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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political control & freedoms > General
On May 5, 2007, two days into his twenty-seventh trip to the Boundary Waters, Stephen Posniak found a perfect spot on Ham Lake and set about making a campfire. Over the next two weeks, the fire he set would consume 75,000 acres of forest and 144 build
On May 19, 2010, the Royal Thai Army deployed tanks, snipers, and war weapons to disperse the thousands of Red Shirts protesters who had taken over the commercial center of Bangkok to demand democratic elections and an end to inequality. Key to this mobilization were motorcycle taxi drivers, who slowed down, filtered, and severed mobility in the area, claiming a prominent role in national politics and ownership over the city and challenging state hegemony. Four years later, on May 20, 2014, the same army general who directed the dispersal staged a military coup, unopposed by protesters. How could state power have been so fragile and open to challenge in 2010 and yet so seemingly sturdy only four years later? How could protesters who had once fearlessly resisted military attacks now remain silent? Owners of the Map provides answers to these questions-central to contemporary political mobilizations around the globe-through an ethnographic study of motorcycle taxi drivers in Bangkok. Claudio Sopranzetti explores the unresolved tensions in the drivers' everyday lives, their migration trajectories, consumer desires, and political demands amidst the restructuring of Thai capitalism after the 1997 economic crisis. Reconstructing the entanglements between their everyday mobility and political mobilization, Sopranzetti reveals mobility not just as a strength of contemporary capitalism but also as one of its fragile spots, always prone to disruption by the people who sustain its channels but remain excluded from their benefits. In so doing, Owners of the Map advances an analysis of power that focuses not on the sturdiness of hegemony or the ubiquity of everyday resistance but on its potential fragility as well as the work needed for its maintenance.
In A Colony in a Nation, New York Times best-selling author and Emmy Award-winning news anchor Chris Hayes upends the national conversation on policing and democracy. Drawing on wide-ranging historical, social, and political analysis, as well as deeply personal experiences with law enforcement, Hayes contends that our country has fractured in two: the Colony and the Nation. In the Nation, the law is venerated. In the Colony, fear and order undermine civil rights. With great empathy, Hayes seeks to understand this systemic divide, examining its ties to racial inequality, the omnipresent threat of guns, and the dangerous and unfortunate results of choices made by fear.
The contributors examine the interdependence of justice and liberty and define the most sensible, reasonable principles of justice as they relate to equality, property, gender, and other factors. They compare the libertarian approach to the modern liberal focus on entitlements, offer a libertarian slant on feminism and liberty, a ""natural rights"" approach to justice, and more.
The United States is a nation in crisis. While Washington's ability to address our most pressing challenges has been rendered nearly impotent by ongoing partisan warfare, we face an array of foreign-policy crises for which we seem increasingly unprepared. Among these, none is more formidable than the unprecedented partnership developing between Russia and China, suspicious neighbors for centuries and fellow Communist antagonists during the Cold War. The two longtime foes have drawn increasingly close together because of a confluence of geostrategic, political, and economic interests--all of which have a common theme of diminishing, subverting, or displacing American power. While America's influence around the world recedes--in its military and diplomatic power, in its political leverage, in its economic might, and, perhaps most dangerously, in the power and appeal of its ideas--Russia and China have seen their influence increase. From their support for rogue regimes such as those in Iran, North Korea, and Syria to their military and nuclear buildups to their aggressive use of cyber warfare and intelligence theft, Moscow and Beijing are playing the game for keeps. Meanwhile America, pledged to "leading from behind," no longer does much leading at all. In Return to Winter, Douglas E. Schoen and Melik Kaylan systematically chronicle the growing threat from the Russian-Chinese Axis, and they argue that only a rebirth of American global leadership can counter the corrosive impact of this antidemocratic alliance, which may soon threaten the peace and security of the world.
A common perception of Jews during World War II is that they were passive and submissive in the face of German oppression. In Resistance, Holocaust scholar Nechama Tec questions the validity of this widely held assumption, arguing that rather than making empty claims about Jewish passivity or heroics during the Holocaust, a systematic comparison of Jewish and non-Jewish resistance is needed. Using firsthand accounts and interviews, Tec examines the four main settings of the war-ghetto, concentration camp, forest and countryside, and the Aryan world-and describes what life was like for Jews and non-Jews in each. Tec's comparisons show that even when Jewish and non-Jewish groups were in the same place at the same time, each faced vastly different conditions, and opportunities for Jewish resistance were far scarcer and more complicated than for their non-Jewish counterparts. Given the unique Jewish predicament, Tec explains that Jewish resistance had different aims-in particular, Jewish efforts emphasized recovery of dignity and salvation of lives, rather than large-scale thwarting of their oppressors. This illuminating book also explores the larger concept of resistance, often too narrowly equated with armed attempts or too broadly equated with attempts merely to survive. Tec brilliantly argues that resistance is dependent on the oppressed party's intent and the particular nature of the oppression faced. Closely reasoned and eloquently constructed, Resistance reinvigorates the discussion about resistance in World War II.
Edward W. Said discusses the importance and centrality of popular resistance in the framework of culture, history, and struggle. He reveals his thoughts on the war on terrorism and the invasion of Afghanistan. On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he lays out a compelling vision for a secular, democratic future in the Middle East. He proposes a radical solution that cuts through the current impasse with a promise of reconciliation and peace for both peoples. Prof. Said addresses the origins of Palestinian resistance and the collapse of the so-called peace process that has led to more and more Israeli colonies. He is unsparing in his criticism of Arafat and the PLO. He dissects the role of media propaganda and its golden rolodex of pseudo-experts in shaping public opinion. New introduction by David Barsamian.
This book addresses one of the least studied yet most pervasive aspects of modern life--the techniques and mechanisms by which official agencies certify individual identity. From passports and identity cards to labor registration and alien documentation, from fingerprinting to much-debated contemporary issues such as DNA-typing, body surveillance, and the catastrophic results of colonial-era identity documentation in postcolonial Rwanda, "Documenting Individual Identity" offers the most comprehensive historical overview of this fascinating topic ever published. The nineteen essays in this volume represent the collaborative effort of historians, sociologists, historians of science, political scientists, economists, and specialists in international relations. Together they cover a period from the emergence of systematic practices of written identification in early modern Europe through to the present day, and a geographic range that includes Europe, the Soviet Union, North and South America, and Africa. While the book is attuned to the nefarious possibilities of states' increasing capacity to identify individuals, it recognizes that these same techniques also certify citizens' eligibility for significant positive rights, such as welfare benefits and voting. Unprecedented in subject and scope, Documenting Individual Identity promises to shape a whole new field of research that crosses disciplinary boundaries and is of broad public and academic significance. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Valentin Groebner, Gerard Noiriel, Charles Steinwedel, Marc Garcelon, Jon Agar, Martine Kaluszynski, Peter Becker, Anne Joseph, Kristin Ruggiero, Andrea Geselle, Andreas Fahrmeier, Leo Lucassen, Pamela Sankar, David Lyon, Gary Marx, Dita Vogel, and Timothy Longman."
While military intervention in Iraq was being planned, humanitarian organizations were offered US government funds to join the Coalition and operate under the umbrella of "Operation Iraqi Freedom". In Kosavo, Timor, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan, NGOs had previously been asked to join in "just" wars. Indeed many aid agencies cooperated eagerly, subordinating their specific aims to the greater goal of "peace, democracy and human rights". Few Afghans or Sierra Leoneans regret the interventions. However, the inconvenient victims of these triumphs, those from the "wrong" side, are quickly forgotten. These are individuals whom humanitarian organizations have the duty to save, yet in doing so they must remain independent of the warring parties, and refrain from joining in the "struggle against evil" or any other political agenda. Then there are places where the pretence of providing assistance allows donor governments to disguise their backing of local political powers. Lastly there are those whose sacrifice is politically irrelevant in the wider scope of international relations. In circumstances such as these, what little international aid is available collides head-on with the mutal desire of the adversaries to wage "total" war that may lead to the extermination of entire populations. In this book, international experts and members of the MSF analyse the way these issues have crystallized over the five years spanning the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st. The authors make the case for a renewed commitment to an old idea: a humanitarianism that defies the politics of sacrifice.
This innovative approach to freedom starts from an account of what
we mean by describing someone, in a psychological vein, as a free
subject. Pettit develops an argument as to what it is that makes
someone free in that basic sense; and then goes on to derive the
implications of the approach for issues of freedom in political
theory. Freedom in the subject is equated with the person's being
fit to be held responsible and to be authorized as a partner in
interaction. This book is unique among contemporary approaches - although it
is true to the spirit of classical writers like Hobbes and Kant -
in seeking a theory that applies to psychological issues of free
agency and free will as well as to political issues in the theory
of the free state and the free constitution. The driving thesis is
that it is only by connecting up the different issues of freedom,
psychological and political, that we can fully appreciate the
nature of the questions involved, and the requirements for their
resolution. The book does not not seek a comprehensive reach just
for its own sake, but rather for the sake of the illumination it
provides." A Theory of Freedom" is a ground-breaking volume which will be of wide interest to scholars and students in political philosophy and political science.
In this ground-breaking work, Gerasimos Tsourapas examines how migration and political power are inextricably linked, and enhances our understanding of how authoritarian regimes rely on labour emigration across the Middle East and the Global South. Dr Tsourapas identifies how autocracies develop strategies to tie cross-border mobility to their own survival, highlighting domestic political struggles and the shifting regional and international landscape. In Egypt, the ruling elite has long shaped labour emigration policy in accordance with internal and external tactics aimed at regime survival. Dr Tsourapas draws on a wealth of previously-unavailable archival sources in Arabic and English, as well as extensive original interviews with Egyptian elites and policy-makers in order to produce a novel account of authoritarian politics in the Arab world. The book offers a new insight into the evolution and political rationale behind regime strategies towards migration, from Gamal Abdel Nasser's 1952 Revolution to the 2011 Arab Uprisings.
Launched in 1992, Regional Outlook is an annual publication of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, published every January. Designed for the busy executive, professional, diplomat, journalist, or interested observer, Regional Outlook aims to provide a succinct analysis of current political and economic trends shaping the region, and the outlook for the forthcoming two years. This forward- looking book contains focused political commentaries and economic forecasts on all ten countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as a select number of topical pieces of significance to the region.
If, as many cultural critics have asserted, the world is becoming
more like the Caribbean, then the task of charting what we mean by
"the Caribbean" is an urgent one. This careful study of the British
Virgin Islands (BVI) calls attention to the ways in which ideas
about nature and choice have come to justify a social order in
which half the population is deemed not to belong and is denied
legal rights.
To address the threat of an atomic-armed Soviet Union during the early days of the Cold War, President Truman approved the Alert America educational exhibit. Promoted as "The Show That May Save Your Life," Alert America became the most effective way to convey the destructive power of the atomic bomb and to promote civil defense. Following the exhibit's debut in the nation's capital, it traveled in three separate convoys to more than eighty cities considered most likely to be bombed, and garnered unprecedented support from elected and civic officials, the media, the military, private industry, and myriad organizations. This is the first book to examine the scope and impact of Alert America, which has been largely overlooked by historians. Also included are resource materials providing insights into the government's overriding objective of preparing men, women and children to survive an atomic war.
An exploration of military responses to revolutions and how to predict such reactions in the future We know that a revolution's success largely depends on the army's response to it. But can we predict the military's reaction to an uprising? How Armies Respond to Revolutions and Why argues that it is possible to make a highly educated guess-and in some cases even a confident prediction-about the generals' response to a domestic revolt if we know enough about the army, the state it is supposed to serve, the society in which it exists, and the external environment that affects its actions. Through concise case studies of modern uprisings in Iran, China, Eastern Europe, Burma, and the Arab world, Zoltan Barany looks at the reasons for and the logic behind the variety of choices soldiers ultimately make. Barany offers tools-in the form of questions to be asked and answered-that enable analysts to provide the most informed assessment possible regarding an army's likely response to a revolution and, ultimately, the probable fate of the revolution itself. He examines such factors as the military's internal cohesion, the regime's treatment of its armed forces, and the size, composition, and nature of the demonstrations. How Armies Respond to Revolutions and Why explains how generals decide to support or suppress domestic uprisings.
The practice of petitioning the Ottoman Sultan was a well-known institution which existed in one form or another throughout Ottoman history and enabled Ottoman subjects, far from the capital of Istanbul, to convey their grievances directly to the supreme ruler. Here, Yuval Ben-Bassat examines the petitions, including many previously unpublished ones, sent during the last decades of the Empire to the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II. The petitions enable Ben-Bassat to explore Palestine's history in this formative period from a unique perspective, providing first-hand accounts of the dilemmas, struggles, acts, concerns, schisms and transformations Palestinian society experienced. Petitioning the Sultan will be of great interest to a broad audience of specialists studying the history of the Middle East, the Ottoman Empire, and Palestine's late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century world.
In the years since the 9/11 attacks, approximately four million Americans have turned eighteen each year and more than fifty million children have been born. These members of the millennial and post-millennial generation have come of age in a moment marked by increased anxiety about terrorism, two protracted wars, and policies that have raised questions about the U.S. strategies abroad and at home. The War of My Generation offers the first essay collection to focus specifically on how the terrorist attacks and their aftermath have shaped this new generation of Americans. Drawing from a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, and literary studies, the essays cover a wide range of topics, from graphic war images in the classroom to computer games designed to promote military recruitment to books about parents in the combat zone. David Kieran and the contributors address millennials, intersections with contemporary questions about terrorism, U.S. militarism, and U.S. foreign policy, asserting that young people are both consumers and producers of narratives that contribute to, modify, and resist discourses about 9/11 and the War on Terror. Young people have not been shielded from the attacks or from the wars and policy debates that followed; instead, they have been active participants. One study reveals that the "lived memories" of the attack have led some to link the September 11th attacks to the Holocaust as moments in which innocent people suffered but resiliently persevered. Another contribution discusses how Muslim youth in Silicon Valley embraced the rhetoric of the Civil Rights movement as they fought against the harassment, governmental surveillance, and denial of rights that has plagued them since 9/11. Revealing how young people understand the War on Terror - and how adults understand the way young people think - The War of My Generation offers groundbreaking research on catastrophic events still fresh in our minds.
Individualism is one of most criticized and least understood ideas in social and political thought. Is individualism the ability to act independently amidst a web of social forces? A vital element of personal liberty and a shield against conformity? Does it lead to or away from unifying individuals with communities? Individualism: A Reader provides a wealth of illuminating essays from the 17th to the early 20th centuries. In 26 selections from 25 writers individualism is explained and defended, often from unusual perspectives. This anthology includes not only selections from well-known writers, but also many lesser-known pieces-reprinted here for the first time-by philosophers, social theorists, and economists who have been overlooked in standard accounts of individualism. The depth and complexity of ideas about individualism are reflected in the six sections in this collection. The first examines individuality generally, with the following five detailing social, moral, political, religious, and economic individualism. Throughout, individualism is analyzed and defended through the lenses of classical liberalism, free-market libertarianism, individual anarchism, voluntary socialism, religious individualism, abolitionism, free thought, and radical feminism. Both richly historical and sharply contemporary, Individualism: A Reader provides a multitude of perspectives and insights on personal liberty and the history of freedom. |
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