Political science and theory Books

Book SynopsisWinner of the IPEG 2022 Book PrizeThe global ocean has through the centuries served as a trade route, strategic space, fish bank and supply chain for the modern capitalist economy. While sea beds are drilled for their fossil fuels and minerals, and coastlines developed for real estate and leisure, the oceans continue to absorb the toxic discharges of our carbon civilization - warming, expanding, and acidifying the blue water part of the planet in ways that will bring unpredictable but irreversible consequences for the rest of the biosphere.In this bold and radical new book, Campling and Colás analyse these and other sea-related phenomena through a historical and geographical lens. In successive chapters dealing with the political economy, ecology and geopolitics of the sea, the authors argue that the earth's geographical separation into land and sea has significant consequences for capitalist development. The distinctive features of this mode of production continuously seek to transcend the land-sea binary in an incessant quest for profit, engendering new alignments of sovereignty, exploitation and appropriation in the capture and coding of maritime spaces and resources.Trade ReviewHere at last is a sophisticated and theoretically informed book about the maritime origins and development of capitalism. After this mighty blow against the bias of terracentrism, the history of the modern world will never look quite the same. -- Marcus Rediker, author of The Slave Ship: A Human HistoryThis ground-breaking, immensely rich and densely argued book shows how criss-crossing sealanes have connected ports and cities, and brought together different modes of production and social classes. Over the centuries, the sea has circulated values, human subjects, and shifting modes of exploitation; in doing this, global capitalism has established new chains of activities and evolving patterns of extraction, exploitation, circulation and distribution of (surplus) value. This mighty work of scholarship traces these human endeavours; in doing this, it has opened fresh avenues of research. * Alfredo Saad-Filho, King’s College London *I can think of no other book that has dealt with the pivotal role of the sea in the evolution of capitalism as well as the wider canvas of capitalism's interaction with the sea with as much innovation and more comprehensively than this fascinating and lucidly written work by Campling and Colás. This is also a profoundly timely intervention, given the horrifying ways in which global warming, the scourge of plastic waste , and capital's ever faster depletion of marine life have degraded the oceans irreversibly. -- Jairus Banaji, author, Theory as History; and A Brief History of Commercial CapitalismCapitalism and the Sea has liberated me from the shackles of my earthbound imaginary. Liam Campling and Alejandro Colás have given us that rare opportunity: to rethink how historical capitalism works, marshalling a breathtaking crystallization of insights from environmental history, political economy, and social history. Capitalism and the Sea unsettles our conventional thinking about how power, profit and oceanic webs of life have shaped modernity, from its genocidal origins to today's planetary crisis. Their word for these gruesome and lucrative entanglements - "terraqueous" - doesn't roll off the tongue, but it will stick with you for a lifetime after reading this book. I will never think about capitalism the same. -- Jason W Moore, author, Capitalism in the Web of LifeThe role of the sea in the modern world is hugely unappreciated. Campling and Colas offer an unrivalled analysis of the political and economic forces that shape our relationship to the sea, and the labour of those who work on and around it. -- Jeremy Anderson, Head of Strategic Research, International Transport Workers' FederationA rich Marxian account of how the maritime made capitalism. Campling and Colas tell the absorbing, deeply researched, and sweeping story of how capitalism was forged through slavery, seaborne trade, naval projection of power, vast maritime empires and modern logistics. Capitalism and the Sea shows us that, in the words of the great St Lucian poet Derek Walcott, the sea is history. -- Laleh KhaliliA novel perspective...Capitalism and the Sea brings into focus important questions from the history of capitalism. -- Steve Edwards * Marx and Philosophy *An important and rewarding read, as well as a valuable addition to the growing body of work studying capital's relationship to ecology and the destruction of the environment on which we all rely. * International Socialism *An oceanic journey through the political economy, ecology and geopolitics of the sea. * Morning Star *A fabulously wide-ranging new history of the last five centuries, covering the slave-trade, ecology, modern container ports and EEZ's, industrial fisheries, territorial disputes and much more. -- Tim Barton * Hastings Independent *An ambitious, systematic, and convincing account of the reciprocal impact of capital upon the salt-water world in the past 400 years. -- Nikolas Kosmatopoulos * Antipode *An engrossing and meticulously researched book that challenges conventional wisdom about the role of the sea in the modern world. -- Soumik Sarkar * Odisha Economic Journal *

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Book SynopsisKant’s moral and political philosophy has been important in developing ethical thinking in international relations. This study argues that his theory of the state is crucially important for understanding the moral agency of the state as it is discussed in contemporary debates. For Kant, it is argued that the state has not only duties but also, controversially, inalienable rights that ground its relationship to its citizens and to other states. Most importantly, the state – regardless of its governmental form or factual behaviour – has a right to exist as a state. The Kantian account provided, therefore, explores not only the moral agency but also the moral standing of the state, examining the status of different kinds of states in world politics and expectations towards their ethical behaviour. Every state has a moral standing that must be respected in a morally imperfect world gradually transforming towards the ideal condition of perpetual peace.Trade Review"Vaha’s book offers a comprehensive Kantian theory of the moral personality of the state situated in the ongoing climate crisis that challenges widespread assumptions about Kant’s ideas of international right. Her in-depth critique of the exclusionary practices in the international society shows that the assertion of the superiority of liberal states is incompatible with a truly Kantian conception of the equal moral standing of all political communities." --Macarena Marey, University of Buenos Aires -- Macarena Marey, University of Buenos Aires"The author provides us with a valuable effort to address a key normative puzzle in international politics, what she labels the “Moral Standing Problem” in which states are assigned responsibilities without having any of the correlative rights associated with moral agency. Through a deep engagement with the practical philosophy of Immanuel Kant, Vaha provides a novel account of how we might conceptualize the state as a complete moral person with a right to exist, and illustrates the value of her account by addressing the question of the international community’s obligations arising from the potential physical extinction of low-lying insular states." --Harry D. Gould, Florida International University -- Harry D. Gould, Florida International UniversityTable of ContentsNote on references and translations Introduction Chapter One: The Moral Standing Problem in the study of world politics Chapter Two: Kant and the metaethical conception of the state Chapter Three: As to what relations among human beings and states ought to be Chapter Four: Rights and duties of the state Chapter Five: Order and justice in the world of imperfect states Chapter Six: On contested continuity of states Conclusions Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe Myth of Development boldly states that the benefits of development, so long promised over the past sixty years, have not come about for most people. Nor are they going to. State-driven and market-led development models have both failed. Many countries, and their cities in particular, are collapsing into ungovernable chaotic entities. De Rivero shows that the root of this chaos is not simply economic, but stems from a much more profound crisis of our way of life and of our unsustainable global urban civilization. Arguing that the 'wealth of nations' agenda must be replaced by a 'survival of nations' agenda in order to prevent increasing human misery and political disorder, De Riviero explains why many countries must abandon dreams of development and adopt instead a policy of national survival based on providing basic water, food, renewable energy, and stabilizing their populations. Featuring a new introduction by the author, this edition engages with the latest findings on climate change and assesses the prospects for our species in the decades ahead.Trade ReviewHighly readable, The Development Myth is a useful tool for understanding the enormous problems for survival that will have to be faced by the poverty-stricken, exploding urban populations of the wrongly called "developing countries". * Javier Perez de Cuellar, United Nations *Bristling with new ideas, the author provides us with an intelligent way into understanding better the world's present disorders. * Le Monde Diplomatique *This provocative and well-written book may stimulate discussion and promote sound survival and development policies. * The Choice *Table of ContentsPreface to the New Edition Introduction 1. The Twilight of the Nation-State 2. Global Empowerment and National Impoverishment 3. International Darwinism 4. The Search for El Dorado 5. Human and Natural Depredation 6. The Crisis of the California Model Index

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Book SynopsisSet in one of the world’s most unequal and violent places, this ethnographic study reveals how insurance companies discovered a vast market of predominantly poor African clients. After apartheid ended in 1994, South Africa became a ‘testing ground’ for new insurance products, new marketing techniques and pioneering administrative models with a potentially global market. Drawing on Rorty’s notion of irony for understanding how the contradictions inherent to solidarity affect inequality and conflict as well as drawing on a vast array of case studies, Ironies of Solidarity examines how both Africans enjoy the freedoms that they have gained in financial terms and how the onset of democracy effected the risks faced in everyday life. Bähre examines the ways in which policies are sold and claims are handled, offering a detailed analysis of South Africa’s insurance sector.Trade ReviewThis work is a rich tapestry of ethnography and theory, simultaneously a narrative of various dynamics in contemporary South Africa as well as an excavation of many concepts central to economic and social inquiry. * The Economic Record *This important book explores how the growing market in insurance services for the poor in South Africa mitigates risks for some while precipitating family conflicts. Bähre’s thoughtful and compassionate study confronts simplistic assertions about neoliberalisation by showing how financial mechanisms can enable practices of solidarity which have both positive and negative dimensions. * Maia Green, The University of Manchester *Bähre warns us against nostalgic notions of social relationships as inherently good and caring, and the market and money as polluting this imagined paradise. This book should be required reading for every student of society in the 21st century. * Mamphela Ramphele *In this book’s surprising and sharp argument, Bähre questions the association between neoliberalism and financialization in the context of post-apartheid South Africa. Offering a mode of analysis attendant to the ironies of political economy, prying open the iron cages of our own limited analytical imagination, Bähre revises old concepts and introduces refreshingly new ones. * Bill Maurer, University of California *Table of Contents1. Introduction 2. An ironic analysis 3. Hope and redistribution 4. Penetrating a new market 5. The Janus face of inclusion 6. The enchantment of abstract finance 7. Transforming mutualities in business 8. Death as moral hazard 9. Conclusion: Ironies of solidarity

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Book SynopsisWe are said to be living in an age of anger, and national populist movements are often identified as its political manifestation. In Populism Michael Burleigh explores this new global era, drawing on his Engelsberg Lectures. The first chapter explores the nature of mass anger, mainly in Europe and the US: how might popular discontent be artificially incited and sustained by elite figures claiming to speak for the common people? The second chapter compares the difficult aftermaths of empire in Britain and Russia. Has that experience fostered these countries' sense of exceptionality and inability to evolve into normal societies? Many national populist movements exploit History, as we saw with the so-called 'statue wars' reignited in 2020. The third chapter ranges across Europe, but also China, where a nationalised version of History has become intrinsic to social support for the ruling Communist Party. In the short term, COVID-19 has created problems for several populist leaders, whose image has suffered amidst the public's new-found respect for expertise and unfavourable comparisons with less shouty politicians who have handled the pandemic differently. Yet, with the looming risk of an extended economic depression, Burleigh fears that new post-populists may arise in the long run.Trade Review‘[A] spirited, readable and thought-provoking tour through the forces defining our age. … Populism displays Burleigh’s eye for enlivening and memorable aperçus, anecdotes and factoids.’ -- New Statesman‘We do not know what will come after the pandemic, but … Burleigh’s Populism … will help the discerning reader ask, and then answer, “What comes next?”’ -- American Purpose

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Book SynopsisHints on the Art and Science of Government was the first treatise on statecraft produced in modern India. It consists of lectures that Raja Sir T. Madhava Rao delivered in 1881 to Sayaji Rao Gaekwad III, the young Maharaja of Baroda. Universally considered the foremost Indian statesman of the nineteenth century, Madhava Rao had served as dewan (or prime minister) in the native states of Travancore, Indore and Baroda. Under his command, Travancore and Baroda came to be seen as 'model states', whose progress demonstrated that Indians were capable of governing well. Rao's lectures summarise the fundamental principles underlying his unprecedented success. He explains how and why a Maharaja ought to marry the classical Indian ideal of raj dharma, which enjoins rulers to govern dutifully, with the modern English ideal of limited sovereignty. This makes Hints an exceptionally important text: it shows how, outside the confines of British India, Indians consciously and creatively sought to revise and adapt ideals in the interests of progress. This landmark edition contains both the newly rediscovered, original lecture manuscripts; and an authoritative introduction, outlining Rao's remarkable career, his complicated relationship with Sayaji Rao III, and the reasons why his lectures have been neglected-until now.Trade Review'The Progressive Maharaja introduces us to Raja Sir Madhava Rao’s fascinating manifesto on statecraft, Hints on the Art and Science of Government. In rich detail, drawing on his extensive investigation of historical sources, Sagar delves into the story behind the man and the thoughtful text he produced, bringing us a fine, original and unjustly overlooked contribution to Indian political thought.' -- Shashi Tharoor, Indian MP and author of Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India'This book illustrates what historians do--masterful research identifying significant aspects of the past. Sagar's admirable talents recount the life of India's most successful political operator of the nineteenth century and reproduce his handbook on how to be a ruler. Machiavelli meets the British Empire!' -- Robin Jeffrey, Professor, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore'A unique Indian contribution to the genre of Art of Government treatises, that skilfully fuses liberal constitutionalism with raj dharma. Sagar's excellent introduction provides the context for this ambitious pedagogical experiment in producing an enlightened monarch proficient in statecraft.' -- Niraja Gopal Jayal, Avantha Chair, India Institute, King's College London'Sagar intervenes brilliantly in debates on good governance by bringing to light a hitherto unknown, but still immensely relevant, nineteenth-century treatise on statecraft. This beautifully written book would appeal to all those interested in the richness and plurality of Indian political thought.' -- Nandini Gooptu, Associate Professor of South Asian Studies, University of Oxford'Illuminating the interface between princely India and British officialdom, this is a valuable contribution to knowledge about princely states in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century India.' -- T.C.A. Raghavan, former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, and author of History Men: Jadunath Sarkar, G.S. Sardesai, Raghubir Sinh and Their Quest for India's Past'This hitherto neglected but important nineteenth-century Indian political treatise on what makes a good ruler will fascinate anyone interested in Indian colonial history and political theory. Scrupulously researched, this is a clear, concise summary of the history of the princely states and their relationship with the British Raj.' -- John Zubryzcki, author of The House of Jaipur

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Book SynopsisLiberal democracy has produced the most freedom and security for the most people of any form of government in human history. For a while, and especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union, we believed that this would be enough. Yet, today, we face an anti-liberal backlash--and we bear much of the responsibility. Western leaders learnt the wrong lesson from the Soviets' downfall, seeing it as an ideological victory and adopting a 'total liberalism' with the same rigidity that had just brought down communism. Now, the economic and foreign policy failures of neoliberalism have fatally undermined the public's faith in the associated political system, liberal democracy. Cue disaffected masses, opportunistic populists, canny Russian sabotage, and the Chinese model as a powerful alternative--where do we go from here? From Tsarist conspiracy theories and Italian corruption to revolution in America, France and China, this book shows the roots of our century's descent into crisis. Exposing the critical mistakes of contemporary liberals, Azeem Ibrahim urges a rethink to renew liberal democracy, domestically and internationally. His incisive narrative of the West's recent past is sober and sobering; his vision for the future hopeful yet urgent--for only a liberal order can save vulnerable lives and confront global emergencies.Trade Review‘Ibrahim does not offer a silver bullet; he acknowledges liberalism’s failings, looks for ways to reform and strengthen laws and democratic processes, and insists that only liberal values have the capacity to guide the world to a better future.’ -- Foreign Affairs'Brilliantly spins the globe to tell us not only how we got here, but why, explaining the need for a truly international, forceful response. A masterful overview of our leaders today, and a must-read!' -- Ravi Agrawal, Editor in Chief, Foreign Policy'This thoughtful and articulate book could not be more timely. Liberal democracy needs its champions to speak out, and Ibrahim is doing just that.' -- The Rt Hon. Sir Malcolm Rifkind KGMC KC, former UK Foreign Secretary (1995-7)'A very important book--in an age of new competition between autocracies and democracies, Ibrahim explains what is at stake and what democracies might do about it.' -- Baroness Helena Kennedy KC FRSA HonFRSE, founding co-chair, Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, and author of 'Eve Was Framed''Ibrahim is one of the world's most prominent commentators. Here he tackles some of the biggest problems facing the globe and, with his usual clarity, tells us some home truths.' -- The Rt Hon. Baron Robertson of Port Ellen, 10th Secretary General of NATO and former UK Defence Secretary'An essential book for understanding why democracies are in difficulty--and how to address the challenge posed by rising authoritarianism.' -- Emma Sky OBE, founding director, International Leadership Center, Yale University, and author of 'The Unravelling''Ibrahim has translated his deep research and familiarity with democratic politics into a study of the authoritarian challenge. Readable, impressive and worrying.' -- General Robert S. Spalding, former Senior Director for Strategic Planning, US National Security Council (2017-18)

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Book SynopsisBritain is facing big security challenges in the 2020s. The decade to come will not be as favourable as the two past decades. For a country as ‘globalised’ as Britain, security challenges cover a wide spectrum - from terrorism, international crime and cyber attack through to the prospects of war in its own continent or even, again, for its own survival. Brexit has entered these equations and turned them into a political tipping point, from which there is no hiding and no turning back. Tipping Point looks at the immediate and long-term security challenges Britain faces - from security and foreign policy to the crisis of liberal democracy - as well as Britain's security capabilities.Trade ReviewThe world is unstable and dangerous. Yet the UK's sense of future purpose and direction is unclear. There is little consensus, indeed the country is divided. This exceptional book makes a compelling and in some respects surprising case for a strategic surge, an innovative national strategy to guide us through the post-Brexit era. The UK must find a route through a gathering storm, and fast. To do this we need some statesmen and some old-fashioned honest statecraft. If those who have our future in their hands are uncertain about what to do, it's easy. Hire Mike Clarke and Helen Ramscar, fast. * General The Lord Richards of Herstmonceux GCB, CBE, DSO, Chief of the Defence Staff, 2010-2013 *The authors brilliantly chart the road ahead to the Tipping Point: the Brexit end of a United Europe just as America's "moral leadership" becomes a void, and China fills the gap. They tell us with striking insight how to survive and get to the other side. * Lord Saatchi, Former Conservative Party Chairman *In a period of significant change in Britain, Clarke and Ramscar have outlined some of the key security challenges facing the United Kingdom in the coming decades. The questions raised in this book, as well as the authors’ call for a new emphasis on long-term strategic thought, merit our attention. * Henry A. Kissinger *’Tipping Point’ captures the core dilemma that faces Britain today: we once thought we knew who we were, how the world worked and our place in it - even if there were lean as well as better times - but now we have to understand that we are adrift and in peril. The political thinking, the instruments of power, and the alliances that kept Britain afloat for decades either no longer work or are running on fumes, and what lies ahead jeopardizes our security and prosperity unless major action is taken. Brexit is the prism through which this will be viewed, but Brexit is neither the cause nor the solution. Unless Britain now understands and accepts some uncomfortable truths, sets aside outmoded policy, capability and method, and invests leadership, energy and resources in resetting how it acts at home and on the world stage the prospects are poor. This book explains why and points to what must now be done. * General Sir Richard Barrons, KCB CBE, Former Commander, Joint Forces Command and one of the Chiefs of Staff leading UK Armed Forces. *For many of us who operate global enterprises out of the United States, we have long looked to London as a gateway to Europe. With the recent election confirming that Boris Johnson will lead Britain out of Europe early in 2020, that once dependable pathway will be blocked and the future of American business’ relationship with Britain will hang in the balance. Tipping Point, clearly explains the forces at play and the challenges facing Britain today. This understanding of global economic pressures, social forces and security vulnerabilities provides an valuable guide. Tipping Point is a must read for business leaders who seek to understand an evolving, and potentially, deteriorating Britain. Thankfully, in layman’s language, experts Michael Clarke and Helen Ramscar have written a prescription for a restored, revitalized Britain. They call for the creation of a “strategic surge” in resources and the political will to stabilize Britain and give it the chance to return as a trusted partner in the wider world. I certainly hope Tipping Point is widely read by government leaders, business executives and anyone who wishes to understand Brexit, Britain and the future of European stability. More importantly, I hope the recommendations offered by Clarke and Ramscar are adopted. Much depends on it. * Sally Susman, Executive Vice President, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Pfizer Inc *Clarke and Ramscar provide a strong grounding on which to understand Britain’s security futures and also to understand the challenges that face Britain well beyond Brexit. Looking at both the national and the global as well as the historical and the emergent, this book is written for both the scholar and the lay reader to inform and suggest the challenges that Britain faces and what it takes to find vigor in the face of them. * Professor David Galbreath, University of Bath *Table of ContentsIntroduction Britain's Long-Term Challenges 1. The Geopolitical Wheels 2. The Global Economic Turmoil 3. The Social Revolution 4. The Crisis of Liberal Democracy Britain's Immediate Challenges 5. Dealing with Great Powers 6. Securing from Within 7. Facing Global Institutions The Brexit Challenge 8. The Geopolitics of Brexit 9. Security and Foreign Policy 10. The Meaning of 'Global Britain' Britain's Security Capabilities 11. Governmental - Diplomacy, Defence, Intelligence and Security 12. Societal - Economics, Finance and Soft Power Conclusion 13. Strategic Surge for the 2020s

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Book SynopsisHenri Lefebvre saw Marx as an 'unavoidable, necessary, but insufficient starting point', and always insisted on the importance of Hegel to understanding Marx. Metaphilosophy also suggested the significance he ascribed to Nietzsche, in the 'realm of shadows' through which philosophy seeks to think the world. Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche: or the Realm of the Shadows proposes that the modern world is, at the same time, Hegelian in terms of the state, Marxist in terms of the social and society and Nietzschean in terms of civilisation and its values. As early as 1939, Lefebvre had pioneered a French reading of Nietzsche that rejected the philosopher's appropriation by fascists, bringing out the tragic implications of Nietzsche's proclamation that 'God is dead' long before this approach was followed by such later writers as Foucault, Derrida and Deleuze. Forty years later, in the last of his philosophical writings, Lefebvre juxtaposed the contributions of the three great thinkers, in a text that's themes remain surprisingly relevant today.Trade ReviewOne of the great French intellectual activists of the twentieth century. -- David HarveyThe last great classical philosopher. -- Fredric JamesonIt is not excessive to claim that he is the ecophilosopher of the twenty-first century. -- Stanley AronowitzThe most prolific of French Marxist intellectuals * Radical Philosophy *Highly commendable and should be read alongside Lefebvre's theoretical works to afford the reader a richer understanding of the origin and theoretical background of his philosophy. -- Kaiyue He * Marx & Philosophy *

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Book SynopsisAs an issue, the environment is complicated. First, it is layered. Secondly, it is multifaceted. As a result, political scientist John A. Duerk has assembled an interdisciplinary anthology composed of accessible studies to generate conversations that will yield greater understanding of the many environmental challenges that we face. The layers explored herein are philosophy, politics, and policy. Philosophy concerns the ideas that inform our values. Politics involves the conflicts that emerge amid the conditions we must navigate. Lastly, policy encompasses how public and private actors respond to everything from regulation of greenhouse gas emissions to changes in consumer attitudes. Regarding the different facets, this work is intended to be an entry point for anyone who would like to learn more about issues such as the land ethic, the environmental impact of clothing production, climate change, the placement of bike lanes in cities, water usage, and artist depictions of the wilderness. Let the conversations begin…Table of ContentsChapter 1: Consumption and Consciousness: The Land Ethic RevisitedMark ThorsbyChapter 2: Rawls and the Distribution of Human Resources by Those in the Animal Rights CommunityAlan CluneChapter 3: The Fabric of Life: Technology, Ideology & the Environmental Impact of ClothingJuneko RobinsonChapter 4: Muslim Perspectives and the Politics of Climate ChangeJennifer Epley SandersChapter 5: Darkness in the Rage of Light: Gendered EcoGothic Landscapes in the American WestSuzanne RobertsChapter 6: Food Sustainability for the Underprivileged: A Comparison of Non-Profit Group Activities in Four U.S. CitiesCamila PomboChapter 7: Egalitarians Speak: Lone Voices of Dissent in the Congressional Hearings on Radical Animal Liberation and Environmental ActivismJohn DuerkChapter 8: Changing Lanes and Changing Places: An Examination of Race, Urban Bikeways, and Gentrification in American CitiesMarkie McBrayerChapter 9: A Consumer Public Sphere: Considering Activist and Environmental Narratives in the Contexts of Themed and Consumer SpacesScott LukasChapter 10: What Role Can Water Markets Play in Adapting to Climate Change? Evidence from Two River Basins in the Western United StatesElizabeth Koebele, Loretta Singletary, Shelby Hockaday, and Kerri Jean OrmerodChapter 11: Do Environmental Policies Enhance Environmental Quality? An Examination of Policy Instruments and OutcomesEmilia Barreto CarvalhoChapter 12: The Role of Art in the Conservation of American LandscapesJoe R. McBride

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Book SynopsisThe Golden Horde is a definitive work on the Italian revolutionary movements of the 1960s and ’70s. An anthology of texts and fragments woven together with an original commentary, The Golden Horde widens our understanding of the full complexity and richness of radical thought and practice in Italy during the 1960s and ’70s. The book covers the generational turbulence of Italy’s postwar period, the transformations of Italian capitalism, the new analyses by worker-focused intellectuals, the student movement of 1968, the Hot Autumn of 1969, the extra-parliamentary groups of the early 1970s, the Red Brigades, the formation of a radical women’s movement, the development of Autonomia, and the build-up to the watershed moment of the spontaneous political movement of 1977. Far from being merely a handbook of political history, The Golden Horde also sheds light on two decades of Italian culture, including the newspapers, songs, journals, festivals, comics, and philosophy that these movements produced. The book features writings by Sergio Bologna, Umberto Eco, Elvio Fachinelli, Lea Melandri, Danilo Montaldi, Toni Negri, Raniero Panzieri, Franco Piperno, Rossana Rossanda, Paolo Virno, and others, as well as an in-depth introduction by translator Richard Braude outlining the work’s composition and development. Trade Review"This classic book, now translated into English, uses eyewitness accounts from those decades to trace uprisings of workers and students in Italy, a country where the extreme left was particularly strong...This sprawling book vividly portrays the chaos, confusion, and contradictions of those years." * Foreign Affairs *"The Golden Horde figures as an anthology and rather than being a straight ‘political’ or ‘workerist’ recounting the two authors include much information and assessment of the counter-cultural movements in Italy as well as the widespread factory struggles that mark the period . . . Moroni and Balestrini offer up this book as both a tool mémoire and as a way of charting 'the epoch defining passage from one phase of capitalism to another.'" * Penniless Press Magazine *Table of ContentsTranslator?’s Introduction (2020)Preface to the Second Edition (1997) by Primo Moroni Editor’s Note (1997) by Sergio BianchiPreface to the First Edition (1988) by Primo Moroni and Nanni Balestrini1. In the Beginning There Were the Cities, the Youth, the Workers2. The 1960s: The Generation of Existential Revolt3. The Birth of the Mass Worker and the Break-Up of the Communist Movement24. From the Classroom to Anti-Authoritarianism5. The Explosion of ’686. 1969: The Hot Autumn7. The Extra-Parliamentary Groups8.. Armed Struggle and Workers’ Autonomy9.. The Revolution in Feminism10. The Movement of ’7711. Communication, Culture, Intellectuals12. Forward! How? And Where To?AppendixDiehards of the State by Rossana RossandaBibliography

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Book SynopsisAustria has long been considered a European success story: a land-locked country on the losing side of World War Two, which emerged from ten years of post-war occupation as one of the EU’s richest member-states, a symbol of social consensus and political independence at the heart of Europe. But in the 2020s, the forward march of the far-right populist FPÖ threatens the return of old demons: extreme xenophobic racism, and economic and political instability. The governing partnership between Austria’s youngest-ever Chancellor and the extreme-right party lasted less than two years, but has left a wreckage of corruption scandals, including an ongoing investigation of fraud at the top. A cosy relationship with Russia, particularly President Putin, has cast a shadow over Austria’s neutrality and reputation as a reliable EU partner. Belated confrontation of the Nazi past and the lingering legacy of the imperial nobility further muddy the waters, while the long decline of social democracy—the bedrock of post-war nation-building—has been equalled by the weak performance of the ruling conservative–green coalition, damaging trust in democracy. Mixing personal memories with high political drama, Paul Lendvai reveals the knotted web of forces which have driven Austria to its current perilous state. Paul Lendvai, a Hungarian-born Austrian journalistTrade Review'A skilfully blended mixture of memoir, political analysis, and history… Lendvai carefully traces the evolution of Austria’s party politics and reserves his most trenchant criticism for the present day.’ -- Financial Times‘Engrossing … fascinating. Even for those with no particular interest in Austria, this book is worth reading for the worldly wisdom with which Lendvai anatomises the workings of power.’ -- Literary Review'In this book, Paul Lendvai does for post–1945 Austria what Stefan Zweig has done for fin de siècle Vienna. Read it.' -- Ivan Krastev, Chairman of the Board, Center for Liberal Strategies'Lendvai ... is today the doyen of Austrian journalism ... personally acquainted with the great and powerful, both a prescient observer and a man on the scene ... This book has it all, unfolding a moral picture of today's Austria via the lessons of the past--above all, a relentless study of the country's political class ... If this dedicated and knowledgeable observer is right, Austria's struggle with itself will remain on the international agenda for some time to come.' -- Neue Zurcher Zeitung'Paul Lendvai is a phenomenon ... the most important journalist in Austria. An ice-cold analyst whose takes on Eastern and Central Europe are second-to-none. A world-class journalist.' -- Karel Schwarzenberg, former foreign minister of the Czech Republic'With Lendvai, it's easy to use words like grand seigneur ... a profound connoisseur of Eastern and Southern Europe ... who has mastered the art of political analysis ... Based on interviews with more than 50 politicians and other public figures ... the book ... is to be understood as a "wake-up call" ... Lendvai sees things where others prefer to look the other way.' -- Salzburger Nachrichten'One of Austria's most profound journalists ... Lendvai takes no prisoners ... Absolutely worth reading, and not only for those interested in history.' -- Vorarlberger Nachrichten'Erudite and incisive, this unsparing but fair analysis of Austrian post-War politics by an insider-outsider is vintage Paul Lendvai.' -- Shalini Randeria, President and Rector, Central European University Vienna'When Paul Lendvai writes about Austria, his gratitude is mixed with a touch of melancholy, and an enduring astonishment that both he and the country have made it this far . . . [Lendvai] has known everyone with something to say in this country since the 1960s . . . The upheavals of recent years have confirmed that Austrian politics is not a place of safety—but Lendvai would very much like it to be.’ -- Suddeutsche Zeitung‘Fascinating and informative … as close and true and deep an account as you are likely to read… If you want a sound grounding in modern Austrian politics, this book is the best place to start.’ -- Jildy Sauce

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Book SynopsisCalls for an imaginative surge to fix our battered societies, fusing bold ideas and practical experiment. As the world confronts the fast catastrophe of Covid and the slow calamity of climate change, we also face a third, less visible emergency: a crisis of imagination. We can easily picture ecological disaster or futures dominated by technology. But we struggle to imagine a world in which people thrive and where we improve our democracy, welfare, neighbourhoods or education. Many are resigned to fatalismyet they desperately want transformational social change. This book argues that, although the threats are real, we can use creative imagination to achieve a better future: visualising where we want to go and how to get there. Political and social thinker Geoff Mulgan offers lessons we can learn from the past, and methods we can use now to open up thinking about the future and spark action. Drawing on social sciences, the arts, philosophy and history, Mulgan shows how we can recharge our collective imagination. From Socrates to Star Wars, he provides a roadmap for the future.

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Book SynopsisBritish politics is in an extraordinary place. Grace Blakeley introduces an indispensable collection of analysis and comment.In Futures of Socialism, Sam Gindin and James Meadway reassess socialist strategy after the coronavirus; Dalia Gebrial and Siân Errington debate austerity and precarity; Joshua Virasami and Simukai Chigudu explore anti-racism and the legacy of Empire; and Leo Panitch and Momentum co-founder James Schneider probe the limits of parliamentary socialism. Chris Saltmarsh assesses the prospects for an eco-socialist Green New Deal and Cat Hobbs argues for the ongoing centrality of public ownership to socialist policy.Futures of Socialism takes an in-depth look at the reasons for Labour's 2019 election defeat, with Unite's Andrew Murray on Labour's Brexit position, Tom Mills on the British media, Gargi Bhattacharyya and Jeremy Gilbert on better ways to build a political project, and Keir Milburn on generation left. The anthology also compares the fortunes of the British left with socialist movements overseas, in despatches from Europe and America.Blakeley draws on the talents of all sections of the post-Corbyn left to survey the prospects of 'a movement that has dominated the horizons of our lives'.Trade ReviewOne of the most inspiring, thought-provoking and insightful voices on the left offers a route map out of this crisis - a must read for anyone who wants to change the world. -- Owen Jones (for Stolen)This collection, assembled by the formidable Grace Blakeley, mixes humility, urgency and scholarship to map a viable path forward for socialists in the UK and around the world -- Rob Delaney, co-creator of CatastropheA timely intervention, and an impressive collection ... For the British left, Futures of Socialism provides a much-needed tonic in these ill times. * Bright Green *

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Book SynopsisMicroverses comprises over a hundred short essays inviting us to think about society - and social theory - in new ways. Lockdown created the conditions for what Adorno once termed 'enforced contemplation'. Dylan Riley responded with the tools of his trade, producing an extraordinary trail of notes exploring how critical sociology can speak to this troubled decade. Microverses analyses the intellectual situation, the political crisis of Trump's last months in office, and love and illness in a period when both were fraught with the public emergency of the coronavirus.Riley brings the theoretical canon to bear on problems of intellectual culture and everyday life, working through Weber and Durkheim, Parsons and Dubois, Gramsci and Lukács, MacKinnon and Fraser, to weigh sociology's relationship to Marxism and the operations of class, race and gender, alongside discursions into the workings of an orchestra and the complicatedness of taking a walk in a pandemic.Invitations rather than finished arguments, the notes attempt to recover the totalising perspective of sociology - the ability to see society in the round, as though from the outside - and to recuperate what Paul Sweezy described as a sense of the 'present as history'.Trade ReviewRarely have the concepts of classical sociology and Marxist analysis seemed so relevant to life itself. -- Malcolm Bull, author of The Concept of the SocialInspiring and thought-provoking, living up to the author's credo that ideas should be 'strange...difficult...antagonizing'. -- Göran Therborn, author of Inequality and the Labyrinths of DemocracyProvocative and moving observations on the crisis-conjuncture, and a transcript of an embattled soul -- Gavin Jacobson * New Statesman *An impassioned defense of social theory -- Ishan Desai-Geller * Nation *Small starbursts written with a light hand but deep scholarship -- Luisita Lopez Torregrosa * LA Review of Books *A withering demolition of a political culture. Both warranted and necessary -- Luke Warde * Review 31 *

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Book SynopsisThe primary purpose of this book is to introduce and question the persistent poverty that exists among African Americans in the United States. It will provide scholars and policy makers with the needed context to understand what constitutes poverty, and how and why African Americans have remained persistently poor and underprivileged in the United States. This book will provide new knowledge that will be useful to improving public policy. This book focuses on the factors that have influenced public policies concerning African Americans.

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Book SynopsisThis edited collection provides contemporary and interdisciplinary reflections on the changing patterns of civic participation in Australian democracy.

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Book SynopsisToday, media commentators, intellectuals and politicians declare that western science and rationality are threatened by irrational enemies. Evangelicals, postmodernists, and Islamists are on the march, they say. The Rome that science built is under siege. But there's a problem with these stirring attempts to defend the truth. They aren't true.In this urgent new book, Dan Hind confronts the great machinery of deception in which we live, and which now threatens to destroy our civilization. In particular, he takes to task a group of prominent intellectuals who have exaggerated the threat posed by the so-called forces of unreason-religion, postmodernism and other "mumbo-jumbo." The commentators, says Hind, distract us from much more pressing threats to an open democratic society based on freedom of speech and inquiry.This book shows that the real threats to reason aren't wacky or foreign or stupid; they reside in our state and corporate bureaucracies - and, one way or another, they probably pay your salary. In recovering the idea of Enlightenment, Hind explores its vital importance and reveals how it can help us to achieve a truly democratic politics, in which we have a genuine say in the decisions that are taken on our behalf.Trade ReviewA profound and much-needed contribution ... In the spirit of Enlightenment thinkers, he both reveals the contradictions and hypocrises of contemporary politics, and also points a way forward. -- Joel BakanSince September 11 2001, the idea of Enlightenment has been ripped from university textbooks and airlifted into battle between the West and its irrational enemies. In this elegant polemical essay, Dan Hind rightly quibbles with this supposedly Manichean tussle between the guarantors of Enlightenment in the West and everyone else. Hind wants to rescue the idea of Enlightenment from its usurpers, while pressing it into the service of something better. -- James HarkinFine, lucid and sharp ... well written and worth reading before the next wave of western tanks crosses a border, somewhere in the Middle East. -- Roy LiddleIn this thoughtful polemic Dan Hind argues that we are being misled by a debased 'Folk Enlightenment' which has little in common with the Enlightenment initiated by Bacon and championed by Voltaire, Hume and Kant. * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisFor every group that is oppressed, another group is privileged. In Undoing Privilege, Bob Pease argues that privilege, as the other side of oppression, has received insufficient attention in both critical theories and in the practices of social change. As a result, dominant groups have been allowed to reinforce their dominance. Undoing Privilege explores the main sites of privilege, from Western dominance, class elitism, and white and patriarchal privilege to the less-examined sites of heterosexual and able-bodied privilege. Pease points out that while the vast majority of people may be oppressed on one level, many are also privileged on another. He also demonstrates how members of privileged groups can engage critically with their own dominant position, and explores the potential and limitations of them becoming allies against oppression and their own unearned privilege. This is an essential book for all who are concerned about developing theories and practices for a socially just world.Trade Review'This is a scholarly, well-written book that attempts to portray a refreshingly new viewpoint about challenging and confronting an unequal and unjust world order. The author's transparent sincerity, humility and acute awareness about one's privileged position are embedded throughout the narrative.' Ravindra R.P., India 'Undoing Privilege confronts major taken-for-granted dimensions of privilege: Western, class, gender, race, sexual, embodied. It also outlines ways to undo all this, in theory, practice and indeed activism - a huge task that makes for a very important book, written with brevity and humility.' Jeff Hearn, author of The Gender of Oppression 'It should be essential reading for anyone committed to social justice.' Abby Ferber, The Matrix Center for the Advancement of Social Equity and InclusionTable of Contents Part I: Theoretical and Conceptual Foundations 1. Oppression, Privilege and Relations of Domination 2. The Matrix and Social Dynamics of Privilege Part II: Intersecting Sites of Privilege 3. Western Dominance and Colonialism 4. Political Economy and Class Elitism 5. Gender Order and the Patriarchal Dividend 6. Racial Formations and White Supremacy 7. Institutionalised Heterosexuality and Hetero-privilege 8. Ableist Relations and the Embodiment of Privilege Part III: Undoing Privilege9. Challenging the Reproduction of Privilege from Within

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Book SynopsisMore than ever, people across the planet want deep and meaningful change. From those campaigning for social justice and ecological sustainability, to those who want to protect animals, indigenous cultures and those in poverty, millions are realising that another world is not only possible, but absolutely essential. Yet despite the creative and determined efforts of so many, our crises deepen. A politico-economic system, increasingly benefiting a small elite, has brought us to the brink of climate catastrophe, ransacking ecosystems and unravelling communities, forcing us into unhealthy ways of life that conflict with our deepest yearnings. The problem may no longer be a lack of will - but a dogmatic adherence to laws and cultural narratives designed to keep things just the way they are. In this incendiary book, best-selling author Mark Boyle explores, with terrible beauty, the uncharted depths of these challenges, and how we might face them with dignity, great heart and potency.Drawing on inspiration from the natural world, he sets out the case for the rewilding of our political landscapes, calling for solidarity between reformers, revolutionaries and resisters for the creation of a world worth sustaining. His uncompromising and surprising conclusions could revolutionise the way we face the challenges of our time.Trade ReviewThere are two books that have shifted my world entirely: Naomi Klein's 'This Changes Everything' and Mark Boyle's 'Drinking Molotov Cocktails' with Gandhi - and of the two, Boyle's is by far the most affecting. If you care about the planet, about our place on it, about the devastation that is modern western living, you have to read this book. Read it, think on it, act on it. Only by each of us doing this, can we hope to be the change we need to see in the world. It's terrifying. But it's the truth. Manda Scott, Sunday Times best-selling author of Boudica and Rome; Mark Boyle's book throws down the gauntlet at the feet of the world as we know it. His challenge to the complicity of all of us even those of us who work for change and against injustice in a system that is destroying the planet and most of its species will trouble many. So too will his endorsement of violent methods of resistance alongside the more accepted nonviolent ones. But he asks questions that need answering at every turn and his call for the climate-change generation to replace reduce, reuse, recycle with resist, revolt, rewild strikes a nerve. Chris Brazier, New Internationalist

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Book SynopsisUnderstandings of freedom are often discussed in moral, theological, legal and political terms, but they are not often set in a historical perspective, and they are even more rarely considered within their specific language context.

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Book SynopsisRobert O. Keohane’s After Hegemony is both a classic of international relations scholarship and an example of how creative thinking can help shed new light on the world. Since the end of World War II, the global political landscape had been dominated by two superpowers, the USA and the USSR, and the tense stand-off of the Cold War. But, as the Cold War began to thaw, it became clear that a new global model might emerge. The commonly held belief amongst those studying international relations was that it was impossible for nations to work together without the influence of a hegemon (a dominant international power) to act as both referee and ultimate decision-maker. This paradigm – neorealism – worked on the basis that every nation will do all it can to maximize its power, with such processes only checked by a balance of competing powers. Keohane, however, examined the evidence afresh and came up with novel explanations for what was likely to come next. He went outside the dominant paradigm, and argued for what came to be known as the neoliberal conception of international politics. States, Keohane said, can and will cooperate without the influence of a hegemonic power, so long as doing so brings them absolute gains in the shape of economic and cultural benefits. In Keohane’s highly-creative view, the pursuit of national self-interest leads naturally to international cooperation – and to the formation of global regimes (such as the United Nations) that can reinforce and foster it.Table of ContentsWays In to the Text Who was Robert O. Keohane? What does After Hegemony Say? Why does After Hegemony 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 SynopsisFew stories are more captivating than the one told by Natalie Zemon Davis in The Return of Martin Guerre. Basing her research on records of a bizarre court case that occurred in 16th-century France, she uses the tale of a missing soldier – whose disappearance threatens the livelihood of his peasant wife – to explore complex social issues. Davis takes rich material – dramatic enough to have been the basis of two major films – and uses it to explore issues of identity, women's role in peasant society, the interior lives of the poor, and the structure of village society, all of them topics that had previously proved difficult for historians to grapple with. Davis displays fine qualities of reasoning throughout – not only in constructing her own narrative, but also in persuading her readers of her point of view. Her work is also a fine example of good interpretation – practically every document in the case needs to be assessed for issues of meaning.Table of ContentsWays in to the Text Who was Natalie Zemon Davis? What does The Return of Martin Guerre Say? Why does The Return of Martin Guerre 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 SynopsisEdward Said’s Orientalism is a masterclass in the art of interpretation wedded to close analysis. Interpretation is characterized by close attention to the meanings of terms, by clarifying, questioning definitions, and positing clear definitions. Combined with one of the main sub-skills of analysis, drawing inferences and finding implicit reasons and assumptions in arguments, interpretation becomes a powerful tool for critical thought. In Orientalism, the theorist, critic and cultural historian Edward Said uses interpretation and analysis to closely examine Western representations of the “Orient” and ask what they are really doing, and why. One of his central arguments is that Western representations of the East and Middle East persistently define it as “other”, setting it up in opposition to the West. Through careful analysis of a range of texts and other materials, Said shows that implicit assumptions about the “Orient’s” otherness underlie much Western thought and writing about it. Clarifying consistently the differences between the real-world East and the constructed ideas of the “Orient”, Said’s interpretative skills power his analysis, and provide the basis for an argument that has proven hugely influential in literary criticism, philosophy, and even politics.Table of ContentsWays in to the Text Who was Edward Said? What does Orientalism Say? Why does Orientalism 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 SynopsisMichael R. Gottfredson and Travish Hirschi’s 1990 A General Theory of Crime is a classic text that helped reshape the discipline of criminology. It is also a testament to the powers of clear reasoning and interpretation. In critical thinking terms, reasoning is all about presenting a solid and persuasive case – and as many people instinctively understand, the most persuasive reasoning is that which bases itself on a single, simple hook. In Gottfredson and Hirschi’s case, this hook was what has come to be known as the “self-control theory of crime” – the idea that the tendency to commit crime is directly related to an individual’s level of self-control. While the dominant schools of thought of the time tended to focus on crime as the product of complex environmental factors, with little attempt to unify different theories, Gottfredson and Hirschi sought to interpret things so as to provide a single overarching concept that explained why crimes of all sorts were committed. Moreover, while other theories of crime concentrated on understanding and explaining specific types of law-breaking, the self-control model could, in Gottfredson and Hirschi’s view, be seen as the basis for understanding the root cause for all crime in all contexts. While such simplicity inevitably attracted as much criticism as agreement, subsequent studies have provided real-world corroboration for the General Theory’s persuasive reasoning.Table of ContentsWays In to the Text Who were Michael R. Gottfredson and Travish Hirschi? What does A General Theory of Crime Say? Why does A General Theory of Crime 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 SynopsisIS THE WHITE WORKING CLASS RIGHT-WING? AND IS IT RIGHT-WING TO EVEN SPEAK OF A “WHITE WORKING CLASS”? In recent decades, as class consciousness has been suppressed and eroded, many white working-class men have turned their backs on the left in favour of the right and the far-right. Why is this? A Small Man’s England is a polemic aimed at the structures of hierarchy that ceaselessly maintain power across Britain and elsewhere, and a call for multicultural solidarity amongst the working class. In analysing the roles that class, race, masculinity and nationality play in neoliberal Britain, Sissons offers a solution to the indoctrination of white working-class English men by the right and the far-right, and explores how working-class people can collectively shape a “Common England” — a country based on equality and justice for all.Trade Review"The most thoughtful intervention on white working-class masculinity I've come across in a long time. The author advances a compelling vision of what we can be. I felt addressed throughout."“Tommy Sissons’ is a rare voice exploring white working-class masculinity in these turbulent times. He looks through the cracks opening and shouts ‘listen’, so please do.”"Tommy's writing is clear, his thinking is original, his passion is deeply felt. He's always moved me as a poet, and now as a writer of prose I find him carefully considered, strong in his morals and aware of the complexities within the subjects he discusses.""Part-essay, part-prose, A Small Man's England is a unique and passionate, must-read polemic on the state we're in, how we got here and where and who we could be, that is both captivating and essential reading."

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Book SynopsisAmartya Sen’s Inequality Re-Examined is a seminal text setting out a theory to evaluate social arrangements and inequality. By asking the question, ‘equality of what’?, Sen shows that (in)equality should be assessed as human freedom; for people to have the ability to pursue and achieve goals they value or have reason to value. The text lays out the fundamental ideas to Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach. This approach is celebrated in diverse academic disciplines because of its specific contribution towards the improvement to debates on inequality beyond economic deprivation and utility measures. Furthermore, the arguments put forward by Sen in Inequality Re-Examined has had many practical applications throughout policy circles including the Human Development Index, the Multi –Dimensional Poverty Measure, the compilation of lists of capabilities and drawing further attention to human agency and democracy. Amartya Sen won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1998 for his contribution to welfare economics; the core arguments of this work is found in this book.Table of ContentsWays In to the Text Who is Amartya Sen? What does Inequality Re-Examined Say? Why does Inequality Re-Examined 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 SynopsisA powerful book on the importance of committing to nonviolence. In this compact book, Ramin Jahanbegloo argues that the time has come for humanity to renew its political, economic, and cultural commitment to the idea of nonviolence. At the core of the work of such towering fighters against oppression as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, and Václav Havel, the idea of nonviolence still has much to teach us and much work to do in the ongoing fight for justice worldwide.

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Book SynopsisSome of the most prominent folk singers of the twentieth century, including Woody Guthrie, ‘Sis Cunningham, Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, Burl Ives, etc., were also political activists with various associations with the American Communist Party. As a consequence, the FBI, along with other governmental and right-wing organizations, were monitoring them, keeping meticulous files running many thousands of pages, and making (and carrying out) plans to purge them from the cultural realm. In The Folk Singers and the Bureau, Aaron J Leonard draws on an unprecedented array of declassified documents and never before released files to shed light on the interplay between left-wing folk artists and their relationship with the American Communist Party, and how it put them in the US government’s repressive cross hairs. At a time of increasing state surveillance and repression, The Folk Singers and the Bureau shows how the FBI and other governmental agencies have attempted to shape and repress American culture.Trade ReviewThis is a must-read for music lovers and defenders of civil liberties alike.""A fascinating understanding of the beginnings of the folk music revival through the lens of the particularly zealous FBI.""Historically informed and impressively contextualized, The Folk Singers and the Bureau is a dark tale of persecution, paranoia, and valiant resistance to tyranny.""A valuable and timely study, with new evidence and insights suited to our present moment."

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Book SynopsisAcross the world, there is a growing recognition that a new kind of economy is needed: more democratic, less exploitative, less destructive of society and the planet. Paint Your Town Red looks at how wealth can be generated and shared at a local level through the experience of one of the main advocates of the new Democratic Economy, Matthew Brown, the driving-force behind the world-recognized Preston Model. Using analysis, interviews and case studies to explain what Matthew and Preston City Council have done over the last decade in order to earn Preston the title of Most Improved City, the book shows how the model can be adapted to fit different local circumstances, as well as demonstrating how Preston itself adapted economic and democratic experiments in ‘community wealth-building’ from elsewhere in the US and Europe. Preston’s success shows that the ideas of community wealth-building work in practice and have the capacity to achieve a meaningful transfer of wealth and power back to local communities. A lot of recent coverage and references have tended to oversimplify the Preston Model, which is not just about ‘buying local’ but a comprehensive project, which envisions local and regional discussions and collaboration adding up to a wholesale transformation of our currently failing economic systems.Trade Review“At a time when the challenges our society faces can often seem too remote and complex to tackle, Paint Your Town Red provides activists and campaigners with a critical insight into how they can transform their local economies from the ground up.""A very useful tool to describe how cities and towns can assess their current socio-economic paradigms and formulate new social transformation models based on economic democracy. Preston is leading today what Mondragon was starting decades ago.""This book is everything we need right now — a how-to guide to municipal socialism that works, right now in the present day, compiled by one of the contemporary left's best writers and one of its best councillors. Informative, clear, passionate and thoughtful, it should be mandatory reading for all socialists.""Of all the political experiments tried in the UK over the past decade of painful austerity and polarisation, the city of Preston ranks easily among the most daring and intriguing. This is an honest story of how it began, and the lessons it can teach the rest of us."“Paint Your Town Red is a timely reminder that despite years of austerity and neoliberalism there are now genuine economic alternatives emerging in many towns, cities and regions across the UK."At a time of compounding economic, social and environmental challenges, Paint Your Town Red offers a powerful and detailed roadmap for how local public authorities, institutions and citizens can leave deprivation behind and rebuild their communities."“Preston’s Matthew Brown has co-authored Paint Your Town Red with writer and historian Rhian E Jones, explaining how the Preston model works and providing a toolkit for towns that want to reproduce its successes."“The ‘Preston model’, as it is called, could, if applied all over the country, be revolutionary."“This well-conceived pamphlet offers an alternative solution to localised decline: ‘community wealth-building’, which couples local regeneration with local empowerment by developing ‘small and socially conscious enterprises, including worker-owned businesses, community land trusts and community banks’.”

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Book SynopsisOver the last few decades, as the United States has become embroiled in foreign war after foreign war, some of the most vocal activists for peace have been veterans. These veterans for peace come from all different races, classes, regions, and generations. What common motivations unite them and fuel their activism? Guys Like Me introduces us to five ordinary men who have done extraordinary work as peace activists: World War II veteran Ernie Sanchez, Korean War veteran Woody Powell, Vietnam veteran Gregory Ross, Gulf War veteran Daniel Craig, and Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran Jonathan Hutto. Acclaimed sociologist Michael Messner offers rich profiles of each man, recounting what led him to join the armed forces, what he experienced when fighting overseas, and the guilt and trauma he experienced upon returning home. He reveals how the pain and horror of the battlefront motivated these onetime warriors to reconcile with former enemies, get involved as political activists, and help younger generations of soldiers. Guys Like Me is an inspiring multigenerational saga of men who were physically or psychically wounded by war, but are committed to healing themselves and others, forging a path to justice, and replacing endless war with lasting peaceTrade Review“The greatest of all myths about wars is that they come to an end. This deeply personal, very human book shows how ten, twenty, thirty, sixty years later their hurts and scars live on in those who fought them. Michael Messner has brought on stage some eloquent survivors whom our politicians should listen to before they dare even consider sending young men and women out to fight yet again.” -- Adam Hochschild * author of To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 *“There is a revelation on every page of Guys Like Me. The journey any man takes to transform his sense of his own manliness isn’t direct or simple. And, as Michael Messner shows us in these five engaging life histories, each gendered journey will have added twists and turns when distorted by militarism. A truly humane book." -- Cynthia Enloe * author of The Big Push: Exposing and Challenging Persistent Patriarchy *"With Guys Like Me, Michael Messner delivers an eloquent, passionate, and moving account of how war has sometimes moved veterans towards peace. Messner’s interviewees give us hope that humanity might yet one day listen to the soldiers who have gone to war, the ones who tell us, again and again, that war’s devastation is never worth it." -- Viet Thanh Nguyen * author of The Sympathizer *"Michael Messner is our new Studs Terkel. His five men speak with extraordinary eloquence about the psychic wounds they suffered in war, and the moral odysseys they undertook to break the silence that surrounds the human cost of war in the United States. Each man fought in a different war, but each tells a common story of exploitation by their own government and a descent into numbness, followed by redemption. These men form an intergenerational chain reflecting with honesty and courage on masculinity and war. Messner describes and analyzes their experiences with warmth and insight. Essential reading for those seeking to understand military veterans." -- Hugh Gusterson * author of Drone: Remote Control Warfare *"Messner's narrative points the way for other activists seeking to build popular opposition movements." * Kirkus Reviews *"The true meaning of Armistice Day — a commitment to peace," by Susan Bell * USCDornsife *"Professor to publish book following lives of veteran" by Joelle Tenderich * Daily Trojan *"This book tells the stories of five veterans of five U.S. wars: WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq Parts I and II. We learn their stories from long before they entered the military through long after they left it. The stories are well-told, with subtlety and complexity, not museum-like propaganda. Patterns become evident without the book becoming repetitious. Each person is unique, but each confronts the same monster." * World Beyond War *"Veterans have fought in wars – and fought against them," by Michael Messner * The Conversation *"All five [veterans] are unique and engaging storytellers who pack the book with human interest....The testimonies of these varied, thoughtful, and racially diverse veterans are at stark odds with the cinematic ads we see of government-approved pro-war imagery, and it’s important they be heard." * Foreword Reviews *"Vermont Conversation with David Goodman" with Mike Messner and veterans Daniel Craig, Jonathan Hutto, and Ken Mayers * Vermont Conversation with David Goodman *"The Page 99 Test" with Michael Messner * The Page 99 Test *Excerpt of Guys Like Me: Five Wars, Five Veterans for Peace in the Spring 2019 issue of Voice Male Magazine * Voice Mail Magazine *"Can the Military Be Reformed? Six Unusual Veterans Ponder Active Duty and Its Aftermath," by Steve Early * LA Progressive *"Guys Like Me is well written; Messner does a fine job of telling the men’s stories, conveying the complexity of their struggles by sharing their words and providing vivid details about their lives. What we see are real people, confused and lost at times, trying to reclaim their humanity and repair the damage caused by participating in organized violence." * Gender and Society *Reprint of LA Progressive's "Can the Military Be Reformed?: Six Unusual Veterans Ponder Active Duty and Its Aftermath," by Steve Early * CounterPunch Magazine *"From Manly Silence to Projects of Peace," by Michael A. Messner * Gender and Society Blog *"Sociologist Michael Messner uses [sociological imagination] to better understand men’s experiences in war and how they come to make sense of these experiences over the course of their lives. His book, Guys Like Me: Five Wars, Five Veterans for Peace, examines the life stories of veterans to understand how they have grappled with their experiences in war and how this is connected with constructions of masculinity." * Everyday Sociology *"[Messner has] a remarkable ability to elicit stunning memories and reflections from his subjects. But the work is much more than a splendid oral history, though it's that for sure; his approach and interpretations make it a book like no other." -- John Ibson * author of Picturing Men: A Century of Male Relationships in Everyday American Photography *"Peace advocates have long been found among veterans who fought in America’s wars," by Michael Messner https://theconversation.com/peace-advocates-have-long-been-found-among-veterans-who-fought-in-americas-wars-126467 * The Conversation *"Serving Veterans" by Dave Pugl * Library Journal *Table of ContentsContents Prologue Chapter 1 Projects of Peace Chapter 2 There Is No “Good War” Ernie “Indio” Sanchez, World War II Chapter 3 Being Honorable Wilson “Woody” Powell, Korean War Chapter 4 Paying Off My Karmic Debt Gregory Ross, The American War in Vietnam Chapter 5 You Clock In, You Go Kill People Daniel Craig, The Gulf War Chapter 6 Laying the Tracks Jonathan W. Hutto, Sr., Operation Iraqi Freedom Chapter 7 This Is Our Service References Notes

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Book SynopsisWith unprecedented speed, scientists have raced to develop vaccines to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control and restore a sense of normalcy to our lives. Despite the havoc and disruption the pandemic has caused, it’s exposed exactly why we should not return to life as we once knew it. Our current profit-driven healthcare systems have exacerbated global inequality and endangered public health, and we must take this opportunity to construct a new social order that understands public health as a basic human right. A COVID Charter, A Better World outlines the steps needed to reform public policies and fix the structural vulnerabilities that the current pandemic has made so painfully clear. Leading scholar Toby Miller argues that we must resist neoliberalism’s tendency to view health in terms of individual choices and market-driven solutions, because that fails to preserve human rights. He addresses the imbalance of geopolitical power to explain how we arrived at this point and shows that the pandemic is more than just a virus—it’s a social disease. By examining how the U.S., Britain, Mexico, and Colombia have responded to the COVID-19 crisis, Miller investigates corporate, scientific, and governmental decision-making and the effects those decisions have had on disadvantaged local communities. Drawing from human rights charters ratified by various international organizations, he then proposes a COVID charter, calling for a new world that places human lives above corporate profits.Trade Review"Toby Miller offers bold governing principles to secure the rescue, perhaps even the thriving, of humans and the planet. However one might amend his charter, it is impossible to reject its premise, which positively screeches from Miller's accounting of how the pandemic was lived in four nations: we cannot go on like this." -- Wendy Brown * author of In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Anti-Democratic Politics in the West *"The COVID pandemic has made it possible for many to see that the current economic system and the legislation that it promotes do not work. Toby Miller makes a cogent argument for the need to change course in economic and social policy, both nationally and globally. With his strong reputation in cultural and media studies, and more recently in Latin American Studies, I am confident that this project will have a significant impact in those fields and beyond." -- George Yúdice * author of The Expediency of Culture: Uses of Culture in the Global Era *"The Environment of the Vaccine – the Vaccine and the Environment," by Toby Miller * Democratic Left *"Toby Miller offers bold governing principles to secure the rescue, perhaps even the thriving, of humans and the planet. However one might amend his charter, it is impossible to reject its premise, which positively screeches from Miller's accounting of how the pandemic was lived in four nations: we cannot go on like this." -- Wendy Brown * author of In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Anti-Democratic Politics in the West *"The COVID pandemic has made it possible for many to see that the current economic system and the legislation that it promotes do not work. Toby Miller makes a cogent argument for the need to change course in economic and social policy, both nationally and globally. With his strong reputation in cultural and media studies, and more recently in Latin American Studies, I am confident that this project will have a significant impact in those fields and beyond." -- George Yúdice * author of The Expediency of Culture: Uses of Culture in the Global Era *"The Environment of the Vaccine – the Vaccine and the Environment," by Toby Miller * Democratic Left *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Year of the Mask 1 Before the Crisis 2 During the Crisis 3 After(?) the Crisis 4 The Charter Acknowledgments Notes References Index

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisThis edited volume builds and expands on the groundbreaking work of Robert Brenner and Ellen Meiksins Wood on the origins of capitalism. Whereas Brenner and Wood focused mostly on the emergence of capitalism in the English countryside (agrarian capitalism), this book utilizes their approach to offer original, theoretically sophisticated, and empirically informed accounts of transitions to capitalism – both agrarian and industrial – in a wide range of countries in order to provide within a single volume a diverse collection of relatively brief yet detailed case studies of the historical transition to capitalism distributed across three continents. Offering a new and highly original analysis of the global spread of capitalism, this book will be a unique contribution to the longstanding debate on the transition to capitalism.Table of ContentsIntroduction (Xavier Lafrance and Charles Post)Chapter 1: Expropriation and the Political Origins of the Transition to Agrarian Capitalism in England (Spencer Dimmock)Chapter 2: England/industry (Michael Zmolek)Chapter 3: Traditional Farming in France until the Transition to Capitalism of the 1960s under de Gaulle (Stephen Miller)Chapter 4: From Extra-Economic Class Relations to the Rise of Industrial Capitalism in Post-Revolutionary France (Xavier Lafrance)Chapter 5: Beyond the Brenner Thesis: The Origins of Capitalism in Catalonia (Javier Moreno Zacarés)Chapter 6: The American Road to Capitalism (Charles Post)Chapter 7: The Peasantry and Tenancy-Market Dependence: Rural Capitalism in Meiji-Era Japan (Mark Cohen)Chapter 8: ‘The 100 Years of “Transition”: The (Geo)politics of Capitalism and Jacobinism in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey’ (Eren Duzgun)Chapter 9: Colonialism(s), Race, and the Transition to Capitalism in Canada (Jessica Evans)Chapter 10: Rural Property Relations and the Regional Dynamics of the Brazilian Transition to Capitalism (Chris Carlson)Chapter 11: Contingency and the Origins of the Taiwan Miracle (Christopher Isett)Chapter 12: Rethinking the ‘Social’ in the transition to capitalism: Reading Federici and Brenner together (Nicole Leach)Conclusion (Xavier Lafrance and Charles Post)

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