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Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political activism > Pressure groups & lobbying
In March 2016, Mosilo Mothepu was appointed CEO of Trillian Financial Advisory, a subsidiary of Gupta-linked Trillian Capital Partners. The prospect of being at the helm of a black-owned financial consultancy was electrifying for a black woman whose twin passions were transformation and empowering women. Three months later, suffering from depression and insomnia, she resigned with no other job lined up.
In October 2016, a written statement handed to Public Protector Thuli Madonsela detailing Trillian’s involvement in state capture was leaked to the media. Key to the disclosures were the removals of finance ministers Nhlanhla Nene and Pravin Gordhan from their posts due to the Guptas’ influence. Although she was not identified by name as the source of the affidavit, details of the revelations published in the
Sunday Times left no doubt in the minds of Trillian’s executives: Mothepu was the Nenegate whistleblower.
Despite fearing legal consequences, Mothepu had decided that she could not just stand by as the country burnt. Her disclosures resulted in the freezing of Trillian-associated company Regiments Capital’s assets and a High Court order for Trillian to pay back almost R600 million to Eskom. Facing criminal charges and bankruptcy, unemployed and deemed a political risk, Mothepu experienced first-hand the loneliness of
whistleblowing. The effect on her mental and physical health was devastating. Now, in Uncaptured, she recounts this troubling yet seminal chapter in her life with honesty, humility and wry humour in the hope that others who find themselves in a similar situation will follow in her footsteps and speak truth to power.
A critical look at how Bill Gates uses his wealth and power through the Gates Foundation to advance his own agenda and erode democratic institutions in the process.
From greedy to generous, from cold to kind-hearted, from rogue to hero, Bill Gates is an extraordinarily complex public figure. Yet over the last decade, we've reduced him to a flat caricature - a sweater-wearing, avuncular, well-meaning billionaire, who is adamantly giving away all of his money through the Gates Foundation in order to improve the lives of others.
This simplistic portrait perilously ignores the political influence that Gates has acquired through his charitable work, and the controversial ways through which he utilises it. The charity internally sets a policy agenda for how to fix the world - based on one man's worldview - then imposes this vision onto the developing world by funding groups that align with it.
Combining rich storytelling and ground-breaking reporting, The Bill Gates Problem offers readers a provocative and timely counter-narrative about one of the world's most famous figures. But more than that, this book speaks to a vital political question around economic inequality and the erosion of democratic institutions - why should the super-rich be able to transform their wealth into political power, and just how far can they go?
Caciquismo (roughly translated as "boss politics") has played a
major role in Mexican political and social life. Loosely knit
interest groups, or "caciques", of diverse character - syndicates,
farmers, left- and right-wingers, white-collar workers - have
exercised great power within Mexico's distinctive political system.
The peculiarities of Mexico's system have greatly depended on this
kind of informal politics, which combines repression, patronage,
and charismatic leadership. As such, caciquismo fits uncomfortably
within the formal analysis of laws, parties, and elections and has
been relatively neglected by academics. Though its demise has often
been predicted, it has survived, evolved, and adjusted to Mexico's
rapid post-revolutionary transformation. Incorporating the research
of historians, political scientists, sociologists, and
anthropologists, this book reevaluates the crucial role of the
cacique in modern Mexico. It suggests that caciquismo has survived
decades of change and upheaval and remains an important, if
underestimated, feature of recent Mexican politics. Contributors
include Christopher Boyer (University of Illinois at Chicago, USA),
Keith Brewster (University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK), Matthew
Butler (Queen's University, Belfast, UK), Marco Calderon (El
Colegio de Michoacan, Mexico), Maria Teresa Fernandez Aceves
(Centro de Investigaciones en Estudios Superiores en Antropologia
Social [CIESAS], Mexico), Rogelio Hernandez Rodriuez (El Colegio de
Mexico), Stephen Lewis (California State University, Chico, USA),
Salvador Maldonado Aranda (El Colegio de Michoacan, Mexico), Jennie
Purnell (Boston College, USA), Jan Rus (Tzotzil Instituto de
Asesoria Antropologica para la Region Maya, and Center for
U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California, San Diego, USA),
Pieter de Vries (Wageningen University, Netherlands), and J.
Eduardo Zarate H (El Colegio de Mexico, Michoacan, Mexico).
You know him as the founder of Microsoft; the philanthropic,
kind-hearted billionaire who has donated endless funds to good causes
around the world. But there’s another side to Bill Gates.
In this fearless, groundbreaking investigation, Tim Schwab offers
readers a counter-narrative, one where Gates has used his monopolistic
approach in business to amass a stunning level of control over public
policy, scientific research and the news media. Whether he is pushing
new educational standards in America, health reforms in India or
industrialized agriculture in Africa, Gates’s unbridled social
experimentation has shown itself to be not only undemocratic, but also
ineffective.
All of which begs the question: why should the super rich be able to
transform their wealth into political power, and just how far can they
go?
This timely and important study by leading academics is a comparative study of the environmental movement's successes and failures in four very different states: the USA, UK, Germany and Norway. It covers the entire sweep of the modern environmental era beginning in 1970. The analysis also explains the role played by social movements in making modern societies more deeply democratic, and yields insights into the strategic choices of environmental movements as they decide on what terms to engage, enter, or resist the state.
Originally published as a pamphlet in 1979 and again by Pluto in
1980, In and Against the State brought together questions of
working-class struggle and state power, exploring how revolutionary
socialists might reconcile working in the public sector with their
radical politics. Informed by autonomist political ideas and
practices that were central to the protests of 1968, the book's
authors spoke to a generation of activists wrestling with the
question of where to place their energies. Forty years have passed,
yet the questions it posed are still to be answered. As the eclipse
of Corbynism and the onslaught of the global pandemic have
demonstrated with brutal clarity, a renewed socialist strategy is
needed more urgently than ever. This edition includes a new
introduction by Seth Wheeler and an interview with John McDonnell
that reflect on the continuing relevance of In and Against the
State and the questions it raises.
Long-term social and demographic changes - and the conflicts they
create - continue to transform British politics. In this accessible
and authoritative book Sobolewska and Ford show how deep the roots
of this polarisation and volatility run, drawing out decades of
educational expansion and rising ethnic diversity as key drivers in
the emergence of new divides within the British electorate over
immigration, identity and diversity. They argue that choices made
by political parties from the New Labour era onwards have mobilised
these divisions into politics, first through conflicts over
immigration, then through conflicts over the European Union,
culminating in the 2016 EU referendum. Providing a comprehensive
and far-reaching view of a country in turmoil, Brexitland explains
how and why this happened, for students, researchers, and anyone
who wants to better understand the remarkable political times in
which we live.
The EU is at a crossroads. Should it choose the path towards
protectionism or the path towards free trade? This book
convincingly argues that lobbying regulation will be a decisive
first step towards fulfilling the European dream of free trade, in
accordance with the original purpose of the Treaty of Rome. Without
the regulation of lobbyists to try and prevent undue political
persuasion, there is a greater risk of abuse in the form of
corruption, subsidies and trade barriers, which will come at the
expense of consumers, tax payers and competitiveness. This
interdisciplinary approach - both theoretical and methodological -
offers a wealth of knowledge concerning the effect of lobbying on
political decision-making and will appeal to academics across the
social sciences, practitioners and policy-makers.
Born in Gering, Nebraska on May 2, 1920, Dale Cannady has witnessed
a dramatically changing world. Using the GI Bill to gain his
college education at the University of Washington in Seattle, Dale
rose to be Assistant City Planning Director in Portland, Oregon. My
Thoughts is the culmination of 92 years of experience and
observation.
Presidential Puppetry documents what many millions have long
suspected: secretive elites guide our government leaders. The first
book to analyze the Obama second term is also one of the first to
examine the 2012 elections. Puppetry reveals scandals and shows why
Congress, courts, and other watchdog institutions fail to report
key facts about even the biggest news makers. Puppetry unfolds like
a mystery extending over decades to the present. By the end, this
compelling narrative documented with 1,200 endnotes shows hidden
links between puppet masters, political leaders, spy agencies, and
the economic austerity now being imposed on a hapless public. By
exposing key secrets, it provides a roadmap for reform.
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