Alan Gilbert – författare

We commonly think of the American Revolution as simply the war for independence from British colonial rule. But, of course, that independence actually applied to only a portion of the American population - African Americans would still be bound in slavery for nearly another century. Alan Gilbert asks us to rethink what we know about the Revolutionary War, to realize that while white Americans were fighting for their freedom, many black Americans were joining the British imperial forces to gain theirs. Further, a movement led by sailors - both black and white - pushed strongly for emancipation on the American side. There were actually two wars being waged at once: a political revolution for independence from Britain and a social revolution for emancipation and equality. Gilbert presents persuasive evidence that slavery could have been abolished during the Revolution itself if either side had fully pursued the military advantage of freeing slaves and pressing them into combat, and his extensive research also reveals that free blacks on both sides played a crucial and under appreciated role in the actual fighting.Black Patriots and Loyalists contends that the struggle for emancipation was not only basic to the Revolution itself, but was a rousing force that would inspire freedom movements like the abolition societies of the North and the black loyalist pilgrimages for freedom in Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone.

This ground-breaking work employs survey data and in-depth interviews to compile a detailed picture of landlords and tenants in developing countries. Focusing on Mexico the authors examine the state's housing policy, with its clear bias towards increasing home ownership, and explores the possibilities of improving the quality and increasing the stock of rented accommodation in the developing World.

Originally published in 1985, this book is concerned with the housing and service needs of the poor in Latin America and how they are articulated and satisfied. It examines the aims and implementation of government policies towards low-income housing dwellers and tries to relate those policies to the wider interests of the state. It discusses how the poor perceive the constraints on barrio servicing and improvement, their involvement in community organisations and the role the community and its leaders play in influencing state action. Since housing and servicing issues directly impinge on the interests of politicians, bureaucrats, landowners and real-estate developers, as well as on those of the poor, patterns of provision mirror closely the nature of the relationships between the poor and the wider urban society. The main theme of this book is thus the allocation of resources within urban society and the operation of political and administrative power at city level. The book will interest not only those concerned with housing and planning but also those who wish to understand social and economic policies towards the poor in most kinds of Third World city.

This ambitious and sweeping book presents a powerful argument against moral relativism and in favor of the objectivity of a theory of democratic individuality. Unlike much recent work in this field, the book does not simply adumbrate such a view. Rather, it develops the parallels between various versions of scientific and moral realism, and then reinterprets the history and internal logic of democratic theory, maintaining, for example, that the abolition of slavery represents genuine moral progress. The book also recasts the clashes between Marxist and Weberian, radical and liberal sociologies in the light of these moral claims, and sketches the institutions of a radical democracy.

As each power vies for its national interests on the world stage, how do its own citizens' democratic interests fare at home? Alan Gilbert speaks to an issue at the heart of current international-relations debate. He contends that, in spite of neo-realists' assumptions, a vocal citizen democracy can and must have a role in global politics. Further, he shows that all the major versions of realism and neo-realism, if properly stated with a view of the national interest as a common good, surprisingly lead to democracy. His most striking example focuses on realist criticisms of the Vietnam War. Democratic internationalism, as Gilbert terms it, is really the linking of citizens' interests across national boundaries to overcome the antidemocratic actions of their own governments. Realist misinterpretations have overlooked Thucydides' theme about how a democracy corrupts itself through imperial expansion as well as Karl Marx's observations about the positive effects of democratic movements in one country on events in others. Gilbert also explodes the democratic peace myth that democratic states do not wage war on one another.He suggests instead policies to accord with the interests of ordinary citizens whose shared bond is a desire for peace. Gilbert shows, through such successes as recent treaties on land mines and policies to slow global warming that citizen movements can have salutary effects. His theory of "deliberative democracy" proposes institutional changes that would give the voice of ordinary citizens a greater influence on the international actions of their own government.

Originally published in 1993, In Search of a Home filled a conspicuous gap in the literature on housing in the developing world at the time. For many years, self-help settlement and the owner-occupier had commanded the attention of governments and researchers, leaving huge numbers of tenants and sharers invisible. However, the assumption that every family both wished and was able to become an owner-occupier was now under scrutiny and it was becoming clear in many of the larger Latin American cities that there was a limit to universal home ownership, even of the self-help kind. Several governments in the developing world had expressed concern about the rental housing market, which had long been neglected at the policy level. Research activity had begun to respond to these changes, and this book put the spotlight on rental and shared housing.Based on three large surveys carried out by research teams from Caracas, Mexico City and Santiago, the book investigates the nature of owners, tenants, sharers and landlords, and explores the relationships between them. It considers both government policy and the reasons why rental housing was in decline.In Search of a Home is intended for government planners, social scientists and students of development – particularly those concerned about urbanization and the housing of the poor. It is relevant not only to Latin America but also to many other parts of the developing world where large numbers of families live in rental accommodation.