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The Workers' Festival
by Steve Penfold Craig HeronFor most Canadians today, Labour Day is the last gasp of summer fun: the final long weekend before returning to the everyday routine of work or school. But over its century-long history, there was much more to the September holiday than just having a day off.In The Workers' Festival, Craig Heron and Steve Penfold examine the complicated history of Labour Day from its origins as a spectacle of skilled workers in the 1880s through its declaration as a national statutory holiday in 1894 to its reinvention through the twentieth century. The holiday's inventors hoped to blend labour solidarity, community celebration, and increased leisure time by organizing parades, picnics, speeches, and other forms of respectable leisure. As the holiday has evolved, so too have the rituals, with trade unionists embracing new forms of parading, negotiating, and bargaining, and other social groups re-shaping it and making it their own. Heron and Penfold also examine how Labour Day's monopoly as the workers' holiday has been challenged since its founding, with alternative festivals arising such as May Day and International Women's Day.The Workers' Festival ranges widely into many key themes of labour history - union politics and rivalries, radical movements, religion (Catholic and Protestant), race and gender, and consumerism/leisure - as well as cultural history - public celebration/urban procession, urban space and communication, and popular culture. From St. John's to Victoria, the authors follow the century-long development of the holiday in all its varied forms.
The Workfare State: Public Assistance Politics from the New Deal to the New Democrats (American Governance: Politics, Policy, and Public Law)
by Eva BertramIn the Great Recession of 2007-2009, the United States suffered the most sustained and extensive wave of job destruction since the Great Depression. When families in need sought help from the safety net, however, they found themselves trapped in a system that increasingly tied public assistance to private employment. In The Workfare State, Eva Bertram recounts the compelling history of the evolving social contract from the New Deal to the present to show how a need-based entitlement was replaced with a work-conditioned safety net, heightening the economic vulnerability of many poor families.The Workfare State challenges the conventional understanding of the development of modern public assistance policy. New Deal and Great Society Democrats expanded federal assistance from the 1930s to the 1960s, according to the standard account. After the 1980 election, the tide turned and Republicans ushered in a new conservative era in welfare politics. Bertram argues that the decisive political struggles took place in the 1960s and 1970s, when Southern Democrats in Congress sought to redefine the purposes of public assistance in ways that would preserve their region's political, economic, and racial order. She tells the story of how the South—the region with the nation's highest levels of poverty and inequality and least generous social welfare policies—won the fight to rewrite America's antipoverty policy in the decades between the Great Society and the 1996 welfare reform. Their successes provided the foundation for leaders in both parties to build the contemporary workfare state—just as deindustrialization and global economic competition made low-wage jobs less effective at providing income security and mobility.
The Workhouse: The People, the Places, the Life Behind Doors
by Simon Fowler&“A poignant account&” of the reality behind these famous Victorian institutions where the poor resided (The Independent). During the nineteenth century, the workhouse cast a shadow over the lives of the English poor. The destitute and the desperate sought refuge within its forbidding walls. And it was an ever-present threat if poor families failed to look after themselves properly. In this fully updated and revised edition of his bestselling book, Simon Fowler takes a fresh look at the institution that most of us are familiar with only from Dickens novels or films, and the people who sought help from it. He looks at how the system of the Poor Law of which the workhouse was a key part was organized, and the men and women who ran the workhouses or were employed to care for the inmates. But above all this is the moving story of the tens of thousands of children, men, women and the elderly who were forced to endure grim conditions to survive in an unfeeling world. &“Draws powerfully on letters from The National Archives ... brings out the horror, but it is fair-minded to those struggling to be humane within an inhumane system.&”—The Independent &“A good introduction.&”—The Guardian
The Working Class Majority
by Michael ZweigIn this memoir of the Hudson River and of her family, Susan Fox Rogers writes from a fresh perspective: the seat of her kayak. Low in the water, she explores the bays and the larger estuary, riding the tides, marveling over sturgeons and eels, eagles and herons, and spotting the remains of the ice and cement industries. After years of dipping her paddle into the waters off the village of Tivoli, she came to know the rocks and tree limbs, currents and eddies, mansions and islands so well that she claimed that section of the river as her own: her reach. Woven into Rogers's intimate exploration of the river is the story of her life as a woman in the outdoors¿rock climbing and hiking as well as kayaking. Rogers writes of the Hudson River with skill and vivacity. Her strong sense of place informs her engagement with a waterway that lured the early Dutch settlers, entranced nineteenth-century painters, and has been marked by decades of pollution. The river and the communities along its banks become partners in Rogers's life and vivid characters in her memoir. Her travels on the river range from short excursions to the Saugerties Lighthouse to a days-long journey from Tivoli to Tarrytown and a circumnavigation of Manhattan Island, while in memory she ventures as far as the Indiana Dunes and the French Pyrenees. In a fluid, engaging voice, My Reach mixes the genres of memoir, outdoor adventure, natural and unnatural history. Rogers's interest in the flora and fauna of the river is as keen as her insight into the people who live and travel along the waterway. She integrates moments of description and environmental context with her own process of grieving the recent deaths of both parents. The result is a book that not only moves the reader but also informs and entertains.
The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism
by Henry OlsenIn this sure to be controversial book in the vein of The Forgotten Man, a political analyst argues that conservative icon Ronald Reagan was not an enemy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the New Deal, but his true heir and the popular program’s ultimate savior.Conventional political wisdom views the two most consequential presidents of the twentieth-century—FDR and Ronald Reagan—as ideological opposites. FDR is hailed as the champion of big-government progressivism manifested in the New Deal. Reagan is seen as the crusader for conservatism dedicated to small government and free markets. But Henry Olsen argues that this assumption is wrong.In Ronald Reagan: New Deal Republican, Olsen contends that the historical record clearly shows that Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal itself were more conservative than either Democrats or Republicans believe, and that Ronald Reagan was more progressive than most contemporary Republicans understand. Olsen cuts through political mythology to set the record straight, revealing how Reagan—a longtime Democrat until FDR’s successors lost his vision in the 1960s—saw himself as FDR’s natural heir, carrying forward the basic promises of the New Deal: that every American deserves comfort, dignity, and respect provided they work to the best of their ability. Olsen corrects faulty assumptions driving today’s politics. Conservative Republican political victories over the last thirty years have not been a rejection of the New Deal’s promises, he demonstrates, but rather a representation of the electorate’s desire for their success—which Americans see as fulfilling the vision of the nation’s founding. For the good of all citizens and the GOP, he implores Republicans to once again become a party of "FDR Conservatives"—to rediscover and support the basic elements of FDR (and Reagan’s) vision.
The Working Class and the Transformation of Learning: The Fraud of Education Reform Under Capitalism
by Jack Barnes"Schools under capitalism are not institutions of learning but of social control, aimed at reproducing the class relations and privileges of the prevailing order," Jack Barnes explains. "Until society is reorganized so that education is a human activity from the time we are very young until the time we die, there will be no education worthy of working, creating humanity. That is the historical truth".
The Working Class from Marx to Our Times (Marx, Engels, and Marxisms)
by Marcelo Badaró MattosThis book reviews Marx's contributions to the debate on the working class. The first part of the work presents the synthesis of the main contributions of Marx and Engels (and 20th century Marxist writers) to the understanding of social classes, the class struggle, and the working class. The remaining parts present exercises of dialogue between Marx's and Marxists’ discussions on the working class, presented in the first part, and empirical elements of class reality today, as well as debates in the social sciences and historiography on the same issues. The thesis defended in the book is simple: the "working class,” also called the "proletariat,” as it appears in the work of Karl Marx, had and has validity as an analytical category for the understanding of social life under capitalism. Nevertheless, Marx’s discussion on the issue is complex and the category “working class” in his approach is wider than many Marxists have presented it.
The Working Class in Weimar Germany: A Psychological and Sociological Study
by Erich Fromm&“The analysis unveils a sociotypology of [the working class] on the eve of the Third Reich, its potential for resistance as well as seduction.&” —Political Psychology Building upon Fromm&’s 1929 lecture &“The Application of Psycho-Analysis to Sociology and Religious Knowledge,&” in which he outlined the basis for a rudimentary but far-reaching attempt at the integration of Freudian psychology with Marxist social theory, this study is an attempt to obtain evidence about the systemic connections between &“psychic make-up&” and social development. Originally an investigation of the social and psychological attitudes of two large groups in Weimar Germany, manual and white-collar workers, a questionnaire was developed to collect data about their opinions, lifestyles, and attitudes—from what books they read and their thoughts on women&’s work to their opinions about the German legal system and the actual distribution of power in the state.The Working Class in Weimar Germany can ultimately help us understand the establishment of fascism after 1933—that despite all the electoral successes of the Weimar Left, its members were not in the position, owning to their character structure, to prevent the victory of National Socialism.
The Working Classes and Higher Education: Inequality of Access, Opportunity and Outcome (Routledge Research in Higher Education #20)
by Amy E. Stich Carrie FreieWithin the broader context of the global knowledge economy, wherein the "college-for-all" discourse grows more and more pervasive and systems of higher education become increasingly stratified by social class, important and timely questions emerge regarding the future social location and mobility of the working classes. Though the working classes look very different from the working classes of previous generations, the weight of a universal working-class identity/background amounts to much of the same economic vulnerability and negative cultural stereotypes, all of which continue to present obstacles for new generations of working-class youth, many of whom pursue higher education as a necessity rather than a "choice." Using a sociological lens, contributors examine the complicated relationship between the working classes and higher education through students’ distinct experiences, challenges, and triumphs during three moments on a transitional continuum: the transition from secondary to higher education; experiences within higher education; and the transition from higher education to the workforce. In doing so, this volume challenges the popular notion of higher education as a means to equality of opportunity and social mobility for working-class students.
The Working Poor: Invisible in America
by David K. ShiplerFrom the author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Arab and Jew, an intimate portrait unfolds of working American families struggling against insurmountable odds to escape poverty.As David K. Shipler makes clear in this powerful, humane study, the invisible poor are engaged in the activity most respected in American ideology—hard, honest work. But their version of the American Dream is a nightmare: low-paying, dead-end jobs; the profound failure of government to improve upon decaying housing, health care, and education; the failure of families to break the patterns of child abuse and substance abuse. Shipler exposes the interlocking problems by taking us into the sorrowful, infuriating, courageous lives of the poor—white and black, Asian and Latino, citizens and immigrants. We encounter them every day, for they do jobs essential to the American economy. This impassioned book not only dissects the problems, but makes pointed, informed recommendations for change. It is a book that stands to make a difference.
The Working Sovereign: Labour and Democratic Citizenship
by Axel HonnethWhat role does the organisation of labour relations play in the health of a democratic society? Axel Honneth’s major new work is devoted to answering this question. His central thesis is that participation in democratic will formation can only proceed from a transparent and fairly regulated division of labour.The social world of work – where we spend so much of our time – is almost unique in being a space in which we have experiences and learn lessons that we can use to influence the attitudes of a political community. Therefore, by shaping working conditions in a particular way, we have a prime opportunity to foster cooperative forms of behaviour that benefit democracy, both by making mental room for these to flourish and by using the workplace as a rehearsal for democratic interaction in wider society.A job cannot be so tiring that a worker cannot think about political events; a job cannot pay so little that one cannot engage in political activity in his or her free time; a job cannot demand subordination which inhibits deserved criticism of one’s superiors: economic independence, intellectual and physical autonomy, reduction of strain and crushing boredom, sufficient free time, self-respect and the confidence to speak up, and the chance to practice democratic interaction are all things which we must encourage in order to unblock access to democratic participation. Honneth argues that the reality of labour today increasingly undermines this participation – and he sets out the conditions necessary for a reversal of this injustice.Tracking the development of labour conditions since the birth of capitalism, this important book engages with a vital topic that has been neglected in democratic theory. It will be of great interest to students and scholars in philosophy, sociology, politics and the humanities and social sciences generally.
The Working of the Indian Constitution
by Arghya Sengupta and Omita GoyalThe Indian Constitution has held the country together for 75 years now. This volume demonstrates the Constitution is not a static document and has seen several amendments and interpretations over the years. It delves into how the document has worked for the people since its adoption — its strengths and weaknesses, its many interpretations, how it has influenced and shaped our collectives over time and in turn been shaped by the people.The Indian Constitution clearly vests power in the hands of its people. This volume critically examines how the longest written national Constitution is made successful by people who take its spirit to heart and let it inform their activities, and how like anywhere in the world, it is a work in progress. It covers a range of debates on issues such as individual freedom (of expression, of association, freedom to lead lives of dignity, etc.), liberty (freedom from oppression), the right to life, right to equality, justice, among several others. The book contains essays by judges, lawyers and academics who describe the journey of the Constitution through doctrine, case-law, and comparative analyses with other countries. At the same time, it also contains essays by doctors, politicians, activists, bureaucrats, and a number of methodologically diverse essays by a host of demographically diverse writers.The volume will be an indispensable read for scholars and researchers of legal studies, political scientists, governance, public policy, modern history, and South Asia studies. It will also be of immense interest to political scientists, political theorists, legal scholars, historians, lawyers, and general readers interested in the history of the Indian Constitution.
The Workings of Human Rights, Law and Justice: A Journey from Nepal to Nobel Nominee (Routledge Research in Human Rights Law)
by Surya P. Subedi, QCDrawing on the personal experience of a leading international jurist, this book provides insights into the workings of international law and human rights from a global perspective that transcends the traditional divide between the West and the East, and the Global South and Global North. The work follows the author’s remarkable journey from a simple village in Nepal to becoming an international jurist acclaimed for his innovative academic and influential practical legal work and nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. It offers insights into the powers bearing on international policymaking, the dynamics of human rights negotiations with governments, and the effects of their outcomes on the lives of their citizens. While much has been written on international human rights law, this inspirational memoir casts a new light on the working of human rights, law, and justice through the eyes of a leading actor. It provides a valuable contribution to the study of justice and human rights and the importance of individual action. As such, the book presents an accessible source for current debates around the development and effectiveness of international law and human rights and practices for decolonising these debates. The book will provide inspiration and practical guidance for students, academics, international lawyers, jurists, and human rights advocates.
The Workplace of the Future: The Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Precariat and the Death of Hierarchies (Routledge Studies in the Economics of Innovation)
by Jon-Arild JohannessenThe Fourth Industrial Revolution is a global development that shows no signs of slowing down. In his book, The Workplace of the Future: The Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Precariat and the Death of Hierarchies, Jon-Arild Johannessen sets a chilling vision of how robots and artificial intelligence will completely disrupt and transform working life. The author contests that once the dust has settled from the Fourth Industrial Revolution, workplaces and professions will be unrecognizable and we will see the rise of a new social class: the precariat. We will live side by side with the 'working poor' – people who have several jobs, but still can’t make ends meet. There will be a small salaried elite consisting of innovation and knowledge workers. Slightly further into the future, there will be a major transformation in professional environments. Johannessen also presents a typology for the precariat, the uncertain work that is created and develops a framework for the working poor, as well as for future innovation and knowledge workers, and sets out a new structure for the social hierarchy. A fascinating and thought-provoking insight into the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, The Workplace of the Future will be of interest to professionals and academics alike. The book is particularly suited to academic courses in management, economy, political science and social sciences.
The Works: Anatomy Of A City
by Kate Ascher Wendy Marech Alexander Isley IncA fascinating guided tour of the ways things work in a modern city Have you ever wondered how the water in your faucet gets there? Where your garbage goes? What the pipes under city streets do? How bananas from Ecuador get to your local market? Why radiators in apartment buildings clang? Using New York City as its point of reference, The Works takes readers down manholes and behind the scenes to explain exactly how an urban infrastructure operates. Deftly weaving text and graphics, author Kate Ascher explores the systems that manage water, traffic, sewage and garbage, subways, electricity, mail, and much more. Full of fascinating facts and anecdotes, The Works gives readers a unique glimpse at what lies behind and beneath urban life in the twenty-first century.
The Workshop of Democracy, 1863–1932 (The American Experiment #2)
by James MacGregor BurnsThe second volume of Burns&’s acclaimed history of America, from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of the Great Depression Abraham Lincoln&’s Gettysburg Address pointed to a new way to preserve an old hope—that democracy might prove a vibrant and lasting form of government for people of different races, religions, and aspirations. The scars of the Civil War would not soon heal, but with that one short speech, the president held out the possibility that such a nation might not simply survive, but flourish. The Workshop of Democracy explores more than a half-century of dramatic growth and transformation of the American landscape, through the addition of dozens of new states, the shattering tragedy of the First World War, the explosion of industry, and, in the end, the emergence of the United States as an new global power.
The World According To Al Gore: An A-To-Z Compilation of His Opinions, Positions, and Public Statements
by Joseph KaufmannFor many years Al Gore has been an influential figure in national politics. He may soon become even more significant to the United States and the world.We've gotten to know him via thousands of sound bites and images. For the first time, a cohesive and substantive representation of this man is available. In The World According to Al Gore, the vice president's opinions and statements on a broad spectrum of important topics are assembled in one volume.Here is Al Gore in his own words. This easily accessible, user-friendly volume is presented in an A-to-Z format and contains excerpts from hundreds of speeches, debates, and interviews. These passages span his national political career and give the reader an understanding of Gore's ideas, motivations, and priorities, and the way they have evolved over the last two decades. Read Gore on the environment, family values, drugs, campaign finance, education, parenting, foreign policy, the Internet, and much more.The World According to Al Gore provides insight into Gore the man, the father, the activist, and the politician.
The World According to China
by Elizabeth C. EconomyAn economic and military superpower with 20 percent of the world’s population, China has the wherewithal to transform the international system. Xi Jinping’s bold calls for China to “lead in the reform of the global governance system” suggest that he has just such an ambition. But how does he plan to realize it? And what does it mean for the rest of the world? In this compelling book, Elizabeth Economy reveals China’s ambitious new strategy to reclaim the country’s past glory and reshape the geostrategic landscape in dramatic new ways. Xi’s vision is one of Chinese centrality on the global stage, in which the mainland has realized its sovereignty claims over Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the South China Sea, deepened its global political, economic, and security reach through its grand-scale Belt and Road Initiative, and used its leadership in the United Nations and other institutions to align international norms and values, particularly around human rights, with those of China. It is a world radically different from that of today. The international community needs to understand and respond to the great risks, as well as the potential opportunities, of a world rebuilt by China.
The World According to Clarkson: The World According to Clarkson Volume 1 (The World According to Clarkson #1)
by Jeremy ClarksonJeremy Clarkson, shares his opinions on just about everything in The World According to Clarkson. Jeremy Clarkson has seen rather more of the world than most. He has, as they say, been around a bit. And as a result, he's got one or two things to tell us about how it all works - and being Jeremy Clarkson he's not about to voice them quietly, humbly and without great dollops of humour. In The World According to Clarkson, he reveals why it is that:• Too much science is bad for our health• '70s rock music is nothing to be ashamed of• Hunting foxes while drunk and wearing night-sights is neither big nor clever• We must work harder to get rid of cricket• He liked the Germans (well, sometimes)With a strong dose of common sense that is rarely, if ever, found inside the M25, Clarkson hilariously attacks the pompous, the ridiculous, the absurd and the downright idiotic, whilst also celebrating the eccentric, the clever and the sheer bloody brilliant. Less a manifesto for living and more a road map to modern life, The World According to Clarkson is the funniest book you'll read this year. Don't leave home without it.The World According to Clarkson is a hilarious collection of Jeremy's Sunday Times columns and the first in his The World According to Clarkson series which also includes And Another Thing . . . , For Crying Out Loud! and How Hard Can It Be?Praise for Jeremy Clarkson:'Brilliant . . . laugh-out-loud' Daily Telegraph'Outrageously funny . . . will have you in stitches' Time OutNumber-one bestseller and presenter of the hugely popular Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson writes on cars, current affairs and anything else that annoys him in his sharp and funny collections. Born To Be Riled, Clarkson On Cars, Don't Stop Me Now, Driven To Distraction, Round the Bend, Motorworld, and I Know You Got Soul are also available as Penguin paperbacks; the Penguin App iClarkson: The Book of Carscan be downloaded on the App Store.
The World According to Gore: The Incredible Vision of the Man Who Should Be President
by Bill KatovskyFrom election "loser," to bearded recluse, to dynamic Oscar, Emmy, and Nobel Prize winner: Al Gore has come a long way since 2000, and he has chronicled his up-and-down post-Washington journey in books, editorials, speeches, and interviews. In The World According to Gore, Bill Katovsky collects the best of the former vice president's writings and sayings, and gives us a picture of the new Al Gore that is more revealing and up-to-date than any other. Gore speaks out-on the environment, that election, the Bush presidency, and the next election. The World According to Gore shows that Gore is still our foremost prophet on the climate crisis, technology, and the war on terror, and more, and that he will have a major impact the 2008 presidential election-whether he decides to run or not.
The World According to Monsanto: Pollution, Corruption, and the Control of Our Food Supply
by Marie-Monique RobinAn investigation of the massive agribusiness company, from a winner of the Rachel Carson Prize: &“Well supported by wide-ranging scientific evidence.&” —Kirkus Reviews The result of a remarkable three-year-long investigation that took award-winning journalist and documentary filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin across four continents, The World According to Monsanto tells the little-known yet shocking story of this agribusiness giant—the world&’s leading producer of GMOs (genetically modified organisms)—and how its new &“green&” face is no less malign than its PCB- and Agent Orange–soaked past. Robin reports that, following its long history of manufacturing hazardous chemicals and lethal herbicides, Monsanto is now marketing itself as a &“life sciences&” company, seemingly convinced about the virtues of sustainable development. However, Monsanto now controls the majority of the yield of the world&’s genetically modified corn and soy—ingredients found in more than 95 percent of American households—and its alarming legal and political tactics to maintain this monopoly are the subject of worldwide concern. Released alongside the documentary film of the same name, The World According to Monsanto is sure to change the way we think about food safety and the corporate control of our food supply.
The World After COVID: The Munk Dialogues on a Pandemic (The Munk Debates)
by Rudyard GriffithsFrom the world-renowned Munk Debates comes a collection of dialogues by leading intellectuals envisioning our post-pandemic future. During this time of social distancing, the acclaimed Munk Debates series have been reimagined into a series of dialogues by leading intellectuals who examine the geopolitical, economic, technological, and historical angles of this unprecedented new era. How will the world look after COVID-19? What is the future for the international economy and institutions? Will the global balance of power shift? Can technology save us? These are the questions that have occupied the best minds since the beginning of the pandemic. In a series of one-on-one conversations with moderator Rudyard Griffiths, renowned author Malcolm Gladwell, journalist Fareed Zakaria, and New York Times columnist David Brooks, along with six other thinkers, dissect what brought us here and what comes next.
The World After Gaza: A History
by Pankaj Mishra"Courageous and bracing, learned and ethical, rigorous and mind-expanding.&” —Naomi Klein&“This profoundly important and urgent book finds Mishra, one of our most intellectually astute and courageous writers, at the peak of his powers.&” —Hisham Matar&“A triumphant work of empathy in a polarizing conflict.&” —Anand GiridharadasNamed a Best Book of the Month by TIME • Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2025 by The Guardian, Bustle, Foreign Policy, and Literary Hub From one of our foremost public intellectuals, an essential reckoning with the war in Gaza that reframes our understanding of the ongoing conflict, its historical roots, and the fractured global responseThe postwar global order was in many ways shaped in response to the Holocaust. That event became the benchmark for atrocity, and, in the Western imagination, the paradigmatic genocide. Its memory orients so much of our thinking, and crucially, forms the basic justification for Israel&’s right first to establish itself and then to defend itself. But in many parts of the world, ravaged by other conflicts and experiences of mass slaughter, the Holocaust&’s singularity is not always taken for granted, even when its hideous atrocity is. Outside of the West, Pankaj Mishra argues, the dominant story of the twentieth century is that of decolonization. The World After Gaza takes the current war, and the polarized reaction to it, as the starting point for a broad reevaluation of two competing narratives of the last century: the Global North&’s triumphant account of victory over totalitarianism and the spread of liberal capitalism, and the Global South&’s hopeful vision of racial equality and freedom from colonial rule. At a moment when the world&’s balance of power is shifting, and the Global North no longer commands ultimate authority, it is critically important that we understand how and why the two halves of the world are failing to talk to each other. As old touchstones and landmarks crumble, only a new history with a sharply different emphasis can reorient us to the world and worldviews now emerging into the light. In this concise, powerful, and pointed treatise, Mishra reckons with the fundamental questions posed by our present crisis — about whether some lives matter more than others, how identity is constructed, and what the role of the nation-state ought to be. The World After Gaza is an indispensable moral guide to our past, present, and future.
The World After the War: America Confronts the British Superpower, 1945–1957
by Derek LeebaertOne of the great myths of the twentieth century is that after the Second World War Britain simply relinquished its power and America quickly embraced its worldwide political and military commitments. Instead the two allies improvised an uneasy, shifting partnership for twelve long years while most of western Europe lay in turmoil and Russia grew more aggressive. But in 1957 Washington issued a &‘declaration of independence&’ from British authority. It was then that everything changed, and America assumed leadership of the new world order just taking shape. Derek Leebaert spins a riveting global narrative of Britain as the original superpower and shows why the Americans kept believing it to be indispensable. It&’s the story of secret ties, diplomatic quarrels and military interventions that casts political giants Churchill, Truman, Eisenhower and Johnson in a new light. In a volatile world of decolonisation, a uniting Europe and the Suez Crisis, shrewd men in London were leveraging the empire&’s long-established resources and influence to maintain their grip on power. The enduring notion of a special relationship, rising tensions with Russia and China, and the sources of much of the world&’s turmoil can&’t be understood without knowing what really occurred.
The World America Made: The Munk Debate On America Foreign Policy (Munk Debates)
by Robert KaganWhat would the world look like if America were to reduce its role as a global leader in order to focus all its energies on solving its problems at home? And is America really in decline? Robert Kagan, New York Times best-selling author and one of the country's most influential strategic thinkers, paints a vivid, alarming picture of what the world might look like if the United States were truly to let its influence wane. Although Kagan asserts that much of the current pessimism is misplaced, he warns that if America were indeed to commit "preemptive superpower suicide," the world would see the return of war among rising nations as they jostle for power; the retreat of democracy around the world as Vladimir Putin's Russia and authoritarian China acquire more clout; and the weakening of the global free-market economy, which the United States created and has supported for more than sixty years. We've seen this before--in the breakdown of the Roman Empire and the collapse of the European order in World War I. Potent, incisive, and engaging, The World America Made is a reminder that the American world order is worth preserving, and America dare not decline.