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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political activism > General
'Vanessa Nakate continues to teach a most critical lesson. She
reminds us that while we may all be in the same storm, we are not
all in the same boat.' - Greta Thunberg No matter your age,
location or skin colour, you can be an effective activist.
Devastating flooding, deforestation, extinction and starvation.
These are the issues that not only threaten in the future, they are
a reality. After witnessing some of these issues first-hand,
Vanessa Nakate saw how the world's biggest polluters are asleep at
the wheel, ignoring the Global South where the effects of climate
injustice are most fiercely felt. Inspired by a shared vision of
hope, Vanessa's commanding political voice demands attention for
the biggest issue of our time and, in this rousing manifesto for
change, shows how you can join her to protect our planet now and
for the future. Vanessa realized the importance of her place in the
climate movement after she, the only Black activist in an image
with four white Europeans, was cropped out of a press photograph at
Davos in 2020. This example illustrates how those who will see the
biggest impacts of the climate crisis are repeatedly omitted from
the conversation. As she explains, 'We are on the front line, but
we are not on the front page.' Without A Bigger Picture, you're
missing the full story on climate change. 'An indispensable voice
for our future.' - Malala Yousafzai 'A powerful global voice.' -
Angelina Jolie
'A brilliant expose' - Danny Dorling Covid-19 has exposed the
limits of a neoliberal public health orthodoxy. But instead of
imagining radical change, the left is stuck in a rearguard action
focused on defending the NHS from the wrecking ball of
privatisation. Public health expert Christopher Thomas argues that
we must emerge from Covid-19 on the offensive - with a bold, new
vision for our health and care. He maps out five new frontiers for
public health and imagines how we can move beyond safeguarding what
we have to a radical expansion of the principles put forward by
Aneurin Bevan, the founder of the NHS, over 70 years ago. Beyond
recalibrating our approach to healthcare services, his blueprint
includes a fundamental redesign of our economy through Public
Health Net Zero; a bold new universal public health service fit to
address the real causes of ill health; and a major recalibration in
the efforts against the epidemiological reality of an era of
pandemics.
The New York Times bestselling author of My Grandmother's Hands
surveys the deteriorating political climate and presents an urgent
call for action to save ourselves and our countries. In The Quaking
of America, therapist and trauma specialist Resmaa Menakem takes
readers through a step-by-step program of somatic practices
addressing the growing threat of white-supremacist political
violence. Through the coordinated repetition of lies,
anti-democratic elements in American society are inciting mass
radicalization, violent insurrection, and voter suppression, with a
goal of toppling American democracy. Currently, most pro-democracy
American bodies are utterly unprepared for this uprising. This book
can help prepare us--and, if possible, prevent more
destructiveness. This preparation focuses not on strategy or
politics, but on mental and emotional practices that can help us:
Build presence and discernment Settle our bodies during the heat of
conflict Maintain our safety, sanity, and stability under dangerous
circumstances Heal our personal and collective racialized trauma
Practice body-centered social action Turn toward instead of on one
another The Quaking of America is a unique, perfectly timed,
body-centered guide to each of these processes.
Recent years have seen a disturbing advance in populist and
authoritarian styles of rule and, in response, a rise in popular
activism. Strongmen, especially since the advent of fascism, have
formed their base of power in popular acclaim. But what power do
the people have in checking the rise of tyranny? In this book an
international team of experts representing several academic
disciplines examines the power relationship between peoples and
their rulers. It is among the first to study this globally as a
problem of nation states. From populism in 19th-century Latin
America to eastern Europe since the collapse of communism, to the
Arab Spring and contemporary Russia and China, the cases in this
book span five continents and twelve nations. Taken together, they
reveal how different forms of popular opposition have succeeded or
failed in unseating authoritarian regimes and expose the tactics
and strategies used by regimes to repress people power and create
an image of popular support. Analysing the causes and consequence
of the global advance of authoritarianism, The Power of Populism
and the People offers a historical comparison of popular protest,
opposition and crises over the last century to the recent rise of
populist leaders.
'It's fascinating and moving to discover and identify those LGBT
people in less happy times, who fought for the freedoms LGBT people
now enjoy in the UK. This book will make you look back with
gratitude and astonishment for what has been achieved.' Sir Ian
McKellen LGBT activist and civil rights history from the 1960s to
the 2000s has had a huge impact on our social and political
landscape in the UK, yet much of this history remains hidden.
Prejudice and Pride: LGBT Activist Stories from Manchester and
Beyond explores aspects of LGBT activist history. It covers
educational activism, youth work activism and the history of the
LGBT Centre in Manchester. Through personal stories of activists,
heard and recorded by young people from LGBT Youth North West, the
book explores the 'wibbly wobbly' nature of people's histories. It
reveals how they interlink in surprising and creative ways to form
the current landscape of both prejudice and pride. Also contains
exercises for interpreting and ideas for collecting activist
histories within youth work.
'As educational as it is enlightening ... Read this' SARA PASCOE
'Passionately argued, meticulously researched and angry as hell ...
leads the reader beyond the strip club and on to the battlefield
where sex workers fight for their rights' KATE LISTER 'Deeply
impressive ... An important book, sorely needed' CAROL LEIGH 'An
unflinching takedown of inadequate working conditions ... A must
read' JUNO MAC, co-author of Revolting Prostitutes Forget
everything you think you know about strippers In this powerful
book, Stacey Clare, a stripper with over a decade of experience,
takes a detailed look at the sex industry - the reality of the work
as well as the history of licensing and regulation, feminist themes
surrounding sex work, and stigma. Bringing her personal knowledge
of the industry to bear, she offers an unapologetic critique and
searing indictment of exploitation, and raises the rights of sex
workers to the top of the agenda. The Ethical Stripper rejects
notions of victimhood, challenges stigma and shame, and unpacks
decades of confusion and contradictions. It's about the sex-work
community's fight for safety and self-determination, and it
challenges you to think twice about every newspaper article,
documentary and film you have seen about stripping and sex work.
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.
In the summer of 1980, the eyes of the world turned to the Gdansk
shipyard in Poland which suddenly became the nexus of a strike wave
that paralyzed the entire country. The Gdansk strike was
orchestrated by the members of an underground free trade union that
came to be known as Solidarnosc [Solidarity]. Despite fears of a
violent response from the communist authorities, the strikes spread
to more than 800 sites around the country and involved over a
million workers, mobilizing its working population. Faced with
crippling strikes and with the eyes of the world on them, the
communist regime signed landmark accords formally recognizing
Solidarity as the first free trade union in a communist country.
The union registered nearly ten million members, making it the
world's largest union to date. In a widespread and inspiring
demonstration of nonviolent protest, Solidarity managed to bring
about real and powerful changes that contributed to the end of the
Cold War. Solidarity:The Great Workers Strike of 1980 tells the
story of this pivotal period in Poland's history from the
perspective of those who lived it. Through unique personal
interviews with the individuals who helped breathe life into the
Solidarity movement, Michael Szporer brings home the momentous
impact these events had on the people involved and subsequent
history that changed the face of Europe. This movement, which began
as a strike, had major consequences that no one could have foreseen
at the start. In this book, the individuals who shaped history
speak with their own voices about the strike that changed the
course of history.
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