The Dilemmas of Social Democracies: Overcoming Obstacles to a More Just World

The Dilemmas of Social Democracies seeks to advance the eradication of poverty and the ethical construction of social democracy and sustainable peace. Howard Richards and Joanna Swanger argue that the reason that capitalism resists transformation and that social democracy is so hard to achieve is because of the philosophical and institutional underpinnings―the constitutive rules―of capitalism; the book therefore explores the historical origins of these rules, their implications for blocking progress toward social justice, and how they can be improved.

Business & Money

Richards, Howard

Swanger, Joanna

Economics

Lexington Books

The Dilemmas of Social Democracies seeks to advance the eradication of poverty and the ethical construction of social democracy and sustainable peace. Howard Richards and Joanna Swanger argue that the reason that capitalism resists transformation and that social democracy is so hard to achieve is because of the philosophical and institutional underpinnings_the constitutive rules_of capitalism; the book therefore explores the historical origins of these rules, their implications for blocking progress toward social justice, and how they can be improved.

The book is a comparative history of twentieth-century Cuban campesinos in two regions in Cuba marked by extreme differences in race, gender, and land tenure: Oriente and Escambray. It explores the ways these differences articulated with state formation from the pre-revolutionary period of 1934-1959 and then 1959-1974 and seeks to explain why campesinos in Escambray, having been active in the insurrection against Batista, later turned to stage a massive counter-revolution against the government headed by Fidel Castro. Although campesinos in both regions had been equally ignored by pre-1959 governments for different reasons, they developed two distinct understandings of what the role of the state should be in response to political neglect. Rich archival sources—many of which have not been accessed previously—document the unique shape of land struggles in each region in the 1930s through the 1950s. The author argues that because of the way race and gender and a collectivist land tenure tradition in Oriente mapped nicely onto the goals of the 1959 Revolution, Oriente became a kind of revolutionary showcase. In Escambray, on the other hand, a construct of white masculinity, tied to private property ownership, directly contravened the goals of the Revolution, which fueled the counter-revolution and also led to brutal state repression in the area.

Rebel Lands of Cuba: The Campesino Struggles of Oriente and Escambray, 1934–1974

History

Americas

"Here then is a book that gently, persistently and, I think, solidly makes a case for incorporating Gandhi's insights into mainstream economics. Gandhi and the Future of Economics is not meant to be a research study of Gandhian economics. It is rather that kind of felicitous publication that breathes new life into a known theme, and, in doing so, brings out its implications for praxis. Even better is the fact that it does all this in dialogue with a set of contemporary thinkers and actors from the Indian sub-continent ..." (from Ivo Coelho's preface)

Gandhi and the Future of Economics

Dignity Press

This book tackles the question of why the United States is so resistant to radical change towards economic justice and peace. Taking full stock of the despair that launched the popular support for Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, Swanger historicizes the political paralysis of post-1974 United States that deepened already severe economic inequalities, asking how the terrain for social movements in the early twenty-first-century US differs from that of the 1960s. This terrain is marked by the entrenchment of neoliberalism, anti-intellectualism, and difficulties paradoxically posed by the ease of social media. Activists now must contend with a paralyzing “post-factual” moment. Alain Badiou’s thought informs this book on breaking through contemporary political paralysis.

Radical Social Change in the United States: Badiou's Apostle and the Post-Factual Moment

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

PALGRAVE~MACMILLAN

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Swanger, Joanna. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Swanger, Joanna

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Swanger, Joanna. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Dilemmas of Social Democracies: Overcoming Obstacles to a More Just World

The Dilemmas of Social Democracies: Overcoming Obstacles to a More Just World

Rebel Lands of Cuba: The Campesino Struggles of Oriente and Escambray, 1934–1974

Gandhi and the Future of Economics

Radical Social Change in the United States: Badiou's Apostle and the Post-Factual Moment

Radical Social Change in the United States: Badiou's Apostle and the Post-Factual Moment