A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy

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A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy: 2 Volume Set (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy)

by Robert E. Goodin, Philip Pettit, Thomas W. Pogge (Editors)

Product DescriptionThis new edition of A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy has been extended significantly to include 55 chapters across two volumes written by some of today's most distinguished scholars.
New contributors include some of today’s most distinguished scholars, among them Thomas Pogge, Charles Beitz, and Michael Doyle
Provides in-depth coverage of contemporary philosophical debate in all major related disciplines, such as economics, history, law, political science, international relations and sociology
Presents analysis of key political ideologies, including new chapters on Cosmopolitanism and FundamentalismIncludes detailed discussions of major concepts in political philosophy, including virtue, power, human rights, and just war

Nazi Cinema as Enchantment

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Nazi Cinema as Enchantment: The Politics of Entertainment in the Third Reich (Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture)

by Mary-Elizabeth O'Brien

ReviewO'Brien carries the reader into the world of Babelsberg, the German Hollywood, where the reader sees Nazi filmmaking as a form of amusement that carries the Nazi message. CHOICE The readings are integrated within a larger, compelling argument about the function of entertainment within the framework of Nazi culture so that the focus convincingly broadens the understanding of the complexities in this crucial period of German film history. MONATSHEFTE O'Brien's book is the product of extensive archival research and provides numerous services to the reader... (Her) readings convincingly show how films not generally viewed as propaganda films were produced with explicit ideological goals in mind. GERMAN QUARTERLY clearly structured, ... the film interpretations are embedded in well-summarized historical contexts.... The book's eminent readability makes it enjoyable and accessible to the non-specialist. GERMAN STUDIES REVIEW Product DescriptionHitler's regime not only terrorized its citizens; it also seduced them, offering stability, a traditional value system, a sense of belonging, and hope of a better standard of living. Nazi cinema was part of this seduction, expressing positive social fantasies and promoting the enchantment of reality, so that one would want to share in the dream at any price. This interdisciplinary study, based on exhaustive research in German archives, examines how thirteen films from five genres -- the historical musical, the foreign adventure film, the home-front film, the melodrama, and the problem film -- enchanted audiences and enacted shared stories that can tell us much about how family, community, history, the nation, and the war were imagined in Nazi Germany. MARY-ELIZABETH O'BRIEN is associate professor of German at Skidmore College.

Underground Humour in Nazi Germany, 1933-1945

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Underground Humour in Nazi Germany, 1933-1945

by Dr Hillenbrand

Underground Humour in Nazi Germany: 1933-1945, F. K. M. Hillenbrand compiles a collection of jokes, stories and cartoons representing covert popular opposition which took humorous form. Even this was dangerous, as an ill-judged moment of wit could lead to the camps; but the Nazis themselves recognized the impossibility of stopping anti-Nazi jokes.Although wonderfully entertaining, Underground Humour in Nazi Germany:1933-45 is not a joke book, but a serious study of the uses of humor and word play, supplemented always with full translations and explanations when a joke is retold. Hillebrand explains not only how humor could be used subversively in the Third Reich, but also suggests the ways that people resist under any totalitarian conditions, not exclusively Nazi Germany.

The Political Unconscious

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The Political Unconscious

by Fredric Jameson

In this ground-breaking and influential study Fredric Jameson explores the complex place and function of literature within culture. At the time Jameson was actually writing the book, in the mid to late seventies, there was a major reaction against deconstruction and poststructuralism. As one of the most significant literary theorists, Jameson found himself in the unenviable position of wanting to defend his intellectual past yet keep an eye on the future. With this book he carried it off beautifully. A landmark publication, The Political Unconscious takes its place as one of the most meaningful works of the twentieth century. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The Rise of Eurocentrism

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The Rise of Eurocentrism

by Vassilis Lambropoulos

In the controversy over political correctness, the canon, and the curriculum, the role of Western tradition in a post-modern world is often debated. To clarify what is at stake, Vassilis Lambropoulos traces the ideology of European culture from the Reformation, focusing on a key element of Western tradition: the act of interpretation as a distinct practice of understanding and a civil right. Championed by Protestants insisting on independent interpretation of scripture, this ideal of autonomy ushered in the era of modernity with its essentialist philosophy of universal man and his aesthetic understanding of the world. After explaining the dominance of European culture through the combined archetypes of Hebraism (reason and morality) and Hellenism (spirit and art), Lambropoulos shows how the rule of autonomy has been transformed into the aesthetic, disinterested contemplation of things in themselves. Arguing that it is time to restore the socio-political dimension to the movement of autonomy, he proposes that a genealogy of the Hebraic-Hellenic archetypes can help us evaluate more recent models--like the Afrocentric one--and redefine the controversy surrounding education, Eurocentrism, and cultural politics.

The Social Roots of Basque Nationalism

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The Social Roots of Basque Nationalism (The Basque Series)

by Alfonso Pérez-Agote

The Basque people have preserved their ethnic identity and sense of themselves as a separate community despite centuries of repression, diaspora, and economic and social upheaval—one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of that phenomenon we call nationalism. In The Social Roots of Basque Nationalism, sociologist Alfonso Pérez-Agote addresses the social mechanisms that Basques employed to sustain their ethnic identity under the Franco Regime and demonstrates how persecution actually encouraged the extension of Basque nationalist consciousness. He also reveals how state political pressure radicalized one element of the Basque-nationalist movement, resulting in the formation of eta ,an armed terrorist wing that itself became a mechanism for extending nationalist consciousness. Finally, he examines the subsequent changes in Basque nationalism following Franco's death and the extension of democracy in Spain, which resulted in the institutionalization of the movement into an autonomous political power. This work is based in part on a wide range of interviews and polls with informants in the Basque Country and abroad, eliciting such data as the role that family, education, social contacts, and religious environment play in the evolution of political attitudes; the place of violence in the Basque world view and contemporary political culture; regional variations in Basque nationalism; and the factors that contributed to the resilience of Basque nationalism in adapting to new historical conditions. The result is a sophisticated discussion of the various ways in which Basque social reality is constituted and how this reality helps to create political culture. Because Pérez-Agote situates his discussion within the broader frameworks of ethnic identity, group dynamics, and the nature of nationalism, the book makes a significant contribution not only to our understanding of the Basques but to the broader study of the evolution of nationalism and the nation-state, political violence, and the complicated transition of any society from dictatorship to democracy.

A History of Western Political Thought

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A History of Western Political Thought

by J. S McClelland

A History of Western Political Thought traces the development and consolidation of a tradition of Western political thought from ancient Greece through to the development of the modern state, the American Enlightenment, the rise of liberalism and the very different reactions it engendered.McClelland's definition of politics encompasses both power wielded from above and power threatened from below. The sustained pursuit of this theme leads him to present an original and often controversial view of the theorists of the received canon and to add some writers to that canon whom he feels have been unjustly neglected.A History of Western Political Thought will inform, challenge, provoke and entertain any reader interested in what people have had to say about politics in the last two and a half thousand years and why it matters.

The Development of Plato's Political Theory

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The Development of Plato's Political Theory by George Klosko

Product Description
Like the first edition, this edition of
The Development of Plato's Political Theory provides a clear, scholarly account of Plato's political theory in the context of the social and political events of his time. This second edition has been thoroughly revised to take into account scholarly developments during the last twenty years.

About the Author

George Klosko is Henry L. and Grace Doherty Professor, Department of Politics, University of Virginia. His interests include the history of political theory, especially Plato, and contemporary political theory, including Rawlsian political liberalism, and political obligation. He is currently engaged in empirical studies of attitudes towards political obligations based on small focus groups.

The Oxford Handbook of Political Economy

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The Oxford Handbook of Political Economy (Oxford Handbooks of Political Science) by Barry R. Weingast, Donald Wittman (Authors)

Review
This is an impressive book in every dimension. Randall G. Holcombe, Public Choice Spanning all of the major substantive areas and approaches in modern political science, this blockbuster set is a must-have for scholars and students alike. Each volume is crafted by a distinguished set of editors who have assembled critical, comprehensive, essays to survey accumulated knowledge and emerging issues in the study of politics. These volumes will help to shape the discipline for many years to come. Theda Skocpol, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology, and Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University Judging from the editors, contributors, and topics covered, the forthcoming Oxford Handbooks of Political Science will be a landmark series...This is a series that not only university libraries, but more specialized social science and political science libraries, will want to have on their shelves Robert O. Keohane, Professor of International Affairs, Princeton University This extraordinary series offers 'state of the art' assessments that instruct, engage, and provoke. Both synoptic and directive, the fine essays across these superbly edited volumes reflect the ambitions and diversity of political science. No one who is immersed in the discipline's controversies and possibilities should miss the intellectual stimulation and critical appraisal these works so powerfully provide. Ira Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History, Columbia University Under the general editorship of Robert E. Goodin, a large group of intellectually attractive authors has charted the entire field of political science in an unbiased multi-paradigmatic way. Minerva's owl would make a nice logo for this monumental collective work of the Oxford Handbooks: what moves us forward is looking back at what we know. Claus Offe, Professor of Political Science, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin and Institute for Social Science, Humboldt University, Berlin. This volume comprises a thorough and definitive overview, written by the top people in the field, of the research frontier of political economy. It will be required reading for students, and essential reference material for scholars active in the field, for many years to come. Avinash K. Dixit, John J. F. Sherrerd '52 University Professor of Economics, Princeton University A paramount effort coordinated by Robert Goodin for Oxford University Press has produced an impressive set of ten volumes about the state of the discipline, the Oxford Handbook of Political Science, which has become an instant must. Josep Colomer's Weekly Blog The overall quality of writing and analysis is high, and the bibliographies are very valuable...Highly recommended. M. Veseth, Choice, Vol. 44, No. 10 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"This is an impressive book in every dimension."--Randall G. Holcombe, Public Choice
"The overall quality of writing and analysis is high, and the bibliographies are very valuable...Highly recommended."--Choice
"This volume comprises a thorough and definitive overview, written by the top people in the field, of the research frontier of political economy. It will be required reading for students, and essential reference material for scholars active in the field, for many years to come."--Avinash K. Dixit, John J. F. Sherrerd '52 University Professor of Economics, Princeton University
"The thoughtful essays in the Handbooks are far more than literature reviews. Scholars and students will find them to be a valusable resource for many years to come."--Morris P. Fiorina, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Wendt Family Professor of Political Science, Stanford Univeristy


Product Description
Over its long lifetime, "political economy" has had many different meanings: the science of managing the resources of a nation so as to provide wealth to its inhabitants for Adam Smith; the study of how the ownership of the means of production influenced historical processes for Marx; the study of the inter-relationship between economics and politics for some twentieth-century commentators; and for others, a methodology emphasizing individual rationality (the economic or "public choice" approach) or institutional adaptation (the sociological version). This Handbook views political economy as a grand (if imperfect) synthesis of these various strands, treating political economy as the methodology of economics applied to the analysis of political behavior and institutions.
This Handbook surveys the field of political economy, with fifty-eight chapters ranging from micro to macro, national to international, institutional to behavioral, methodological to substantive. Chapters on social choice, constitutional theory, and public economics are set alongside ones on voters, parties and pressure groups, macroeconomics and politics, capitalism and democracy, and international political economy and international conflict.

About the Author
Barry R. Weingast is Ward C. Krebs Family Professor of Political Science, Stanford University. Donald Wittman is a Professor of Economics at University of California, Santa Cruz.

The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions

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The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions (Oxford Handbooks of Political Science) by R. A. W. Rhodes, Sarah A. Binder, Bert A. Rockman (Editors)

Review
The thoughtful essays in the handbooks are far more than literature reviews. Scholars and students will find them to be an invaluable resource for many years to come. Morris P. Fiorina, Senior, Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Wendt Family Professor of Political Science at Stanford University A paramount effort coordinated by Robert Goodin for Oxford University Press has produced an impressive set of ten volumes about the state of the discipline, the Oxford Handbook of Political Science, which has become an instant must. Josep Colomer's Weekly Blog --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"The thoughtful essays in the handbooks are far more than literature reviews. Scholars and students will find them to be an invaluable resource for many years to come."--Morris P. Fiorina, Senior, Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Wendt Family Professor of Political Science at Stanford University
"Spanning all of the major substantive areas and approaches in modern political science, this blockbuster set is a must-have for scholars and students to alike. Each volume is crafted by a distinguished set ofris editors who have assembled critical, comprehensive, essays to survey accumulated knowledge and emerging issues in thee study of politics. These volumes will help to shape the discipline for many years to come."--Theda Skocpol, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology, and Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University


Product Description
The study of political institutions is among the founding pillars of political science. With the rise of the 'new institutionalism', the study of institutions has returned to its place in the sun. This volume provides a comprehensive survey of where we are in the study of political institutions, covering both the traditional concerns of political science with constitutions, federalism and bureaucracy and more recent interest in theory and the constructed nature of institutions. The Oxford Handbook of Political Institutions draws together a galaxy of distinguished contributors drawn from leading universities across the world.

About the Author

R. A. W. Rhodes is Director of the Research School of Social Sciences and Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Australian National University.
Sarah A. Binder is Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.
Bert A. Rockman is Professor of Political Science and Head of the Department at Purdue University.

The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory

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The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory (Oxford Handbooks of Political Science) by John S. Dryzek, Bonnie Honig, Anne Phillips (Editors)

Review
The contributors of these chapters are an impressive array of talants... To read their contributions is to learn of the edd and flow of current debates, discussions and conclusions of political theory understood most broadly... the editors have done great service to political theory with this stock taking and assessment, which is at once thorough, well thought out, systematic, creative and - at time - risk taking. It belongs on the shelves of all philosopher-monarchs. Michael Jackson, University of Sydney Spanning all of the major substantive areas and approaches in modern political science, this blockbuster set is a must-have for scholars and students alike. Each volume is crafted by a distinguished set of editors who have assembled critical, comprehensive, essays to survey accumulated knowledge and emerging issues in the study of politics. These volumes will help to shape the discipline for many years to come. Theda Skocpol, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology, and Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University Judging from the editors, contributors, and topics covered, the forthcoming Oxford Handbooks of Political Science will be a landmark series...This is a series that not only university libraries, but more specialized social science and political science libraries, will want to have on their shelves Robert O. Keohane, Professor of International Affairs, Princeton University This extraordinary series offers 'state of the art' assessments that instruct, engage, and provoke. Both synoptic and directive, the fine essays across these superbly edited volumes reflect the ambitions and diversity of political science. No one who is immersed in the discipline's controversies and possibilities should miss the intellectual stimulation and critical appraisal these works so powerfully provide. Ira Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History, Columbia University Under the general editorship of Robert E. Goodin, a large group of intellectually attractive authors has charted the entire field of political science in an unbiased multi-paradigmatic way. Minerva's owl would make a nice logo for this monumental collective work of the Oxford Handbooks: what moves us forward is looking back at what we know. Claus Offe, Professor of Political Science, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin and Institute for Social Science, Humboldt University, Berlin. This is a unique and impressive set of analyses about scholarship in political theory. It is comprehensive, as we would expect. Beyond that, it is remarkably creative in the way that Dryzek, Honig and Phillips have organized categories, and it includes much overdue reference to scholarship on non-Western and postcolonial thought. Iris Marion Young, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago A paramount effort coordinated by Robert Goodin for Oxford University Press has produced an impressive set of ten volumes about the state of the discipline, the Oxford Handbook of Political Science, which has become an instant must. Josep Colomer's Weekly Blog --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"This is a unique and impressive set of analyses about scholarship in political theory. It is comprehensive, as we would expect. Beyond that, it is remarkably creative in the way that Dryzek, Honig and Phillips have organized categories, and it includes much overdue reference to scholarship on non-Western and postcolonial thought."--Iris Marion Young, Late Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago
"This extraordinary series offers 'state of the art' assessments that instruct, engage, and provoke. Both synoptic and directive, the fine essays across these superbly edited volumes reflect the ambitions and diversity of political science. No one who is immersed in the discipline's controversies and possibilities should miss the intellectual stimulation and critical appraisal these works so powerfully provide."--Ira Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History, Columbia University

The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy

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The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy (The Oxford Handbooks of Political Science) by Michael Moran, Martin Rein, Robert E. Goodin (Editors)
Public policy is the business end of political science. It is where theory meets practice in the pursuit of the public good. Political scientists approach public policy in myriad ways. Some approach the policy process descriptively, asking how the need for public intervention comes to be perceived, a policy response formulated, enacted, implemented, and, all too often, subverted, perverted, altered, or abandoned. Others approach public policy more prescriptively, offering politically-informed suggestions for how normatively valued goals can and should be pursued, either through particular policies or through alternative processes for making policy. Some offer their advice from the Olympian heights of detached academic observers, others as 'engaged scholars' cum advocates, while still others seek to instill more reflective attitudes among policy practitioners themselves toward their own practices. The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy mines all these traditions, using an innovative structure that responds to the very latest scholarship. Its chapters touch upon institutional and historical sources and analytical methods, how policy is made, how it is evaluated and how it is constrained. In these ways, the Handbook shows how the combined wisdom of political science as a whole can be brought to bear on political attempts to improve the human condition.

The Post-American World

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The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria

Book Description
"This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else." So begins Fareed Zakaria's important new work on the era we are now entering. Following on the success of his best-selling The Future of Freedom, Zakaria describes with equal prescience a world in which the United States will no longer dominate the global economy, orchestrate geopolitics, or overwhelm cultures. He sees the "rise of the rest"—the growth of countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, and many others—as the great story of our time, and one that will reshape the world. The tallest buildings, biggest dams, largest-selling movies, and most advanced cell phones are all being built outside the United States. This economic growth is producing political confidence, national pride, and potentially international problems. How should the United States understand and thrive in this rapidly changing international climate? What does it mean to live in a truly global era? Zakaria answers these questions with his customary lucidity, insight, and imagination.

A Dictionary of Human Rights

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A Dictionary of Human Rights by David Robertson
Review
... it succeeds as a broad-ranging and accessible reference tool. - Royal Institute of International Affairs

' ... it succeeds as a broad-ranging and accessible reference tool.' - Royal Institute of International Affairs

Product Description
Providing explanations of the terminology, issues, organizations, and laws, this reference work develops the key aspects of human rights in over 200 clear and concise A-Z entries.

* Explains terms connected such as Asylum, Equal Opportunities, Freedom of Speech, Representation, and Civil Liberties
* Covers organizations concerned with human rights such as Amnesty International, The European Court of Human Rights, and The American Civil Liberties Union
* Outlines the significance of eminent thinkers such as Locke, Cardozo, and Nozick
* Places key terms in their legal and constitutional context, with examples and explanations of their implications
* Legal terms such as Injunction, Probable Cause, Clear and Present Danger, and Stop and Search are explained clearly and succinctly
* Includes an appendix containing texts and extracts of leading documents, such as The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Thought

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The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Thought (Blackwell Reference) by David Miller (Editor), Janet Coleman (Editor), William Connolly (Editor), Alan Ryan (Editor)

Review
"A particularly useful feature of the volume is the reading list which accompanies each entry ... a useful book." Sunday Times

"A reliable and scholarly work." The Good Book Guide

"Supersedes all previous reference works in the field of political thought." Australian Journal of Politics and History

"No political scientist (or theorist) who can afford it should be without it." Australian Journal of Political Science

Product Description
Encompassing the whole spectrum of the history and theory of politics from Socrates to Rawls, this is the most comprehensive and scholarly reference work available on the subject.

Synopsis
Encompassing the whole spectrum of the history and theory of politics from Socrates to Rawls, this is the most comprehensive and scholarly reference work available on its subject.The 350 entries, written by a team of 120 international specialists, are a balanced blend of full-length survey articles and shorter definitions. Key concepts in political thought are defined and analyzed, and ideologies are considered in relation both to historical context and to contemporary politics. All articles are cross-referenced and indexed.

From the Back Cover
Encompassing the whole spectrum of the history and theory of politics from Socrates to Rawls, this is the most comprehensive and scholarly reference work available on its subject.

The 350 entries, written by a team of 120 international specialists, are a balanced blend of full–length survey articles and shorter definitions. Key concepts in political thought are defined and analyzed, and ideologies are considered in relation both to historical context and to contemporary politics. All articles are cross–referenced and indexed.

About the Author
David Miller is the author of several works on political thought including Anarchism (1984) and The Nature of Political Theory (with Larry Siedentop) (1983).

Henry Kissinger - Diplomacy

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Diplomacy by Henry Kissinger (DjVu File)

From Publishers Weekly
Former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Kissinger discusses the art of diplomacy and the American approach to foreign affairs.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
After nearly a dozen books and service as secretary of state for presidents Nixon and Ford, Kissinger has established himself as a major thinker, writer, and actor on the world's diplomatic stage. His newest work is a remarkable survey of the craft of international relations from the early 17th century to the present era. Beginning with the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, Kissinger summarizes three centuries of Western diplomacy, giving special attenton to the influence of Wilsonian idealism on 20th-century American foreign policy. He is not shy about describing his own contributions to Nixon's foreign gambits, nor is he reticient about offering his own advice to the current administration on how to handle Russia, China, or the rest of the world. From Kissinger we learn that there is really little new about the New World Order. This is an important contribution to the theoretical literature on foreign affairs and will also serve quite ably as a one-volume synthesis of modern diplomatic history. All libraries should have this impressive book. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 12/93.
- Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Neither time nor the strong reactions his person and Nixon-era actions evoke has dampened Kissinger's talent for cogent distillation of international complexity. If anything, this closely argued work, spaciously peppered with anecdotes and personal observations, is his best yet. It is not, be mindful, a diplomatic history per se, but instead a reminder of the geopolitical constraints on America's endeavor--the third this century--to fashion a new world order. Naturally, Kissinger's approach is historical, beginning with Cardinal Richelieu's policy in the Thirty Years' War, but his arguments are conceptual dissections of the principles on which the statesman of the moment operated. Whether discussing the Cardinal's raison d'{‚}etat, Metternich's (and then Palmerston's) balance-of-power, Bismarck's naked Realpolitik, Wilson's rejection of the above in favor of a vaporous collective security, the aggressive ideologies of expansion that issued from World War I, or the more solid collective security embodied in NATO, Kissinger is implicitly showing America's present (and near future) administrators the analogous choices on their post-Cold War menu. Referring often to John Quincy Adams' famed 1821 admonition that "America should not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy," Kissinger cautions against the exceptional American temptation, regardless of party, to compel a democratic transformation of the world. He would prefer the revival of a balance-of-power outlook, which America has never practiced, but through which, among other outcomes, Russia becomes reconciled to its reduced, though still vast, territory. Authorial fame and powerful prose will secure Kissinger's new book a slot atop the sales lists. Gilbert Taylor --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews
The Nobel laureate and former national security advisor and secretary of state (Years of Upheaval, 1982, etc.) presents an engrossing and monumental (in every sense) historical survey of diplomacy from the 17th century to the present. Kissinger begins his narrative after the Peace of Westphalia (1648), when militarily ascendant France strove for dominance on the continent, preventing the fragmented German states from coalescing into a major power. Thereafter Britain, its own internal turbulence quelled and its monarchy restored, sought to check France by creating alliances of weaker European states. Kissinger shows how wily statesmen like Richelieu, Britain's William III, Metternich, and Bismarck frankly pursued their own nation-state's interests without regard for the idealistic concepts of collective security that have motivated American policy since the Wilson administration: only Britain, because of its unique geographical position, actively pursued a policy of promoting equilibrium on the continent. Kissinger extensively discusses the unraveling of the post-Napoleonic arrangements in the decades leading up to WW I, Soviet and German consolidation and French and British demoralization in the years after the Versailles treaty, and the dominance of the Soviet-American rivalry in world politics after World War II. Kissinger draws fascinatingly on his own experiences as President Nixon's chief diplomat to illustrate his arguments about diplomacy. Finally, he argues that the ideal of collective security that American policy has promoted since Wilson's presidency and throughout the Cold War, while sometimes effective, is often weak because it is not strongly grounded in national interests. Buttressing his argument with a sweeping historical survey, Kissinger persuasively contends that leaders of the western democracies, particularly the US, should leaven their idealism in the turbulent post-Cold War era with the realistic pursuit of concrete national interests. Profound and important. (Book-of-the- Month main selection for April; History Book Club main selection) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Politics, Philosophy, Terror

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Politics, Philosophy, Terror
Essays on the Thought of Hannah Arendt by Dana Villa

Review
Villa explores the tensions between [Hannah] Arendt's disdain for those who fail to think and her distrust of the contemplative retreat from the world. . . . [A] lucid and illuminating book. . . .
(John Plotz Lingua Franca )

In this splendid collection Villa focuses on Arendt's analysis of totalitarian evil and its relationship to the philosophical tradition.
(Choice )

Review
Dana Villa ... has received international recognition for his Arendt and Heidegger--the finest work in any language concerning the philosophical indebtedness of Arendt to Heidegger. The analyses in this current book are always informative, insightful, and thought-provoking. The writing is forceful and lucid. The book eminently succeeds in showing why Arendt is one of the outstanding political theorists of the twentieth century.
(Richard J. Bernstein, New School for Social Research )

Review
In this splendid collection Villa focuses on Arendt's analysis of totalitarian evil and its relationship to the philosophical tradition.

Product Description

Hannah Arendt's rich and varied political thought is more influential today than ever before, due in part to the collapse of communism and the need for ideas that move beyond the old ideologies of the Cold War. As Dana Villa shows, however, Arendt's thought is often poorly understood, both because of its complexity and because her fame has made it easy for critics to write about what she is reputed to have said rather than what she actually wrote. Villa sets out to change that here, explaining clearly, carefully, and forcefully Arendt's major contributions to our understanding of politics, modernity, and the nature of political evil in our century.

Villa begins by focusing on some of the most controversial aspects of Arendt's political thought. He shows that Arendt's famous idea of the banality of evil--inspired by the trial of Adolf Eichmann--does not, as some have maintained, lessen the guilt of war criminals by suggesting that they are mere cogs in a bureaucratic machine. He examines what she meant when she wrote that terror was the essence of totalitarianism, explaining that she believed Nazi and Soviet terror served above all to reinforce the totalitarian idea that humans are expendable units, subordinate to the all-determining laws of Nature or History. Villa clarifies the personal and philosophical relationship between Arendt and Heidegger, showing how her work drew on his thought while providing a firm repudiation of Heidegger's political idiocy under the Nazis. Less controversially, but as importantly, Villa also engages with Arendt's ideas about the relationship between political thought and political action. He explores her views about the roles of theatricality, philosophical reflection, and public-spiritedness in political life. And he explores what relationship, if any, Arendt saw between totalitarianism and the "great tradition" of Western political thought. Throughout, Villa shows how Arendt's ideas illuminate contemporary debates about the nature of modernity and democracy and how they deepen our understanding of philosophers ranging from Socrates and Plato to Habermas and Leo Strauss.

Direct, lucid, and powerfully argued, this is a much-needed analysis of the central ideas of one of the most influential political theorists of the twentieth century.

Download Description
Hannah Arendt's rich and varied political thought is more influential today than ever before, due in part to the collapse of communism and the need for ideas that move beyond the old ideologies of the Cold War. As Dana Villa shows, however, Arendt's thought is often poorly understood, both because of its complexity and because her fame has made it easy for critics to write about what she is reputed to have said rather than what she actually wrote. Villa sets out to change that here, explaining clearly, carefully, and forcefully Arendt's major contributions to our understanding of politics, modernity, and the nature of political evil in our century.

From the Back Cover

"Dana Villa ... has received international recognition for his Arendt and Heidegger--the finest work in any language concerning the philosophical indebtedness of Arendt to Heidegger. The analyses in this current book are always informative, insightful, and thought-provoking. The writing is forceful and lucid. The book eminently succeeds in showing why Arendt is one of the outstanding political theorists of the twentieth century."--Richard J. Bernstein, New School for Social Research

"In the time-honored tradition of political theorizing, Politics, Philosophy, Terror cuts through a tangle of current disputations in order to clarify and assess particular and pertinent aspects of Hannah Arendt's thinking. Villa's book is also fluidly, even elegantly, written."--Mary G. Dietz, University of Minnesota

Barack Obama - The Audacity of Hope

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The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
by Barack Obama

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Barack Obama's first book, Dreams from My Father, was a compelling and moving memoir focusing on personal issues of race, identity, and community. With his second book The Audacity of Hope, Obama engages themes raised in his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, shares personal views on faith and values and offers a vision of the future that involves repairing a "political process that is broken" and restoring a government that has fallen out of touch with the people. We had the opportunity to ask Senator Obama a few questions about writing, reading, and politics--see his responses below. --Daphne Durham

---

20 Second Interview: A Few Words with Barack Obama

Q: How did writing a book that you knew would be read so closely by so many compare to writing your first book, when few people knew who you were?
A: In many ways, Dreams from My Father was harder to write. At that point, I wasn't even sure that I could write a book. And writing the first book really was a process of self-discovery, since it touched on my family and my childhood in a much more intimate way. On the other hand, writing The Audacity of Hope paralleled the work that I do every day--trying to give shape to all the issues that we face as a country, and providing my own personal stamp on them.

Q: What is your writing process like? You have such a busy schedule, how did you find time to write?
A: I'm a night owl, so I usually wrote at night after my Senate day was over, and after my family was asleep--from 9:30 p.m. or so until 1 a.m. I would work off an outline--certain themes or stories that I wanted to tell--and get them down in longhand on a yellow pad. Then I'd edit while typing in what I'd written.

Q: If readers are to come away from The Audacity of Hope with one action item (a New Year's Resolution for 2007, perhaps?), what should it be?
A: Get involved in an issue that you're passionate about. It almost doesn’t matter what it is--improving the school system, developing strategies to wean ourselves off foreign oil, expanding health care for kids. We give too much of our power away, to the professional politicians, to the lobbyists, to cynicism. And our democracy suffers as a result.

Q: You're known for being able to work with people across ideological lines. Is that possible in today's polarized Washington?
A: It is possible. There are a lot of well-meaning people in both political parties. Unfortunately, the political culture tends to emphasize conflict, the media emphasizes conflict, and the structure of our campaigns rewards the negative. I write about these obstacles in chapter 4 of my book, "Politics." When you focus on solving problems instead of scoring political points, and emphasize common sense over ideology, you'd be surprised what can be accomplished. It also helps if you're willing to give other people credit--something politicians have a hard time doing sometimes.

Q: How do you make people passionate about moderate and complex ideas?
A: I think the country recognizes that the challenges we face aren't amenable to sound-bite solutions. People are looking for serious solutions to complex problems. I don't think we need more moderation per se--I think we should be bolder in promoting universal health care, or dealing with global warming. We just need to understand that actually solving these problems won't be easy, and that whatever solutions we come up with will require consensus among groups with divergent interests. That means everybody has to listen, and everybody has to give a little. That's not easy to do.

Q: What has surprised you most about the way Washington works?
A: How little serious debate and deliberation takes place on the floor of the House or the Senate.

Q: You talk about how we have a personal responsibility to educate our children. What small thing can the average parent (or person) do to help improve the educational system in America? What small thing can make a big impact?
A: Nothing has a bigger impact than reading to children early in life. Obviously we all have a personal obligation to turn off the TV and read to our own children; but beyond that, participating in a literacy program, working with parents who themselves may have difficulty reading, helping their children with their literacy skills, can make a huge difference in a child's life.

Q: Do you ever find time to read? What kinds of books do you try to make time for? What is on your nightstand now?
A: Unfortunately, I had very little time to read while I was writing. I'm trying to make up for lost time now. My tastes are pretty eclectic. I just finished Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead, a wonderful book. The language just shimmers. I've started Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, which is a great study of Lincoln as a political strategist. I read just about anything by Toni Morrison, E.L. Doctorow, or Philip Roth. And I've got a soft spot for John le Carre.

Q: What inspires you? How do you stay motivated?
A: I'm inspired by the people I meet in my travels--hearing their stories, seeing the hardships they overcome, their fundamental optimism and decency. I'm inspired by the love people have for their children. And I'm inspired by my own children, how full they make my heart. They make me want to work to make the world a little bit better. And they make me want to be a better man.

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--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly
Ilinois's Democratic senator illuminates the constraints of mainstream politics all too well in this sonorous manifesto. Obama (Dreams from My Father) castigates divisive partisanship (especially the Republican brand) and calls for a centrist politics based on broad American values. His own cautious liberalism is a model: he's skeptical of big government and of Republican tax cuts for the rich and Social Security privatization; he's prochoice, but respectful of prolifers; supportive of religion, but not of imposing it. The policy result is a tepid Clintonism, featuring tax credits for the poor, a host of small-bore programs to address everything from worker retraining to teen pregnancy, and a health-care program that resembles Clinton's Hillary-care proposals. On Iraq, he floats a phased but open-ended troop withdrawal. His triangulated positions can seem conflicted: he supports free trade, while deploring its effects on American workers (he opposed the Central American Free Trade Agreement), in the end hoping halfheartedly that more support for education, science and renewable energy will see the economy through the dilemmas of globalization. Obama writes insightfully, with vivid firsthand observations, about politics and the compromises forced on politicians by fund-raising, interest groups, the media and legislative horse-trading. Alas, his muddled, uninspiring proposals bear the stamp of those compromises. (Oct. 17)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.