Political science and theory Books

Book SynopsisThese selections from the many writings of Thomas Sowell over a period of a half century cover social, economic, cultural, legal, educational, and political issues. The sources range from Dr. Sowell''s letters, books, newspaper columns, and articles in both scholarly journals and popular magazines. The topics range from late-talking children to tax cuts for the rich, baseball, race, war, the role of judges, medical care, and the rhetoric of politicians. These topics are dealt with by sometimes drawing on history, sometimes drawing on economics, and sometimes drawing on a sense of humour.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA founder of modern philosophical anarchism presents a clear introduction to anarchist thought and a manifesto of atheism. Bakunin offers a mind-opening experience for even the most skeptical readers. This influential work denounces religion as a weapon of the state that must be smashed in the pursuit of the right to self-determination.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe nation-state and the colonial state have always been the same thing: the ethnic and religious majorities of the former created only through the violent “minoritization” inherent in the latter. Assessing cases from the United States to Eastern Europe, Israel, and Sudan, Mahmood Mamdani suggests a radical solution: the state without a nation.Trade ReviewDemonstrates how a broad rethinking of political issues becomes possible when Western ideals and practices are examined from the vantage point of Asia and Africa. -- Pankaj Mishra * New York Review of Books *Argues for a wider, political approach to understanding historical violence rather than an individual, criminal one. Mamdani examines everything from the treatment of Native Americans to Nazism to South African apartheid. It is a complex and at times painful book, but history is often complex and painful, and trying to understand it is one of our few real paths to progress. -- Candice Millard * New York Times *Over half a century, Mamdani has carved out a reputation as a forceful and articulate critic of political modernity’s supposed peace-bringing qualities…Neither Settler nor Native is [his] most comprehensive exploration yet of the subject of majority–minority relations. In a comparative analysis of five countries…he locates the origin story of contemporary postcolonial political violence far back in history. -- Francis Wade * The Baffler *Mamdani makes a compelling case… Although the book’s scope is ambitious…it has a clear starting point: the invention of indirect rule as a technique of modern colonial governance…Mamdani draws on the details of his case studies to formulate some broad lessons for decolonizing politics today—most importantly, disaggregating the nation from the state and creating more inclusive forms of democratic politics in the wake of identity-based strife. -- Hari Ramesh * Boston Review *Provocative, elegantly written…with the aim of understanding the sources of the extreme violence that has plagued so many postcolonial societies. -- Fara Dabhoiwala * New York Review of Books *This book compels the reader to rethink the origin and development of the nation-state and its replication as inseparable from European colonialism, beginning with the establishment of the Spanish state through racialized ethnic cleansing and the 1492 deportations of Jews and Moors. In elegant prose with no wasted words or jargon, this original and brilliant work argues that the United States created the template for settler-colonialism, providing the model upon which the South African apartheid regime and the Israeli state were patterned, a model also used by the Nazi regime that adopted US race theory and catastrophic ethnic cleansing. The book provides not only profound historical analysis but also deeply researched descriptions of the current US and Israeli regimes of settler-colonialism and more. -- Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author of An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United StatesBrilliant! A deeply learned account of the origins of our modern world. Situating the beginnings of the nation-state in the settler-colonial practice of creating permanent minorities, Mamdani illustrates how this damaging political logic continues into our own era, resulting far too often in today’s extraordinary political violence. Through his own elegant contrarianism, Mamdani rejects the current focus on human rights as the means to bring justice to the victims of this colonial and postcolonial bloodshed. Instead, he calls for a new kind of political imagination, one that will pave the way for a truly decolonized future. Joining the ranks of Hannah Arendt’s Imperialism, Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth, and Edward Said’s Orientalism, this book is destined to become a classic text of postcolonial studies and political theory. -- Moustafa Bayoumi, Brooklyn College, City University of New YorkNeither Settler nor Native analyzes seemingly disparate political histories to illuminate the intertwined logic of colonial statecraft and nation-building, the legacy of which was the violent manufacture of permanent majorities and minorities the world over. This is a masterwork of historical comparison and razor-sharp political analysis, with grave lessons about the pitfalls of forgetting, moralizing, or criminalizing this violence. Mamdani also offers a hopeful rejoinder in a revived politics of decolonization, not as romantic revolution but a renewed art of politics. Decolonization uses the tools of political engagement and negotiation to unsettle inherited identities, to convert perpetrators and victims into survivors, natives and settlers into citizens, nation-states into inclusive democracies. -- Karuna Mantena, Columbia UniversityA powerfully original argument, one that supplements political analysis with a map for our political future. -- Faisal Devji, University of OxfordAn urgent intervention in contemporary politics. In a searing critique of the nation-state, Mamdani persuasively argues that there will be no decolonization, no democracy, no peace until we de-link the association between the ‘nation’ and state power. -- Nandita Sharma * The Wire *Mamdani [is] one of the most perceptive and savviest analysts of postcolonial African history…A major achievement. A veritable testimony to the strength and resources of political thought that is a boon to his students and admirers, and to every other reader not enchanted by the discourses of the powers-that-be. -- S. Parvez Manzoor * Muslim World Book Review *

Read more less

Book SynopsisScholars have long claimed that the Eastern Roman Empire, a Christian theocracy, bore little resemblance to ancient Rome. Here, Anthony Kaldellis reconnects Byzantium to its Roman roots, arguing that it was essentially a republic, with power exercised on behalf of, and sometimes by, Greek-speaking citizens who considered themselves fully Roman.Trade ReviewAny student of political science will find this study of interest because of its discussions of both theory and specific historical documents… Byzantine specialists will find intriguing the author’s remarks about continuity, and nonspecialists will appreciate his discussion about the legitimacy of power in a medieval context. -- J. W. Nesbitt * Choice *This is a path-breaking book that will change the discussion on the political structure of the later Roman Empire—Byzantium—and put it, finally, on a proper course. -- Dimitri Gutas, Yale UniversityThis is an important book that establishes beyond a doubt that the image we have of Byzantium, the Roman Empire in the East, is in need of revision. Kaldellis breaks down the artificial and damaging divide between Roman and Byzantine studies with his encyclopedic knowledge of the full run of Byzantine historiography. -- Paul Stephenson, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Read more less

Book SynopsisKeith Tribe’s new translation presents Economy and Society as it stood when Max Weber died. One of the world’s leading experts on Weber’s thought, Tribe has produced a clear and faithful translation that will become the definitive English edition of one of the few indisputably great intellectual works of the past 150 years.Trade ReviewMax Weber is out of style…It is about time for a reappraisal, and an excellent opportunity has been provided in the form of Keith Tribe’s new translation of Weber’s masterpiece. -- Nick Burns * New Criterion *A boon to first-time readers of Weber as well as specialist scholars. -- Joshua Derman * Journal of Modern History *Keith Tribe is one of the best Weberians around, and has been for decades. This excellent translation will make Max Weber’s work more readily available to a new generation of scholars. Weber’s major ideas never go stale, and Tribe’s translation will assure reliable access to them. -- Alan Sica, Pennsylvania State UniversityHarvard University Press could not have found a better translator than Keith Tribe for this project, and no Anglophone writer knows Weber better. Tribe has produced a fine translation that will help the non-specialist appreciate the greatness of Weber’s work. -- Peter Baehr, Lingnan University, Hong KongThe great Anglo-American tradition of Max Weber translation has never been more necessary than today, when English is the near-universal language of the academy and the German-language understanding of Weber has recently undergone a revolution. Keith Tribe brings us up to date with a new and appropriately revolutionary re-presentation of Max Weber’s final text of Economy and Society. In the 1960s Economy and Society was said to be the ABC of sociological theory; now we can see it is the Everest. -- Peter Ghosh, University of OxfordGenerations of sociologists have thought they really understood what Max Weber was really doing in writing Economy and Society. Historians have long known this is more mythology than reality. And Keith Tribe has been one of the leading figures in putting back into proper context the emergence of those bits of text we can be certain that Weber was most on top of before he died. Tribe’s introduction to this volume is exemplary, letting us see quite how original and still surprising the first several chapters of Weber’s approach to action, interpretation, meaning and the conceptual construction of the economy are. Furthermore, his new translation, with its greater fidelity to the original texts and clarity in its presentation of Weber’s emphatic and didactic intent, effectively gives English-language readers a completely new text, and thus a new Weber, to grapple with. -- Duncan Kelly, University of Cambridge

Read more less

Book SynopsisSuitable for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students, this title introduces readers to the principal ideas and applications of game theory. It covers static and dynamic games, with complete and incomplete information and features a variety of examples, applications, and exercises.Trade Review"The book is enjoyable to read and truly an enrichment in game theory. It is widely well-structured and well-written and mathematically correct. The purpose is given perfectly. I recommend the book for researchers and graduate students who wants to get some insight in the area of game theory."--Sirma Zeynep, Zentralblatt MATH "The book aims to be precise and rigorous, yet accessible and reader-friendly, and, to a great extent, it does hit these apparently conflicting targets... The depth of the book is intermediate, with a conventional, yet clear, style of writing. It will please mainstream economists... It can help advanced undergraduates and also students at honors or master's levels. It can also be used by PhD students seeking a fast, not so mathematized introduction to the field."--Jose Rodriques-Neto, Economic RecordTable of ContentsPreface xi PART I Rational Decision Making Chapter 1 The Single-Person Decision Problem 3 *1.1 Actions, Outcomes, and Preferences 4 * 1.1.1 Preference Relations 5 * 1.1.2 Payoff Functions 7 *1.2 The Rational Choice Paradigm 9 *1.3 Summary 11 *1.4 Exercises 11 Chapter 2 Introducing Uncertainty and Time 14 *2.1 Risk, Nature, and Random Outcomes 14 2.1.1 Finite Outcomes and Simple Lotteries 15 2.1.2 Simple versus Compound Lotteries 16 2.1.3 Lotteries over Continuous Outcomes 17 *2.2 Evaluating Random Outcomes 18 2.2.1 Expected Payoff: The Finite Case 19 2.2.2 Expected Payoff: The Continuous Case 20 2.2.3 Caveat: It's Not Just the Order Anymore 21 2.2.4 Risk Attitudes 22 2.2.5 The St. Petersburg Paradox 23 *2.3 Rational Decision Making with Uncertainty 24 2.3.1 Rationality Revisited 24 2.3.2 Maximizing Expected Payoffs 24 *2.4 Decisions over Time 26 2.4.1 Backward Induction 26 2.4.2 Discounting Future Payoffs 28 *2.5 Applications 29 2.5.1 The Value of Information 29 2.5.2 Discounted Future Consumption 31 *2.6 Theory versus Practice 32 *2.7 Summary 33 *2.8 Exercises 33 PART II Static Games of Complete Information Chapter 3 Preliminaries 43 *3.1 Normal-Form Games with Pure Strategies 46 3.1.1 Example: The Prisoner's Dilemma 48 3.1.2 Example: Cournot Duopoly 49 3.1.3 Example: Voting on a New Agenda 49 *3.2 Matrix Representation: Two-Player Finite Game 50 3.2.1 Example: The Prisoner's Dilemma 51 3.2.2 Example: Rock-Paper-Scissors 52 *3.3 Solution Concepts 52 3.3.1 Assumptions and Setup 54 3.3.2 Evaluating Solution Concepts 55 3.3.3 Evaluating Outcomes 56 *3.4 Summary 57 *3.5 Exercises 58 Chapter 4 Rationality and Common Knowledge 59 *4.1 Dominance in Pure Strategies 59 4.1.1 Dominated Strategies 59 4.1.2 Dominant Strategy Equilibrium 61 4.1.3 Evaluating Dominant Strategy Equilibrium 62 *4.2 Iterated Elimination of Strictly Dominated Pure Strategies 63 4.2.1 Iterated Elimination and Common Knowledge of Rationality 63 4.2.2 Example: Cournot Duopoly 65 4.2.3 Evaluating IESDS 67 *4.3 Beliefs, Best Response, and Rationalizability 69 4.3.1 The Best Response 69 4.3.2 Beliefs and Best-Response Correspondences 71 4.3.3 Rationalizability 73 4.3.4 The Cournot Duopoly Revisited 73 4.3.5 The "p-Beauty Contest" 74 4.3.6 Evaluating Rationalizability 76 *4.4 Summary 76 *4.5 Exercises 76 Chapter 5 Pinning Down Beliefs: Nash Equilibrium 79 *5.1 Nash Equilibrium in Pure Strategies 80 5.1.1 Pure-Strategy Nash Equilibrium in a Matrix 81 5.1.2 Evaluating the Nash Equilibria Solution 83 *5.2 Nash Equilibrium: Some Classic Applications 83 5.2.1 Two Kinds of Societies 83 5.2.2 The Tragedy of the Commons 84 5.2.3 Cournot Duopoly 87 5.2.4 Bertrand Duopoly 88 5.2.5 Political Ideology and Electoral Competition 93 *5.3 Summary 95 *5.4 Exercises 95 Chapter 6 Mixed Strategies 101 *6.1 Strategies, Beliefs, and Expected Payoffs 102 6.1.1 Finite Strategy Sets 102 6.1.2 Continuous Strategy Sets 104 6.1.3 Beliefs and Mixed Strategies 105 6.1.4 Expected Payoffs 105 *6.2 Mixed-Strategy Nash Equilibrium 107 6.2.1 Example: Matching Pennies 108 6.2.2 Example: Rock-Paper-Scissors 111 6.2.3 Multiple Equilibria: Pure and Mixed 113 *6.3 IESDS and Rationalizability Revisited 114 *6.4 Nash's Existence Theorem 117 *6.5 Summary 123 *6.6 Exercises 123 PART III Dynamic Games of Complete Information Chapter 7 Preliminaries 129 *7.1 The Extensive-Form Game 130 7.1.1 Game Trees 132 7.1.2 Imperfect versus Perfect Information 136 *7.2 Strategies and Nash Equilibrium 137 7.2.1 Pure Strategies 137 7.2.2 Mixed versus Behavioral Strategies 139 7.2.3 Normal-Form Representation of Extensive-Form Games 143 *7.3 Nash Equilibrium and Paths of Play 145 *7.4 Summary 147 *7.5 Exercises 147 Chapter 8 Credibility and Sequential Rationality 151 *8.1 Sequential Rationality and Backward Induction 152 *8.2 Subgame-Perfect Nash Equilibrium: Concept 153 *8.3 Subgame-Perfect Nash Equilibrium: Examples 159 8.3.1 The Centipede Game 159 8.3.2 Stackelberg Competition 160 8.3.3 Mutually Assured Destruction 163 8.3.4 Time-Inconsistent Preferences 166 *8.4 Summary 169 *8.5 Exercises 170 Chapter 9 Multistage Games 175 *9.1 Preliminaries 176 *9.2 Payoffs 177 *9.3 Strategies and Conditional Play 178 *9.4 Subgame-Perfect Equilibria 180 *9.5 The One-Stage Deviation Principle 184 *9.6 Summary 186 *9.7 Exercises 186 Chapter 10 Repeated Games 190 *10.1 Finitely Repeated Games 190 *10.2 Infinitely Repeated Games 192 10.2.1 Payoffs 193 10.2.2 Strategies 195 *10.3 Subgame-Perfect Equilibria 196 *10.4 Application: Tacit Collusion 201 *10.5 Sequential Interaction and Reputation 204 10.5.1 Cooperation as Reputation 204 10.5.2 Third-Party Institutions as Reputation Mechanisms 205 10.5.3 Reputation Transfers without Third Parties 207 *10.6 The Folk Theorem: Almost Anything Goes 209 *10.7 Summary 214 *10.8 Exercises 215 Chapter 11 Strategic Bargaining 220 *11.1 One Round of Bargaining: The Ultimatum Game 222 *11.2 Finitely Many Rounds of Bargaining 224 *11.3 The Infinite-Horizon Game 228 *11.4 Application: Legislative Bargaining 229 11.4.1 Closed-Rule Bargaining 230 11.4.2 Open-Rule Bargaining 232 *11.5 Summary 235 *11.6 Exercises 236 PART IV Static Games of Incomplete Information Chapter 12 Bayesian Games 241 *12.1 Strategic Representation of Bayesian Games 246 12.1.1 Players, Actions, Information, and Preferences 246 12.1.2 Deriving Posteriors from a Common Prior: A Player's Beliefs 247 12.1.3 Strategies and Bayesian Nash Equilibrium 249 *12.2 Examples 252 12.2.1 Teenagers and the Game of Chicken 252 12.2.2 Study Groups 255 *12.3 Inefficient Trade and Adverse Selection 258 *12.4 Committee Voting 261 *12.5 Mixed Strategies Revisited: Harsanyi's Interpretation 264 *12.6 Summary 266 *12.7 Exercises 266 Chapter 13 Auctions and Competitive Bidding 270 *13.1 Independent Private Values 272 13.1.1 Second-Price Sealed-Bid Auctions 272 13.1.2 English Auctions 275 13.1.3 First-Price Sealed-Bid and Dutch Auctions 276 13.1.4 Revenue Equivalence 279 *13.2 Common Values and the Winner's Curse 282 *13.3 Summary 285 *13.4 Exercises 285 Chapter 14 Mechanism Design 288 *14.1 Setup: Mechanisms as Bayesian Games 288 14.1.1 The Players 288 14.1.2 The Mechanism Designer 289 14.1.3 The Mechanism Game 290 *14.2 The Revelation Principle 292 *14.3 Dominant Strategies and Vickrey-Clarke-Groves Mechanisms 295 14.3.1 Dominant Strategy Implementation 295 14.3.2 Vickrey-Clarke-Groves Mechanisms 295 *14.4 Summary 299 *14.5 Exercises 299 PART V Dynamic Games of Incomplete Information Chapter 15 Sequential Rationality with Incomplete Information 303 *15.1 The Problem with Subgame Perfection 303 *15.2 Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium 307 *15.3 Sequential Equilibrium 312 *15.4 Summary 314 *15.5 Exercises 314 Chapter 16 Signaling Games 318 *16.1 Education Signaling: The MBA Game 319 *16.2 Limit Pricing and Entry Deterrence 323 16.2.1 Separating Equilibria 324 16.2.2 Pooling Equilibria 330 *16.3 Refinements of Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium in Signaling Games 332 *16.4 Summary 335 *16.5 Exercises 335 Chapter 17 Building a Reputation 339 *17.1 Cooperation in a Finitely Repeated Prisoner's Dilemma 339 *17.2 Driving a Tough Bargain 342 *17.3 A Reputation for Being "Nice" 349 *17.4 Summary 354 *17.5 Exercises 354 Chapter 18 Information Transmission and Cheap Talk 357 *18.1 Information Transmission: A Finite Example 358 *18.2 Information Transmission: The Continuous Case 361 *18.3 Application: Information and Legislative Organization 365 *18.4 Summary 367 *18.5 Exercises 367 Chapter 19 Mathematical Appendix 369 *19.1 Sets and Sequences 369 19.1.1 Basic Definitions 369 19.1.2 Basic Set Operations 370 *19.2 Functions 371 19.2.1 Basic Definitions 371 19.2.2 Continuity 372 *19.3 Calculus and Optimization 373 19.3.1 Basic Definitions 373 19.3.2 Differentiation and Optimization 374 19.3.3 Integration 377 *19.4 Probability and Random Variables 378 19.4.1 Basic Definitions 378 19.4.2 Cumulative Distribution and Density Functions 379 19.4.3 Independence, Conditional Probability, and Bayes' Rule 380 19.4.4 Expected Values 382 References 385 Index 389

Read more less

Book SynopsisDoes growing economic interdependence among great powers increase or decrease the chance of conflict and war? Liberals argue that the benefits of trade give states an incentive to stay peaceful. Realists contend that trade compels states to struggle for vital raw materials and markets. Moving beyond the stale liberal-realist debate, Economic InterdTrade ReviewWinner of the 2017 ISA Annual Best Book Award, International Studies Association One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2015 "This bold, well-written, and landmark work draws together the fields of international political economy and security studies. It also illuminates modern international history and the future."--Choice "[A] landmark book."--Foreign Affairs "[A] stimulating and penetrating book... A landmark contribution to the ongoing debate on the relationship between interdependence and peace."--Jack Snyder, International Security "Exhaustively researched... Copeland is a rarity among contemporary international relations scholars."--Erik Gartzke, Political Science Quarterly "Economic Interdependence and War is international relations on a gigantic scale. Copeland asks big questions, makes big arguments, engages big alternatives, and tests them all on big powers over a big time span... Books like this one are a healthy reminder that there remains trenchant things to say about the big picture... A work of passion, conviction, and erudition."--Joseph Parent, Perspective on Politics "This book provides a novel, nuanced and highly illuminating examination of the relationship between economic interdependence and war... The book's central arguments and findings will also be of clear interest and importance for current and future policy makers as they seek to grapple with the long-term effects of increasing economic interdependence."--Stephen Ellis, Political Studies Review "This landmark book makes bold arguments and parallel big achievements. On theoretical front, the book succeeds in presenting that as an amalgam of liberal and realist approaches, future trade expectation theory has a significant deductive and explanatory power. On empirical front, the book is one of the best case studies that go in depth based on the diplomatic-historical evidence among the existing large-N quantitative empirical studies."--Hakan Mehmetcik, Journal of Global AnalysisTable of ContentsPreface vii Abbreviations xi Introduction 1 Chapter Oone: Theory of Economic Interdependence and War 16 Chapter Two: Quantitative Analysis and Qualitative Case Study Research 51 Chapter Three: The Russo-Japanese War and the German Wars for Hegemony, 1890-1939 97 Chapter Four: The Prelude to Pearl Harbor: Japanese Security and the Northern Question, 1905-40 144 Chapter Five: The Russian Problem and the Onset of the Pacific War, March-December 1941 184 Chapter Six: The Origins, Dynamics, and Termination of the Cold War, 1942-91 247 Chapter Seven: European Great Power Politics, 1790-1854 319 Chapter Eight: Great Power Politics in the Age of Imperial Expansion, 1856-99 375 Chapter Nine: Implications of the Argument 428 Bibliography 447 Index 473

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom New York Times bestselling author and economics columnist Robert Frank, a compelling book that explains why the rich underestimate the importance of luck in their success, why that hurts everyone, and what we can do about it How important is luck in economic success? No question more reliably divides conservatives from liberals. As conservatiTrade ReviewHonorable Mention for the 2017 PROSE Award in Economics, Association of American Publishers One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2016 One of Bloomberg View's "Five Books to Change Conservatives' Minds," chosen by Cass Sunstein Longlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year 2016 "The reminder about the important role of luck is welcome."--Enlightened Economist "Frank is not just arguing that luck plays an important role in the lives of successful people such as Al Pacino. If that were all he was doing, his book would be engaging but trivial. But it is much more interesting than that."--Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution "Frank's book gives a compelling argument for why we should consider our collective needs more when we look to change society for the better."--Jill Suttie, Psy.D., Greater Good "Well reasoned, coherent, and compelling--Frank is one of the great writers of economics."--Fortune "The most striking of Frank's arguments is a computer-simulated proof of luck's importance, even in very nearly meritocratic situations."--Tim Smith-Laing, Daily Telegraph "Reading Success and Luck is almost like having a robust conversation over dinner--a simple premise, some explanation, a few examples... It is commendable that he is addressing the problem with an actual solution in mind."--Kris Rothstein, Bookslut "Frank makes his points persuasively."--Australian Financial Review "This is a bold vision and, although controversial, has a good deal more realism than the dangerous siren calls from the left for wage caps or punitive income tax rates for high earners."--Matthew Syed, The Times "Like any good economist, Frank backs up his argument with studies and statistics; and like any good behavioral economist, he investigates why this obvious fact is so hard for so many Americans to accept, and offers some strategies for overcoming that resistance."--Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing "Frank points out that for every big winner, there are scores of people who are as skilled, hard-working and intelligent, but came in just behind. The lack of a lucky break can be the difference between wild success and a near miss or worse."--Barry Ritholtz, Bloomberg View "Success and Luck is an important book: elegantly written, well argued and desisting from self-indulgence in its length."--Tim Wigmore, New Statesman "The book is diverting and easy to read... He makes a compelling case for the role of luck in much of the wealth held by people in developed societies."--Ouida Taaffe, Financial World "[An] occasionally humorous, yet most insightful book."--David Marx Book Reviews "Robert Frank's enjoyable treatise, Success and Luck, might be the better bet for fixing society. His case histories show that while winners often need talent and hard work to succeed, they also need simple, dumb luck."--Debora MacKenzie, New Scientist "How important is luck in monetary success?... Is luck as important as hard work in becoming successful?... These important questions--we ponder them often--that economists rarely bother to study. Except for one of my favourite economists Robert Frank."--Ross Gittins, Sydney Morning Herald "What makes Success and Luck different is that Frank connects the importance of luck in determining personal economic success with a set of larger policy recommendations."--Dr. Joshua Kim, Inside Higher Ed "Success and Luck is written in a clear, engaging and personable style, not least because it is littered with anecdotes and stories illustrating the huge effects that tiny chance events can have. I found examples from Frank's own life especially compelling."--Dan McArthur, LSE Review of Books "Though hard work, effort, and schooling are important factors, Frank demonstrates convincingly that pure, random luck also matters (a lot)... This book is well reasoned, coherent, and compelling--Frank is one of the great writers of economics."--ChoiceTable of ContentsPreface xi Acknowledgments xix 1 Write What You Know 1 2 Why Seemingly Trivial Random Events Matter 21 3 How Winner-Take-All Markets Magnify Luck's Role 40 4 Why the Biggest Winners Are Almost Always Lucky 56 5 Why False Beliefs about Luck and Talent Persist 69 6 The Burden of False Beliefs 86 7 We're in Luck: A Golden Opportunity 109 8 Being Grateful 128 Appendix 1: Detailed Simulation Results for Chapter 4 151 Appendix 2: Frequently Asked Questions about the Progressive Consumption Tax 158 Notes 173 Index 183

Read more less

Book SynopsisDemocracy for Realists assails the romantic folk-theory at the heart of contemporary thinking about democratic politics and government, and offers a provocative alternative view grounded in the actual human nature of democratic citizens. Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels deploy a wealth of social-scientific evidence, including ingenious original analyses of topics ranging from abortion politics and budget deficits to the Great Depression and shark attacks, to show that the familiar ideal of thoughtful citizens steering the ship of state from the voting booth is fundamentally misguided. They demonstrate that voters--even those who are well informed and politically engaged--mostly choose parties and candidates on the basis of social identities and partisan loyalties, not political issues. They also show that voters adjust their policy views and even their perceptions of basic matters of fact to match those loyalties. When parties are roughly evenly matched, elections often turn on irrelevant or misleading considerations such as economic spurts or downturns beyond the incumbents' control; the outcomes are essentially random. Thus, voters do not control the course of public policy, even indirectly. Achen and Bartels argue that democratic theory needs to be founded on identity groups and political parties, not on the preferences of individual voters. Democracy for Realists provides a powerful challenge to conventional thinking, pointing the way toward a fundamentally different understanding of the realities and potential of democratic government.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2017 PROSE Award in Government & Politics, Association of American Publishers One of Bloomberg's Best Books of 2016 One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2016 "The best book to understand the 2016 campaign."--Matthew Yglesias "For decades, political scientists have blasted away at electoral models based primarily on the idea of rational choice. In the most recent and sophisticated entry in the field, Democracy for Realists, Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels argue that even well-informed and politically engaged voters mostly choose candidates based on their social identities and partisan loyalties. Judging from the 2016 polls, that theory looks pretty good."--E.J. Dionne, Washington Post "In an important recent book, Democracy for Realists, Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels show that 'group attachments' and 'social identities' are key to understanding voting behavior."--Fareed Zakaria, Washington Post "It flies in the face of decades of political science conventional wisdom about 'the rational voter' and other such dicta (what the authors call the 'folk theory' of democracy), but it seems to me obviously true, particularly in our age."--Michael Tomasky, New York Review of Books "[A] provocative book."--Edward Luce, Financial Times "Democracy for Realists, by Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels, shows that however cynical you are about the democratic process, it's worse than you think. All the flaws in cognition that psychologists have been teaching for decades make a mockery of the folk theory that democracy produces responsive governments."--Steven Pinker, Harvard Crimson "Brutally depressing."--Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution "One of the most bracing books of political science to arrive in a long time... An impressively comprehensive statement on the limits of electoral democracy, a book that can both explain the emergence of Trump and potentially charts a new course for the field."--Lee Drutman, Chronicle of Higher Education "It will confirm much that you may already have intuited--issues do not much matter--and it may make you want to jump out of a window, if you didn't already."--Kevin Williamson, National Review (Summer Reading Recommendation) "The folk theory of American democracy is that citizens deliberate on the issues and choose a candidate. That is false. The truth, as political scientists Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels describe in Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government, is that voters are tribalistic."--Jamelle Bouie, Slate "A comprehensive analysis that lays the foundation for a discussion of necessary reforms and how they can be achieved."--Kirkus (starred review) "Their writing is clear, concise, and appropriately whimsical on occasion. Certain to become a classic."--Choice "Democracy for Realists is essential reading for anyone interested in the problem of voter ignorance, and the future of democracy more generally. It illuminates a dangerous problem that may well bedevil democracy for a long time to come."--Ilya Somin, History News Network "Provocative, persuasive and unsettling, Democracy for Realists is a profoundly important--and timely--book."--Glenn Altschuler, Tulsa World "The most comprehensive recent study of the American voter."--Neal Miner, Honolulu Civil Beat "According to some conventional accounts of democracy, these systems work. Voters toss out incumbents in hard times and retain them in good times... The genius of Achen and Bartels' work--the depressing genius of it--is the breadth of evidence they marshal that this is simply not the case."--Peter Loewen, Ottawa Citizen "The book might make dreary reading about the failings of democracy. But by applying what Achen and Bartels say to what is happening in the elections... It is possible to make some sense."--Han Fook Kwang, Singapore Straits Times "An important book. The authors basically destroy our most cherished ideas about democracy."--Helio Schwartsman, Folha De S. Paolo "The 2016 election cycle has confounded a good deal of scholarship and punditry so far. But one book that's coming out smelling like a rose is Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels' new book Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government. This book's novel argument is that we've been thinking about democracy all wrong."--Seth Masket, Pacific Standard "This more than erudite book couldn't have been published at a more apt, if not fractious climate amid modern British and European political history... Democracy for Realists will set minds thinking and trigger an array of debate; which, at the end of the day, is what democracy is all about."--David Marx Book Reviews "Democracy for Realists is essential reading for 2016, an empirically and theoretically rigorous political science treatise that debunks traditional defenses of democracy as a way to reflect the 'will of the people' or allow well-informed and rational voters to guide the country. In their place, Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels advance a theory of democracy grounded in group identities and social psychology."--Jason Furman, Bloomberg "The myth of the informed democratic voter is itself an example of long-ingrained, stubborn anti-knowledge. In their brilliant new Democracy for Realists, the political scientists Christopher H. Achen and Larry M. Bartels explain that laypeople and experts alike have developed a 'folk theory' holding that American democracy is built on an engaged electorate that casts its votes for rational policy reasons. Unfortunately, as Achen and Bartels demonstrate, decades of research have shredded this theory, stomped on it, and set the remains on fire."--Noah Berlatsky, Reason "One of last year's most-celebrated works of political science."--Eric Levitz, New York Magazine Daily IntelligencerTable of ContentsList of Illustrations ix Preface xiii 1 Democratic Ideals and Realities 1 2 The Elusive Mandate: Elections and the Mirage of Popular Control 21 3 Tumbling Down into a Democratical Republick: "Pure Democracy" and the Pitfalls of Popular Control 52 4 A Rational God of Vengeance and of Reward? The Logic of Retrospective Accountability 90 5 Blind Retrospection: Electoral Responses to Droughts, Floods, and Shark Attacks 116 6 Musical Chairs: Economic Voting and the Specious Present 146 7 A Chicken in Every Pot: Ideology and Retrospection in the Great Depression 177 8 The Very Basis of Reasons: Groups, Social Identities, and Political Psychology 213 9 Partisan Hearts and Spleens: Social Identities and Political Change 232 10 It Feels Like We're Th inking: Th e Rationalizing Voter 267 11 Groups and Power: Toward a Realist Th eory of Democracy 297 Appendix Retrospective Voting as Selection and Sanctioning 329 References 335 Index 371

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewOne of Zocalo's 10 Favorite Books of 2016 "Brennan has a bright, pugilistic style, and he takes a sportsman's pleasure in upsetting pieties and demolishing weak logic. Voting rights may happen to signify human dignity to us, he writes, but corpse-eating once signified respect for the dead among the Fore tribe of Papua New Guinea. To him, our faith in the ennobling power of political debate is no more well grounded than the supposition that college fraternities build character."--Caleb Crain,New Yorker "A brash, well-argued diatribe against the democratic system. There is much to mull over in this brazen stab at the American electoral process... [I]n the current toxic partisan climate, Brennan's polemic is as worth weighing as any other."--Kirkus Reviews "A brash, well-argued diatribe against the democratic system. There is much to mull over in this brazen stab at the American electoral process... Sure to cause howls of disagreement, but in the current toxic partisan climate, Brennan's polemic is as worth weighing as any other."--Kirkus "Important."--Ilya Somin, Washington Post Volokh Conspiracy "Against Democracychallenges a basic precept that most people take for granted: the morality of democracy... Brennan presents a variety of strategies by which the quality of the electorate could be improved, while still keeping it large, and demographically representative... [A] powerful challenge to the conventional wisdom about democracy... [W]orth serious consideration."--Ilya Somin, Washington Post "Compelling... This is theory that skips, rather than plods."--Los Angeles Times "The book makes compelling reading for what is typically a dry area of discourse. This is theory that skips, rather than plods."--Molly Sauter, Los Angeles Times "Among the best works in political philosophy in recent memory."--Zachary Woodman, Students for Liberty "Challenging and insightful."--Alexander William Salter, Public Choice "Lucidly written in provocative, sometimes brash tones, it is especially useful for the undergraduate classroom."--Choice "Against Democracy seems scarily prescient today. Writing well before the twin shocks of the Brexit and the U.S. elections, the Georgetown political scientist makes a powerful case that popular democracy can be dangerous--and, provocatively, that irrational and incompetent voters should be excluded from democratic decision-making. The case for elitism in governance never read so well."--Zocalo Public Square "Meticulous [and] crisply written."--Tom Clark, Prospect "Mercilessly well-argued."--Niko Kolodny, Boston Review

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Winner of the Best First Book Prize, Foundations of Political Theory section of the American Political Science Association""A fresh and splendidly clear guide to the intellectual history of monetary policy. . . . The Currency of Politics is an invaluable guide to why — and how to think about what comes next."---Felix Martin, Financial Times"Eich’s extraordinary book provides an essential guide to thinking about the politics of money." * Adam Tooze *"Eich offers a rich treatment of each historical episode. But the chapters on the two Englishmen, Locke and Keynes, stand out. . . . pathbreaking."---Jonathan Levy, Project Syndicate"Eich’s book is ultimately a call to revive democratic debate about money…this excellent book…does not tell us what to do, but he does show us something can be done."---Geoff Mann, New Statesman"A pathbreaking new intellectual history of monetary policy. In examining how key thinkers approached the economic crises of their respective times, Eich offers a map for navigating the politics of money today."---Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins, The Nation"Eich’s work is sure to be a landmark in political science. His argument is bold and ambitious; his writing clear and engaging; and his message timely, persuasive and imperative."---Erik Jones, Survival"A deep ex­amination of the theoretical and political foundations of money that rescues the money discus­sion from economists."---Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Open Magazine"An intellectual history of money that theoretically grounds the works of others working on democratizing money. The Currency of Politics is a great addition to the philosophy of money."---Valerie Schreur, Oeconomia"A very good book. . . . Eich takes us on a fascinating journey."---Paul Sagar, Perspectives on Politics"Exquisitely written."---Jorge González-Gallarza, The Critic"Eich’s contribution demarcates a new space for political thought on money, and brings together key theorists on the structuration of money both to show that political thought often has a direct effect on the type of monetary system that is maintained, and to show that democratic agency vis-a-vis money is often wilfully ignored."---Dominic Burbidge, Politics and Poetics"[The Currency of Politics] fits well into the growing critical debate on neoliberal policies that have dominated the economic discussion in the latest decades. . . . [and] helps us to understand that monetary policy must be the prerogative of a healthy and fruitful public and thus political debate."---Giampaolo Conte, The Journal of European Economic History

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Groundbreaking. . . . Radical and influential, Nascimento’s work is available here for the first time in English."---Karla J. Strand, Ms. Magazine

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"A New Statesman Book of the Year""A really fascinating read."---Justin Kempf, Democracy Paradox"A valuable contribution to the extensive, and growing, historiography concerning the origins of the modern state. While others have concentrated on non-Western or Western European countries to reach their conclusions about the evolution of modern politics, Wheatley’s case study breaks new ground in its analysis of an especially difficult case, the Austrian Empire after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867." * Choice *"A richly rewarding book. . . . Wheatley gracefully unpacks the complicated constitutional issues faced by inhabitants of the Habsburg monarchy." * History Today *"Monumental. . . . Wheatley’s narrative recovers a world where international law was not a dead letter but a blueprint for a multinational and pluralistic world."---Yosef Malka, BR!NK

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhy is it so difficult to develop and sustain liberal democracy? The best recent work on this subject comes from a remarkable pair of scholars, Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. In their latest book, The Narrow Corridor, they have answered this question with great insight. -Fareed Zakaria, The Washington Post From the authors of the international bestseller Why Nations Fail, a crucial new big-picture framework that answers the question of how liberty flourishes in some states but falls to authoritarianism or anarchy in others--and explains how it can continue to thrive despite new threats. In Why Nations Fail, Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson argued that countries rise and fall based not on culture, geography, or chance, but on the power of their institutions. In their new book, they build a new theory about liberty and how to achieve it, drawing a wealth of evidence from both current affairs and disparate threads of world history.   Liberty is hardly the natural order of things. In most places and at most times, the strong have dominated the weak and human freedom has been quashed by force or by customs and norms. Either states have been too weak to protect individuals from these threats, or states have been too strong for people to protect themselves from despotism. Liberty emerges only when a delicate and precarious balance is struck between state and society. There is a Western myth that political liberty is a durable construct, arrived at by a process of enlightenment. This static view is a fantasy, the authors argue. In reality, the corridor to liberty is narrow and stays open only via a fundamental and incessant struggle between state and society: The authors look to the American Civil Rights Movement, Europe’s early and recent history, the Zapotec civilization circa 500 BCE, and Lagos’s efforts to uproot corruption and institute government accountability to illustrate what it takes to get and stay in the corridor. But they also examine Chinese imperial history, colonialism in the Pacific, India’s caste system, Saudi Arabia’s suffocating cage of norms, and the “Paper Leviathan” of many Latin American and African nations to show how countries can drift away from it, and explain the feedback loops that make liberty harder to achieve. Today we are in the midst of a time of wrenching destabilization. We need liberty more than ever, and yet the corridor to liberty is becoming narrower and more treacherous. The danger on the horizon is not just the loss of our political freedom, however grim that is in itself; it is also the disintegration of the prosperity and safety that critically depend on liberty. The opposite of the corridor of liberty is the road to ruin.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA concise argument for the enduring importance of the feminist movement today by one of the world's leading feminist writersTable of ContentsIntroduction Come Closer to Feminism 1. Feminist Politics. Where We Stand 2. Consciousness-raising. A Constant Change of Heart 3. Sisterhood is Still Powerful 4. Our Bodies Ourselves. Reproductive Rights 5. Beauty Within and Without 6. Women at Work 7. Feminist Education for Critical Consciousness 8. Race and Gender 9. Ending Violence 10. Feminist Parenting 11. Feminist Sexual Politic 12. Feminist Parenting 13. A Feminist Sexual Politic 14. Liberating Marriage and Partnership 15. To Love Again. The Heart of Feminism 16. Feminism Class Struggle 17. Feminist Spirituality 18. Global Feminism 19. Visionary Feminism Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe essential introduction to the writings of Abdullah Öcalan, founder of Democratic ConfederalismTrade Review'Abdullah Ocalan seems to have done a better job writing with the extremely limited resources allowed him by his jailers than authors like Francis Fukuyama or Jared Diamond did with access to the world's finest research libraries' -- David Graeber, author of Debt: The First 5000 YearsTable of ContentsForeword by Nadje Al-Ali Introduction 1. War and Peace in Kurdistan: Perspectives on a Political Solution to the Kurdish Question 2. Democratic Confederalism 3. Liberating Life: Woman’s Revolution 4. Democratic Nation Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis* A major contribution to scholarship on Hegel, moral philosophy and critical theory* An original approach from a well known author, moving smoothly between philosophy and social theory* Draws together a wide variety of themes and concerns. .Trade Review"Using the young Hegel's 'struggle for recognition' as a basis, Honneth ... has written a remarkable book. Honneth's book is accessible to - and deserving of - a wide readership. Recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above and the general reader." Choice "This is a most remarkable book. The exposition and critical discussion are conducted with exemplary clarity. It may change intellectual lives; it will certainly attract a great deal of attention for many years to come." William Outhwaite, University of Sussex "This far-ranging study illuminates one of the most important and puzzling features of modern politics, the demand for recognition. Honneth not only traces its origins in the thought of the last two centuries, but also shows how differently the need for recognition has been conceived. Honneth's book casts a flood of light on what has been an area of darkness, the place where the philosophical tradition and modern politics meet and interweave. Since neither is really comprehensible without the other, this work is essential reading for those who would understand either. It is a path-breaking study, which ought to be at the centre of the debate for many years to come." Charles Taylor, McGill University "Axel Honneth's The Struggle for Recognition is remarkable for the skill with which he synthesizes a wide range of perspectives - sociological, psychoanalytical and philosophical - into a powerful and original model of social identity and social conflict. It represents a major step towards the development of a new 'post-linguistic' paradigm for critical theory." Peter Dews, University of Essex "The Struggle for Recognition is an ambitious and rewarding book, at the intersection of a number of important debates." Radical Philosophy "Honneth's book should attract a wide audience ... [it] represents a major contribution to an exciting new research programme in critical social theory." Political Studies "[A] clearly written and impressively structured amalgamation of political thought, social psychology, and current social philosophy." Simon Kow, University of TorontoTable of ContentsTranslator's Note. Translator's Introduction. Preface. Introduction. Part I: An Alternative Tradition in Modern Social Theory: Hegel's Original Idea:. 1. The Struggle for Self-Preservation. 2. Crime and Ethical Life. 3. The Struggle for Recognition. Part II: A Systematic Renewal: The Structure of Social Relations of Recognition:. 4. Recognition and Socialization. 5. Patterns of Intersubjective Recognition. 6. Personal Identity and Disrespect. Part III: Social-philosophical Perspectives: Morality and Societal Development:. 7. Traces of a Tradition in Social Philosophy. 8. Disrespect and Resistance. 9. Intersubjective Conditions for Personal Integrity. Notes. Bibliography. Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat is politics? Is it a universal feature of all human societies, past and present? Is it tied to specific institutional arenas? Or is it found in all groups and organizations, large or small, formal or informal? This new textbook seeks to provide answers to these important questions.Trade Review‘I know of no other work that gives such a good indication of the various ways in which the study of politics can be approached. This book will be immensely helpful for new students.’ Michael Levin, Goldsmith’s College, University of London ‘This is a superb volume, which should quickly establish itself at the top of politics reading lists at all levels. No student of politics can afford not to read it; its publication is cause for considerable celebration. The chapters themselves are suitably diverse and, at the same time, accessible, eloquent and engaging. They establish supremely well the inherently contested nature of the subject matter of political analysis and can only serve to improve both mutual understanding between contending views of politics and the quality of future academic debate.’ Colin Hay, University of BirminghamTable of ContentsPreface: Adrian Leftwich vii The Contributors xi 1 Thinking Politically: On the politics of Politics 1Adrian Leftwich 2 Politics is About Governing 23B. Guy Peters 3 Politics and the Exercise of Force 41Peter P. Nicholson 4 Marxism and Politics 53Alex Callinicos 5 Politics as a Form of Rule: Politics, Citizenship and Democracy 67Bernard Crick 6 Politics as Collective Choice 86Albert Weale 7 The Political Approach to Human Behavior: People, Resources and Power 100Adrian Leftwich 8 Politics Beyond Boundaries: A Feminist Perspective 119Judith Squires 9 Political Philosophy and Politics 135Adam Shift 10 Is there an Islamic Conception of Politics? 147Salwa Ismail 11 Politics as Distorted Global Politics 166Anthony McGrew 12 Politics as if Nature Mattered 182Neil Carter Index 196

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review‘Mehring’s book is a remarkable achievement: an intellectual biography that illuminates a whole era while taking very seriously the intimate connections between the theory and the restless and obsessive personality of its main character. It is bound to remain a fundamental reference in the vast literature on one of the most decisive chapters in European constitutional history: the Weimar Republic.’Political Studies Review ‘By presenting a complete account of Schmitt’s life, heretofore absent, Mehring has done a great service. This biography will no doubt be the point of departure for studies of Carl Schmitt and his intellectual legacy for a long time.’Constellations

Read more less

Book SynopsisKarin Amimoto Ingersoll uses her concept of seascape epistemology to articulate an indigenous Hawaiian way of knowing founded on a sensorial, intellectual, and embodied literacy of the ocean that can provide the means for generating an alternative indigenous politics and ethics.Trade Review"Conveying the beauty and meaning of hee nalu to Hawaiians past and present, with water photos by her husband, Russell J. Amimoto, Waves of Knowing is an impassioned and informative call to surfers to be responsible to ourselves, our community and our shared, beloved sea." -- Mindy Pennybacker * Honolulu Star-Advertiser *"Despite the limitations of writing in the English language, Waves of Knowing is an elegant way of articulating an indigenous Hawaiian epistemology.... This book is a valuable contribution to the literature on indigenous methodology, and will also contribute to the growing literature in critical surf studies." -- Dina Gilio-Whitaker * Fourth World Journal *"Waves of Knowing is an intimate discussion of both external and internal realities found both in the politics of Hawaiʻi and within the author’s perception. Ingersoll eschews a colonial-variety, empirical world (knowledge without the nuance of dreams or intuition) and instead explores a dynamic, place-based, historic memory empowerment which becomes its own living archive. . . . Ingersoll works to re-code this fluid sensibility back into our thinking so feeling and emotion can respectfully re-enter our cognitive reality." -- Manulani Aluli Meyer * Indigenous Knowledge *“This beautifully written book makes a valuable contribution to articulating indigenous epistemologies, and offers concrete suggestions for how Kanaka Maoli ways of knowing can be translated into practices which empower indigenous and local knowledge and skills, affirm cultural identity, and care for both the land and seascapes.” -- Tui Nicola Clery * Pacific Affairs *"Waves of Knowing is an important contribution. . . . It helps us understand what has been lost but which is being recovered; it gives us insight into surfing and how new hybrid forms exist in the present but respect the past; and, most importantly, it helps give understanding of, and momentum to, ways of knowing our environment that provide critical alternatives to dominant epistemologies and the unsustainable and capricious economies they inform." -- John Overton * Asia Pacific Viewpoint *"As a methodological exploration into the ways in which personal history, cultural connectivity, imperial history, and commercialization of recreation can be woven through a story of encounters with (and in) a specific space, Waves of Knowing is a fascinating book." -- Philip Steinberg * Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography *"Although emphasized for practice-based or place-based education, the fields of philosophy, English, and history may also benefit from Ingersoll’s work, which is a brilliant example of an Indigenous way of knowing that is shaped from the epistemological complexity of the movement of the ocean through which insight into an ontologically formed Hawaiian identity is also provided." -- Amy Farrell-Morneau * Native American and Indigenous Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1. He'e Nalu: Reclaiming Ke Kai 41 2. Oceanic Literacy: A Politics and an Ethics 79 3. Seascape Epistemology: Ke Kino and Movement 103 4. Ho'okele: Seascape Epistemology as an Embodied Voyage 127 5. Hālau O Ke Kai: Potential Applications of Seascape Epitemology 155 Epilogue 183 Notes 185 References 189 Index 197

Read more less

Book SynopsisAntonio Gramsci''s Prison Notebooks, written between 1929 and 1935, are the work of one of the most original thinkers in twentieth century Europe. Gramsci has had a profound influence on debates about the relationship between politics and culture. His complex and fruitful approach to questions of ideology, power and change remains crucial for critical theory. This volume was the first selection published from the Notebooks to be made available in Britain, and was originally published in the early 1970s. It contains the most important of Gramsci''s notebooks, including the texts of The Modern Prince, and Americanism and Fordism, and extensive notes on the state and civil society, Italian history and the role of intellectuals. ''Far the best informative apparatus available to any foreign language readership of Gramsci.'' Perry Anderson, New Left Review ''A model of scholarship'' New Statesman

Read more less

Book SynopsisStephen R. Platt received his PhD in Chinese history at Yale and teaches Chinese history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His work has been supported by the Fulbright program, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation.Trade ReviewEngaging and exciting ... Finely written * Literary Review *Lucid and gripping ... Highly recommended for anyone interested in China * TES *An impressive, gracefully written account * Wall Street Journal *A splendid example of finely calibrated historical narrative ... It is a tragic and powerful story -- Jonathan Spence, author of The Search for Modern ChinaA refreshing and gripping account ... Powerful, dramatic and unforgettable * San Francisco Chronicle *A marvellous account of a largely forgotten but major event. Combines great scholarship with a driving narrative and sharp characterisation -- Jonathan Fenby, author of The Penguin History of Modern ChinaStephen Platt brings to vivid life a pivotal chapter in China's history that has been all but forgotten ... A fascinating work by a first-class historian and superb writer -- Henry Kissinger

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisWritten nearly fifty years ago, at a time when the world was still wrestling with the concepts of Marx and Lenin, ''The Illusion of the Epoch'' is the perfect resource for understanding the roots of Marxism-Leninism and its implications for philosophy, modern political thought, economics, and history. As Professor Tim Fuller has written, this is not an intemperate book, but rather an effort at a sustained, scholarly argument against Marxian views. Far from demonising his subject, Acton scrupulously notes where Marx''s account of historical and economic events and processes is essentially accurate. However, Acton also points out that Marx is generally right about things that were already widely known and accepted in his own time and indeed had been long understood in the nineteenth century. On the other hand, Acton shows that in many cases Marx either is simply wrong or has stated his views so as to render his theories immune to disproof. Acton also explains why the embodiment of Marxis

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn anthology that presents John Dewey's major political writings, which display Dewey's philosophical method, his controversial views on war and education, his essential contributions to democratic theory, and his distinctive brand of progressive political ideology.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"It is wonderful to have David Lowenthal's splendid translation of Montesquieu's Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline back in print. This neglected masterpiece deserves attention from all who are concerned with self-government--whether their focus is on history or on its prospects in our own time." --Paul A. Rahe, University of Tulsa

Read more less

Book SynopsisOriginally published separately, Weber's 'Science as a Vocation' and 'Politics as a Vocation' stand as the classic formulations of his positions on two related subjects that go to the heart of his thought: the nature and status of science and its claims to authority; and the nature and status of political claims and the.Trade Review[Owen and Strong] beautifully weave together the historical, philosophical, academic and personal circumstances that shaped Weber's world-view and these efforts reward the reader with a nuanced and thorough understanding. . . . Students, and even established academics, will benefit tremendously from this new edition. Rating: ***** --Jeffrey Roberts, University of Kent, in Political Studies Review

Read more less

Book SynopsisTaking full extent of S.R. Slings' new Greek text of the Republic, Reeve has given us a translation at once both accurate and limpid. Loving attention to detail and deep familiarity with Plato's thought are evident on every page.Trade Review"Taking full advantage of S. R. Slings' new Greek text of the Republic, Reeve has given us a translation both accurate and limpid. Loving attention to detail and deep familiarity with Plato's thought are evident on every page. Reeve's brilliant decision to cast the dialogue into direct speech produces a compelling impression of immediacy unmatched by other English translations currently available." —Lloyd P. Gerson, University of Toronto"Reeve's new translation can be highly recommended for its accurate and readable rendering of the original. . . . Those who read the Republic for the first time or for pleasure are sure to find this the most attractive and accessible translation currently available." —Naoko Yamagata, in Journal of Classics Teaching"David Reeve's long and devoted engagement with Plato's Republic, evidenced in his highly-regarded revision of George Grube's translation, issues now in a completely new translation of his own. In this version, Socrates' narration of his conversation with Glaucon and Adeimantus et al. is converted so far as possible into dramatically gripping and effective direct speech. Its increased accessibility promises to make it the number-one choice for undergraduate courses." —John Cooper, Princeton University "Reeve's new translation of Plato's Republic will be of value both to students approaching the work for the first time and, and a handy version for the more advanced reader. The translation is solid, the format and scholarly apparatus make it very accessible." —Thomas Cooksey, in The Classical OutlookTable of ContentsPreface. Acknowledgements; Maps. Genealogical Charts. Time Line; SELECTIONS: Acusilaus; Aelian; Aeschylus; Andron; Antoninus Liberalis; Apollodorus; Archilochus; Arrian; Babrius; Bacchylides; Bion; Callimachus; Cleanthes; Conon; Cornutus; Critias; Diodorus of Sicily; Eratosthenes; Euripides; Fulgentius; Hellanicus; Heraclitus; Herodorus; Herodotus; Hesiod; The Homeric Hymns; Horace; Hyginus; Longus; Lucian; Lucretius; Ovid; Palaephatus; Parthenius; Pausanias; Pherecydes; Pindar; Plato; Plutarch; Proclus; Sallustius; Sappho; Semonides; Simonides; Sophocles; Statius; Theocritus; Theophrastus; Thucydides; Vergil; Xenophanes; Xenophon; Appendix One: Linear B Sources (by Thomas G. Palaima); Appendix Two: Inscriptions; Appendix Three: Papyri; Note on Texts and Translations. Names and Transliterations. Index/Glossary.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe thoroughly revised and updated Handbook on Theories of Governance brings together leading scholars in the field to summarise and assess the diversity of governance theories. The Handbook advances a deeper theoretical understanding of governance processes, illuminating the interdisciplinary foundations of the field.Trade Review‘Pity the poor doctoral student who propose to tackle theories of governance. Confronted by many competing theories from multiple disciplines, which way to turn? Once hapless, now help is to hand. Ansell and Torfing provide an authoritative, comprehensive source. They cannot reconcile all the theoretical and disciplinary differences, but they can and do provide a systematic overview of the field. All can now reflect upon this current blessing not their previous misfortune.’ -- Roderick Rhodes, University of Southampton, UKTable of ContentsContents: Preface xii Acknowledgements xvii 1 Introduction to the Handbook on Theories of Governance 1 Christopher Ansell and Jacob Torfing PART I THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF GOVERNANCE 2 Collective action theory 18 Robert Holahan and Mark Lubell 3 Organization theory 28 Morten Egeberg, Åse Gornitzka and Jarle Trondal 4 Public management theory 42 Zoe Radnor, Stephen Osborne and Russ Glennon 5 Planning theory 56 Thomas Hartmann and Stan Geertman 6 Policy process frameworks 66 Saba Siddiki 7 State theory 77 Bob Jessop 8 Democratic theory 89 Andreas Klinke 9 Public law and regulatory theory 104 Shauhin Talesh 10 Development theory 118 Jennifer N. Brass 11 International relations theory 129 Kerstin Sahlin PART II BASIC THEORETICAL CONCEPTS 12 Heterarchy 140 Karen Stephenson 13 Network 149 Patrick Kenis 14 Public participation 158 Kathryn S. Quick and John M. Bryson 15 Representation 169 Lucy Taylor 16 Deliberation 178 Per Ola Öberg 17 Power 187 Mark Haugaard 18 Legitimacy 196 Sylvia I. Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen 19 Trust 205 Bart Nooteboom 20 Accountability 215 Yannis Papadopoulos 21 Transparency 226 Jenny de Fine Licht and Daniel Naurin 22 Evidence 234 Paul Cairney 23 Learning 244 Tanya Heikkila and Andrea K. Gerlak 24 Innovation 254 Jean Hartley and Jacob Torfing 25 Risk 264 Ortwin Renn and Andreas Klinke 26 Steering 278 Renate Mayntz 27 Soft and hard governing tools 285 Paula Blomqvist PART III THEORETICAL MODES OF ANALYSIS 28 Information-based governance 298 Graham Bullock 29 Discourse theory 309 Steven Griggs and David Howarth 30 Institutional theory 323 B. Guy Peters 31 Public choice theory 336 Lina Ericksson 32 The Advocacy Coalition Framework 353 Jonathan J. Pierce and Alex Osei-Kojo 33 Economic theory 365 Klaus Nielsen 34 Governmentality 378 Peter Triantafillou 35 Complexity theory and systems analysis 389 Christopher Koliba, Lasse Gerrits, Mary Lee Rhodes and Jack W. Meek 36 Narrative and interpretative theory 407 Nick Turnbull 37 Pragmatism 419 Christopher Ansell 38 Normative considerations of interactive governance: effectiveness, efficiency, legitimacy and innovation 429 Jurian Edelenbos and Ingmar van Meerkerk PART IV FORMS OF GOVERNANCE 39 Co-production: theoretical roots and conceptual frameworks 446 Tony Bovaird and Elke Loeffler 40 Democratic network governance 462 Eva Sørensen 41 Regulatory governance 472 John Yasuda 42 Network governance 485 Robyn Keast 43 Collaborative governance 497 Alison Gash 44 Private governance 510 Marija Isailovic and Philipp Pattberg 45 Urban and regional governance 519 Jon Pierre 46 Multi-level governance 528 Ian Bache, Ian Bartle and Matt Flinders 47 EU and supranational governance 540 Diana Panke and Miguel Haubrich-Seco 48 Transnational economic governance 555 Walter Mattli and Jack Seddon 49 Metagovernance 567 Jacob Torfing 50 Adaptive governance 580 Toddi Steelman 51 Experimentalist governance 592 Bernardo Rangoni 52 Epilogue: the current status and future development of governance theories 604 Christopher Ansell and Jacob Torfing Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe New York Times bestselling book from Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg—“a comprehensive look inside her brilliantly analytical, entertainingly wry mind, revealing the fascinating life of one of our generation''s most influential voices in both law and public opinion” (Harper’s Bazaar).My Own Words “showcases Ruth Ginsburg’s astonishing intellectual range” (The New Republic). In this collection Justice Ginsburg discusses gender equality, the workings of the Supreme Court, being Jewish, law and lawyers in opera, and the value of looking beyond US shores when interpreting the US Constitution. Throughout her life Justice Ginsburg has been (and continues to be) a prolific writer and public speaker. This book’s sampling is selected by Justice Ginsburg and her authorized biographers Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams, who introduce each chapter and provide biographical context and quotes gl

Read more less

Book SynopsisEver since the Industrial Revolution energy has been a key driver of world politics. From the oil crises of the 1970s to today’s rapid expansion of renewable energy sources, every shift in global energy patterns has important repercussions for international relations. In this new book, Thijs Van de Graaf and Benjamin Sovacool uncover the intricate ways in which our energy systems have shaped global outcomes in four key areas of world politics: security, the economy, the environment and global justice. Moving beyond the narrow geopolitical focus that has dominated much of the discussion on global energy politics, they also deftly trace the connections between energy, environmental politics, and community activism.The authors argue that we are on the cusp of a global energy shift that promises to be no less transformative for the pursuit of wealth and power in world politics than the historical shifts from wood to coal and from coal to oil. This ongoing energy transformation will not only upend the global balance of power; it could also fundamentally transfer political authority away from the nation state, empowering citizens, regions and local communities. Global Energy Politics will be an essential resource for students of the social sciences grappling with the major energy issues of our times.Trade Review"In a complex and rapidly changing energy landscape, this comprehensive overview of the global politics of energy is particularly welcome. It skillfully connects the dots between energy markets, geopolitics, the environment, and local activism across a range of energy technologies and sectors. For anyone who wants to understand the complexities and depth of the global energy challenge, Global Energy Politics is essential reading." —Adnan Z. Amin, Director-General Emeritus of the International Renewable Energy Agency "An important contribution to thinking through the current energy era and the future transition." —Morgan Bazilian, Executive Director of the Payne Institute for Earth Resources and Research Professor of Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines "a well-informed, empirically rich systematic analysis of different parts of the energy sector that builds directly on the latest research." —Gavin Bridge, Durham University "Global Energy Politics is a comprehensive, well-researched, and valuable guide to the energy challenges of our time. Thijs Van de Graaf and Benjamin Sovacool deploy a variety of analytical perspectives: geopolitics, economics, sustainability, and justice, discussing promising technological innovations and the institutional and political challenges to decarbonization." —Robert O. Keohane, Princeton University "We are in the middle of a global energy transformation. Van De Graaf and Sovacool’s comprehensive text provides students with an essential guide to this changing global energy landscape." —Johannes Urpelainen, John Hopkins University "Keeping pace with the changing global energy landscape and its influence on political, economic and social issues has become exponentially more difficult in a world where unprecedented risks and technological advances are upending the norms of the last century. Global Energy Politics is a valuable resource for those seeking to understand and navigate the shifting relationships between energy markets, geopolitics, climate, equity, and emerging technologies at this critical energy crossroad." —Jason Bordoff, Columbia University "[Global Energy Politics] is very welcome… This book provides a wide-ranging panorama of global energy politics … and would be an excellent read for undergraduate and post-graduate students tackling the subject." —Asian Century Institute "The most important contribution of this book comes through employing systems thinking to deal with energy issues. Van De Graaf and Sovacool have opened up a technical and difficult topic to social scientists while at the same time broadening traditional IR approaches." —International Affairs "The book is well-researched, up to date, and it presents complex and interrelated energy topics in an easily accessible and impressively pedagogical way... Their multidisciplinary socio-technical approach offers a deeper understanding than could be attained through the lens of any single discipline in isolation." —International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics "An excellent survey and overview of various elements of global energy politics. The writing is clear and accessible, yet covers impressive ground and accommodates the infinite complexity of the subject at hand. This book serves as a comprehensive introductory text and will be a useful read to students of energy politics across a variety of disciplines, and particularly students attempting to find a point of entry into the rapidly growing subfield of energy geographies." —The American Association of Geographers (AAG) Review of Books "Sovacool and Van de Graaf bring us closer to the broader research agenda we need to map the different pathways of global transformation that may emerge from the transition…Their chapter on “energy justice”, which investigates the detrimental impacts of renewable energy supply chains on communities when social justice concerns are side-lined, is particularly welcome." —Michel J. Albert, AlternativesTable of ContentsForeword by Adnan Z. Amin 1. Introduction: Systems, frames, and transitions 2. The history and functioning of key energy markets Part I: World Politics Through an Energy Prism 3. Energy and security 4. Energy and the economy 5. Energy and the environment 6. Energy and justice Part II: Governing the Energy Transition 7. Energy technologies and innovation 8. National and regional energy policy 9. Global energy governance 10. Conclusions

Read more less

Book SynopsisPoliticians invoke grand ideas: social justice, democracy, community, liberty, equality. But what do these ideas really mean? How can politicians across the political spectrum appeal to the same values? This fourth edition of Adam Swift's highly readable introduction to political philosophy answers these important questions, and includes new material on issues such as nationalism, immigration and multiculturalism, as well as updated guides to further reading. This lively and accessible book is ideal for students, but it also brings the insights of the world's leading political philosophers to a wide general audience. Using plenty of examples, it equips readers to think for themselves about the ideas that shape political life. Democracy works best when both politicians and voters move beyond rhetoric to think clearly and carefully about the values and principles that should govern their society. But clear thinking is difficult in an age when established orthodoxies have fallen by the wayside and political debate is becoming increasingly tribal and raucous. Bringing political philosophy out of the ivory tower and within the reach of all, this book provides us with tools to cut through the complexities and penetrate the smokescreens of modern politics. In so doing, it makes a valuable contribution to the democratic process and this new edition will continue to be essential reading for students of political philosophy and theory.Trade Review‘As a teacher and a writer, Adam Swift’s career has been about connecting the high ideals of political theory with the vital fabric of everyday life. His book is a welcoming invitation into the world of political philosophy and urgent injunction to think more deeply and read more widely. This highly readable and relevant introduction to political thought is important reading for politicians and students alike.’Ed MillibandTable of ContentsPreface Preface to Fourth Edition Introduction Part 1: Social Justice Part 2: Democracy Part 3: Liberalism and Community Part 4: Liberty Part 5: Equality Conclusion Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe driving cultural force of that form of life we call ‘modern’ is the desire to make the world controllable. Yet it is only in encountering the uncontrollable that we really experience the world – only then do we feel touched, moved and alive. A world that is fully known, in which everything has been planned and mastered, would be a dead world. Our lives are played out on the border between what we can control and that which lies outside our control. But because we late-modern human beings seek to make the world controllable, we tend to encounter the world as a series of objects that we have to conquer, master or exploit. And precisely because of this, ‘life,’ the experience of feeling alive and truly encountering the world, always seems to elude us. This in turn leads to frustration, anger and even despair, which then manifest themselves in, among other things, acts of impotent political aggression. For Rosa, to encounter the world and achieve resonance with it requires us to be open to that which extends beyond our control. The outcome of this process cannot be predicted, and this is why moments of resonance are always concomitant with moments of uncontrollability. This short book – the sequel to Rosa’s path-breaking work on social acceleration and resonance – will be of great interest students and scholars in sociology and the social sciences and to anyone concerned with the nature of modern social life.Trade Review"A rare combination of erudition, theoretical sophistication and philosophical inventiveness, this magnificent book provides a starting point for any forensic exploration of the cultural dilemmas and political contradictions of our times."—Achille Mbembe, author of Necropolitics "The Uncontrollability of the World is a remarkable book, packing a lot of insightful theory as well as analyses of its practical validity into a slim volume that, I hope, will find its way to the reading lists of many courses on social philosophy as well as the tables of fellow academics throughout the world."—Phenomenological ReviewsTable of ContentsBeyond Control vii Introduction: On Snow 1 1 The World as a Point of Aggression 5 2 Four Dimensions of Controllability 15 3 The Paradoxical Flipside: The Mysterious Withdrawal of the World 19 4 The World as a Point of Resonance 30 5 Five Theses on the Controllability of Things and the Uncontrollability of Experience 40 6 To Take Control or to Let Things Happen? The Basic Conflict of Modernity at Six Stages of Life 60 7 Control as an Institutional Necessity: The Structural Dimension of the Basic Conflict of Modernity 86 8 The Uncontrollability of Desire and the Desire for the Uncontrollable 102 9 The Monstrous Return of the Uncontrollable 110 Conclusion 117 Notes 118

Read more less

Book SynopsisHuman Rights, now in its fourth edition, is an introductory text that is both innovative and challenging. Its unique interdisciplinary approach invites students to think imaginatively and rigorously about one of the most important and influential political concepts of our time. Tracing the history of the concept, the book shows that there are fundamental tensions between legal, philosophical and social-scientific approaches to human rights. This analysis throws light on some of the most controversial issues in the field: What are the causes of human-rights violations? Is the idea of universal human rights consistent with respect for cultural difference? Are we living in a ‘post-human rights’ world? Thoroughly revised and updated, the new edition engages with recent developments, including the Trump and Biden presidencies, colonial legacies, neoliberalism, conflict in Syria, Yemen and Myanmar, the Covid-19 pandemic, new technologies and the supposed crisis of liberal democracy. Widely admired and assigned for its clarity and comprehensiveness, this book remains a ‘go-to’ text for students in the social sciences, as well as students of human-rights law who want an introduction to the non-legal aspects of their subject.Trade Review“Freeman’s discussion of human rights spans a remarkable range of eras, concepts, and disciplines. Tying it all together are his consistent commitment to showcase multiple sides of debates and the clarity of his writing. Complex yet accessible – a rare combination.”Shareen Hertel, Professor of Political Science & Human Rights, University of Connecticut “Michael Freeman is one of the leading and most reliable theorists of human rights. In this latest edition of Human Rights, he offers a detailed and objective perspective upon contemporary human-rights challenges, whilst also proposing ways in which we might more effectively engage with these challenges in the years ahead. His book should be essential reading for students and established academics alike.”Andrew Fagan, Director, Human Rights Centre, University of Essex “Michael Freeman is a long-time and careful observer of internationally recognized human rights. Students and faculty alike always benefit from his insights into that subject covering both theory and practice. There are sound reasons for his being a well-known scholar on that important topic.”David Forsythe, University of Nebraska “As we strain to make human rights 'real' in a range of sectors, such as education, health and housing, we need educationalists, health professionals, housing experts, and those working in other disciplines. The watchword is interdisciplinarity. Freeman provides a top-notch interdisciplinary introduction to the foundations of human rights for everyone wanting to make human rights relevant in the everyday lives of everybody.”Paul Hunt, Chief Human Rights Commissioner, New Zealand Human Rights CommissionTable of ContentsPreface to the Fourth Edition 1 Introduction: Thinking about Human Rights 2 Origins: The Rise and Fall of Natural Rights 3 After 1945: The New Age of Rights 4 Theories of Human Rights 5 Human Rights and Social Science 6 The Politics of Human Rights 7 Globalization, Development and Poverty: Economics and Human Rights 8 Universality, Diversity and Difference: Culture and Human Rights9 Conclusion: Utopians, Endtimers, Slow BorersReferences

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe way that Americans understand their Constitution and wider legal tradition has been dominated in recent decades by two exhausted approaches: the originalism of conservatives and the “living constitutionalism” of progressives. Is it time to look for an alternative? Adrian Vermeule argues that the alternative has been there, buried in the American legal tradition, all along. He shows that US law was, from the founding, subsumed within the broad framework of the classical legal tradition, which conceives law as “a reasoned ordering to the common good.” In this view, law’s purpose is to promote the goods a flourishing political community requires: justice, peace, prosperity, and morality. He shows how this legacy has been lost, despite still being implicit within American public law, and convincingly argues for its recovery in the form of “common good constitutionalism.” This erudite and brilliantly original book is a vital intervention in America’s most significant contemporary legal debate while also being an enduring account of the true nature of law that will resonate for decades with scholars and students.Trade Review“Elegant, insightful, magisterial: Adrian Vermeule has written an instant classic of scholarship, exposing the poverty of today’s prevailing legal theories, left and right, and pointing us to a better alternative – one as vibrant and radical as the Western tradition.”Sohrab Ahmari, bestselling author of The Unbroken Thread and From Fire, by Water “This is the most important book of American constitutional theory in many decades. Common Good Constitutionalism is a bolt from the blue that challenges conservative and progressive constitutional law paradigms alike. It is destined to infuriate, and to reorient.”Jack Goldsmith, Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard University “You are holding that rarest of books, one that will change minds, change the terms of debate, and change the future. Adrian Vermeule has written the most important and original book on constitutional theory for this generation. Future scholars, lawyers, and citizens will look back at this book for having sounded the death knell of the seemingly unassailable camps of conservative ‘originalism’ and progressive ‘living constitutionalism,’ revealing them to be exhausted sides of the same devalued liberal coin. More importantly, this book charts a new and better path – a common good constitutionalism grounded in the classical tradition but repurposed for the revitalization of a declining but redeemable republic.”Patrick J. Deneen, University of Notre Dame, author of Why Liberalism Failed “This bold and provocative book challenges the views on constitutional interpretation of both US conservatives and liberals, and reframes the debate by focusing on a substantive concept: the common good. With his characteristic originality and ability to weave the insights of different disciplines, Vermeule puts forward a thought-provoking account of the common good and its legal implications, one which will be of relevance well beyond American debates. Even those who disagree with it will have much to learn from this erudite engagement with one of the main concepts in political thought.”Francisco J. Urbina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile “ambitious”John Lloyd, Times Literary SupplementTable of ContentsACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION: THE RETURN OF THE CLASSICAL LEGAL TRADITION I. THE COMMON GOOD DEFINED II. THE CLASSICAL LEGAL TRADITION IN AMERICA III. ORIGINALISM AS ILLUSION IV. PROGRESSIVE CONSTITUTIONALISM AND DEVELOPING CONSTITUTIONALISM V. APPLICATIONS CONCLUSION

Read more less

Book SynopsisPolitical issues people care about such as racism, climate change, and democracy take on new urgency and meaning in the light of technological developments such as AI. How can we talk about the politics of AI while moving beyond mere warnings and easy accusations? This is the first accessible introduction to the political challenges related to AI. Using political philosophy as a unique lens through which to explore key debates in the area, the book shows how various political issues are already impacted by emerging AI technologies: from justice and discrimination to democracy and surveillance. Revealing the inherently political nature of technology, it offers a rich conceptual toolbox that can guide efforts to deal with the challenges raised by what turns out to be not only artificial intelligence but also artificial power. This timely and original book will appeal to students and scholars in philosophy of technology and political philosophy, as well as tech developers, innovation leaders, policy makers, and anyone interested in the impact of technology on society.​Trade Review“The disciplines of AI ethics and political philosophy focus on many of the same issues, but only rarely do we see the rich history of the latter discipline being used to make sense of the politics of AI. Coeckelbergh provides a welcome exception with this important book.”Henrik Skaug Sætra, Østfold University College “Artificial intelligence is fundamentally political, and this book illuminates why. It spans the debates about inequality, democracy, power, and posthumanism, and shows the importance of social and political theory to understanding AI.”Kate Crawford, author of Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence“Coeckelbergh[‘s] […] real focus is on showing a few thousand years’ worth of philosophical thought will not automatically become obsolete through feats of digital engineering.”Scott McLemee, Inside Higher EdTable of ContentsAcknowledgements 1 Introduction 2 Freedom: Manipulation by AI and Robot Slavery3 Equality and Justice: Bias and Discrimination by AI4 Democracy: Echo Chambers and Machine Totalitarianism 5 Power: Surveillance and (Self-)disciplining by Data6 What about Non-Humans? Environmental Politics and Posthumanism 7 Conclusion: Political TechnologiesReferencesIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisSince its introduction in 2009, Bitcoin has been widely promoted as a digital currency that will revolutionize everything from online commerce to the nation-state. Yet supporters of Bitcoin and its blockchain technology subscribe to a form of cyberlibertarianism that depends to a surprising extent on far-right political thought. The Politics of Bitcoin exposes how much of the economic and political thought on which this cryptocurrency is based emerges from ideas that travel the gamut, from Milton Friedman, F.A. Hayek, and Ludwig von Mises to Federal Reserve conspiracy theorists.Forerunners: Ideas First is a thought-in-process series of breakthrough digital publications. Written between fresh ideas and finished books, Forerunners draws on scholarly work initiated in notable blogs, social media, conference plenaries, journal articles, and the synergy of academic exchange. This is gray literature publishing: where intense thinking, change, and speculation take place in scholarship.Trade Review"Golumbia, in his small but important way, is helping wake us to the falsity of our perceived neutrality."—One Flew East"This book is a very readable and valuable monograph which combines sound historical research with insightful analysis. All concerned citizens should read this book, which is an essential resource for understanding the true stakes of current technological hyperbole."—Newsclick"Golumbia a le mérite de s’attaquer à des idées qui ne sont pas suffisamment remises en question dans les communautés de la cryptomonnaie et des technologies de chaînes concertées. J’en recommande fortement la lecture à quiconque s’interroge sur les impacts de ces technologies sur nos sociétés."—D’un bloc à l’autre

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe quest for social justice is a powerful crusade of our time, with an appeal to many different people, for many different reasons. But those who use the same words do not always present the same meanings. Clarifying those meanings is the first step toward finding out what we agree on and disagree on. From there, it is largely a question of what the facts are. Social Justice Fallacies reveals how many things that are thought to be true simply cannot stand up to documented facts, which are often the opposite of what is widely believed.However attractive the social justice vision, the crucial question is whether the social justice agenda will get us to the fulfillment of that vision. History shows that the social justice agenda has often led in the opposite direction, sometimes with catastrophic consequences. More things are involved besides simply mistakes. All human beings are fallible, and social justice advocates may not necessarily make any more mistakes than others. But crusaders with an utter certainty about their mission are often undeterred by obstacles, evidence or even fatal dangers. That is where much of the Western world is today. The question is whether we will continue on heedlessly, past the point of no return.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Roman Republic was one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of civilization. Beginning as a small city-state in central Italy, Rome gradually expanded into a wider world filled with petty tyrants, barbarian chieftains, and despotic kings. Through the centuries, Rome's model of cooperative and participatory government remained remarkably durable and unmatched in the history of the ancient world.In 146 BC, Rome finally emerged as the strongest power in the Mediterranean. But the very success of the Republic proved to be its undoing. The republican system was unable to cope with the vast empire Rome now ruled: rising economic inequality disrupted traditional ways of life, endemic social and ethnic prejudice led to clashes over citizenship and voting rights, and rampant corruption and ruthless ambition sparked violent political clashes that cracked the once indestructible foundations of the Republic.Chronicling the years 146-78 BC, The Storm Before the Storm dives headlong into the first generation to face this treacherous new political environment. Abandoning the ancient principles of their forbearers, men like Marius, Sulla, and the Gracchi brothers set dangerous new precedents that would start the Republic on the road to destruction and provide a stark warning about what can happen to a civilization that has lost its way.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis volume provides the most economical and textually accurate version of Calhoun's Disquisition available today. As a treatise, the Disquisition is one of the greatest and most enduring works of American political thought, and a text of seminal importance to all students of American politics, history, philosophy, and law.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe stunning story of Russia's slide back into a dictatorship,and how the West is now paying the price for allowing it to happen.The ascension of Vladimir Putin,a former lieutenant colonel of the KGB,to the presidency of Russia in 1999 was a strong signal that the country was headed away from democracy. Yet in the intervening years,as America and the world's other leading powers have continued to appease him,Putin has grown not only into a dictator but an internationalthreat. With his vast resources and nuclear arsenal, Putin is at the centre of a worldwide assault on political liberty and the modern world order.For Garry Kasparov, none of this is news. He has been a vocal critic of Putin for over a decade, even leading the pro-democracy opposition to him in the farcical 2008 presidential election. Yet years of seeing his Cassandra-like prophecies about Putin's intentions fulfilled have left Kasparov with a darker truth: Putin's Russia, like ISIS or Al Qaeda, defines itself in opposition to the free countries of the world.As Putin has grown ever more powerful, the threat he poses has grown from local to regional and finally to global. In this urgent book, Kasparov shows that the collapse of the Soviet Union was not an endpoint,only a change of seasons, as the Cold War melted into a new spring. But now, after years of complacency and poor judgment, winter is once again upon us.Argued with the force of Kasparov's world-class intelligence, conviction, and hopes for his home country, Winter Is Coming reveals Putin for what he is: an existential danger hiding in plain sight.

Read more less

Book Synopsis'One of the most perceptive and thought-provoking books …Essential reading for these turbulent times.' Amitav Ghosh, author of The Great Derangement 'Dougald Hine’s brilliant book demands we stare into that abyss and rethink our securest certainties about what is actually going on in the climate crisis. It’s lucidly unsettling and yet in the end empowering. There is something we can do, and it starts with where we look, how we see and what we choose to change.’ Brian Eno, Musician ‘[A] rich book, which like a poetic or religious text deserves multiple readings’ Richard Smith, British Medical Journal ‘I consider this book a must-read for all those activists feeling lost, desperate and perhaps subject to ‘press-on-itis'.’ Gail Bradbrook, cofounder, Extinction Rebellion Dougald Hine, world-renowned environmental thinker, has spent most of his life talking to people about climate change. And then one afternoon in the second year of the pandemic, he found he had nothing left to say. Why would someone who cares so deeply about ecological destruction want to stop talking about climate change now? At Work in the Ruins explores that question. ‘Climate change asks us questions that climate science cannot answer,’ Dougald says. Questions like, how did we end up in this mess? Is it just a piece of bad luck with atmospheric chemistry – or is it the result of a way of approaching the world that would always have brought us to such a pass? How we answer such questions also has consequences. Through our over-reliance on the single lens of science, Dougald writes that we are blinded to the nature of the crises around and ahead of us, leading to ‘solutions’ that can only make things worse. At Work in the Ruins is his reckoning with the strange years we have been living through and our long history of asking too much of science. He offers guidance by standing firmly forward and facing the depth of the trouble we are in, to ultimately, helps us find the work that is worth doing, even in the ruins.Trade Review'Drawing on decades of experience in climate journalism and activism, Dougald Hine’s At Work in the Ruins is one of the most perceptive and thought-provoking books yet written about the multiple intersecting crises that are now upending our once-familiar world. Of particular importance is Hine’s deeply respectful yet unsparing analysis of the strengths and limitations of science in reckoning with these crises. At Work in the Ruins is essential reading for these turbulent times.' Amitav Ghosh, author of The Great Derangement‘As it begins to dawn on us all that we won’t “stop” climate change or “solve” the climate crisis, we are left looking into something of an abyss. Dougald Hine’s brilliant book demands we stare into that abyss and rethink our securest certainties about what is actually going on in the climate crisis. It’s lucidly unsettling and yet in the end empowering. There is something we can do, and it starts with where we look, how we see and what we choose to change.’ Brian Eno, Musician'In this age of confusion and corruption, Dougald Hine has always had a great gift for asking the right questions. Here he makes a stab at some answers, too – and, more bravely, identifies the places where ‘answers’ are not available and that the real work is rebooting our entire way of seeing. There are far too many books about climate change around, but this book is about something more unsettling: what our response to climate change reveals about us – and what we can’t do about it, as well as what we can. You are certain to come away rethinking some of your own assumptions.' Paul Kingsnorth, author of Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist'Dougald Hine’s book At Work in the Ruins is a deep reflection on the foundations of the destructive path humanity has been pushed on, driven by colonialism, modernity and fossil fuel addiction, by its love for centralization, control, consumerism, certainty. By stopping to talk about climate change and the other problems we face, Dougald invites us to make deeper shifts by making a turn in our hearts and minds, seeking smaller paths, paths to be discovered and walked along by individuals and communities, paths of diversity and decentralization. And trust uncertainty.' Vandana Shiva, author of Terra Viva'I’ll get right to it: every time the world ends, it leaves a mark. Yes. Implicitly, the apocalypse is not new. There have been many before. But this mark I speak of...it is like a signature. A prophetic molecule of sorts. A sense of discomfort with the rush of the familiar. A taste for questions too slippery for the public imagination. A slant of the eye. An initiation that queers the flesh. Like fungal spores inseminating a zombie ant in the forest. A virus. Not to worry: Not everyone is so marked. But Dougald Hine clearly is. Dougald Hine is mad. And he has my full attention and trust. In this sonorous swoosh of earnest prose composed with the cadence of a fugitive journalist who has a news story that should end all other stories – as well as the unmistakable lilt of an elder who would have sat at the edge of my Nigerian village – Dougald ushers us into the Gordian knots of our strange times where ‘following the science’, ‘solving the climate challenge’ and ‘saving the world’ no longer hold much cartographical promise. Ironically, talking this way about a phenomenon that calls into question humanity’s claims to sovereignty is how the modern machine keeps reproducing the fires we want to extinguish. Pushing past popular tropes, Dougald helps us see that how we talk about and address this end-of-world crisis is the crisis. Something else is needed. Mutiny of some kind. An apostasy. Definitely more than a manifesto, a new solution or a new campaign. Let Dougald Hine’s masterful storytelling mark you; let his song of loss and longing, his call to fugitivity, dispossess you of your steady gait and poise. Perhaps then we, collectively infected, might together witness the incomprehensible.' Bayo Akomolafe, author of These Wilds Beyond our Fences'I’ve long felt Dougald Hine an elder to our environmental movements. In this timely book, he is asking us to pause and consider where we are now and how we got here – to think about the deeper causes of the polycrisis. I consider this book a must-read for all those activists feeling lost, desperate and perhaps subject to "press-on-itis". Let’s find our curiosity together, hold each other as we navigate the turbulence and face our lack of roadmap. For me, reading this book was like having a long and honest supper with an old friend around a warming fire. I finished it with a relieving sigh, feeling nourished, heart opened, humanity seen. Let our longings guide our actions. Thank you, Dougald.' Gail Bradbrook, cofounder Extinction Rebellion'I love reading Hine’s writing. Here is a work that began with a feeling that was sensed before it was thought. The result is a book of rare originality and depth – profound, far-reaching, mind-altering stuff.' Helen Jukes, author of A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings'There is great storytelling woven within Dougald’s timely and sometimes-disturbing book. Hine addresses the blessings and chaos of this moment without ever moving into relentless naysaying or vapid optimism, which makes it hugely refreshing. He seeks a third, truer position. A bigger one. At Work in the Ruins carries the weight of many years at the front line of thinking around climate emergency. This isn’t a weary, trotted-out mandate; it wonderingly tugs at what we think we know and points towards what we may not.' Martin Shaw, author of Courting the Wild Twin'Dougald Hine’s very personable book makes a persuasive and welcome case for a new view of science. He shows clearly how movements that live by science – in its current, institutionalized meaning – will also die by science. At Work in the Ruins speaks up for practical judgment, common sense and the wisdom of heart as guides on the ‘small and branching path’ that Hine contrasts with the big highway of surveillance and regulation by which scientized technocracy proposes to address climate change. The Covid years have revealed a stark choice, long foreseen by the prophetic thinkers, such as Ivan Illich, by whom Hine is inspired. I hope many will heed Hine’s invitation to friendship and intellectual modesty, and join him on the adventure of the small path.' David Cayley, author of Ivan Illich: An Intellectual Journey'If the hourglass has come to stand for the time of endings in which we find ourselves, Dougald Hine looks beyond it to recall the myriad encounters with thinkers and knowledges which have shaped his sense-making over the past two decades, and which shed light on our predicament. When our gaze returns to the hourglass, the reader might question its shape, the width of the opening, where the sand was taken from and who gets to turn it. What actually happens once the sand has drained? Or what happens if it doesn’t? What would happen if the glass cracked and the sand was allowed to spill out onto the table? Hine makes tentative maps with that spilt sand, tracing lines with his finger that are clear, compelling and cathartic; reverent to the unknown and unknowable.' Sarah Thomas, author of The Raven’s Nest'Here is a book that explores the public understanding of science around climate change, Covid and social movements. Asking if we demand too much of science, Hine points beyond the "dark hubris" of despair. With eloquence and honesty, he invites us to the hope of deeper mystery that life on Earth might yet unfold.' Alastair McIntosh, author of Soil and Soul and Riders on the Storm'We’ve tried browbeating people into saving the planet. It doesn’t work, both because most people don’t like to be told what to do and because it is pure folly to imagine that individual microchoices are sufficient to lift us out of this crisis. Why not try, instead, to invite people to think together with us in a spirit of honesty, not only about the crisis and possible ways out of it, but also about the deeper reasons why we cherish the world we have been told we must save? This is Dougald Hine’s approach, and it is timely indeed – a desperately needed change of register in contemporary environmental thinking.' Justin E.H. Smith, author of The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is'In this book, Dougald Hine invites us to repurpose the ruins of the modern structures of organisation and existence (within and around us) that have led us on the path of premature extinction. The end of the world as we know it is the end of a world that needs hospicing, and perhaps, through this hospicing, humanity can learn to be taught by the violence it has inflicted on itself and the rest of nature. It is pretentious to think we (humans) can ‘birth’ a new world; but since we are part of nature and not the centre of it, we can learn to trust the healing capacity of its metabolism to work through us, if we can decentre ourselves to allow it to happen.' Vanessa Machado de Oliveira, author of Hospicing Modernity'It’s hard to exaggerate the importance and sheer nerve of Hine’s prophetic call to face the facts. This is an elegant and acute examination of our personal and societal pathology, and a stirring but never polemical insistence that we must start the treatment. What’s wrong with us? Our storylessness, our pathetic clutching at polarities, and our ludicrous faith in progress rather than process. And the therapy? Stories that are worthy of us, because we’re huge and enduring – unlike politics or institutions or ideas. These are apocalyptic times. Hine reminds us that apocalypse means "unveiling" and prepares us for what we might see if we’ve still got eyes.' Charles Foster, author of Being a Human and Being a Beast"Without dismissing the importance of governments or science, Hine writes that an important first step is acknowledging that governments and science don't have ready solutions for all the problems people face. . . Looking ahead, he seeks options, not optimism, and works to advance the conversation around climate change and other global crises from a Western perspective, with the aim of encouraging dialogue beyond binary ideologies. VERDICT A thought-provoking suggestion for readers well versed in climate discourse." Library Journal‘[A] rich book, which like a poetic or religious text deserves multiple readings’ Richard Smith, British Medical Journal'(Hine's) powerful performance of this important message will make listeners question their unexamined assumptions about the planet's future and what they can do about it.' AudioFile Magazine

Read more less

Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER *WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER * Andy Borowitz, “one of the funniest people in America” (CBS Sunday Morning), brilliantly “chronicles our embrace of anti-intellectualism” (Walter Isaacson) in American politics, from Ronald Reagan to Dan Quayle, from George W. Bush to Sarah Palin, to its apotheosis in Donald J. Trump.Andy Borowitz has been called a “Swiftian satirist” (The Wall Street Journal) and “one of the country’s finest satirists” (The New York Times). Millions of fans and New Yorker readers enjoy his satirical news column “The Borowitz Report.” Now, in Profiles in Ignorance, he delivers “a wittily alarming polemic that tracks the evolution of American politics from grounds for gravitas to festival of idiocy” (The New York Times). Borowitz argues that over the past fifty years, American politicians have grown increasingly allergic to knowledge, and mass media have encouraged the election of ignoramuses by elevating candidates who are better at performing than thinking. Starting with Ronald Reagan’s first campaign for governor of California in 1966 and culminating with the election of Donald J. Trump to the White House, Borowitz shows how, during the age of twenty-four-hour news and social media, the US has elected politicians to positions of great power whose lack of the most basic information is terrifying. In addition to Reagan, Quayle, Bush, Palin, and Trump, Borowitz covers a host of congresspersons, senators, and governors who have helped lower the bar over the past five decades. Profiles in Ignorance aims to make us both laugh and cry: laugh at the idiotic antics of these public figures, and cry at the cataclysms these icons of ignorance have caused. But most importantly, the book delivers a call to action and a cause for optimism: History doesn’t move in a straight line, and we can change course if we act now.Trade Review“A wittily alarming polemic that tracks the evolution of American politics from grounds for gravitas to festival of idiocy.” —The New York Times “How did we slide into the abyss of liking our politicians to be—or to act—dumb rather than smart? In this funny but serious book, Andy Borowitz chronicles our embrace of anti-intellectualism.” —Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Code Breaker “This is one of these brilliant books that makes you laugh until you cry. Borowitz masterfully throws light (and shade) on the confederacy of dunces who have fumbled their way into power. His writing has never been smarter, sharper, or more necessary.” —Susan Orlean, New York Times bestselling author of The Library Book “Highly recommended. Can't remember the last time I read something so maddening that was also so hilarious. Also, it is diagnostically astute about the rise of ignorance in American politics.” —Kathryn Schulz, winner of the Pulitzer Prize “In his illuminating and hilarious book, Andy Borowitz not only skewers political stupidity, he identifies its three key phases. . . . Much as the great lampooners of late 18th-century London helped expose ruling class excesses, Borowitz’s withering mockery is a weapon against the creeping authoritarianism of early 21st-century America.” —Edward Luce, Financial Times “A devastatingly funny takedown of a veritable Mount Rushmore of incompetents . . . In the hallowed tradition of Will Rogers, Mark Twain, H.L. Mencken, Ambrose Bierce, and other clear-eyed satirists, Borowitz skewers all manner of chronically befuddled, willfully ignorant dolts. . . . Ravaging this seemingly endless rogues’ gallery of buffoonery and corruption, Borowitz marshals mind-boggling, breathtaking evidence. . . . While there are countless laughs in the book, they have a rueful edge given that we are all affected by such widespread ignorance.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Readers may laugh, cry, or swear under their breath (sometimes all at once) with this scathing survey of the seemingly increasing ignorance of American politicians. Borowitz, a writer of page and screen and satirist for The New Yorker, humorously examines the ever-increasing, lowering-of-the-bar expectations of presidential candidates’ knowledge and beyond in this book that is perfect for fans of The Daily Show or John Lithgow’s ‘Dumpty’ series. . . . For readers who have ever looked at the political landscape and asked how or why, this is a book that will inform and infuriate.” —Library Journal (starred review) “A stinging indictment of how the Republican Party has, by design, devolved from at least somewhat reasonable or coherent discussions of politics and policy to full-on celebration of idiocy.” —Salon “Andy makes me laugh out loud, that’s a given. In this book he has also made me think out loud. Profiles in Ignorance is hilarious, original, scary, prescient and a wake-up call for us all. A must-read.” —Susie Essman, HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm “Borowitz always hits the target. . . . The book is hilarious and scary . . . because it's TRUE!” —Larry Wilmore, Black on the Air “[Borowitz] sheds light on the cultural and economic trends that gave intellectualism a bad name and identifies the political operatives . . . who facilitated the rise of ignorance. Fans of The Borowitz Report will gobble this up.” —Publishers Weekly “Is it better to laugh or cry at America’s most profoundly stupid politicians? Why not both laugh and cry, as anyone will by reading this new book by Andy Borowitz. He is one of our sharpest satirists, as evidenced by his column The Borowitz Report, but he’s wisely made this book nonfiction, skewering the dumbest of the dumb.” —Air Mail “Hilarious and wildly entertaining.”—Indiana Capital Chronicle “Worth every penny . . . Profiles in Ignorance is funny because it's true—and nutty. . . . Borowitz uses his skills to skewer and expose politicians. . . . An equal-opportunity historian, he pulls back the curtain on Democrats as well as Republicans.”—Worcester Magazine “Borowitz details a staggering array of obliviousness, lending his penetrating gibes to the estimable tradition of political mockery championed by Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce, and H. L. Mencken.” —Los Angeles Review of Books Praise for Andy Borowitz: “We need a new emoji to signal the uniquely brilliant humor of Andy Borowitz: savage but gentle, hilarious but sad, thought-provoking but never hard to figure out, ironic but without cheap sarcasm, snarky but never cruel. He’s a national treasure!” —Laurence Tribe, coauthor of To End a Presidency: The Power of Impeachment “A witty diagnosis of the political troubles of the US.” —Jewish News “I expected a laugh. . . . How much better to also find a cogent explanation for our current political climate. . . . Borowitz takes us on a well-researched journey of the past 40+ years of American politics, leaving no president un-examined, and he does so with humor and curiosity.” —Presbyterian Outlook, Book of the Month “Literally had me laughing out loud. . . . Profiles in Ignorance is a treasure trove of quotes by elected officials and would-be elected officials who not only enjoy the taste of shoe leather but demonstrate that they either slept through high school civics and American history, or don’t care enough to even learn the basic facts that any person taking the examination to become an American citizen must learn.” —Cool Cleveland “Both humorous and frightening as it explains how we got to where we are today in the national political scene.” —Boston.com, Favorite Reads of 2022

Read more less

Book SynopsisA powerful account, by Israeli peace activist Miko Peled, of his transformation from a young man who'd grown up in the heart of Israel's elite and served proudly in its military into a fearless advocate of nonviolent struggle and equal rights for all Palestinians and Israelis. His journey is mirrored in many ways the transformation his father, a much-decorated Israeli general, had undergone three decades earlier. Alice Walker contributed a foreword to the first edition in which she wrote, "There are few books on the Israel/Palestine issue that seem as hopeful to me as this one." In the new Epilogue he takes readers to South Africa, East Asia, several European countries, and the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel itself. Trade Review"A fascinating story that provides much food for thought."--Uri Avnery, Former Member of Knesset and veteran peace activist

Read more less

Book SynopsisAt a time when political, environmental and social gloom can seem overpowering, this remarkable book offers a lucid, affirmative and well-argued case for hope. This exquisite work traces a history of activism and social change over the past five decades - from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the worldwide marches against the war in Iraq. Hope in the Dark is a paean to optimism in the uncertainty of the twenty-first century. Tracing the footsteps of the last century's thinkers - including Woolf, Gandhi, Borges, Benjamin and Havel - Solnit conjures a timeless vision of cause and effect that will light our way through the dark, and lead us to profound and effective political engagement.Trade ReviewA short, elegant, passionate polemic on the history and future of progressive political engagement -- Robert MacfarlaneTime and again Solnit comes running towards you with a bunch of hopes she has found and picked in the undergrowth of the times we are living in. And you remember that hope is not a guarantee for tomorrow but a detonator of energy for action today -- John BergerAn intensely personal account, a meditation on activism and hope * * Guardian * *[Solnit] writes with poetic succinctness . . . Her capable way of converting the activism of the past into a blueprint to inspire political engagement in the future is as relevant today as when first published * * Sunday Mail * *Fascinating, inspiring and beautifully written -- George MonbiotLike Simon Schama, Solnit is a cultural historian in the desert-mystic mode, trailing ideas like swarms of butterflies * * Harper's * *Hope in the Dark is great. The powerful in this world seem to want to frighten us into following their orders unquestioningly and this book offers us the key to liberation - and that key is hope -- Tony BennThis is a book to be cherished, something to keep close at hand for those dark moments when you wonder whether the world really is a better place than it was 50 years ago * * Independent on Sunday * *A jewel of a book. Solnit reveals where we were, where we are, and the step-by-step advances that have been made in human rights, as we stubbornly stumble out of the darkness -- Studs TerkelHer passionate defence of direct action is a refreshingly corrective, while, crucially, her celebration of people power is proactive rather than complacent * * Metro * *In this extraordinary book, Rebecca Solnit's prose grows poetic wings that enable her to soar to a visionary height. The good news that she brings back is that our struggles-with persistence and courage-are indeed the seeds of kindness -- Mike DavisA slim, potent book penned in the wake of the Bush administration's invasion of Iraq; a book that has grown only more relevant and poignant in the decade since -- Maria PopovaRebecca Solnit is a national literary treasure: a passionate, close-to-the-ground reporter with the soul and voice of a philosopher-poet. And, unlike so many who write about the great injustices of this world, she is an optimist, whose faith is deeply grounded in a knowledge of history. This is a book to give you not just hope but zest for the battles ahead -- Adam HoschschildHope In the Dark changed my life. During a period of pervasive cynicism and political despair, the first edition of this book provided me with a model for activist engagement that I have held dear ever since. Today, as movements for climate, racial, and economic justice sweep the globe, its message is more relevant than ever -- Astra TaylorNo writer has better understood the mix of fear and possibility, peril and exuberance that's marked this new millennium. Rebecca Solnit writes as independently as Orwell; she's a great muralist, a Diego Rivera of words. Literary and progressive America is in a Solnit moment, which given her endless talent should last a very long time -- Bill McKibben

Read more less