One of the strongest emerging economies, Brazil is now at a crossroads. Here two prominent figures of the Brazilian left offer a debate about the social, political, and economic achievements of eight years of President Lula's Workers Party (PT) government and an extended interview with Dilma Rousseff, a 2010 presidential candidate.
This Isabella Gardner Poetry Award-winning book-length poem is a medley of voices in dialogue with each other--overheard, remembered, and internal--that represents a mind at work as it considers the destructiveness of human nature, the hypocrisy and artifice of the American dream. Voices from personal conversations, political speeches, Guantanamo detainees, news reports, and famous poets fill these pages, ultimately capturing a world of disrupted beauty and unrealized potential.
Christian Barter is the author of two previous poetry collections: In Someone Else's House and The Singers I Prefer. Living in Bar Harbor, ME, he is the centennial Poet Laureate of Acadia National Park.
Before and after World War II, a serendipitous confluence of events created a healthy balance between the market and the polity-between the engine of capitalism and the egalitarian ideals of democracy. Under Roosevelt's New Deal, unions and collective bargaining were legalized. Glass-Steagall reined in speculative finance. At Bretton Woods, a global financial system was devised explicitly to allow nations to manage capitalism. Yet this golden era turned out to be lightning in a bottle. From the 1970s on, a power shift occurred, in which financial regulations were rolled back, taxes were cut, inequality worsened, and disheartened voters turned to far-right, faux populism. Robert Kuttner lays out the events that led to the postwar miracle, and charts its dissolution all the way to Trump, Brexit, and the tenuous state of the EU. Is today's poisonous alliance of reckless finance and ultra-nationalism inevitable? Or can democracy find a way to survive?
When the Italian-born economist Luigi Zingales came to the United States in the 1980s, he embraced the American Dream: the belief that what brings you success is hard work, not luck or who you know. But the economic events of the past decade have put American capitalism in crisis. Now, living in America s heartland, Zingales warns in "A Capitalism for the People" that the U.S. economy risks deteriorating into a pro-business rather than pro-market system run by corrupt politicians. Presenting a real-world blueprint to restore true competition to our economic system, Zingales gives hope that the U.S. can rebound to greatness.
The book explores five central themes--the suit, the camellia, jewelry, makeup and perfume, the little black dress--and follows the threads from past to present to show how these key items have been rediscovered and reinvented by new designers. It includes many previously unpublished archive photographs and original drawings by Karl Lagerfeld, as well as glorious images from some of the greatest names in fashion photography.
"A model pictorial biography." New York Times "This Chanel biography is as elegantly turned out as its subject." The Washington Post "This lavish photo tome brings depth to Chanel's sleek fa ade while revealing the fascinating woman behind it." W "Edmonde Charles-Roux (is) one of (Chanel's) best biographers." The New Yorker "There have been many books about Chanel, but this is the great classic." Art of the Times "This beautiful volume contains hundreds of photographs and lively prose by its author, Edmonde Charles-Roux." American Salon "Provides insight into the development of her sense of style and underscores the timelessness of her vision." Veranda
Despite the hopes of the civil rights movement, researchers have found that the election of African Americans to office has not greatly improved the well-being of the black community. By shifting the focus to the white community, this book shows that black representation can have a profound impact. Utilizing national public opinion surveys, data on voting patterns in large American cities, and in-depth studies of Los Angeles and Chicago, Zoltan Hajnal demonstrates that under most black mayors there is real, positive change in the white vote and in the racial attitudes of white residents. This change occurs because black incumbency provides concrete information that disproves the fears and expectations of many white residents. These findings not only highlight the importance of black representation; they also demonstrate the critical role that information can play in racial politics to the point where black representation can profoundly alter white views and white votes.
Part political thriller, part meditation on social change, part love story, The Children of Harvey Milk tells the epic stories of courageous men and women around the world who came forward to make their voices heard during the struggle for equal rights.
Featuring LGBTQ icons from America to Ireland, Britain to New Zealand; Reynolds documents their successes and failures, heartwarming stories of acceptance and heartbreaking stories of ostracism, demonstrating the ways in which an individual can change the views and voting behaviors of those around them. The book also includes rare vignettes of LGBTQ leaders in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean who continue to fight for equality in spite of threats, violence, and homophobia. A touchstone narrative of the tumultuous journey towards LGBTQ rights, The Children of Harvey Milk is a must-read for anyone with an interest in social change
How China's political model could prove to be a viable alternative to Western democracy
Westerners tend to divide the political world into good democracies and "bad" authoritarian regimes. But the Chinese political model does not fit neatly in either category. Over the past three decades, China has evolved a political system that can best be described as "political meritocracy." The China Model seeks to understand the ideals and the reality of this unique political system. How do the ideals of political meritocracy set the standard for evaluating political progress (and regress) in China? How can China avoid the disadvantages of political meritocracy? And how can political meritocracy best be combined with democracy? Daniel Bell answers these questions and more. Opening with a critique of "one person, one vote" as a way of choosing top leaders, Bell argues that Chinese-style political meritocracy can help to remedy the key flaws of electoral democracy. He discusses the advantages and pitfalls of political meritocracy, distinguishes between different ways of combining meritocracy and democracy, and argues that China has evolved a model of democratic meritocracy that is morally desirable and politically stable. Bell summarizes and evaluates the "China model"--meritocracy at the top, experimentation in the middle, and democracy at the bottom--and its implications for the rest of the world. A timely and original book that will stir up interest and debate, The China Model looks at a political system that not only has had a long history in China, but could prove to be the most important political development of the twenty-first century.
