New perspectives on Iran's relationship to democracy Can Islamic societies embrace democracy? In Democracy in Modern Iran , Ali Mirsepassi maintains that it is possible, demonstrating that Islam is not inherently hostile to the idea of democracy. Rather, he provides new perspective on how such a political and social transformation could take place, arguing that the key to understanding the integration of Islam and democracy lies in concre ...
In this concise and detailed work, Salim Lamrani addresses questions of media concentration and corporate bias by examining a perennially controversial topic: Cuba. Lamrani argues that the tiny island nation is forced to contend not only with economic isolation and a U.S. blockade, but with misleading or downright hostile media coverage. He takes as his case study El País, the most widely distributed Spanish daily. El País (a p ...
From animal rights to anti-abortion, from tax resistance to anti-poverty, activists from across the political spectrum often deliberately break the law to further their causes. While not behaviors common to hardened or self-seeking criminals, the staging of civil disobedience, non-violent resistance, and direct action can nevertheless trigger a harsh response from law enforcement, with those arrested risking jail time and criminal records. Crim ...
Americansnow face a caring deficit: there are simply too many demands on people’s timefor us to care adequately for our children, elderly people, and ourselves.At the same time, political involvement inthe United States is at an all-time low, and although political life shouldhelp us to care better, people see caring as unsupported by public life anddeem the concerns of politics as remote from their lives. Caring Democracy argues that ...
“Globalization,” surely one of the most used and abused buzzwordsof recent decades, describes a phenomenon that is typicallyconsidered to be a neutral and inevitable expansion of marketforces across the planet. Nearly all economists, politicians, businessleaders, and mainstream journalists view globalization as thenatural result of economic development, and a beneficial one atthat. But, as noted economist Martin Hart-Landsber ...
In the United States and much of the world there is a palpable depression about the prospect of overcoming the downward spiral created by the tyranny of wealth and privilege and establishing a truly democratic and sustainable society. It threatens to become self-fulfilling. In this trailblazing new book, award-winning author Robert W. McChesney argues that the weight of the present is blinding people to the changing nature and the tremendous pos ...
From September 2011 to September 2012,Ambassador Nasser Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of Qatar presided over the 66th sessionof the “world’s parliament” – the United Nations General Assembly. It was acritical moment in international affairs as the UN responded to a range ofglobal challenges, from the world financial crisis to the Arab Spring. In AYear at the Helm of the General Assembly, Al-Nasser presents a high-le ...
Over the last few decades Marta Harnecker has emerged as one of Latin America’s most incisive socialist thinkers. In A World to Build, she grapples with the question that has bedeviled every movement for radical social change: how do you construct a new world within the framework of the old? Harnecker draws on lessons from socialist movements in Latin America, especially Venezuela, where she served as an advisor to the Chávez ...
Stepping Stone: Truman Pope has spent his whole life watching the world go by. A gentle, unassuming soul, he has worked in the mailroom of a large corporation for decades without making waves, until the day he spots a mysterious woman in yellow. A woman nobody else can see. Soon Truman's quiet life begins to turn upside-down. Love Machine: The brainchild of an eccentric, possibly deranged scientist, the Love Machine can merge individual psy ...
