2010, ISBN: 9781400066957

Paperback, Hardcover, First edition

Paperback / softback. New. Freedom Is an Endless Meeting offers vivid portraits of American experiments in participatory democracy throughout the twentieth century. Drawing on meticulous… More...

Paperback / softback. New. Freedom Is an Endless Meeting offers vivid portraits of American experiments in participatory democracy throughout the twentieth century. Drawing on meticulous research and more than one hundred interviews with activists, Francesca Polletta challenges the conventional wisdom that participatory democracy is worthy in purpose but unworkable in practice. Instead, she shows that social movements have often used bottom-up decision making as a powerful tool for political change. Polletta traces the history of democracy in early labor struggles and pre-World War II pacifism, in the civil rights, new left, and women's liberation movements of the sixties and seventies, and in today's faith-based organizing and anti-corporate globalization campaigns. In the process, she uncovers neglected sources of democratic inspiration--Depression-era labor educators and Mississippi voting registration workers, among them--as well as practical strategies of social protest. But Freedom Is an Endless Meeting also highlights the obstacles that arise when activists model their democracies after familiar nonpolitical relationships such as friendship, tutelage, and religious fellowship. Doing so has brought into their deliberations the trust, respect, and caring typical of those relationships. But it has also fostered values that run counter to democracy, such as exclusivity and an aversion to rules, and these have been the fault lines around which participatory democracies have often splintered. Indeed, Polletta attributes the fragility of the form less to its basic inefficiency or inequity than to the gaps between activists' democratic commitments and the cultural models on which they have depended to enact those commitments. The challenge, she concludes, is to forge new kinds of democratic relationships, ones that balance trust with accountability, respect with openness to disagreement, and caring with inclusiveness. For anyone concerned about the prospects for democracy in America, Freedom Is an Endless Meeting will offer abundant historical, theoretical, and practical insights. &quot;This is an excellent study of activist politics in the United States over the past century. . . . Assiduously researched, impressively informed by a great number of thoughtful interviews with key members of American social movements, and deeply engaged with its subject matter, the book is likely to become a key text in the study of grass-roots democracy in America.&quot;--Kate Fullbrook, Times Literary Supplement &quot;Polletta's portrayal challenges the common assumption that morality and strategy are incompatible, that those who aim at winning must compromise principle while those who insist on morality are destined to be ineffective. . . . Rather than dwell on trying to explain the decline of 60s movements, Polletta shows how participatory democracy has become the guiding framework for many of today's activists.&quot;--Richard Flacks, Los Angeles Times Book Review &quot;In Freedom Is an Endless Meeting, Francesca Polletta has produced a remarkable work of historical sociology. . . . She provides the fullest theoretical work of historical sociology. . . . She provides the fullest theoretical picture of participatory democracy, rich with nuance, ambiguity, and irony, that this reviewer has yet seen. . . . This wise book should be studied closely by both academics and by social change activists.&quot;--Stewart Burns, Journal of American History, 6, New York, New York, U.S.A. : Random House, 2010. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. As New/As New. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Signed boldly by author on half-title page. Over the centuries and throughout the world, women have struggled for equality and basic rights. Their challenge in the Middle East has been intensified by the rise of a political Islam that too often condemns women's empowerment as Western cultural imperialism or, worse, anti-Islamic. In PARADISE BENEATH HER FEET, Isobel Coleman shows how Muslim women and men are fighting back with progressive interpretations of Islam to support women's rights in a growing movement of Islamic feminism. In this timely book, Coleman journeys through the strategic crescent of the greater Middle East-Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan-to reveal how activists are working within the tenets of Islam to create economic, political, and educational opportunities for women. Coleman argues that these efforts are critical to bridging the conflict between those championing reform and those seeking to oppress women in the name of religious tradition. Success will bring greater stability and prosperity to the Middle East and stands to transform the region. Coleman highlights a number of Muslim men and women who are among the most influential Islamic feminist thinkers, and brilliantly illuminates the on-the-ground experiences of women who are driving change: Sakena Yacoobi, an Afghan educator, runs more than forty women's centers across Afghanistan, providing hundreds of thousands of women with literacy and health classes and teaching them about their rights within Islam. Madawi al-Hassoon, a successful businesswoman, is challenging conservative conventions to break new ground for Saudi professional women. Salama al-Khafaji, a devout dentist-turned-politician, relies on moderate interpretations of Islam to promote opportunities for women in Iraq's religiously charged environment. These quiet revolutionaries are using Islamic feminism to change the terms of religious debate, to fight for women's rights within Islam instead of against it. There is no mistaking that women and women's issues are very much on the front lines of a war that is taking place between advocates of innovation, tolerance, and plurality and those who use violence to reject modernity in Muslim communities around the world. Ultimately, PARADISE BENEATH HER FEEToffers a message of hope: Change is happening-and more often than not, it is being led by women. As new, unread, first edition, first printing, in s new, mylar-protectected dust jacket. {Not remainder-marked or price-clipped} BUND, Random House, 2010, 5<

2010, ISBN: 9781400066957

Hardcover, First edition

New York, New York, U.S.A. : Random House, 2010. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. As New/As New. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Signed boldly by author on half-t… More...

New York, New York, U.S.A. : Random House, 2010. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. As New/As New. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Signed boldly by author on half-title page. Over the centuries and throughout the world, women have struggled for equality and basic rights. Their challenge in the Middle East has been intensified by the rise of a political Islam that too often condemns women's empowerment as Western cultural imperialism or, worse, anti-Islamic. In PARADISE BENEATH HER FEET, Isobel Coleman shows how Muslim women and men are fighting back with progressive interpretations of Islam to support women's rights in a growing movement of Islamic feminism. In this timely book, Coleman journeys through the strategic crescent of the greater Middle East-Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan-to reveal how activists are working within the tenets of Islam to create economic, political, and educational opportunities for women. Coleman argues that these efforts are critical to bridging the conflict between those championing reform and those seeking to oppress women in the name of religious tradition. Success will bring greater stability and prosperity to the Middle East and stands to transform the region. Coleman highlights a number of Muslim men and women who are among the most influential Islamic feminist thinkers, and brilliantly illuminates the on-the-ground experiences of women who are driving change: Sakena Yacoobi, an Afghan educator, runs more than forty women's centers across Afghanistan, providing hundreds of thousands of women with literacy and health classes and teaching them about their rights within Islam. Madawi al-Hassoon, a successful businesswoman, is challenging conservative conventions to break new ground for Saudi professional women. Salama al-Khafaji, a devout dentist-turned-politician, relies on moderate interpretations of Islam to promote opportunities for women in Iraq's religiously charged environment. These quiet revolutionaries are using Islamic feminism to change the terms of religious debate, to fight for women's rights within Islam instead of against it. There is no mistaking that women and women's issues are very much on the front lines of a war that is taking place between advocates of innovation, tolerance, and plurality and those who use violence to reject modernity in Muslim communities around the world. Ultimately, PARADISE BENEATH HER FEEToffers a message of hope: Change is happening-and more often than not, it is being led by women. As new, unread, first edition, first printing, in s new, mylar-protectected dust jacket. {Not remainder-marked or price-clipped} BUND, Random House, 2010, 5<

2010, ISBN: 1400066956

[EAN: 9781400066957], Gebraucht, sehr guter Zustand, [SC: 4.01], [PU: Random House], COLEMAN ISOBEL PARADISE BENEATH HER FEET HOW ISLAMIC WOMEN ARE TRANSFORMING THE MIDDLE EAST COUNCIL ON… More...

[EAN: 9781400066957], Gebraucht, sehr guter Zustand, [SC: 4.01], [PU: Random House], COLEMAN ISOBEL PARADISE BENEATH HER FEET HOW ISLAMIC WOMEN ARE TRANSFORMING THE MIDDLE EAST COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS BOOK, The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged., Books<