David's Politics

David's Politics
Author: Paul R. Abramson
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2016-11-21
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1498545521

David’s Politics evaluates what we can learn about politics by studying David’s life as presented in the Books of Samuel through the first two chapters of 1 Kings. I begin by discussing the rules for kingship set forth in Deuteronomy and carry this through to the elders’ demand that the prophet Samuel appoint a king. Despite his reluctance he appoints Saul, who has many military successes. But when he fails when he fails to annihilate the Amalekites God withdraws his grace and Saul falls into a state of depression, which grows worse as the story progresses. David is called to Saul’s court as a musician. I argue that he has three roles, first as a servant to King Saul, second as a rebel against Saul, and third as king. As a servant to Saul, David establishes his credentials as a warrior and also becomes the king’s son-in-law. As a rebel against Saul, David again takes actions that solidify his future support in Israel and Judah. David has two opportunities to kill Saul, but refuses to kill him. He also cements his political support in Judah. After becoming king, David’s military successes are the prime reason for his support. He also administered justice, which may have further bolstered his legitimacy. Indeed, David did what was right “all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” (1 Kings 15:5). By committing adultery with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife, and by having Uriah murdered, David brings grief upon himself and his family: the rape of his only named daughter, the murder of Amnon, his first-born son and the death in battle of Absalom, who is probably David’s oldest surviving son. Throughout most of this account David displays remarkable political sagacity, and more can be learned studying his life than that of any other king of Israel or Judah.

More Davids Than Goliaths

More Davids Than Goliaths
Author: Harold Ford, Jr.
Publisher: Crown
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2010-08-10
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0307452158

Harold Ford Jr. has long distinguished himself as a charismatic, results-oriented politician with fresh ideas. His career began at age 26 after he won his father’s Congressional seat, serving his Tennessee district for ten years. He stepped into the national spotlight with his electric keynote at the 2000 Democratic National Convention, and in 2006 his reputation was further shaped during the closest Senate race in Tennessee’s history, which he lost. Ford feels passionately that our country’s best days are ahead, and in More Davids Than Goliaths, he presents his mission statement for America. Reflecting on what he’s learned from his extended political family, the slings and arrows of the campaign trail, and those across our nation who inspire him, More Davids Than Goliaths explains Ford’s conviction, “At its best, leadership in government can solve, inspire, and heal.” Along the way, Ford reminds us that in America, there are more Davids than Goliaths, more solutions than problems, more that unites us than divides us.

The Unconscious in Social and Political Life

The Unconscious in Social and Political Life
Author: David Morgan
Publisher: Phoenix Publishing House
Total Pages: 383
Release: 2019-07-14
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1912691183

Traumatic events happen in every age, yet there is a particularly cataclysmic feeling to our own epoch that is so attractive to some and so terrifying to others. The terrible events of September 11th 2001 still resonate and the repercussions continue to this day: the desperation of immigrants fleeing terror, the uncertainty of Brexit, Donald Trump in the White House, the rise of the alt-right and hard left, increasing fundamentalism, and terror groups intent on causing destruction to the Western way of life. If that were not enough, we also have to grapple with the enormity of climate change and the charge that if we do not act now, it will be too late. Is it any wonder many are left overwhelmed by the events they see on the news? Galvanised by the events outside of his consulting room, in 2015, David Morgan began The Political Mind seminars at the British Psychoanalytical Society and their successful run continues today. A series of superlative seminars, mostly presented by colleagues from the British Society plus a few select external experts, that examine a dazzling array of relevant topics to provide a psychoanalytic understanding of just what is going on in our world. This book is the first in The Political Mind series to bring these seminars to a wider audience. The Unconscious in Political and Social Life contains compelling contributions from Christopher Bollas, Michael Rustin, Jonathan Sklar, David Bell, Philip Stokoe, Roger Kennedy, David Morgan, M. Fakhry Davids, Ruth McCall, R. D. Hinshelwood, Renée Danziger, Josh Cohen, Sally Weintrobe, and Margot Waddell. They investigate so many vital issues affecting us today: the evolution of democracy, right-wing populism, prejudice, the rise of the far right, attitudes to refugees and migrants, neoliberalism, fundamentalism, terrorism, the Palestine-Israel situation, political change, feminism, austerity in the UK, financial globalisation, and climate change. This book needs to be read by all who are concerned by the state of the world today. Psychoanalysis and psychoanalysts with their awareness of what motivates human beings bring clarity and fresh insight to these matters. A deeper understanding of humanity awaits the reader of The Unconscious in Political and Social Life.

Sharice's Big Voice

Sharice's Big Voice
Author: Sharice Davids
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 40
Release: 2021-06-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0063089637

This acclaimed picture book autobiography tells the triumphant story of Sharice Davids, one of the first Native American women elected to Congress, and the first LGBTQ congressperson to represent Kansas. When Sharice Davids was young, she never thought she’d be in Congress. And she never thought she’d be one of the first Native American women in Congress. During her campaign, she heard from a lot of doubters. They said she couldn’t win because of how she looked, who she loved, and where she came from. But everyone’s path looks different and everyone’s path has obstacles. And this is the remarkable story of Sharice Davids’ path to Congress. Beautifully illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley, an Ojibwe Woodland artist, this powerful autobiographical picture book teaches readers to use their big voice and that everyone deserves to be seen—and heard! The back matter includes information about the Ho-Chunk written by former Ho-Chunk President Jon Greendeer, an artist note, and an inspiring letter to children from Sharice Davids. "Rich, vivid illustrations by Ojibwe Woodland artist Pawis-Steckley are delivered in a graphic style that honors Indigenous people. The bold artwork adds impact to the compelling text." (Kirkus starred review) "The prose is reminiscent of an inspirational speech (“Everyone’s path looks different”), with a message of service that includes fun biographical facts, such as her love of Bruce Lee. Pawis-Steckley (who is Ojibwe Woodland) contributes boldly lined and colored digital illustrations, inflected with Native symbols and bold colors. A hopeful and accessible picture book profile." (Publishers Weekly) "Affecting picture-book autobiography." (The Horn Book) Acclaim includes: On Here Wee Read's 2021 Ultimate List of Diverse Children's Books 2022 ALSC Notable Children’s Books in the middle readers category 2022 Booklist from Rise: A Feminist Book Project—Early Readers Nonfiction Nominee for 2022 Reading the West book award Selected as CCBC Choices 2022—biography, autobiography and memoir

Range

Range
Author: David Epstein
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2021-04-27
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0735214506

The #1 New York Times bestseller that has all America talking—with a new afterword on expanding your range—as seen on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, Morning Joe, CBS This Morning, and more. “The most important business—and parenting—book of the year.” —Forbes “Urgent and important. . . an essential read for bosses, parents, coaches, and anyone who cares about improving performance.” —Daniel H. Pink Shortlisted for the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award Plenty of experts argue that anyone who wants to develop a skill, play an instrument, or lead their field should start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. If you dabble or delay, you’ll never catch up to the people who got a head start. But a closer look at research on the world’s top performers, from professional athletes to Nobel laureates, shows that early specialization is the exception, not the rule. David Epstein examined the world’s most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors, forecasters and scientists. He discovered that in most fields—especially those that are complex and unpredictable—generalists, not specialists, are primed to excel. Generalists often find their path late, and they juggle many interests rather than focusing on one. They’re also more creative, more agile, and able to make connections their more specialized peers can’t see. Provocative, rigorous, and engrossing, Range makes a compelling case for actively cultivating inefficiency. Failing a test is the best way to learn. Frequent quitters end up with the most fulfilling careers. The most impactful inventors cross domains rather than deepening their knowledge in a single area. As experts silo themselves further while computers master more of the skills once reserved for highly focused humans, people who think broadly and embrace diverse experiences and perspectives will increasingly thrive.

David's Story

David's Story
Author: Zoë Wicomb
Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2015-04-25
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1558619135

A powerful post-apartheid novel and winner of South Africa’s M-Net Literary Award, hailed by J.M. Coetzee as “a tremendous achievement.” South Africa, 1991: Nelson Mandela is freed from prison, the African National Congress is now legal, and a new day dawns in Cape Town. David Dirkse, part of the underground world of activists, spies, and saboteurs in the liberation movement, suddenly finds himself above ground. With “time to think” after the unbanning of the movement, David searches his family tree, tracing his bloodline to the mixed-race “Coloured” people of South Africa and their antecedents among the indigenous people and early colonial settlers. But as David studies his roots, he soon learns that he’s on a hit list. Now caught in a web of surveillance and betrayal, he’s forced to rethink his role in the struggle for “nonracial democracy,” the loyalty of his “comrades,” and his own conceptions of freedom. Mesmerizing and multilayered, Wicomb’s award-winning novel delivers a moving examination of the nature of political vision, memory, and truth. “A delicate, powerful novel, guided by the paradoxes of witnessing the certainties of national liberation and the uncertainties of ground-level hybrid identity, the mysteries of sexual exchange, the austerity of political fiction. Wicomb’s book belongs on a shelf with books by Maryse Condé and Yvette Christiansë.” —Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, author of A Critique of Postcolonial Reason

The Politics of Protest

The Politics of Protest
Author: David S. Meyer
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2015
Genre: Political activists
ISBN: 9780199937134

The Politics of Protest offers both a historical overview and an analytical framework for understanding social movements and political protest in American politics. Meyer shows that protest movements, an integral part of our nation's history from the Boston Tea Party to the Civil Rights Movement, are hardly confined to the distant past. He argues that protest movements in America reflect and influence mainstream politics and that in order to understand our political system--and our social and political world--we need to pay attention to protest. The Politics of Protest opens with a short history of social movements in the United States, beginning with the development of the American Republic and outlining how the American constitutional design invites protest movements to offer continual challenges. It then discusses the social impulse to protest, considers the strategies and tactics of social movements, looks at the institutional response to protest, and finally examines the policy ramifications. Each chapter includes a brief narrative of a key movement that illustrates the topic covered in that chapter. New to This Edition * A new chapter on media and movements (Chapter 6: Protest and Communication: New and Old Media) that examines how media has changed in the past two decades, focusing in particular on online activism * New discussions on such topics as the election of a black president, the emergence of the Tea Party movement, and the intensifying conflict regarding immigration policy * More material on the successes of the gay and lesbian movement in promoting policy changes to marriage at the state level and in national military service

Russian Roulette

Russian Roulette
Author: Michael Isikoff
Publisher: Twelve
Total Pages: 396
Release: 2018-03-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1538728745

The incredible, harrowing account of how American democracy was hacked by Moscow as part of a covert operation to influence the U.S. election and help Donald Trump gain the presidency. "Russian Roulette is...the most thorough and riveting account." -- The New York Times Russian Roulette is a story of political skullduggery unprecedented in American history. It weaves together tales of international intrigue, cyber espionage, and superpower rivalry. After U.S.-Russia relations soured, as Vladimir Putin moved to reassert Russian strength on the global stage, Moscow trained its best hackers and trolls on U.S. political targets and exploited WikiLeaks to disseminate information that could affect the 2016 election. The Russians were wildly successful and the great break-in of 2016 was no "third-rate burglary." It was far more sophisticated and sinister -- a brazen act of political espionage designed to interfere with American democracy. At the end of the day, Trump, the candidate who pursued business deals in Russia, won. And millions of Americans were left wondering, what the hell happened? This story of high-tech spying and multiple political feuds is told against the backdrop of Trump's strange relationship with Putin and the curious ties between members of his inner circle -- including Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn -- and Russia. Russian Roulette chronicles and explores this bizarre scandal, explains the stakes, and answers one of the biggest questions in American politics: How and why did a foreign government infiltrate the country's political process and gain influence in Washington?

Prophetic Politics

Prophetic Politics
Author: David S. Gutterman
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2018-07-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1501725394

"In an era of military conflict and economic hardship, religious and political leaders adamantly speak in the language of crisis. Whether one attributes this public religious fervor to a response to the attacks of September 11, 2001, millennial hopes and fears, a sense of moral decay (generally based on either growing economic inequality or the 'breakdown of the American family'), or a sign of the normal progression of the stages of history, the discourse of religious revival is increasingly prominent. And, as is amply evident in the United States and throughout the world, devout declarations of religious belief in the public sphere can bring intractable passions to politics."—from Chapter 1 What are the relationships among religion, politics, and narratives? What makes prophetic political narratives congenial or hostile to democratic political life? David S. Gutterman explores the prophetic politics of four twentieth- and twenty-first-century American Christian social movements: the Reverend Billy Sunday and his vision of "muscular Christianity"; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights movement; the conservative Christian male organization Promise Keepers; and the progressive antipoverty organization Call to Renewal. Gutterman develops a theory based on the work of Hannah Arendt and others and employs this framework to analyze expressions of the prophetic impulse in the political narrative of the United States. In the process, he examines timely issues about the tense and intricate relationship between religion and politics. Even prior to George W. Bush's faith-based initiative, debates about abortion, family values, welfare reform, and environmental degradation were informed by religious language and ideas. In an interdisciplinary and accessible manner, Gutterman translates the narratives employed by American Christian social movements to define both the crises in the land and the path to resolving these crises. The book also explores the engagement of these prophetic social movements in contentious political issues concerned with sex, gender, sexuality, race, and class, as well as broader questions of American identity.