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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political activism
Read the fascinating story of one of the greatest unsung figures of
the nature conservation movement, founder of the RSPB and icon of
early animal rights activism, Etta Lemon. A heroine for our times,
Etta Lemon campaigned for fifty years against the worldwide
slaughter of birds for extravagantly feathered hats. Her legacy is
the RSPB, grown from an all-female pressure group of 1889 with the
splendidly simple pledge: Wear No Feathers. Etta's long battle
against 'murderous millinery' triumphed with the Plumage Act of
1921 - but her legacy has been eclipsed by the more glamorous
campaign for the vote, led by the elegantly plumed Emmeline
Pankhurst. This gripping narrative explores two formidable heroines
and their rival, overlapping campaigns. Moving from the feather
workers' slums to high society, from the first female political
rally to the rise of the eco-feminist, it restores Etta Lemon to
her rightful place in history - the extraordinary woman who saved
the birds. ETTA LEMON was originally published in hardback in 2018
under the title of MRS PANKHURST'S PURPLE FEATHER. 'A great story
of pioneering conservation.' KATE HUMBLE 'Quite brilliant.
Meticulous and perceptive. A triumph of a book.' CHARLIE ELDER
'Shocking and entertaining. The surprising story of the campaigning
women who changed Britain." VIRGINIA NICHOLSON 'A fascinating and
moving story, vividly told.' JOHN CAREY 'A fascinating clash of two
causes: rights for women and rights for birds to fly free not adorn
suffragettes' hats. An illuminating story, provocative,
well-researched and brilliantly told.' DIANA SOUHAMI
An Open Access edition of this book is available on the Liverpool
University Press website and the OAPEN library. This book examines
the grass-roots relationship between the Irish Republican Army
(IRA) and the civilian population during the Irish Revolution. It
is primarily concerned with the attempts of the militant
revolutionaries to discourage, stifle, and punish dissent among the
local populations in which they operated, and the actions or
inactions by which dissent was expressed or implied. Focusing on
the period of guerilla war against British rule from c. 1917 to
1922, it uncovers the acts of 'everyday' violence, threat, and harm
that characterized much of the revolutionary activity of this
period. Moving away from the ambushes and assassinations that have
dominated much of the discourse on the revolution, the book
explores low-level violent and non-violent agitation in the Irish
town or parish. The opening chapter treats the IRA's challenge to
the British state through the campaign against servants of the
Crown - policemen, magistrates, civil servants, and others - and
IRA participation in local government and the republican
counter-state. The book then explores the nature of civilian
defiance and IRA punishment in communities across the island before
turning its attention specifically to the year that followed the
'Truce' of July 1921. This study argues that civilians rarely
operated at either extreme of a spectrum of support but, rather, in
a large and fluid middle ground. Behaviour was rooted in local
circumstances, and influenced by local fears, suspicions, and
rivalries. IRA punishment was similarly dictated by community
conditions and usually suited to the nature of the perceived
defiance. Overall, violence and intimidation in Ireland was
persistent, but, by some contemporary standards, relatively
restrained. Additional resources supporting this book can be found
on the Liverpool University Press Digital Collaboration Hub
(https://liverpooluniversitypress.manifoldapp.org/projects/defying-the-ira)
Historiographically this book rests on the fact that European
transitions to modern economic growth were obstructed and promoted
by the Revolution in France and 15 years of geopolitical conflict
sustained by Napoleon in order to establish French Hegemony over
the states and economies of Britain, France, Germany, the
Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Portugal and overseas commerce. The
chapters reveal that their authors concerns to analyse both the
nature and significance of connections between geopolitical and
economic forces lend coherence to a collaborative endeavour
utilising comparative methods to address a mega question. What
might be plausibly concluded about the economic costs and the
benefits of this protracted conjuncture of Revolutionary and
Napoleonic Warfare? Contributors are: Patrick Karl O'Brien, Loic
Charles, Guillaume Daudin, Silvia Marzagalli, Marjolein 't Hart,
Johan Joor, Mark Dincecco, Giovanni Federico, Leandro Prados de la
Escosura, Carlos Santiago-Caballero, Cristina Moreira, Jaime Reis,
Rita Martins de Sousa, and Peter M.Solar.
The world is currently witnessing the emergence of a new context
for education, labor, and transformative social movements. Global
flows of people, capital, and energy increasingly define the world
we live in. The multinational corporation, with its pursuit of
ever-cheaper sources of labor and materials and its disregard for
human life, is the dominant form of economic organization, where
capital can cross borders, but people can't. Affirmative action,
democracy, and human rights are moving in from the margins to
challenge capitalist priorities of "efficiency", i.e. exploitation.
In some places, the representatives of popular movements are
actually taking the reins of state power. Across the globe new
progressive movements are emerging to bridge national identities
and boundaries, in solidarity with transnational class, gender, and
ethnic struggles. At this juncture, educators have a key role to
play. The ideology of market competition has become more entrenched
in schools, even as opportunities for skilled employment diminish.
We must rethink the relationship between schooling and labor,
developing transnational pedagogies that draw upon the myriad
social struggles shaping students' lives and communities. Critical
educators need to connect with other social movements to put a
radically democratic agenda, based on the principles of equity,
access, and emancipation, at the center of educational praxis. Many
countries in Latin America like in other continents are developing
new alternatives for the reconstruction of social projects; these
emerging sources of hope are the central focus of this book. Major
historical change always starts with people's social movement.
Democracy can be one of the best political and social systems in
the world but for it to work entails the sustainable participation
of citizens. Above all, it requires that people be informed and
critically educated since the quality of democracy depends on
quality of education. There are 2 kinds of power: money and people.
If people exercise their agency, they can be more powerful than
money. There are some organizing principles of social movements,
as: "don't do for others what they should do for themselves." Saul
Alinsky wrote: Rules for Radicals: A pragmatic primer for realistic
radicals; Mary Rogers: Cold Anger: A story of faith and power
politics; Michael Gecan: Going Public: An organizer's guide to
citizen action; and Ernesto Cortez's, Industrial Area Foundation,
are all great sources for organized activism that do work. I put
some of these principles to the test and they produced positive
results, I was a founder and president of a union at my university
and I lived my whole life as an activist and learned that, we can
do more together than alone. Now we also have a new digital war
with the Cambridge Analitica and Breitbart's fake news
manipulation; however, we also have social-justice hacktivism to
counter act it, as well as other democratic social media venues
that critical thinkers and activist use. The chapters in this book
demonstrate the importance of widening and diversifying social
movements, at the same time, emphasizes the need to build cohesive
alliances among all the different fronts. What some people think is
"impossible" can become a transformed reality, for those who dare
attempt changing the world as global citizens.
In Workers' Self-Management in Argentina, Marcelo Vieta homes in on
the history, consolidation, and socio-political dimensions of
Argentina's empresas recuperadas por sus trabajadores
(worker-recuperated enterprises), a worker-led company occupation
movement that has surged since the turn-of-the-millennium and the
country's neo-liberal crisis.
What motivates "ordinary people" to support refugees emotionally
and financially? This is a timely question considering the number
of displaced people in today's world is at an all-time high. To
help counter this crisis, it is imperative for the Canadian
government to determine which policies encourage volunteers to
welcome asylum seekers, and which ones must be reviewed. Ordinary
People, Extraordinary Actions relates the story of the St. Joseph's
Parish Refugee Outreach Committee over its thirty years in action,
revealing how seemingly small decisions and actions have led to
significant changes in policies and in people's lives-and how they
can do so again in the future. By helping readers-young and old,
secular and faith-oriented-understand what drives individuals and
communities to welcome refugees with open hearts and open arms, the
authors hope to inspire people across Canada and beyond its borders
to strengthen our collective willingness and ability to offer
refuge as a lifesaving protection for those who need it.
The historical development of Russia remains one of the most unique
yet ambiguous timelines in the realm of political science and
sociology. Understanding the state of culture as a single, dynamic,
and interrelated phenomenon is a vital component regarding the
memoirs of this prominent nation. Political, Economic, and Social
Factors Affecting the Development of Russian Statehood: Emerging
Research and Opportunities is a collection of innovative research
on the historical aspects of the formation of the political system
in Russia and proposes directions for the further development of
modern Russian statehood. While highlighting topics including
socio-politics, Soviet culture, and capitalization, this book is
ideally designed for economists, government officials,
policymakers, historians, diplomats, intelligence specialists,
political analysts, professors, students, and professionals seeking
current research on the history of public administration in Russia.
Northcott constructs a new political theology of climate change
that acknowledges the role of borders in the constitution of the
nations, and their providential ordering under God as assemblies of
persons who recognise particular duties to each other within those
borders.
In international humanitarian law (IHL), the principle of
distinction delineates the difference between the civilian and the
combatant, and it safeguards the former from being intentionally
targeted in armed conflicts. This monograph explores the way in
which the idea of distinction circulates within, and beyond, IHL.
Taking a bottom-up approach, the multi-sited study follows
distinction across three realms: the kinetic realm, where
distinction is in motion in South Sudan; the pedagogical realm,
where distinction is taught in civil-military training spaces in
Europe; and the intellectual realm, where distinction is formulated
and adjudicated in Geneva and the Hague. Directing attention to
international humanitarian actors, the book shows that these actors
seize upon signifiers of 'civilianness' in everyday practice. To
safeguard their civilian status, and to deflect any qualities of
'combatantness' that might affix to them, humanitarian actors
strive to distinguish themselves from other international actors in
their midst. The latter include peacekeepers working for the UN
Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), and soldiers who deploy with NATO
missions. Crucially, some of the distinctions enacted cut along
civilian-civilian lines, suggesting that humanitarian actors are
longing for something more than civilian status - the 'civilian
plus'. This special status presents a paradox: the appeal to the
'civilian plus' undermines general civilian protection, yet as the
civilian ideal becomes increasingly beleaguered, a special civilian
status appears ever more desirable. However disruptive these
practices may be to the principle of distinction in IHL, the
monograph emphasizes that even at the most normative level there is
no bright line distinction to be found.
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