University of Chicago Press: New Titles in Political Science

University of Chicago Press: New Titles in Political Science http://www.press.uchicago.edu/rss/newpolitics.xml The latest new books in Political Science en-us erg@press.uchicago.edu Geometry of Elections http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=16532 Ernest W. Adams and James Adams <br><br><DIV>How can we ensure that the “right” person is elected to office? Voter turnout, balloting methods, candidates, and, in the case of the 2000 U.S. presidential election, the courts all conspire to produce electoral results that are horrific to some, wonderful to others, and tolerable to most. <I>The Geometry of Elections</I> utilizes mathematical theories to analyze how people vote and explores possible voting systems that could minimize the likelihood of the “wrong” candidate being elected.<BR /> <BR /><I>The Geometry of Elections</I> examines real world elections held in the United States, Britain, and France and asks: What criteria do voters use to determine the “right” candidate or party, and if there is a “right” candidate, how can we design a more accurate voting system? Applying spatial modeling and insights from geometry to real-world political elections, the authors present an intriguing examination of how voters conceptualize and eventually vote for politicians and policy positions.</DIV><br></div> In Time of War http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=5514391 Adam J. Berinsky <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>From World War II to the war in Iraq, periods of international conflict seem like unique moments in U.S. political history—but when it comes to public opinion, they are not. To make this groundbreaking revelation, <I>In Time of War</I> explodes conventional wisdom about American reactions to World War II, as well as the more recent conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Adam Berinsky argues that public response to these crises has been shaped less by their defining characteristics—such as what they cost in lives and resources—than by the same political interests and group affiliations that influence our ideas about domestic issues.</P><P> </P><P>With the help of World War II–era survey data that had gone virtually untouched for the past sixty years, Berinsky begins by disproving the myth of “the good war” that Americans all fell in line to support after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The attack, he reveals, did not significantly alter public opinion but merely punctuated interventionist sentiment that had already risen in response to the ways that political leaders at home had framed the fighting abroad. Weaving his findings into the first general theory of the factors that shape American wartime opinion, Berinsky also sheds new light on our reactions to other crises. He shows, for example, that our attitudes toward restricted civil liberties during Vietnam and after 9/11 stemmed from the same kinds of judgments we make during times of peace.</P><P> </P><P>With Iraq and Afghanistan now competing for attention with urgent issues within the United States, <I>In Time of War </I>offers a timely reminder of the full extent to which foreign and domestic politics profoundly influence—and ultimately illuminate—each other.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Design for Democracy http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=5723477 Marcia Lausen <br><br><DIV><DIV><DIV>In November 2000, when the now-infamous "butterfly ballot" confused crucial Florida voters during a hotly contested presidential race, the importance of well-designed ballots to a functioning democracy caught the nation's attention. Recognizing that our entire voting process—from registering to vote to following instructions at the polling place—can be almost as confusing as the Florida ballot, <I>Design for Democracy</I> builds on the lessons of 2000 by presenting innovative steps for redesigning elections in the service of citizens.<BR /><BR />Handsomely designed itself, this volume showcases adaptable design models that can improve almost every part of the election process by maximizing the clarity and usability of ballots, registration forms, posters and signs, informational brochures and guides, and even administrative materials for poll workers. <I>Design for Democracy</I> also lays out specific guidelines—covering issues of color palette, typography, and image use—that anchor the comprehensive election design system devised by the group of design specialists from whose name the book takes its title. Part of a major AIGA strategic program, this group's prototypes and recommendations have already been used successfully in major Illinois and Oregon elections and, collected here, are likely to spread across the country as more people become aware of the myriad benefits and broad applicability of improved election design.</DIV><DIV><BR />An essential tool for designers and election officials, lawmakers and citizens, <I>Design for Democracy</I> harnesses the power of design to increase voter confidence, promote government transparency, and, perhaps most important, create an informed electorate.</DIV></DIV></DIV><br></div> Tippecanoe and Tyler Too http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=5896644 Jan R. Van Meter <br><br><DIV><DIV><DIV><DIV><P>“By necessity, by proclivity, by delight,” Ralph Waldo Emerson said in 1876, “we all quote.” But often the phrases that fall most readily from our collective lips—like “fire when ready,”  “speak softly and carry a big stick,” or “nice guys finish last”—are those whose origins and true meanings we have ceased to consider. Restoring three-dimensionality to more than fifty of these American sayings, <I>Tippecanoe and Tyler Too</I> turns clichés back into history by telling the life stories of the words that have served as our most powerful battle cries, rallying points, laments, and inspirations.</P><P> </P><P>In individual entries on slogans and catchphrases from the early seventeenth to the late twentieth century, Jan Van Meter reveals that each one is a living, malleable entity that has profoundly shaped and continues to influence our public culture. From John Winthrop’s “We shall be as a city upon a hill” and the 1840 Log Cabin Campaign’s “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too” to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” and Ronald Reagan’s “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” each of Van Meter’s selections emerges as a memory device for a larger political or cultural story. Taken together in Van Meter’s able hands, these famous slogans and catchphrases give voice to our common history even as we argue about where it should lead us.</P><P> </P><P>“As Van Meter argues, these are important ‘memory devices for a larger story.’ . . . The author has thoroughly researched all the catchphrases . . . . This book would make delightful in-flight reading or a nice gift for a trivia buff. Recommended.”—<I>Choice </I></P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV><br></div> How It Works http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=6887675 Robert P. Fairbanks II <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>Of the some sixty thousand vacant properties in Philadelphia, half of them are abandoned row houses. Taken as a whole, these derelict homes symbolize the city’s plight in the wake of industrial decline. But a closer look reveals a remarkable new phenomenon—street-level entrepreneurs repurposing hundreds of these empty houses as facilities for recovering addicts and alcoholics. <I>How It Works</I> is a compelling study of this recovery house movement and its place in the new urban order wrought by welfare reform.</P><P> </P><P>To find out what life is like in these recovery houses, Robert P. Fairbanks II goes inside one particular home in the Kensington neighborhood. Operating without a license and unregulated by any government office, the recovery house provides food, shelter, company, and a bracing self-help philosophy to addicts in an area saturated with drugs and devastated by poverty. From this starkly vivid close-up, Fairbanks widens his lens to reveal the intricate relationships the recovery houses have forged with public welfare, the formal drug treatment sector, criminal justice institutions, and the local government.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Combating Jihadism http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=6887682 Barak Mendelsohn <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>Although terrorism is an age-old phenomenon, jihadist ideology is distinctive in its ambition to overthrow the modern state system, abandon the principle of state sovereignty, and destroy the foundations of world order. Barak Mendelsohn argues that a crucial element in responding to such a threat and winning the war against terror in the twenty-first century is the hegemon—a powerful state that takes the lead and generates cooperation among states to fight jihad.</P><P> </P><P>While most analyses of hegemony have focused on power, Mendelsohn firmly grounds the phenomenon in a web of shared norms and rules that both enable and constrain the hegemon’s freedom of action. He examines how the presence of a hegemonic state affects international cooperation, security, and international relations—revealing, for example, why the United States has found greater cooperation for the war in Afghanistan than for the war in Iraq. Tracing and explaining the varying levels of cooperation that exist for suppressing terrorism financing, for preventing non-state actors from obtaining weapons of mass destruction, and for offering military support to U.S. hegemony, <I>Combating Jihadism</I> provides a nuanced understanding of the interaction between norms and power.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Complex Deterrence http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=6887686 Edited by T. V. Paul, Patrick M. Morgan, and James J. Wirtz <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>As the costs of a preemptive foreign policy in Iraq have become clear, strategies such as containment and deterrence have been gaining currency among policy makers. This comprehensive book offers an agenda for the contemporary practice of deterrence—especially as it applies to nuclear weapons—in an increasingly heterogeneous global and political setting.</P><P> </P><P>Moving beyond the precepts of traditional deterrence theory, this groundbreaking volume offers insights for the use of deterrence in the modern world, where policy makers may encounter irrational actors, failed states, religious zeal, ambiguous power relationships, and other situations where the traditional rules of statecraft do not apply. A distinguished group of contributors here examines issues such as deterrence among the Great Powers; the problems of regional and nonstate actors; and actors armed with chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. <I>Complex Deterrence </I>will be a valuable resource for anyone facing the considerable challenge of fostering security and peace in the twenty-first century. </P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Citizenship in the Arab World http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=6927714 Gianluca P. Parolin <br><br><DIV><P>The result of five years of intensive research on citizenship in the Arab world, this volume uses the multidisciplinary approach of comparative legal studies in order to consider the multifaceted reality of nationality and citizenship. Gianluca P. Parolin brings together methodologies from fields as diverse as anthropology, linguistics, sociology, and political science, while exploring a broad range of Western and Arab references accessed in their original languages and sources, making in-text references and contemporary Arab legislation accessible for the general reader.</P></DIV><br></div> Ticket to Work http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=6930839 Bettina Kohlrausch <br><br><DIV><P>In <I>A Ticket to Work</I>, Bettina Kohlrausch examines the differing approaches taken by Britain and Germany to assisting young people with the often difficult transition from school to full-time work. Detailing the workings of such programs as skills training and job-placement assistance, the volume places those vocational training methods in the context of the general political and economic climate of the two nations, drawing a contrast between Britain’s more liberal market economy and Germany’s more structured and coordinated regime.</P></DIV><br></div> Chicago http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=7877998 Dominic A. Pacyga <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>Chicago has been called by many names. Nelson Algren declared it “A City on the Make.” Carl Sandburg dubbed it the “City of Big Shoulders.” Upton Sinclair christened it “The Jungle,” while New Yorkers, naturally, pronounced it “the Second City.”</P><P> </P><P>At last there is a book for all of us, whatever we choose to call Chicago. Here, historian Dominic Pacyga gives his hometown the magisterial biography it has long deserved. <I>Chicago</I><I> </I>traces the city’s storied past, from the explorations of Joliet and Marquette in 1673 to the new wave of urban pioneers today. The city’s great industrialists, reformers, and politicians—and, indeed, the many not-so-great and downright notorious—animate this book, from Al Capone and Jane Addams to Mayor Richard J. Daley and President Barack Obama.</P><P> </P><P>But what distinguishes this book from the many others on the subject is its author’s uncommon ability to illuminate the lives of Chicago’s ordinary people. Born and raised in Back of the Yards on Chicago’s southwest side, Pacyga spent his college years working at the Union Stock Yards. <I>Chicago</I>, therefore, gives voice to the city’s steelyard workers and kill floor operators, mapping the neighborhoods distinguished not by Louis Sullivan masterworks, but by bungalows and corner taverns. And their stories come alive through an extensive selection of evocative illustrations culled from major institutional archives, local historical societies, and the author’s personal collection.</P><P> </P><P>Filled with the city’s one-of-a-kind characters and all of its defining moments, <I>Chicago: A Biography</I> is as big and boisterous as its namesake—and as ambitious as the men and women who built it.</P><P> </P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Democracy at Risk http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=7989509 Jennifer L. Merolla and Elizabeth J. Zechmeister <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>How do threats of terrorism affect the opinions of citizens? Speculation abounds, but until now no one had marshaled hard evidence to explain the complexities of this relationship. Drawing on data from surveys and original experiments they conducted in the United States and Mexico, Jennifer Merolla and Elizabeth Zechmeister demonstrate how our strategies for coping with terrorist threats significantly influence our attitudes toward fellow citizens, political leaders, and foreign nations. </P><P> </P><P>The authors reveal, for example, that some people try to restore a sense of order and control through increased wariness of others—especially of those who exist outside the societal mainstream. Additionally, voters under threat tend to prize “strong leadership” more highly than partisan affiliation, making some politicians seem more charismatic than they otherwise would. The authors show that a wary public will sometimes continue to empower such leaders after they have been elected, giving them greater authority even at the expense of institutional checks and balances. Having demonstrated that a climate of terrorist threat also increases support for restrictive laws at home and engagement against terrorists abroad, Merolla and Zechmeister conclude that our responses to such threats can put democracy at risk.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Political Ethnography http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=7995019 Edited by Edward Schatz <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>Scholars of politics have sought in recent years to make the discipline more hospitable to qualitative methods of research. Lauding the results of this effort and highlighting its potential for the future, <I>Political Ethnography</I> makes a compelling case for one such method in particular. Ethnography, the contributors amply demonstrate in a wide range of original essays, is uniquely suited for illuminating the study of politics. </P><P> </P><P>Situating these pieces within the context of developments in political science, Edward Schatz provides an overarching introduction and substantive prefaces to each of the volume’s four sections. The first of these parts addresses the central ontological and epistemological issues raised by ethnographic work, while the second grapples with the reality that all research is conducted from a first-person perspective. The third section goes on to explore how ethnographic research can provide fresh perspectives on such perennial topics as opinion, causality, and power. Concluding that political ethnography can and should play a central role in the field as a whole, the final chapters illuminate the many ways in which ethnographic approaches can enhance, improve, and, in some areas, transform the study of politics.</P><P> </P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Rhetoric, Modality, Modernity http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8007256 Nancy S. Struever <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>Since antiquity, philosophy and rhetoric have traditionally been cast as rivals, with the former often lauded as a search for logical truth and the latter usually disparaged as empty speech. But in this erudite intellectual history, Nancy S. Struever stakes out a claim for rhetoric as the more productive form of inquiry.</P><P> </P><P>Struever views rhetoric through the lens of modality, arguing that rhetoric’s guiding interest in what is possible—as opposed to philosophy’s concern with what is necessary—makes it an ideal tool for understanding politics. Innovative readings of Hobbes and Vico allow her to reexamine rhetoric’s role in the history of modernity and to make fascinating connections between thinkers from the classical, early modern, and modern periods. From there she turns to Walter Benjamin, reclaiming him as an exemplar of modernist rhetoric and a central figure in the long history of the form. Persuasive and perceptive, <I>Rhetoric, Modality, Modernity</I> is a novel rewriting of the history of rhetoric and a heady examination of the motives, issues, and flaws of contemporary inquiry.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Epidemic Invasions http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8056086 Mariola Espinosa <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>In the early fall of 1897, yellow fever shuttered businesses, paralyzed trade, and caused tens of thousand of people living in the southern United States to abandon their homes and flee for their lives. Originating in Cuba, the deadly plague inspired disease-control measures that not only protected U.S. trade interests but also justified the political and economic domination of the island nation from which the pestilence came. By focusing on yellow fever, <I>Epidemic Invasions</I> uncovers for the first time how the devastating power of this virus profoundly shaped the relationship between the two countries.  </P><P> </P><P>Yellow fever in Cuba, Mariola Espinosa demonstrates, motivated the United States to declare war against Spain in 1898, and, after the war was won and the disease eradicated, the United States demanded that Cuba pledge in its new constitution to maintain the sanitation standards established during the occupation. By situating the history of the fight against yellow fever within its political, military, and economic context, Espinosa reveals that the U.S. program of sanitation and disease control in Cuba was not a charitable endeavor. Instead, she shows that it was an exercise in colonial public health that served to eliminate threats to the continued expansion of U.S. influence in the world.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Courts and Kids http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8212990 Michael A. Rebell <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>Over the past thirty-five years, federal courts have dramatically retreated from actively promoting school desegregation. In the meantime, state courts have taken up the mantle of promoting the vision of educational equity originally articulated in <I>Brown v. Board of Education</I>. <I>Courts and Kids</I> is the first detailed analysis of why the state courts have taken on this active role and how successful their efforts have been.</P><P> </P><P>Since 1973, litigants have challenged the constitutionality of education finance systems in forty-five states on the grounds that they deprive many poor and minority students of adequate access to a sound education. While the plaintiffs have won in the majority of these cases, the decisions are often branded “judicial activism”—a stigma that has reduced their impact. To counter the charge, Michael A. Rebell persuasively defends the courts’ authority and responsibility to pursue the goal of educational equity. He envisions their ideal role as supervisory, and in <I>Courts and Kids</I> he offers innovative recommendations on how the courts can collaborate with the executive and legislative branches to create a truly democratic educational system.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Breeding Bio Insecurity http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8273991 Lynn C. Klotz and Edward J. Sylvester <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>In the years since the 9/11 attacks—and the subsequent lethal anthrax letters—the United States has spent billions of dollars on measures to defend the population against the threat of biological weapons. But as Lynn C. Klotz and Edward J. Sylvester argue forcefully in <I>Breeding Bio Insecurity</I>, all that money and effort hasn’t made us any safer—in fact, it has made us more vulnerable.</P><P> </P><P><I>Breeding Bio Insecurity </I>reveals the mistakes made to this point and lays out the necessary steps to set us on the path toward true biosecurity. The fundamental problem with the current approach, according to the authors, is the danger caused by the sheer size and secrecy of our biodefense effort. Thousands of scientists spread throughout hundreds of locations are now working with lethal bioweapons agents—but their inability to make their work public causes suspicion among our enemies and allies alike, even as the enormous number of laboratories greatly multiplies the inherent risk of deadly accidents or theft. Meanwhile, vital public health needs go unmet because of this new biodefense focus. True biosecurity, the authors argue, will require a multipronged effort based in an understanding of the complexity of the issue, guided by scientific ethics, and watched over by a vigilant citizenry attentive to the difference between fear mongering and true analysis of risk. </P><P> </P><P>An impassioned warning that never loses sight of political and scientific reality, <I>Breeding Bio Insecurity</I> is a crucial first step toward meeting the evolving threats of the twenty-first century.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Camus http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8324774 Stephen Eric Bronner <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>Decades after his death, Albert Camus (1913–1960) is still regarded as one of the most influential and fascinating intellectuals of the twentieth century. This biography by Stephen Eric Bronner explores the connections between his literary work, his philosophical writings, and his politics.</P><P> </P><P><I>Camus</I> illuminates his impoverished childhood, his existential concerns, his activities in the antifascist resistance, and the controversies in which he was engaged. Beautifully written and incisively argued, this study offers new insights—and above all—highlights the contemporary relevance of an extraordinary man.</P><P> </P><P>“A model of a kind of intelligent writing that should be in greater supply. Bronner manages judiciously to combine an appreciation for the strengths of Camus and nonrancorous criticism of his weaknesses. . . . As a personal and opinionated book, it invites the reader into an engaging and informative dialogue.”—<I>American Political Science Review</I></P><P><I></I> </P><P>“This concise, lively, and remarkably evenhanded treatment of the life and work of Albert Camus weaves together biography, philosophical analysis, and political commentary.”—<I>Science & Society</I></P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Idea of Communism http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8364316 Tariq Ali <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>November 9, 2009 will mark 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the monumental event that signaled the beginning of the end of Communism in the former Soviet Union. Yet, why was this collapse of Communism considered final, but the many failures of capitalism are considered temporary and episodic? In <I>The Idea of Communism</I>, Tariq Ali addresses this very question.</P><P>The idea of Communism, argues Ali, was simple and noble. <I>The Communist Manifesto</I>, which advocated the creation of a society based on the principle of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need” rather than a system based on greed and profit, appealed to millions all over the globe.  However, Ali argues that the vision of society adumbrated by the founders of Communism was a far cry from what became known as actually existing socialism in the Soviet Union and China. The Communist system that developed ignored Engels’s belief that a workers’ movement and its victory were inconceivable without freedom of the press and assembly. This freedom, Engels insisted, “is the air it needs to breathe.</P><P>Here, in a thought-provoking re-evaluation, Ali argues that a new form of socialism and global planning is vital to save the planet from capitalist and environmental degradation.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Back in the USSR http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8364320 Boris Kagarlitsky <br><br><DIV><DIV><DIV><DIV>Though it has been nearly two decades since the fall of Communism in the former Soviet Union and the accompanying disintegration of the Soviet state, a strange aspect of the current cultural situation in Russia and in the other former republics of the USSR is that the people still identify themselves as post-Soviet. Yet, the difference between the Soviet past and a capitalist present is striking, which raises many questions: Why are the new elites referring to the old times to legitimize themselves? Why do commercial advertisements stress that the products they offer are exactly the same as they used to be in Soviet times? And, why, year after year, does the government in Moscow organize impressive celebrations for Victory Day, inevitably drawing parallels to the old Soviet ceremonies?<BR /></DIV><DIV>Back in the USSR by Boris Kagarlitsky tackles these questions and more as it reflects on what happened in Russia after the collapse of the old regime and how this has affected social and cultural life, as well as the everyday lives of ordinary people. In this arresting work, Kagarlitsky also delves into what type of intelligentsia still exists in the former USSR and the cultural products that are being produced by these artists, including novels, films, and music.</DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV><br></div> Two Underdogs and a Cat http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8364329 Slavenka Drakulic <br><br><DIV><DIV><P> </P><P>Croatian writer Slavenka Drakulic here presents an unorthodox, imaginative take on the transition from Communism to capitalism in the former Soviet Union.  Three characters—a dog, an underdog, and a cat—offer the reader narratives that reflect on life under Communism and what has followed in its wake.</P><P> </P><P>The first, “An Interview with the Oldest Dog in Bucharest,” is about a dog named Charlie, whose mother, Mimi, together with thousands of other pets, was thrown out into the street during the Ceausescu regime. In this interview, Charlie describes how not only people but animals, too, became victims during the destruction of downtown neighborhoods in Bucharest in order to build a pyramid-like “Palace of the People.” In “A Guided Tour of the Museum of Communism,” a 60-year-old souvenir vendor-cum-cleaning woman in Prague reflects upon the meaning of such a museum and concludes wryly that she herself is possibly the Museum’s best exhibit. Finally, “A Cat-keeper in Warsaw” describes an encounter with a person “of feline origin” who claims to be in possession of the cat-keeper called “General”—who declared martial law in Poland on December 13, 1981.</P><P> </P><P>The three stories are unified by powerful, but troubling questions: Are democracy and capitalism really a change for the better? Is the idea of social justice lost forever? Is there is such a thing as collective responsibility? And how do we remember and understand our past? </P><P> </P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Cuban Drumbeat http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8364333 Piero Gleijeses <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>Reflecting on Cuba’s unique foreign policy—both its meaning and its legacy—and how Cuba has adjusted to a world dominated by the United States, Piero Gleijeses asserts in <I>The Cuban Drumbeat </I>that it has been a policy without equal in modern times. During the cold war, extra-continental military interventions were the preserve of the two superpowers, a few West European countries, and Cuba. Gleijeses documents how the rest of the world was regularly stunned by Cuba’s massive uses of force, including the 1975–76 dispatch of 36,000 Cuban soldiers to Angola to repel a South African invasion, the 12,000 Cuban soldiers sent to Ethiopia in 1978 to help defeat a Somali invasion, and the 55,000 Cuban soldiers present in Angola by 1988. Even the Soviet Union sent far fewer troops beyond its immediate borders in those years than did Cuba.  </P><P> </P><P><I>The Cuban Drumbeat</I> describes how the cold war framed three decades of Castro’s revolutionary zeal; but, Gleijeses argues, Castro’s vision was always larger than the cold war.  For Castro, the battle against imperialism—his <I>raison d</I>’<I>être</I>—is more than the struggle against the United States: it is the war against despair and oppression in the Third World—a war that continues even though the future of Castro’s policies is uncertain.</P><P> </P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Postcolonial Thought in the French Speaking World http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8364580 Edited by Charles Forsdick and David Murphy <br><br><DIV><P>In the late 1990s, postcolonial studies risked imploding as a credible area of academic inquiry, in part due to the emergence of repetitive anthologies and an overemphasis on English-language literatures. In the early twenty-first century, however, the postcolonial began to reveal a new openness towards its comparative dimensions, and French-language contributions to the postcolonial debate—including the work of Edouard Glissant and Abdelkebir Khatibi—have risen to greater prominence in the English-speaking world. This volume, written by scholars working with French-language materials, acknowledges this shift and provides an essential tool for students and scholars seeking a way into the study of Francophone postcolonial debates.</P></DIV><br></div> Transnational Political Spaces http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8364770 Edited by Mathias Albert, Gesa Bluhm, Jan Helmig, Andreas Leutzsch, and Jochen W <br><br><DIV><P>From a decidedly multidisciplinary perspective, the articles in <I>Transnational Political Spaces</I> address the notion that political space is no longer fully congruent with national borders. Instead there are areas called transnational political spaces—caused by factors such as migration and social transformation—where policy occurs oblivious to national pressure. Organized into three sections—transnational actors, transnational spaces, and critical encounters—this volume explains how these spaces are formed and defined and how they can be traced and conceptualized. </P></DIV><br></div> Science of Passionate Interests http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8364907 Bruno Latour and Vincent Antonin Lépinay <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>How can economics become genuinely quantitative? This is the question that French sociologist Gabriel Tarde tackled at the end of his career, and in this pamphlet, Bruno Latour and Vincent Antonin Lépinay offer a lively introduction to the work of the forgotten genius of nineteenth-century social thought. Tarde’s solution was in total contradiction to the dominant views of his time: to quantify the connections between people and goods, you need to grasp “passionate interests.” In Tarde’s view, capitalism is not a system of cold calculations—rather it is a constant amplification in the intensity and reach of passions. In a stunning anticipation of contemporary economic anthropology, Tarde’s work defines an alternative path beyond the two illusions responsible for so much modern misery: the adepts of the Invisible Hand and the devotees of the Visible Hand will learn how to escape the sterility of their fight and recognize the originality of a thinker for whom everything is intersubjective, hence quantifiable. </P><P>At a time when the regulation of financial markets is the subject of heated debate, Latour and Lépinay provide a valuable historical perspective on the fundamental nature of capitalism.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div> Pacification and its Discontents http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8364911 Kurt Jacobsen <br><br><DIV><P>As George W. Bush’s Iraq mission unravelled, U.S. policy elites revived counterinsurgency doctrines—known in an earlier incarnation as pacification. The new edition of the <I>Counterinsurgency Field Manual</I> defines pacification as “the process by which the government assert[s] its influence and control in an area beset by insurgents,” which includes “local security efforts, programs to distribute food and medical supplies, and lasting reforms (like land redistribution).” Such language may sound innocuous, but for Kurt Jacobsen and fellow skeptics, “pacification” and its synonym, “counterinsurgency,” are stale euphemisms for violent suppression of popular resistance movements abroad, citing the inexorable tragic atrocities committed against non-combatants in Vietnam and elsewhere. In this pamphlet, Jacobsen examines pacification, the rehabilitation of repressive practices, and their attendant illusions—practices that, he argues, civilized nations have a duty to abandon.</P></DIV><br></div> Almanac of American Politics 2010 http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/rssresolve.cgi?id=8382357 Michael Barone and Richard E. Cohen <br><br><DIV><DIV><P>The results of the 2008 presidential election were extraordinary, marking the beginning of a new period in American political history. Democrat Barack Obama became the first African American president in the United States, claiming a decisive over Republican John McCain. His fellow Democrats, meanwhile, established a robust majority in the Senate, winning seats in New Hampshire, New Jersey, and North Carolina, among others. Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Virginia—states carried by Republicans in previous elections—“went blue” for the first time in decades. Across the political spectrum, Americans turned out to vote in droves.</P><P> </P><P>No matter how you voted in the 2008 presidential election, it was unmistakably exciting. Its implications for both parties, however, remain unknown. From Internet fundraising to foreign policy, ballot fraud to ethics scandals, the political scene for Republics and Democrats is changing quickly. And in this time of uncertainty, there’s one book both parties turn to: <I>The Almanac of American Politics. </I>The 2010 <I>Almanac </I>remains the gold standard of accessible political information, relied upon by everyone involved, invested, or interested in American politics.</P><P> </P><P>As in previous editions, the 2010 A<I>lmanac</I> includes profiles of every member of Congress and every governor; as well as in-depth and completely up-to-date narrative profiles of all 50 states and 435 House districts, covering everything from economics to history to, of course, politics. It also contains Michael Barone’s sharp-eyed analysis of the 2008 presidential elections, congressional elections, and redistricting battles. New to this edition is a statistical breakdown of the 2008 presidential vote by state and congressional district, plus coverage of all recent special elections.</P><P> </P><P>Full of maps, census data, and information on topics ranging from campaign expenditures to voting records to interest group ratings, the 2010 <I>Almanac of American Politics</I> presents everything you need to know about American politics in snappy prose and framed by cogent analysis.</P></DIV></DIV><br></div>