Paradigm Publishers

Cities; unauthored resistances and uncertain sovereignty in the urban world.

Scannell (Queens College) contends that the living environment being created in our cities (globally speaking) is complicated enough and consistent enough to be far removed from the accepted thinking of the 'elite,' making it difficult to define other than to say "...the cities are becoming sites of productive chaos." That is, the author says, an unsatisfactory conclusion — and he adds that discussions such as this may generate a dialogue about what cities actually do, not what they are. The author grew up in a labor movement household, and it shows. The path his examinations and explorations take to reach his conclusion should interest both professionals in related fields and general interest readers. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The global power of talk; negotiating America's interests.

This timely volume on US foreign policy examines historical successes in diplomacy-based international negotiations and argues that refined and deliberate talk-based strategies are the best practice in a world of terrorism, rough states, and intractable conflicts that are not easily solved by the application of military force. The work discusses a coalescence of talking, firm management and clear coordination with allies as the better way forward on the complex international diplomatic stage. Hampton is a professor of international affairs at Carleton University, Ottawa and Zartman is a professor of international relations at John Hopkins University. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Immigration nation; raids, detentions, and deportations in post-9/11 America.

Golash-Boza (sociology and American studies, U. of Kansas) analyzes the impact of US immigration policies on human rights and their negative consequences for individuals, families, and communities. Focusing on how these laws violate the civil and political rights of migrants and US citizens who have ties to them, she discusses the roots of immigration to the US; the surge in policy enforcement since 9/11, especially raids and detentions and their effects; who is being deported and the consequences for families; the strain of policy on couples when one person is a citizen; public and private sector interests in the criminalization of undocumented migration, immigration law enforcement, and the promotion of anti-illegal rhetoric; and recommendations for immigration system reforms. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Peace and conflict 2012.

The annual "flagship publication" of the Center for International Development and Conflict Management at the U. of Maryland, this work collects recent research in peace and conflict studies. It includes regular features from past volumes, including a ranking of states on risks of instability; reviews of trends in global conflict, terrorism, and democratization; and an assessment of current risks of genocide and politicide. Also included are chapters discussing trends in civil war mediation, options for mediators in African intrastate crises, war and economic growth, and the relationship between elections and international pressures in the mediation of conflict. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The politics of gun control, 5th ed.

Spitzer (political science, SUNY-Cortland) is a member of both the National Rifle Association and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. In this work for general readers and students, he offers a balanced perspective on the issue of national gun control, looking at the issue within the context of social regulatory policy. He reviews the social and cultural roots of gun control policy and outlines concepts of social regulatory policy, then investigates the interpretation of the Second Amendment. His summary of the consequences of guns and gun control incorporates crime, suicide, accidents, and self-defense. The author describes political patterns that spring from social regulatory policy and explores the roles of advocacy groups and key national institutions. In his conclusion, the author draws on international relations theory to assess the arguments on both sides of the issue and proposes a new way to achieve political accommodation. This fifth edition includes a new section on the movement to allow personal handguns on college campuses and covers recent high-profile public shootings, court rulings, border violence, and social media phenomena such as gun meet-ups. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

Revolutionizing feminism; the Philippine women's movement in the age of terror.

Lacsamana (women's studies, Hamilton College) examines the social position of Filipino women in the context of political instability and violence and de facto martial law in the Philippines, deploying a historical materialist analysis explicitly in opposition to the cultural or postmodern turn in Western feminist analysis in order to investigate issues of identity, migration, militarism, and prostitution, while foregrounding the grassroots anti-imperialist resistance conducted by such groups as GABRIELA (General Assembly Binding Women for Reforms, Equality, and Action), Migrante International, Task Force Subic Rape, and the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)

The virtues of openness; education, science, and scholarship in the digital age.

New Zealand scholars of education Peters (U. of Waikato) and Roberts, (U. of Canterbury) take virtue in its standard Greek definition of moral excellence that takes various personal and public forms, and argue that it characterizes emerging forms of openness such as open source, open access, open archiving, and open publishing. Their topics include open scientific communication, openness as an educational virtue, scholarly publishing and the politics of openness, open cultures and open learning systems, and the rise of user-created media. (Annotation ©2011 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)