The collapse of the Soviet Union led to a period of steep economic decline, followed by economic reform, soaring inflation, corruption and crime. Despite the fact that unions were part of the State and that membership was obligatory, incorporating 98 percent of the labor force, millions of workers were not paid their wages.

Based upon an abundance of first-hand material, "Labour After Soviet Socialism "examines the complex interplay of history, ideology, leadership, state policy and economics, to explain the difficulty workers have encountered in defending their interests.

David Mandel, labor scholar and activist, teaches political science at the University of Quebec, Montreal. He is co-founder of the School for Worker Democracy, which conducts rank-and-file labor education in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

This collection, a critical perspective on the changes occurring in the "post-Communist" world today, covers Russia, the Ukraine, Belarus, Hungary, Poland, China, and Cuba. Combining a unique variety of genres -- interviews, diaries, and essays -- it provides both analytical insight and a concrete sense of the complex socio-political and cultural processes at work in these societies.

In order to document what really is taking place in former socialist countries, David Mandel, a translator of Russian and long time observer of Russian society, brought together social scientists in the West with their Russian counterparts. The result--a collection of essays and interviews by some of the foremost democratic socialist thinkers of today.

Comedy written by and starring Sacha Baron Cohen following the dedicated attempts of a dictator to stave off the terrible threat of democracy. Like all good dictators, General Admiral Aladeen (Cohen), the self-described 'Supreme Leader, All Triumphant General and Chief Opthalmologist of the People's Republic of Wadiya', understands that the people of his nation don't really know what they want - only he does. That's why democracy is such a terrible threat and why Aladeen must cast himself against it with as much vigour as he can muster. Unfortunately, in the form of ill-intentioned meddlers like the United States of America and the United Nations, Aladeen also faces external threats to his rule. The film follows him as he heads to a UN meeting in New York to defy his enemies and their muddled notions of 'rule by the people'.

The long-awaited memoir of her tumultuous year in office, A Woman First: First Woman is an intimate first-person account of the public and private lives of Selina Meyer, America's first woman president. Known and beloved throughout the world as a vocal and fearless advocate for adult literacy, fighting AIDS, our military families, and as a stalwart champion of the oppressed, especially the long-suffering people of Tibet, President Meyer is considered one of the world's most notable people. In her own words, she reveals the innermost workings of the world's most powerful office, sharing previous secret details along with her own personal feelings about the historic events of her time. In A Woman First: First Woman, President Selina Meyer tells the story of her times the way that only she could, Readers will gain new insights not only into Meyer herself but also the mechanics of governing and the many colorful personalities in Meyer's orbit, including world leaders and her devoted cadre of allies and aides, many of them already familiar to the American people.

A guide to locating and learning about 3,000 people in the Bible In this fitting companion to the JPS Tanakh, David Mandel has undertaken the enormous task of cataloging every character in the Hebrew Bible. From Aaron to Zurishaddi, this comprehensive biographical dictionary gives readers the opportunity to get up close and personal with everyone named in the Bible--its patriarchs, matriarchs, and prophets, warriors and peacemakers, holy men and sinners, heroes and villains. Arranged in an encyclopedic A to Z format, Who's Who in the Jewish Bible is much more than a catalog of names. It contains detailed biographical information as well as fascinating facts and intriguing stories, written in a contemporary narrative style, about all the Bible's characters. Each entry also includes the origin and meaning of the name, the dates he or she lived (if known), and the person's first appearance in the Bible by book, chapter, and verse. Who's Who in the Jewish Bible is the most thorough and comprehensive book of its kind and an invaluable reference for students, teachers, rabbis, and anyone interested in knowing more about the people of the Hebrew Bible. Those who search for a name in the Bible, whether well?known or obscure, will be rewarded with well-organized information that will add new meaning and enjoyment to their reading.

*The best, biblical, who's who reference book includes: --timeline, illustrations, maps --in-depth biographies and a topical index * Only book of its kind with a software CD included

This is the first book in English to present a succinct overview of the influential work of the Russian economist Yakov Abramovich Kronrod (1912-1984) on the political economy of socialism. Kronrod headed the theoretical section of the Institute of Economics of the Academy of the USSR in the 1970s until the authorities decided that his ideas were dangerous, banning Kronrod's publications until his death in 1984. Kronrod argued that while national ownership and democracy are the dominant relations of socialism, commodity-market relations nevertheless have an important role to play in the planned economy. This revelatory book includes the first translation of one of Kronrod's key essays, "Socio-oligarchism-Pseudo-Socialism of the Twentieth Century," and introduces Kronrod's thought to the English-speaking world for the first time.

The collapse of the Soviet Union led to a period of steep economic decline, followed by economic reform, soaring inflation, corruption and crime. Despite the fact that unions were part of the State and that membership was obligatory, incorporating 98 percent of the labor force, millions of workers were not paid their wages.

Based upon an abundance of first-hand material, "Labour After Soviet Socialism "examines the complex interplay of history, ideology, leadership, state policy and economics, to explain the difficulty workers have encountered in defending their interests.

David Mandel, labor scholar and activist, teaches political science at the University of Quebec, Montreal. He is co-founder of the School for Worker Democracy, which conducts rank-and-file labor education in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

In 2012, soon after his election to a third presidential term as president, following a four-year stint as prime minister (to avoid modifying the constitution), and in the wake of an unprecedented wave of popular protests, Vladimir Putin issued his May Decrees. Notable among them was the governments commitment to increase the salaries of doctors, scientific researchers and university teachers to double the average in their respective regions by 2018. But then on December 30 of that year, the government issued a road map for education, revealing that the salary increases in higher education would be paid for, not by significant new government funding, but by optimization, which would eliminate 44% of the current teaching positions in higher education. This was justified in part by a forecasted drop in student enrollment. Thus opened a new, accelerated period of reform of higher education. David Mandel examines the impact of these reforms on the condition of Russias university teachers and the collective efforts of some teachers, a small minority, to organize themselves in an independent trade union to defend their professional interests and their vision of higher education. Apart from the subjects intrinsic interest, an in-depth examination of this specific aspect of social policy provides valuable insight into the nature of the Russian state as well as into the condition of civil society, in particular the popular classes, to which Russian university teachers belong according to their socio-economic situation, if not necessarily their self-image.

The account of political discrimination and violation of the "citizens first" hiring principle at McGill University. "Yet another one of academe's sordid little stories illustrating once again nuances that nobody inside or outside universities should ever disregard."--"Globe and Mail"

The Hero Squared Omnibus collects every story from the series that launched BOOM! Studios, including the sold out X-Tra Sized Special one shot, three issue mini series, six issue limited series, the "Love and Death" mini series, and the five issue The Planetary Brigade spin off series. Also included is the popular web comic promotion that Keith Giffen plotted and penciled with DeMatteis' scripting, in print for the first time! Giffen's original character designs and Joe Abraham's concept sketches are also included, as well as a Keith Giffen plot, which can now be compared side-by-side with DeMatteis' final script! This omnibus truly has it all!

The economic and political situation of a society attempting to be re-born is the subject of this work. With a chronological perspective in mind, Mandel describes the nature of the crisis that led to a regime-initiated perestroika.