Examines the egalitarian, creative, and inclusive practice of radical democracy in contemporary Venezuela. In a global historical moment of growing mobilizations against inequality, corruption, and exclusion, Only the People Can Save the People illustrates the necessity and challenges of more egalitarian approaches to collective life from one of the most tumultuous and compelling experiments in radical democracy. Donald V. Kingsbury examines twenty-first-century Venezuelan politics from the perspective of constituent power—the egalitarian, creative, and inclusive practice of radical democracy. In the aftermath of neoliberal structural adjustment, Venezuelan politics have been increasingly reconfigured according to principles of autogestión (self-management), social movement autonomy, protagonistic and participatory democracy, and anti-capitalism. However, inherited and intensifying challenges arising from Venezuela’s status as a petrostate, the class and racial divisions that define its society, and the difficulties of defining what Hugo Chávez termed “socialism for the twenty-first century” have resulted in a tumultuous process of social change. Informed by ethnography, contemporary and comparative political thought, and global political economy, Only the People Can Save the People demonstrates how constituent power is shaping collective identity, political conflict, and infrastructural space in contemporary Latin America. Donald V. Kingsbury is Lecturer in Political Science and Latin American Studies at the University of Toronto.

In a global historical moment of growing mobilizations against inequality, corruption, and exclusion, Only the People Can Save the People illustrates the necessity and challenges of more egalitarian approaches to collective life from one of the most tumultuous and compelling experiments in radical democracy. Donald V. Kingsbury examines twenty-first-century Venezuelan politics from the perspective of constituent power—the egalitarian, creative, and inclusive practice of radical democracy. In the aftermath of neoliberal structural adjustment, Venezuelan politics have been increasingly reconfigured according to principles of autogestión (self-management), social movement autonomy, protagonistic and participatory democracy, and anti-capitalism. However, inherited and intensifying challenges arising from Venezuela's status as a petrostate, the class and racial divisions that define its society, and the difficulties of defining what Hugo Chávez termed "socialism for the twenty-first century" have resulted in a tumultuous process of social change. Informed by ethnography, contemporary and comparative political thought, and global political economy, Only the People Can Save the People demonstrates how constituent power is shaping collective identity, political conflict, and infrastructural space in contemporary Latin America.

Surface coal mining has had a dramatic impact on the Appalachian economy and ecology since World War II, exacerbating the region's chronic unemployment and destroying much of its natural environment. Here, Chad Montrie examines the twentieth-century movement to outlaw surface mining in Appalachia, tracing popular opposition to the industry from its inception through the growth of a militant movement that engaged in acts of civil disobedience and industrial sabotage. Both comprehensive and comparative, To Save the Land and People chronicles the story of surface mining opposition in the whole region, from Pennsylvania to Alabama. Though many accounts of environmental activism focus on middle-class suburbanites and emphasize national events, the campaign to abolish strip mining was primarily a movement of farmers and working people, originating at the local and state levels. Its history underscores the significant role of common people and grassroots efforts in the American environmental movement. This book also contributes to a long-running debate about American values by revealing how veneration for small, private properties has shaped the political consciousness of strip mining opponents.

Argues that for the first time in history we're in a position to end extreme poverty throughout the world, both because of our unprecedented wealth and advances in technology, therefore we can no longer consider ourselves good people unless we give more to the poor. Reprint.

Cliffe Knechtle offers clear, reasoned and compassionate responses to the tough questions skeptics ask.