Brian Doherty - Böcker

This book is an urgent and compelling account of the Occupy movements: from the M15 movement in Spain, to the wave of Occupations flooding across cities in American, Europe and Australia, to the harsh reality of evictions as corporations and governments attempted to reassert exclusive control over public space. Across a vast range of international examples over twenty authors analyse, explain and helps us understand the movement. These movements were a novel and noisy intervention into the recent capitalist crisis in developed economies, developing an exceptionally broad identity through a call to arms addressed to ‘the 99%’, and emphasizing the importance of public space in the creation and maintenance of opposition. The novelties of these movements, along with their radical positioning and the urgency of their claims all demand analysis. This book investigates the crucial questions of how and why this form of action spread so rapidly and so widely, how the inclusive discourse of ‘the 99%’ matched up to the reality of the practice. It is vital to understand not just the choice of tactics and the vitality of protest camps in public spaces, but also how the myriad of challenges and problems were negotiated.This book was published as a special issue of Social Movement Studies.

The green movement has posed some tough questions for traditional justifications of democracy. Should the natural world have rights? Can we take account of the interests of future generations? But questions have also been asked of the greens. Could their idealism undermine democracy? Can greens be effective democrats?In this book some of the leading writers on green political thought analyze these questions, examining the discourse of green movements concerning democracy, the status of democracy within green political thought and the political institutions that might be necessary to ensure democracy in a sustainable society.

The green movement has posed some tough questions for traditional justifications of democracy. Should the natural world have rights? Can we take account of the interests of future generations? But questions have also been asked of the greens. Could their idealism undermine democracy? Can greens be effective democrats?In this book some of the leading writers on green political thought analyze these questions, examining the discourse of green movements concerning democracy, the status of democracy within green political thought and the political institutions that might be necessary to ensure democracy in a sustainable society.

The 'Western' green movement has grown rapidly in the last three decades: green ministers are in government in several European countries, Greenpeace has millions of paying supporters, and green direct action against roads, GM crops, the WTO and neo-liberalism, have become ubiquitous.The author argues that 'greens' share a common ideological framework but are divided over strategy. Using social movement theory and drawing on research from many countries, he shows how the green movement became more differentiated over time, as groups had to face the task of deciding what kind of action was appropriate.In the breadth of its coverage and its novel focus on the relationship between green ideas and action, this book makes an important contribution to the understanding of green politics.

Direct action has become a key part of the strategy of the radical environmental movement since the early 1990s, used to address issues such as road building and car culture, genetically modified foods, consumerism and global finance institutions. It has helped shape the political climate and has transformed the way people view political action, undermining the assumption that the power of politicians and big businesses cannot be contested. At the same time it is highly controversial, often illegal, and, partly due to its move towards greater militancy, may be included in new Prevention of Terrorism legislation. Direct Action in British Environmentalism charts and analyses the nature and impact of this new wave of direct action. The contributors approach the phenomenon from a wide variety of perspectives and disciplines and present data concerning both the quantity and type of recent environmental protest and the sociological and organisational features of those performing it. Subjects covered include; the history of the movement and its influence on contemporary activism the identities and new tribalism of eco-warriors the reaction of the mass media the impact of direct action on mainstream politicians and policy the strategies and tactical innovations which underlie direct action Direct Action in British Environmentalism is the fullest scholarly analysis yet available of this phenomenon. It is essential reading for students of Politics and Environmental Studies as well as all those interested in the development and impact of direct action in environmentalism.

Direct action has become a key part of the strategy of the radical environmental movement since the early 1990s, used to address issues such as road building and car culture, genetically modified foods, consumerism and global finance institutions. It has helped shape the political climate and has transformed the way people view political action, undermining the assumption that the power of politicians and big businesses cannot be contested. At the same time it is highly controversial, often illegal, and, partly due to its move towards greater militancy, may be included in new Prevention of Terrorism legislation. Direct Action in British Environmentalism charts and analyses the nature and impact of this new wave of direct action. The contributors approach the phenomenon from a wide variety of perspectives and disciplines and present data concerning both the quantity and type of recent environmental protest and the sociological and organisational features of those performing it. Subjects covered include; the history of the movement and its influence on contemporary activism the identities and new tribalism of eco-warriors the reaction of the mass media the impact of direct action on mainstream politicians and policy the strategies and tactical innovations which underlie direct action Direct Action in British Environmentalism is the fullest scholarly analysis yet available of this phenomenon. It is essential reading for students of Politics and Environmental Studies as well as all those interested in the development and impact of direct action in environmentalism.

Globalisation is about transnational politics. While nation-state governments increasingly struggle with this new politics, which moves beneath, between and beyond national borders, others entities like transnational corporations have flourished. But it is not just business which increasingly bypasses these traditional boundaries. Environmental groups are also moving though this transnational space, and their politics are defined by such qualities as fluidity, ambiguity and rapid changes in identity, mission and structure. In this book, the politics of environmental movements are presented as particularly salient examples of these new phenomena. Drawing on fieldwork from Europe, Asia, America, Africa and the Middle East, the contributors address a range of trans-national processes: efforts to construct common agendas transnationally; the diffusion of new repertoires of environmental protest; the role of environmental groups in the construction of new modes of environmental governance; how neo-liberalism affects local environmental activism; evidence of transnational influences and pressures on environmental politics in repressive regimes; and the dilemmas of defining questions of environmental justice and post-colonial environmental politics without suppressing the differences between environmentalism in different countries.

This book is an urgent and compelling account of the Occupy movements: from the M15 movement in Spain, to the wave of Occupations flooding across cities in American, Europe and Australia, to the harsh reality of evictions as corporations and governments attempted to reassert exclusive control over public space. Across a vast range of international examples over twenty authors analyse, explain and helps us understand the movement. These movements were a novel and noisy intervention into the recent capitalist crisis in developed economies, developing an exceptionally broad identity through a call to arms addressed to ‘the 99%’, and emphasizing the importance of public space in the creation and maintenance of opposition. The novelties of these movements, along with their radical positioning and the urgency of their claims all demand analysis. This book investigates the crucial questions of how and why this form of action spread so rapidly and so widely, how the inclusive discourse of ‘the 99%’ matched up to the reality of the practice. It is vital to understand not just the choice of tactics and the vitality of protest camps in public spaces, but also how the myriad of challenges and problems were negotiated.This book was published as a special issue of Social Movement Studies.

Globalisation is about transnational politics. While nation-state governments increasingly struggle with this new politics, which moves beneath, between and beyond national borders, others entities like transnational corporations have flourished. But it is not just business which increasingly bypasses these traditional boundaries. Environmental groups are also moving though this transnational space, and their politics are defined by such qualities as fluidity, ambiguity and rapid changes in identity, mission and structure. In this book, the politics of environmental movements are presented as particularly salient examples of these new phenomena. Drawing on fieldwork from Europe, Asia, America, Africa and the Middle East, the contributors address a range of trans-national processes: efforts to construct common agendas transnationally; the diffusion of new repertoires of environmental protest; the role of environmental groups in the construction of new modes of environmental governance; how neo-liberalism affects local environmental activism; evidence of transnational influences and pressures on environmental politics in repressive regimes; and the dilemmas of defining questions of environmental justice and post-colonial environmental politics without suppressing the differences between environmentalism in different countries.

The 'Western' green movement has grown rapidly in the last three decades: green ministers are in government in several European countries, Greenpeace has millions of paying supporters, and green direct action against roads, GM crops, the WTO and neo-liberalism, have become ubiquitous.The author argues that 'greens' share a common ideological framework but are divided over strategy. Using social movement theory and drawing on research from many countries, he shows how the green movement became more differentiated over time, as groups had to face the task of deciding what kind of action was appropriate.In the breadth of its coverage and its novel focus on the relationship between green ideas and action, this book makes an important contribution to the understanding of green politics.

The first complete narrative history of Underground Comix, the countercultural movement from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s that forever changed comicsIn Dirty Pictures: How Nerds, Feminists, Bikers, and Potheads Revolutionized Comix, author and journalist Brian Doherty tells the wild history of the outlaw, outsider, and sometimes illegal world of Underground Comix. This subterranean subgenre of comic strips and books was printed in lofts on out-of-date machinery, published in handbound zines and underground newspapers, and distributed in headshops, porno stores, and on street corners.Comix—spelled that way to distinguish the work from its dime-store superhero contemporaries—presented tales of illicit sex, casual drug use, and a transgressive view of American society that was embraced by hippies, the fine-art world, and legions of future creatives. With a narrative that weaves together the stories of Harvey Kurtzman, R. Crumb, Trina Robbins, Spain Rodriguez, and Art Spiegelman, among many others, Doherty details, in the first complete narrative history of this movement, the local scenes that sprang up in the 1960s and ’70s in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Chicago, and provides insight into the rivalries, ideological battles, and conflicts that flourished.The book begins with the artists’ origin stories and follows them through major successes, including Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Maus and Robbins’s Wimmen’s Comix, and tragedies, from S. Clay Wilson’s spiral into alcohol abuse that resulted in career-ending brain damage to Crumb’s neurotic running from his own success (and his use of controversial race and gender imagery), and ends with an examination of these creators’ legacies. Dirty Pictures is the essential exploration of a truly American art form that recontextualized the way people thought about war, race, sex, gender, and expression.

A complete narrative history of the weird and wonderful world of Underground Comix—now in paperback!In the 1950s, comics meant POW! BAM! superheroes, family-friendly gags, and Sunday funnies, but in the 1960s, inspired by these strips and the satire of MAD magazine, a new generation of creators set out to subvert the medium, and with it, American culture. Their “comix,” spelled that way to distinguish the work from their dime-store contemporaries, presented tales of taboo sex, casual drug use, and a transgressive view of society.Embraced by hippies and legions of future creatives, this subgenre of comic books and strips often ran afoul of the law, but that would not stop them from casting cultural ripples for decades to come, eventually moving the entire comics form beyond the gutter and into fine-art galleries. Author Brian Doherty weaves together the stories of R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Trina Robbins, Spain Rodriguez, Harvey Pekar, and Howard Cruse, among many others, detailing the complete narrative history of this movement. Through dozens of new interviews and archival research, Doherty chronicles the scenes that sprang up around the country in the 1960s and ’70s, beginning with the artists’ origin stories and following them through success and strife, and concluding with an examination of these creators’ legacies, Dirty Pictures is the essential exploration of a truly American art form that recontextualized the way people thought about war, race, sex, gender, and expression.

On Wall Street, in the culture of high tech, in American government: Libertarianism,the simple but radical idea that the only purpose of government is to protect its citizens and their property against direct violence and threat, has become an extremely influential strain of thought. But while many books talk about libertarian ideas, none until now has explored the history of this uniquely American movement,where and who it came from, how it evolved, and what impact it has had on our country. In this revelatory book, based on original research and interviews with more than 100 key sources, Brian Doherty traces the evolution of the movement through the unconventional life stories of its most influential leaders, Ludwig von Mises, F.A. Hayek, Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, and Milton Friedman,and through the personal battles, character flaws, love affairs, and historical events that altered its course. And by doing so, he provides a fascinating new perspective on American history,from the New Deal through the culture wars of the 1960s to today's most divisive political issues. Neither an exposé nor a political polemic, this entertaining historical narrative will enlighten anyone interested in American politics.

This past June, the Supreme Court decided a question at the heart of one of America's most impassioned debates, ruling that individual citizens have the constitutional right to possess guns. With that decision, the District's handgun banone of the toughest and most controversial in the nationwas ended. In Gun Control on Trial, journalist Brian Doherty tells the full story behind the landmark District of Columbia v. Heller ruling. With exclusive, behind the scenes access throughout the case, Doherty delved into the issues of this monumental case to provide a compelling look at the inside stories, including: The plaintiffs' fight for the right to protect themselves and their families from violent neighborhoods. The activist lawyers who worked exhaustively to affirm that right. The forces that fought to stop the case, including city officials and the NRA. The story of the Heller case stretches back to long before the decision struck down D.C.'s restrictive gun ban and forward to the future of the political and legal battle over gun control in America.Doherty provides clear, concise explanations of the issues and battles that have driven the gun control debate for decades, detailing how the Heller decision is a new starting point for the gun control debate as it passionately and energetically continues in the years ahead. It's important to note that the Heller decision does not settle every controversy in the gun control debate. It only settles the legal question of whether or not the right to possess weapons under the Second Amendment extends to personal self-defense: it does, writes Doherty. What the Supreme Court decided in Heller may be narrow in its direct and immediate effect; but it's deep in its implications for the relationship between the government and the American people, explains Doherty. It establishes a new shape to the arena in which the legal and political struggle over guns and gun control will be fought. And that fight assuredly continues.