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What is Christian Democracy?: Politics, Religion and Ideology
by Carlo Invernizzi AccettiChristian Democratic actors and thinkers have been at the forefront of many of the twentieth century's key political battles - from the construction of the international human rights regime, through the process of European integration and the creation of postwar welfare regimes, to Latin American development policies during the Cold War. Yet their core ideas remain largely unknown, especially in the English-speaking world. Combining conceptual and historical approaches, Carlo Invernizzi Accetti traces the development of this ideology in the thought and writings of some of its key intellectual and political exponents, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. In so doing he sheds light on a number of important contemporary issues, from the question of the appropriate place of religion in presumptively 'secular' liberal-democratic regimes, to the normative resources available for building a political response to the recent rise of far-right populism.
What is Citizenship?
by Derek HeaterStructured analytically, the book introduces the reader to all the facets of citizenship.
What is Colonialism?
by Patrick Colm HoganWhat is Colonialism? develops a clear and rigorous account of what colonialism is and how it works. It draws on and synthesizes recent work in cognitive science, affective science, and social psychology, along with Marxism and related forms of analysis. Hogan begins with some fundamental conceptual distinctions, such as the degree to which a group shares beliefs, dispositions, and skills versus the degree to which they share identification with a category. Building on these distinctions, he defines colonialism in terms of political, economic, and cultural autonomy, clarifying the nature of culture and autonomy particularly. He goes on to articulate an invaluable systematic account of the varieties of colonialism. The final chapters outline the motives of imperialists, differentiating these from their ideological rationalizations, and sketching the harms caused by colonialism. The book concludes by considering when, or if, one can achieve a genuinely postcolonial condition. Hogan illustrates these analyses by examining influential literary works—by European writers (such as Joseph Conrad) and by non-Europeans (such as Athol Fugard, Kamala Markandaya, and Wole Soyinka). This accessible and informative volume is the ideal resource for students and scholars interested in colonialism and empire.
What Is Congress? (What Was?)
by Jill Abramson Who HQWhether Congress is in session or not, here is an enthralling overview about the branch of our government closest to average Americans.Best-selling adult author and the first woman to become executive editor of The New York Times, Jill Abramson is a self-confessed political junkie. Now she has written the book she wishes she'd had as a young reader. Explaining clearly and concisely what exactly Congress does, this book is peppered with fascinating stories, including the bloody beating in the Senate of a lawmaker in pre-Civil War days, the Watergate hearings, and Senator Joe McCarthy's shameful "witch hunt" of Communists. Kids may start considering a career in Congress themselves when they learn fun facts, such as the special "candy desk" in the Senate, and the fact that all lawmakers can bring their dogs to work!With 80 fun black-and-white illustrations and an engaging 16-page photo insert, readers will be excited to read this latest additon to this #1 New York Times Best-Selling series.
What is Conservatism?
by Frank S MeyerWhat Is Conservatism? (1964) is a conservative classic--as relevant today as it was half a century ago. Just what is conservatism? Many people are groping for answers, especially as conservatives seem to be retreating into factions--Tea Partiers, traditionalists, libertarians, social conservatives, neoconservatives, and so on. But this illuminating book shows what unites conservatives even as it explores conservatism's rich internal debate. Edited by Frank S. Meyer, who popularized the idea of "fusionism" that became the basis for modern American conservatism, What Is Conservatism? features brilliant essays by twelve leading conservative thinkers and spokesmen, including: * F. A. Hayek, Nobel Prize-winning economist and author of The Road to Serfdom * William F. Buckley Jr., founder of National Review and the man perhaps most responsible for the rise of the modern conservative movement * Russell Kirk, whose seminal book The Conservative Mind gave the conservative movement its name * M. Stanton Evans, author of the conservative movement's central credo, the "Sharon Statement" (1960) In a foreword to this new edition, #1 New York Times bestselling author and National Review contributing editor Jonah Goldberg explains the profound influence of What Is Conservatism? on conservative thought and the book's relevance today.
What Is Cosmopolitical Design? Design, Nature and the Built Environment: Design, Nature And The Built Environment
by Albena Yaneva Alejandro Zaera-PoloThe scale of ecological crises made us realize that every kind of politics has always been cosmopolitics, politics of a cosmos. Cosmos embraces everything, including the multifarious natural and material entities that make humans act. The book examines cosmopolitics in its relation to design practice. Abandoning the modernist idea of nature as being external to the human experience - a nature that can be mastered by engineers and scientists from outside, the cosmpolitical thinking offers designers to embark in an active process of manipulating and reworking nature ’from within.’ To engage in cosmopolitics, this book argues, means to redesign, create, instigate, and compose every single feature of our common experience. In the light of this new understanding of nature, we set the questions: What is the role of design if nature is no longer salient enough to provide a background for human activities? How can we foster designers’ own force and make present what causes designers to think, feel, and act? How do designers make explicit the connection of humans to a variety of entities with different ontology: rivers, species, particles, materials and forces? How do they redefine political order by bringing together stars, prions and people? In effect, how should we understand design practice in its relation to the material and the living world? In this volume, anthropologists, science studies scholars, political scientists and sociologists rethink together the meaning of cosmopolitics for design. At the same time designers, architects and artists engage with the cosmopolitical question in trying to imagine the future of architectural and urban design. The book contains original empirical chapters and a number of revealing interviews with artists and designers whose practices set examples of ’cosmopolitically correct design’.
What Is Counterterrorism For? (What Is It For?)
by Leonie JacksonTerrorism will always be frontpage news – counterterrorism is often discussed as an afterthought, yet it is vitally important to understand what is done in the name of our safety. Since 9/11, there has been a huge ramping up of the state’s special powers in the name of security, such as indefinite detention, the assassination of suspected terrorists, the use of extraordinary rendition, torture, and changes to due process. However, these powers are often shadowy, they are rarely rolled back, and they can be counterproductive. This book focuses on understanding the costs of counterterrorism and asking how they can be reduced; global in scope, it looks not just at Western liberal democracies, but at numerous examples from across the world.
What Is Cultural Criticism?
by Stefan Collini Francis MulhernTwo leading critics grapple with problems of literature, politics and intellectual practiceIn What Is Cultural Criticism?, two leading critics grapple with problems of literature, politics and intellectual practice. The debate opens with Francis Mulhern&’s account of what he terms &‘metacultural discourse&’. This embraces two opposing critical traditions, the elite pessimism of Kulturkritik and the populist enthusiasms of Cultural Studies. Each in its own way dissolves politics into culture, Mulhern argues. Collini, on the other hand, protests that cultural criticism provides resources for genuine critical engagement with contemporary society. Tension between culture and politics there may be, but it works productively in both directions.This widely noticed encounter is that rare thing, a sustained debate in which, as Collini remarks, the protagonists not only exchange shots but also ideas. It concludes with Mulhern&’s engagement with Collini&’s writing on the subordination of universities to metrics and bureaucracy, and a companion rejoinder from Collini on Mulhern&’s study of the &‘condition of culture novel&’ and his essays on questions of nationality and the politics of intellectuals.
What Is Cybersecurity For? (What Is It For?)
by Tim StevensHow will protecting our digital infrastructure shape our future? Cybersecurity is one of the key practical and political challenges of our time. It is at the heart of how modern societies survive and thrive, yet public understanding is still rudimentary: media portrayals of hoodie-wearing hackers accessing the Pentagon don’t convey its complexity or significance to contemporary life. This book addresses this gap, showing that the political dimension is as important as the technological one. It accessibly explains the complexities of global information systems, the challenges of providing security to users, societies, states and the international system, and the multitude of competing players and ambitions in this arena. Making the case for understanding it not only as a technical project, but as a crucial political one that links competing visions of what cybersecurity is for, it tackles the ultimate question: how can we do it better?
What Is Democracy?
by Alain TouraineIn this sequel to A Critique of Modernity, Alain Touraine questions the social and cultural content of democracy today. At a time when state power is being increasingly eroded by the economic might of transnational capital, what possible value can we ascribe to a democratic idea that is defined merely as a set of guarantees against the totalitarian state?If democracy is to survive in the postcommunist world, Touraine argues, it must accomplish two urgent goals: It must somehow protect the power of the nation-state at the same time as it limits that power (for only the state has sufficient means to counterbalance the global corporate wielders of money and information); and it must reconcile social diversity with social unity and individual liberty with integration.This is not merely a philosophical problem but a dilemma whose resolution will dramatically affect the immediate future of people everywhere. If we want a resolution in democracy's favor, then it is time, in Touraine's view, for us to redefine democracy in terms of active intervention rather than mere passive institution. To preserve the power and effectiveness of our states and societies, we must make visible strides?and soon?away from a politics of particularity and toward the integration and balancing of women and minorities, of immigrants, of rich and poor. If our states become too weakened, too debased by the politics of competing identities and interest groups, we will one day find ourselves without the means to protect the very values we believe we are fighting to uphold.
What Is Democracy and How Do We Study It?
by Cameron D. Anderson Laura B. StephensonThere are many different ways to do political science research. This book takes a core question that motivates research in political science – what is democracy? – and presents, in a single volume, original research demonstrating a variety of approaches to studying it. The approaches and related methods covered by the chapters in this book include normative political theory, positivist quantitative analysis, behaviouralism, critical theory, post-structuralism, historical institutionalism, process tracing, case studies, and literature reviews. Readers are confronted with the different assumptions that researchers make when entering the research process and can compare and contrast the many different ways that a single question can be studied . This book will be enlightening for students of democracy as well as those interested in research design and methodological approaches.
What is Economic Development?: A Comparative Performance of Indian States
by Amit S. Ray Manmohan Agarwal M. ParameswaranDevelopment performance is not merely economic growth and prosperity, but includes a multitude of goals. This monograph makes an attempt to conceptualize development, consisting of eight dimensions – material prosperity, education, health, economic security, personal security, environmental conditions, political voice and social connections. The authors implement this multidimensional concept to design not only an overall index of development (DI) for Indian states but also three sub indices, human development (HD), security (SEC) and voice and confidence (VC), that broadly represent three distinct aspects of development. The results clearly show that state level performances vary considerably across the various dimensions of development. No state does uniformly well or badly across all levels, thereby exposing the fallacy of branding the development experience of a particular state as ideal based on its achievement on some aspects of development. Since good performance in one dimension does not ensure doing well on other dimensions too, it would be inappropriate to ignore the performances on the three sub-indices and the eight dimensions. Recognition of such diversity of performance is particularly important in a federal structure, like India, where different states may have different development priorities. This study will enable states to reflect on whether they have been performing according to their priorities and if not, they may choose to tweak their policies or their development strategies. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
What is Education for?: The View of the Great Thinkers and Their Relevance Today
by Nicholas TateDr Nicholas Tate looks at the philosophies of 10 great thinkers from history and explains how their ideas put current education issues into a new perspective, while suggesting additional ones to be addressed. The aim is to show how engaging with interesting past minds can both help put current issues in a new perspective and suggest additional ones to be addressed.
What is Education for?: The View of the Great Thinkers and Their Relevance Today
by Nicholas TateDr Nicholas Tate looks at the philosophies of 10 great thinkers from history and explains how their ideas put current education issues into a new perspective, while suggesting additional ones to be addressed. The aim is to show how engaging with interesting past minds can both help put current issues in a new perspective and suggest additional ones to be addressed.
What is Enlightenment? (Kant's Questions)
by Samuel Fleischacker"Have the courage to use your own understanding! - that is the motto of enlightenment." - Immanuel Kant The Enlightenment is one of the most important and contested periods in the history of philosophy. The problems it addressed, such as the proper extent of individual freedom and the challenging of tradition, resonate as much today as when they were first debated. Of all philosophers, it is arguably Kant who took such questions most seriously, addressing them above all in his celebrated short essay, An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment? In this engaging and lucid book, Samuel Fleischacker first explains and assesses Kant’s philosophy of Enlightenment. He then considers critics of Kant’s views - from Burke and Hegel to Horkheimer and Adorno - and figures he regards as having extended Kant’s notion of enlightenment, such as Feuerbach, Marx, Habermas, Foucault, and Rawls. Throughout, he demonstrates how Kant holds two distinct theories of enlightenment. On the one hand, Kant proposes a ‘minimal’ view, where to be enlightened is simply to engage in critical public discussion, allowing diversity of opinion to flourish. On the other, he argues that Kant elsewhere calls for a ‘maximal’ view of enlightenment, where, for example, an enlightened person cannot believe in a traditional religion. With great skill Fleischacker shows how these two views are taken in a multitude of directions by both critics and advocates of Kant’s philosophy. Arguing that Kant’s minimal enlightenment is a precondition for a healthy proliferation of cultures, religious faiths and political movements, What is Enlightenment? is a fascinating introduction to a key aspect of Kant’s thought and a compelling analysis of philosophical thinking about the Enlightenment. Including helpful chapter summaries and guides to further reading, it is ideal for anyone studying Kant or the philosophy of the Enlightenment, as well as those in related disciplines such as politics, history and religious studies.
What is Environmental Politics? (Wiley Essential Clinical Guides to Understanding and Treating Issues of Child Mental Health)
by Elizabeth R. DeSombreWhy is it so difficult to control, or fix, pollution? How can we justify harvesting the world’s natural resources at unsustainable rates, even though these activities cause known harm to both people and ecosystems? Scientific knowledge and technological advances alone cannot tackle these environmental challenges; they also involve difficult political choices and trade-offs both locally and globally. What is Environmental Politics? introduces students to the different ways society attempts to deal with the political decisions needed to prevent or recover from environmental damage. Across its six chapters leading environmental scholar Elizabeth DeSombre explains what makes environmental problems, such as climate change, overfishing or deforestation, particularly challenging to address via political processes, what types of political structures are more or less likely to prioritize protecting the environment, and how effective political intervention can improve environmental conditions and the lives of people who depend on them.It will be a vital resource for students new to the field of environmental politics as well as readers interested in protecting the future of our planet.
What is Environmental Sociology? (What is Sociology?)
by Diana StuartGiven the escalating and existential nature of our current environmental crises, environmental sociology has never mattered more. We now face global environmental threats, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as local threats, such as pollution and household toxins. The complex interactions of such pervasive problems demand an understanding of the social nature of environmental impacts, the underlying drivers of these impacts, and the range of possible solutions. Environmental sociologists continue to make indispensable contributions to this crucial task. This compact book introduces environmental sociology and emphasizes how environmental sociologists do “public sociology,” that is, work with broad public application. Using a diversity of theoretical approaches and research methods, environmental sociologists continue to give marginalized people a voice, identify the systemic drivers of our environmental crises, and evaluate solutions. Diana Stuart shines a light on this work and gives readers insight into applying the tools of environmental sociology to minimize impacts and create a more sustainable and just world.
What is Europe?
by Anna Triandafyllidou Ruby GropasThis authoritative yet accessible introduction to understanding Europe today moves beyond accounts of European integration to provide a wide-ranging and nuanced study of contemporary Europe and its historical development. This fully updated edition adds material on recent developments, such as Brexit and the migrant and Eurozone crises. The concept of Europe is instilled with a plethora of social, cultural, economic, and political meanings. Throughout history, and still today, scholars writing on Europe, and politicians involved in national or European politics, often disagree on the geographic limits of this space and the defining elements of Europe. Europe is, therefore, first and foremost a concept that takes different shapes and meanings depending on the realm of life on which it is applied and on the historical period under investigation. At a given point in time, depending on the perspective we adopt and the situation in which we find ourselves, Europe may represent very different things. Thus, we should better talk about ‘Europes’ in plural. What is Europe? explores these evolving conceptions of Europe from antiquity to the present. This book is all the more timely as Europe responds to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Britain’s departure from the European Union, financial slump, refugee emergencies, and the COVID-19 pandemic. This book offers a fully updated introduction to European studies from an interdisciplinary perspective. It is a crucial companion to any undergraduate or graduate course on Europe and the European Union. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.
What Is Extinction?: A Natural and Cultural History of Last Animals
by Joshua SchusterWINNER, 25th ANNUAL SUSANNE M. GLASSCOCK BOOK PRIZELife on Earth is facing a mass extinction event of our own making. Human activity is changing the biology and the meaning of extinction. What Is Extinction? examines several key moments that have come to define the terms of extinction over the past two centuries, exploring instances of animal and human finitude and the cultural forms used to document and interpret these events.Offering a critical theory for the critically endangered, Joshua Schuster proposes that different discourses of limits and lastness appear in specific extinction events over time as a response to changing attitudes toward species frailty. Understanding these extinction events also involves examining what happens when the conceptual and cultural forms used to account for species finitude are pressed to their limits as well. Schuster provides close readings of several case studies of extinction that bring together environmental humanities and multispecies methods with media-specific analyses at the terminus of life.What Is Extinction? delves into the development of last animal photography, the anthropological and psychoanalytic fascination with human origins and ends, the invention of new literary genres of last fictions, the rise of new extreme biopolitics in the Third Reich that attempted to change the meaning of extinction, and the current pursuit of de-extinction technologies. Schuster offers timely interpretations of how definitions and visions of extinction have changed in the past and continue to change in the present.
What Is Fascism?: from The Anatomy of Fascism (A Vintage Short)
by Robert PaxtonBased on a lifetime’s worth of research, esteemed historian Robert Paxton explores what fascism is and how it has come to have a lasting and continued impact on our history. In the concluding section of his authoritative book, The Anatomy of Fascism, Paxton makes the convincing and radical case that existing definitions of the popular, nationalist, and conservative political view are lacking, and offers up his own brilliant explication—drawn from concrete historical actions—thus transforming our understanding of this dangerous ideology and of why it takes hold when and where it does. A Vintage Shorts Selection. An ebook short.
What Is Global Studies?: Theory & Practice
by Manfred B. Steger Amentahru WahlrabWhat is Global Studies, and how does it relate to globalization? Responding to this frequently asked question, Manfred B. Steger and Amentahru Wahlrab provide the first comprehensive overview of this emerging field. Authoritative and accessible, this primer speaks to students and instructors interested not only in key theories but also in applied teaching and learning programs designed to educate "global citizens" to meet the concrete challenges of the twenty-first century. Linking the influential arguments of major thinkers in Global Studies to their own framework, the authors discuss the "Four Pillars of Global Studies": globalization, transdisciplinarity, space and time, and critical thinking. The book, with instructive appendix materials, will appeal to readers seeking a deeper understanding of Global Studies—one of the most popular fields of study in major universities around the world.
What Is Government Good At?
by Donald J. SavoieRecent decades have shown the public's support for government plummet alongside political leaders' credibility. This downward spiral calls for an exploration of what has gone wrong. The questions, "What is government good at?" and "What is government not good at?" are critical ones - and their answers should be the basis for good public policy and public administration. In What Is Government Good At?, Donald Savoie argues that politicians and public servants are good at generating and avoiding blame, playing to a segment of the population to win the next election, embracing and defending the status quo, adding management layers and staff, keeping ministers out of trouble, responding to demands from the prime minister and his office, and managing a complex, prime minister-centred organization. Conversely, they are not as good at defining the broader public interest, providing and recognizing evidence-based policy advice, managing human and financial resources with efficiency and frugality, innovating and reforming itself, being accountable to Parliament and to citizens, dealing with non-performers, paying sufficient attention to service delivery, and implementing and evaluating the impact of policies and programs. With wide implications for representative democracy, What Is Government Good At? is a persuasive analysis of an approach to government that has opened the door to those with the resources to influence policy and decision-making while leaving average citizens on the outside looking in.
What Is Government Good At?: A Canadian Answer
by Donald J. SavoieRecent decades have shown the public's support for government plummet alongside political leaders’ credibility. This downward spiral calls for an exploration of what has gone wrong. The questions, "What is government good at?" and "What is government not good at?" are critical ones - and their answers should be the basis for good public policy and public administration. In What Is Government Good At?, Donald Savoie argues that politicians and public servants are good at generating and avoiding blame, playing to a segment of the population to win the next election, embracing and defending the status quo, adding management layers and staff, keeping ministers out of trouble, responding to demands from the prime minister and his office, and managing a complex, prime minister-centred organization. Conversely, they are not as good at defining the broader public interest, providing and recognizing evidence-based policy advice, managing human and financial resources with efficiency and frugality, innovating and reforming itself, being accountable to Parliament and to citizens, dealing with non-performers, paying sufficient attention to service delivery, and implementing and evaluating the impact of policies and programs. With wide implications for representative democracy, What Is Government Good At? is a persuasive analysis of an approach to government that has opened the door to those with the resources to influence policy and decision-making while leaving average citizens on the outside looking in.
What Is In A Rim?: Critical Perspectives On The Pacific Region Idea (Pacific Formations: Global Relations In Asian And Pacific Perspectives Ser.)
by Arif DirlikIn this volume, scholars question the current euphoria over the rapid growth of the Pacific rim - as an economic region and as a political ideal. They suggest that much of the discourse on the region is highly ideological, focusing on its potential for capitalist development while ignoring the limitations of such development, its human costs and consequences. This critique of the idea of a Pacific rim also seeks to redress the balance by focusing on the region in terms of human interactions.
What Is Inside the Lincoln Memorial? (Cloverleaf Books (tm) -- Our American Symbols Ser.)
by Martha E. Rustad Kyle PolingLook at that giant statue! What did this person do to earn his own monument in Washington, DC? Join Mr. Williams's class on a field trip to the Lincoln Memorial to find out. Ranger May gives the students a tour, tells them about the Civil War, and talks about how President Abraham Lincoln's ideas still matter to all of us.