"While recognizing a "progressive ethos" - a mixture of idealistic vision and pragmatic reforms that characterized the period - Chambers elaborates the role of civic volunteerism as well as the state in achieving directed social change. He also emphasizes the importance of radical and conservative forces in shaping the so-called "Progressive Era.""--BOOK JACKET.

Incorporates the social, cultural, political and economic changes which produced modern America; illuminates the experiences of working men and women in the cities and countryside as they struggled to improve their lives in a transformed economy.

Scathingly addresses the chief maladies afflicting the US and forcefully argues that fundamental change is necessary.

We are living in a time of extreme inequality: America’s three richest people now own as much wealth as the bottom half of the population. Although most accept that this is grotesque, many politicians accept it as irreversible. In this book, leading US researcher and activist Chuck Collins succinctly diagnoses the drivers of rampant inequality, arguing that such disparities have their roots in 40 years of the powerful rigging the system in their favor. He proposes a far-reaching policy agenda, analyzes the barriers to progress, and shows how transformative local campaigns can become a national movement for change. This book is a powerful analysis of how the plutocracy sold us a toxic lie, and what we can do to reverse inequality.

In his provocative new book, The Tyranny of the Ideal, Gerald Gaus lays out a vision for how we should theorize about justice in a diverse society. Gaus shows how free and equal people, faced with intractable struggles and irreconcilable conflicts, might share a common moral life shaped by a just framework. He argues that if we are to take diversity seriously and if moral inquiry is sincere about shaping the world, then the pursuit of idealized and perfect theories of justice—essentially, the entire production of theories of justice that has dominated political philosophy for the past forty years—needs to change. Drawing on recent work in social science and philosophy, Gaus points to an important paradox: only those in a heterogeneous society—with its various religious, moral, and political perspectives—have a reasonable hope of understanding what an ideally just society would be like. However, due to its very nature, this world could never be collectively devoted to any single ideal. Gaus defends the moral constitution of this pluralistic, open society, where the very clash and disagreement of ideals spurs all to better understand what their personal ideals of justice happen to be. Presenting an original framework for how we should think about morality, The Tyranny of the Ideal rigorously analyzes a theory of ideal justice more suitable for contemporary times.

"In Tyranny of the Textbook, a retired educational director, gives a fascinating look behind-the-scenes of how K-12 textbooks are developed, written, adopted, and sold. Readers will come to understand why all the reform efforts have failed. Most importantly, the author clearly spells out how the system can change so that reforms and standards have a shot at finally being effective"--

Remarkable, mischievous, inspiring—the eighty-odd stories in Small Acts of Resistance bring hidden histories to life. The courage of the people in these stories is breathtaking. So, too, is the impact and imagination of their actions.These mostly little known stories—including those written from eyewitness experience of the events and situations described—reveal the role ordinary people have played in achieving extraordinary change. “In the real world, it will never happen,” the skeptics love to tell us. As this book so vividly shows, the skeptics have repeatedly been proven wrong.Stories in this include how:· Strollers, toilet paper, and illegal ketchup helped end forty years of one-party Communist rule· Dogs (and what they wore) helped protestors humiliate a murderous regime· Internet videos about cuddly animals infuriated a repressive government which tried—and failed—to ban the craze· Football crowds found ways of singing the national anthem so as to defy a junta of torturers, now in jail· Women successfully put pressure on warlords to end one of Africa’s bloodiest wars· The singing of old folksongs hastened the collapse of an empire sustained by tanksIf you think individuals are powerless to change the world, read this remarkable book and you’ll surely change your mind.