On the 14th June 2017, a fire engulfed a tower block in West London, seventy-two people lost their lives and hundreds of others were left displaced and traumatised. The Grenfell Tower fire is the epicentre of a long history of violence enacted by government and corporations. On its second anniversary activists, artists and academics come together to respond, remember and recover the disaster. The Grenfell Tower fire illustrates Britain's symbolic order; the continued logic of colonialism, the disposability of working class lives, the marketisation of social provision and global austerity politics, and the negligence and malfeasance of multinational contractors. Exploring these topics and more, the contributors construct critical analysis from legal, cultural, media, community and government responses to the fire, asking whether, without remedy for multifaceted power and violence, we will ever really be 'after' Grenfell? With poetry by Ben Okri, photographs by Sam Boal and contributions from Phil Scraton, Nadine El-Enany, the Radical Housing Network and Sarah Keenan, this volume is the first interdisciplinary exploration of the Grenfell Tower fire.

How the clash between the civil rights firebrand and the father of modern conservatism continues to illuminate America (TM)s racial divide On February 18, 1965, an overflow crowd packed the Cambridge Union in Cambridge, England, to witness a historic televised debate between James Baldwin, the leading literary voice of the civil rights movement, and William F. Buckley Jr., a fierce critic of the movement and America's most influential conservative intellectual. The topic was "the American dream is at the expense of the American Negro," and no one who has seen the debate can soon forget it. Nicholas Buccola's The Fire Is upon Us is the first book to tell the full story of the event, the radically different paths that led Baldwin and Buckley to it, the controversies that followed, and how the debate and the decades-long clash between the men continues to illuminate America's racial divide today. Born in New York City only fifteen months apart, the Harlem-raised Baldwin and the privileged Buckley could not have been more different, but they both rose to the height of American intellectual life during the civil rights movement. By the time they met in Cambridge, Buckley was determined to sound the alarm about a man he considered an "eloquent menace." For his part, Baldwin viewed Buckley as a deluded reactionary whose popularity revealed the sickness of the American soul. The stage was set for an epic confrontation that pitted Baldwin (TM)s call for a moral revolution in race relations against Buckley (TM)s unabashed elitism and implicit commitment to white supremacy. A remarkable story of race and the American dream, The Fire Is Upon Us reveals the deep roots and lasting legacy of a disagreement that continues to haunt our politics.

'We're not the future. We're doing it right now.'

Young girls and women are uniting across the world to create change, have their voices heard and stand up for what they believe in.

In this bold and brilliantly inspiring book, Lauren Sharkey profiles the powerful stories and achievements of 52 young campaigners, who are working to improve the lives of people across the globe. Some are active in feminist issues like period poverty or political problems such as police brutality and LGBT+ rights; while others are working in science, conservation and diversity. Yet whether it be Twitter campaigns or life-saving apps, their great ideas are all changing the world as we know it.

Illustrated by Manjit Thapp, this is a must-have for young women who would like to dare to make a difference and become empowered to be the change.

Whether class or race is the more important factor in modern politics is a question right at the heart of recent history's most contentious debates. Among groups who should readily find common ground, there is little agreement. To escape this deadlock, Asad Haider turns to the rich legacies of the black freedom struggle. Drawing on the words and deeds of black revolutionary theorists, he argues that identity politics is not synonymous with anti-racism, but instead amounts to the neutralization of its movements. It marks a retreat from the crucial passage of identity to solidarity, and from individual recognition to the collective struggle against an oppressive social structure. Weaving together autobiographical reflection, historical analysis, theoretical exegesis, and protest reportage, Mistaken Identity is a passionate call for a new practice of politics beyond colorblind chauvinism and "the ideology of race."

I Remember Nelson Mandela is a collection of remembrances from those who worked with, for and beside Mandela. More than one hundred individuals, from household staff to bodyguards and presidential advisors, have offered their memories, which provide warm, poignant and often humorous insights into what it was like behind the scenes with one of the most revered and beloved political figures the world has seen.

‘Nothing is more important than to be loved by your colleagues.’ – Nelson Mandela, 5 August 2008, addressing the staff of the Nelson Mandela Foundation at a private celebration for his 90th birthday

The collection is the dream-child of Mrs Graça Machel who, some months after Nelson Mandela’s passing on 5 December 2013, met with former members of his staff to thank them for their service. Listening to their stories inspired the creation of this, the perfect gift book, providing readers with a glimpse into the man behind the title.

'This important, disturbing and frequently heartbreaking book should be read by every politician in Westminster.' Adrian Tempany, Observer

'In a few weeks' time, it would be thirty-five years to the day since those men and women had walked 340 miles to try to save their communities and their culture, and thirty-five years since I had turned down Pete's invitation to join them. I called work and booked some time off. Then I bought a one-way train ticket to Liverpool.'

In 1981, Mike Carter's dad, Pete, organised the People's March for Jobs, which saw 300 people walk from Liverpool to London to protest as the Thatcher government's policies devastated industrial Britain and sent unemployment skyrocketing. Just before the 2016 EU referendum, Mike set off to walk the same route in a quest to better understand his dad and his country.

As he walked, Mike found many echoes of the early eighties: a working class overlooked and ignored by Westminster politicans; communities hollowed out but fiercely resistant; anger and despair co-existing with hope and determination for change. And he also found that he and Pete shared more in common than he might have thought.

All Together Now? maps the intricate, overlapping path of one man's journey and that of an entire country. It is a book about belonging, about whether to stay or go, and about the need to write new stories for our communities and ourselves.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The funny, sad, super-honest, all-true story of Chelsea Handler’s year of self-discovery—featuring a nerdily brilliant psychiatrist, a shaman, four Chow Chows, some well-placed security cameras, various family members (living and departed), friends, assistants, and a lot of edibles

A SKIMM READS PICK

“This will be one of your favorite books of all time.”—Amy Schumer

In a haze of vape smoke on a rare windy night in L.A. in the fall of 2016, Chelsea Handler daydreams about what life will be like with a woman in the White House. And then Donald Trump happens. In a torpor of despair, she decides that she’s had enough of the privileged bubble she’s lived in—a bubble within a bubble—and that it’s time to make some changes, both in her personal life and in the world at large.

At home, she embarks on a year of self-sufficiency—learning how to work the remote, how to pick up dog shit, where to find the toaster. She meets her match in an earnest, brainy psychiatrist and enters into therapy, prepared to do the heavy lifting required to look within and make sense of a childhood marked by love and loss and to figure out why people are afraid of her. She becomes politically active—finding her voice as an advocate for change, having difficult conversations, and energizing her base. In the process, she develops a healthy fixation on Special Counsel Robert Mueller and, through unflinching self-reflection and psychological excavation, unearths some glittering truths that light up the road ahead.

Thrillingly honest, insightful, and deeply, darkly funny, Chelsea Handler’s memoir keeps readers laughing, even as it inspires us to look within and ask ourselves what really matters in our own lives.

People power works and is changing the world around us. This is a user's guide to activism by one of the UK's biggest names in grass-roots campaigning. Illustrated with lessons from the real world, it is a guide to creating change for anyone who has ever asked themselves 'why hasn't anyone done something about that?' We are taught to believe that only a small group of people in society have the ability to change laws and company policies. That's simply not true any longer - each of is capable of using our experiences to change the world. We just need to use that thing that makes us different, and learn how to channel it. Having worked as a campaigner for the last 11 years, Kajal Odedra of change.org - which is used by 15 million people in the UK - has learned the tricks of the trade that have traditionally been held in circles of power, and believes that everyone should know how to speak up and be heard. Her mission is to show people how to use their voice to make their community, politicians and CEOs take notice.

Augusto Boal saw theatre as a mirror to the world, one that we can reach into to change our reality. This book, The Theatre of the Oppressed, is the foundation to 'Forum Theatre', a popular radical form practised across the world. Boal's techniques allowed the people to reclaim theatre, providing forums through which they could imagine and enact social and political change. Rejecting the Aristotelian ethic, which he believed allowed the State to remain unchallenged, he broke down the wall between actors and audience, the two sides coming together, the audience becoming the 'spect-actors'. Written in 1973, while in exile from the Brazilian government after the military coup-d'etat, this is a work of subversion and liberation, which shows that only the oppressed are able to free themselves.

An essential overview of the problems of our world today -- and how we should prepare for tomorrow -- from the world's leading public intellectual We have two choices. We can be pessimistic, give up, and help ensure that the worst will happen. Or we can be optimistic, grasp the opportunities that surely exist, and maybe help make the world a better place. Not much of a choice. From peerless political thinker Noam Chomsky comes an exploration of rising neoliberalism, the refugee crisis in Europe, the Black Lives Matter movement, the dysfunctional US electoral system, and the prospects and challenges of building a movement for radical change. Including four up-to-the-minute interviews on the 2016 American election campaign and global resistance to Trump, this Penguin Special is a concise introduction to Chomsky's ideas and his take on the state of the world today.

100 Acts of Minor Dissent is an account of an entire year spent living provocatively. From successful campaigns against Royal Parks and multinationals, to arts and crafts with porn mags, from annoying estate agents, to raising cinema workers' wages, comedian and campaigner Mark Thomas stopped at nothing. The Acts were sometimes bold, sometimes surreal. Many brought about change and others were done for the sheer hell of it. Whether at the gates of the Saudi Arabian embassy or the checkout at Tesco - people reacted with laughter, shock, outrage and occasionally anger. Sometimes all of the above. 100 Acts of Minor Dissent makes for dangerously inspiring reading.

From Thomas Mapfumo to Bob Marley, William Parker to Frank Zappa, Edgard Varese to Ice-T; from American blues to West African drumming, hip hop to son, gospel singing to rock'n'roll cabaret, rebel music is at the heart of some of the most incisive critiques of global politics. With explosive lyrics and driving rhythms, a new wave of rebel musicians are helping to mobilize movements for political change and social justice, at home and around the world.

Original in concept, unrivaled in content, Rebel -Musics is alone in placing human rights issues side by side with different forms of music. A wide range of -accomplished contributors, from a variety of disciplines and performance contexts, examine the ways in which human rights and music are explicitly linked, how musical activism resonates in practical, political terms, and how musical resistance is enacted.

Apart from the editors, contributors include: cabaret artist, author, and musician Norman Nawrocki; film makers Marie Boti and Malcolm Guy; musician Jesse Stewart; poet George Elliott Clarke; author Timothy Brennan; economist Spencer Henson; author Martha Nandorfy; radio host Ray Pratt; editor, author, and music -reviewer Ron Sakolsky.

Daniel Fischlin is professor of English at the University of Guelph and co-author with Martha Nandorfy of "Eduardo Galeano: Through the Looking Glass" (Black Rose Books). He has been active as a musician for most of his life and this is his fourth book devoted to an interdisciplinary musical topic.

Ajay Heble is professor of English at the University of Guelph. He is the author of "Landing on the Wrong Note: Jazz, Dissonance, and Critical Practice" and coeditor (with Daniel Fischlin) of "The Other Side of Nowhere: Jazz, -Improvisation, and Communities in Dialogue." Artistic director and founder of The Guelph Jazz Festival, he is also an accomplished pianist.

The arrival of January 1919 sees Europe in turmoil, with revolution breaking out across the Continent. Glasgow's industrial community has been steeled by radicalism throughout the Great War, and as the spectre of mass unemployment and poverty threatens, a cadre of shop stewards, supported by political activists, is ready to strike for a forty-hour week. They face a state nervous of their strength and anxious about the wider consequences of their action, with the War Cabinet monitoring the situation closely. On 31 January, now known as Bloody Friday, tensions came to a head when 60,000 demonstrators clashed with police in George Square. The `Scottish Bolshevik Revolution' (so termed by the Secretary of State for Scotland) erupted, with tanks and 10,000 soldiers immediately despatched to the city to enforce order. The strike may have failed, but 1922 saw the arrival of Red Clydeside, as the Independent Labour Party swept the board in the general election. Now, 100 years on, Kenny MacAskill separates fact from fiction in this adept social history to explore how the events of that fateful day transpired and why their legacy still endures. Drawing on original material from speeches and newspaper reports of the time, MacAskill also paints a vivid picture of the solidarity amongst the working class in a rousing testimony to Glasgow's long radical history.

Emerging relatively unscathed from the banking crisis of 2008, China has been viewed as a model of both rampant success and fiscal stability. But beneath the surface lies a network of fissures that look likely to erupt into the next big financial crash. A bloated real-estate sector, roller-coaster stock market, and rapidly growing shadow-banking sector have all coalesced to create a perfect storm: one that is in danger of taking the rest of the world's economy with it. Walden Bello traces our recent history of financial crises - from the bursting of Japan's `bubble economy' in 1990 to Wall Street in 2008 - taking in their political and human ramifications such as rising inequality and environmental degradation. He not only predicts that China might be the site of the next crash, but that under neoliberalism this will simply keep happening. The only way that we can stop this cycle, Bello argues, is through a fundamental change in the ways that we organise: a shift to cooperative enterprise, respectful of the environment, and which fractures the twin legacies of imperialism and capitalism. Insightful, erudite and passionate, Paper Dragons is a must-read for anyone wishing to prevent the next financial meltdown.

The fight for a green world is the fight of our lives. And with On Fire, Naomi Klein gives us the ammunition to do it. In frank, personal terms, she shows us how the only way forward out of a polluted world of our own making is only through policy reform - a concrete set of actions to combat the mounting threat of total environmental catastrophe. What's needed, she argues, is something with radical verve and guaranteed protections: in other words, a New Deal. On Fire finds Klein at her most canny and prophetic, and the stakes of our imperiled global situation higher than ever before. In wide-ranging essays reporting from varying stages of ecological crisis - from prescient clarion calls from years ago to our panicked present - Klein wakes us up from our environmental sleepwalk and sets us on a course of potent, necessary action.

In this part-manifesto, part-memoir, the revolutionary editor who infused social consciousness into the pages of Teen Vogue explores what it means to come into your own – on your own terms.

Elaine Welteroth has climbed the ranks of media and fashion, shattering ceilings along the way. In this riveting and timely memoir, the groundbreaking editor unpacks lessons on race, identity, and success through her own journey, from navigating her way as the unstoppable child of a unlikely interracial marriage in small-town California to finding herself on the frontlines of a modern movement for the next generation of change makers.

Welteroth moves beyond the headlines and highlight reels to share the profound lessons and struggles of being a barrier-breaker across so many intersections. As a young boss and the only black woman in the room, she's had enough of the world telling her – and all women – they're not enough. As she learns to rely on herself by looking both inward and upward, we're ultimately reminded that we're more than enough.

What kind of world are we leaving to our grandchildren? How are the discontents kindled today likely to blaze and explode tomorrow? From escalating climate change to the devastation in Syria, pandemic state surveillance to looming nuclear war, Noam Chomsky takes stock of the world today. Over the course of ten conversations with long-time collaborator David Barsamian, spanning 2013-2016, Chomsky argues in favour of radical changes to a system that cannot possibly cope with what awaits tomorrow. Interwoven with personal reflections spanning from childhood to his eighth decade of life, Global Discontents also marks out Chomsky's own intellectual journey, mapping his progress to revolutionary ideas and global prominence.

The first book to explore menstruation in the current cultural and political landscape and to investigate the new wave of period activism taking the world by storm. After centuries of being shrouded in taboo and superstition, periods have gone mainstream. Seemingly overnight, a new, high-profile movement has emerged one dedicated to bold activism, creative product innovation, and smart policy advocacy to address the centrality of menstruation in relation to core issues of gender equality and equity. In Periods Gone Public, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf the woman Bustle dubbed one of the nation's "badass menstrual activists" explores why periods have become a prominent political cause. From eliminating the tampon tax, to enacting new laws ensuring access to affordable, safe products, menstruation is no longer something to whisper about. Weiss-Wolf shares her firsthand account in the fight for "period equity" and introduces readers to the leaders, pioneers, and everyday people who are making change happen. From societal attitudes of periods throughout history in the United States and around the world to grassroots activism and product innovation, Weiss-Wolf challenges readers to face stigma head-on and elevate an agenda that recognizes both the power and the absolute normalcy of menstruation.

Nelson Mandela is widely considered to be one of the most inspiring and iconic figures of our age. Now, after a lifetime of putting pen to paper to record thoughts and events, hardships and victories, he has bestowed his entire extant personal papers, which offer an unprecedented insight into his remarkable life.

A singular international publishing event, Conversations with Myself draws on Mandela’s personal archive of never-before-seen materials to offer unique access to the private world of an incomparable world leader. Journals kept on the run during the anti-apartheid struggle of the early 1960s; diaries and draft letters written on Robben Island and in other South African prisons during his twenty-seven years of incarceration; notebooks from the post-apartheid transition; private recorded conversations; speeches and correspondence written during his presidency – a historic collection of documents archived at the Nelson Mandela Foundation is brought together into a sweeping narrative of great immediacy and stunning power.