D'autres livres qui pourraient vous intéresser

• 

  The Intimacy of Power: An...

  Alun Evans

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes in the corridors of power during a major crisis or after a ministerial reshuffle? How do new government ministers get to grips with their portfolios and priorities? Who guides and supports them? And why, sometimes – during events such as 'Partygate' – do things go wrong?
  In this meticulously researched book, former senior civil servant Alun Evans lifts the lid on a vital but little-known cog in the machinery of government: private office and the private secretaries who work within it.
  Private secretaries exercise huge influence, and yet most of us have never heard of them. They are the ones who manage the flow of work, who whisper quietly in ministers' ears and who have been Prime Ministers' closest, most trusted and most discreet confidants. At critical moments in our national history – from the Falklands War to the Westland affair, from Black Wednesday to the 2008 financial crash, from New Labour to the coalition government – they have been central but hidden players.
  With exceptional access to former Prime Ministers and decision-makers, Evans explores what private office is and why it matters to British democracy. He argues that following the egregious constitutional breaches of Boris Johnson's premiership, private office must once again be taken seriously so it can return to being the independent junction box of government and a vital part of the British constitution.

  Voir livre

• 

  Image Control - Art Fascism and...

  Patrick Nathan

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Susan Sontag meets Hanif Abdurraqib in this fascinating exploration of the unexpected connections between how we consume images and the insidious nature of Fascism. 
   
   
   
  Images come at us quickly, often without context. A photograph of Syrian children suffering in the wake of a chemical attack segues into a stranger's pristine Instagram selfie. Before we can react to either, a new meme induces a laugh and a share. While such constant give and take might seem innocent, even entertaining, this barrage of content numbs our ability to examine critically how the world, broken down into images, affects us. Images without context isolate us, turning everything we experience into mere transactions. It is exactly this alienation that leaves us vulnerable to fascism—a reactionary politics that is destroying not only our lives and our nations, but also the planet's very ability to sustain human civilization. 
   
   
    
  Who gets to control the media we consume? Can we intervene, or at least mitigate the influence of constant content? Mixing personal anecdotes with historical and political criticism, Image Control explores art, social media, photography, and other visual mediums to understand how our culture and our actions are manipulated, all the while building toward the idea that if fascism emerges as aesthetics, then so too can anti-fascism.

  Voir livre

• 

  Rocking in the Free World -...

  Nicholas Tochka

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Progressive and libertarian, anti-Communist and revolutionary, Democratic and Republican, quintessentially American but simultaneously universal. By the late 1980s, rock music had acquired a dizzying array of political labels. These claims about its political significance shared one common thread: that the music could set you free. 
   
   
   
  Rocking in the Free World explains how Americans came to believe they had learned the truth about rock 'n' roll, a truth shaped by the Cold War anxieties of the fifties, the countercultural revolutions (and counter-revolutions) of the sixties and seventies, and the end-of-history triumphalism of the eighties. How did rock 'n' roll become enmeshed with so many different competing ideas about freedom? And what does that story reveal about the promise-and the limits-of rock music as a political force in postwar America?

  Voir livre

• 

  When Left Moves Right - The...

  Maria Snegovaya

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Over the past two decades, postcommunist countries have witnessed a sudden shift in the electoral fortunes of their political parties: previously successful center-left parties suffered dramatic electoral defeats and disappeared from the political scene, while right-wing populist parties soared in popularity and came to power. This dynamic echoed similar processes in Western Europe and raises a question: Were these dynamics in any way connected? When Right Moves Left argues that they were. And that the root of the connection between them lies in the pro-market rebranding of the ex-communist left—the key explanatory variable. This book asserts that, though the left's pro-market shift initially led to electoral rewards, it had a less straightforward impact on left-wing parties' electoral fortunes in the long run. 
   
   
   
  The book draws upon different levels of analysis: cross-country observational data, case studies, and individual-level experimental surveys. It argues that scholars should incorporate the economic policy dimension when explaining the demise of the left and the rise of the populist right in the region. It also examines important parallels between the dynamics of Western and postcommunist countries by arguing that the idiosyncrasy of Eastern European politics has been overstated in scholarly literature.

  Voir livre

• 

  Kleptocracy Exposed - The...

  Arlo Holders

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Kleptocracy, derived from the Greek words kleptēs (thief) and kratos (rule), refers to a system of governance where leaders exploit their positions of power to enrich themselves at the expense of the public. It is a regime of theft, where corruption is not merely an incidental byproduct of governance but a fundamental aspect of its operation. In kleptocratic systems, the state becomes a tool for personal and collective gain for a small elite, often at the cost of societal well-being and economic development. 
  Historically, kleptocracy has thrived in societies with weak institutions, limited accountability mechanisms, and concentrated political power. Leaders in these systems manipulate laws, suppress dissent, and use propaganda to maintain their grip on authority while diverting resources for personal use. Such regimes have emerged across various political systems, from monarchies and dictatorships to democracies with eroded checks and balances. 
  The global scale of kleptocracy is staggering, with trillions of dollars siphoned from public coffers annually. This stolen wealth often finds its way into offshore accounts, luxury properties, and high-value assets, creating a shadow financial system that transcends national borders. These stolen funds not only undermine the economies of the affected countries but also perpetuate poverty and inequality, as vital resources meant for public welfare, healthcare, and education are diverted into private hands.

  Voir livre

• 

  A Very Short History of the...

  Ilan Pappé

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  An indispensable guide to understanding the Israel–Palestine conflict, and how we might yet still find a way out of it. 
   
   
   
  "Ilan Pappe is the most original, radical and hard-hitting of Israel's 'new historians.'" —Avi Shlaim, author of Three Worlds 
   
   
   
  The devastation of 7 October 2023 and the horrors that followed astounded the world. But the Israel–Palestine conflict didn't start on 7 October. It didn't start in 1967 either, when Israel occupied the West Bank, or in 1948 when the state of Israel was declared. It started in 1882, when the first Zionist settlers arrived in what was then Ottoman Palestine. Ilan Pappe untangles the history of two peoples, now sharing one land. Going back to the founding fathers of Zionism, Pappe expertly takes us through the twists and turns of international policy towards Israel–Palestine, Palestinian resistance to occupation, and the changes taking place in Israel itself.

  Voir livre