Suchergebnisse

Throughout history, dictators have constructed secret police agencies to neutralize rivals and enforce social order. But the same agencies can become disloyal and threatening. This book explores how eight communist regimes in Cold War Europe confronted this dilemma. Divergent strategies caused differences in regimes of repression, with consequences for social order and political stability. Surviving the shock of Josef Stalin's death, elites in East Germany and Romania retained control over the secret police. They grew their coercive institutions to effectively suppress dissent via surveillance and targeted repression. Elsewhere, ruling coalitions were thrown into turmoil after Stalin's death, changing personnel and losing control of the security apparatus. Post-Stalinist transitions led elites to restrict the capacity of the secret police and risk social disorder. Using original empirical analysis that is both rigorous and rich in fascinating detail, Henry Thomson brings new insights into the darkest corners of authoritarian regimes.

Originally published in 1969, this book discusses specific issues in the rise of a constitutional bureaucracy' as a counter-part to constitutional monarchy. These issues, including patronage, ministerial power and responsibility and the grey-eminence' myth are set against the relationship among legislation and administration, Treasury control and the relevance of public administration to our conception of public accountability and representative bureaucracy.'

"Archaic Bamboo Instruments explores how current residents of Bandung, Indonesia, have (re-) adopted bamboo musical instruments to forge meaningful bridges between their past and present-between traditional and modern values. Although it focuses specifically on Bandung, a cosmopolitan capital city of West Java, the book grapples with ongoing issues of global significance, including musical environmentalism, heavy metal music, the effects of first-world hegemonies on developing countries, and cultural "authenticity." Bamboo music's association with the Sundanese landscape, old agricultural ceremonies, and participatory music making, as well as its adaptability to modern society, make it a fertile site for an ecomusicological study"--

"This book explores the remarkably similar national public broadcasters of Britain and Japan - the BBC and NHK. It considers the origins of both organisations in the 1920s, highlights how they have both been major shapers of national life and national identity in their respective countries, how they have both been significant innovators of broadcasting technology, and how both have high reputations for honest and balanced news reporting. It outlines how both have adapted to cope with successive major changes in the broadcasting landscape. The book also points out the major differences: the BBC's greater success at being commercial and entrepreneurial, the BBC's fierce protection of its editorial independence, often used to play a watchdog role in holding the powerful to account - which contrasts sharply with the approach of NHK, which cooperates with rather than confronts political elites, serving as an agent of social stability, whereas the BBC acts more as an agent of social change. As debates about the future of public broadcasting become more intense, this book provides useful evidence of how public broadcasting can be approached in different ways"--

Black Flags in Vietnam (1968) examines nineteenth-century conflict between China, Vietnam and France. For the first thousand years of its history, Vietnam had been an integral part of China, and during subsequent centuries of self-rule had acknowledged Chinese suzerainty. In the 1850s, France, seeking a base for the political and commercial penetration of southern China, occupied Saigon and the Mekong Delta, hoping to navigate the river. This plan failed, and they turned instead to the Red River, which flows from China through northern Vietnam to Hanoi and the sea. China, weakened by years of domestic strife, seemed in no position to protect her vassal. Then, by a strange quirk of fortune, a band of Chinese freebooters, the Black Flags, who had crossed into Vietnam in search of pillage, defeated two French expeditions. In 1884, Peking went to war.

"An entertaining, enlightening, and utterly original investigation into one of the most quietly influential forces in modern American life--the humble parking spot. In a beguiling and often absurdly hilarious mix of history, politics, and reportage, Grabar brilliantly surveys the pain points of the nation's parking crisis, from Los Angeles to Disney World to New York, stopping at every major American city in between. He reveals how the pathological compulsion for car storage has exacerbated some of our most acute problems--from housing affordability to the accelerating global climate disaster--ultimately, lighting the way for us to free our cities from parking's cruel yoke" --

"Democracy should enable citizens to play an informed role in determining how power is exercised for their common wellbeing, but this only works if people have the understanding, skills and confidence to engage effectively in public affairs. Otherwise, any voting system can be subverted to serve the interests of propagandists and demagogues. This book brings together leading experts on learning for democracy to explore why and how the gap in civic competence should be bridged. Drawing on research findings and case examples from the UK, the US and elsewhere, it will set out why change is necessary, what could be taught differently to ensure effective political engagement, and how a lasting impact in improving citizens' learning for democratic participation can be made."--

For over twenty years, Alan Henry has written about using technology and productivity techniques to work and live better for publications such as Lifehacker, The New York Times, and Wired. But he found that as a Black man he didn't have access to some of the more powerful ways to hack your job--like only checking email once a day or blocking out time on your calendar to do deep work. In fact, he found that even when he landed a prestigious title at the Times, there were moments when he was still overlooked and excluded from the most interesting and career-boosting work. This led him to first explore these struggles in a Times piece titled "Productivity Without Privilege." Now he goes even deeper, interviewing experts across multiple fields to come up with powerful tools to overcome the forces of marginalization. In Seen, Heard, and Paid, Henry shares the new work rules that may finally allow people of color, women, and LGBTQ+ folks to have the same access to career advancement and rewarding work as those with more privilege

Embracing Apocalypses -- The Whole World Is Stone Mountain -- The Right to Remain Angry -- The Political & The Personal -- We Do Not Debate with Racists -- We Can All Be white -- Breaking Up with white Jesus -- Revolution Now -- (White) Men Explain Things to Me -- How to Be Hopeful -- The Truth About Unity -- Building Our Own Tables -- How Black Love Became Important to Me -- To Fight or to Flee -- Born Again.