Faculty Books, 2005
America
Beyond Capitalism
Gar
Alperovitz, Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Government and Politics
Published by John Wiley & Sons,
Inc., 2005
America Beyond Capitalism argues that the first
decade of the 21 st century - challenged by growing economic inequality,
the devaluing of civil liberties, and a government unresponsive to the
people - is already producing conditions that will force the United
States to undergo historic changes.
"An important guidebook to the future. First, Alperovitz
leads a grim tour of the deteriorated values at the core of the American
experience - equality, liberty, democracy, and the wise use of our collective
wealth. Then he takes us to the mountaintop with a broad and optimistic
mapping vision of how Americans can remake their economy and society
to restore those values. A compelling and convincing story of the future."
- William Greider, author of The Soul
of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy.
The Archaeology of Liberty in an American
Capital: Excavations in Annapolis
Mark P. Leone
Published by University of California Press, Berkeley,
2005
What do archaeological excavations in Annapolis, Maryland
reveal about daily life in the city’s history? Considering artifacts
such as landscapes, printer’s type, ceramics, and spirit bundles,
this engaging, generously illustrated, and original study illuminates
the lives of the city’s residents – walking, reading, talking,
eating, and living together in both freedom and oppression for more
than three hundred years. Interpreting the results of one of the most
innovative large-scale and long-range project in contemporary American
archaeology, The Archaeology of Liberty in an American Capital speaks
powerfully to the struggle for liberty, particularly among African Americans
and the poor.
Leone uses material excavated from several dozen sites
in and around Annapolis to show what historical archaeology can tell
us about the past and present of this key city in American history.
We learn how slavery and racism coexisted with freedom and how deepening
poverty coexists with wealth amassed in every fewer hands. We come to
understand how a steep hierarchy of wealth before the American Revolution
produced an independent American with that hierarchy intact afterwards,
but with the wealthy even more powerful than before. This rich study
of power uses the archaeological record to connect social conditions
in the eighteenth century to their results in the twenty-first.
Building Wealth: The New Asset-Based Approach
to Solving Social and Economic Problems
The Democracy Collaborative
Published by The Aspen Institute, 2005
In this path-breaking report, Building Wealth demonstrates
that local community-based models of ownership are working in cities
and towns across the United States . The past few decades have seen
rapid expansion of new forms of local ownership to develop business,
create jobs, foster local democratic practices, generate tax bases to
support public services, and promote stability and community development.
In combination with related wealth-building approaches employed by both
foundations and governments, these efforts constitute part of an emerging
paradigm of employing assets to address social and economic problems.
The book marks the first across-the-board attempt to survey
the development of these approaches - and their strategic interaction-
in a comprehensive fashion. To do this, a wide variety of wealth-building
strategies are examined, highlighting both key accomplishments as well
as the continuing challenges. Although these challenges are not inconsequential,
the new approaches are shown to provide important tools for regions
to generate new sources of wealth and reinforce local economies in the
face of the growing competition in a global economy.
Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review
Edited by Charles F. Wellford, Department of
Criminology and Criminal Justice, John V. Pepper and Carol V. Petrie
Published by The National Academies Press, 2005
For years proposals for gun control and the ownership
of firearms have been among the most contentious issues in American
politics. For public authorities to make reasonable decisions on these
matters, they must take into account facts about the relationship between
guns and violence as well as conflicting constitutional claims and divided
public opinion. In performing these tasks, legislators need adequate
data and research to judge both the effects of firearms on violence
and the effects of different violence control policies.
Readers of the research literature on firearms may sometimes
find themselves unable to distinguish scholarship from advocacy. Given
the importance of this issue, there is a pressing need for a clear and
unbiased assessment of the existing portfolio of data and research.
Firearms and Violence uses conventional standards of science to examine
three major themes - firearms and violence, the quality of research,
and the quality of data available. The book assesses the strengths and
limitations of current databases, examining current research studies
on firearm use and the efforts to reduce unjustified firearm use and
suggests ways in which they can be improved.
Memorias de Villa Clara
Judith Freidenberg, Professor of Anthropology
Published by Antropofagia, Buenos Aires, Argentina,
2005
In “Memorias de Villa Clara” ("Memories
of Villa Clara") Judith Freidenberg synthesizes the oral, material
and written histories of Villa Clara to depict the village’s unique
heritage. Situated in northeastern Argentina, Villa Clara was founded
by Jewish colonists brought to the country by the Baron de Hirsch at
the end of the 19th century. Freidenberg’s ethnographic and
ethno-historic studies which form the basis of “Memorias”
consider the strong history of other European immigration to Villa Clara
later in history, as well as the experiences of the native gauchos. The
book is directed towards a general public audience in order to encourage
members of the Villa Clara community to reconstruct the village’s
past. “Memorias,” written in Spanish, is available for purchase
on Amazon.com; all proceeds from book sales benefit the local Villa
Clara Museum.
One Planet, Many People: Atlas of Our Changing
Environment
John Townshend, Chair, Department of Geography
and Chair, Advisory Committee, UNEP/Division of Early Warning and Assessment-North
America
Published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), 2005
Increasing concern as to how human activities impact the
Earth has led to documentation and quantification of environmental changes
taking place on land, in the water, and in the air. Through a combination
of ground photographs, current and historical satellite images, and
narrative based on extensive scientific evidence, this publication illustrates
how humans have altered their surroundings and continue to make observable
and measurable changes to the global environment. This publication underscores
the importance of developing, harnessing and sharing technologies that
help provide deeper understanding of the dynamics of environmental change.
The words and pictures within these pages also serve as a vivid reminder
that this planet is our only current home, and that sound policy decisions
and positive actions by societies and individuals are needed to sustain
the Earth and the well-being of its inhabitants. The information we
provide will not only be useful in the context of the selected locations,
but will also underscore the intrinsic value of harnessing, visualizing
and communicating technologies to gain a deeper understanding of the
dynamics and impacts of our environmental changes.
White Nationalism, Black Interests: Conservative
Public Policy and the Black Community
Ronald Walters, professor of government and politics
and director of the African American Leadership Institute
Published by Wayne State University Press, 2005
In White Nationalism, Black Interests, Ronald Walters
examines how the growing Conservative movement has encouraged racially
hostile public policies over the past two decades. Walters attributes
this anti-black sentiment to what he calls a new White Nationalism.
With historical and contemporary examples of White Nationalist policy
and empirical public opinion data, Walters shows how this ideology has
been incorporated into public discourse and resulted in legislation
that favors white voters while negatively impacting the black community.
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