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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political activism > General
Politics of the Many draws inspiration from Percy Bysshe Shelley's
celebrated call to arms: 'Ye are many - they are few!' This idea of
the Many, as a general form of emancipatory subjectivity that
cannot be erased for the sake of the One, is the philosophical and
political assumption shared by contributors to this book. They
raise questions of collective agency, and its crisis in
contemporary capitalism, via new engagements with Marxist
philosophy, psychoanalysis, theories of social reproduction and
value-form, and post-colonial critiques, and drawing on activist
thought and strategies. This book interrogates both established and
emergent formations of the Many (the people, classes, publics,
crowds, masses, multitudes), tracing their genealogies, their
recent failures and victories, and their potentials to change the
world. The book proposes and explores an intense and provoking
series of new or reinvented concepts, figures, and theoretical
constellations, including dividuality, the centaur, unintentional
vanguard, insomnia at work, always-on capitalism, multitude (from
its 'voiding' to a '(non)emergence'), crowds, necropolitics, and
the link between political subjectivity and value-form. The
contributors to Politics of the Many are both acclaimed and
emergent thinkers including Carina Brand, Rebecca Carson, Luhuna
Carvalho, Lorenzo Chiesa, Jodi Dean, Dario Gentili, Benjamin
Halligan, Marc James Leger, Paul Mazzocchi, Alexei Penzin, Stefano
Pippa, Gerald Raunig, and Stevphen Shukaitis.
Nationalism in a nation-state reflects its emergent structural,
cultural, and personal properties at a given time. In the
politico-historical context of South Korea and the globe, the
fruits of the 1968 Revolution in France could not reach Korean
society under its military regime and exploitative economic
structure. This continued to frustrate the grassroots and
especially social actors in South Korea, which eventually brought
about the June Struggle in 1987 and the 2016-2017 Candlelight
Revolution. Calculated Nationalism in Contemporary South Korea
sketches Korean grassroots' perception of their nation-state,
national identities, and what they desire regarding the future
direction of their nation-state. The grassroots have openly spoken
out about their frustrations through political rallies and media.
This book attempts to reflect the minds of Korean progressives
regarding, in particular, the forcibly recruited Japanese military
"comfort women," Abe's trade provocation against South Korea in
2019, reunification, the 2016-2017 Candlelight Revolution, National
Flag-carriers' struggles, and bullying at work.
The participatory politics and civic engagement of youth in the
digital age There is a widespread perception that the foundations
of American democracy are dysfunctional, public trust in core
institutions is eroding, and little is likely to emerge from
traditional politics that will shift those conditions. Youth are
often seen as emblematic of this crisis-frequently represented as
uninterested in political life, ill-informed about current-affairs,
and unwilling to register and vote. By Any Media Necessary offers a
profoundly different picture of contemporary American youth. Young
men and women are tapping into the potential of new forms of
communication such as social media platforms, spreadable videos and
memes, remixing the language of popular culture, and seeking to
bring about political change-by any media necessary. In a series of
case studies covering a diverse range of organizations, networks,
and movements involving young people in the political process-from
the Harry Potter Alliance which fights for human rights in the name
of the popular fantasy franchise to immigration rights advocates
using superheroes to dramatize their struggles-By Any Media
Necessary examines the civic imagination at work. Before the world
can change, people need the ability to imagine what alternatives
might look like and identify paths by which change can be achieved.
Exploring new forms of political activities and identities emerging
from the practice of participatory culture, By Any Media Necessary
reveals how these shifts in communication have unleashed a new
political dynamism in American youth. Read Online at
connectedyouth.nyupress.org
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.
'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
This book investigates the interplay between media, politics,
religion, and culture in shaping Arabs' quest for more stable and
democratic governance models in the aftermath of the "Arab Spring"
uprisings. It focuses on online mediated public debates,
specifically user comments on online Arab news sites, and their
potential to re-engage citizens in politics. Contributors
systematically explore and critique these online communities and
spaces in the context of the Arab uprisings, with case studies,
largely centered on Egypt, covering micro-bloggers, Islamic
discourse online, Libyan nationalism on Facebook, and a
computational assessment of online engagement, among other topics.
Since long before the age of celebrity activism, literary authors
have used their public profiles and cultural capital to draw
attention to a wide range of socio-political concerns. This book is
the first to explore – through history, criticism and creative
interventions – the relationship between authorship, political
activism and celebrity culture across historical periods, cultures,
literatures and media. It brings together scholars, industry
stakeholders and prominent writer-activists to engage in a
conversation on literary fame and public authority. These scholarly
essays, interviews, conversations and opinion pieces interrogate
the topos of the artist as prophet and acute critic of the
zeitgeist; analyse the ideological dimension of literary celebrity;
and highlight the fault lines between public and private authorial
selves, ‘pure’ art, political commitment and marketplace
imperatives. In case studies ranging from the 18th century to
present-day controversies, authors illuminate the complex
relationship between literature, politics, celebrity culture and
market activism, bringing together vivid current debates on the
function and responsibility of literature in increasingly fractured
societies.
Women Activists between War and Peace employs a comparative
approach in exploring women's political and social activism across
the European continent in the years that followed the First World
War. It brings together leading scholars in the field to discuss
the contribution of women's movements in, and individual female
activists from, Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Great
Britain, Hungary, Russia and the United States. The book contains
an introduction that helpfully outlines key concepts and broader,
European-wide issues and concerns, such as peace, democracy and the
role of the national and international in constructing the new,
post-war political order. It then proceeds to examine the nature of
women's activism through the prism of five pivotal topics: *
Suffrage and nationalism * Pacifism and internationalism *
Revolution and socialism * Journalism and print media * War and the
body A timeline and illustrations are also included in the book,
along with a useful guide to further reading. This is a vitally
important text for all students of women's history,
twentieth-century Europe and the legacy of the First World War.
 Chicago is home to the second-largest Mexican immigrant
population in the United States, yet the activities of this
community have gone relatively unexamined by both the media and
academia. In this groundbreaking new book, Xóchitl Bada
takes us inside one of the most vital parts of Chicago’s Mexican
immigrant community—its many hometown associations. Hometown
associations (HTAs) consist of immigrants from the same town in
Mexico and often begin quite informally, as soccer clubs or prayer
groups. As Bada’s work shows, however, HTAs have become a
powerful force for change, advocating for Mexican immigrants in the
United States while also working to improve living conditions in
their communities of origin. Focusing on a group of HTAs founded by
immigrants from the state of Michoacán, the book shows how their
activism has bridged public and private spheres, mobilizing social
reforms in both inner-city Chicago and rural Mexico. Bringing
together ethnography, political theory, and archival research, Bada
excavates the surprisingly long history of Chicago’s HTAs, dating
back to the 1920s, then traces the emergence of new models of
community activism in the twenty-first century. Filled with vivid
observations and original interviews, Mexican Hometown Associations
in Chicagoacán gives voice to an underrepresented community and
sheds light on an underexplored form of global activism.
Does the internet facilitate social and political change, or even
democratization, in the Middle East? Despite existing research on
this subject, there is still no consensus on the importance of
social media and online platforms, or on how we are to understand
their influence. This book provides empirical analysis of the
day-to-day use of online platforms by activists in Egypt and
Kuwait. The research evaluates the importance of online platforms
for effecting change and establishes a specific framework for doing
so. Egypt and Kuwait were chosen because, since the mid-2000s, they
have been the most prominent Arab countries in terms of online and
offline activism. In the context of Kuwait, Jon Nordenson examines
the oppositional youth groups who fought for a constitutional,
democratic monarchy in the emirate. In Egypt, focus surrounds the
groups and organizations working against sexual violence and sexual
harassment. Online Activism in the Middle East shows how and why
online platforms are used by activists and identifies the crucial
features of successful online campaigns. Egypt and Kuwait are
revealed to be authoritarian contexts but where the challenges and
possibilities faced by activists are quite different. The
comparative nature of this research therefore exposes the
context-specific usage of online platforms, separating this from
the more general features of online activism. Nordenson
demonstrates the power of online activism to create an essential
'counterpublic' that can challenge an authoritarian state and
enable excluded groups to fight in ways that are far more difficult
to suppress than a demonstration.
Recently, a wall was built in eastern Germany. Made of steel and
cement blocks, topped with razor barbed wire, and reinforced with
video monitors and movement sensors, this wall was not put up to
protect a prison or a military base, but rather to guard a
three-day meeting of the finance ministers of the Group of Eight
(G8). The wall manifested a level of security that is increasingly
commonplace at meetings regarding the global economy. The authors
of Shutting Down the Streets have directly observed and
participated in more than 20 mass actions against global in North
America and Europe, beginning with the watershed 1999 WTO meetings
in Seattle and including the 2007 G8 protests in Heiligendamm.
Shutting Down the Streets is the first book to conceptualize the
social control of dissent in the era of alterglobalization. Based
on direct observation of more than 20 global summits, the book
demonstrates that social control is not only global, but also
preemptive, and that it relegates dissent to the realm of
criminality. The charge is insurrection, but the accused have no
weapons. The authors document in detail how social control
forecloses the spaces through which social movements nurture the
development of dissent and effect disruptive challenges.
Uncovers the powerful effects of 20th-century Jewish women's social
and political activism on contemporary American life Winner of the
2013 National Jewish Book Award, Women's Studies Ballots, Babies,
and Banners of Peace explores the social and political activism of
American Jewish women from 1890 to the beginnings of World War II.
Written in an engaging style, the book demonstrates that no history
of the birth control, suffrage, or peace movements in the United
States is complete without analyzing the impact of Jewish women's
presence. The volume is based on years of extensive primary source
research in more than a dozen archives and among hundreds of
primary sources, many of which have previously never been seen.
Voluminous personal papers and institutional records paint a vivid
picture of a world in which both middle-class and working-class
American Jewish women were consistently and publicly engaged in all
the major issues of their day and worked closely with their
non-Jewish counterparts on behalf of activist causes. This
extraordinarily well-researched volume makes a unique contribution
to the study of modern women's history, modern Jewish history, and
the history of American social movements.
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