Bücher veröffentlicht von Pluto Press

An expose of what really goes on behind the closed doors of state power

The story of the longest legal proceedings in British history in the raw words of those most intimately involved.

The political dynamics of the European Union can often appear confusing, shrouded as they are in complex legislative processes. This book offers a clear and thorough critical introduction to the origins, development and current direction of the EU, and pinpoints the major policy debates animating decision-makers.*BR**BR*This revised and updated edition offers a well-illustrated analysis of each of the EU's major policy areas, and covers arguments both for and against the EU. McGiffen explores subjects including enlargement, internal and external security, the Euro, trade, the environment, employment, transport and regional policy. He explains how and why the debate about membership is frequently and falsely presented as if it were a conflict between 'nationalism' and 'internationalism', and argues instead that the EU is merely one of a number of possible solutions to the the economic and political problems facing Europe.*BR**BR*Published in association with Spectre.

The struggle between Israel and the Palestinians is not unique, whatever the media may suggest. Lorenzo Veracini argues that the conflict is best understood in terms of colonialism, as like many other societies, Israel is a settler society. Looking at the evolution of other colonial regimes - apartheid South Africa, French Algeria and Australia - Veracini presents a thoughtful interpretation of the dynamics of colonialism.*BR**BR*He challenges two important myths: firstly, that the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is unique and defies comparative approaches; and secondly that the struggle is mainly based in nationality and religion and therefore different to typical colonial conflicts. *BR**BR*Comparing and contrasting 'official' apartheid regimes with the more recent history of Israel and Palestine, he offers a critical perspective on colonialism as well as important new insights into patterns of imperialism today.

'As Americans, we need to face up to our own reliance on nuclear intimidation. This is an important book for Americans of all political stripes to read.' Cynthia Enloe, author of The Curious Feminist: Searching for Women in a New Age of Empire"e;At a time when nuclear weapons are increasingly in the political spotlight, this book is essential reading ... Joseph Gerson has provided a work of the utmost importance: a key to understanding - and challenging - US global domination and its nuclear core."e; Kate Hudson, Chair, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament"e;Brilliant. I have not read a more important book in many years. Gerson has uncovered the radioactive vein in our secret foreign policy. ... Gerson's work helps us understand why the likelihood of nuclear war is greater now than before the fall of the Berlin Wall. A terrific book."e; Daniel Ellsberg, former senior Pentagon official and co-author of The Pentagon Papers The United States is the only country to have dropped the atomic bomb. Since the A-bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, every U.S. president has threatened nuclear war.This concise history shows how the U.S. has used nuclear weapons to bolster its imperial ambitions. Leading nuclear specialist and peace campaigner Joseph Gerson explains why atomic weapons were first built and used -- and how the U.S. uses them today to preserve its global empire. Gerson reveals how and why the U.S. made more than twenty threats of nuclear attack during the Cold War -- against Russia, China, Vietnam, and the Middle East. He shows how such theats continued under Presidents Bush and Clinton, and George W. Bush.The book concludes with an appeal for nuclear weapons abolition and an overview of the history of the anti-nuclear movement. Drawing from a wide range of sources, this fascinating and timely account shows how the U.S. has used nuclear weapons to dominate the world.

--A revised and expanded edition of this acclaimed introduction to political thought--*BR**BR*'Reliable and fair... Clear, relaxed, jargon-free and often attractively witty.' The Philosopher*BR**BR*'A handbook of the history of political philosophy.' CHOICE*BR**BR*"e;The central advantages of this book are undoubtedly its lucidity, range and unorthodox approach. ... This wide range is covered with surprising agility and clarity. The book offers an engaging account of political philosophy where great schools of thought are audaciously summarised in a paragraph or two."e; Times Higher Education Supplement*BR**BR*Guiding the reader through the key arguments of the classic figures of Western political philosophy, from Plato through to the modern era, this revised edition includes new essays on Aristotle's 'Politics', Confucianism, Islamic social philosophy and Nazism, as well as additional material on 'Roman Law', Anarchism and 'anti-capitalism'.*BR**BR*Cohen moves chronologically through the development of political philosophy. He presents key texts in their own terms, before offering short, precise analyses of their strengths, weaknesses and influence. The book finishes with a discussion of modern liberalism and conservatism.*BR**BR*Providing both a broad overview and precise summaries of key ideas, this is an invaluable guide for all students of political thought.

Why is fear a dominant emotion in contemporary society? Why are politicians using words like 'terror', 'evil' and 'fundamentalism', and what effect is it having on public consciousness?*BR**BR*This book taps into the cultural psyche to explore the link between ideology and emotional and psychological manipulation. It shows that the Bush administration has been hugely successful in controlling and developing a new political climate through the creation of an almost hypnotic mass consciousness. *BR**BR*From the sado-masochist hysteria of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ to the atrocities at Abu Ghraib prison; and from the genocidal use of depleted uranium in Iraq to the apocalyptic language driving the Christian Right's assault on basic human rights.*BR**BR*Davis's findings take us to the heart of the ideological paralysis of the Left, while offering an innovative approach to understanding contemporary history.

Why the concept of individuality is important to people

What is the state and how can we best study it?

There exists today a tragic rift between Americans and the world's Muslims. Yet in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, there was widespread sympathy for the US throughout the Muslim world. *BR**BR*This book explores what happened. It examines the disconnect that leads Americans and Muslims to view the same words and images in fundamentally different ways. Partly a result of a centuries-old 'us' against 'them' dichotomy, the problem is exacerbated by an increasingly polarised media and by leaders on both sides who either don't understand or don't care what impact their words and policies have in the world at large.*BR**BR*Reflections in a Bloodshot Lens argues that the Arab media revolution and the rise of 'patriot-journalists' in the US marginalised voices of moderation, distorting perceptions on both sides of the divide with potentially disastrous results.

A how-to guide on using video to change the world -- written by the world's leading video activists.

Examining the broad contexts of US foreign policy and the lingering aftermath of the Vietnam War, David Ryan argues that these events created an opportunistic framing of 9/11, paving the way for the long-held neo-conservative desire for regime change and war in Iraq. *BR**BR*He examines the construction of the cultural framework for war following 9/11, the legitimacy of military force in Afghanistan, the rise of anti-Americanism, within the broader contexts over the struggle over legitimacy, identity and leadership.*BR**BR*Turning the 'clash of civilisations' thesis on its head, Ryan presents a careful analysis of the evolution of US foreign policy and its engagement with Iraq through the 1980s. While 9/11 provided the opportunity, the post-Vietnam context provides a more pertinent framework for this reflection on the Gulf War, the Iraq War and the strategic implications for US foreign policy.

What is nation-building and is it ever going to succeed? A critical view from 'old Europe'.

Globalization has brought with it many difficult and contradictory phenomena: violence, deep national insecurities, religious divisions and individual insecurities. This book takes a critical look at three key areas - globalism, nationalism, and state-terror - to confront common mythologies and identify the root causes of the problems we face. *BR**BR*Too many commentators still argue that globalization is predominantly a neo-liberal economic phenomenon; that nation-states are on the way out, and that terror is something that primarily comes from below. Global Matrix exposes the limitations of this argument. *BR**BR*Written by two leading scholars, this is a lucid study of what place the nation-state has in a globalizing world that will appeal to students across the political and social sciences.

There is no more compelling and dramatic unfolding story, with more profound international ramifications, than the conflict in the Middle East. *BR**BR*Sharing the Land of Canaan is a critical examination of the core issues of the conflict that dares to put forward a radical but logical solution: that a shared state is the best way to achieve justice and peace for Israelis and Palestinians. Mazin B. Qumsiyeh, offers an overview of the issues at stake, and outlines his vision for a lasting peace based on upholding the principles of human rights for all. Tackling taboo subjects, myths and obstacles, he argues convincingly that apartheid in the form of a two-state solution is no longer a feasible way to achieve enduring peace. *BR**BR*At this critical time, when the 'road map' to peace looks more uncertain than ever, this book provides a refreshing counterpoint to the failed strategies of the past. It is a direct and accessible account of the history - and mythology - of the fabled 'Land of Canaan', which lays out hopeful ideas for the future of this truly multiethnic and multicultural region.

Since his death in 1950, George Orwell has been canonised as England's foremost political writer, and the standard-bearer of honesty and decency for the honourable 'Left'. In this controversial polemic, Scott Lucas argues that the exaltation of Orwell, far from upholding dissent against the State, has sought to quash such opposition. Indeed, Orwell has become the icon of those who, in the pose of the contrarian, try to silence public opposition to US and U K foreign policy in the 'War on Terror'.*BR**BR*Lucas's lively and readable critique of public intellectuals including Christopher Hitchens, Michael Walzer, David Aaronovitch, and Johann Hari - who have all invoked Orwellian honesty and decency to shut down dissent - will appeal to anyone disillusioned with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Agnes Heller is one of the leading thinkers to come out of the tradition of critical theory. Her awesome intellectual range and output includes ethics, philosophical anthropology, political philosophy and a theory of modernity and its culture.*BR**BR*Hungarian by birth, she was one of the best known dissident Marxists in central Europe in the 1960's and 1970's. Since her forced immigration she has held visiting lectureships all over the world and has been the Hannah Arendt Professor of Philosophy at the New School in New York for the last twenty years.*BR**BR*This introduction to her thought is ideal for all students of philosophy, political theory and sociology. Grumley explores Heller's early work, elaborating her relation to Lukacs and the evolution of her own version of Marxism. He examines the subsequent break with Marxism and the initial development of an alternative radical philosophy. Finally, he explains and assesses her mature reflective post-modernism, a perspective that is both sceptical and utopian, that upholds a critical humanist perspective just as it critiques contemporary democratic culture.

Contemporary Arab Thought is a multifaceted book, encompassing a constellation of social, political, religious and ideological ideas that have evolved over the past two hundred years - ideas that represent the leading positions of the social classes in modern and contemporary Arab societies.*BR**BR*Distinguished Islamic scholar Ibrahim Abu-Rabi' addresses such questions as the Shari'ah, human rights, civil society, secularism and globalisation. This is complimented by a focused discussion on the writings of key Arab thinkers who represent established trends of thought in the Arab world, including Muhammad Abid al-Jabiri, Adallah Laroui, Muhammad al-Ghazali, Rashid al-Ghannoushi, Qutatnine Zurayk, Mahdi Amil and many others.*BR**BR*Before 1967, some Arab countries launched hopeful programmes of modernisation. After the 1967 defeat with Israel, many of these hopes were dashed. This book retraces the Arab world's aborted modernity of recent decades. Abu-Rabi explores the development of contemporary Arab thought against the historical background of the rise of modern Islamism, and the impact of the West on the modern Arab world.

Control and Subversion investigates the relationship of gender to the inner workings of social control, such as exposing ways in which post-Soviet Tajikistan society threatens men's masculinity, thereby bringing them to force family members into conformity, irrespective of the suffering this may cause. *BR**BR*Told through ethnographically collected life histories, the book examines how masculine and feminine gender characteristics influence personal relationships and explores gender relations at their most intimate - from the secret musings of adolescent girls, through the painful experiences of young men, to the trauma of sexual initiation. *BR**BR*Although largely concentrating on contemporary life, the book also discusses historical materials and Soviet influence on Tajik society. Control and Subversion is essential reading for anyone interested in Central Asia, Muslim societies, the lives of Muslim women, or gender in a Muslim context.

The first biography of the acclaimed musician and political activist.

Shows how corruption operates through informal rules, personal connections and wider social contexts.

In Kosovo, America claimed its war was a 'humanitarian intervention,' in Afghanistan, 'self-defense,' and in Iraq, it claimed the authority of the Security Council of the United Nations. Yet each of these wars was illegal according to established rules of international law. According to these rules, illegal wars fall within the category of 'supreme international crimes'. So how come the war crimes tribunals never manage to turn their sights on America and always wind up putting America's enemies - 'the usual suspects' - on trial?*BR**BR*This new book by renowned scholar Michael Mandel offers a critical account of America's illegal wars and a war crimes system that has granted America's leaders an unjust and dangerous impunity, effectively encouraging their illegal wars and the war crimes that always flow from them.

New edition of classic title on the morality of terrorism

The 1948 war ended in the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes. Israeli settlers moved in to occupy their land and the Palestinian refugees found themselves expelled. Today there are nearly four million Palestinian refugees - and they want the right to go home.*BR**BR*Since 1948 Israeli refugee policy has become a classic case of denial: the denial that Zionist 'transfer committees' had operated between 1937 and 1948; denial of any wrong doing or any historical injustice; denial of the 'right of return'; denial of restitution of property and compensation; and indeed denial of any moral responsibility or culpability for the creation of the refugee problem.*BR**BR*This book analyses Israeli policies towards the Palestinian refugees as they evolved from the 1948 catastrophe (or nakba) to the present. It is the first volume to look in detail at Israeli law and policy surrounding the refugee question. Drawing on extensive primary sources and previously classified archive material, Masalha discusses the 1948 exodus; Israeli resettlement schemes since 1948; Israeli approaches to compensation and restitution of property; Israeli refugee policies towards the internally displaced ('present absentees'); and Israeli refugee policies during the Madrid and Oslo negotiations.

The Cold War is often presented as an international power struggle between the Soviet Union and the US. Richard Saull challenges this assumption. He broadens our understanding of the defining political conflict of the twentieth-century by stressing the social and ideological differences of the superpowers and how these differences conditioned their international behaviour.*BR**BR*Saull argues that US-Soviet antagonism was part of a wider conflict between capitalism and communism involving states and social forces other than the superpowers. The US was committed to containing revolutionary and communist movements that emerged out of uneven capitalist development.*BR**BR*In highlighting the socio-economic and ideological dimensions of the Cold War, Saull not only provides a richer history of the Cold War than mainstream approaches, but is also able to explain why revolutionary domestic transformations caused international crises. Tracing the origins of new resistance to American global power, Saull's book provides an ideal alternative perspective on the Cold War and its end.

Like many buzzwords, 'global governance' is as poorly understood as it is popular. In contrast to most mainstream accounts, this book examines global economic governance as an integral moment of contemporary capitalism, presenting a critical insight into its real nature and the interests that it serves. *BR**BR*This book begins by asking what has not been discussed in the mainstream debates and why. Drawing on a Marxist perspective, Susanne Soederberg explores neglected issues including transnational debt and the increasingly coercive nature of US aid to so-called 'failed states'. *BR**BR*She argues that mainstream understandings fail to engage with the wider contradictions that characterise global capitalism. In consequence, there is no explanation of the changing nature of American empire and capitalist power in the world.

Leading anthropologists discuss globalisation

A reassessment of Scottish politics and society in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century

A critique of modern African 'democracies'

The feminist press movement transformed the publishing industry, literary culture and educational curricula during the last quarter of the 20th century. This book is both a survey of the movement internationally and a detailed critique of its long-term impact. *BR**BR*Feminist presses are described as 'mixed media', always attempting to balance politics with profit-making. Using a series of detailed case studies, Simone Murray highlights the specific debates through which this dilemma plays out: the nature of independence; the politics of race; feminist publishing and the academy; radical writing and publishing practice; and feminism's interface with mainstream publishing.