National Network for Equitable Library Service

Roughly 2,500 years ago, the elite classes of Athens gradually ceded power to the inexperienced masses, thus establishing a radical democracy in which power derived from the votes of everyday citizens. The sequence of events that led to this development is astonishing, and the society that flourished under Athenian democracy is one of the greatest-even if greatly flawed-achievements in world history. Today, when the foundations of our own democracy are under greater and greater scrutiny, the Athenian experiment in citizen rule offers a powerful object lesson in national politics.

Climate change is real but it's not the end of the world. It is not even our most serious environmental problem. Michael Shellenberger has been fighting for a greener planet for decades. He helped save the world's last unprotected redwoods. He co-created the predecessor to today's Green New Deal. And he led a successful effort by climate scientists and activists to keep nuclear plants operating, preventing a spike of emissions.

A leading ecologist argues that if humankind is to survive on a fragile planet, we must understand and obey its iron lawsOur species has amassed unprecedented knowledge of nature, which we have tried to use to seize control of life and bend the planet to our will. In A Natural History of the Future, biologist Rob Dunn argues that such efforts are futile. We may see ourselves as life's overlords, but we are instead at its mercy.

"De tous les carrefours importants, le visage à la moustache noire vous fixait du regard. BIG BROTHER VOUS REGARDE, répétait la légende, tandis que le regard des yeux noirs pénétrait les yeux de Winston ... Au loin, un hélicoptère glissa entre les toits, plana un moment, telle une mouche bleue, puis repartit comme une flèche, dans un vol courbe. C'était une patrouille qui venait mettre le nez aux fenêtres des gens. Mais les patrouilles n'avaient pas d'importance.

The days of buoyant capital investment, jobs, and wealth are passing Alberta by as the boom-and-bust cycle runs its course and the global climate crisis becomes more acute. As the province scrambles to boost the dying oil economy and curb spending, one solution is all but ignored - a sales tax. In this collection, Alberta scholars and policy experts map out why and how a provincial sales tax can and should be implemented.

Peasant Wars in Bolivia reveals the active political role played by the Cochabamba valley peasants during the 1952-64 revolutionary period in Bolivia from a non-state perspective. Based on contemporary research in social, political, and cultural issues in Latin America, it blends sociological and anthropological methods to go beyond recognized contexts of central power and emphasize the revolutionary experience of the peasants themselves.

An officer of Global Affairs Canada from 1990-2018, Geoff White is a career expert in Canadian foreign policy. In Working for Canada he shares that expertise, illuminating the often invisible work of creating and enacting international policy. Writing with clarity, wit, and common sense, White demystifies Canadian diplomacy and provides a clear view of how it actually works-and when it doesn't. Reflecting on the headlines, highlights, and sometimes scandals of a long and successful career, White offers a highly readable blend of personal recollection and political insight.

Rights and the City takes stock of rights struggles and progress in cities by exploring the tensions that exist between different concepts of rights. Sandeep Agrawal and the volume's contributors expose the paradoxes that planners and municipal governments face when attempting not only to combat discriminatory practices, but also advance a human rights agenda. The authors examine the legal, conceptual, and philosophical aspects of rights, including its various forms-human, Indigenous, housing, property rights, and various other forms of rights.

Traditional leadership is a factor that has long been overlooked in evaluations of rural local government in much of contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa. Grassroots Governance, an interdisciplinary and intercontinental collection, addresses this gap in African scholarship and brings new perspectives on the integration, or reconciliation, of traditional leadership with democratic systems of local government.

The Canadian government's 1983 decision to allow U.S. cruise missile testing in this country resulted in intense political fallout. The controversial program was kept quiet for as long as possible, but when key secrets were leaked, the powers that be faced harsh criticism from activists, opposition parties, Washington, and the Canadian public.