What explains the rise of populist nationalism in the contemporary phase of globalized development? Drawing on Karl Polanyi's study of the great transformation, The Rise of the Capital-state and Neo-nationalism argues that populist nationalism is a societal reaction to the pro-market structural changes in the political economies of nation-states - conceptualized as the capital-state transformation. Oleksandr Svitych shows that there is an inextricable link between free market reforms, declining state legitimacy, and identity-based mobilization. Examining four case studies (Australia, France, Hungary, and South Korea) through a mixed method approach, the book finds that discontented voters gravitate toward populist neo-national political forces and embrace identity-based solutions - often in exclusivist and scapegoating forms - to harness their anxieties and insecurities triggered by the capital-state restructuring. Populist nationalism of both the left and the right has emerged to compensate for the real and perceived inability of the state to shield citizens from the corrosive effects of market fundamentalism. The Rise of the Capital-state and Neo-nationalism contributes to our understanding of the dynamics of the interrelated nature of state, capital, and identity politicization through a broader social theoretical perspective.

As the transition from state socialism to capitalism takes place in various parts of the world, the everyday experiences of those individuals who are primarily affected by the drastic changes are often overlooked. Here, the authentic voices of 52 East German women who lived under state socialism and under the current reunified capitalist system are presented and examined in an effort to underscore the complexity of the transition on the most personal level. East German women, the author asserts, have had to shift their identities, expectations, and actions from accommodating one type of patriarchy to another, experiencing less gender equality in their everyday lives under capitalism than under state socialism. The author concludes that the women of East Germany, and possibly other post-communist states in general, are worse off, having regressed to fit into a more primitive form of patriarchy.

At the end of the Cold War, East German women's private lives and emotional capacities took on vital public significance, as ruling elites expected women to make significant contributions to the political and economic stability of the reunited country. To accomplish this stability, the social roles and spaces of East German women had to be redefined to fit into the West German model. Through the voices of these women, the author shows that they fared better in some respects under the old socialist system and that they were now subjected to new, and much more traditional, gender roles even as they were expected to work and advance within the more patriarchal system. By presenting and analyzing the thoughts and perceptions of these women, the author illustrates how they have resisted, to various degrees, complying with the demands made by the newly established institutions, which require them to relinquish the crucial part of their identity that was shaped by socialist norms and values.

'Islam in Europe' and 'Islamophobia' are subjects of vital global importance which currently preoccupy policy-makers and academics alike. Through the examination of various European Muslim groups and institutions that have branched off from Islamic movements - including the Muslim Brotherhood, Hizb ut-Tahrir and Jama'at-i Islami - this book outlines the configuration of social, political and religious processes that have given rise to new kinds of European Muslim organisations. The authors offer a new perspective on these Muslim groups and seek to reclaim them from the often highly-charged public debates by placing them within the context of their origins as politicised religious movements on the one hand and their ongoing incorporation into European societal structures on the other. They also consider the relationship of these organisations to their 'parent' movements and examine the presence of Islam in European education and higher education institutions. Taking into account the connection between Islamic movements and the perceived surge of 'Islamophobia' in Europe, this book does not debate the question of whether these groups fit into normative or cultural structures of European nation-states, but rather examines how these structures have changed through their interaction with these groups and the growing Muslim population within Europe. It does not consider political Islam as the antithesis to a refined notion of secularism, but as a form of public religion which contributes to the ever-changing structure of Europe's secular regimes. Featuring the work of more than 40 scholars from around the world, this is the comprehensive guide to Islamic movements in Europe, offering original, definitive perspectives on Muslims and Islam in Europe today. It will be essential reading for policy-makers, political commentators and scholars alike.

Political theorist Wendy Brown has argued recently that contemporary neoliberalism, with its relentless obsession on the economy, has all but undone the tenets of democracy. The focus on maximizing credit scores and capital has, over time, promoted a politics that operates beyond and below the institutional and electoral world, eroding not just the desire for democratic action but even our ability to imagine it. In light of recent politics, it seems we may have reached the apotheosis of this depressing vision. This book is meant to suggest one way of thinking past and out of the current moment, and it does so by looking to a perhaps unlikely figure: Niccolo Machiavelli. The book presents Machiavelli as an anachronistic thinker - a thinker who, deprived of his political community and public identity during his exile from Florence, originated a new approach to democratic theory and practice. In particular he immersed himself in the writings of ancient thinkers and looked to them as models for understanding contemporary problems of corruption, conspiracy, and torture. This book's main contribution is a methodological one: it argues that the power in Machiavelli's work derived from this sort of anachronistic reading, which went against the grain of Renaissance thought. In turn it shows that if we imitate Machiavelli's interpretive method in reading The Prince and Discourses of Livy, we can find in them solutions to the neoliberal problems Brown warns about.

Populism is a powerful force today, but its full scope has eluded the analytical tools of both orthodox and heterodox 'populism studies'. This book provides a valuable alternative perspective. It reconstructs in detail for the first time the sociological analyses of US demagogues by members of the Frankfurt School and compares these with contemporary approaches. Modern demagogy emerges as a key under-researched feature of populism, since populist movements, whether 'left' or 'right', are highly susceptible to 'demagogic capture'. The book also details the culture industry's populist contradictions - including its role as an incubator of modern demagogues - from the 1930s through to today's social media and 'Trumpian psychotechnics'. Featuring a previously unpublished text by Adorno on modern demagogy as an appendix, it will be of interest to researchers and students in critical theory, sociology, politics, German studies, philosophy and history of ideas, as well as all those concerned about the rise of demagogic populism today. -- .

Banks failed, credit contracted, inequality grew, and people everywhere were out of work while political paralysis and slavery threatened to rend the nation in two. As financial crises always have, the Panic of 1837 drew forth a plethora of reformers who promised to restore America to greatness. Animated by an ethic of individualism and self-reliance, they became prophets of a new moral order: if only their fellow countrymen would call on each individual's God-given better instincts, the most intractable problems could be resolved. Inspired by this reformist fervor, Americans took to strict dieting, water cures, phrenology readings, mesmerism, utopian communities, free love, mutual banking, and a host of other elaborate self-improvement schemes. Vocal activists were certain that solutions to the country's ills started with the reformation of individuals, and through them communities, and through communities the nation. This set of assumptions ignored the hard political and economic realities at the core of the country's malaise, however, and did nothing to prevent another financial panic twenty years later, followed by secession and civil war. Focusing on seven individuals-George Ripley, Horace Greeley, William B. Greene, Orson Squire Fowler, Mary Gove Nichols, Henry David Thoreau, and John Brown-Philip Gura explores their efforts, from the comical to the homicidal, to beat a new path to prosperity. A narrative of people and ideas, Man's Better Angels captures an intellectual moment in American history that has been overshadowed by the Civil War and the pragmatism that arose in its wake.

This book shifts analytical focus from macro-politicization and securitization of Islam to Muslims' choices, practices and public expressions of faith. An empirically rich analysis, the book provides rich cross-country evidence on the emergence of autonomous faith communities as well as the evolution of Islam in the broader European context.

In this major new work, Thompson develops an original account of ideology and relates it to the analysis of culture and mass communication in modern Societies.

Thompson offers a concise and critical appraisal of major contributions to the theory of ideology, from Marx and Mannheim, to Horkheimer, Adorno and Habermas. He argues that these thinkers - and social and political theorists more generally - have failed to deal adequately with the nature of mass communication and its role in the modern world. In order to overcome this deficiency, Thompson undertakes a wide-ranging analysis of the development of mass communication, outlining a distinctive social theory of the mass media and their impact.

The important and controversial issue of cross-border security cooperation against the IRA during before the Good Friday agreement is woefully underrepresented in the literature on the Troubles in Northern Ireland. On this first book on the subject, Henry Patterson brings the role of the Irish State into sharp focus at a time when dealing with the past has become a central issue in Northern Irish Politics. It establishes the crucial importance of the border to the IRA campaign and shows why successive British governments considered the Republic a 'safe haven' for the IRA. It reveals the devastating effects of republican violence on Protestants in border areas and contains new archival material that sheds light on the Kingsmill Massacre, the role of the SAS, the murder of Lord Mountbattern as well as the Garda collusion. It also highlights how Mrs Thatcher's concern about the issue of border security led her to contemplate major concessions to the Irish government and how her Irish counterpart, Taoiseach Charles Haughey, sought to exploit this concern.

Xun Zi, one of the principal thinkers of the pre-imperial period and as such still widely read, ought to appear on any reading list on Chinese intellectual history.
Dr. Sato's volume deals with the origin and formation of Xun Zi's political thought, with close focus on the intellectual activity of the Jixia Academy and its impact on this synthesizer's theory on rituals and social norms.
The author convincingly deals with the problems of textual authenticity and biography. The main part of the work treats the shift of intellectual inquiry from an argument of ethical matters to an analysis of the principle(s) of socio-political mechanism, thus showing Xun Zi as a formative synthesizer of the two main streams of early Chinese intellectual discourse.

The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party PAS is the biggest opposition party in Malaysia today and one of the most prominent Islamist parties in Southeast Asia. This work recounts the historical development of PAS from 1951 to the present, and looks at how it has risen to become a political movement that is both local and transnational, tracking its rise from the Cold War to the age of the War on Terror, and its evolving ideological postures - from anti-colonialism to post-revolutionary Islamism, as the party adapted itself to the realities of the postmodern global age. PAS's long engagement with modernity and its nuanced approach to the goal of state capture is the focus of this work, as it recounts the story of the Islamist party and Malaysia by extension. Download the Table of Contents and Introduction

Jihadist ideology inspires a diverse and decentralized collection of radical groups to fight alleged enemies of Islam and to attempt to "restore" a holy caliphate to unite Muslim peoples across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. " Islamic Radicalism and Global Jihad" provides unique insights into the philosophical foundations, strategic vision, organizational dynamics, and tactics of the modern jihadist movement -- with specific attention to its primary driver, Al-Qa'ida.

Springer, Regens, and Edger draw heavily on Arabic language sources seldom seen in the West to explain what jihadists want and how radical thinkers have distorted the teachings of Islam to convince followers to pursue terrorism as a religious duty. With sophisticated and systematic analysis, the authors lead their readers on a fascinating intellectual journey through the differing ideas, goals, and vulnerabilities of the jihadist movement as it has evolved over time. The authors also impart wisdom from their own professional experience with terrorism, counterinsurgency, and intelligence to provide scholars, students, counterterrorism professionals, and general readers with this accessible overview of key radical Islamic thinkers and today's jihadists.

After the unexpected collapse of the Soviet Union, the categories of "Left" and "Right" continue to be used to describe political ideologies, despite their historic ambiguity and a shared utopian root. The idealistic belief that a perfect world is possible continues to dwell on existential hope for messianic salvation. This belief lay at the heart of the apocalyptic narratives of the Bible and reflects what the Greeks called hubris, a fatal and destructive form of conceit. This conceit reemerged in the Gnostic sects of early Christianity, then again in medieval millenarianism, Jacobinism, Marxism, Fascism, and secular "liberal" collectivism. Modern-day Salafi Islam is the latest manifestation in this nefarious tradition. In The Utopian Conceit and the War on Freedom, noted political philosopher Juliana Geran Pilon explores the roots of this malevolent ideology as the common ancestor of both anti-capitalism and anti-Semitism in the contemporary world, where political and religious freedom is increasingly under assault. In an age of rampant religious and philosophical skepticism and national and ethnic deracination, religious and quasi-religious ideologies bent on the vilification and destruction of entire communities are confronting and undermining a confused, guilt-ridden, materialistic, and often nihilistic Western society. In this bold and dynamic book, Pilon argues that a strong defense of freedom and pluralism, which forms the basis of constitutional democracy, is essential for the survival of civilization. Culturally sensitive and empirically tested outreach, predicated on an uncompromising defense against disinformation and terror, must be waged by all civilized nations, but especially the United States as its role evolves in a changing world.

Since the late 1970s China has undergone a great transformation, during which time the country has witnessed an outpouring of competing schools of thought. This book analyzes the major schools of political thought redefining China's transformation and the role Chinese thinkers are playing in the post-Mao era.

A concise and lucid explanation of what religious freedom is and isn't. Increasingly, conservative religious groups are using religious liberty as a sword to lash out at others. In this forcefully argued defense of the separation of church and state, Robert Boston makes it clear that the religious freedom guaranteed in the First Amendment is an individual right, the right of personal conscience, not a license allowing religious organizations to discriminate against and control others. The book examines the controversy over birth control, same-sex marriage, religion in public schools, the intersection of faith and politics, and the "war on Christmas," among other topics. Boston concludes with a series of recommendations for resolving clashes between religious liberty claims and individual rights.

Why did some Communist and Middle-Eastern dictatorships, those in China, Vietnam, North Korea, Cuba, Syria, Iraq, Libya and Iran, remained defiantly stable during the onset of a democratic age in the 1980s and early 1990s? The book offers an explanation based upon external relations - the regimes' defiance of external military or political foes - and then searches for alternative or supplementary explanations by examining the changes that occurred in these dictatorships' political structures, ideologies and economic policies during 1980-94.

This book challenges the view that there was a smooth and inevitable progression towards liberalism in early nineteenth-century England. It examines the argument used by the high Whigs that the landed aristocracy still had a positive contribution to make to the welfare of the people. This argument came under scrutiny as the laissez-faire state met with serious criticism in the 1830s and 1840s, when the majority of people proved unwilling to accept the `compromise' forged between the middle classes and other sections of the landed elite, and mass movements for political and social reform proliferated. The Whigs' readiness to embrace these pressures kept them in power for sixteen of the twenty-two years between 1830 and 1852, and allowed them to serve as the midwives of the `Victorian origins of the welfare state'. Drawing on a rich variety of original sources, including many country house archives, Peter Mandler paints a vivid composite picture of the high aristocracy at the peak of its wealth and power, and provides a provocative and original analysis of how their rejection of middle-class manners helped them to govern Britain in two troubled decades of social unrest.