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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political ideologies > General
"This book will surely be of interest not only to students in the field of comparative politics and comparative welfare regimes, but mor broadly to analysts of the complex relationship between civil society and the state." . American Journal of Sociology "The book also provides a good overview of the historical influences that have shaped the current Swedish civil society, and offers insight into future challenges and opportunities. Rich in theoretical references, it is an essential resource in comparative studies of civil societies." . Voluntas "Lars Tragardh's fascinating account of the Swedish model is an innovative addition to the body of scholarship on the relationship between state and civil society. The richness of the volume lies in its detailed theoretical discussion as well as extensive empirical insights on the interaction between state and civil society. The book invites the reader to be critical, reflective, and inquisitive in comprehending state-civil society interaction. This is an important book that carries the potential to attract a wide range of scholars in development studies in the social sciences and humanities...Written with sensitivity and scholarly perspicacity, the book has come on the scene at an appropriate time, especially when the issues of liberalization, privatization, globalization, participation, localization, and decentralization play a central role in influencing the contemporary political tradition of different nations." . Quarterly Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector In the current neo-liberal political and economic climate, it is often suggested that a large and strong state stands in opposition to an autonomous and vibrant civil society. However, the simultaneous presence in Sweden of both a famously large public sector and an unusually vital civil society poses an interesting and important theoretical challenge to these views with serious political and policy implications. Studies show that in a comparative context Sweden scores very highly when it comes to the strength and vitality of its civil society as well as social capital, as measured in terms of trust, lack of corruption, and membership of voluntary associations. The "Swedish Model," therefore, offers important insights into the dynamics of state and civil society relations, which go against current trends of undermining the importance of the welfare state, and presents autonomous civic participation as the only way forward. Lars Tragardh received his PhD in history from UC Berkeley and currently co-directs a research project concerning trust and state/civil society relations in Sweden at the Research Institute of Ersta Skondal University College in Stockholm. His most recent publications include (with co-editor Nina Witoszek) Culture and Crisis: The Case of Germany and Sweden (Berghahn Books, 2002), After National Democracy: Rights, Law and Power in America in the New Europe (Hart Publishing, 2004), and with Henrik Berggren Ar svensken manniska: Oberoende och gemenskap i det moderna Sverige (Norstedts, 2006).
How has 9/11 and the declaration of the 'global war on terror' changed our conceptions of politics? How has it affected our understanding of democracy, personal freedom and government accountability? In answering these and other questions, the authors engage in a comprehensive and critical analysis of politics in the age of terrorism.
France's response to the rise of European fascism during the 1930s, and subsequently to the Nazi occupation 1940-44, has been a difficult subject for the nation's historians. The consensus amongst leading French authorities on the period has been the claim that France was largely 'immune' to fascism in the 1930s, and that the Vichy regime was an aberration produced by defeat and occupation. Over the last 30 years, this position has gradually been undermined, mainly through the work of foreign scholars, but it nonetheless remains intact. This volume brings together for the first time the leading critics of the standard French interpretation, who have used these essays to refine and update their positions, or to move the debate onto new terrain. Brian Jenkins is Research Professor in the Department of French at the University of Leeds. His doctoral thesis was on the Paris riots of February 6th 1934, and he has recently returned to the study of the French extreme Right between the world wars. He has also written extensively on French nationalism, and on theories of nationalism, notably as the author of "Nationalism in France: Class and Nation since 1789" (1990) and as co-editor of "Nation and Identity in Contemporary Europe" (1996). He is co-editor of the "Journal of Contemporary European Studies."
This symposium of papers by statesmen and leading experts from around the world examines the global economic situation and voices concern about the potential for world unemployment and trade crisis in the 1990s. A new 'Marshall Plan' would involve a concerted worldwide effort to improve the situation. This plan was first formulated by Charles A. Cerami while undertaking a study of the global trade picture for the United States Departments of State, Treasury, and Commerce. Meeting with scores of diplomats nd policy makers in some forty countries, Cerami sought possible solutions to economic problems on the global level. Each of the contributors to this volume is among the best in the field; each is important in the world mechanism of government and politics. This anthology is an important tool in the effort to promote a working consensus among the leaders of different nationalities and political benefits to plan for economic development. The Marshall Plan' would consist of the radical solution of a vast expansion of the number and size of markets, and therefore of the quantity of products to be absorbed. Since the economies of the developed world (the United States, Europe, Japan, and Asia) already absorb a great deal, the major effort would be to develop more markets in Third World nations. Students and scholars of business and economics, as well as international business people, will find "A Marshall Plan for the 1990S" a thought provoking study.
This book provides an overview of the incarceration of tens of thousands of men, women and children during the first fifty years of Irish independence. Psychiatric hospitals, mother and baby homes, Magdalen homes, reformatory and industrial schools, prisons and borstal formed a network of institutions of coercive confinement that was integral to the emerging state. The book, now available in paperback after performing superbly in hardback, provides a wealth of contemporaneous accounts of what life was like within these austere and forbidding places as well as offering a compelling explanation for the longevity of the system and the reasons for its ultimate decline. While many accounts exist of individual institutions and the factors associated with their operation, this is the first attempt to provide a holistic account of the interlocking range of institutions that dominated the physical landscape and, in many ways, underpinned the rural economy. Highlighting the overlapping roles of church, state and family in the maintenance of these forms of social control, this book will appeal to those interested in understanding twentieth-century Ireland: in particular, historians, legal scholars, criminologists, sociologists and other social scientists. -- .
Romantics and Renegades examines the abiding crux of romantic criticism: the political apostasies of the Lake poets (Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Southey) as they renounced the revolutionary Jacobinism of their youth in the 1790s in order to claim the high ground of Regency Toryism in the 1810s. Central to this scandal is the figure of William Hazlitt, the literary critic who policed their betrayals in his vigilant exposure of their political and poetical inconsistencies. Mahoney's analysis provides new insight into this abiding critical riddle through close historical and figural readings of the rhetoric of romantic apostasy.
The revolutionary ideals of equality, communal living, proletarian morality, and technology worship, rooted in Russian utopianism, generated a range of social experiments which found expression, in the first decade of the Russian revolution, in festival, symbol, science fiction, city planning, and the arts. In this study, historian Richard Stites offers a vivid portrayal of revolutionary life and the cultural factors--myth, ritual, cult, and symbol--that sustained it, and describes the principal forms of utopian thinking and experimental impulse. Analyzing the inevitable clash between the authoritarian elements in the Bolshevik's vision and the libertarian behavior and aspirations of large segments of the population, Stites interprets the pathos of utopian fantasy as the key to the emotional force of the Bolshevik revolution which gave way in the early 1930s to bureaucratic state centralism and a theology of Stalinism.
National identity plays an increasingly important role in Western, liberal democracies. Thus, national identities are experienced as threatened by immigration and diversity and restrictions on immigration and nation-building policies are being implemented in response. Specifically, it has been suggested that diversity drives down social cohesion and thus the ties that bind people together in stable, democratic welfare states. This book addresses challenges to stable liberal democratic institutions and to social cohesion resulting from immigration and diversity. Thus, immigration has been considered an important factor in political polarization and political responses and movements. National identity plays a significant role both as something that, according to some, is threatened by diversity and as something to which populist politicians positively appeal in their justification of restrictive immigration policies and efforts towards nation-building. In some cases, political leaders have framed minorities as a threat to the nation state warranting a departure from liberal democratic institutions. This book considers the role of national identity in contemporary societies and in particular its significance for social cohesion. What role does national identity play for political polarization? Do national identities mediate/moderate the impact of diversity on social cohesion, including trust and solidarity? Has identity politics contributed to a politics of resentment and can more inclusive national identities serve to diminish polarization? In the book, these and other questions about the relation between national identity, belonging and social cohesion are considered by a number of the most prominent scholars in the field.
The founders of the American republic saw two motivations for individual civic participation: self-interest and civic duty. "Civic Participation in America" frames our understanding of civic and political participation the way the nation's founders did: as a human behavior powerfully influenced by institutions within society. The book examines the influence of the important macro-institutions of citizenship, political economy, and the public sphere and size of government, as well as key institutions of civic socialization such as the family, media, and education, on the motivation to participate. It argues that over time these institutions have encouraged more self-interested participation over civic duty-oriented participation.
The Unidad Popular and the Pinochet Dictatorship covers the current political conflict facing the Chilean government of this century. The analysis of the Allende government examines the macroeconomic policies and structural reforms and its results; the questioning of property rights constituted a key issue of conflict. The analysis of the Pinochet government starts with a review of Chilean democracy breakdown. Then it examines the success, failure, and final success of economic structural reforms. The book ends with a discussion of the legacies of both governments. In the historical Chilean memory of the century, human rights violations will occupy a special place.
This book deals with the causes, nature, and impact of the divisions within the jihadi movement, and the splits between jihadis and other Islamic groups. Fault Lines in Global Jihad offers a systematic and comprehensive examination of the broad range of divisions that contribute to the weakening of the jihadi movement. It separates these divisions into two broad categories, namely fissures dividing jihadis themselves, and divisions separating jihadis from other Muslim and Islamist groups. The first part of the book covers intra-jihadi divisions, highlighting tensions and divisions over strategic, tactical, and organizational issues. The second part of the book addresses several important case studies of jihadi altercations with other Muslim and Islamist groups of non-jihadi persuasion, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and the Shii community. More than simply an enumeration of problems and cracks within al-Qa'ida and its cohorts, this book addresses critical policy issues of relevance to the broader struggle against the global jihadi movement. The editors conclude that these divisions have and continue to weaken al-Qa'ida, but neither in an automatic nor in an exclusive fashion-for these divisions render the global jihadi movement simultaneously vulnerable and more resilient. This book will be of much interest to students of jihadism, terrorism and political violence, Islamism, security studies and IR in general.
Nabih Berri has been a key figure in the Lebanese and Shi'ite politics for the last three decades. As the leader of the Shi'ite Amal movement since 1980 and as the Lebanese Speaker since 1992, Berri has played a major role in all political events and processes in Lebanon in the last thirty years. This is the first book to describe and analyze Nabih Berri's ideology, pragmatism, and general political performance in multiple arenas.
The Origin of Liberalism. Influenced by the Utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham, Mill adopted a modified laissez-faire position, believing in the efficiency of free enterprise, but aware of the frequent failure of the market to maximize utility. Later refining this stance, he argued that the promotion of happiness is a moral duty (though he made a clear distinction between desirable and undesirable forms of pleasure). These ideas had a decisive influence on Mill's classic 1859 essay, perhaps the most celebrated defense of individual freedom and self-protection based on utilitarian values rather than natural right to appear in English. JOHN STUART MILL 1806-1873] was an English philosopher whose works made significant contributions to individualistic liberal political thought. He worked for the East India Company and was a Member of Parliament for one term. Mill's influence continues today in this and his other widely-read texts Utilitarianism (1863), The Subjection of Women (1869) and his Autobiography (1873).
How do collective actors move from moderate politics to (violent) extremism? Faced with high risks of repression and implosion, they need to legitimate such radical change to keep members and followers committed to collective action. Drawing on the texts, audios, and videos of five Islamist organisations in the UK and Germany in the 2000s and 2010s, the book develops a transdisciplinary theoretical framework and innovative methodological approach to explore how radical changes in activism are mediated. Clément argues that political violence has to feel right, as a collective, for an organisation and its followers to move from moderate activism to (violent) extremism. She shows that organisations mediate this change by performing collective emotions in and through narrative. The book offers a provocative and nuanced account which departs from conventional interpretations of radicalisation and reminds us of the power of emotions. -- .
This book describes the struggle for power between two totalitarian dictatorships in the north of Europe and the battle for survival of a small nation caught between them. In the Winter War of 1939-40, Finland successfully fought off a Soviet invasion. Then, with no one to turn to but Germany, it became the only democratic state in the Axis powers. Ultimately, it succeeded in extricating itself from the war and, despite the shadow of Russia looming over it, averted a communist takeover.
Harry Gelber examines centuries of colonial interaction and argues for a close link between revolution in 18th-century Europe and the development of Asian nationalism from the 19th century onwards. He reviews how the adoption of European industrial and financial practices encouraged the spread of European ideologies in general. Asia's adoption of national self-determination and decolonization changed the balance of international power.
How is it that the modest pace of change which typified the French economy a century ago gave way after 1945 to a new, revived capitalism and a superior economic performance? Mairi Maclean argues that the new French capitalism of the 21st century is the product of an ideological struggle in which the forces of modernization triumphed over the old guard of French nationalism.
" . . . an exceptionally fine text - one that could only have been written by an author mercifully free, for whatever reason of the phobias and philias about French intellectual life of previous generations." - New Left Review "This book is clearly an indispensable resource for historians of twentieth-century France and French intellectual life, and a fine resource for anyone interested in a political sociology of the intellectual. Its fundamental thesis concerning the political sources of the antitotalitarian moment in the discourse of direct democracy and the electoral opposition to the PCF is largely persuasive-and a welcome antidote to the many distortions that obscure this key reactive shift." - Radical Philosophy "I learned an enormous amount from your first-rate contribution. It is a very exciting and intelligent piece of work . . . very impressive." - Michael Seidman In the latter half of the 1970s, the French intellectual Left denounced communism, Marxism, and revolutionary politics through a critique of left-wing totalitarianism that paved the way for today's postmodern, liberal, and moderate republican political options. Contrary to the dominant understanding of the critique of totalitarianism as an abrupt rupture induced by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago, Christofferson argues that French anti-totalitarianism was the culmination of direct-democratic critiques of communism and revisions of the revolutionary project after 1956. The author's focus on the direct-democratic politics of French intellectuals offers an important alternative to recent histories that seek to explain the course of French intellectual politics by France's apparent lack of a liberal tradition. Michael Scott Christofferson was educated at Carleton College and Columbia University. He currently is Assistant Professor of History at the Pennsylvania State University, Erie and lives in the Cleveland, Ohio.
"This is a fine, well-written book . . . a penetrating and informed analysis." . Martin A. Schain, New York University "Anyone interested in contemporary European and French politics, ERP parties, the Front National, populism nationalism, or racism will find the book both interesting and useful . . . it] offers a rich overview and a rewarding analysis of the recent political and societal developments." . H-France Review During the last decade and a half a new political party family, the extreme Right-wing populist (ERP) parties, has established itself in a variety of West European democracies. These parties represent a monist politics based on ethnic nationalism and xenophobia as well as an opposition against the 'political establishment'. Being the prototypic ERP party, the French Front National (FN) has been a model for ERP parties emerging elsewhere in Western Europe. This study presents a theoretically based explanation that combines the macro and the micro-level, as well as the political supply and the demand-side. More specifically, this study shows that it is necessary to consider both opportunity structures, created by demand and supply-side factors, as well as the ability of the FN to take advantage of the available opportunities. Of particular interest is the author's analysis of the sociology and attitudes of the FN-voters. Jens Rydgren is Researcher and Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Stockholm University.
The evolution of economic organization, political authority, and social values in post-Mao China is the focus of this distinguished investigation which challenges standard interpretations of contemporary China. Mao's death in 1976 made possible a shift from movement politics that produced a gradual dissolution of pre-existing factions and allowed a redefined political agenda to emerge. This post-Mao agenda, in which the notion of class struggle as the key link was explicitly repudiated, formed the foundation for China's post-1978 modernization program. Burton describes this program as post-socialist, arguing that socialism as a definitive category has become irrelevant. He contends that demands for the reform of China's system of economic organization were the direct result of the failure of the Party's post-revolutionary political agenda and that subsequent economic improvements led to calls for modernization of the nation's structure of political authority. The author also describes the dramatic transformation of prevalent social values that has occurred during the same period. The original research and extensive use of vernacular sources, as well as Burton's multi-disciplinary and integrative approach make this volume required reading for students and scholars of contemporary politics, the sociology of China, and contemporary Chinese thought. Political and Social Change in China Since 1978 will fill the background information gap for generalists intrigued by recent events in China.
Through a range of international case studies from the USA, UK, France, Germany and Italy, this text assesses the conditions necessary for effective leadership and emphasizes the part played by uncertainty and division amongst followers.
Restricted to the shorthand of 'sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll,' the counterculture would seem to be a brief, vibrant stretch of the 1960s. But the American counterculture, as this book clearly demonstrates, was far more than a historical blip and its impact continues to resonate. In this comprehensive history, Damon R. Bach traces the counterculture from its antecedents in the 1950s through its emergence and massive expansion in the 1960s to its demise in the 1970s and persistent echoes in the decades since. The counterculture, as Bach tells it, evolved in discrete stages and his book describes its development from coast to heartland to coast as it evolved into a national phenomenon, involving a diverse array of participants and undergoing fundamental changes between 1965 and 1974. Hippiedom appears here in relationship to the era's movements - civil rights, women's and gay liberation, Red and Black Power, the New Left, and environmentalism. In its connection to other forces of the time, Bach contends that the counterculture's central objective was to create a new, superior society based on alternative values and institutions. Drawing for the first time on documents produced by self-described 'freaks' from 1964 through 1973 - underground newspapers, memoirs, personal correspondence, flyers, and pamphlets - his book creates an unusually nuanced, colorful, and complete picture of a time often portrayed in clichÉd or nostalgic terms. This is the counterculture of love-ins and flower children, of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, but also of antiwar demonstrations, communes, co-ops, head shops, cultural feminism, Earth Day, and antinuclear activism. What Damon R. Bach conjures is the counterculture in all of its permutations and ramifications as he illuminates its complexity, continually evolving values, and constantly changing components and adherents, which defined and redefined it throughout its near decade-long existence. In the long run, Bach convincingly argues that the counterculture spearheaded cultural transformation, leaving a changed America in its wake.
This book analyzes the discourses and deliberations in the discussion forums of three of the most visited Islamic websites. In doing so, it explores the potential impact of the Islamic public sphere, and the re-configuration of the 'virtual umma' (Islamic community) online, on the creation of multiple identities and resistances, which manifest themselves through various Islamic sites, producing varying degrees of consensus, divergence, and negotiation in multiple contexts and across different discourses. The book also investigates the extent to which these Islamic websites have provided a venue for Muslims to freely engage in vibrant deliberations and constructive discussions among themselves, as well as with 'Others', i.e., non-Muslims, about various political, economic, religious and social issues.
Founded in 1900, the National Civic Federation (NCF), a broad-based, nongovernmental social and policy reform organization, emerged throughout the Progressive Era as one of the nation's most powerful policy research and lobbying groups. Amidst the strong demand by rank-and-file Americans for economic and social reform, the NCF proposed that the government begin to assume a more prominent role in managing the nation's economy and providing for the needs of the country's weakest and most vulnerable citizens. The organization constructed broad-based coalitions of business leaders, labor leaders, social scientists, and politicians with diverse backgrounds to fashion model legislation and promote public policy aimed at meeting the demands created by modern capitalism. Cyphers' work challenges the longstanding assumption that organizations like the NCF existed simply to build a relationship between big business and the government for the sole benefit of big business. He argues that the NCF sought the preservation of the fundamental tenets of American liberalism and the redefinition of this liberalism for a modern polity whose life was shaped by industrial and commercial capitalism. It saw the individual states, rather than the federal government, as the ideal mechanism to promote uniform economic and social reform. Cyphers also charts the origins of civic cooperation and the creation of voluntary associations as alternatives to the statist remedies to modern economic and social problems that were championed by America's early 20th-century socialist movement. |
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