Five women entered the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow and began a performance of a "Punk Prayer." Young people fried eggs on the eternal flame near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ukraine. A small island in the Japan Sea provoked a diplomatic spat between the leadership of Japan and South Korea. All of these incidents are examples of politically motivated insults that escalated into surprisingly significant clashes. While the field of conflict analysis has looked extensively at the dynamics of insults between individuals, it has largely ignored the more complicated dynamics of insult committed between groups, often of uneven political and social power. In this book, Karina V. Korostelina offers a novel framework for analyzing the ways in which seemingly minor insults between ethnic groups, nations, and other types of groups escalate to disproportionately violent behavior and political conflict. Insult can take many forms. Yet, as this book shows, it is always a social act mutually defined between groups, and it has the power to destabilize and redefine social and power hierarchies. Korostelina identifies six different drivers of political insults, producing a theoretical model for analyzing intergroup insult and conflict. She uses her model to explore each of the incidents above, among other recent conflicts, to explicate the complicated dynamics that figure within them. The book concludes with practical suggestions for analyzing and resolving complex conflict situations.

"The rules of the public discourse game have changed, and this book argues that the political left needs to account for the power of vitriol in crafting their theories for social and political change. Ruth Colker offers insights into how public insults have come to infect contemporary public discourse (a technique not invented by but certainly refined by Donald Trump) and, importantly, highlights lessons learned and tools for fighting back. Public insults act as a headwind and dead weight to structural reform. By showcasing the power of insults across a number of civil rights battlegrounds, Colker uncovers the structural nature of personal attacks, and offers a blueprint for a legal and political strategy that anticipates the profound but poorly understood damage they can inflict to whole movements. The book catalogues how public insults have been used against people with disabilities, immigrants, pregnant women, women seeking abortions, women who are sexually harassed, members of the LGBTQ community and, of course, Black Americans. These examples demonstrate both the pervasiveness of the deployment of insults by the political right and the ways in which the left has been caught flat-footed by this tactic. She then uses the Black Lives Matter movement as a case study to consider how to effectively counter these insults and maintain an emphasis on structural reform"--

Examines the nature and place of insults in daily life, discussing how insults influence a person's beliefs and impressions about others' character, honor, gender, intentions, conventions, and power.

A humorous and cynical look at Australia's politicians and their tricks of trade, such as promises, leadership coups and double speak, by the federal political correspondent for ABC TV's T7.30 Report'. Includes a political dictionary, items from Hansard and cartoons by Tandberg.

This timely reissue of Richard Hofstadter's classic work on the fringe groups that influence American electoral politics offers an invaluable perspective on contemporary domestic affairs.In The Paranoid Style in American Politics, acclaimed historian Richard Hofstadter examines the competing forces in American political discourse and how fringe groups can influence — and derail — the larger agendas of a political party. He investigates the politics of the irrational, shedding light on how the behavior of individuals can seem out of proportion with actual political issues, and how such behavior impacts larger groups. With such other classic essays as “Free Silver and the Mind of 'Coin' Harvey” and “What Happened to the Antitrust Movement?, ” The Paranoid Style in American Politics remains both a seminal text of political history and a vital analysis of the ways in which political groups function in the United States.

The Art of the Political Putdown is a book of over 300 witty verbal jabs and ripostes from politicians around the world, all of whom share a common sharp tongue. Liberal or conservative, humor can be a powerful weapon in any politician's arsenal, and political journalists Chris Lamb and Will Moredock have seen their fair share of quips, witty remarks, and sarcastic pleasantries. In mining the past few thousand years of political history, they've unearthed a treasure trove of humorous exchanges, from ancient Rome to modern day, to compile this collection of hilarious comebacks and putdowns. • Features 11 brief essays analyzing the use of humor and wit in various political contexts • Even-handed, intelligent, and lighthearted political humor that gives readers from the Left and the Right something to laugh about • Contains 20 political cartoon-style illustrations The Art of the Political Putdown is filled with famous and lesser-known politicians at their sassiest, along with short essays and illustrations. This is a comprehensive, nonpartisan collection of witticisms, scathing burns, and mic-drop-worthy insults throughout history. • A rare political humor book with something for everyone, and a welcome reminder that politics can also be a source of laughter • Perfect as a gift for politics and history buffs and for anyone who appreciates smart humor and top-notch wit • Great for those who loved Whose Boat Is This Boat?: Comments That Don't Help in the Aftermath of a Hurricane by the Staff of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents by Pete Souza, and The Wit & Wisdom of Winston Churchill by James C. Humes

Two Centuries of Scandalous Rumors, Over-the-Top Insults, and Low-Down Slurs. We bemoan the loss of civility in public discourse these days, but mudslinging is an American tradition as old as the republic. Not everyone admired the Father of Our Country. President Washington's enemies called him a cheapskate, a hyena, a horse beater, a spoiled child, and a tyrannical monster, among other epithets. "You are utterly incapable to steer the political ship," wrote one outraged critic. And so it has gone ever since. From the King Mob label denigrating Andrew Jackson to the wingnut and latte liberal tags of the past few years, every era has its share of politically motivated insults. Slinging Mud gathers memorable words and expressions from two centuries' worth of going negative.

In 2012, Chicago's school year began with the city's first teachers' strike in a quarter century and ended with the largest mass closure of public schools in U.S. history. On one side, a union leader and veteran black woman educator drew upon organizing strategies from black and Latinx communities to demand increased school resources. On the other side, the mayor, backed by the Obama administration, argued that only corporate-style education reform could set the struggling school system aright. The stark differences in positions resonated nationally, challenging the long-standing alliance between teachers' unions and the Democratic Party. Elizabeth Todd-Breland recovers the hidden history underlying this battle. She tells the story of black education reformers' community-based strategies to improve education beginning during the 1960s, as support for desegregation transformed into community control, experimental schooling models that pre-dated charter schools, and black teachers' challenges to a newly assertive teachers' union. This book reveals how these strategies collided with the burgeoning neoliberal educational apparatus during the late twentieth century, laying bare ruptures and enduring tensions between the politics of black achievement, urban inequality, and U.S. democracy.

"I recommend a book by Professor Williams, it is really worth a read, it's called White Working Class." -- Vice President Joe Biden on Pod Save America An Amazon Best Business and Leadership book of 2017 Around the world, populist movements are gaining traction among the white working class. Meanwhile, members of the professional elite—journalists, managers, and establishment politicians--are on the outside looking in, left to argue over the reasons. In White Working Class, Joan C. Williams, described as having "something approaching rock star status" by the New York Times, explains why so much of the elite's analysis of the white working class is misguided, rooted in class cluelessness. Williams explains that many people have conflated "working class" with "poor"--but the working class is, in fact, the elusive, purportedly disappearing middle class. They often resent the poor and the professionals alike. But they don't resent the truly rich, nor are they particularly bothered by income inequality. Their dream is not to join the upper middle class, with its different culture, but to stay true to their own values in their own communities--just with more money. While white working-class motivations are often dismissed as racist or xenophobic, Williams shows that they have their own class consciousness. White Working Class is a blunt, bracing narrative that sketches a nuanced portrait of millions of people who have proven to be a potent political force. For anyone stunned by the rise of populist, nationalist movements, wondering why so many would seemingly vote against their own economic interests, or simply feeling like a stranger in their own country, White Working Class will be a convincing primer on how to connect with a crucial set of workers--and voters.