Social Science Theory

The Tragedy of Empire begins in the late fourth century with the reign of Julian, the last non-Christian Roman emperor, and takes listeners to the final years of the Western Roman Empire at the end of the sixth century. Kulikowski traces 200 years of Roman history during which the Western Empire ceased to exist while the Eastern Empire remained politically strong and culturally vibrant.

Grand in scope, rigorous in its arguments, and elegantly synthesizing 30 years of scholarship, Gordon S. Wood's Pulitzer Prize–winning book analyzes the social, political, and economic consequences of 1776. In The Radicalism of the American Revolution, Wood depicts not just a break with England, but the rejection of an entire way of life: of a society with feudal dependencies, a politics of patronage, and a world view in which people were divided between the nobility and "the Herd."

This fourth edition covers a range of new topics and events, addressing the rise of a fierce wave of criticism from right-wing websites, think tanks, and foundations, some of which insist that America is now colorblind and has little use for racial analysis and study. Award-winning authors Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic also address the rise in legislative efforts to curtail K-12 teaching of racial history.

Jordan Peterson nos propone un apasionante viaje por la historia de las ideas y de la ciencia para tratar de responder a una pregunta esencial: qué información básica necesitamos para vivir en plenitud. Con humor, amenidad y espíritu divulgativo, Peterson recorre países, tiempos y culturas al mismo tiempo que reflexiona sobre conceptos como la aventura, la disciplina y la responsabilidad. Todo con el fin de desgranar el saber humano en doce hondas y prácticas reglas para la vida que rompen radicalmente con los lugares comunes de la corrección política.

A major historical account of the Korean War, its origins, and its evolving impact on the world. Sixty years after North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea, the Korean War has not yet ended. Sheila Miyoshi Jager presents the first comprehensive history of this misunderstood war, one that risks involving the world’s superpowers - again. Her sweeping narrative ranges from the middle of the Second World War - when Korean independence was fiercely debated between Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill - to the present day.

What is economic growth? And why, historically, has it occurred in only a few places? Previous efforts to answer these questions have focused on institutions, geography, finances, and psychology. But according to MIT's anti-disciplinarian César Hidalgo, understanding the nature of economic growth demands transcending the social sciences and including the natural sciences of information, networks, and complexity. To understand the growth of economies, Hidalgo argues, we first need to understand the growth of order.

War is no way to resolve our most problematic group, community, and societal issues, but neither is a peace that simply sweeps our problems under the rug. To create lasting change, we have to learn to work fluidly with two distinct, fundamental drives that are in tension: power - the single-minded desire to achieve one's solitary purpose - and love - the drive toward unity.... They are seemingly contradictory but in fact complimentary.

America has entered troubling times. The rule of law is crumbling. The massive expansion of Federal government power with its destructive laws and policies is of grave concern to many. But what can be done to quell the abuse of power by civil authority? Are unjust or immoral actions by the government simply to be accepted and their lawless commands obeyed? How do we know when the government has acted tyrannically? Which actions constitute proper and legitimate resistance?

In Gaetano Mosca's groundbreaking work, The Ruling Class (originally published as Elementi di Scienza Politica in 1896), the Italian political philosopher shatters the illusions of pure democracy by revealing a timeless truth: in every society, from ancient civilizations to modern nations, power is always concentrated in the hands of an organized minority–the ruling class.

Milton Friedman is one of the most famous economists in history. His writings and theories on everything from capitalism and freedom to deregulation and welfare have inspired movements, influenced government policies, and changed the course of America’s economic history. Now, acclaimed Friedman biographer Lanny Ebenstein brings together 20 of Friedman’s greatest essays in The Indispensable Milton Friedman: Essays on Politics and Economics.

In a letter of 1932, Karl Popper described Die beiden Grundprobleme der Erkenntnistheorie–The Two Fundamental Problems of the Theory of Knowledge–as ‘…a child of crises, above all of …the crisis of physics.' The two fundamental problems of knowledge that lie at the center of the book are the problem of induction, that although we are able to observe only a limited number of particular events, science nevertheless advances unrestricted universal statements; and the problem of demarcation, which asks for a separating line between empirical science and non-science.

Nearly 20 years ago, on 11 September 2001, four passenger aircraft were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon near Washington and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed. The narrative in the weeks and months that followed seemed straightforward: the attacks had been masterminded by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, an embittered terrorist with an abiding hatred of the West. But, as the 20-year anniversary approaches, that neat explanation still fails to answer some important questions surrounding that fateful day.

On les appelle spin doctors, génies du faire croire, persuadeurs clandestins ou ingénieurs des âmes. Publicitaires, communicants, cinéastes ou propagandistes politiques, ces hommes ont en commun d’être passés maîtres dans l’art de la manipulation de masse. Ils bouleversent les règles du jeu politique, font et défont des élections, fabriquent le consentement, défendent les intérêts d’industries polluantes, influencent à leur insu le comportement de millions d’individus.

Entering the world of conspiracy theories and secret societies is like stepping into a distant, parallel universe where the laws of physics have completely changed: black means white, up is down, and if you want to understand what's really going on, you need a good reference book. That's where Conspiracy Theories & Secret Societies for Dummies comes in. Whether you're a skeptic or a true believer, this fascinating guide, packed with the latest information, walks you through some of the most infamous conspiracy theories - such as Area 51 and the assassination of JFK.

Written by cohosts of the hit Death Panel podcast and longtime disability justice and healthcare activists Beatrice Adler-Bolton and Artie, Health Communism first examines how capital has instrumentalized health, disability, madness, and illness to create a class seen as "surplus," regarded as a fiscal and social burden. Demarcating the healthy from the surplus, the worker from the "unfit" to work, the authors argue, serves not only to undermine solidarity but to mark whole populations for extraction by the industries that have emerged to manage and contain this "surplus" population.

It is the world's most widely recognized weapon, the most profuse tool for killing ever made. More than fifty national armies carry the automatic Kalashnikov, as do an array of police, intelligence, and security agencies all over the world. In this tour de force, prizewinning New York Times reporter C. J. Chivers traces the invention of the assault rifle.

The world is in turmoil. From India to Turkey and from Poland to the United States, authoritarian populists have seized power. As a result democracy itself may now be at risk. Two core components of liberal democracy - individual rights and the popular will - are at war with each other. As the role of money in politics soared and important issues were taken out of public contestation, a system of "rights without democracy" took hold. Populists who rail against this say they want to return power to the people. But in practice they create a system of "democracy without rights."

Nomi Prins ushers us into the intimate world of exclusive clubs, vacation spots, and Ivy League universities that binds presidents and financiers. She unravels the multi-generational blood, intermarriage, and protégé relationships that have confined national influence to a privileged cluster of people. This unprecedented history of American power illuminates how financiers have retained their authoritative position through history, swaying presidents regardless of party affiliation.

Eamonn McCann’s account of what it is like to grow up a Catholic in a Northern Irish ghetto - first published in 1974 - quickly became a classic account of the feelings generated by British rule. The author was at the center of events in Derry which first brought Northern Ireland to world attention. He witnessed the gradual transformation of the civil rights movement from a mild campaign for “British Democracy” to an all-out military assault on the British state. This book describes the people involved in the war and gives an account of the springs of the "Catholic" opposition.

In this groundbreaking portrait of corporate seizure of political power, We the Corporations reveals how American businesses won equal rights and transformed the Constitution to serve the ends of capital. Corporations - like minorities and women - have had a civil rights movement of their own and now possess nearly all the same rights as ordinary people. Uncovering the deep historical roots of Citizens United, Adam Winkler shows how that controversial 2010 Supreme Court decision was the capstone of a 200-year battle....