Political science and theory Books

Book SynopsisIt is frequently said that we are living through the end of politics, the end of social upheavals, the end of utopian folly. Consensual realism is the order of the day. But political realists, remarks Jacques Ranciere, are always several steps behind reality, and the only thing which may come to an end with their dominance is democracy. In these subtle and perceptive essays, Ranciere argues that since Plato and Aristotle politics has always constructed itself as the art of ending politics, that realism is itself utopian, and that what has succeeded the polemical forms of class struggle is not the wisdom of a new millennium but the return of old fears, criminality and chaos. Whether he is discussing the confrontation between Mitterrand and Chirac, French working-class discourse after the 1830 revolution, or the ideology of recent student mobilizations, his aim is to restore philosophy to politics and give politics back its original and necessary meaning: the organization of dissent.Trade ReviewRancière's writings offer one of the few consistent conceptualizations of how we are to continue to resist. -- Slavoj Zizek

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Book SynopsisThe "End of History" is over. The idea that Western liberal democracy was the "final form of human government" has been exposed as bluster: the old order is crumbling before our eyes. Angry anti-politics have arisen to threaten political establishments across the world. Elites have fallen into hysteria, blaming voters, "populism", Putin, Facebook... anyone but themselves. They are suffering from Neoliberal Order Breakdown Syndrome. Emerging from four years of interviews and debates on the popular global politics podcast Aufhebunga Bunga, The End of the End of History examines how the political consequences of the 2008 financial crisis have come home to roost. If Trump and Brexit shattered the liberal-democratic consensus in 2016, then the global pandemic of 2020 put a final end to the "End of History". Politics is back, but it's stranger than ever.

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Book SynopsisDrawing on his experience of working with hundreds of politicians in more than sixty countries, Greg Power explores how social norms, public expectations and the personal interests of MPs influence the path of political development. Where states are weak, politicians solve problems by going around the state. From Tanzania and Nepal to Iraq and Ukraine, voters actually want MPs who can find informal fixes, and a reciprocal logic holds the system in place. But this also means that weak institutions tend to stay weak. Combining insights from behavioural economics, change management and comparative politics, this fascinating book argues for a different approach to political reform, one concerned less with institutional design and more with the existing logic of human behaviour. One that starts inside the political mind, and works outwards from there.Trade Review‘Beautifully observed, elegantly written, wry, understated and thoughtful.’ -- Rory Stewart‘A fascinating insider’s perspective on geopolitics, global diplomacy, problem solving and conflict resolution—and how radically different it seems viewed from the outside.’ -- Peter Hain, former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland‘In lively prose enriched with compelling real-life examples, Power builds a persuasive case ... His insights about what politics look like from the inside rather than the outside point the way forward to better understanding—and better action.’ -- Thomas Carothers, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace'Behavioural meets political science - and what a fascinating and important collision. Greg Power unpacks the deep logic of the personal and political to make sense of the world's strangest, most criticized and most important profession.' -- David Halpern, author of Inside the Nudge Unit and President of Behavioural Insights Team‘Fun to read and full of amazing stories about the “odd” behaviour of politicians in developing countries. Politicians everywhere and those who try to understand them will enjoy and learn much from this book.’ -- Mushtaq Khan, Professor of Economics, SOAS University of London

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Book SynopsisThough diversity and interconnectedness are inherent and integral to the natural order, they often clash in the social world. To address this, Resilient Democratic Governance: Navigating Unity in Diversity for Sustainable Well-Being proposes a comprehensive framework advocating for the harmonious integration of diversity and interconnectedness in social structures, emphasizing their pivotal role in building resilience and achieving sustainable wellbeing. Girol Karacaoglu's innovative study explores the convergence of various political philosophies and social elements while still maintaining a sense of unity and cohesion in society. Through the perspectives of thinkers like Abd al-Karim al-Jili, Spinoza, Confucius, Alfred North Whitehead, Abraham Maslow, Sir Isaiah Berlin, Ronald Dworkin, Satish Kumar, and Amartya Sen, each chapter delves into how these scholars have conceptualized unity in different domains, spanning nature, creative processes, freedom, value, ecology, and economy. Karacaoglu argues that embracing this diversity-in-unity framework can serve as a guide to governance for sustainable wellbeing. His argument culminates in a reflection on the paths laid out by the Buddha and Lao Tzu, underscoring their profound insights into achieving balance and harmony in our interconnected world. Emerging as a hopeful voice amid increasing ideological polarisation, this thoughtful work reimagines democratic governance to offer a practical guide for deliberate and transformative social and political change.Table of ContentsIntroduction – In Search of Benjamin’s and Xunzi’s New Fusion A. Embracing Unity in Diversity … Chapter 1. Abd Al-Karim Al-Jili’s Unity in Diversity and Diversity in Unity Chapter 2. Spinoza’s Unity of Nature and Confucius’ Qi Chapter 3. Whitehead’s Unity of Creative Evolutionary Processes Chapter 4. Maslow’s Unity of Needs Chapter 5. Pullman’s and Mencius’ Unity of the Mind and Heart Chapter 6. Berlin’s Unity of Freedom Chapter 7. Dworkin’s Unity of Value Chapter 8. Kumar’s Unity of Ecology and Economy Chapter 9. Sen’s Unity of Wellbeing B. … As a Guide to Governance for Sustainable Wellbeing Chapter 10. Resilience - Bridge to Sustainability Chapter 11. Destination – Bookchin’s Communalism Chapter 12. Steppingstone - Localism Conclusion – The Buddha’s Path and Lao Tzu’s Dao (‘the Way’)

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Book SynopsisSince 2016, the UK has been in a crisis of its own making: but this is not the fault of Brexit but of a larger problem of our politics. The status of political parties, the mainstream media, public experts and officials have all been disrupted. Along the way, there have been shocking and exhilarating events: the unforeseen 2017 election result, the horrific details of Grenfell Tower and the Windrush scandal, the sudden rise and fall of the Brexit Party.As the 'mainstream' of politics and media has come under attack, the basic norms of public life have been thrown into question.This Is Not Normal takes stock of a historical moment that no longer recognises itself. Davies tells a story of the apparently chaotic and irrational events, and extracts their underlying logic and long-term causes. What we are seeing is the effects of the 2008 financial crash, the failure of the British neoliberal project, the dying of Empire, and the impact of the changes that technology and communications have had on the idea of the public sphere as well as the power of information. This is an essential book for anyone who wants to make sense of this current moment. .Trade ReviewThis book presses pause on the dazzling contingent brightness of the present, and allows the reflections of the evening to gather and turn towards a new day. * Manchester Review of Books *Brilliant ... Davies will be one of the experts to turn to guide us through the coming years. * WIRED *As William Davies brilliantly articulates in his most recent book, This is Not Normal: The Collapse of Liberal Britain, it's hard to convincingly advocate for normality, or indeed for norms in general, if you've spent years openly trashing the very notion. -- Dublin Review of BooksThis Is Not Normal: The Collapse of Liberal Britain seeks to pore over the deeper roots, expressions and manifestations of four interlocking crises in British politics, addressing some of the most pressing and perplexing questions facing the UK ... as Davies so skillfully shows, it would be foolish to make any firm predictions of what happens next. * LSE Review of Books *This Is Not Normal: The Collapse of Liberal Britain seeks to pore over the deeper roots, expressions and manifestations of four interlocking crises in British politics ... as Davies so skillfully shows, it would be foolish to make any firm predictions of what happens next. * Brave New Europe *But as an example of what its author calls "real-time sociology," the book harbors more ambition and more value than just a chronicle. Building on theoretical insights developed in his earlier work, Davies undertakes an applied investigation into the intertwined fates of liberalism, democracy, and media in the Anglo-American present, an investigation anchored in the problem of trust. -- Adam Kelly * LA Review of Books *Brilliant . explains how the rhetoric of competition has invaded almost every domain of our existence -- Evgeny Morozov, author of To Save Everything, Click Here * [for The Limits of Neoliberalism] *

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Book SynopsisAs we rebuild our lives in the wake of Covid-19 and face the challenges of ecological disaster, how can the left win a world fit for life? Planet on Fire is an urgent manifesto for a fundamental reimagining of the global economy. It offers a clear and practical road map for a future that is democratic and sustainable by design. Laurie Laybourn-Langton and Mathew Lawrence argue that it is not enough merely to spend our way out of the crisis; we must also rapidly reshape the economy to create a new way of life that can foster a healthy and flourishing environment for all. Planet on Fire offers a detailed and achievable manifesto for a new politics capable of tackling environmental breakdown.Trade ReviewWe now face an environmental crisis that has to be confronted. This book sets out the scale of the emergency as well as marks out the route to a better society. This is an essential read. -- John McDonnell, MPFor all who would build tomorrow not merely suffer it; for all who would heal the rifts that threaten us today between the generations and among the peoples; for all who know that human beings and human societies alike stand always within Nature never above it; for all who know that we must now turn our backs once and for all on domination, oppression, and exploitation, of Nature and of each other: this book is a manifesto and a call to arms. Please read it." -- John Ashton, UK climate change envoy 2006-12This book lays bare how capitalism led to the age of environmental breakdown and what this will mean for human societies. Most importantly, it focuses on explaining what an eco-socialist future would look like and that this future is a realistic, achievable and hopeful alternative to the predominant narrative of doom which typically surrounds discussions of environmental destruction. -- Carola Rackete, activist and author of It's Time to ActEloquent, clear-sighted and erudite, Planet On Fire is an important analysis of the interlocking political and economic forces driving us towards ecological catastrophe, and a credible route-map towards an alternative -- Will DaviesThis clear and incisive book starts from the immensely important insight that we cannot understand climate breakdown outside of the capitalist social relations that produced it. Planet on Fire reminds us that climate breakdown is intimately linked to all the overlapping crises humanity faces - from the rise of the far right, to growing socioeconomic inequality, to the COVID-19 pandemic - and that ecosocialism is the only route to an equal and sustainable world. -- Grace BlakeleyFor all who would build tomorrow not merely suffer it; for all who would heal the rifts that threaten us today between the generations and among the peoples; for all who know that human beings and human societies alike stand always within Nature never above it; for all who know that we must now turn our backs once and for all on domination, oppression, and exploitation, of Nature and of each other: this book is a manifesto and a call to arms. Please read it. -- John Ashton"Capitalism would create a desert and call it profit." Halfway through Planet on Fire, Mathew Lawrence and Laurie Laybourn-Langton drop this devastating judgement-but they don't stop at doom. Instead they offer blueprints, rally-points for energies, and chronicles of useful pasts for a decarbonized future. In the end, the climate crisis, they remind us, is not about individual morality or scientific authority but power and politics. This is a handbook for the fights to come. -- Quinn SlobodianThis book lays bare how capitalism led to the age of environmental breakdown and what this will mean for human societies. Most importantly, it focuses on explaining what an eco-socialist future would look like and that this future is a realistic, achievable and hopeful alternative to the predominant narrative of doom which typically surrounds discussions of environmental destruction. -- Carola RacketeA clear, powerful vision for ecosocialist transition. Don't miss this book. -- Jason HickelTrump may have left, but Trumpism is here to stay. In response, a transformative Green New Deal is more urgent than ever, charting a course beyond fossil fuel capitalism and deepening eco-apartheid and inequality. This vital contribution is a roadmap for how we get there and a political guide for the times ahead. -- Kate AronoffThe authors' vision of the path to climate justice is an antidote to disaster politics in so many ways, not least because it is both fair and unexpectedly luxurious. Each page is absolutely brimming with ideas as they meticulously take us through every important sector of the economy and reveal carefully thought through recommendations for reform. By focusing on power and who wields it they correctly identify the levers for change and who must now be empowered to push them. * Michelle Meagher, author of Competition is Killing Us: How Big Business is Harming Our Society and Planet - and What To Do About It *Reading Planet on Fire feels like traversing a humming, interdependent ecosystem of ideas, porous to the post-crash movements and thinkers shaping today's progressive environmentalism ... Starkly realistic whilst unflinchingly radical, Planet on Fire is a guidebook of hope for this crucial decade. -- Flora Parkin * LSE International Development *A practical starting point for reworking power structures that are dependent on extraction and initiating the new, society-oriented systems ... essential reading. -- Martha Dillon * It's Freezing in LA! *Offers an urgent alternative. -- George Eaton * New Statesman *Framing the situation in terms of the global inequality that fuels extractive global capitalism, and its roots in colonialism, Lawrence and Layborne-Langton put this power imbalance at the heart of their analysis. It enables them to offer some worthwhile answers for how we might solve our interconnected crises. -- Ann Pettifor * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisSelected as one of the 15 best political and current affairs books of 2022 by The TimesIs Socialism Possible in Britain? analyses Jeremy Corbyn's tenure as Labour leader and the prospects for parliamentary socialism in a post-Corbyn Britain. Lively and insightful, it is informed by an insider's view of the most radical period in Labour's history. A veteran of the Stop the War Coalition, Andrew Murray was seconded to Corbyn's office from the Unite trade union and witnessed an extraordinary daily bombardment from sections of the Parliamentary Labour Party and the media. He candidly assesses the leadership's response to the antisemitism controversy and the dilemmas of Brexit, as well as Keir Starmer's restoration of a turgid neo-Blairism. The problems that beset Corbyn are likely to confront any similar political project. Is Socialism Possible in Britain? explores how they can be more effectively addressed in the future - a future which we must hope is not so far away.Trade ReviewThe most fluent and authoritative account to have emerged from the left...humorous and candid -- Gabriel Pogrund * Times, Best Books 2022 *A vital corrective to establishment efforts to erase Corbynism and deny how close it came to power. -- Ronan Burtenshaw, Editor of TribuneEngaging and very readable, with profound insights and a coruscating wit. * Morning Star *Insightful, indeed inspiring. -- Kevin Maguire * Daily Mirror *The best of the Corbyn camp's books. Murray powerfully points at rotten pillars of the global order that the Labour right sometimes defends. -- Tom Clark * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisHarnessing the power of storytelling for political progress

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Book SynopsisThe world does not need a world government to govern itself. Roberto Mangabeira Unger argues that there is an alternative: to build cooperation among countries to advance their shared interests. We urgently need to avert war between the United States and China, catastrophic climate change, and other global public harms. We must do so, however, in a world in which sovereign states remain in command.The opportunity for self-interested cooperation among nations is immense. Unger shows how different types of coalitions among states can seize on this opportunity and avoid the greatest dangers that we face. Unger offers a way of thinking about international relations as well as a transformative program: a realism with hope and a way to develop the international diversity that we want without the international anarchy that we fear. His ideas challenge the disillusionment and fatalism that threaten to overwhelm us.Trade Review“A very little book with a very big message.”—Oliver Letwin, Tablet

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Book SynopsisFrom Macaulay in the 19th century to Fukuyama in the late 20th, historians have often been lulled into thinking that things can only get better. Such belief in progress, argues leading political commentator Simon Heffer, may be typical of times of plenty, but it ignores a less palatable truth: that, since the beginnings of recorded history, the major events in international relations can be attributed to a single cause, the desire by rulers to assert or protect their power.

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Book SynopsisOne criticism of history is that historians all too often study it in isolation, failing to take advantage of models and evidence from scholars in other disciplines. This is not a charge that can be laid at the door of Alfred Crosby. His book The Columbian Exchange not only incorporates the results of wide reading in the hard sciences, anthropology and geography, but also stands as one of the foundation stones of the study of environmental history. In this sense, Crosby's defining work is undoubtedly a fine example of the critical thinking skill of creativity; it comes up with new connections that explain the European success in colonizing the New World more as the product of biological catastrophe (in the shape of the introduction of new diseases) than of the actions of men, and posits that the most important consequences were not political – the establishment of new empires – but cultural and culinary; the population of China tripled, for example, as the result of the introduction of new world crops. Few new hypotheses have proved as stimulating or influential.Table of ContentsWays in to the Text Who was Alfred W. Crosby? What does The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492 Say? Why does The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492 Matter? Section 1: Influences Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context Module 2: Academic Context Module 3: The Problem Module 4: The Author's Contribution Section 2: Ideas Module 5: Main Ideas Module 6: Secondary Ideas Module 7: Achievement Module 8: Place in the Author's Work Section 3: Impact Module 9: The First Responses Module 10: The Evolving Debate Module 11: Impact and Influence Today Module 12: Where Next? Glossary of Terms People Mentioned in the Text Works Cited

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Book SynopsisThomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions can be seen, without exaggeration, as a landmark text in intellectual history. In his analysis of shifts in scientific thinking, Kuhn questioned the prevailing view that science was an unbroken progression towards the truth. Progress was actually made, he argued, via "paradigm shifts", meaning that evidence that existing scientific models are flawed slowly accumulates – in the face, at first, of opposition and doubt – until it finally results in a crisis that forces the development of a new model. This development, in turn, produces a period of rapid change – "extraordinary science," Kuhn terms it – before an eventual return to "normal science" begins the process whereby the whole cycle eventually repeats itself. This portrayal of science as the product of successive revolutions was the product of rigorous but imaginative critical thinking. It was at odds with science’s self-image as a set of disciplines that constantly evolve and progress via the process of building on existing knowledge. Kuhn’s highly creative re-imagining of that image has proved enduringly influential – and is the direct product of the author’s ability to produce a novel explanation for existing evidence and to redefine issues so as to see them in new ways.Table of ContentsWays in to the Text Who was Thomas Kuhn? What does The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Say? Why does The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Matter? Section 1: Influences Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context Module 2: Academic Context Module 3: The Problem Module 4: The Author's Contribution Section 2: Ideas Module 5: Main Ideas Module 6: Secondary Ideas Module 7: Achievement Module 8: Place in the Author's Work Section 3: Impact Module 9: The First Responses Module 10: The Evolving Debate Module 11: Impact and Influence Today Module 12: Where Next? Glossary of Terms People Mentioned in the Text Works Cited

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Book SynopsisWhat makes good people capable of committing bad – even evil – acts? Few psychologists are as well-qualified to answer that question as Philip Zimbardo, a psychology professor who was not only the author of the classic Stanford Prison Experiment – which asked two groups of students to assume the roles of prisoners and guards in a makeshift jail, to dramatic effect – but also an active participant in the trial of a US serviceman who took part in the violent abuse of Iraqi prisoners in the wake of the second Gulf War. Zimbardo’s book The Lucifer Effect is an extended analysis that aims to find solutions to the problem of how good people can commit evil acts. Zimbardo used his problem-solving skills to locate the solution to this question in an understanding of two conditions. Firstly, he writes, situational factors (circumstances and setting) must override dispositional ones, meaning that decent and well-meaning people can behave uncharacteristically when placed in unusual or stressful environments. Secondly, good and evil are not alternatives; they are interchangeable. Most people are capable of being both angels and devils, depending on the circumstances.In making this observation, Zimbardo also built on the work of Stanley Milgram, whose own psychological experiments had shown the impact that authority figures can have on determining the actions of their subordinates. Zimbardo's book is a fine example of the importance of asking productive questions that go beyond the theoretical to consider real-world events.Table of ContentsWays in to the Text Who was Philip Zimbardo? What does The Lucifer Effect Say? Why does The Lucifer Effect Matter? Section 1: Influences Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context Module 2: Academic Context Module 3: The Problem Module 4: The Author's Contribution Section 2: Ideas Module 5: Main Ideas Module 6: Secondary Ideas Module 7: Achievement Module 8: Place in the Author's Work Section 3: Impact Module 9: The First Responses Module 10: The Evolving Debate Module 11: Impact and Influence Today Module 12: Where Next? Glossary of Terms People Mentioned in the Text Works Cited

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Book SynopsisEgress is the first book to consider the legacy and work of the writer, cultural critic and cult academic Mark Fisher.Narrated in orbit of his death as experienced by a community of friends and students in 2017, it analyses Fisher's philosophical trajectory, from his days as a PhD student at the University of Warwick to the development of his unfinished book on Acid Communism. Taking the word "egress" as its starting point-a word used by Fisher in his book The Weird and the Eerie to describe an escape from present circumstances as experiences by the characters in countless examples of weird fiction-Egress considers the politics of death and community in a way that is indebted to Fisher's own forms of cultural criticism, ruminating on personal experience in the hope of making it productively impersonal.Trade Review"A remarkable interlacing of ambitious theoretical enquiry and raw personal memoir, Egress asks why collective thought and practice today is so broken that it takes a lacerating calamity to rediscover something like community. This is a work of thought in motion and in emotion, searching, deeply wounded but undefeated." -- Robin Mackay, Urbanomic "The dead return to us as our world falls apart. Love and loss ripple into our lives and test our integrity every day. Brutal and provocative, this book is a haunting elegy to Mark's crystalline mind. He sat on the shores of endless worlds" -- Mark Stewart, The Pop Group "Through his Xenogothic blog, and now this often touching book, few have done as much to channel, ruminate around and speculate beyond the spectre of Mark Fisher." -- Steve Goodman (Kode9) "Egress is a remarkable (and inventive) tribute to Mark Fisher's capacities as a thinker, writer, and, perhaps most importantly, teacher. Filled with brilliant new insights into Mark's philosophies and contexts, Matt Colquhoun's book is at once a moving, deeply human act of mourning, as well as a call-to-arms to bring forward the future that Mark's writings make possible."-- Hua Hsu, The New Yorker "By turns a deeply personal memoir, a scholarly and readable introduction to Mark Fisher's work, and a powerful extension of the apparatus of Fisher's thought to new application. Colquhoun perfectly captures the feeling of despair in a time when political and personal hopelessness is ubiquitous, but shows a way through it... this work is very necessary now. This book illuminates the important work of trying to figure out how to mourn: privately, publicly, personally, institutionally, politically...while maintaining a deep connection to Fisher's work and a respect for the tools it can give us to make it through." -- Michelle Spiedel "Colquhoun shuttles along the filaments of Mark Fisher's work with scholarly and deeply personal insights offering not only an introduction to his thought but a sense how we might apply it in the contemporary moment. I can't recommend this book enough." -- Laura Grace Ford, author of Savage Messiah

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Book SynopsisMary Douglas is an outstanding example of an evaluative thinker at work. In Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo, she delves in great detail into existing arguments that portray traditional societies as “evolving” from “savage” beliefs in magic, to religion, to modern science, then explains why she believes those arguments are wrong. She also adeptly chaperones readers through a vast amount of data, from firsthand research in the Congo to close readings of the Old Testament, and analyzes it in depth to provide evidence that traditional and Western religions have more in common than the first comparative religion scholars and early anthropologists thought.First evaluating her scholarly predecessors by marshalling their arguments, Douglas identifies their main weakness: that they dismiss traditional societies and their religions by identifying their practices as “magic,” thereby creating a chasm between savages who believe in magic and sophisticates who practice religion.Table of ContentsWays in to the Text Who Was Mary Douglas? What Does Purity and Danger Say? Why Does Purity and Danger Matter? Section 1: Influences Module 1: The Author and the historical Context Module 2: Academic Context Module 3: The Problem Module 4: The Author's Contribution Section 2: Ideas Module 5: Main Ideas Module 6: Secondary Ideas Module 7: Achievement Module 8: Place in the Author's Work Section 3: Impact Module 9: The First Responses Module 10: The Evolving Debate Module 11: Impact and Influence Today Module 12: Where Next? Glossary of Terms People Mentioned in the Text Works Cited

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Book SynopsisBaron d'Holbach's 1776 Essay on the Art of Crawling is a delicious satire on the sycophancy and self-abasement rife in the courts of Europe.

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Book SynopsisA deep and thoughtful reflection on trust in the context of public life.Trust in Public Life is a collection of essays addressing the importance of trust in public life and how public servants can engender and sustain it. In “The Roots of Trust,” Anna Rowlands argues that our loss of trust is a feature of modernity that can only be solved through encounters with real people. In “Trust in Oneself,” Claire Gilbert makes the case that leaders need to have self-trust and confidence to rule. In “Trust in Institutions,” Anthony Ball offers a guide to rebuilding trust in institutions through four virtues: honesty, humility, compassion, and competence. Finally, in “Trust in People,” James Hawkey argues that trust between groups is a choice, not something that can be injected like a vaccine. Together, the essays offer valuable reflections on trust in public life, agreeing that it must be engendered, and offer guidance on how this might be achieved.

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Book SynopsisA critical and evidence-based account of the COVID-19 pandemic as a political?economic rupture, exposing underlying power struggles and social injustices.The dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic represented an exceptional interruption in the routines of work, financial markets, movement across borders and education. The policies introduced in response were said to be unprecedented?but the distribution of risks and rewards was anything but. While asset-owners, outsourcers, platforms and those in spacious homes prospered, others faced new hardships and dangers. Unprecedented? explores the events of 2020-21, as they afflicted the UK economy, as a means to grasp the underlying dynamics of contemporary capitalism, which are too often obscured from view. It traces the political and cultural contours of a "rentier nationalism," that was lurking prior to the pandemic, but was accelerated and illuminated by COVID-19. But it also pinpoints the contradictions and weaknesses of this capitalist model, and the new sources of opposition that it meets. An empirical, accessible and critical analysis of the COVID economy, Unprecedented? is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the political and economic turbulence of the pandemic?s first eighteen months.

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Book SynopsisUnderstanding the main political projects of our times, and their plans to expand or shrink the law, is the first step towards achieving greater equality and averting climate disaster. Since 2016, Britain has been ruled by populists, who promise to expand democracy and shrink the law by taking back power from the European Union. Yet what these populists have actually done in power is institute a vast increase in new laws, made by ministers and not Parliament, regulating every aspect of our lives. This move of promising less law while actually expanding it, has been characteristic of our lives for forty years, ever since the neoliberal counter-revolution. Every year, new criminal offences are created; new regulations are introduced. Renton’s book dares us to imagine a world in which workers are winning, and ecocide treated with the urgency that it deserves. These changes can only come about, he argues, if the movements of the oppressed choose to disengage from the law.Trade Review"Renton is one of the most consistently interesting and imaginative political writers in Britain today, and this eloquent attack on the repressive legalism common to populists and neoliberals alike is one of his best yet.""Renton’s experience as a barrister and historian shines through in a learned, and eminently readable, account of the structure of law and the daily business of the Courts."“Meticulously researched and convincingly argued, Renton urges us to quit seeking liberation through legislation, instead wield our collective power for change.”“A cogent, compelling argument that the pursuit of justice requires breaking with the hegemony of law.”All police and prison abolitionists should read this book... it is a timely and sharp intervention, reminding us that laws are not only oppressively enforced but are themselves be a tool of control.”

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Book SynopsisThis textbook examines Marxism’s enormous impact on the way historians approach their subject. Tackling current historiographical questions in an accessible way, the author offers a clear introduction to Marxist views of history, key Marxist historians and thinkers, and the relevance of Marxist theory and history to students’ own work. This is a concise, thorough overview of an important area of historiography. The second edition incorporates significant new developments in research, including Marxist contributions to the emergence of global, maritime and transnational history; the discovery of Marx’s ecologism and the historical critique of fossil capitalism as a source of environmental disaster; a reassessment of gender oppression through social reproduction theory; and the contribution of Marxism to debates on race, Eurocentrism and whiteness. Table of Contents1. Introduction2. Marxist History’s Wide Panorama3. Marx and Engels’s Conception of History4. The Historical Writings of Marx and Engels5. The Second Generation and the Philosophy and Writing of History6. ‘Rescuing the Poor Stockinger’: History from Below7. Marxism, Structuralism, Humanism8. Marxism and Postmodernism9. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThis open access book focuses on the role of civil society in the creation, dissemination, and interpretation of knowledge in geographical contexts. It offers original, interdisciplinary and counterintuitive perspectives on civil society. The book includes reflections on civil and uncivil society, the role of civil society as a change agent, and on civil society perspectives of undone science. Conceptual approaches go beyond the tripartite division of public, private and civic sectors to propose new frameworks of civic networks and philanthropic fields, which take an inclusive view of the connectivity of civic agency across sectors. This includes relational analyses of epistemic power in civic knowledge networks as well as of regional giving and philanthropy. The original empirical case studies examine traditional forms of civic engagement, such as the German landwomen’s associations, as well as novel types of organizations, such as giving circles and time banks in their geographical context. The book also offers insider reflections on doing civil society, such as the cases of the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong, epistemic activism in the United States, and the #FeesMustFall movement in South Africa.Table of ContentsChapter 1. The Place of Civil Society in the Making of Knowledge.- Part I: (Re-)Thinking Civil Society.- Chapter 2. The Dialectic of Civil and Uncivil Society—Fragility, Fault Lines, and Countervailing Forces.-Chapter 3. Civil Society as an Agent of Change.- Chapter 4. Undone Science and Smart Cities: Civil Society Perspectives on Risk and Emerging Technologies.- Part II: Analyzing Civil Society Organizations.- Chapter 5. Specialists for Crumble Cakes? The German LandFrauen Organizations in Social Innovation and as Educational, Social, and Political Institutions.- Chapter 6. Schools of Democracy? Giving Circles and the Civic and Political Participation of Collaborative Philanthropists.- Chapter 7. Time Banks as Transient Civic Organizations? Exploring the Dynamics of Decline.- Part III: Spaces, Networks and Fields.- Chapter 8. Civil Society as Networks of Issues and Associations: The Case of Food.- Chapter 9. The Geography of Giving in the Philanthropic Field.- Chapter 10. Global Authenticity, Local Authority: Epistemic Power, Discursive Geographies, and the Creation of Civil Society Knowledge Networks.- Part IV: Doing Civil Society.- Chapter 11. Democracy Movement and Alternative Knowledge in Hong Kong.- Chapter 12. Epistemic Activism in the United States: Examining Meetings Across the Silos of Civil Society.- Chapter 13. Seeding a New World: Lessons From the #FeesMustFall Movement for the Advancement of Social Justice.- Chapter 14. Civility, Education, and the Embodied Mind—Three Approaches to a New Sentimental Education.

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Book SynopsisThis book analyzes changes to campaigning and voting in the United States in 2020. The global pandemic caused by COVID-19 upended traditional campaign strategies, posed unprecedented challenges to candidates, and possessed the potential to fundamentally alter how campaigns think about running for office. At the same time, the Trump administration’s divisive handling of twin crises stemming from the pandemic and rising racial tensions loomed over congressional races as the most disruptive election cycle in living memory. The ramifications of the 2020 congressional elections for the direction of public policy in America—and perhaps for American democracy itself—cannot be overstated. The Roads to Congress 2020 examines key House and Senate campaigns, candidates, and controversies in the 2020 election to reveal what accounts for the outcomes and point the way to America’s political future.Table of ContentsPart I. Congress in Transition Chapter 1: The 2020 Elections Overview Sean D. Foreman Part II. Congressional Campaign and Election Trends Chapter 2: Voting by Mail John D. Rackey and Tyler Godines Camarillo Chapter 3: How COVID19 affects the election Jennifer Lucas, Tauna Sisco, and Christopher Galdieri Chapter 4: Sex and Social Media Bryan T. Gervais, Heather K. Evans, and Annelise Russell Chapter 5: Forecasting the 2020 elections Rachel Bitecofer and Sam Epstein Part III. U.S. House of Representatives Case Studies Chapter 6: Southern California’s Flipped Congressional Districts: Roads to Reelection Marcia L. Godwin Chapter 7: Florida’s 27 Congressional Districts: Some names and faces change but party control stays the same Sean D. Foreman Chapter 8: New York’s 22nd Congressional District Jeffrey Kraus Chapter 9: Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District William Curtis Ellis Chapter 10: Texas Congressional Districts 22, 23, 24 Walter Clark Wilson Chapter 11: Virginia’s 7th Congressional District Patrick T. Hickey Part IV. U.S. Senate Case Studies Chapter 12: Alabama Senate Campaign Tom Lansford Chapter 13: Arizona Senate Campaign Gina Woodall Chapter 14: Iowa Senate Campaign Douglas M. Brattebo Chapter 15: Kansas Senate and House CampaignsTom Ringenberg Chapter 16: Maine Senate Campaign William C. Binning Chapter 17: North Carolina Senate Campaign Josh Stockley Part V. Roads AheadChapter 18: Lessons Learned from the 2020 Elections Walter Clark Wilson

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Book SynopsisEach year, the Supreme Court of the United States announces new rulings with deep consequences for our lives. This fourth volume in Palgrave’s SCOTUS series describes, explains, and contextualizes the landmark cases of the US Supreme Court in the term ending 2021. With a close look at cases involving key issues and debates in American politics and society, SCOTUS 2021 tackles the Court’s rulings on voting rights, Obamacare, LGBT rights, climate change, college sports, property rights, separation of powers, parole for youth offenders, immigration, religious liberty, free speech, and more. Written by notable scholars in political science and law, the chapters in SCOTUS 2021 present the details of each ruling, its meaning for constitutional debate, and its impact on public policy or partisan politics. Finally, SCOTUS 2021 offers an analysis of the legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction: The 2020-2021 Term at the Supreme CourtChapter 2: Alston v. NCAA on the Anti-trust Challenge to College Sports Chapter 3: BP v. Baltimore on Climate Change Chapter 4: Brnovich v. DNC on Voting Restrictions Chapter 5: California v. Texas on Obamacare Chapter 6: Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid on Property Rights Chapter 7: Collins v. Mnuchin & US v. Arthrex on Separation of Powers Chapter 8: Federal Republic of Germany v. Philipp on Extra-territorial Rights Claims Chapter 9: Fulton v. City of Philadelphia on Free Exercise of Religion and LGBT Rights Chapter 10: Jones v. Mississippi on Life Without Parole for Youth Offenders Chapter 11: Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. on Free Speech in High School Chapter 12: Pereida v. Wilkinson on Deportation of Noncitizens Chapter 13: Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn & South Bay Pentecostal on Religious Liberty and the Pandemic Chapter 14: Tanzin v. Tanvir on RFRA and Damages Against Federal Officials Chapter 15: Torres v. Madrid on Use of Force Under the Fourth Amendment Chapter 16: Uzuegbunam v. Preczewski on Campus Free Speech Chapter 17: The Legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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Book SynopsisThis intellectual biography provides an organic framework for understanding Antonio Gramsci’s process of intellectual development, paying close attention to the historical and intellectual contexts out of which his views emerged. The Gramsci in Notebooks cannot fully account for the young director of L’Ordine Nuovo, or for the communist leader. Gramsci’s development did not occur under conditions of intellectual inflexibility, of absence of evolution. However, there is a strong thread connecting the “political Gramsci” with Gramsci as a “cultivated man.” The Sardinian intellectual’s life is marked by the drama of World War I, the first mass conflict in which the great scientific discoveries of the previous decades were applied on a large scale and in which millions of peasants and workers were slaughtered. In all of his theoretical formulations, this dual relation, which epitomizes the instrumental use of “simpletons” by ruling classes, goes beyond the military context of the trenches and becomes full-fledged in the fundamental relations of modern capitalist society. In contrast with this notion of social hierarchy, which is deemed natural and unchangeable, Gramsci constantly affirmed the need to overcome the historically determined rupture between intellectual and manual functions, due to which the existence of a priesthood or of a separate caste of specialists in politics and in knowledge is made necessary. It is not the specific professional activity (whether material or immaterial) that determines the essence of human nature: to Gramsci, “all men are philosophers.” In this passage from Notebooks, we find the condensed form of his idea of “human emancipation,” which is the historical need for an “intellectual and moral reform”: the subversion of traditional relations between rulers and ruled and the end of exploitation of man by man.Table of ContentsPART ONE – THE YOUNG REVOLUTIONARY 1. The premises of an uninterrupted discourse 2. Dialectics versus positivism: the young Gramsci’s philosophical background 3. Self-education and autonomy of producers 4. Lenin and the topicality of revolution 5. L’Ordine Nuovo 6. The origin and defeat of the Italian revolution 7. The party problem 8. Revolutionary reflux and reactionary offensive PART TWO – THE POLITICAL LEADER 1. The new Party 2. The Comintern and the “Italian case” 3. Toward a new majority 4. Gramsci leading the Party 5. Theoretical maturity between 1925 and 1926 6. The Congress of Lyon PART THREE – THE THEORETICIAN 1. From Sardinia’s contradictions to the sourther question 2. The Notebooks: the difficult beginnings of a “disinterested” work 3. Hegemonic relations, productive relations and the subaltern 4. Permanent transformism 5. Historical premises and congenital contradictions in Italian biography 6. “The old dies and the new cannot be born” 7. The double revision of Marxism and similarity with Lukács 8. Translatability and hegemony 9. The philosopher man and the tamed gorilla 10. Michels, the intellectuals and the issue of organization 11. The dismantling of the old schemes of political art EPILOGUE References

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Book SynopsisThis innovative textbook provides an introduction into comparative constitutional law to undergraduate and graduate students. Combining a clear and practical explanation of the topics with scientific knowledge, the textbook analyzes the origins and the development of constitutional law in the Western world, as well as the structure and transformations of constitutional law, up to the present day. It also examines the theoretical roots and the historical premises of constitutionalism, and explores the foundation of constitutional law in Western countries since the Age of Revolutions and the 19th Century, underlining the different constitutional traditions. Furthermore, the textbook describes the transformations of constitutional law brought about by the transition toward pluralistic societies, and analyzes the political and legal features of constitutional democracies, taking into consideration the lessons learned in several constitutional environments in contemporary states. It also

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisProvocative, brutally honest, and timeless, Machiavelli?s The Prince is one of the most important yet misunderstood writings in history. In it, Machiavelli lays bare the reality behind politics as it has always been practiced, teaching leaders to avoid the errors and failings of others while also educating those outside of government about what goes on inside the halls of power. This edition offers a new and lively translation of The Prince, written in fluid modern English that is impressively accurate to the original source. It also includes extensive selections from the Discourses on Livy, together with a range of Machiavelli?s other works such as his poetry, his personal correspondence, and the Florentine Histories. The supplemental readings, engaging original introduction, and thorough annotations provided in this edition show the relevance of The Prince to a wide range of themes: human nature, the philosophy of history, and the existential question all rulers face?how to survive in a world that is largely outside of one?s control.

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Book SynopsisOver the last decade, blockchains and crypto have opened up a new terrain for political action. It is not surprising, however, that the crypto space has also become overrun by unscrupulous marketing, theft and scams. The problem is real, but it isn't a new one. Capitalism has ruined crypto, but that shouldn't be the end of it. Blockchain Radicals shows us how this has happened, and how to fix crypto in a way that is understandable for those who have never owned a cryptocurrency as well as those who are building their own decentralised applications. Covering everything from how Bitcoin saved WikiLeaks to decentralised finance, worker cooperatives, the environmental impact of Bitcoin and NFTs, and the crypto commons, it shows how these new tools can be used to challenge capitalism and build a better world for all of us. While crypto is often thought of as being synonymous with unbridled capitalism, Blockchain Radicals shows instead how the technology can and has been used for more radical purposes, beyond individual profit and towards collective autonomy.Trade Review"The guide to crypto for people who care about justice more than tech. Dávila does not treat blockchains as salvation or abomination, as most commentators have. Rather, he shows it is an opportunity, and a set of choices—a chance to build a radically freer world or a virtual enclosure. Here is a crypto-compass for anti-dystopians.""Taking the capitalism out of anarcho-capitalist technology in order to claim it for the left is no mean feat but Blockchain Radicals does this and more. A must-read for anyone hoping to extend their theoretical and practical reach in the era of hyper-financialization.”"A fascinating, provocative, and illuminating view on blockchains that makes a strong case for taking them seriously as a possible tool of liberation."“Stripped of ideological presuppositions, blockchain technologies offer both a spectacular technical exploration of value itself and some of the concrete tools we need to build a new world in the face of the looming capitalist crisis. If he was alive today, I am certain Marx himself would be eagerly reading this book."“Blockchain Radicals takes you through a part of the crypto space that is very different both from its libertarian beginnings and from the money and trading-obsessed world of three-million-dollar digital monkeys. An important complement to the existing narratives about the technology.”“Joshua Dávila lifts the veil on the actual workings of crypto, offering access to those working for social justice. The book bucks the lefty knee-jerk norm of crypto-aversion. This is important because dangerous power imbalances are addressed by social movements armed with the tools of the day, not by critics sitting on the sidelines tutting!”"Davila engages in a critical and nuanced examination of the ways in which blockchains can be used to create a more equitable and sustainable society, by challenging the extractive practices of traditional capitalism. Its insights are likely to become ever more relevant in the years to come.”“A call for the left to claim the liberatory potential of crypto instead of ceding the field to tech-determinist libertarians. By weaving nuanced analysis with a hopeful vision for blockchains as a force for progressive change, Dávila not only inspires his readers but also opens portals for them to join the struggle and become rebels for justice.”“Revolutionary movements that succeed make use of emergent technologies. As the megamachine complex rears its head, crypto provides a safehaven refuge for the cyber-guerilla. This book is the entrance into crypto for political radicals.”

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Book SynopsisIn politics, there are no prizes for second place. Luckily, seasoned campaign professionals Mark Pack and Edward Maxfield have distilled successful electoral tactics from around the globe into 101 bite-sized lessons to help steer you on the course to power. Learn how to pass the three-seconds test, why you should actually embrace online trolls, and why you must never, ever, forget the law of the left nostril. Packed with advice and practical tips, this new, fully updated third edition of the classic political guide reveals the insider secrets and skills you need to make sure you're in pole position on election day.Trade Review"This is a wonderful guide to the practical business of running and winning election campaigns - a series of short essays full of good sense and great sayings to inspire, motivate and make you think. Mark and Ed have produced an entertaining and useful handbook for anyone interested in how democracy works - and now they've produced a new, improved edition that is even better." - John Rentoul, The Independent "This indispensable how-to guide - crammed as it is with inspirational quotes, practical wisdom and plenty of evidence of what works in the real world - won't necessarily guarantee you victory, but it could significantly increase your chances! A must-read (as well as a fun read) for all campaigners." - Tim Bale, professor of politics, Queen Mary University of London "This book is a must-read for any campaigner or politico regardless of experience. It is full of interesting anecdotes as well as the latest research and best practice from around the world. I have used its wisdom at every step of my career. If you're interested in winning elections this is the book for you!" - Layla Moran MP

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Book SynopsisAn inventive philosophical study that reconsiders the figure of the tourist.Tourism is a characteristically modern phenomenon, yet modern thinkers have tended to deride the tourist as a figure of homogenizing globalism. This philosophical study considers the tourist anew, as a subject position that enables us to redraw the map of globalized culture in an era increasingly in revolt against the liberal intellectual worldview and its call for the welcome of the "Other." Why has the tourist proved so resistant to philosophical treatment, asks Hiroki Azuma. Tracing the reasons for this exclusion through the work of Rousseau and Voltaire, and subsequently in Kant, Carl Schmitt, Alexandre Kojève, Hannah Arendt, and Hardt and Negri, Azuma contends that the figure of the tourist has been rendered illegible by becoming ensnared in a series of misleading conceptual dichotomies and a linear model of world history. In the widening gap between the infrastructure of globalization and inherited ties of local and national belonging, Azuma’s retheorization of the tourist presents an alternative to the choice between doubling down on local identity and roots, or hoping for the spontaneous uprising of a multitude from within the great networked Empire. For the tourist is the subject capable of moving most freely between the strata of the global and the local.  With explorations of the connection between tourism and fan fiction, contingency and "misdelivery," cyberspace and the uncanny, and dark tourism, Azuma’s inventive and optimistic philosophical essay sheds unexpected new light on a mode of engagement with the world that is familiar to us all.

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Book SynopsisShows that foreign policy encounters between rising powers and Global South states do not necessarily exhibit the same logics, behaviours, or investment strategies of Euro-American hegemons. Instead, they have distinctive features that require new theoretical frameworks for analysis.

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Book SynopsisIncome inequality, displaced and imprisoned populations, destruction of land and water: today's dislocations cannot be understood in the usual terms of poverty and injustice, Saskia Sassen argues. They are more accurately understood as expulsionsfrom professional livelihood, from living space, from the very biosphere that makes life possible.Trade ReviewSaskia Sassen’s Expulsions describes the global forces that make ever more tenuous and fragile most people’s grip on the places where they live. -- Rowan Moore * The Observer *Coupled with her earlier work, this may be a paradigm breaking/making work. -- Michael D. Kennedy * Contemporary Sociology *Sassen offers a clear and rather heuristic argument that we could hardly ignore in trying to make sense of dynamics of in/exclusion under global financial capitalism, their mutual connections, and their locally diverse configurations… This work has the potential to generate not only insightful reflections on large-scale hyper-concentrations of capital and related global dynamics of people and places’ expulsions, but also to engage inquiries into urban social dynamics that are invisible to macro analyses. -- Giovanni Picker * Urban Studies *Once again, sociologist Sassen uses her considerable knowledge to think creatively at both the local and global levels… In place of the principle of inclusion in the pre-1980s Keynesian era, the planet is increasingly dominated by a principle of exclusion of people, land, natural resources, and water. Sassen presents a powerful conceptual analysis and an equally powerful and timely call to action. -- M. Oromaner * Choice *In this intellectually audacious and persuasive book, Sassen exposes the fundamental forces at play in current forms of economic, political, and social structures. She correctly contrasts the world as most people understand it with the world as it is actually evolving, towards an extreme form of capitalism with activities that occur across international borders—to devastating effects. This is a powerful, highly relevant, and timely book. -- Patricia Fernández-Kelly, Princeton UniversityExpulsions is original, thoughtful, evidence-based, and chillingly lucid. There is no other book like it. Its arguments on growing inequality, land grabs, financial footlooseness, and biospheric destruction are a diagnosis of our unstable and disconcerting times—a much-needed wake-up call. -- Ash Amin, University of Cambridge

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Book SynopsisThe greatest dilemma our planet faces is the tradeoff between poverty alleviation, inequality reduction, and climate change. In Unsustainable Inequalities, economist Lucas Chancel confronts how to share prosperity without furthering environmental harm, arguing for policies that would direct the benefits of environmental protection to the poor.Trade ReviewRising inequality and global warming are the most pressing issues of our time. Written by one of world's leading experts on global inequality trends and sustainable development, this book demonstrates that they can and should be addressed together, and offers refreshing perspectives on how to do so. A must-read. -- Thomas Piketty, author of Capital and IdeologyIn this concise and precise book Chancel offers an indispensable metric to reveal the class conflicts that cut across the simplistic divide between ecology and social justice, reconciling those afraid of the ‘end of the world’ and those trying to ‘make ends meet.’ -- Bruno Latour, author of Facing Gaia[Chancel] analyses the links between environmental and economic inequality. His conclusion is that we cannot solve one without addressing the other. An original perspective on two of our most significant contemporary challenges. -- Martin Wolf * Financial Times *Well-structured, fluent, and sharp, Unsustainable Inequalities is a work of global relevance and paramount importance, even more so as inequalities as we have them make it impossible to confront the worsening climate crisis. -- Claude Henry, Sciences Po, ParisSobering but essential…[Chancel] identifies social inequality as a core driver of environmental unsustainability that leads to a vicious circle wherein the rich consume more and the poor lose access to environmental resources and become increasingly vulnerable to environmental shocks. -- Gillian Bowser * Science *This book has unpacked the intricate relationship between social injustice and environmental harm and argues for delinking the complex nexus they form with economic inequality…A highly relevant and thought-provoking read during the COVID-19 pandemic when millions are affected socially and economically by lockdowns and restrictions. -- Gayathri D. Naik * LSE Review of Books *Lucas Chancel reflects on the complex articulation of the environmental and the socioeconomic spheres… [The book] opens up avenues toward a more desirable and livable future. * Le Monde *[Chancel] relentlessly sheds light on the failure of liberal policies. * Politis *

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Book SynopsisSociologist Mike Savage shows how economic inequality aggravates cultural, social, and political conflicts, challenging the framework of liberal democracy. By fracturing social bonds, inequality turns back the clock, reviving conditions we have struggled for centuries to escape, including empire, dynastic elitism, and explosive ethnic division.Trade ReviewA major sociological contribution to the ongoing global debate on inequality and the return of social class. A must-read. -- Thomas Piketty, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, author of Capital and IdeologyWith a wide-ranging, original, and visionary argument and engagingly written, The Return of Inequality is a major contribution, the crowning of an exceptionally productive career focused on the sociology of inequality, social change, and culture in the UK, Europe, and the world. -- Michèle Lamont, Harvard University, past president of the American Sociological AssociationEmpirical analyses have documented increasing inequality over recent decades. There have been passionate calls to action. But the analyses and the action need to be linked by careful consideration of just how to think about inequality, including its locations, dimensions, forms, and visceral experiences. The Return of Inequality responds to that need with insight, deep thought, and important new perspective. -- Craig Calhoun, Arizona State UniversityFor Savage, there is a link between the rise of an ‘inequality paradigm’ (focused especially on wealth, rather than income) and movements such as Black Lives Matter and Rhodes Must Fall, which seek to address the economic legacy of historical injustices. The spotlight that has fallen on Russian oligarchs since the invasion of Ukraine is another manifestation of the inequality paradigm, emphasizing the links between present injustices (not to say humanitarian catastrophes) and political-economic maneuvering dating back to the 1990s. -- William Davies * London Review of Books *This highly original book deploys a unique combination of history, classic sociology, cultural sociology, and contemporary economics. Savage makes a compelling argument about how the legacy of the past combines with capitalist accumulation to affect inequalities of race, gender, and class around the world. His sophisticated reflections about the visual representation of inequality inform a broader inquiry into how the achievements and limits of social science shape the new politics of inequality. The book defines the emerging field of comparative global inequality. -- Patrick Le Galès, Sciences Po, Centre for European Studies and Comparative PoliticsSavage’s provocative book compels us to seek organizational answers. -- Mitchel Y. Abolafia * Administrative Science Quarterly *A much-needed and highly insightful intellectual history of the concept and analysis of inequality…Extremely well written, engaging, and learned…It should be read carefully by social scientists who study inequality. -- Richard Lachmann * American Journal of Sociology *

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Book SynopsisTraces the roots of the Chinese empire's exceptional longevity and unparalleled political durability, and shows how lessons from the imperial past are relevant for China today. This book demonstrates that the empire survived and adjusted to a variety of domestic and external challenges through a peculiar combination of rigid ideological premises.Trade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2012 "A unique perspective, well presented in accessible language and backed up with extensive notes and bibliography, the work represents high-quality scholarship from broad-based social science at its best. It belongs in all college and university libraries."--Choice "Pines is successful in pointing out many critical characteristics of Chinese imperial system and political culture, not only the ideological but also the institutional and the practical, which are indeed highly relevant to the system's sustainability."--Hsiao-wen Cheng, Insight Turkey "[T]here is enough in this book to make it a valuable contribution to the study of empire and its legacies."--Brian Moloughney, Asian Studies Review "Moving between ideology and the real world, the author has gone far to deepen our understanding of the practical impact of traditional Chinese political culture on the empire. In so doing, he debunks various myths and stereotypes prevalent in both China and the West. This book is a good starting point for those who wish to provide a more comprehensive answer. It should be of interest to both students and scholars."--Jingbin Wang, H-Net Reviews "Professor Pines writes with the benefit of wide and deep reading that enables him to survey the intellectual, political, and social background against which kingdoms and then empires were founded, maintained, declined, and closed from the time of the Warring States until the modern age."--Michael Loewe, Journal of Chinese StudiesTable of ContentsAcknowledgments vi i Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The Ideal of "Great Unity" 11 Chapter 2: The Monarch 44 Chapter 3: The Literati 76 Chapter 4: Local Elite 104 Chapter 5: The People 134 Chapter 6: Imperial Political Culture in the Modern Age 162 Notes 185 Bibliography 209 Index 233

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Book SynopsisBased on archival research and interviews with leading participants in the movement, this book traces the ascendancy of neoliberalism from the academy of interwar Europe to supremacy under Reagan and Thatcher and in the decades since. It argues that there was nothing inevitable about the victory of free-market politics.Trade ReviewFinalist for the 2014 Presidents' Book Award, Western Social Science Association Shortlisted for the 2012 Gladstone Prize, Royal Historical Society "[I]ntelligent."--Kenneth Minogue, Wall Street Journal "In impressive fashion, Jones analyzes the impact of free market economics and deregulation on political leaders in Washington, D.C., and London since the 1970s... [A]nyone intrigued by the intersection of economic theory and political affairs will appreciate this learned, detailed book."--Publishers Weekly "Mr. Stedman Jones offers a novel and comprehensive history of neoliberalism. It is tarred neither by a reverence for the heroes, nor by caricature, for he is a fair and nuanced writer. This is a bold biography of a great idea."--Economist "Clearly written and relevant to a wide audience."--Daniel Ben-Ami, Financial Times Wealth "Jones gives us the best kind of intellectual history, showing the interplay of ideas, ideology and nascent political movements. The book should be lauded for illustrating that the history of ideas is not straightforward, and a big idea can be bent towards something that its originators might not have imagined."--Joel Campbell, International Affairs "A cerebral, pertinent exegesis on the thinking behind the rise of the New Right... [A] valuable study that helps flesh out the caricature of conservatives as only believing 'greed is good.'"--Kirkus Reviews "[A] good read... The deep history of neo-liberal thought is fascinating."--Andrew Hilton, Financial World "[I]mportant... [A] beguilingly erudite old-fashioned read."--Stephen Matchett, Australian "Stedman Jones ... describes the scene with remarkable accuracy, including its financial underpinning and its ties with conservatism."--Karen Horn, Standpoint "[A] lucid, richly detailed examination of the evolution of the free market ideology since the end of World War II."--Glenn C. Altschuler, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Masters of the Universe is a firm brief for the independent, causal power of ideas to shape history... [It] does much to help explain the aftermath of 2008 and the ways in which political responses that might have defined another era seem unthinkable in ours."--Jennifer Burns, American Prospect "His lengthy exposition of the views shared by these outstanding economists might encourage many to pay attention to their works."--Alejandro Chafuen, Forbes "This is a timely history of the Anglo-American love affair with the market and the origins of the current economic crisis."--Keith Richmond, Tribune (U.K.) "[T]his is an insightful, substantive historical account of the Anglo-American political economy underpinning the conservative economic agendas of the Thatcher and Reagan administrations."--Choice "Fascinating, important, and timely, this is a book for anyone who wants to understand the history behind the Anglo-American love affair with the free market, as well as the origins of the current economic crisis."--World Book Industry "The book as a whole ... offers a balanced, well-structured and highly readable account of neo-liberalism's history which will serve both students and scholars as an introduction to this controversial line of economic thought."--Claudia Franziska Bruhwiler, Political Studies Review "This is a very important book... [T]he book is essential reading, both to know the history of neo-liberalism and to understand how it impacted on both Labour and Democrat administrations as well as those of the Reaganite and Thatcherite right."--Duncan Bowie, Chartist "Jones provides a balanced and even-handed account of the ideas and events. He does not shy away from contemporary critiques by leading economists and opponents of Neoliberal ideas."--Braham Dabscheck, Labour History "Jones brilliantly succeeds, thanks to his obvious mastery of the main neoliberal texts, his very astute use of historical archives (like the Hayek or Friedman Papers), and the many interviews he conducted with key neoliberal players in Europe and America."--Francoise Coste, Cercles "Masters of the Universe is an excellent and important book. It is very clearly structured, accessible, well-written, and rigorously argued. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the rise and spread of neoliberal ideas... [I]t will be a great source for both non-specialists interested in neoliberalism and scholars working on neoliberalism."--Lars Cornelissen, Plurilogue "[A] terrific book."--Enlightened Economist "Masters of the Universe does a masterful job telling one of the most important intellectual and policymaking stories of the twentieth century."--John L. Campbell, Historian "Jones provides a readable and laudable account of the history of neoliberalism and its political ascendancy. Besides containing the potential for a good documentary... His book also showcases heretofore unacknowledged archival material and scholarly synthesis. I recommend this book to not only historians of economics, but all policy historians and political theorists who are interested in the postwar history of the New Right."--Robert Van Horn, History of Economic IdeasTable of ContentsPreface to the paperback edition ix Acknowledgments xiii Timeline xv List of Abbreviations xvii Introduction 1 The Three Phases of Neoliberalism 6 Neoliberalism and History 10 Transatlantic Neoliberal Politics 15 1.The Postwar Settlement 21 2.The 1940s: The Emergence of the Neoliberal Critique 30 Karl Popper and "The Open Society" 37 Ludwig von Mises and "Bureaucracy" 49 Friedrich Hayek and "The Road to Serfdom" 57 The Mont Pelerin Society and "The Intellectuals and Socialism" 73 3.The Rising Tide: Neoliberal Ideas in the Postwar Period 85 The Two Chicago Schools: Henry Simons, Milton Friedman, and Neoliberalism 89 The Enlightenment, Adam Smith and Neoliberalism 100 Economic and Political Freedom: Milton Friedman and Cold War Neoliberalism 111 The German Economic Miracle: Neoliberalism and the Soziale Marktwirtschaft 121 Regulatory Capture, Public Choice, and Rational Choice Theory 126 4.A Transatlantic Network: Think Tanks and the Ideological Entrepreneurs 134 The United States in the 1950s: Fusionism and the Cold War 138 British Conservatism in the 1950s 147 Neoliberal Organization in the 1950s and 1960s 152 The Second Wave: Free Market Think Tanks in the 1970s 161 Neoliberal Journalists and Politicians 173 Breakthrough? 178 5.Keynesianism and the Emergence of Monetarism, 1945-71 180 Keynes and Keynesianism 182 "A Little Local Difficulty": Enoch Powell's Monetarism 190 American Economic Policy in the 1960s 197 Milton Friedman's Monetarism 201 The Gathering Storm 212 6.Economic Strategy: The Neoliberal Breakthrough, 1971-84 215 The Slow Collapse of the Postwar Boom, 1964-71 217 Stagflation and Wage and Price Policies 225 The Heath Interregnum and the Neoliberal Alternative 230 The Left Turns to Monetarism, 1: Callaghan, Healey, and the IMF Crisis 241 The Left Turns to Monetarism, 2: Jimmy Carter and Paul Volcker's Federal Reserve 247 Thatcherite Economic Strategy 254 Reaganomics 263 Conclusion 269 7.Neoliberalism Applied? The Transformation of Affordable Housing and Urban Policy in the United States and Britain, 1945-2000 273 Postwar Low-Income Housing and Urban Policy in the United States 278 Postwar Low-Income Housing and Urban Policy in Britain 288 Jimmy Carter and the Limits of Government 295 Property-Owning Democracy and Individual Freedom: Housing and Neoliberal Ideas 297 The Reagan Administration 304 Council House Privatization: The Right to Buy Scheme 308 Transatlantic Transmissions: Reagan's Enterprise Zones 315 Hope VI, Urban Regeneration, and the Third Way 321 Conclusion 325 Conclusion The Legacy of Transatlantic Neoliberalism: Faith-Based Policy 329 Parallelisms: The Place of Transatlantic Neoliberal Politics in History 333 The Apotheosis of Neoliberalism? 338 Reason-Based Policymaking 343 Notes 347 Index 391

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Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1957, this classic work has guided generations of scholars through the arcane mysteries of medieval political theology. Throughout history, the notion of two bodies has permitted the post mortem continuity of monarch and monarchy, as epitomized by the statement, "The king is dead. Long live the king." In The King's Two BodieTrade Review"Professor Kantorowicz has written a great book, perhaps the most important work in the history of medieval political thought, surely the most spectacular, of the past several generations. Here, in superbly designed chapters based upon the best scholarship in every field even remotely concerned with the Middle Ages, is the development of the theory and symbolism of the early national states from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries."--P. N. Riesenberg, American Political Science Review "Professor Ernst Kantorowicz has in this volume given us a monumental work of superb scholarship and profound learning, magnificently produced by Princeton University Press. Few, if any, contributions to the study of medieval thought comparable to this depth and width have been made for many years."--B. Chrimes, The Law Quarterly Review "There is one book that says it all. An old book, nearly a classic...This book, published in 1957, is titled The King's Two Bodies: A Study in Mediaeval Political Theology."--Bernard-Henri Levy, New RepublicTable of ContentsIntroduction to the Princeton Classics Edition ix Preface (1997) by William Chester Jordan xxv Preface xxxiii Introduction 3 I. The Problem: Plowden's Reports 7 II. The Shakespeare: King Richard II 24 III. Christ-centered Kingship 42 1. The Norman Anonymous 42 2. The Frontispiece of the Aachen Gospels 61 3. The Halo of Perpetuity 78 IV. Law-centered Kingship 87 1. From Litury to Legal Science 87 2. Frederick the Second 97 Pater et Filius Iustitiae 97 Iustitia Meciatrix 107 3. Bracton 143 Rex infra et supra Legem 143 Christus-Fiscus 164 V. Polity-Centered Kingship: Corpus Mysticum 193 1. Corpus Ecclesiae mysticum 194 2. Corpus Reipublicae mysticum 207 3. Pro patria mori 232 Patria religious and legal 232 Patriotic Propaganda 249 Rex et Patria 259 VI. On Continuity and Corporations 273 1. Continuity 273 Aevum 275 Perpetua Necessitas 284 2. Fictio Figura Veritatis 291 Imperium semper est 291 Universitas non moritur 302 VII. The King Never Dies 314 1. Dynastic Continuity 317 2. The Crown as Fiction 336 Corona visibilis et invisibilis 336 The Fiscal Crown 342 Inalienability 347 Crown and Universitas 358 The King and the Crown 364 The Crown a Minor 372 3. Dignitas non moritur 383 Phoenix 385 Corporational Symptoms in England 401 Le Roy est mort ... 409 Effigies 419 Rex Instrumentum Dignitatis 437 VII. Man-centered Kingship: Dante 451 IX. Epilogus 396 List of Illustrations 507 Illustrations following 512 Bibliography and Index 513 Addenda 568

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Wickham's expert analysis and meticulous academic approach build on previous. Limited examinations and substantial documentation to turn established research on its head, as he presents a fresh look into how communes in the mid-12th century successfully prepared Italian power structures for the cultural significance they would later have." * Publishers Weekly *"Wickham's analysis is meticulous and incisive, and he situates his conclusions clearly in light of the prior historiography." * Choice *"Wickham's passion for medieval Italian urban history comes across on every page."---Corinne Wieben, H-Net Reviews"This book provides a useful foray into the internal debates occurring in those movements and thus lends layers of complexity to the overall argument."---Brooke Sherrard, Nova Religio"Wickham has a deep knowledge of the previous literature in the topic and an awareness of how this is linked to debates with broad ideological implications, such as the origins of Renaissance and of Republican forms of government and values."---Michele Campopiano, Catholic Historical Review

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Greenberg . . . a longtime critic of expanded state power after 9/11, draws a straight line between the early U.S. response to the attacks and the abuses of the Trump administration."---Quinta Jurecic, Washington Post"Subtle Tools strikes a . . . note of guarded hope for the rule of law against populist lawlessness."---Jonathan Stevenson, Survival"This is an expertly researched cri de coeur regarding recapturing the processes and procedures of American democracy, which Greenberg (Fordham Univ. School of Law) argues were lost in the 20 years between the 9/11 attacks and the present." * Choice *

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Book SynopsisHyper-capitalism and extreme identity politics are driving us to distraction. Both destroy the basis of a common life shared across ages and classes. The COVID-19 crisis could accelerate these tendencies further, or it could herald something more hopeful: a post-liberal moment. Adrian Pabst argues that now is the time for an alternative – postliberalism – that is centred around trust, dignity, and human relationships. Instead of reverting to the destabilising inhumanity of 'just-in-time' free-market globalisation, we could build a politics upon the sense of localism and community spirit, the valuing of family, place and belonging, which was a real theme of lockdown. We are not obliged to put up with the restoration of a broken status quo that erodes trust, undermines institutions and trashes our precious natural environment. We could build a pluralist democracy, decentralise the state, and promote embedded, mutualist markets. This bold book shows that only a politics which fuses economic justice with social solidarity and ecological balance can overcome our deep divisions and save us from authoritarian backlash.​Trade Review“As the neoliberal consensus that provided the public philosophy of the post-Cold War West shatters, demagogic populism and authoritarianism threaten to take its place. Rejecting these dangerous alternatives, Adrian Pabst makes a persuasive case for rebuilding democracy on a foundation of strong communities.”Michael Lind, author of The New Class War: Saving Democracy from the Metropolitan Elite “All thinking people realize that western liberal societies face dilemmas they have been unable to resolve, but until now there has been no constructive account of what a post-liberal social order would look like. Adran Pabst's brilliant short book fills that gap. Fully recognizing the irreplaceable achievements of liberalism, he argues compellingly that they are endangered by an excessively individualist understanding of human well being. By showing what this means in a wide variety of fields, he has given us a book that advances understanding of the most fundamental issues of our time.”John Gray, author and philosopher “Adrian Pabst is one of our most interesting political thinkers - and this wise, compelling book provides not only a penetrating analysis of the crisis of liberalism but something much more valuable: a road map for a transformative politics. It should be essential reading for Keir Starmer – and indeed Boris Johnson.”Jason Cowley, Editor of the New Statesman “A common critique of 'post-liberal' writing is that it's stronger on critique than on vision. In the erudite but highly readable Postliberal Politics, Adrian Pabst seeks to remedy that shortcoming. Pabst draws on classical and Christian thinking to synthesise a vision for healthy public life after liberalism, that's neither narrowly nationalistic nor inhumanly globalised but ordered by solidarity both at local and international levels, and with our natural world. Readers on both Left and Right will find much in this timely book to challenge political preconceptions, and also to enrich and re-humanise an urgent political debate.”Mary Harrington, UnHerd columnist “By starting with the inescapability of limits and the common ground between liberal and authoritarian high-tech capitalism, Pabst succeeds with some flair in injecting political and intellectual substance into the idea of post-liberalism.”Helen Thompson, University of Cambridge “Within an impressive body of work this is Adrian Pabst’s most political contribution to date. His ambition is to rethink the terms of what is known as postliberalism and anchor contemporary debate within certain distinct ethical traditions. He succeeds and in so doing performs the essential – and long overdue – task of reclaiming postliberalism from the right. This is a vital contribution to any renewed public philosophy for the left. After four defeats in just over a decade, here are the foundations of a coherent domestic and foreign policy reset for Labour.”Jon Cruddas, Labour MP for Dagenham and Rainham and author of The Dignity of Labour “Adrian Pabst is one of the most original and insightful thinkers writing about politics today. In this book he examines the challenges which technological change, environmental degradation and unaccountable power pose to human flourishing. You don't need to agree with his prescriptions to admire the power of his diagnosis - this work is essential reading for all concerned with our current discontents.”Michael Gove, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster "A compelling case for a new politics based on the things that matter: families, places, traditions, relationships. This is the proper ground of political dispute - right and left should be fighting to represent the communitarian idea. Dr Pabst has mapped the emerging post-liberal landscape with skill and passion. A vital book for the 2020s.”Danny Kruger, Conservative MP for Devizes “Probably the word ‘liberal’ should never have been a noun but left as an adjective, describing an ethos of fairness and generosity. As a noun it has come to be attached to a messy, incoherent bundle of positions, as chaotic as the opportunist and value-free capitalism whose ally it so often is. This incisive and intelligent book exposes with brilliant clarity the failures of our current political culture, and outlines where we should look for a political future that - for a change – has something to do with the heart of human identity and human desire. It obliges us to ask seriously what we have learned about this in the collective trauma of the last year.”Rowan Williams, Former Archbishop of Canterbury“A quite brilliant book”New StatesmanTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements Prologue: a new era I POSTLIBERAL TIMES 1 Resolving the interregnum 2 Politics after the plague 3 Why opposites coincide 4 New polarities II A PUBLIC PHILOSOPHY OF POSTLIBERALISM 5 The art of politics 6 Social virtues 7 Mutual obligations 8 Pluralism 9 Place, limits and ecology III POLITICAL AND POLICY PROGRAMME 10 Building a relational economy 11 Renewing democratic corporatism 12 Reweaving the social fabric 13 Restoring the common home of nature 14 Promoting civic internationalism Epilogue: a new battleground of ideas Notes

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive history of parliament in the British Isles from the earliest times, covering all aspects of parliament as an institution. A Short History of Parliament is a comprehensive institutional history, not a political history of parliament, though politics is included where, as frequently occurred, institutional changes resulted from particular political events. It covers the English parliament from its origins, the pre-1707 Scottish parliament and the pre-1800 Irish parliament, the parliament of Great Britain from 1707 and the parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801, together with sections on the post-devolution parliaments and assemblies set up in the 1990s and on parliaments in the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and the Irish Republic. It considers all aspects of parliament as an institution:membership of both the Lords and the Commons; constituencies, elections and franchises; where the Lords and the Commons met; how business was arranged and managed, including Speakers, the use of committees, the development of parties, lobbying and voting procedures; legal cases in the House of Lords; official recording of and reporting of business and debates; the conflict and balance of power between the two Houses; and the position of the monarch in parliament. Each section contains a chronology listing key events, suggestions for further reading and "inserts" - short anecdotes or accounts of particular figures or episodes which provide lively illustrations of parliament at work in different periods. Clyve Jones is an honorary fellow of the Institute of Historical Research. He has been editor of the journal Parliamentary History since 1986. Previously he was reader in modern historyin the University of London and collection development librarian in the Institute of Historical Research. He has published extensively on the history of the House of Lords and of the peerage in the early eighteenth century.Trade ReviewAchieves the very difficult task of digesting in a single volume current understanding of all the British parliaments from the beginning. [...] It is very well-structured, easy to navigate, accessible and readable. * THE RICARDIAN *[Gives] readers a good survey of parliamentary development and to its credit pays proper attention to the invaluable work of the Lords. * CONTEMPORARY REVIEW *For those requiring a handy bluffer's guide to Parliament that provides historical context while exploding a number of myths, A Short History of Parliament is a must. * TOTAL POLITICS *The essays assembled here are a rich source of anecdote and oddity. They also set out, clearly and concisely, the institutional framework and the general ground rules under which the Westminster Parliament as well as various other British parliaments have operated. [...] Most of the contributors rise to heights of excellence, supplying the very best summaries of their field. * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *A scholarly and very informative history, A Short History of Parliament is a top and must have [addition] to any college history collection. * BOOKWATCH *

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