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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political control & freedoms > General
Fairness and Freedom compares the history of two open societies - New Zealand and the United States - with much in common. Both have democratic polities, mixed-enterprise economies, individuated societies, pluralist cultures, and a deep concern for human rights and the rule of law. But all of these elements take different forms, because constellations of value are far apart. The dream of living free is America's Polaris; fairness and natural justice are New Zealand's Southern Cross. Fischer asks why these similar countries went different ways. Both were founded by English-speaking colonists, but at different times and with disparate purposes. They lived in the first and second British Empires, which operated in very different ways. Indians and Maori were important agents of change, but to different ends. On the American frontier and in New Zealand's Bush, material possibilities and moral choices were not the same. Fischer takes the same comparative approach to parallel processes of nation-building and immigration, women's rights and racial wrongs, reform causes and conservative responses, war-fighting and peace-making, and global engagement in our own time-with similar results. On another level, this book expands Fischer's past work on liberty and freedom. It is the first book to be published on the history of fairness. And it also poses new questions in the old tradition of history and moral philosophy. Is it possible to be both fair and free? In a vast array of evidence, Fischer finds that the strengths of these great values are needed to correct their weaknesses. As many societies seek to become more open - never twice in the same way, an understanding of our differences is the only path to peace.
We fear that the growing threat of violent attack, whether from terrorism or other sources, has upset the balance between existential concepts of political power, which emphasize security, and traditional notions of constitutional limits meant to protect civil liberties. We worry that constitutional states cannot, during a time of war, terror, and extreme crisis, maintain legality and preserve civil rights and freedoms. David W. Bates allays these concerns by revisiting the theoretical origins of the modern constitutional state, which, he argues, recognized and made room for tensions among law, war, and the social order. We traditionally associate the Enlightenment with the taming of absolutist sovereign power through the establishment of a legal state based on the rights of individuals. In his critical rereading, Bates shows instead that Enlightenment thinkers conceived of political autonomy in a systematic, theoretical way. Focusing on the nature of foundational violence, war, and existential crises, eighteenth-century thinkers understood law and constitutional order not as a constraint on political power but as the logical implication of that primordial force. Returning to the origin stories that informed the beginnings of political community, Bates reclaims the idea of law, warfare, and the social order as intertwining elements subject to complex historical development. Following an analysis of seminal works by seventeenth-century natural-law theorists, Bates reviews the major canonical thinkers of constitutional theory (Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau) from the perspective of existential security and sovereign power. Countering Carl Schmitt's influential notion of the autonomy of the political, Bates demonstrates that Enlightenment thinkers understood the autonomous political sphere as a space of law protecting individuals according to their political status, not as mere members of a historically contingent social order.
Almost from the moment in 1940 that Otto Frisch and Rudofl Peierls suggested, from their small office in the University of Birmingham, that an atomic weapon could be miniaturized and delivered to its target by aircraft, the concept of atomic espionage can be said to have existed. No sooner had the famous Frisch-Peierls Memorandum been received by the British War Cabinet than a Soviet mole, John Cairncross, passed the details on to his Soviet contact. And 70 years later with the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) estimating that up to 40 countries now have the capability of building nuclear weapons, the need to monitor this activity remains crucial. The Historical Dictionary of Atomic Espionage relates the history of atomic espionage through a chronology, an introductory essay, and cross-referenced dictionary entries on the agencies, agents, and operations. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about atomic espionage.
This book introduces students to the dynamic and complex enterprise that is homeland security. Using a broad lens, the authors explore key operational and content areas, as well as the practices and policies that are part of an effective homeland security program. With original essays from academics and practitioners, the book encapsulates the breadth of homeland security as it exists today. Topical coverage includes: administration, intelligence, critical infrastructure protection, emergency management, terrorism and counterterrorism, law and policy, technology and systems, strategic planning, strategic communication, civil-military affairs, private sector involvement, environmental security, and public health. Accessible, engaging, and comprehensive, this is an essential resource for courses on homeland security.
This 'sketch' by John Malcolm (1769-1833), covers a relatively small period - from the introduction of the India Bill in 1784 to the book's publication in 1811. The bill marked the beginning of increased government control over the East India Company, and Malcolm had arrived in India the year before it was passed and had an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of British influence and ambitions in India. In over five hundred pages, he examines governance in India, covering the administrations of Lord Cornwallis, Sir John Shore and Marquis Wellesley, all of whom he served under in increasingly important roles. Malcolm went on to write other books about India and Persia, where he also spent several years, and in 1827 became Governor of Bombay. His Sketch of India gives an insider's perspective on a crucial period in the consolidation of British authority in large areas of the subcontinent.
"America is a Christian nation." "All men are created equal." "We are the land of the free and the home of the brave." Except when we're not. These commonly held ideas break down in the light of hard realities, the study of Scripture, and faithful Christian witness. The president is not the Messiah, the Constitution is not the Bible, and the United States is not a city on a hill or the hope for the world. The proclaimed hope of America rings most hollow for Native peoples, people of color, the rural poor, and other communities pressed to the margins. Jonathan Walton exposes the cultural myths and misconceptions about America's identity. Focusing on its manipulation of Scripture and the person of Jesus, he redirects us to the true promises found in the gospel. Walton identifies how American ideology and way of life has become a false religion, and shows that orienting our lives around American nationalism is idolatry. Our cultural notions of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are at odds with the call to take up our cross and follow Jesus. Ultimately, our place in America is distinct from our place in the family of Jesus. Discover how the kingdom of God offers true freedom and justice for all.
Volume 4 in the series focuses on the 1980s and 'further fortifies the intellectual traditions set by the earlier volumes'. Included in the volume are chapters by Bernard Magubane on the apartheid state; Sifiso Ndlovu on the ANC and negotiations; Bhekizizwe Peterson on the the arts; Zine Magubane on women's struggles; Gregory Houston on the ANC's underground and armed struggle; Thami ka Plaatje on the PAC; Mbulelo Mzamane and Brown Maaba on the BMC and AZAPO; Eddy Maloka on the SACP; Christopher Saunders on the above-the-ground struggles conducted by white activists; and Jabulani Sithole on the trade union movement.
Borderwall as Architecture is an artistic and intellectual hand grenade of a book, and a timely re-examination of what the physical barrier that divides the United States of America from the United Mexican States is and could be. It is both a protest against the wall and a projection about its future. Through a series of propositions suggesting that the nearly seven hundred miles of wall is an opportunity for economic and social development along the border that encourages its conceptual and physical dismantling, the book takes readers on a journey along a wall that cuts through a "third nation"-the Divided States of America. On the way the transformative effects of the wall on people, animals, and the natural and built landscape are exposed and interrogated through the story of people who, on both sides of the border, transform the wall, challenging its existence in remarkably creative ways. Coupled with these real-life accounts are counterproposals for the wall, created by Rael's studio, that reimagine, hyperbolize, or question the wall and its construction, cost, performance, and meaning. Rael proposes that despite the intended use of the wall, which is to keep people out and away, the wall is instead an attractor, engaging both sides in a common dialogue. Included is a collection of reflections on the wall and its consequences by leading experts Michael Dear, Norma Iglesias-Prieto, Marcello Di Cintio, and Teddy Cruz.
Since ancient times the exercise of individual freedoms has been inseparable from the expansion of the market, driven by the search for profit. This force, namely capitalism, has stimulated human creativity and aggression in ways that have produced immense benefits. As capitalism has broadened its scope in the epoch of globalization, these benefits have become even greater. Human beings have been liberated to an even greater degree than hitherto from the tyranny of nature, from the control of others, from poverty and from war. The advances achieved by the globalization of capitalism have appeared all the more striking, when set against the failure of non-capitalist systems of economic organization. However, capitalist freedom is a two-edged sword. In an epoch of capitalist globalisation, its contradictions have intensified. They comprehensively threaten the natural environment. They have intensified global inequality within both rich and poor countries, and between the internationalised global power elite and the mass of citizens rooted within their respective nation. In this remarkable, expansive text, Peter Nolan explores the impact of the domineering economic phenomenon on our personal and social liberties.
Political blogs have grown astronomically in the last half-decade. In just one month in 2005, for example, popular blog DailyKos received more unique visitors than the population of Iowa and New Hampshire combined. But how much political impact do bloggers really have? In Blogwars, David D. Perlmutter examines this rapidly burgeoning phenomenon, exploring the degree to which blogs influence--or fail to influence--American political life. Challenging the hype, Perlmutter points out that blogs are not that powerful by traditional political measures: while bloggers can offer cogent and convincing arguments and bring before their readers information not readily available elsewhere, they have no financial, moral, social, or cultural leverage to compel readers to engage in any particular political behavior. Indeed, blogs have scored mixed results in their past political crusades. But in the end, Perlmutter argues that blogs, in their wide dissemination of information and opinions, actually serve to improve democracy and enrich political culture. He highlights a number of the particularly noteworthy blogs from the specialty to the superblog-including popular sites such as Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, Powerlineblog, Instapundit, and Talking Points Memo--and shows how blogs are becoming part of the tool kit of political professionals, from presidential candidates to advertising consultants. While the political future may be uncertain, it will not be unblogged. For many Internet users, blogs are the news and editorial sites of record, replacing traditional newspapers, magazines, and television news programs. Blogwars offers the first full examination of this new and controversial force on America's political landscape.
Mandela: His Essential Life chronicles the life and legacy of one of the twentieth century's most influential and admired statesmen. Charting his development from remote rural roots to city lawyer, freedom fighter, and then political leader, Peter Hain takes an in-depth look at Mandela's rise through the ranks of the African National Congress (ANC) and subsequent 27 years imprisonment on Robben Island, as increasingly vocal protests against the injustices of Apartheid brought his struggle against overwhelming prejudice and oppression to the eyes of the world. This book encompasses Mandela's inauguration as South Africa's first democratically elected president, his "retirement" campaigns for human rights, a solution to AIDS and poverty. It goes on to chronicle his later years and death. Throughout, the humanity and compassion of this extraordinary world leader shine through. The author concludes with a critical analysis of his and the ANC's achievements, its leadership's subsequent slide into corruption, and whether under new direction South Africa can reclaim the values and legacy of Mandela, and the 'rainbow nation' he created and led to such global acclaim.
In virtually all corners of the Western world, 1968 witnessed a
highly unusual sequence of popular rebellions. In Italy, France,
Spain, Vietnam, the United States, West Germany, Czechoslovakia,
Mexico, and elsewhere, millions of individuals took matters into
their own hands to counter imperialism, capitalism, autocracy,
bureaucracy, and all forms of hierarchical thinking. Recent
reinterpretations have sought to play down any real challenge to
the socio-political status quo in these events, but Gerd-Rainer
Horn's book offers a spirited counterblast. 1968, he argues, opened
up the possibility that economic and political elites on both sides
of the Iron Curtain could be toppled from their position of
unnatural superiority to make way for a new society where everyday
people could, for the first time, become masters of their own
destiny. Furthermore, Horn contends, the moment of crisis and
opportunity culminating in 1968 must be seen as part of a larger
period of experimentation and revolt. The ten years between 1956
and 1966, characterised above all by the flourishing of
iconoclastic cultural rebellions, can be regarded as a preparatory
period which set the stage for the non-conformist cum political
revolts of the subsequent "red" decade (1966-1976).
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