Search results for ""Author Dennis Altman""

Book SynopsisThe claim that 'LGBT rights are human rights' encounters fierce opposition in many parts of the world, as governments and religious leaders have used resistance to 'LGBT rights' to cast themselves as defenders of traditional values against neo-colonial interference and western decadence.Trade Review"Queer Wars is broad in its scope, engaging in its material, thorough in its conception, and passionate in its argument on how advocacy should build a consensus that protects sexual minorities globally from violence and discrimination. A book for strategists, activists, academics and international workers alike." Edwin Cameron, Constitutional Court of South Africa "The global struggle for sexual and gender minority rights is one of the most critical and contested human rights movements of our time. As queer communities mobilize, and the coming generation of young people worldwide express greater tolerance, acceptance and calls for freedom, the pushback has been intense. Altman and Symons have done us all an invaluable service in unpacking the complex politics around LGBT rights, demands, cultures and contexts. Queer Wars is essential reading for all engaged in pressing for more just, open and diverse societies." Chris Beyrer, Johns Hopkins University and President of the International AIDS Society "Dennis Altman�s and Jonathan Symons� work Queer Wars is a timely and accessible intervention on the global state of play for queer rights." Australian Institute of International AffairsTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: Queer Wars: How should we respond to global polarization over gay rights?Chapter 1: Setting the Agenda Chapter 2: The Emergence of a Global Movement Chapter 3: Queer Rights as Human Rights Chapter 4: The Conservative Backlash Chapter 5: International Polarization Chapter 6: What is to be done?NotesIndex

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Book SynopsisAn avowed republican investigates the unexpected durability and potential benefits of constitutional monarchies. When he was deposed in Egypt in 1952, King Farouk predicted that there would be five monarchs left at the end of the century: the kings of hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades, and England. To date, his prediction has proved wrong, and while the twentieth century saw the collapse of monarchies across Europe, many democratic societies have retained them. God Save the Queen is the first book to look at constitutional monarchies globally, and is particularly relevant given the pro-democracy movement in Thailand and recent scandals around the British and Spanish royal families. Is monarchy merely a feudal relic that should be abolished, or does the division between ceremonial and actual power act as a brake on authoritarian politicians? And what is the role of monarchy in the independent countries of the Commonwealth that have retained the Queen as head of state? This book suggests that monarchy deserves neither the adulation of the right nor the dismissal of the left. In an era of autocratic populism, does constitutional monarchy provide some safeguards against the megalomania of political leaders? Is a President Boris potentially more dangerous than a Prime Minister Boris?Trade Review‘At 153 pages God Save the Queen is a quick read, and Altman packs a lot into it, whizzing through the histories and current political climates of an array of countries to gain better understanding of the way monarchies have sustained themselves and evolved. … It’s the ability, in such a relatively brief space of words, to capture the breadth of diversity and nuances of modern monarchy, that makes Altman’s exploration of the phenomenon truly fascinating.’ -- Ben Pobjie * The Australian *‘This very readable little book encourages us to think more about the game of thrones and the different ways it might be played.’ -- Jeff Sparrow * The Age *‘A useful reconnaissance across a very large field of study.’ -- David McIntyre * New Internationalist *‘God Save the Queen is a book which deserves a wide readership.’ -- Bernard Whimpress * The Newtown Review of Books *

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Book Synopsis* A major new examination of the ways in which Vidal's writings on history, politics, sex and religion throw into focus our understandings of the United States. * Ranges widely - from Vidal's defence of homosexuality in his earliest works to his most recent writings on the war in Iraq.Trade Review"Altman's book of evidence is neither biography nor autobiography, as he says, but a study deeply indebted to its subject. He has a long personal acquaintance with Vidal and a profound appreciation of his daring writing on sex and gender, confessional and transgressional ... He is especially good on the 'aggrieved patriot', saddened and angered at what his country has come to." -- Alex Danchev, Times Higher Education Supplement "Dennis Altman has certainly evoked with great thoroughness a now lost world – American and European – ranging from Depression to World War II to the decline of the Hollywood studios to the rise of global television, not to mention that global empire to which his protagonist stands so edgily aslant." -- Gore Vidal "Dennis Altman, it turns out, is the perfect person to write a study of Gore Vidal. A revolutionary thinker in his own right, a long-time friend of Vidal, an Australian, Altman has the ideal perspective on America’s grand old expatriate of letters and politics. In this exciting portrait Altman gives us Vidal alive and well and more radical than ever. This is a profound picture of Vidal’s thought, not just a trivial biography of his quirks." -- Edmund White "Dennis Altman has written what amounts to the finest work yet published on Gore Vidal. Altman understands the unique role Vidal has played -- as novelist, playwright, and essayist -- in defining and critiquing American culture from the inside, as someone who has both watched the culture evolve and played a role in its production. This wise, beautifully written, and insightful book will stimulate discussion for years to come." -- Jay Parini, Middlebury College "Dennis Altman is well placed to unravel the paradox of Gore Vidal, concentrating here on his politics, sexuality and love-hate relationship with the US. This study is every bit as fascinating as the great man himself." Gay Times "Altman's main purpose is to provide a detailed analysis of Vidal's long and prolific career and he succeeds brilliantly in this aim. Vidal's extraordinary productivity means that Altman has a great deal of primary material to work with, but he marshals his forty and more key texts with remarkable ease. It is a long time since I've experienced such clarity in a critical work of this kind; Altman has a positive but open style, which directs the reader without ever shutting out the possibility of alternative readings of the Vidal oeuvre." Laurie N Ede, Screening the PastTable of ContentsPreface: The Writer as Social Critic. Acknowledgements. Introduction. One Vidal's Life. Two Celebrity. Three America and its History. Gore Vidal's American Chronicles. The Growth of American Empire. Masculinity and Empire. Four Politics. Vidal and America in the Twenty First Century. Gore Vidal and 'Political Correctness'. Five Vidal as Writer. Six Sex. Gore Vidal and Queer Theory. Seven Hollywood. Eight Religion. Nine Gore Vidal's America. Personal Note. Notes. References. Chronology. General index. Index of Fictional Characters.

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Book SynopsisThis volume tackles the issues of globalization and sexuality. Looking at how pleasures of the body are framed, shaped and commercialized in the new global economy, the book explores the impact on gender relations, politics, the ways in which we imagine our own sense of self, and other issues.Trade Review"This valuable resource is compelling and easy-to-read, accessible to anyone interested in how technology and the global economy are shaping the ways we think." - Booklist "Altman is a wonderfully clear writer and thinker with a magpie skill for accumulating relevant nuggets of information. This makes Global Sex both illuminating and fascinating.... It is dazzlingly ambitious in its scope, ranging from fellatio in the White House and bulimia in Fiji to AIDS in Africa and transgender in Taiwan." - New Internationalist "A gripping portrait of a world barely able to keep pace with enormous, rapid-fire changes.... Offering neither a dire warning nor a reason to rejoice, his savvy, energetic book truly maintains a global perspective." - Publishers Weekly

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Book Synopsis"Global sex is the first major work to take on the globalization of sexuality, examining the ways in which desire and pleasure - as well as ideas about gender, political power, and public health - are framed by a global economy in which varied cultures are moving into closer contact.Trade Review"This valuable resource is compelling and easy-to-read, accessible to anyone interested in how technology and the global economy are shaping the ways we think." - Booklist "Altman is a wonderfully clear writer and thinker with a magpie skill for accumulating relevant nuggets of information. This makes Global Sex both illuminating and fascinating.... It is dazzlingly ambitious in its scope, ranging from fellatio in the White House and bulimia in Fiji to AIDS in Africa and transgender in Taiwan." - New Internationalist "A gripping portrait of a world barely able to keep pace with enormous, rapid-fire changes.... Offering neither a dire warning nor a reason to rejoice, his savvy, energetic book truly maintains a global perspective." - Publishers Weekly

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