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Inclou el nom: Shauna Lani Shames

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NOTE: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my honest opinion of the book.

Survive & Resist is an interesting, easy-to-understand book that uses a selection of more popular dystopian fiction (film & novels) to explain and make sense of key political science concepts, such as the study of government, governance, state power, public policy, people's political behaviour, the role of economics, and social movements. The author's use dystopian fiction to explain what good governance is supposed to look like and how to resist bad governance. The book also includes a chapter on the strategies and tactics used by dictators to achieve and maintain their power; and chapters on how to survive or resist a dystopian state, as an individual and as a collective resistance group/movement, with an enphasis on non-violent resistance. The author's also cover how to rebuild society after the collapse of a dystopian government. The book provides food for thought, though I would not call this a definitive guide, and I found the historical case studies oversimplified the issues involved. An informative book.



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ElentarriLT | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | Mar 24, 2020 |
Survive And Resist:The Definitive Guide To Dystopian Politics
by Amy L. Atchison & Shauna L. Shames
due 8-6-2019
Columbia University Press
5.0 / 5.0

#netgalley #surviveandresist

Atchison wrote this with the hope and belief that by using examples of dystopian fiction and their characters, it will help explain and make sense of key concepts in political science and Resistance to authoritarian rule, with non-violence. Using such novels as 'We', '1984', 'The Handmaids Tale', 'Parable of The Sower' and 'The Red Queen' series helped bring solidity and form to the definition of dystopia and Dystopian politics.
She completely suceeds.
By giving concise and precise references and examples in both fiction, and world governments, and by sharing the essential elements of a violent vs. non-violent resistance, Atchison gives an easy to follow guide to governments, their philosophies and their preferences that is also fun to read.
She gives examples of how some governments engage in political games that are mean to limit civil liberties and control and define people, like the East Germans use if zersetzung. Or the use of satyagraha by Ghandi.
This is a useful and essential guide to resistance, government policies and world views. Well written and researched, this is must read.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to Columbia University Press and Netgalley for this e-book ARC for review.
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over.the.edge | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | Jul 7, 2019 |
Survive and Resist: The Definitive Guide to Dystopian Politics by Amy L Atchison and Shauna L Shames is that rare breed of academic writing that is both accessible and valuable to every reader.

There are probably a couple of ways for a reader to read this book, ideally we combine these in our reading(s). One is a straightforward discussion of dystopian literature, to include movies and television in addition to novels and short stories, and how they relate to some real authoritarian regimes. While this level of reading is interesting, it serves as just the foundation for the real value of the book: what constitutes good versus bad governance and what we can do about regimes that might be approaching authoritarian.

The writers do a wonderful job of barely acknowledging the trend toward authoritarianism in the US while pointing out the many instances from history and fiction that, to a reader living through this evil regime, reflects the attempts by the current "President" to undermine democracy and rule of law while lining his pockets at every turn. So while this volume no doubt speaks to this situation, it is not directed at this joker's regime specifically.

In first discussing the things that can lead to authoritarian rule, then delving into what those in power will do to maintain and expand that power, examples are drawn from almost every work of dystopian fiction with wide readership or viewership as well as examples from real situations from the past, both distant and near. The political theory is explained with a minimum of jargon, using little inset boxes to explain some terms the reader might not know, or might not know in the way the writers are using them.

In discussing what can be done, they state explicitly and repeatedly that they advocate nonviolence and some form of democratic rule as an ultimate goal. The same format is used for both what authoritarian governments will do and what we can do to resist, namely breaking things into strategies and tactics. This approach works very well because it relates all action, on all sides of the events, to the overarching desired results.

One valuable part of the book, and the one with the fewest examples from fiction, is what to replace the ousted government with. While it is here that the political science aspect of the book is most prevalent, it is also the part that serves as either a refresher or an introduction to types of government that are most likely to serve the people best. In popular discourse terms and concepts are often tossed around that, upon consideration, make little real sense pragmatically. Usually cases of taking a term and using one small aspect of the term's meaning and making it the entire meaning. We all do it on occasion and it does not help because misuse of a concept makes it open to easy rebuttal which derails the conversation that needs to be taking place.

I would highly recommend this to several types of readers. Clearly, from what I have already written, anyone wanting to get a nice framework for resisting authoritarianism, any place in the world, will gain wonderful insight into what is most likely to work and what is likely doomed to failure. So activists can gain a lot from this volume. Additionally, readers with an interest in dystopian fiction, from 1984 to The Lego Movie, will find much to interest them, whether from a literary perspective or from a political science perspective. Casual fans of dystopian works will find that looking at the works from these perspectives gives each work a more stimulating appearance, so future readings or viewings will offer even more insight.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
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pomo58 | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | May 3, 2019 |
The good news is young people are still idealistic. The bad news is they have their eyes wide open. So a very intense study of 750 bright, intelligent students at elite schools noted for sending graduates to government, showed a distinct lack of interest. The least interested in politics were minority women. The most interested were white males. And then, not very.

Out of the Running is a narrow book, focused on the survey. Shames slices and dices the data every which way, but that just makes it a statistician’s dream, not a deep insight into how different millennials might be. Actually, they don’t seem to be much different from the rest of us. We all distrust politicians. It’s just that we’re supposed to hope millennials are interested – for the future of the country. Too bad.

Shauna Shames is a breeze to read. She is clear, organized and direct. Not a lot of frilly descriptions, not a lot of pondering. The facts speak. And for that I thank her.

It is strange to look at the composition of American governments – white males. Women and minorities hardly even try. Millennials hardly even try. Yet when we look north, Canada’s Parliament is filled with women, Sikhs and other Indians, Caribbean blacks, young and old. Half the (36 member) cabinet is female. The Prime Minister, at just 44, is practically a millennial himself. I don’t know what MPs’ average net worth is, but it’s definitely nothing like the $6 million for US congressmen and $14 million for senators. In doing her research Shames could have found substantive answers not in direct questioning but in more comparisons. But to be fair, she wasn’t looking for answers. She was extrapolating stats.

For cynics, the most damning result is that university graduates don’t see adequate monetary rewards for the effort of running for office. It’s not enough to do good, they have to make a lot of money at it too. But just look at the millionaires in Congress; rewards clearly flood in for those so inclined. American millennials aren’t looking very deeply at their USA.

David Wineberg
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DavidWineberg | Aug 30, 2016 |

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Obres
4
Membres
19
Popularitat
#609,294
Valoració
½ 4.5
Ressenyes
4
ISBN
11