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A Plague of Informers
by Rachel WeilStories of plots, sham plots, and the citizen-informers who discovered them are at the center of Rachel Weil's compelling study of the turbulent decade following the Revolution of 1688. Most studies of the Glorious Revolution focus on its causes or long-term effects, but Weil instead zeroes in on the early years when the survival of the new regime was in doubt. By encouraging informers, imposing loyalty oaths, suspending habeas corpus, and delaying the long-promised reform of treason trial procedure, the Williamite regime protected itself from enemies and cemented its bonds with supporters, but also put its own credibility at risk.
A Plague of Prisons: The Epidemiology of Mass Incarceration in America
by Ernest DruckerThe public health expert and prison reform activist offers &“meticulous analysis&” on our criminal justice system and the plague of American incarceration (The Washington Post). An internationally recognized public health scholar, Ernest Drucker uses the tools of epidemiology to demonstrate that incarceration in the United States has become an epidemic—a plague upon our body politic. He argues that imprisonment, originally conceived as a response to the crimes of individuals, has become &“mass incarceration&”: a destabilizing force that damages the very social structures that prevent crime. Drucker tracks the phenomenon of mass incarceration using basic public health concepts—&“incidence and prevalence,&” &“outbreaks,&” &“contagion,&” &“transmission,&” &“potential years of life lost.&” The resulting analysis demonstrates that our unprecedented rates of incarceration have the contagious and self-perpetuating features of the plagues of previous centuries. Sure to provoke debate and shift the paradigm of how we think about punishment, A Plague of Prisons offers a novel perspective on criminal justice in twenty-first-century America. &“How did America&’s addiction to prisons and mass incarceration get its start and how did it spread from state to state? Of the many attempts to answer this question, none make as much sense as the explanation found in [this] book.&” —The Philadelphia Inquirer
A Plan for Evaluating the District of Columbia's Public Schools: From Impressions to Evidence
by The National Academy of SciencesThe District of Columbia (DC) has struggled for decades to improve its public education system. In 2007 the DC government made a bold change in the way it governs public education with the goal of shaking up the system and bringing new energy to efforts to improve outcomes for students. The Public Education Reform Amendment Act (PERAA) shifted control of the city's public schools from an elected school board to the mayor, developed a new state department of education, created the position of chancellor, and made other significant management changes. A Plan for Evaluating the District of Columbia's Public Schoolsoffers a framework for evaluating the effects of PERAA on DC's public schools. The book recommends an evaluation program that includes a systematic yearly public reporting of key data as well as in-depth studies of high-priority issues including: quality of teachers, principals, and other personnel; quality of classroom teaching and learning; capacity to serve vulnerable children and youth; promotion of family and community engagement; and quality and equity of operations, management, and facilities. As part of the evaluation program, the Mayor's Office should produce an annual report to the city on the status of the public schools, including an analysis of trends and all the underlying data. A Plan for Evaluating the District of Columbia's Public Schools suggests that D. C. engage local universities, philanthropic organizations, and other institutions to develop and sustain an infrastructure for ongoing research and evaluation of its public schools. Any effective evaluation program must be independent of school and city leaders and responsive to the needs of all stakeholders. Additionally, its research should meet the highest standards for technical quality.
A Planet for the President
by Alistair BeatonThis is a story written over a decade ago.Before Fake News, or Alternative Facts, or even social media.It told the story of a not-too-distant future, which really was not too distant.*The President of the United States is facing a global catastrophe.The environment is in meltdown. People are dying. Americans are dying.Even he can't ignore it.There's hardly a corner of the world that isn't in crisis.And that's when he's persuaded of a truth his advisers hold to be self-evident: That it's time to think the unthinkable.The problem isn't power, or politics, or the planet, or the President.It's the People.*Hilarious and horrifying - this enormously entertaining satire has never been more razor-sharp, revelatory or relevant. What readers are saying about this hilarious, critically acclaimed novel:'For anyone who likes laughs and thrills in one package and who's been following recent developments in the White House this is an absolute must.' Amazon Reviewer, 5 stars'This political and satirical novel manages to be both thrilling and funny. And, given its prescience, scary too. The characters, the setting and the plot are fantastic and believable. A real page turner.' Amazon Reviewer,5 stars'A frighteningly plausible thriller, which imagines what might happen if the White House were finally to believe that something had to be done about global warming ... clever, funny and a really good read.' Amazon Reviewer, 5 stars'This thriller is packed with good jokes and tells a tale that is utterly credible. Parts were jaw-droppingly frightening and I wished I could have put it down but thesharp humour and pacey plot made me keep reading. It's a laugh and a chiller in one book.' Amazon Reviewer,5 stars
A Planet for the President: A Novel
by Alistair Beaton'For anyone who likes laughs and thrills in one package and who's been following recent developments in the White House this is an absolute must.' Amazon Reviewer, 5 starsIt is the near future and things are not going well for the President of the United States. He wants Americans to be adored by everyone but half the planet seems to be in a permanent state of insurrection against US power. What's more, there's a growing environmental crisis that even he can't ignore. It's one thing when there are floods in Bangladesh, quite another when almost 2,000 Americans die in flooding in Texas.His advisers warn him he could be remembered as the President who wrecked the planet.The President is persuaded of one simple fact: there are too many people in the world. Only radical action can deal with the problem. His advisors come up with a solution more ruthless than anything ever contemplated before. Appalled, the president refuses to go along with their plan.But it isn't long before he is committed to thinking the unthinkable ...****************What readers are saying about this hilarious, critically acclaimed novel:'This political and satirical novel manages to be both thrilling and funny. And, given its prescience, scary too. The characters, the setting and the plot are fantastic and believable. A real page turner.' Amazon Reviewer, 5 stars'A frighteningly plausible thriller, which imagines what might happen if the White House were finally to believe that something had to be done about global warming ... clever, funny and a really good read.' Amazon Reviewer, 5 stars'This thriller is packed with good jokes and tells a tale that is utterly credible. Parts were jaw-droppingly frightening and I wished I could have put it down but thesharp humour and pacey plot made me keep reading. It's a laugh and a chiller in one book.' Amazon Reviewer,5 stars
A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal (Jacobin)
by Kate Aronoff Alyssa Battistoni Daniel Aldana Cohen Thea RiofrancosIn the twenty-first century, all politics are climate politics.The age of climate gradualism is over, as unprecedented disasters are exacerbated by inequalities of race and class. We need profound, radical change. A Green New Deal can tackle the climate emergency and rampant inequality at the same time. Cutting carbon emissions while winning immediate gains for the many is the only way to build a movement strong enough to defeat big oil, big business, and the super-rich—starting right now.A Planet to Win explores the political potential and concrete first steps of a Green New Deal. It calls for dismantling the fossil fuel industry and building beautiful landscapes of renewable energy, guaranteeing climate-friendly work and no-carbon housing and free public transit. And it shows how a Green New Deal in the United States can strengthen climate justice movements worldwide. We don&’t make politics under conditions of our own choosing, and no one would choose this crisis. But crises also present opportunities. We stand on the brink of disaster—but also at the cusp of wondrous, transformative change.
A Planetary Economy
by Fraser Murison SmithThis book asks, how would a stable, prosperous economy of the future look if one started with a blank sheet of paper? Given that the world’s economy is locked into a coevolution with nature, the urgency of this question is brought into stark relief by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and ongoing climate change. While physical technologies to build such an economy mostly exist, the social technologies, in the form of institutions, governance and policies, do not. The development of these social technologies will necessitate a reconsideration of economic norms: in particular, what is the economy for, and what are we, as actors within it, striving for? This book integrates normative, institutional, political and economic requirements into a systematic framework to drive our present growth economy toward a future planetarian one. It outlines a suite of interrelated policies to increase the economy’s material efficiency, establish a basic living standard, and reform the money system, while along the way eliminating economic debt and balancing government budgets. The framework and policies together form a paradigm of market planetarianism: the idea that the power of markets may be used to steer the economy toward a desired long-term goal. The methodological aspects of this paradigm are covered in the companion volume, Economics of a Crowded Planet.
A Planner's Encounter with Complexity (New Directions in Planning Theory)
by Elisabete A. Silva Gert de RooSpatial planning is about dealing with our 'everyday' environment. In A Planner's Encounter with Complexity we present various understandings of complexity and how the environment is considered accordingly. One of these considerations is the environment as subject to processes of continuous change, being either progressive or destructive, evolving non-linearly and alternating between stable and dynamic periods. If the environment that is subject to change is adaptive, self-organizing, robust and flexible in relation to this change, a process of evolution and co-evolution can be expected. This understanding of an evolving environment is not mainstream to every planner. However, in A Planner's Encounter with Complexity, we argue that environments confronted with discontinuous, non-linear evolving processes might be more real than the idea that an environment is simply a planner's creation. Above all, we argue that recognizing the 'complexity' of our environment offers an entirely new perspective on our world and our environment, on planning theory and practice, and on the raison d'être of the planners that we are. A Planner's Encounter with Complexity is organized into 17 chapters. It begins with the interplay of planning and complexity from the perspective of contemporary planning theory. It continues by critically assessing planning theory and practice in the light of the interdisciplinary debate regarding complexity thinking. As the book progresses, it positions itself ever closer to the perspective of complexity thinking, looking at the planning discipline 'from the outside in', clarifying the facets of complexity and its importance in planning. Finally, conceptual and theoretical developments towards more applied examples are identified in order to see the interplay of planning and complexity in practice. This book emphasizes the importance of complexity in planning, clarifies many of the concepts and theories, presents examples on planning and complexity, and proposes new ideas and methods for planning.
A Poetics of Resistance
by Jeff ConantPart literary criticism, part media analysis, and part marketing handbook, A Poetics of Resistance provides a refreshingly new take on the Zapatistas. While much has been written on the history of the Zapatista insurgency and on the communiqués of Subcomandante Marcos, very little has been said about Zapatismo: the ideologies, organizing methodologies, and communications strategies of the movement. The appeal of the Zapatistas, and their survival, has as much to do with their goals as with the compelling and wildly effective language and aesthetics they've used to convey their vision. Weaving together varied elements of poetics and symbolism, Zapatismo has emerged as something entirely new: a resolutely radical public relations campaign for human liberation.The first "postmodern revolution" presented itself to the world through a complex and evolving web of propaganda, using a wide range of media: the colorful communiqués of Marcos; the ski masks, uniforms, toy dolls, and other accoutrements of the insurgent or sympathizer; and murals, songs, and other popular cultural forms. Employing persuasive publicity, myths, and symbols, the Zapatistas both communicated their message and developed a clear aesthetic that could contain many messages at once and self-replicate on a global scale. Jeff Conant offers an engaging and innovative tool for organizers and educators to understand how the Zapatistas' strategy works, and to continue developing and refining their effective messages of participatory, bottom-up revolution.Jeff Conant is a writer and activist in the San Francisco Bay Area and the author of A Community Guide to Environmental Health.
A Poetics of Trauma after 9/11: Representing Trauma in a Digitized Present (Routledge Studies in Contemporary Literature)
by Katharina DonnThe 9/11 attacks brought large-scale violence into the 21st century with force and have come to epitomize the entanglement of intimate vulnerability and virtual spectacle that is typical of the globalized present. This book works at the intersection of trauma studies, affect theory, and literary studies to offer radically new interpretive frames for interrogating the challenges inherent in representing the initial moments of the terrorist encounter. Beyond the paradigm of traumatic unspeakability, post-9/11 texts expose the materiality of the human body in its universal vulnerability. The intersubjective empathy this engenders is politically subversive, as it undermines the discourse of historical singularity and exceptionalism by establishing a global network of reference and dialogue. Innovative theoretical interconnections between clinical pathology, concepts of cultural trauma, and political aesthetics lay the foundations for exploring formally and geographically diverse texts. Close readings of works by Jonathan Safran Foer, Art Spiegelman, Don DeLillo, and William Gibson map the relationship between representations of 9/11 and complex aspects of trauma theory. This detailed approach makes a case for revisiting trauma theory and bringing its Freudian origins into the digitized present. It showcases trauma as a physical and psychological wound as well as an experience that is simultaneously pre-discursive and inhibited by the virtuality of the present-day real. Exploring how contemporary trauma studies can take into account the digitization and virtuality of present-day realities, this book is a key intervention in establishing a contemporary ethics of witnessing terror.
A Policy Approach to Political Representation: Lessons from the Four Corners States (RFF Policy and Governance Set)
by Helen M. Ingram Nancy K. Laney John R. McCainAnalyzes the extent to which the voters of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah are concerned about problems associated with development and the extent to which state senators respond to voters' concerns. Originally published in 1980
A Policy Travelogue: Tracing Welfare Reform in Aotearoa/New Zealand and Canada
by Catherine KingfisherAn ethnography of the development and travel of the New Zealand model of neoliberal welfare reform, this study explores the social life of policy, which is one of process, motion, and change. Different actors, including not only policy élites but also providers and recipients, engage with it in light of their own resources and knowledge. Drawing on two analytic frameworks of the contemporary anthropology of policy-translation and assemblage-Kingfisher situates policy as an artifact and architect of cultural meaning, as well as a site of power struggles. All points of engagement with policy are approached as sites of policy production that serve to transform it as well as reproduce it. As such, A Policy Travelogue provides an antidote to theorizations of policy as a-cultural, rational, and straightforwardly technical.
A Political And Social History Of Guyana, 1945-1983
by Thomas SpinnerOriginally published in 1984, this is a documented account of the political history of the former British colony of Guyana. Providing a reflection of the increasing involvement of the United States in the Caribbean and Central America on the long-term political, social and economic effect that intervention can have on the small states of less developed countries during the period of 1945 to 1983. The text includes a detailed historical account of post-World War II politics and moves onto the emergence of the nationalist movement in Guyana in the late 1940s and the cold war period of the 1950s; concluding with the consequences both politically and economically in the 1980s.
A Political Biography of Arkadij Maslow, 1891-1941: Dissident Against His Will (Critical Political Theory and Radical Practice)
by Mario KesslerThis book is a political biography of Arkadij Maksimovich Maslow (1891-1941), a German Communist politician and later a dissident and opponent to Stalin. Together with his political and common-law marriage partner, Ruth Fischer, Maslow briefly led the Communist Party of Germany, the KPD, and brought about its submission to Moscow. Afterwards Fischer and Maslow were removed from the KPD leadership in the fall of 1925 and expelled from the party a year later. Henceforth they both lived as communist outsiders—persecuted by both Hitler and Stalin. Maslow escaped to Cuba via France and Portugal and was murdered under dubious circumstances in Havana in November 1941. He died as a communist dissident committed to the cause of a radical-socialist labor movement that lay in ruins. Kessler considers Maslow's role in pivotal events such as the Bolshevik Revolution, in Soviet revolutionary parties and organizations, through to the rise of Stalinism and Cold War anti-communism. What results is a deep dive into the life of a key yet understudied figure in dissident communism.
A Political Biography of Aung San Suu Kyi: A Hybrid Politician (Politics in Asia)
by Michał LubinaThis book is the first political biography of Aung San Suu Kyi covering both her years in opposition and all her years in power from 2016 onwards. It offers a new interpretation of Aung San Suu Kyi by presenting a balanced and thorough account of Suu Kyi’s policies. In the last 30 years there has not been a person in global politics who has risen so high and fallen so low – and so quickly – as Aung San Suu Kyi. Using postcolonial theory and introducing the new concept of `a hybrid politician', this book explains apparent inconsistencies of Suu Kyi’s agenda. It demonstrates that Suu Kyi considers herself a democrat and yet, rules autocratically. Immersed in her country’s tradition of policymaking, she has at the same time been influenced by foreign concepts, both Western and Asian. Drawing on first-hand research, including talks with Suu Kyi, conversations with her supporters and rivals, observations of Suu Kyi’s behaviour during intergovernmental talks as well as an extensive number of sources and fieldwork in Myanmar, the author argues that Suu Kyi’s case shows both the strengths and limits of hybridity. This brings Suu Kyi priceless political assets such as visibility, recognition and support while proving that such a model of leadership has its restrictions. A timely biography of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate as she appears at the International Court of Justice to defend her country against charges of genocide committed against the Rohingya Muslim minority, this book will be of interest to students and researchers of Myanmar politics, Southeast Asian politics, Asian politics, Political Science more generally, Postcolonial Studies, Cultural Studies and Leadership Studies.
A Political Companion to Frederick Douglass (Political Companions to Great American Authors)
by Neil Roberts“A splendid opportunity to rethink Douglass’s political thought . . . relevant today given the discourse of white nationalism in the United States.” —ChoiceFrederick Douglass was a writer and public speaker whose impact on America has been long studied by historians and literary critics. Yet as political theorists have focused on the legacies of such notables as W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, Douglass’s profound influence on Afro-modern and American political thought has often been undervalued.In an effort to fill this gap in the scholarship on Douglass, editor Neil Roberts and an exciting group of established and rising scholars examine the author’s autobiographies, essays, speeches, and novella. Together, they illuminate his genius for analyzing and articulating core American ideals such as independence, liberation, individualism, and freedom, particularly in the context of slavery. The contributors explore Douglass’s understanding of the self-made American and the way in which he expanded the notion of individual potential by arguing that citizens had a responsibility to improve not only their own situations but also those of their communities.A Political Companion to Frederick Douglass also considers the idea of agency, investigating Douglass’s passionate insistence that every person in a democracy, even a slave, possesses an innate ability to act. Various essays illuminate Douglass’s complex racial politics, deconstructing what seems at first to be his surprising aversion to racial pride, and others explore and critique concepts of masculinity, gender, and judgment in his oeuvre. The volume concludes with a discussion of Douglass’s contributions to pre- and post-Civil War jurisprudence.“Rich insights from scholarship both old and new. A fine collection.” —Political Theory
A Political Companion to James Baldwin (Political Companions to Great American Authors)
by Susan J. McWilliams“Uniformly excellent” essays on the work of the renowned author and his “extraordinary relevance in the present moment” (Choice).In seminal works such as Go Tell It on the Mountain, Notes of a Native Son, and The Fire Next Time, acclaimed author and social critic James Baldwin expresses his profound belief that writers have the power to transform society, engage the public, and inspire and channel conversation to achieve lasting change. While Baldwin is best known for his writings on racial consciousness and injustice, he is also one of the country’s most eloquent theorists of democratic life and the national psyche.In this book, prominent scholars assess the prolific author's relevance to present-day political challenges. Together, they address Baldwin as a democratic theorist, activist, and citizen, examining his writings on the civil rights movement, religion, homosexuality, and women’s rights. They investigate the ways in which his work speaks to and galvanizes a collective American polity, and explore his views on the political implications of individual experience in relation to race and gender.This volume not only considers Baldwin’s works within their own historical context, but also applies the author’s insights to recent events such as the Obama presidency and the Black Lives Matter movement, emphasizing his faith in the connections between the past and present. These incisive essays will encourage a new reading of Baldwin that celebrates his significant contributions to political and democratic theory.
A Political Companion to Philip Roth (Political Companions to Great American Authors)
by Claudia Franziska Brühwiler and Lee Trepanier“Demonstrates powerfully the manifold ways in which Roth’s writing often helped to shape, and was in turn shaped by, the larger political climate.” —David Brauner, author of Contemporary American FictionWidely acknowledged as one of the twentieth century’s most prolific and acclaimed writers, Philip Roth received the National Book Award for his first novel, Goodbye, Columbus, and followed this stunning debut with more than thirty books—earning another National Book Award, two National Book Critics Circle awards, three PEN/Faulkner Awards, and the Pulitzer Prize. Throughout his career, Roth delighted in controversy—yet often denied that he sought a role as a public intellectual. His statements and vigorous support of suppressed writers in communist Czechoslovakia, however, tell a different story.In A Political Companion to Philip Roth, established and rising scholars explore the myriad political themes in the author’s work. Several of the contributors examine Roth’s writings on Jewish identity, Zionism, and American attitudes toward Israel, as well as the influence of his work in other countries. Others investigate Roth’s articulation of the roles of gender and sexuality in US culture. This interdisciplinary examination offers a more complete portrait of Roth as a public intellectual and cultural icon. It not only fills a gap in scholarship, but also provides a broader perspective on the nature and purpose of the acclaimed writer’s political thought.“Addresses a void in discussions of Roth’s work by looking at his thinking on political matters, particularly as they involve identity, the American Jewish experience, Israel, and Cold War fears of communism.” —Choice
A Political Companion to Walt Whitman (Political Companions to Great American Authors)
by John E. Seery“Wonderful . . . a timely invitation to political and social theorists to take seriously this imaginative man who solicited us to think and sing democracy.” —Bonnie Honig, author of Emergency PoliticsThe works of Walt Whitman have been described as masculine, feminine, postcolonial, homoerotic, urban, organic, unique, and democratic, yet arguments about the extent to which Whitman could or should be considered a political poet have yet to be fully confronted. Some scholars disregard Whitman’s understanding of democracy, insisting on separating his personal works from his political works.A Political Companion to Walt Whitman is the first full-length exploration of Whitman’s works through the lens of political theory. Editor John E. Seery and a collection of prominent theorists and philosophers uncover the political awareness of Whitman’s poetry and prose, analyzing his faith in the potential of individuals, his call for a revolution in literature and political culture, and his belief in the possibility of combining heroic individualism with democratic justice. A Political Companion to Walt Whitman reaches beyond literature into political theory, revealing the ideology behind Whitman’s call for the emergence of American poets of democracy.“Exceptionally rich and intellectually exciting.” —Choice
A Political Ecology of Forest Conservation in India: Communities, Wildlife and the State (Routledge Studies in Conservation and the Environment)
by Amrita SenThis book critically explores the political ecology of human marginalization, wildlife conservation and the role of the state in politicizing conservation frameworks, drawing on examples from forests in India. The book specifically demonstrates the nuances within human-environmental linkages, by showing how environmental concerns are not only ecological in content but also political. In India a large part of the forests and their surrounding areas were inhabited far before they were designated as protected areas and inviolate zones, with the local population reliant on forests for their survival and livelihoods. Thus, socioecological conflicts between the forest dependents and official state bodies have been widespread. This book uses a political ecology lens to explore the complex interplay between current norms of forest conservation and environmental subjectivities, illustrating contemporary articulation of forest rights and the complex mediations between forest dependents and different state and non-state bodies in designing and implementing regulatory standards for wildlife and forest protection. It foregrounds the issues of identity, migration and cultural politics while discussing the politics of conservation. Through a political ecology approach, the book not only is human-centric but also makes significant use of the role of non-humans in foregrounding the conservation discourse, with a particular focus on tigers. The book will be of great interest to students and academics studying forest conservation, human–wildlife interactions and political ecology.
A Political Ecology of Women, Water and Global Environmental Change (Routledge International Studies of Women and Place)
by Stephanie Buechler Anne-Marie S. HansonThis edited volume explores how a feminist political ecology framework can bring fresh insights to the study of rural and urban livelihoods dependent on vulnerable rivers, lakes, watersheds, wetlands and coastal environments. Bringing together political ecologists and feminist scholars from multiple disciplines, the book develops solution-oriented advances to theory, policy and planning to tackle the complexity of these global environmental changes. Using applied research on the contemporary management of groundwater, springs, rivers, lakes, watersheds and coastal wetlands in Central and South Asia, Northern, Central and Southern Africa, and South and North America, the authors draw on a variety of methodological perspectives and new theoretical approaches to demonstrate the importance of considering multiple layers of social difference as produced by and central to the effective governance and local management of water resources. This unique collection employs a unifying feminist political ecology framework that emphasizes the ways that gender interacts with other social and geographical locations of water resource users. In doing so, the book further questions the normative gender discourses that underlie policies and practices surrounding rural and urban water management and climate change, water pollution, large-scale development and dams, water for crop and livestock production and processing, resource knowledge and expertise, and critical livelihood studies. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of environmental studies, development studies, feminist and environmental geography, anthropology, sociology, environmental philosophy, public policy, planning, media studies, Latin American and other area studies, as well as women’s and gender studies.
A Political Economy Analysis of China's Civil Aviation Industry (East Asia: History, Politics, Sociology and Culture)
by Mark DouganFirst published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
A Political Economy of American Hegemony
by Thomas OatleyIn A Political Economy of American Hegemony, Thomas Oatley explores how America's military buildups have produced postwar economic booms that have culminated in monetary and financial crises. The 2008 subprime crisis - as well as the housing bubble that produced it - was the most recent manifestation of this buildup, boom, and bust cycle, developing as a consequence of the decision to deficit-finance the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Earlier instances of financial crises were generated by deficit-financed buildups in the 1980s and the late 1960s. The buildup, boom, and bust pattern results from the way political institutions and financial power shape America's response to military challenges: political institutions transform increased military spending into budget deficits, and financial power enables the United States to finance these deficits by borrowing cheaply from the rest of the world. Oatley examines how this cycle has had a powerful impact on American and global economic and financial performance.
A Political Economy of Arab Education: Policies and Comparative Perspectives (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Society)
by Mohamed Alaa Abdel-MoneimThe failure of reform policies in areas of critical importance to Arab populations such as health and education played a central role in igniting the Arab Awakening, yet this policy perspective has been largely absent from recent studies of the region. Arab regimes most reliant on repression to guarantee their survival were also those most vulnerable to mass politics. Where threats to regime survival have been limited, so have more meaningful reforms been possible, finding an alternative to political change through focusing on "soft policy" areas such as education. A Political Economy of Arab Education offers a comprehensive analysis of K-12 education systems in Arab countries, deepening understanding of their administrative structures and outcomes, and exploring how political considerations have impacted the ability of Arab regimes to engage in meaningful reform. Taking a unique comparative political economy perspective, it examines the reasons behind policy stagnation in Arab countries, addressing the effects of size, history and political stability on the design and implementation of policies and administrative structures. Its informed analysis and comparison of education systems provides new insight into Arab regimes and highlights factors pulling them towards either stagnation or reform. Examining the sustainability of reforms and establishing the benefits of engaging in meaningful change, this book sheds light on why some regimes survived the Arab Spring while others crumbled and formulates convincing predictions on the potential for future regime change in the region. This book will be of key interest to students and scholars of Middle Eastern Studies, International and Comparative Education and Development Studies.
A Political Economy of Attention, Mindfulness and Consumerism: Reclaiming the Mindful Commons (Routledge Studies in Sustainability)
by Peter DoranThe power of capital is the power to target our attention, mould market-ready identities, and reduce the public realm to an endless series of choices. This has far-reaching implications for our psychological, physical and spiritual well-being, and ultimately for our global ecology. In this consumer age, the underlying teachings of Buddhist mindfulness offer more than individual well-being and resilience. They also offer new sources of critical inquiry into our collective condition, and may point, in time, to regulatory initiatives in the field of well-being. This book draws together lively debates from the new economics of transition, commons and well-being, consumerism, and the emerging role of mindfulness in popular culture. Engaged Buddhist practices and teachings correspond closely to insights in contemporary political philosophical investigations into the nature of power, notably by Michel Foucault. The 'attention economy' can be understood as a new arena of struggle in our age of neoliberal governmentality; as the forces of enclosure – having colonized forests, land and the bodies of workers – are now extended to the realm of our minds and subjectivity. This poses questions about the recovery of the 'mindful commons': the practices we must cultivate to reclaim our attention, time and lives from the forces of capitalization. This is a valuable resource for students and scholars of environmental philosophy, environmental psychology, environmental sociology, well-being and new economics, political economy, environmental politics, the commons and law, as well as Buddhist theory and philosophy.