Activism Books

I bought this book as a gift for a child in my life. She enjoyed the book and I did, as well. It's definitely a conversation starter for a school-aged child who is interested in marching to her/his own drum.

Thank you, Anne Elizabeth Moore, for caring enough to write this irreverent and excellent book.

I thought that is book was really cool. There is so much information it get all at once. I might take you a couple of days to get all of the information but it nice to know all of it. Its a very creative book for the world and for the future!

Hot Ideas for a Cooler Plant does a great job of celebrating Chicago's successful Cool Globes exhibition while also providing valuable insight into the critical problem of global warming. A perfect gift for anyone who wants to know more about how they can help prevent a global crisis. Beautiful photography, illustration and design!

Economically privlidged white males who edit books like this (i. e., Brian Wallis, who edits many such compiliations) need to recognize that it is Difference, not seperation from white male patriarchal paradigms, which constructs the most significant art work today. Somehow, white males always make it seem like it's about themselves....

This book is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in questions of urbanism and housing in advanced societies, from architecture to urban planning to homelessness.
It is especially useful for the discussion of some of the ways that artists, architects, activists, and planners have responded to successive city and housing crises. It offers theoretical and historical documents but also art projects and transcripts of public forums.
I found it very helpful in thinking about the issues and in suggesting ways to address similar questions.

In this book, DeLuca says that he aims to "perform a postmodern critical rhetoric" (and he does!) examining "image events" created by environmental activists such as Earth First!, Green Peace, and even more interestingly, anti-pollution activists (very grass roots) in Kentucky. In a nicely scattered array of chapters, DeLuca poses his argument that image events can do things (make change) while also being appropriated and rendered inert in various ways. Reading this book, one can only wonder how it would have been changed if the anti-WTO protests of N30, 1999 would have been considered -- but that is not a shortcoming: the book is thorough and very well written. Great scholarship!

Through a plethora of filters including cultural studies, rhetoric, political economy, postmodernism, critical studies, media studies, activism, and environmental studies, DeLuca strongly introduces the image event, an ideograph of profound political and social implications. The author explores these image events through the tactics and strategies of radical environmental and environmental justice groups. Expertly, he deconstructs the notion of a public sphere, as grounded in today's televisual mass mediated society. Rebuffing an ideal Habermassian public sphere in which all parties and sides can equally and civilly debate issues of any interest, DeLuca questions whether all individuals are welcome to enter into that debate, a debate which today occurs in the mass media. Looking at four nonviolent environmental and environmental justice groups, DeLuca argues that the success of their protests against hegemonic forces now lies in the image event itself rather than the immediate cessation of the offense in question. Success comes about through a direct action: Forcing people (audiences) out of comfortable ignorance into a questioning of the status quo (pp. 1-3). The violent counterresponses (pp. 8-9) from the corporations and governments being protested, in light of the failed (inability to stop the present offense) direct actions by the environmental groups, underscores the author's contention of the redefinition of success. Through this challenge of the mainstream discourse (industrialism and progress) (p. 6), the direct actions of the groups DeLuca analyzes become symbolically charged, expected to fail in immediate terms. Success instead comes through increased visibility and public support. By challenging the legitimacy of the establishment" (p. 15), the groups are, according to DeLuca, considering "the implications for rhetoric of extralinguistic confrontational activities" (p. 15). To critical rhetorical scholars, DeLuca becomes one of the vanguards who asserts that the visual realm, which has for too long been ignored by the field, is not only as important, but more so than spoken or written rhetoric in the political public sphere. Through this analysis, DeLuca explores how radical environmental groups are reconstituting the identity of the dominant culture (p. 16) rather than forming their own. In conclusion, this work is of great importance to the academy, especially the field of rhetoric. DeLuca's book begins to fill the dearth of work on media and the environment. It begins anew the research of social movements in this postmodern era. Importantly, it gifts the activist groups legitimacy and credence, which does have the potential to greater effect social change, an ideal conditional for every work in the academy.

Indigenous American Women: Decolonization, Empowerment, Activism by Devon Abbott Mihesuah (Professor of Applied Indigenous Studies and History, North Arizona University) studies how Native American women have been perceived by non-Natives, scholars, and themselves. Professor Mihesuah sets forth guidelines as to how Native American women can empower themselves tribally, nationally, and academically, while emphasizing the importance of getting involved in all facets of the Native American community. Indigenous American Women is very highly recommended for Contemporary Native American Studies and Women's Studies collections and reading lists.

The author has put forth a fine compilation of subjects which will challenge both those outside of Native America and within it's ranks to open their eyes to some harsh realities and true strengths of American Indian women. Highly recommend.

This book has been 23 years in the making, and it has been well worth waiting for. It's a meticulously researched account of Viktor Kravchenko who defected from the Soviets in 1944 and lived to tell the world about life in Uncle Joe's paradise in a blockbuster bestseller titled `I Chose Freedom' published in 1946 and translated into numerous languages. It came out just a month after Churchill had delivered his famous Iron Curtain-speech and called for the West to counter communist aggression and treachery. This was a reality check which put an end to the West's gullibility about the nature of Stalin's dictatorship. Communists and fellow-travellers all over the world rose in fury to attack Kravchenko who was depicted as a tool in the arsenal of cold warriors - if he existed at all. Kravchenko sued a French journal for libel and won the ensuing `case of the century' with flying colors. Gary Kern leaves no stone untouched and conclusively documents that Kravchenko was very much his own man. With poor English and no knowledge of US literary style a collaborator - Eugene Lyons - actually wrote the prose but the contents is all Kravchenko's. Kern traces his story up to recent years to the meeting between Kravchenko's two sons - one Soviet who experienced the Gulag, the other American - who had lived their lives unaware of the existence of the other. After reading this book no one can seriously claim that the Cold War was the West's `fault'.

Gary Kern, well-known for his major book on the defector Krivitsky (A DEATH IN WASHINGTON), has now published a fascinating and thorough study of Victor Kravchenko, using archives and documents not previously available. Kravchenko was a defector from the Soviet bureaucracy who was the first to warn the West about Stalin's post-war plans and the first to reveal the extent of the Gulags. His life was complicated by his aggressive temperament, but it was that temperament that led him to confront Stalinists in the course of a bitter trial in France. Kern has digested massive amounts of material here, and one begins to understand better the roots of the Cold War and Kravchenko's role in educating Americans about Stalin's true attitudes. Along the way we are given mini-biographies of Soviet spies in America, a discussion of why Krachenko was against McCarthyism and a revealing look at the nature of the French Communist Party. All in all, a stunning work of scholarship.

A "must have", if you will, to those who are intrested in the history of the Black Panthers. The articles written by several authors covers the whole range of things associated with the Panthers and provides insights and information that make this book essential to your education.

You can really gain a lot of factual/historical background and intellectual insight into the Black Panthers from this collection of essays. Really a great resource for anyone who cares about the movement, is interested in the reality of what we broadly call the "civil rights movement" and the era in which the Panthers evolved, anyone interested in the complex struggles of a radical group, anyone interested in government surveillance and covert attacks, etc. Well, lots of stuff to get you thinking.

Most recommended for the reader with some background in the Panthers and the historical context in general, but approachable without a lot of specialized knowledge.

A brilliant collection of interviews with some of our leading progressive scholars, writers and activists. Barsamian has assembled quite an array of talent and draws out the best from them.

In Louder Than Bombs: Interviews From The Progressive Magazine, David Barsamian has compiled some of his very best work interviewing twenty significant and influential "political counter-culture" men and women ranging from Noam Chomsky, to Angela Davis, to Ralph Nader, to Kurt Vonnegut. Each contributer is introduced with a brief description and biographical summary as a precursor to his or her interview. Conversations about work, art, activism, and the pervasive problems of American and world society offer thought-provoking insight and strong wake-up calls. Highly recommended political reading.

This book is a splendid analysis of the Russian conquest of Chechnya and Daghestan between the late 1820s and early 1850s. Its central theme is the collision between imperial Russia and the Muslim peoples of the Caucasus. Gammer traces the origins of the 'Islamic revival' that occurred in the Caucasus in the second quarter of the nineteenth century and shows how, under the leadership of Imam Shamil, that revival assumed a military dimension that challenged Russia's presence in the region. Gammer insists that Shamil and his followers were by no means the 'fanatics' or 'terrorists' imagined by the Russians. He argues that Shamil was a genuine believer in God and in Islamic law; that Shamil first sought accommodation with the Russians but soon became aware that the Russians were only interested in establishing imperial hegemony in the region; that Shamil was a shrewd politician who very nearly succeeded in unifying the ethnically diverse peoples of Chechnya and Daghestan under a common Islamic banner. The book is based on profound scholarship, but it is written in a lively narrative style. The text is accompanied by helpful maps and suggestive illustrations. Although Gammer's book focuses on the nineteenth century, its subject is timely in light of the two recent wars between post-Soviet Russia and the Chechens who, since Shamil's rebellion, may never have accepted Russian rule.

An indepth look at an Amazing personality and the conditions surrounding his times. Moshe Gammer has done justice to his subject matter.

You don't have to be a Buddhist to applaud Lin and his courage in "doing nothing" on the streets of Chico, CA. Short, warm hearted and sometimes frightening; this is a quick read that stays with you. Why would anyone would tell a 75 year old meditator to "f*** off" for just sitting on the sidewalk with his meditation cushion with a little sign that says "peace vigil"? Lin's little book doesn't give you an answer but it gets you thinking. And that's what his peace vigel is all about.

Lin Jensen is a gifted writer who shares his experience of open-heartedly taking action for peace. I feel inspired and comforted to know he is out there, every day, opening his heart, sitting on his cushion, and promoting peace in the best way he can. His willingness to share his struggles and challenges makes his efforts even more impressive, while also making them seem accessible and possible for the rest of us, despite all of our own challenges. Reading this book gave me a sense of lightness, at the same time that it highlighted the seriousness of our current world and the challenges we face. I recommend it highly and plan to buy it for the people in my life who matter most to me. Thank you Lin Jensen, for your efforts, and for your willingness to share them with all of us.