Collection: Politics

"It's the statehouses, stupid."

Laboratories of Autocracy shows that far more than the high-profile antics of politicians like Marjorie Taylor Greene or Jim Jordan-and yes, even bigger than Donald Trump's "Big Lie"-it's anonymous, often corrupt politicians in statehouses across the country who pose the greatest dangers to American democracy.

Because these statehouses no longer operate as functioning democracies, these unknown politicians have all the incentive to keep doing greater damage, and can not be held accountable however extreme they get. This has driven steep declines in states like Ohio and others across the country. And collectively, it's placed American democracy in its greatest peril since the dawn of the Jim Crow era.

But Pepper doesn't stop there. He lays out a robust pro-democracy agenda outlining how everyone from elected officials to business leaders to everyday citizens can fight back.

As culture wars pit us against each other, A Great Disorder looks to the myths that have shaped American identity and reveals how they have brought us to the brink of an existential crisis.

Red America and Blue America are so divided they could be two different countries, with wildly diverging views of why government exists and who counts as American. Their ideologies are grounded in different versions of American history, endorsing irreconcilable visions of patriotism and national identity.

A Great Disorder is a bold, urgent work that helps us make sense of today's culture wars through a brilliant reconsideration of America's foundational myths and their use in contemporary politics. Famous for his trilogy on the Myth of the Frontier, Richard Slotkin identifies five myths, born of different eras, that have shaped our conception of what it means to be American: the myths of the Frontier, the Founding, the Civil War (which he breaks into two opposing camps, Emancipation and the Lost Cause), and the Good War, embodied by the multiethnic platoon fighting for freedom. His argument is that while Trump and his MAGA followers have played up a frontier-inspired hostility to the federal government and rallied around Confederate symbols to champion a racially exclusive definition of American nationality, Blue America, taking its cue from the protest movements of the 1960s, envisions a limitlessly pluralistic country in which the federal government is the ultimate enforcer of rights and opportunities. American history--and the foundations of our democracy--have become a battleground. It is not clear at this time which vision will prevail.

From farmer Joel Salatin's point of view, life in the 21st century just ain't normal. In FOLKS, THIS AIN'T NORMAL, he discusses how far removed we are from the simple, sustainable joy that comes from living close to the land and the people we love. Salatin has many thoughts on what normal is and shares practical and philosophical ideas for changing our lives in small ways that have big impact.

Salatin, hailed by the New York Times as "Virginia's most multifaceted agrarian since Thomas Jefferson [and] the high priest of the pasture" and profiled in the Academy Award nominated documentary Food, Inc. and the bestselling book The Omnivore's Dilemma, understands what food should be: Wholesome, seasonal, raised naturally, procured locally, prepared lovingly, and eaten with a profound reverence for the circle of life. And his message doesn't stop there. From child-rearing, to creating quality family time, to respecting the environment, Salatin writes with a wicked sense of humor and true storyteller's knack for the revealing anecdote.

Salatin's crucial message and distinctive voice--practical, provocative, scientific, and down-home philosophical in equal measure--make FOLKS, THIS AIN'T NORMAL a must-read book.

The complete texts of the documents that tell the story of the clashes and compromises that gave birth to the Unites States of America.

Should the members of the government be elected by direct vote of the people?
Should the government be headed by a single executive, and how powerful should that executive be? Should immigrants be allowed into the United States?
How should judges be appointed?
What human rights should be safe from government infringement?

In 1787, these important questions and others were raised by such statesmen as Patrick Henry and John DeWitt as the states debated the merits of the proposed Constitution. Along with The Federalist Papers, this invaluable book documents the political context in which the Constitution was born.

This volume includes the complete texts of the Anti-Federalist Papers and Constitutional Convention debates, commentaries, and an Index of Ideas. It also lists cross-references to its companion volume, The Federalist Papers, available in a Signet Classic edition.

Edited and with an Introduction by Ralph Ketchum

The Nicomachean Ethics is one of Aristotle's most widely read and influential works. Ideas central to ethics--that happiness is the end of human endeavor, that moral virtue is formed through action and habituation, and that good action requires prudence--found their most powerful proponent in the person medieval scholars simply called "the Philosopher." Drawing on their intimate knowledge of Aristotle's thought, Robert C. Bartlett and Susan D. Collins have produced here an English-language translation of the Ethics that is as remarkably faithful to the original as it is graceful in its rendering.

Aristotle is well known for the precision with which he chooses his words, and in this elegant translation his work has found its ideal match. Bartlett and Collins provide copious notes and a glossary providing context and further explanation for students, as well as an introduction and a substantial interpretive essay that sketch central arguments of the work and the seminal place of Aristotle's Ethics in his political philosophy as a whole.

The Nicomachean Ethics has engaged the serious interest of readers across centuries and civilizations--of peoples ancient, medieval, and modern; pagan, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish--and this new edition will take its place as the standard English-language translation.

"[A] superb history.... In these thrilling, highly readable pages, we meet Rasputin, the shaggy, lecherous mystic...; we visit the gilded ballrooms of the doomed aristocracy; and we pause in the sickroom of little Alexei, the hemophiliac heir who, with his parents and four sisters, would be murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918." --The Wall Street Journal

Here is the tumultuous, heartrending, true story of the Romanovs--at once an intimate portrait of Russia's last royal family and a gripping account of its undoing. Using captivating photos and compelling first person accounts, award-winning author Candace Fleming (Amelia Lost; The Lincolns) deftly maneuvers between the imperial family's extravagant lives and the plight of Russia's poor masses, making this an utterly mesmerizing read as well as a perfect resource for meeting Common Core standards.

"An exhilarating narrative history of a doomed and clueless family and empire." --Jim Murphy, author of Newbery Honor Books An American Plague and The Great Fire

"For readers who regard history as dull, Fleming's extraordinary book is proof positive that, on the contrary, it is endlessly fascinating, absorbing as any novel, and the stuff of an altogether memorable reading experience." --Booklist, Starred

"Marrying the intimate family portrait of Heiligman's Charles and Emma with the politics and intrigue of Sheinkin's Bomb, Fleming has outdone herself with this riveting work of narrative nonfiction that appeals to the imagination as much as the intellect." --The Horn Book, Starred

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature
Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Nonfiction
A Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
A YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Finalist
Winner of the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction

With a New Preface by the author

"Breathe is a parent's unflinching demand, born of inherited trauma and love, for her children's right simply to be possible."--The New York Times

2020 NAACP Image Award Nominee - Outstanding Literary Work (Nonfiction) - 2020 Chautauqua Prize Finalist - Best Nonfiction Books of 2019 (Kirkus Reviews) - 25 Can't-Miss Books of 2019 (The Undefeated)

Explores the terror, grace, and beauty of coming of age as a Black person in contemporary America and what it means to parent our children in a persistently unjust world.

Emotionally raw and deeply reflective, Imani Perry issues an unflinching challenge to society to see Black children as deserving of humanity. She admits fear and frustration for her African American sons in a society that is increasingly racist and at times seems irredeemable. However, as a mother, feminist, writer, and intellectual, Perry offers an unfettered expression of love--finding beauty and possibility in life--and she exhorts her children and their peers to find the courage to chart their own paths and find steady footing and inspiration in Black tradition.

Perry draws upon the ideas of figures such as James Baldwin, W. E. B. DuBois, Emily Dickinson, Toni Morrison, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Ida B. Wells. She shares vulnerabilities and insight from her own life and from encounters in places as varied as the West Side of Chicago; Birmingham, Alabama; and New England prep schools.

With original art for the cover by Ekua Holmes, Breathe

offers a broader meditation on race, gender, and the meaning of a life well lived and is also an unforgettable lesson in Black resistance and resilience.

"With laser-like precision, Graham fuses together our collective cultural memory and experience as he captivatingly describes "the contract" so many of us sign. A tacit agreement to don the cloak of cultural invisibility in exchange for the basement keys to the palace." - Dr. Joy A. DeGruy, author of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome

Written to speak for those who've been without a voice throughout their professional career, Plantation Theory: The Black Professional's Struggle Between Freedom & Security showcases the realities that countless Black corporate professionals face despite best efforts to prove their worthiness of opportunity. It challenges the status quo and urges future generations of Black excellence to recognize how much power they wield and evaluate closely the benefits and the detractors of choosing to work in Corporate America. From cover to cover, Black professionals are faced with an urgent question-why work twice as hard for half the recognition and a third of the pay?

Filled with transparent and often shocking firsthand accounts, Plantation Theory also serves as a veil remover for those in positions of privilege and power as they embark on a journey of abolition rather than allyship. For individuals and corporations, it demands a commitment to end participation in the behaviors perpetuating inequitable environments. Graham pointedly places the accountability squarely on the shoulders of those most responsible and asks will marketing to Black and diverse talent match the reality of the daily lived experience they will soon call reality as employees? Or will these entities engage in adequate self-examination, heartfelt contemplation, and reflective discussions to do the hard work of no longer being a sideline participant in the marathon of inequity.

For Black professionals, the vision for the future will require a confrontation with the notion of freedom versus security. For companies and individuals in privileged positions of power, performative measures and diversity theater are no longer enough. Graham's Plantation Theory reminds us that historical approaches are no longer viable pathways to what must become. It's no longer a matter of capability, but of willingness. There is much work to be done for the willing.

The conflict in Ukraine has deep domestic roots. A third of the population, primarily in the East and South, regards its own Russian cultural identity as entirely compatible with a Ukrainian civic identity. The state's reluctance to recognize this ethnos as a legitimate part of the modern Ukrainian nation, has created a tragic cycle that entangles Ukrainian politics.

The Tragedy of Ukraine argues that in order to untangle the conflict within the Ukraine, it must be addressed on an emotional, as well as institutional level. It draws on Richard Ned Lebow's 'tragic vision of politics' and on classical Greek tragedy to assist in understanding the persistence of this conflict. Classical Greek tragedy once served as a mechanism in Athenian society to heal deep social trauma and create more just institutions. The Tragedy of Ukraine reflects on the ways in which ancient Greek tragedy can help us rethink civic conflict and polarization, as well as model ways of healing deep social divisions.

The seminal one-volume collection of Noam Chomsky's thought, encompassing his best writings on politics, philosophy, and media theory

"Noam Chomsky is one of the most significant challengers of unjust power and delusions; he goes against every assumption about American altruism and humanitarianism." --Edward Said

For fifty years, Noam Chomsky's writings on politics and language have established him as a preeminent public intellectual and as one of the most original and wide-ranging social critics of our time. Among the seminal figures in linguistic theory over the past century, since the 1960s Chomsky has also secured a place as perhaps the leading dissident voice in the United States.

Chomsky's many bestselling works--including Manufacturing Consent, Hegemony or Survival, Understanding Power, and Failed States--have served as essential touchstones for dissidents, activists, scholars, and concerned citizens on subjects ranging from the media to human rights to intellectual freedom. His scathing critiques of the U.S. wars in Vietnam, Central America, and the Middle East have been the intellectual inspiration for antiwar movements over nearly five decades. As the political landscape has changed over the course of Chomsky's life, he has remained a steadfast voice on the left, never wavering in his convictions and always questioning entrenched power.

The Essential Chomsky assembles the core of his most important writings, including excerpts from his most influential texts. Here is an unprecedented, comprehensive overview of Chomsky's thought.

Damon DiMarco's Tower Stories: An Oral History of 9/11 (20th Anniversary Commemorative Edition), eternally preserves a monumental tragedy in American history through the voices of the people who were in New York City on that fateful day. At the same time, the individuals featured in the book speak to the myriad ways by which Americans rose to meet the challenges presented by 9/11, and celebrates the many heroes that are found within its pages.

In the tradition of Studs Terkel, DiMarco's literary time capsule includes a wide variety of viewpoints, including: The small group of people who miraculously made it safely down from the 89th floor of Tower 1, the New York Times reporter who desperately fought her way through the fleeing crowds to get back into Lower Manhattan, the paramedic who set up a triage area 200 yards from the base of the Towers before they collapsed, and the bereaved citizens of New York City who struggled to get on with their lives in the days and months following the tragic event, among dozens of others.

The original edition of Tower Stories was one of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed books on 9/11 ever published, and for this 20th Anniversary Commemorative Edition, DiMarco has conducted additional interviews that offer a contemporary perspective on the 9/11 tragedy. The individuals DiMarco interviewed for the new edition include:

- Alice Greenwald (President and CEO of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum)

- Father Jim Martin (New York Times bestselling author)

- Tom Haddad (survivor of the 89th floor, Tower 1)

- Stephen Adly Guirgis (Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright).

The 20th Anniversary Commemorative Edition of DiMarco's moving oral history preserves all of the voices from the original edition for generations to come, while offering new insights that benefit from twenty years of reflection on the world-shattering event.

The voices in Tower Stories are in turn haunting and heartbreaking, always emotional, yet ultimately heroic. It's no wonder that MSNBC called Tower Stories "Arguably the most successful attempt at capturing the enormity of the events of 9/11," while Publishers Weekly wrote that "DiMarco's contribution to the memory of that horrific day is enormous; the testimonies collected here form a one-of-a-kind account."

How data surveillance, digital forensics, and generative AI pose new long-term threats and opportunities--and how we can use them to make better decisions in the face of technological uncertainty.

In The Secret Life of Data, Aram Sinnreich and Jesse Gilbert explore the many unpredictable, and often surprising, ways in which data surveillance, AI, and the constant presence of algorithms impact our culture and society in the age of global networks. The authors build on this basic premise: no matter what form data takes, and what purpose we think it's being used for, data will always have a secret life. How this data will be used, by other people in other times and places, has profound implications for every aspect of our lives--from our intimate relationships to our professional lives to our political systems.

With the secret uses of data in mind, Sinnreich and Gilbert interview dozens of experts to explore a broad range of scenarios and contexts--from the playful to the profound to the problematic. Unlike most books about data and society that focus on the short-term effects of our immense data usage, The Secret Life of Data focuses primarily on the long-term consequences of humanity's recent rush toward digitizing, storing, and analyzing every piece of data about ourselves and the world we live in. The authors advocate for "slow fixes" regarding our relationship to data, such as creating new laws and regulations, ethics and aesthetics, and models of production for our data-fied society.

Cutting through the hype and hopelessness that so often inform discussions of data and society, The Secret Life of Data clearly and straightforwardly demonstrates how readers can play an active part in shaping how digital technology influences their lives and the world at large.

Can one be nostalgic for the home one never had? Why is it that the age of globalization is accompanied by a no less global epidemic of nostalgia? Can we know what we are nostalgic for? In the seventeenth century, Swiss doctors believed that opium, leeches, and a trek through the Alps would cure nostalgia. In 1733 a Russian commander, disgusted with the debilitating homesickness rampant among his troops, buried a soldier alive as a deterrent to nostalgia. In her new book, Svetlana Boym develops a comprehensive approach to this elusive ailment. Combining personal memoir, philosophical essay, and historical analysis, Boym explores the spaces of collective nostalgia that connect national biography and personal self-fashioning in the twenty-first century. She guides us through the ruins and construction sites of post-communist cities -- St. Petersburg, Moscow, Berlin, and Prague-and the imagined homelands of exiles-Benjamin, Nabokov, Mandelstam, and Brodsky. From Jurassic Park to the Totalitarian Sculpture Garden, from love letters on Kafka's grave to conversations with Hitler's impersonator, Boym unravels the threads of this global epidemic of longing and its antidotes.

This stunning picture book biography of Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson is a recipient of the Coretta Scott King Honor award.

In this lush, acclaimed book, award-winning author-illustrator Kadir Nelson tells the story of global icon and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela in poignant free verse and glorious illustrations.

It is the story of a young boy's determination to change South Africa, and of the struggles of a man who eventually became the president of his country. Mandela believed in equality for all people, no matter the color of their skin. Readers will be inspired by Mandela's triumph and his lifelong quest to create a more just world.

Resources in the back include an author's note and a bibliography listing additional sources for readers who want to find out more. Perfect for sharing at home or in the classroom.

Kadir Nelson's acclaimed books include The Undefeated, winner of the Caldecott Medal as the most distinguished picture book of the year, Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans, and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom.

An enlightening and delicious look at how vegans - and their critics - are redefining the way the world eats in the twenty-first century.

For years, there has been no doubt that widespread consumption of meat is both environmentally destructive and morally dubious. A growing chorus of scientists, health experts, and activists champion the benefits of a plant-based diet. Nevertheless, change has been slow to arrive, and the chasm between our appetites and our collective well-being seems impossibly vast. We know we must transition to a more plant-based world. But what would such a world look like, and how do we realistically get there?

One group of people has been grappling with this question for decades: vegans. Once mocked for its hempy puritanism, the vegan movement has grown from a fringe identity into a veritable cultural juggernaut. Yet visions of what our food system should look like continue to conflict. Is the healthful vegan lifestyle appealing-or alienating? Are high-tech meat alternatives merely a repeat performance of harmful fast-food values? Is modern veganism itself misguided-a wrong answer to the right questions?

In The Good Eater, Harvard-trained sociologist (and vegan) Nina Guilbeault, PhD vividly explores the movement's history and its present-day tensions by grappling with the most fundamental question of all: Is there a truly ethical way to eat? What emerges is a fascinating portrait of how social change happens, with profound implications for our plates-and our planet.

A modern classic of the new agrarianism

"Chris Smaje...shows that the choice is clear. Either we have a small farm future, or we face collapse and extinction."--Vandana Shiva

"Every young person should read this book."--Richard Heinberg

In a groundbreaking debut, farmer and social scientist Chris Smaje argues that organizing society around small-scale farming offers the soundest, sanest and most reasonable response to climate change and other crises of civilisation--and will yield humanity's best chance at survival.

Drawing on a vast range of sources from across a multitude of disciplines, A Small Farm Future analyses the complex forces that make societal change inevitable; explains how low-carbon, locally self-reliant agrarian communities can empower us to successfully confront these changes head on; and explores the pathways for delivering this vision politically.

Challenging both conventional wisdom and utopian blueprints, A Small Farm Future offers rigorous original analysis of wicked problems and hidden opportunities in a way that illuminates the path toward functional local economies, effective self-provisioning, agricultural diversity and a shared earth.

Perfect for readers of both Wendell Berry and Thomas Piketty, A Small Farm Future is a refreshing, new outlook on a way forward for society--and a vital resource for activists, students, policy makers, and anyone looking to enact change.