the Brexit vote by getting out and about in Britain, to look beyond London at the competing ideals that led to this culture clash - cosmopolitanism and urbane liberalism against a more traditional yearning for British sovereignty, its mythology and nostalgia. -- Dan Hancox * The National *Clear-headed...Meek has a canny ability to provide plausiable explanations for the motivations of many Leave voters * Peace News *

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Book SynopsisMarc Perelman pulls no punches in this succinct and searing broadside, assailing the 'recent form of barbarism' that is the global sporting event. Forget the Olympics and consider, under Perelman's guidance, the ledger of inequities maintained by such supposedly harmless games.They have provided a smokescreen for the forcible removal of 'undesirables'; aided governments in the pursuit of racist agendas; affirmed the hypocrisy of drug-testing in an industry where doping is more an imperative than an aberration; and developed the pornographic hybrid that Perelman dubs 'sporn', a further twist in our corrupt obsession with the body.Drawing examples from the modern history of the international sporting event, Perelman argues that today's colosseums, upheld as examples of 'health', have become the steamroller for a decadent age fixated on competition, fame and elitism.Trade ReviewMarc Perelman has written a magnificent manifesto for all of us dedicated anti-Olympiads, revealing in compelling detail how sport, which has long been the opium of the people, is now the political and financial dirty business of the rulers as well. -- Terry EagletonExcited about the Olympics? If not, this bolus of weaponised French spleen will be the perfect literary antidote. -- Steven Poole * Guardian *Bracingly bilious counterblast against the new 'planetary religion.' * Independent *The work of stirring polemic that all of us who were picked last for teams at school have been waiting for. -- Nick Lezard * Guardian *A provocatively timed polemic that situates today's mass sporting spectacle at the very heart of globalised capitalism. -- Rod Stanley * Dazed and Confused *Perelman's claim that sport "becomes the sole project of a society without projects" rings uncomfortably true as austerity-hit Britain prepares to host a lavish Olympics. * Financial Times *French journalist Marc Perelaman argues ... ruthless[ly] ... agaist an emerging kind of barbarism. * Book News *

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Book SynopsisA richly produced, craft- and activist-centered celebration of radical DIY publishing, for readers of Appalachian Reckoning.In a remarkable act of recovery, So Much to Be Angry About conjures an influential but largely obscured strand in the nation's radical tradition—the "movement" printing presses and publishers of the late 1960s and 1970s, and specifically Appalachian Movement Press in Huntington, West Virginia, the only movement press in Appalachia. More than a history, this craft- and activist-centered book positions the frontline politics of the Appalachian Left within larger movements in the 1970s. As Appalachian Movement Press founder Tom Woodruff wrote: "Appalachians weren't sitting in the back row during this struggle, they were driving the bus."Emerging from the Students for a Democratic Society chapter at Marshall University, and working closely with organizer and poet Don West, Appalachian Movement Press made available an eclectic range of printed material, from books and pamphlets to children's literature and calendars. Many of its publications promoted the Appalachian identity movement and "internal colony" theory, both of which were cornerstones of the nascent discipline of Appalachian studies. One of its many influential publications was MAW, the first feminist magazine written by and for Appalachian women.So Much to Be Angry About combines complete reproductions of five of Appalachian Movement Press's most engaging publications, an essay by Shaun Slifer about his detective work resurrecting the press's history, and a contextual introduction to New Left movement publishing by Josh MacPhee. Amply illustrated in a richly produced package, the volume pays homage to the graphic sensibility of the region's 1970s social movements, while also celebrating the current renaissance of Appalachia's DIY culture—in many respects a legacy, Slifer suggests, of the movement publishing documented in his book.Trade ReviewSo Much to Be Angry About is an example of the best impulses of people’s history, careful and caring in its attention to people and places, disposing of nothing, casting a loving and critical eye and turning over stones, not just of movement history and its ideas, but also of the labor of the craftspeople, artists, and makers whose work spurs us on but sometimes goes without examination. I love how this book traces generational knowledge, complete with lessons, pitfalls, dynamism, and complication for those of us currently making and joining community, art, and resistance in Appalachia." — Madeline ffitch, author of Stay and Fight "The Appalachian Movement Press has been an inspiration for almost everything we do. An activist press focused on labor and art, and it was based in West Virginia? That’s something we all need to hear about! Especially anyone unpacking the region’s deep history of exploitation." — Dwight and Liz Pavlovic, founders, Crash Symbols"This is a history of Appalachian Movement Press and also a fascinating look into Appalachian history, regional radical politics, and print history. The fire of creation can be passed down through books like So Much to Be Angry About, and maybe this retelling of AMP’s story could spark something else like it down the line." — Lucas Church, University of North Carolina Press "Back before activists used viral memes to reach the masses, the rebels at Appalachian Movement Press used any means necessary to keep their presses running and get information into the hands of all people. I was captivated by the untold story of these scrappy Appalachians who were determined to spread regional pride and history, and who were also completely uninterested in money or fame." — Betsy Sokolosky, owner, Base Camp Printing Co.Table of Contents Prologue: Digging for Appalachian Movement Press Introduction: A Brief History of the Movement Printshop in the United States Josh MacPhee Part I: The Pres Part II: In Print Epilogue Acknowledgments Appendix: An Appalachian Movement Press Bibliography Notes Bibliography Illustration Credits Index

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisThis elegant and provocative book is perhaps more important now than when it was first published. The three essays that comprised the first edition developed a remarkable discourse between ancient Greek and modern conceptions of democracy, in the belief that each society could help us understand the other. To the original three essays, Sir M. I. Finley has added two that clarify and elaborate the thinking of the first edition. The two new essays, ""Athenian Dialogues"" and ""Censorship in Classical Antiquity"" combine with ""Leaders and Followers,"" ""Democracy, Consensus, and the National Interest,"" ""Socrates and After"" to make this book an unusual inquiry. Few contemporary writers are able to bring to the subject the depth of learning and the persuasive power of language that Sir M. I. Finley brings.

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Book SynopsisWestern democracy is now at a critical juncture. Some worry that power has been wrested from the people and placed in the hands of a small political elite. Others argue that the democratic system gives too much power to a populace that is largely ill-informed and easily swayed by demagogues. This classic study of democratic principles is thus now more relevant than ever. A renowned historian of antiquity and political philosophy, Sir M.I. Finley offers a comparative analysis of Greek and modern conceptions of democracy. As he puts the ancient Greeks in dialogue with their contemporary counterparts, Finley tackles some of the most pressing issues of our day, including public apathy, partisanship, consensus politics, distrust of professional politicians, and the limits of free speech. Including three lectures that Finley delivered at Rutgers University, plus two additional essays that further illuminate his thinking, Democracy Ancient and Modern explores the dramatic differences between the close-knit civil society of the ancient Greeks and our own atomized mass societies. By mapping out democracy’s past and its present manifestations, this book helps us plot a course for democracy’s future. Trade Review"It is to be hoped that this small book, which testifies to the erudition, the critical spirit and the open-mindedness of its author, will attract the attention not only of historians, but also of politicians and political theorists." -- G. J. D. Aalders * author of Political Thought in Hellenistic Times *"This is one of the stimulating books through which M. I. Finley transformed approaches to ancient history in the anglophone world, rejecting arid antiquarianism and insisting on dialogue between the ancient world and the modern." -- P. J. Rhodes * honorary professor and emeritus professor, Durham University *"Highly stimulating and instructive reading for all whose interests lie in history, economics, sociology and political theory and institutions... Professor Finley is a master of many disciplines." -- D. J. Mosley * author of Diplomacy in Ancient Greece *"An extremely stimulating series of essays, demonstrating anew the continued vitality and relevance of the Athenian experience to modern political problems." * Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science *"Brilliant." -- Thomas B. Jones * author of Bad Lies and Promoting Active Learning *"A stylish, stimulating, and enjoyable author." * The British Journal of Sociology *"There is much here to think about." * The American Historical Review *"The usefulness of Finley's discussion of these issues is beyond question." -- Barry Hindess * author of Discourses of Power: From Hobbes to Foucault *"Given the current crisis in the experience of twenty-first century democracies, the republication of Finley’s landmark work on the distinctive grounding principles of Athenian versus modern democracies could not be more timely." -- Arlene Saxonhouse * Caroline Robbins Professor of Political Science and Women's Studies *"It is to be hoped that this small book, which testifies to the erudition, the critical spirit and the open-mindedness of its author, will attract the attention not only of historians, but also of politicians and political theorists." -- G. J. D. Aalders * author of Political Thought in Hellenistic Times *"This is one of the stimulating books through which M. I. Finley transformed approaches to ancient history in the anglophone world, rejecting arid antiquarianism and insisting on dialogue between the ancient world and the modern." -- P. J. Rhodes * honorary professor and emeritus professor, Durham University *"Highly stimulating and instructive reading for all whose interests lie in history, economics, sociology and political theory and institutions... Professor Finley is a master of many disciplines." -- D. J. Mosley * author of Diplomacy in Ancient Greece *"An extremely stimulating series of essays, demonstrating anew the continued vitality and relevance of the Athenian experience to modern political problems." * Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science *"Brilliant." -- Thomas B. Jones * author of Bad Lies and Promoting Active Learning *"A stylish, stimulating, and enjoyable author." * The British Journal of Sociology *"There is much here to think about." * The American Historical Review *"The usefulness of Finley's discussion of these issues is beyond question." -- Barry Hindess * author of Discourses of Power: From Hobbes to Foucault *"Given the current crisis in the experience of twenty-first century democracies, the republication of Finley’s landmark work on the distinctive grounding principles of Athenian versus modern democracies could not be more timely." -- Arlene Saxonhouse * Caroline Robbins Professor of Political Science and Women's Studies *Table of ContentsDedication Preface Preface to the First Edition 1. Leaders and Followers 2. Athenian Demagogues 3. Democracy, Consensus and the National Interest 4. Socrates and After 5. Censorship in Classical Antiquity Notes About the Author Other Books by M. I. Finley Index

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Book SynopsisMainstream notions of the “American Dream” usually revolve around the ownership of private property, a house of one’s own. Yet for the past 400 years, a large number of Americans have dared to dream bigger and bolder, choosing to live in intentional communities that pooled resources, and they worked to ensure the well-being of all their members. American Community takes us inside forty of the most interesting intentional communities in the nation’s history, from the colonial era to the present day. You will learn about such little-known experiments in cooperative living as the Icarian communities, which took the utopian ideas expounded in a 1840 French novel and put them into practice, ultimately spreading to five states over fifty years. Plus, it covers more recent communities such as Arizona’s Arcosanti, designed by architect Paolo Soleri as a model for ecologically sustainable living. In this provocative and engaging book, Mark Ferrara guides readers through an array of intentional communities that boldly challenged capitalist economic arrangements in order to attain ideals of harmony, equality, and social justice. By shining a light on these forgotten histories, it shows that far from being foreign concepts, communitarianism and socialism have always been vital parts of the American experience.Trade Review"Mark Ferrara’s tour of America’s intentional communities is an engrossing journey into the best of American idealism. Ferrara has focused on communities not widely known and enriches our knowledge of these experimental utopias." -- Timothy Miller * author of The Encyclopedic Guide to American Intentional Communities *"Mark Ferrara brings history alive with vivid descriptions of unique intentional communities, and their idealistic, and often quirky founders. He makes a compelling case that this particularly American impulse to build communities, in order to promote the values of equality, cooperation, and care for the earth, is both in response to the historical moment and also has helped to shape American society through bold innovation. A fascinating read!" -- Liz Walker * author of EcoVillage at Ithaca: Pioneering a Sustainable Culture *"Highly recommended." * Choice *"Amid the isolation of new motherhood, I found solace in the communes of TikTok," vy Linnie Greene * Fast Company *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Community of Goods in the Colonies Ephrata • Zwaanendael • Bohemia Manor 1 Revolution and Social Reformation Zoar • Modern Times • New Harmony • Hopedale • Skaneateles • Bishop Hill • Icarian Communities 2 Sleeping Cars, Spiritualism, and Cooperatives Pullman • Brotherhood of the New Life • Rugby Colony • Belton Woman's Commonwealth • Mound Bayou • Kaweah Cooperative Commonwealth • Ruskin Colony 3 Theosophy, Depression, and the New Deal Point Loma • Llano del Rio • Arthurdale • Phoenix Homesteads • Aberdeen Gardens • Greendale • Greenhills • Greenbelt • Celo Community • Hospitality Houses • Sunrise Cooperative Farm 4 Hippies, Arcology, and Ecovillages Endicott-Johnson • La Honda • Drop City • Libre • Morning Star Ranch • Wheeler's Ranch • Chosen Family • The Farm • Womanshare Collective • Mulberry Family • Arcosanti • EcoVillage Ithaca Afterword: The Next Wave Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisDiese Arbeit stellt die nationalen Rotkreuzgesellschaften Polens und der Tschechoslowakei als Beispiele für Selbstorganisation im sozialistischen Staat vor. Als Teil der internationalen Rotkreuzbewegung unterschieden sich das Polnische Rote Kreuz (Polski Czerwony Krzyż, PCK) und das Tschechoslowakische Rote Kreuz (Československý Ċervený kří, ČSČK) von anderen verstaatlichten Massenorganisationen. Sie verknüpften sozialistische Ideologie und humanitäre Prinzipien zu einem "socialist humanitarianism". Maren Hachmeister untersucht die Arbeit des polnischen und des tschechoslowakischen Roten Kreuzes zwischen 1945 und 1989 insbesondere für die Themen- und Tätigkeitsfelder Suchdienste, Blutspende, Jugend und Eliten. Der historische Vergleich zeigt dabei auf, wann, wo und wie zivilgesellschaftliche Selbstorganisationen für beide Organisationen unter den Vorzeichen des Staatssozialismus möglich war.

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Book SynopsisGeboren 1838, gestorben 1917: Schon die Lebensdaten Gustav Schmollers legen es nahe, von seiner Person ausgehend das Kaiserreich zu erkunden. Die Revolution von 1848 als Kindheitserinnerung, die Nationsbildung als Feld erster eigener politischer Betätigung, in den Gründerjahren die Karriere als Kathedersozialist und um 1880 ein saturiertes Ankommen als Ordinarius in der Hauptstadtelite. Jens Herold zeichnet auf breiter Quellenbasis den Werdegang des jungen Schmoller sowie sein Wirken bis zu seiner Berufung nach Berlin 1881 nach.

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Book SynopsisThis volume on "Nazi ideology and ethics" documents the scholarly debate on the subject, ranging from texts that initiated the debate on Nazi ethics to the current scholarly discourse. It puts together texts by leading Holocaust scholars from Germany, the US. Great Britain, and Belgium who cover a variety of topics relevant for questions of Nazi ideology and ethics. Among other topics scholars from various disciplines of the humanities address memory politics, ethical aspects of Nazi ideology, and political mass murders in comparative perspective. It furthermore discusses implications of Nazi ideology and ethics for current ethical issues and challenges.

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Book SynopsisWie eigneten sich Tschechen und Slowaken das Bild des neuen sozialistischen Menschen an?

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Book SynopsisINDES fragt nach dem Zustand des deutschen Konservatismus und konservativen Traditionen in verschiedenen LÃndern.

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Book SynopsisDie Misere der Republikanischen Partei

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Book Synopsis

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