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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political activism > General
The political revival of the anti-war movement after 9/11 launched a controversial debate on global resistance. Through detailed study of the anti-war movement in Britain, this book critically evaluates the theoretical debate from the perspective of 'critical theory in political practice'. This book presents new arguments and theoretical framework to consider globalized resistance to war. In an attempt to develop the theoretical debate further, this book analyses two strands of current thought; liberal cosmopolitanism which considers the movement a consensual force of opposition against war in the form of global civil society, and radical poststructuralism which speaks of the Multitude's 'war against war'.. Including detailed empirical case study of four anti-war organizations; the Stop the War Coalition, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Globalise Resistance and War Resisters' International, the author illustrates the limitations of the abstract nature of current theorizing and highlights the need for theory to be more engaged with political practice. While revealing tensions and conflicts within the new anti-war movement, the study not only underlines the need to critically analyse the dominant theoretical discourses but also suggests that the movement would benefit from a more open discussion about the complex relationship between unity and diversity. Globalizing Resistance against War is invaluable reading for students and scholars of International Sociology, International Relations, War and Peace Studies, International Theory and Political Theory.
Creative Participation presents the theory and practice of new innovative forms of political participation. Examples covered in the book include consumers engaging in political shopping, capitalists building green developments, UK Muslim youth campaigning on the internet, Sicilian housewives taking on the Mafia, young evangelical ministers becoming concerned with social change and vegetarians making political statements. The authors show how in these new campaigns individuals swarm like honeybees around particular issues, causing those in power to sit up and take notice. This is the essential guide to the new politics of participation.
The political economy of toxic waste was summed up by Lawrence Summersthen chief economist at the World Bank, later U.S. Treasury Secretaryin his notorious claim that poor people live in environments that are, from an economic point of view, not sufficiently polluted. The toxic waste industry came to prominence in the United States after 1945. In its ceaseless search for profit, it now routinely endangers the health of people around the worlds and the planet itself. Smith and Girdner's Killing Me Softlyexamines the growth of the toxic waste industry and the economic logic behind its expansion. It gives a hard-hitting account of the damage it has done throughout the United States. It focuses in particular on the struggle of the people of Mercer County, Missouri, against the plans of Amoco Waste-Tech to establish a huge toxic waste landfill in the county. It shows how the persistence of ordinary people in a poor and politically marginalized area could prevail against the predations of corporate power. Although race and ethnicity play a crucial role in deciding which communities are targeted for toxic waste dumps, Smith and Girdner argue that the critical cleavage within the United States and globally is that of class. The struggle for environmental justice has an important role to play in empowering poor communities and bringing them into a larger movement for social justice.
Although rights-based claims are diversifying and opportunities and resources for claims-making have improved, obtaining rights protections and catalysing social change in South Korea remain challenging processes. This volume examines how different groups in South Korea have defined and articulated grievances and mobilized to remedy them. It explores developments in the institutional contexts within which rights claiming occurs and in the sources of support available for utilizing different claims-making channels. Drawing on scores of original interviews, readings of court rulings and statutes, primary archival and digital sources, and interpretive analysis of news media coverage in Korean, this volume illuminates rights in action. The chapters uncover conflicts over contending rights claims, expose disparities between theory and practice in the law, trace interconnections among rights-based movements, and map emerging trends in the use of rights language. Case studies examine the rights of women, workers, people with disabilities, migrants, and sexual minorities.
Shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize 2022 'Engrossing...brilliant' Monica Ali 'Heartbreaking and really funny' Ross Gay 'This book fell into my heart' Sabrina Mahfouz 'The kind of authentic voice that is rarely heard' Saima Mir Ayesha tells the story of growing up in a fundamentalist Muslim household; of parents who spent most of their lives away from Pakistan; of stealing her mother's hijabs to wear to school as a five-year-old; of revisiting the beliefs and ideals she was raised with; of failed dreams and heartbreaks, but also of joy and love. Life-affirming and funny, The Colour of God uncovers surprising answers to questions of faith, belonging, family and liberation, and offers a vision of freedom that isn't measured in fabric.
This Element reviews the social psychology of effective collective action, highlighting the importance of considering activists' goals, timeframes, and psychological perspectives in seeking to conceptualise this construct. A novel framework 'ABIASCA' maps effectiveness in relation to activists' goals for mobilisation and change (Awareness raising; Building sympathy; turning sympathy into Intentions; turning intentions into Actions; Sustaining groups over time; Coalition-building; and Avoiding opponents' counter-mobilisation). We also review the DIME model of Disidentification, Innovation, Moralization and Energization, which examines the effects of failure in creating trajectories of activists' disidentification from collective action; innovation (including to radicalisation or deradicalisation); and increased moral conviction and energy. The social psychological drivers of effective collective action for four audiences are examined in detail, in four sections: for the self and supporters, bystanders, opponents, and for third parties. We conclude by highlighting an agenda for future research, and drawing out key messages for scholars.
It is increasingly recognised that instead of relying on top-down commands or leaving individuals to their own devices, communities should be given a role in tackling challenges exacerbated by global crises. Written by a team of leading experts with in-depth knowledge and on-the-ground experience, this book sets out why and how people's lives can be positively transformed through diverse forms of community involvement. This book critically explores examples from around the world of how communities can become more collaborative and resilient in dealing with the problems they face, and provides an invaluable guide to what a holistic policy agenda for community-based transformation should encompass.
Creative Participation presents the theory and practice of new innovative forms of political participation. Examples covered in the book include consumers engaging in political shopping, capitalists building green developments, UK Muslim youth campaigning on the internet, Sicilian housewives taking on the Mafia, young evangelical ministers becoming concerned with social change and vegetarians making political statements. The authors show how in these new campaigns individuals swarm like honeybees around particular issues, causing those in power to sit up and take notice. This is the essential guide to the new politics of participation.
"Sometimes ideas change the world. This astonishing, miraculous, shattering, inspiring book captures the origins and the arc of the movement for sex equality. It's a book whose time has come-always, but perhaps now more than ever." -Cass Sunstein, coauthor of Nudge Under certain conditions, small simple actions can produce large and complex "butterfly effects." Butterfly Politics shows how Catharine A. MacKinnon turned discrimination law into an effective tool against sexual abuse-grounding and predicting the worldwide #MeToo movement-and proposes concrete steps that could have further butterfly effects on women's rights. Thirty years after she won the U.S. Supreme Court case establishing sexual harassment as illegal, this timely collection of her previously unpublished interventions on consent, rape, and the politics of gender equality captures in action the creative and transformative activism of an icon. "MacKinnon adapts a concept from chaos theory in which the tiny motion of a butterfly's wings can trigger a tornado half a world away. Under the right conditions, she posits, small actions can produce major social transformations." -New York Times "MacKinnon [is] radical, passionate, incorruptible and a beautiful literary stylist... Butterfly Politics is a devastating salvo fired in the gender wars... This book has a single overriding aim: to effect global change in the pursuit of equality." -The Australian "Sexual Harassment of Working Women was a revelation. It showed how this anti-discrimination law-Title VII-could be used as a tool... It was the beginning of a field that didn't exist until then." -U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Politics is a field of mighty passions fueled by the identities of nation, religion, culture, gender, and class. Yet the study of politics is dominated by narrowly rationalist perspectives that see emotions as fleeting reactions and consider citizens primarily in terms of their individual interests. In this wide-ranging book, Paul Hoggett argues that human feelings and identities are constitutive of both personal and political life. Engaging with major debates in political theory, sociology, and psychoanalysis, he brings fresh insights to a range of issues: dynamics of political protest, intractable conflicts, fundamentalism and populism, the new political charismatics, the nature of forgiveness, and the relationship between anxiety and governance.The book is conceptually innovative and accessible, carefully introducing different theories of collective emotion and group identity and making extensive use of case studies from the U.S., England, and across the globe.
In the 21st century we face innumerable material and existential challenges both now and in the future, from religious fanaticism, mass migration, unfettered corporate power, to inequality, big data and climate change. Ahead of these global threats and tragedies is a common barrier to their solution it is the spirit that has defined the age we live in: competition. The Simultaneous Policy Solution, the 'SIMPOL Solution' shows us how we must all come to terms with the crippling effect of global competition. Only through simultaneous action, through cooperation, can we overcome these problems."
This biography tells the extraordinary story of Mary Turner (1938- 2017), the Brent dinner lady and trade union activist who rose to become president of the GMB union and chair of the Labour Party. Proud, fiery and determined when it came to standing up to exploitative employers, the privileged and the powerful; practical, compassionate and nurturing when it came to her members, the disadvantaged, or the victims of injustice: Mary Turner (1938-2017) was president of the GMB union for twenty years. This book tells the story of her life and, through it, charts the recent history of the British labour movement: from the People's Marches for Jobs in 1981 and 1983, through the miners' strike, to more recent struggles against cutbacks in local government, the depredations of multinational corporations, and the scourge of austerity. The book outlines Mary Turner's instrumental role in the survival of the GMB as an independent union, and its unprecedented growth in membership after 2005 . This is an essential text for those interested in trade union history and the British labour movement, and will be of interest to anyone seeking inspiration from the life of this committed activist and campaigner - a woman whose first thought and prime concern was always the happiness, security and betterment of her members and all those whom she served.
A surge of African American enrolment and student activism brought Black Studies to many US campuses in the 1960s. Sixty years later, Black Studies programmes are taught at more than 1,300 universities worldwide. This book is the first history of how that happened. Black Studies founder and movement veteran Abdul Alkalimat offers a comprehensive history of the discipline that will become a key reference for generations to come. Structured in three broadly chronological sections - Black Studies as intellectual history; as social movement; and as academic profession - the book demonstrates how Black people themselves established the field long before its institutionalisation in university programmes. At its heart, Black Studies is profoundly political. Black Power, the New Communist Movement, the Black women's and students' movements - each step in the journey for Black liberation influenced and was influenced by this revolutionary discipline.
Throughout the world, from the United States to Tanzania, Chechnya, and Sri Lanka, everyday people are working together and taking actions to improve their lives, end inequality, and change global society. Action groups and movements see dialogue and learning as important ways to extend democracy and, with its inclusiveness, remake society. Long-term change often takes place in civil society and its institutions. By putting strategy with theory, local groups and movements are able to begin making changes in institutions that allow people to begin living in new ways. Inclusive, multicultural projects make dedicated efforts to end hierarchy and global injustice and reinvent culture, ideas, and social relations. Written for laypeople and students interested in change, these multidisciplinary essays take readers on a journey of discovery as they show how various groups have brought theory and action together to make urban, rural, and transnational change. These case studies and explanatory articles reveal how feminist, antiracist, ecological, and peace movements reinforce each other. This collection is an analytical organizing tool that demonstrates how people can initiate well-placed and enduring change. The writings also identify the inadequacies of academic change theories and highlight the contributions of intellectual activists across the world.
These studies examine the ways in which succeeding democratic regimes have dealt with, or have ignored (and in several cases sugar-coated) an authoritarian or totalitarian past from 1943 to the present. They treat the relationship with democratization and the different ways in which collective memory is formed and dealt with, or ignored and suppressed. Previous books have examined only restricted sets of countries, such as western or eastern Europe, or Latin America. The present volume treats a broader range of cases than any preceding account, and also a much broader time-span, investigating diverse historical and cultural contexts, and the role of national identity and nationalism, studying the aftermath of both fascist and communist regimes in both Europe and Asia in an interdisciplinary framework, while the conclusion provides a more complete comparative perspective than will be found in any other work. The book will be of interest to historians and political scientists, and to those interested in fascism, communism, legacies of war, democratization, collective memory and transitional justice. This book was previously published as a special issue of Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions.
In State-Sponsored Activism, Rich explores AIDS policy in Brazil as a lens to offer new insight into state-society relations in democratic and post-neoliberal Latin America. In contrast to the dominant view that these dual transitions produced an atomized civil society and an impenetrable technocratic state, Rich finds a new model of interest politics, driven by previously marginalized state and societal actors. Through a rich examination of the Brazilian AIDS movement, one of the most influential movements in twenty-first century Latin America, this book traces the construction of a powerful new advocacy coalition between activist bureaucrats and bureaucratized activists. In so doing, State-Sponsored Activism illustrates a model whereby corporatism - active government involvement in civic mobilization - has persisted in contemporary Latin America, with important implications for representation and policymaking.
Politics is a field of mighty passions fueled by the identities of nation, religion, culture, gender, and class. Yet the study of politics is dominated by narrowly rationalist perspectives that see emotions as fleeting reactions and consider citizens primarily in terms of their individual interests. In this wide-ranging book, Paul Hoggett argues that human feelings and identities are constitutive of both personal and political life. Engaging with major debates in political theory, sociology, and psychoanalysis, he brings fresh insights to a range of issues: dynamics of political protest, intractable conflicts, fundamentalism and populism, the new political charismatics, the nature of forgiveness, and the relationship between anxiety and governance.The book is conceptually innovative and accessible, carefully introducing different theories of collective emotion and group identity and making extensive use of case studies from the U.S., England, and across the globe.
Throughout the world, from the United States to Tanzania, Chechnya, and Sri Lanka, everyday people are working together and taking actions to improve their lives, end inequality, and change global society. Action groups and movements see dialogue and learning as important ways to extend democracy and, with its inclusiveness, remake society. Long-term change often takes place in civil society and its institutions. By putting strategy with theory, local groups and movements are able to begin making changes in institutions that allow people to begin living in new ways. Inclusive, multicultural projects make dedicated efforts to end hierarchy and global injustice and reinvent culture, ideas, and social relations. Written for laypeople and students interested in change, these multidisciplinary essays take readers on a journey of discovery as they show how various groups have brought theory and action together to make urban, rural, and transnational change. These case studies and explanatory articles reveal how feminist, antiracist, ecological, and peace movements reinforce each other. This collection is an analytical organizing tool that demonstrates how people can initiate well-placed and enduring change. The writings also identify the inadequacies of academic change theories and highlight the contributions of intellectual activists across the world.
As commander of the Allied Military Mission to the Greek guerrillas in Greece in 1943-4, C.M. Woodhouse has to hold an uneasy balance between the communist and government sides. Against a background of conflicting communist doctrine, shifting foreign alliances, territorial disputes and personality differences, the communist struggle for Greece unfolded in three rounds. The first began in 1941 with the German occupation of Greece when the National Liberation Front attempted to regain control of the country and overthrow the monarchy. In the second round, the communists tried to seize power at the end of the German occupation in December 1944 and were frustrated by the intervention of British forces. The third round (1946-9) was marked by US intervention, UN fact-finding missions, and the shift from guerrilla tactics to conventional warfare. The communists were weakened by internal feuding and overcome by the US forces. The author based his research on interviews with participants, documentary sources and his own experience. He analyzes the characters, ideologies and events behind one of the longest and most bitter civil wars of modern times.
On the 27th August, 1963, the day before Martin Luther King electrified the world from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with the immortal words, "I Have a Dream", the life of another giant of the Civil Rights movement quietly drew to a close in Accra, Ghana: W.E.B. Du Bois. In this new biography, Bill V. Mullen interprets the seismic political developments of the Twentieth Century through Du Bois's revolutionary life. Du Bois was born in Massachusetts in 1868, just three years after formal emancipation of America's slaves. In his extraordinarily long and active political life, he would emerge as the first black man to earn a PhD from Harvard; surpass Booker T. Washington as the leading advocate for African American rights; co-found the NAACP, and involve himself in anti imperialist and anti-colonial struggles across Asia and Africa. Beyond his Civil Rights work, Mullen also examines Du Bois's attitudes towards socialism, the USSR, China's Communist Revolution, and the intersectional relationship between capitalism, poverty and racism. An accessible introduction to a towering figure of American Civil Rights, perfect for anyone wanting to engage with Du Bois's life and work.
In the vein of Tuesdays with Morrie, a devoted student and friend of Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Wiesel invites readers to witness one of the world's greatest thinkers in his own classroom in this instructive and deeply moving read, a National Jewish Book Award-winner. The world remembers Elie Wiesel (1928-2016) as a Nobel laureate, activist, and author of more than forty books, including Oprah's Book Club selection Night. Ariel Burger met Wiesel when he was a teenage student, eager to learn Wiesel's life lessons. Witness chronicles the intimate conversations between these two men as Burger sought Wiesel's counsel on matters of intellect, faith, and survival while navigating his own personal journey from boyhood to manhood, from student and assistant to rabbi and teacher. In this thought-provoking account, Burger brings the spirit of Wiesel's classroom to life, where the art of storytelling and the act of listening conspire to make witnesses of us all--as it does for readers of this inspiring book as well.
This timely sticker book brings together around 200 of the best protest stickers created by artists and activists around the world. Funny, irreverent, bold and poignant, the stickers tackle key issues of acute concern today, including feminism, equality/LGBTQ rights, racism, nationalism, immigration and asylum. Join the protest movement, stickerbomb the world around you and Stick it to the Man!
In 1975, the Nigerian authorities decided to construct a new postcolonial capital called Abuja, and together with several internationally renowned architects these military leaders collaborated to build a city for three million inhabitants. Founded five years after the Civil War with Biafra, which caused around 1.7 million deaths, the city was envisaged as a place where justice would reign and where people from different social, religious, ethnic, and political backgrounds would come together in a peaceful manner and work together to develop their country and its economy. These were all laudable goals, but they ironically mobilized certain forces from around the country in opposition against the Federal Government of Nigeria. The international and modernist style architecture and the fact that the government spent tens of billions of dollars constructing this idealized capital ended up causing more strife and conflict. For groups like Boko Haram, a Nigerian Al-Qaida affiliate organization, and other smaller ethnic groups seeking to have a say in how the country's oil wealth is spent, Abuja symbolized everything in Nigeria they sought to change. By examining the creation of the modernist national public spaces of Abuja within a broader historical and global context, this book looks at how the successes and the failures of these spaces have affected the citizens of the country and have, in fact, radicalized individuals with these spaces being scene of some of the most important political events and terrorist targets, including bombings and protest rallies. Although focusing on Nigeria's capital, the study has a wider global implication in that it draws attention to how postcolonial countries that were formed at the turn of the twentieth century are continuously fragmenting and remade by the emergence of new nation states like South Sudan.
This book sets out to explore three conflict contexts in which religion is generally acknowledged to be at least a factor, although some minimize religion's role while others identify it as a major cause of violence. The book evaluates what role religion does play (or has played) in the Northern Ireland, Bosnian and Israel-Palestinian conflicts including the contribution of the women's movement in Ireland. It takes seriously the psychological tendency to demonise those who do not share our views and will argue that religion, although one factor among others, does all too easily lends itself in support of conflict. The author argues that stories of how religion has helped to solve conflict are rare, which is a major handicap when advocating that religion can play a peacemaking role. He argues that scriptures can be used to justify conflict and that an alternative interpretative paradigm is needed if this tendency is to be reversed. Given that, for religious people, the reduction of scriptures to totally human constructs is hugely problematical, the book will argue that the allegorical approach is more fruitful than the option of viewing all scriptures as human response to the divine. Drawing on post-modern theory, the book also argues that, though scriptures may be 'divine', interpretation is always human. However, post-modernity's maxim that there are no single or authoritative interpretations of any text, that all interpretations are equally valid, including those that justify violence, will be rejected on the basis that there is a higher moral ground on which humans should stand which values peace. Drawing on the philosophy of E. W Hocking, the book's conclusion suggests that peacewill be best guaranteed when religions transcend their particularities and human individuals commune directly with the divine, without the necessity of organised religions as mediators. Intended as a course text, discussion questions are included but it is hoped that the book will also be of interest to a general readership. |
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