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Myint-U, Thant, The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism and the Crisis of Democracy, New York, W. W. Norton , 2019 , pp. 320 pb

This well-received book by a Burmese historian (and grandson of UN Secretary General U Thant) explores the complexities of the ethnic and religious composition of Burma/Myanmar, which has never fully cohered as a country since it acquired independence from the British Empire after the Second World War.  The book focuses particularly on the period since the cyclone of 2008, which killed almost 400,000 people and exposed the ineffectiveness of the military regime when constructive action was needed.   

McAdam, Doug, Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930-1970, 1982 Chicago, Chicago University Press, 1999 , pp. 304

McAdam, a leading social movement theorist, has written widely on various aspects and interpretations of the Civil Rights Movement, including Doug McAdam, The US Civil Rights Movement: Power from Below and Above, 1945-70, In Timothy Garton Ash, Adam Roberts, Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present (A. 1.b. Strategic Theory, Dynamics, Methods and Movements) Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2009 , pp. 58-74 . His influential article  Doug McAdam, Tactical Innovation and the Pace of Insurgency, 1985 , pp. 735-754  (reprinted in Doug McAdam, David A. Snow, Readings on Social Movements: Origins, Dynamics and Outcomes (A. 7. Important Reference Works and Websites) ) highlights how innovative tactics of mass action broke through institutionalised powerlessness.

Maier, Charles, Dissolution: The Crisis of Communism and the End of East Germany, Princeton NJ, Princeton University Press, 1997 , pp. 464

Drawing on newly released Party and Stasi archives, Maier analyses the 40 years of East German history, and charts both the growth of dissent (for example the autonomous peace campaigns and youth culture) in the 1980s, and the systemic decline of the regime due to economic crisis and corruption at the top. See also: Maier, ‘Civil Resistance and Civil Society: Lessons from the Collapse of the German Democratic Republic in 1989’, in Timothy Garton Ash, Adam Roberts, Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present (A. 1.b. Strategic Theory, Dynamics, Methods and Movements) , pp. 260-76.

Benson, Mary, The African Patriots: The Story of the African National Congress of South Africa, London, Faber and Faber, 1963 , pp. 310

Covers the period 1910- 60.

Shaheed, Ahmed, Future Prospects for Islam and Democracy: a view from the Maldives, 3 4 2009 , pp. 53-60

Then foreign minister addresses the question ‘how did a 100% Muslim country, acting in tandem with the international community, … peacefully turn centuries of autocratic rule into something resembling a functioning liberal democracy?’

Youngs, Richard; Boonstra, Jos; Vizoso, Julia; Echagüe, Ana; Jarábik, Balázs; Kausch, Kristina, Is the European Union Supporting Democracy in its Neighbourhood?, Madrid, FRIDE, 2008 , pp. 150

EU ‘neighbourhood plans’ agreed with neighbouring states link economic cooperation with human rights and democratization. This report includes case studies of how this has been implemented - or not - in Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, Ukraine, Belarus and Azerbaijan. FRIDE has published a range of reports and policy briefs - all available online - with critical analyses of ‘democracy promotion’, especially by the European Union and its members, including in the context of the ‘Arab Spring’.

Rohr, John, Prophets Without Honor: Public Policy and the Selective Conscientious Objector, Nashville and New York, Abingdon Press, 1971 , pp. 191

Examines lack of a constitutional right or political tolerance for selective refusal to take part in particular wars.

Brodsky, Anne, With All Our Strength: The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, London, Routledge, 2004 , pp. 336

Account of feminist organization founded in 1977, which uses literacy classes, underground papers and pamphlets and demonstrations, based on more than 100 interviews with key activists by author, a US feminist scholar. The founder of the Association, who left university in Kabul to struggle for women’s rights, was assassinated in 1987.

McGarry, John; O'Leary, Brendan, Explaining Northern Ireland, 1995 Oxford, Blackwell, 1996 , pp. 533

Critical examination of both Nationalist and Unionist accounts of the causes of the conflict. Authors distinguish broadly between explanations that focus on external factors – the policies of British and Irish governments – and those that identify the internal factors of religion, culture and ethnicity in Northern Irish society. They reject the proposition that the conflict is fundamentally a religious one, and are sceptical not only of the various Marxist accounts – Orange, Green and ‘Red’ – but of the essentially materialist accounts by many liberal commentators. While acknowledging the multiplicity of causal factors, they view the conflict as essentially one between groups which identify themselves along different national, ethnic and religious lines, though they hold out the hope of an accommodation between them to produce an ‘agreed’, though not necessarily a united, Ireland.

Luna, Juan-Pablo, Chile's Fractured Democratic Consensus, In in Thomas Carothers and Andreas Feldman, eds., Divisive Politics and Democratic Dangers in Latin America 2021 pp. smaller than 0

An informed political assessment of the problems of Chile's political system, and the social and political divisions revealed by the 2019 protests and  exacerbated by the Covid pandemic. Luna, a professor of politics, concludes with some brief suggestions on how international actors could contribute positively to the political debate by promoting moderate reforms.  

Mueller, Barbara; Schweizer, Christine, Zur Aktualitaet von Sozialer Verteidigung. Dokumentation eines Workshops von IFGK and BSV vom 15-16 April 2005, Arbeitspapier Nr 20 , 2008

This working paper is the product of a joint workshop on ‘The Timeliness of Civilian-based Defence’ held by the Union for Civilian Defence.  It discusses the role of nonviolent resistance in successful conflict management today in the context of the current direction of world politics.

Bates, Laura, Misogynation. The True Scale of Sexism, London and Glasgow, Simon and Schuster UK, 2018 , pp. 320

This is a collection of articles authored in The Guardian by journalist Laura Bates, in which she uncovers the sexism underpinning personal relationships, the workplace, the media and society in general.

Ward, Colin, Housing: An Anarchist Approach, London, Freedom Press, 1976 , pp. 182

Ward, a leading anarchist theorist and expert on housing, examines the post-1945 British squatters movement (pp. 13-27) and assesses the revival of squatting between 1968 and early 1970s.

, Direct Action in British Environmentalism, ed. Doherty, Brian; Seel, Benjamin; Patterson, Matthew, London, Routledge, 2000 , pp. 223

Essays include a survey of British environmentalism 1988-97 in the changing political context, assessments of different types of environmental activity and role of the media. Brian Doherty, ‘Manufacturing Vulnerability: Protest Camp Tactics’ looks at evolution of nonviolent direct action tactics and transnational influences. There is some discussion of the incidence of violence and media (mis)perceptions.

Moser, Richard, The New Winter Soldiers: GI and Veteran Dissent During the Vietnam Era, New Brunswick NJ, Rutgers University Press, 1996 , pp. 252

Draws on interviews and personal stories to examine how the ideal of the ‘citizen soldier’ encouraged thousands to move towards opposition to the Vietnam war.

Salinas, Daniel; Fraser, Pablo, Educational Opportunity and Contentious Politics: The 2011 Chilean Student Movement, 3 1 2012 , pp. 17-47

Considers the reasons for emergence of movement and its challenge to free market provision of education. Argues experience of this education provides both mobilizing grievances and resources for political mobilization.

, Policing The Planet: Why the Policing Crisis Led to Black Lives Matter, ed. Camp, Jordan; Heatherthon, Christina, London and New York, Verso , 2016 , pp. 320

Policing the Planet examines the policy of 'broken windows policing': prosecuting vigorously minor crimes as a means of preventing major offences. The book argues that this policy is at the heart of a broader neoliberal approach to social order, and examines how the way it is applied enhances the array of punitive and discriminatory measures available to the state. Several chapters compare US policies of domestic control over the 'racialised and criminalised' with the 'war on terror' and use of drones and surveillance abroad.  The book also elaborates on the Black Lives Matter movement's attempts to promote global support and develop links with other struggles, for example with Palestinians under seige in Gaza in 2014.

Eimont, Sara, PGM: The Making of an Abortion Icon, Bachelor of Arts Middletown, Connecticut, Weselyan University , 2018 , pp. 88

This thesis examines the personal, public and professional life of celebrated abortion rights activist, Patricia Goyette Miller. The first section is based on the writer’s own family relationship to Miller and explores larger questions of archival and biographical work. The second section explores Miller’s life, considering how she came to commit herself to abortion rights activism in Colorado and Pennsylvania. The final section looks towards the future, applying lessons and strategies from Miller’s life to consider the best next steps forward in the current US political context.

Waterston, Elizabeth; Boulton, Frank, A history of British health professionals working for the abolition of nuclear weapons, 34 4 2018 , pp. 350-359

In 1963 medical and dental professionals in the United States and the United Kingdom played an important role in highlighting the health threat posed by atmospheric nuclear tests. Analysis of the deciduous teeth of American children born during the testing years showed the widespread presence of Strontium-90, a radioactive fission product that accumulates in babies’ teeth. The outrage of parents made fallout a central issue, and so put pressure on the US and UK governments to agree to the Partial Test Ban Treaty.

Sharp, Gene; Jenkins, Bruce, The Anti-Coup, Cambridge MA, Albert Einstein Institution, 2003 , pp. 64

Summary analysis of potential for popular nonviolent resistance to defeat coup attempts, recommendations for organised strategy and advance preparations to prevents coups, and with very brief description of resistance to Kapp Putsch in 1920, the Algerian Generals in 1961 and to attempt to overthrow Gorbachev in 1991.

, The Politics of Opposition in Contemporary Africa, ed. Olukoshi, Adebayo, Uppsala, Nordiska Afikrainstitutet, 1998 , pp. 328

Contributors assess the efforts and problems of oppositions in difficult circumstances, and also consider issues of leadership and organization. The book includes case studies of Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Butt, Iqbal, Revisiting Student Politics in Pakistan, Bargad, Gujranwala, 2009 , pp. 178

Analyses ‘patterns of key student movements in Pakistan’, using historical information and interviews with 24 student leaders, plus a chronology.

Levenson-Estrada, Deborah, Trade Unionists against Terror: Guatemala City, 1954–1985, Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1994 , pp. 288

Includes account of 1984 workers’ occupation of Coca-Cola factory.

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