Latin America in the 21st Century

nations, regionalism, globalization

Twenty-first century Latin America is rich in history, culture and political and social experimentation. In this fascinating and insightful analysis, Gardini looks at contemporary developments at three interconnected levels: the state, the region and the international position of Latin America. At the state level, leaders ...

Chocolate nations

living and dying for cocoa in West Africa

FROM BEAN TO BAR - WHERE DOES YOUR CHOCOLATE COME FROM? Chocolate - the very word conjures up a hint of the forbidden and a taste of the decadent. Yet the story behind the chocolate bar is rarely one of luxury...From the thousands of children who ...

The activists' handbook

a step-by-step guide to participatory democracy

'The Activist's Handbook' is a powerful guide to activism on virtually any scale. Environmental activist Aidan Ricketts provides a step-to-step guide for citizens eager to start or get involved in grass-roots activist movements. Laying a thorough theoretical groundwork and providing all essential practical tools ...

Societies beyond oil

oil dregs and social futures

What would a de-carbonised society be like? What are the implications of a general de-globalisation for our social futures? How will our high-carbon patterns of life be restructured in a de-energized world? As global society gradually wakes up to the new reality of peak oil ...

Social movements and leftist governments in Latin America

confrontation or co-optation?

In recent years, the simultaneous development of prominent social movements and the election of left and centre-left governments has radically altered the political landscape in Latin America. These social movements have ranged from the community based 'piqueteros' of Argentina that brought down three governments in ...

The delusions of economics

the misguide certainties of a hazardous science

In The Illusions of Economics, Gilbert Rist presents a radical critique of neoclassical economics from a social and historical perspective. Rather than enter into existing debates between different orthodoxies, Rist instead explores the circumstances that prevailed when economics was 'invented', and the resultant biases that ...

Relational accountability

complexities of structural injustice

Accountability is a central yet vague and misunderstood term in development, which attracts little consensus on what it is or on the best route to achieving it. In this insightful new book, Moncrieffe argues that the traditionally narrow interpretation of accountability obscures relationships, power dynamics ...

Jewish identity and Palestinian rights

diaspora jewish opposition to Israel

Jewish Identity and Palestinian Rights discusses the growing movement of diaspora Jewish opposition to Israel. While many Jews are supporters of Israel, ever since Israel's establishment there have been diasporic Jews who have opposed the state, whether from an ideological anti-Zionist standpoint or simply ...

Debunking economics

the Naked Emperor of the social sciences

A critique of the assumptions, theories and methodologies of mainstream economics, exposing the flaws in economic theory. Examining many of the most cherished notions of conventional economics the author finds them based on reasoning which is eternally inconsistent. An explanation of the reasons why economists ...

Unholy Trinity

the IMF, World Bank and WTO

Who really runs the global economy? Who benefits most from it? The answer is a triad of 'governance institutions' - The IMF, the World Bank and the WTO. Globalization massively increased the power of these institutions and they drastically affected the livelihoods of peoples across the ...

Guerrillas

War and Peace in Central America

Three parallel wars were fought in the latter half of the twentieth century in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. These wars were long and brutal, dividing international opinion sharply between US support for dictatorial regimes and the USSR's sponsorship of guerrilla fighters. This fascinating ...

Pluralist economics

This book is an authoritative and accessible guide to the pluralist movement threatening to revolutionise mainstream economics. Leading figures in the field explain why pluralism is a required virtue in economics, how it came to be blocked and what it means for the way we ...

Geography of power

the making of global economic policy

This book examines how contemporary global economic policies are made: by which institutions, under what ideologies, and how they are enforced. The author reveals the central roles played by organizations such as the IMF and the World Bank in supervising the livelihoods of over 2 ...

The resistible rise of market fundamentalism

rethinking development policy in an unbalanced world

In this empirical analysis of the world economy during the past 20 years, two eminent economists put aside the rhetoric surrounding the neoliberal argument and examine what has actually taken place. Focussing on trade, financial flows and foreign direct investment, they find that economic forces ...

Dictatorship, imperialism and chaos

Iraq since 1989

This book is a concise, readable, yet rigorous narrative of the recent history of Iraq. It describes the transformations within the country, placing the people of Iraq at the centre of the changes which began with the invasion of Kuwait in 1990, and ended with ...

Islamic masculinities

This challenging book of essays outlines the great complexity, variety and difference of male identities in Islamic societies. From the Taliban orphanages of Afghanistan to the cafes of Morocco, from the experience of couples at infertility clinics in Egypt to that of Iraqi conscripts, these ...