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Meghan: A Hollywood Princess
by Andrew MortonFrom Andrew Morton, the New York Times bestselling author of Diana: Her True Story, comes a revealing, juicy, and inspiring biography of Meghan Markle, the American actress who won Prince Harry's heart. When Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were set up by a mutual friend on a blind date in July 2016, little did they know that the resulting whirlwind romance would lead to their engagement in November 2017 and marriage in May 2018. Since then, our fascination with the woman who has smashed the royal mold has rocketed. So different from those coy brides of recent history, Meghan is confident, charismatic, and poised; her warm and affectionate engagement interview won the hearts of the world. In this first-ever biography of the duchess-to-be, acclaimed royal biographer Andrew Morton goes back to Meghan's roots to uncover the story of her childhood growing up in The Valley in Los Angeles, her studies at an all-girls Catholic school, and her fraught family life-a painful experience mirrored by Harry's own background. Morton also delves into her previous marriage and divorce in 2013, her struggles in Hollywood as her mixed heritage was time and again used against her, her big break in the hit TV show Suits, and her work for a humanitarian ambassador-the latter so reminiscent of Princess Diana's passions. Finally, we see how the royal romance played out across two continents but was kept fiercely secret, before the news finally broke and Meghan was thrust into the global media's spotlight like never before. Drawing on exclusive interviews with her family members and closest friends, and including never-before-seen photographs, Morton introduces us to the real Meghan as he reflects on the impact that she has already had on the rigid traditions of the House of Windsor, as well as what the future might hold.
Megrahi: The Lockerbie Evidence
by John Ashton&“Casts grave doubt on the validity of Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi&’s conviction as the Libyan terrorist responsible for blowing up Pan Am Flight 103.&” —Arab News&“You know me as the Lockerbie bomber. I know that I&’m innocent. Here, for the first time, is my true story: how I came to be blamed for Britain&’s worst mass murder, my nightmare decade in prison and the truth about my controversial release. Please read it and decide for yourself. You are now my jury.&” —Abdelbaset al-Megrahi This long-awaited book argues that, far from being an unrepentant terrorist, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was the innocent victim of dirty politics, a flawed investigation and judicial folly. Based on exclusive interviews with Megrahi himself, and conclusive new evidence, it destroys the prosecution case and puts the Scottish criminal justice system in the dock. Megrahi: You Are My Jury makes a compelling argument that the murderers of the 270 Lockerbie victims were acting on behalf of an entirely different government, rather than Colonel Gadafy and Libya.&“Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the convicted &‘Lockerbie bomber,&’ who died earlier this year of cancer, never stopped seeking to clear his name, and this book, written by one of the lead researchers on Megrahi&’s appeal with the Megrahis&’ collaboration, documents perceived weaknesses of the Scottish state&’s case . . . Ashton&’s analysis of the evidence, though clearly partisan, is exhaustive and fascinating, highlighting how Megrahi&’s trial exemplified a rush to judgment viewed by many jurists as a miscarriage of justice.&” —Publishers Weekly
Mehr Burokratie, weniger Freiheit (AT): Wie Ki Menschen Und Wirtschaft Steuert Und Für Mehr Bürokratie Sorgt
by Mathias BinswangerWenn Sie die Zukunft der wirtschaftlichen und gesellschaftlichen Entwicklung angesichts der Digitalisierung verstehen wollen, ist dieses Buch genau die richtige Lektüre für Sie! Mathias Binswanger diskutiert in seinem neuen Buch die Digitalisierung in Zusammenhang mit der Funktionsweise der kapitalistischen Wirtschaft. Es eröffnet so einen anderen Zugang zur Thematik der Digitalisierung, der erstmals aufzeigt, warum diese die Wirtschaft zunehmend vom Menschen abkoppelt, die Produktivität in der Produktion weiter steigert, gleichzeitig aber zu immer mehr Bürokratie führt und dadurch weiterhin Vollbeschäftigung garantiert. Damit verbunden ist immer mehr Bequemlichkeit, aber auch immer mehr Überwachung und Kontrolle der Menschen und ein erhöhter Zwang zu konformem Verhalten. Der Autor befasst sich mit grundlegenden Fragen, wie: Wollen wir eine solche Entwicklung tatsächlich? Ist es klug, sich von bestimmten digitalen Lösungen, Systemen oder Prozessen abhängig zu machen, die wir gar nicht mehr durchschauen? Und wie können wir gegensteuern? Die Antwort lautet: Wir müssen analoge Systeme und Prozesse erhalten, damit Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft resilient bleiben. Es muss weiterhin möglich sein, mit Bargeld zu bezahlen, in selbstgesteuerten Fahrzeugen ohne Überwachungselektronik zu fahren, in nicht smarten Häusern zu leben, oder auf die Verwendung von Gesundheitsapps zu verzichten. Die Aufrechterhaltung solcher analogen Lösungen ist aber gegen die Logik des Systems. Denn jeder nicht systemkonforme Akt stört die digitalen Optimierungsprozesse. Das wird in nicht allzu ferner Zukunft für erhebliche Konflikte sorgen.
Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical
by Shaul MagidThe life and politics of an American Jewish activist who preached radical and violent means to Jewish survivalMeir Kahane came of age amid the radical politics of the counterculture, becoming a militant voice of protest against Jewish liberalism. Kahane founded the Jewish Defense League in 1968, declaring that Jews must protect themselves by any means necessary. He immigrated to Israel in 1971, where he founded KACH, an ultranationalist and racist political party. He would die by assassination in 1990. Shaul Magid provides an in-depth look at this controversial figure, showing how the postwar American experience shaped his life and political thought.Magid sheds new light on Kahane’s radical political views, his critique of liberalism, and his use of the “grammar of race” as a tool to promote Jewish pride. He discusses Kahane’s theory of violence as a mechanism to assure Jewish safety, and traces how his Zionism evolved from a fervent support of Israel to a belief that the Zionist project had failed. Magid examines how tradition and classical Jewish texts profoundly influenced Kahane’s thought later in life, and argues that Kahane’s enduring legacy lies not in his Israeli career but in the challenge he posed to the liberalism and assimilatory project of the postwar American Jewish establishment.This incisive book shows how Kahane was a quintessentially American figure, one who adopted the radicalism of the militant Left as a tenet of Jewish survival.
Mel's Story: Surviving Military Sexual Assault (Doonesbury #35)
by G. Trudeau"An estimated 19,000 rapes and sexual assaults took place in the military last year. Every one of them represents a monstrous crime made much worse by the sense of betrayal that accompanied it. That so few victims--just one in seven--report these crimes underscores the utter lack of trust that pervades military culture."-- Retired Gen. Loree Sutton and Garry Trudeau, in a Washington Post OpEd, June 29, 2013The first time B.D. encounters command-rape survivor Melissa Wheeler in the waiting room at the VA Center, he has no idea what to make of the scowling former chopper mechanic. But in the months that follow, witnessing Mel's pain and her healing process help him with his own, and B.D. ends up a staunch and encouraging ally.With the help of VA counselors Cora and Elias, Wheeler is able to reframe her experience and move forward to the point where she re-ups and re-deploys, though the trauma and betrayal continue to haunt her. She and battlebud Roz masterfully manage a perilous rescue op of a downed USO chopper, and in the new post-DADT world the now-out Roz and her now-superior ("That's SERGEANT bitch to you!") help wind down US ops in Afghanistan. Returning stateside, Mel's final obstacle is her father's cluelessness--and a widespread reluctance to hear the truth of her story.As always, Trudeau manages to find humor and humanity in even a tale of suffering, and sheds serious light on one of the most pressing and undermining problems in our military today.
Melancholy Order: Asian Migration and the Globalization of Borders (Columbia Studies in International and Global History)
by Adam McKeownAs Adam M. McKeown demonstrates, the push for increased border control and identity documentation is the continuation of more than 150 years of globalization. Not only are modern passports and national borders inseparable from the rise of global mobility, but they are also tied to the emergence of individuals and nations as the primary sites of global power and identity.McKeown's detailed history traces how, rather than being a legacy of "traditional" forms of sovereignty, practices of border control historically rose from attempts to control Asian migration around the Pacific in the 1880s. New policies to control mobility had to be justified in the context of contemporary liberal ideas of freedom and mobility, generating principles that are taken for granted today, such as the belief that migration control is a sovereign right of receiving nations and that it should occur at a country's borders. McKeown shows how the enforcement of these border controls required migrants to be extracted from social networks of identity and reconstructed as isolated individuals within centralized filing systems. Methods for excluding Asians from full participation in the "family of civilized nations" are now the norm between all nations. These practices also helped institutionalize global cultural and economic divisions, such as East/West and First and Third World designations, which continue to shape our understanding.
Melania
by Melania TrumpMelania is a compelling and inspirational memoir that offers a glimpse into the life of a remarkable woman who has navigated challenges with grace and determination. <P><P> In her memoir, Melania reflects on her Slovenian childhood, the pivotal moments that led her to the world of high fashion in Europe and New York, and the serendipitous meeting with Donald Trump, a chance encounter that forever changed the course of her life. Melania opens up about their courtship, life in the spotlight, and experiencing the joy of motherhood. She shares behind-the-scenes stories from her time in the White House, shedding light on her advocacy work and the causes close to her heart. Melania offers an unprecedented look into her time as a First Lady who was born outside the United States -- a role she embraced with honor and dedication. It brings readers into her world and presents an in-depth account of a woman who has led a remarkable life on her own terms. Melania Trump's story is one of resilience and independence, showcasing her strength and unwavering commitment to her true self. <p> <b>New York Times Bestseller</b>
Melania and Michelle: First Ladies in a New Era
by Tammy R. VigilAt home or at the podium, the First Lady is uniquely poised to serve as advisor, confidant, and campaigner, with the power to shape American political and social conversation. At first blush, First Ladies Michelle Obama and Melania Trump appear categorically different from each other; however, as women rising from humble origins to pursue their ambitions and support their husbands, the two have more in common than one might think. In Melania & Michelle: First Ladies in a New Era, author Tammy R. Vigil provides a compelling account of our modern first ladies, exploring how each woman has crafted her public image and used her platform to influence the country, while also serving as a paragon of fashion and American womanhood. Both women face constant scrutiny and comparison—from their degrees of political activism to their cookie recipes—and have garnered support as well as criticism. From their full lives pre-nomination to their attitudes while occupying the White House, Vigil builds careful and thoughtful portraits of Melania Trump and Michelle Obama that provide a new appreciation for how these women, and the first ladies that came before them, have shaped our country.
Mele on the Mauna: Perpetuating Genealogies of Hawaiian Musical Activism on Maunakea (Activist Encounters in Folklore and Ethnomusicology)
by Joseph Keola DonaghyIn the summer of 2019, a group of kia'i, or protectors, made up of kānaka 'ōiwi (Native Hawaiians) and their allies came together to prevent the construction of the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) on the dormant volcano Maunakea. In Mele on the Mauna, Joseph Keola Donaghy explores how music, and especially haku mele, or Hawaiian language composers, played a crucial role in this defense. Musicians flocked to the mauna (mountain) to perform for the kia'i and a worldwide audience via social media. Haku mele created new songs at unprecedented levels, releasing many commercially with proceeds benefiting organizations providing support services and supplies to the kia'i. This book features over 30 of the author's interviews with individuals who participated in musical activities connected with this movement, including kia'i and their supporters, composers, musicians, and community leaders. Donaghy explores Indigenous Hawaiian concepts and theories like mana (power), mo'okū'auhau and pilina (genealogy and relationships), kapu aloha (philosophical code of conduct), and aloha 'āina (love of land, patriotism), and western academic concepts like connectedness and community building, poetics, sound(ing) and silenc(e/ing), conflict, and creativity.Mele on the Mauna illuminates how music played a powerful role in building solidarity, inspiration, and activism, reveling in the most contentious confrontations about protecting Maunakea and the outpouring of musical performances and creativity that occurred.
Melia Ridge: A Max Blake Mystery (The Max Blake Mysteries #7)
by William FlorenceIn the thrilling follow-up to Emerald Ridge, a PI and his fiancée head from Oregon to Rome—to find answers to mysteries both personal and political . . . Max Blake&’s fiancée, Caeli Brown, lost her archbishop uncle to gunfire—at least, that&’s what they thought. So they&’re puzzled when they receive another postcard from him. What&’s going on? Is Uncle Jack dead or not? Max and Caeli are soon on the road to the Vatican&’s Secret Archives Building in the heart of Rome, where they meet a mysterious prelate with a fixation for world domination—a man who may well hold the key to determining who actually shot American President John F. Kennedy in 1963—in this gut-wrenching, surprising, and sharply witty tale of international mystery and intrigue.
Mellon Square
by Susan Rademacher Charles BirnbaumThe second volume in our Modern Landscapes series examines the evolution of Pittsburgh's first modern garden plaza. Completed in 1955 from a design by the acclaimed landscape design firm Simonds & Simonds and architects Mitchell & Ritchey, Mellon Square functioned as an urban oasis that provided downtown office workers a much-needed respite from the city's infamous smoke pollution. Now, more than six decades later, Mellon Square is undergoing a major restoration by Patricia O'Donnell of Heritage Landscapes that aims to restore this urban garden and help revitalize downtown Pittsburgh. Featuring new photography and archival material, Mellon Square is the only book to showcase the development of this iconic urban landscape.
Mellon vs. Churchill: The Untold Story of Treasury Titans at War
by Jill EicherThe never-before-told story of the epic battle of wills between Andrew Mellon and Winston Churchill, as they debated the repayment of the enormous sums loaned by America to Great Britain during World War I.Andrew Mellon, one of the most accomplished businessmen of his era, is almost unknown today. To this shy, diffident (but brilliant) man fell the daunting task of collecting the war debts from European governments still devastated by World War I and struggling to recover economically. Dealing with the U.S. Congress and the heads of foreign governments on the world stage became one of the great adventures of his life. Winston Churchill is one of the best-known figures in history. Mellon vs. Churchill presents Churchill through a different lens, focusing on his service as Chancellor of the Exchequer when Great Britain was the largest debtor to the United States. That he became the most vocal critic of American foreign policy during that time is a scarcely told chapter of economic history—and his long and contentious debate with Mellon has seldom been explored. Yet, during the five years that Churchill served as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1924-1929), Mellon was his counterpart at the United States Treasury, and their debate and fierce differences of opinion about the handling of what Churchill called &“the monstrous war debts&” made frequent headlines on both sides of the Atlantic. No mention of any of their five meetings are included in the official biographies of either man. Now these confrontations are brought to vivid life in Mellon vs. Churchill, as are many other vignettes from their very public, but largely forgotten, rivalry. Mellon vs. Churchill brings the reader inside the adventurous lives of these two great public figures—men who were not afraid to take huge risks to pursue their grand ambitions.
Mellon: An American Life
by David CannadineFrom the preface: "Andrew W. Mellon was born in 1855, six years before the American Civil War broke out, and he died in 1937, when Pearl Harbor was barely four years away. At his death, he was himself half the age of the United States, and for much of his life, he played a formative part and significant role in its history. Indeed, the years from 1865 to 1933 have rightly been described as "The Age of Gold," when the United States became the first "billion-dollar country," and the fact that they almost exactly encompass Mellon's life is not coincidence. ' As a Pittsburgh banker, he financed and facilitated the massive industrial expansion of western Pennsylvania (and beyond) in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, making himself a prodigious fortune. A lifelong Republican, he became the most highly acclaimed, longest-serving, and most controversial secretary of the treasury in modern times."
Meltdown Expected: Crisis, Disorder, and Upheaval at the end of the 1970s
by Aaron J. LeonardIn January 1978, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed that “There is all across our land a growing sense of peace and a sense of common purpose.” Yet in the ensuing months, a series of crises disturbed that fragile sense of peace, ultimately setting the stage for Reagan’s decisive victory in 1980 and ushering in the final phase of the Cold War. Meltdown Expected tells the story of the power shifts from late 1978 through 1979 whose repercussions are still being felt. Iran’s revolution led to a hostage crisis while neighbouring Afghanistan became the site of a proxy war between the USSR and the US, who supplied aid to Islamic mujahideen fighters that would later form the Taliban. Meanwhile, as tragedies like the Jonestown mass suicide and the assassination of Harvey Milk captured the nation’s attention, the government quietly reasserted and expanded the FBI’s intelligence powers. Drawing from recently declassified government documents and covering everything from Three Mile Island to the rise of punk rock, Aaron J. Leonard paints a vivid portrait of a tumultuous yet pivotal time in American history.
Meltdown in Tibet: China's Reckless Destruction of Ecosystems from the Highlands of Tibet to the Deltas of Asia
by Michael BuckleyTibetans have experienced waves of genocide since the 1950s. Now they are facing ecocide. The Himalayan snowcaps are in meltdown mode, due to climate change—accelerated by a rain of black soot from massive burning of coal and other fuels in both China and India. The mighty rivers of Tibet are being dammed by Chinese engineering consortiums to feed the mainland's thirst for power, and the land is being relentlessly mined in search of minerals to feed China's industrial complex. On the drawing board are plans for a massive engineering project to divert water from Eastern Tibet to water-starved Northern China. Ruthless Chinese repression leaves Tibetans powerless to stop the reckless destruction of their sacred land, but they are not the only victims of this campaign: the nations downstream from Tibet rely heavily on rivers sourced in Tibet for water supply, and for rich silt used in agriculture. This destruction of the region's environment has been happening with little scrutiny until now. In Meltdown in Tibet, Michael Buckley turns the spotlight on the darkest side of China's emergence as a global super power.
Meltdown: A Free-market Look At Why The Stock Market Collapsed, The Economy Tanked, And Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse
by Thomas E. Woods Jr.If you are fed up with Washington boondoggles, and you like the small-government, politically-incorrect thinking of Ron Paul, then you'll love Tom Woods's Meltdown. In clear, no-nonsense terms, Woods explains what led up to this economic crisis, who's really to blame, and why government bailouts won't work. Woods will reveal:* Which brave few economists predicted the economic fallout--and why nobody listened* What really caused the collapse* Why the Fed--not taxpayers--should have to answer for the current economic crisis* Why bailouts are band-aids that will only provide temporary relief and ultimately make things worse* What we should do instead, to put our economy on a healthy path to recoveryWith a foreword from Ron Paul, Meltdown is the free-market answer to the Fed-created economic crisis. As the new Obama administration inevitably calls for more regulations, Woods argues that the only way to rebuild our economy is by returning to the fundamentals of capitalism and letting the free market work
Melting Pot or Civil War?: A Son of Immigrants Makes the Case Against Open Borders
by Reihan Salam“A clarion call to everyone who cares about the American nation and every person who calls it home.” —J.D. VANCE, author of Hillbilly ElegyWhy would a son of immigrants call for tighter restrictions on immigration? For too long, liberals have suggested that only cruel, racist, or nativist bigots would want to restrict immigration. Anyone motivated by compassion and egalitarianism would choose open, or nearly-open, borders—or so the argument goes. Now, Reihan Salam, the son of Bangladeshi immigrants, turns this argument on its head. In this deeply researched but also deeply personal book, Salam shows why uncontrolled immigration is bad for everyone, including people like his family. Our current system has intensified the isolation of our native poor, and risks ghettoizing the children of poor immigrants. It ignores the challenges posed by the declining demand for less-skilled labor, even as it exacerbates ethnic inequality and deepens our political divides. If we continue on our current course, in which immigration policy serves wealthy insiders who profit from cheap labor, and cosmopolitan extremists attack the legitimacy of borders, the rise of a new ethnic underclass is inevitable. Even more so than now, class politics will be ethnic politics, and national unity will be impossible. Salam offers a solution, if we have the courage to break with the past and craft an immigration policy that serves our long-term national interests. Rejecting both militant multiculturalism and white identity politics, he argues that limiting total immigration and favoring skilled immigrants will combat rising inequality, balance diversity with assimilation, and foster a new nationalism that puts the interests of all Americans—native-born and foreign-born—first.
Melville's Democracy: Radical Figuration and Political Form
by Jennifer GreimanFor Herman Melville, the instability of democracy held tremendous creative potential. Examining the centrality of political thought to Melville's oeuvre, Jennifer Greiman argues that Melville's densely figurative aesthetics give form to a radical reimagining of democratic foundations, relations, and ways of being—modeling how we can think democracy in political theory today. Across Melville's five decades of writing, from his early Pacific novels to his late poetry, Greiman identifies a literary formalism that is radically political and carries the project of democratic theory in new directions. Recovering Melville's readings in political philosophy and aesthetics, Greiman shows how he engaged with key problems in political theory—the paradox of foundations, the vicious circles of sovereign power, the fragility of the people—to produce a body of radical democratic art and thought. Scenes of green and growing life, circular structures, and images of a groundless world emerge as forms for understanding democracy as a collective project in flux. In Melville's experimental aesthetics, Greiman finds a significant precursor to the tradition of radical democratic theory in the US and France that emphasizes transience and creativity over the foundations and forms prized by liberalism. Such politics, she argues, are necessarily aesthetic: attuned to material and sensible distinctions, open to new forces of creativity.
Members Only: Secret Societies, Sects, and Cults — Exposed!
by Julie TibbottThroughout human history, people have banded together to pass on traditions, climb the social ladder, and often just have a good time. And sometimes, keeping other people out is part of the fun. (Every hot club needs a velvet rope, after all.) But some of these groups have proved so exclusive and secretive that we on the outside can't resist some speculation. Wouldn't you like to know what they're really up to? No need for secret handshakes or passwords—Members Only is your all-access guide to the secret societies, clandestine cults, and exclusive associations that you've always wondered about.
Members of Parliament in Western Europe: Roles and Behaviour
by Wolfgang C. Müller Thomas SaalfeldTraditional comparative studies of parliaments have focused on constitutional and organizational characteristics of parliaments, or differences in the historical contexts, in which legislative assemblies have developed. The motivations of individual Members of Parliament have been neglected. This volume provides empirical work on legislative role orientations and behaviour in six West European parliaments: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom. All contributions present a wealth of empirical findings on parliamentarians' role orientations in different institutional contexts.
Meme Wars: The Creative Destruction of Neoclassical Economics
by Kalle Lasn AdbustersFrom the editor and magazine that started and named the Occupy Wall Street movement, Meme Wars: The Creative Destruction of Neoclassical Economics is an articulation of what could be the next steps in rethinking and remaking our world that challenges and debunks many of the assumptions of neoclassical economics and brings to light a more ecological model. Meme Wars aims to accelerate the shift into this new paradigm that takes into account psychonomics, bionomics, and other aspects of our physical and mental environment that are often left out in discussions of economics. Like Adbusters, the book will be image heavy and full-color throughout. Lasn calls it "a textbook for the future" that provides the building blocks, in texts and visuals, for a new way of looking at and changing our world. Through an examination of alternative economies, Lasn hopes to spur students to become "barefoot economists" and to see that a humanization of economics is possible. Meme Wars will include contributions from Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Samuelson, George Akerlof, Lourdes Benería, Julie Matthaei, Manfred Max-Neef, David Orrell, Paul Gilding, Mathis Wackernagel and the father of ecological economics Herman Daly, among others.Based on ideas that were presented in a special issue of Adbusters entitled "Thought Control in Economics: Beyond the Growth Paradigm / An Activist Toolkit," Meme Wars will help move forward the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Memes to Movements: How the World's Most Viral Media Is Changing Social Protest and Power
by An Xiao MinaA global exploration of internet memes as agents of pop culture, politics, protest, and propaganda on- and offline, and how they will save or destroy us all.Memes are the street art of the social web. Using social media-driven movements as her guide, technologist and digital media scholar An Xiao Mina unpacks the mechanics of memes and how they operate to reinforce, amplify, and shape today's politics. She finds that the "silly" stuff of meme culture--the photo remixes, the selfies, the YouTube songs, and the pun-tastic hashtags--are fundamentally intertwined with how we find and affirm one another, direct attention to human rights and social justice issues, build narratives, and make culture. Mina finds parallels, for example, between a photo of Black Lives Matter protestors in Ferguson, Missouri, raising their hands in a gesture of resistance and one from eight thousand miles away, in Hong Kong, of Umbrella Movement activists raising yellow umbrellas as they fight for voting rights. She shows how a viral video of then presidential nominee Donald Trump laid the groundwork for pink pussyhats, a meme come to life as the widely recognized symbol for the international Women's March.Crucially, Mina reveals how, in parts of the world where public dissent is downright dangerous, memes can belie contentious political opinions that would incur drastic consequences if expressed outright. Activists in China evade censorship by critiquing their government with grass mud horse pictures online. Meanwhile, governments and hate groups are also beginning to utilize memes to spread propaganda, xenophobia, and misinformation. Botnets and state-sponsored agents spread them to confuse and distract internet communities. On the long, winding road from innocuous cat photos, internet memes have become a central practice for political contention and civic engagement.Memes to Movements unveils the transformative power of memes, for better and for worse. At a time when our movements are growing more complex and open-ended--when governments are learning to wield the internet as effectively as protestors--Mina brings a fresh and sharply innovative take to the media discourse.
Memes, History and Emotional Life (Elements in Histories of Emotions and the Senses)
by Katie Barclay Leanne DowningInternet memes are recognised for their role in creating community through shared humour or in-group cultural knowledge. One category of meme uses historical art pieces, coupled with short texts or dialogue, as a form of social commentary on both past and present. These memes often rely on a (mis)reading of the emotions of those represented in such artwork for humorous purposes. As such, they provide an important example of transhistorical engagement between contemporary society and past artifacts centred on the nature of emotion. This Element explores the historical art meme as a key cultural form that offers insight into contemporary online emotional cultures and the ways that historical emotions enable and inform the practices of such culture. It particularly attends to humour as a mode which helps to mediate the disjuncture between past and present emotion and which enables historical emotion to 'do' political and community-building work amongst meme users.
Memetic War: Online Resistance in Ukraine (Routledge Studies in Crime and Society)
by Tine MunkMemetic War analyses memetic warfare included in cyber war and aims to develop a framework for understanding the parameters included in utilising this concept in Ukraine as a part of civic resistance.In the Ukrainian war, an informal defence tactic has developed to uphold the information flow about the war and to debunk Russia’s communications. The war has enhanced the visibility of governmental and civic activation by using the advantages of social media architecture, networks, and communication forms. The book investigates Ukraine’s public and private abilities to develop cyber capabilities to counter propaganda and dis-and-misinformation online as a defence mechanism. This book uses military ROC doctrine to understand government authorities, the armed forces, and civic engagement in the Ukrainian resistance.Memetic War will have relevance for scholars, researchers, and academics in the cybersecurity field, practitioners, governmental actors, and military and strategic personnel.