Bøker utgitt av Pluto Press

Exposes the theoretical and empirical limitations of the developmental state paradigm, offering policy alternatives.

Exposes the theoretical and empirical limitations of the developmental state paradigm, offering policy alternatives.

Power Beyond Scrutiny uncovers the forces which distort and limit public debate in the media. From the misuse of politicians' expenses to recent phone hacking scandals, establishment corruption has never been more in the headlines. Yet amidst the din there have been seismic silences. *BR**BR*Justin Schlosberg interrogates these silences - why did a plea bargain which allowed Britain's biggest arms company to escape bribery prosecution go almost entirely unchallenged in television news? Why did journalists routinely endorse the official explanation of how intelligence analyst David Kelly died, whilst ignoring the mounting evidence which undermined it? Why, in 2010, did broadcasters offer an unchallenged platform to critics of Wikileaks but not its supporters? *BR**BR*These are some of the questions and imbalances that Schlosberg seeks to address as he explains the nature of public debate in the digital age. In doing so he uncovers a range of news blockages that are more than just accidents of a fragmented, chaotic mediascape. They are ultimately ideological forces which ensure that contestability and dissent remain within definable limits.

Shows how regional and international interventions, combined with piracy, have compounded pre-existing tensions in the Horn of Africa.

Rejecting the dominant narratives of the Troubles, this is a unique in-depth investigation into working-class Loyalism in Northern Ireland, as represented by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), the Red Hand Commando (RHC) and their political allies.*BR**BR*In an unorthodox account, that disputes the idea that loyalism was apolitical and sectarian, Tony Novosel argues that loyalist groups, seen as implacable enemies by Republicans and the left, developed a political analysis of the Northern Ireland conflict in the 1970s which involved a compromise peace with all political parties and warring factions - something that historians and writers have largely ignored. *BR**BR*Distinctive, deeply informed and provocative, Northern Ireland's Lost Opportunity is the first study to focus not on the violent actions of the UVF/RHC but on their political vision and programme which, Novosel argues, undeniably contributed to the Conflict Transformation Process, by upholding the potential for a viable peace based on compromise with all groups, including the Irish Republican Army.

Through ethnographic case studies and activists' narratives, Contesting Publics analyses the challenges feminists face as they seek to engage with new spaces of participatory democracy in Latin America.*BR**BR*Lynne Phillips and Sally Cole analyse how new silences, exclusions and re-inscriptions of inequalities have emerged alongside these new spaces of participation. They re-examine the relationship between public and private and address a larger theoretical question: what is the meaning of 'the public' within democracy projects?*BR**BR*Contesting Publics considers current debates among feminists from different generations on the merits of a variety of strategies, goals and issues, drawing out vital lessons for students, researchers and activists in anthropology, gender studies and Latin American studies.

Complacency and Collusion focuses on the practice of financial and business journalism, giving compelling explanations for why big business needs the press and why the press needs big business.*BR**BR*The growing passivity and changing bias of Western journalists is widely acknowledged. Across the media, in newspapers, TV, media and the internet, journalism is increasingly hollowed out by writers who are no longer gathering news but rather churning out unsourced information, PR texts and online snippets. Behind this dubious practice is an increasingly invested corporate sector whose stake in the mainstream media as a mouthpiece has exponentially increased in the last few decades.*BR**BR*The book cuts through the misreporting that has occurred since the financial crisis and makes clear the inadequacies of articles in prestigious papers and magazines, such as the Economist and Financial Times. It reflects on what the growth and spread of complacent corporate journalism will mean for the future of a free media.

Reviled as one of the worst healthcare providers in the world, the United States has among the worst indicators of health in the industrialised world, whilst paradoxically spending significantly more on its health care system than any other industrial nation. *BR**BR*Economists Robert Chernomas and Ian Hudson explain this contradictory phenomenon as the product of the unique brand of capitalism that has developed in the US. It is this particular form of capitalism that analogously created social and economic conditions that influence health, such as, highly industrialised labour that produced chronic disease amongst the labouring classes, alongside an inefficient, unpopular and inaccessible health care system that is incapable of dealing with those same patients. In order to improve health in America, the authors argue that a change is required in the conditions in the capitalist system in which people live and work, as well as a restructured health care system.

Geopolitical Economy radically reinterprets the historical evolution of the world order, as a multi-polar world emerges from the dust of the financial and economic crisis.*BR**BR*Radhika Desai offers a radical critique of the theories of US hegemony, globalisation and empire which dominate academic international political economy and international relations, revealing their ideological origins in successive failed US attempts at world dominance through the dollar.*BR**BR*Desai revitalizes revolutionary intellectual traditions which combine class and national perspectives on 'the relations of producing nations'. At a time of global upheavals and profound shifts in the distribution of world power, Geopolitical Economy forges a vivid and compelling account of the historical processes which are shaping the contemporary international order.*BR*

World in Crisis is a new book from one of the world's leading scholars.*BR**BR*Gabriel Kolko provides a panoramic overview of the problems facing the US and the world today. Each chapter covers a key topic, spanning a range of international issues including the current financial crisis, the limits of US foreign policy, the politicisation of intelligence, and why a war with Iran would by likely to culminate in disaster for the US. Kolko also outlines why changes in military technology make all wars, no matter who fights them, increasingly futile.*BR**BR*At the heart of the book is the idea that the international system is in the grip of a great transition. Kolko shows how America is losing its dominance, and examines the profound changes we are experiencing as it is forced to accept the limits of its military power.

Following the bank bailout and the Global Financial Crisis, anger towards the financial system reached new heights. Yet the practical workings of the system remain opaque to many people, this practical guide to the financial sector will bridge the gap between protest slogans and practical proposals for reform.*BR**BR*Activist and former derivatives broker Brett Scott proposes a framework for understanding financial institutions, based on the three principles of 'Exploring', 'Jamming' and 'Building'. By following this process, users will gain complete understanding of the machinations of the financial sector, learning how best to effectively disrupt the system and, finally, how to build new, democratic financial systems.

The Maoists in India delves deep into the decades long battle between the Indian state and Maoist groups - one of the most intractable insurgencies in the developing world.*BR**BR*Nirmalangshu Mukherji uncovers the devastating impact of neoliberalism on India's tribal population, armed aggression by the State, as well as the impact of the armed struggle by the Maoists. Unlike most accounts, Mukherji takes an honest and unflinching look at each of the Maoists' interventions and critically examines the ideology and programme proposed by their theoreticians and prominent intellectual sympathisers.*BR**BR*By focussing on the Maoists' political philosophy, the extent of their democracy, as well as the roles of intellectuals, Mukherji reaches conclusions about whether their strategy can help to deliver social justice and liberation for India's poor.

This is the story of the life and impact of the political activist, journalist and freedom-fighter Sivaram Dharmeratnam, who dedicated his life to helping the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.*BR**BR*He started out as an active participant in the war against the Sri Lankan government - and was labelled a 'terrorist'. Yet he stepped away from ruthless violence. Instead, he became a high profile journalist in the Sri Lankan press, and used his position to fearlessly critique the government, despite repeated threats on his life. Finally, in 2005, Sivaram was assassinated.*BR**BR*This vivid life history also engages with much broader issues. It offers an intimate portrait of why an educated man adopts a position of supporting violence.

Do notions of community remain central to our sense of who we are, or can we see beyond community closures to a human whole?*BR**BR*This volume explores the nature of contemporary sociality. It focuses on the ethical, organisational and emotional claims and opportunities sought or fashioned for mobilising and evading social collectivities in a world of mobile subjects. *BR**BR*Vered Amit and Nigel Rapport present an examination of the tensions and interactions between everyday forms of fluid fellowship, culturally normative claims to identity, and opportunities for realising a universal humanity.

The Iraq war defined the first decade of the twenty-first century - leading to mass protests and raising profound questions about domestic politics and the use of military force. Yet most explanations of the war have a narrow focus either on political personalities or oil.*BR**BR*Christopher Doran provides a unique perspective, arguing that the drive to war came from the threat Iraq might pose to American economic hegemony if the UN sanctions regime was ended. Doran argues that this hegemony is rooted in third world debt and corporate market access. It was protection of these arrangements that motivated US action, not Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction or a simplistic desire to seize its oil. *BR**BR*This book will provide new insights on the war which still casts a shadow over global politics, and will have wide appeal to all those concerned about the Middle East, world peace and global development.

The election of the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) to power in Bolivia in 2006 marked a historic break from centuries of foreign domination and indigenous marginalisation. Evo Morales, leader of the MAS, became the first indigenous president of Bolivia.*BR**BR*Kepa Artaraz looks at the Morales' government's attempt to 'refound the nation'. He shows how the mix of Marxism, indigenous liberation politics, anti-imperialism and environmentalism has made Bolivia one of the most interesting and unique political experiments of Latin America's 'red decade'.*BR**BR*As the historic left-turn in Latin America reaches a crossroads, this book guides us through the politics and ideas which have animated this popular movement, drawing out important lessons for progressive politics everywhere.

Uncovering the rich heritage of common ownership which existed before the dominance of capitalist property relations, Giovanna Ricoveri argues that the subsistence commons of the past can be reinvented today to provide an alternative to the current destructive economic order. *BR**BR*Ricoveri outlines the distinct features of common ownership as it has existed in history through cooperatives, sustainable use of natural resources and direct democracy. In doing so, she shows how it is possible to provide goods and services which are not commodities exchanged on the capitalistic market, something still demonstrated today in village communities across the global South.*BR**BR*Tracing the erosion of the commons from the European enclosures at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution to the new enclosures of modern capitalism, the book concludes by arguing that a new commons is needed today. It will be essential reading for activists as well as students and academics in history, politics, economics and development studies.

The fall of the Soviet Union and the emergence of contemporary Russian capitalism are often all too often read as a juncture with the past. In reality, Russia's current capitalist system originated in the degenerated Soviet bureaucracy, alongside the pressures of global capital. *BR**BR*From Roman Abramovich to Leonid Mikhelson, the reign of the CEO in Russia corporations mirrors the autocracy of the Soviet Union's leaders: the Russian tradition of the Cult of Personality lives on. The conception of the massive corporations, and the autocrats that lead them, occurred towards the end of the Soviet Union, when the would-be owners seized corporate assets and, taking advantage of Gorbachev's reforms, transformed publicly owned industry into private enterprises with themselves at the helm. By comparing the practices of Russian corporate governance, labour practices and investment strategies to the typical models of corporate governance and investment behaviour of big firms in the West, Ruslan Dzarasov exposes the parallels between the core and the periphery of the capitalist world-system.*BR**BR*Drawing on the theory of Leon Trotsky, as well as Immanuel Wallerstein and Robert Brenner, this study disrupts many of the myths about Russia's political economy. *BR*

Argues that therapeutic and applied psychology have little basis in science and that they prosper because they serve the interests of power.

The traditional view of the Scottish nation holds that it first arose during the Wars of Independence from England in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Although Scotland was absorbed into Britain in 1707 with the Treaty of Union, Scottish identity is supposed to have remained alive in the new state through separate institutions of religion (the Church of Scotland), education, and the legal system.*BR**BR*Neil Davidson argues otherwise. The Scottish nation did not exist before 1707. The Scottish national consciousness we know today was not preserved by institutions carried over from the pre-Union period, but arose after and as a result of the Union, for only then were the material obstacles to nationhood - most importantly the Highland/Lowland divide - overcome. This Scottish nation was constructed simultaneously with and as part of the British nation, and the eighteenth century Scottish bourgeoisie were at the forefront of constructing both. The majority of Scots entered the Industrial Revolution with a dual national consciousness, but only one nationalism, which was British. The Scottish nationalism which arose in Scotland during the twentieth century is therefore not a revival of a pre-Union nationalism after 300 years, but an entirely new formation. *BR**BR*Davidson provides a revisionist history of the origins of Scottish and British national consciousness that sheds light on many of the contemporary debates about nationalism.

This is the first book to cover the entire history of social and cultural anthropology in a single volume. Beginning with a summary of the discipline in the nineteenth century, exploring major figures such as Morgan and Tylor, it goes on to provide a comprehensive overview of the discipline in the twentieth century.The bulk of the book is devoted to themes and controversies characteristic of post First World War anthropology, from structural functionalism via structuralism to hermeneutics, cultural ecology, discourse analysis and, most recently, globalization and postmodernism. The authors emphasise throughout the need to see changes in the discipline in a wider social, political and intellectual context. This is a timely, concise history of a major discipline, in an engaging and thought-provoking narrative, that will appeal to students of anthropology worldwide.

Biohackers explores fundamental changes occuring in the circulation and ownership of scientific information. Alessandro Delfanti argues that the combination of the ethos of 20th century science, the hacker movement and the free software movement is producing an open science culture which redefines the relationship between researchers, scientific institutions and commercial companies. *BR**BR*Biohackers looks at the emergence of the citizen biology community 'DIYbio', the shift to open access by the American biologist Craig Venter and the rebellion of the Italian virologist Ilaria Capua against WHO data-sharing policies. *BR**BR*Delfanti argues that these biologists and many others are involved in a transformation of both life sciences and information systems, using open access tools and claiming independence from both academic and corporate institutions.*BR*

A pioneering analysis of doing ethnographic fieldwork in different types of complex organisations.

Conflict over information has become a central part of modern politics and culture. The sites of struggle are numerous, the actors beyond count. Currents of liberation and exploitation course through the debates about Edward Snowden and surveillance, Anonymous, search engines and social media.*BR**BR*In Information Politics, Tim Jordan identifies all these issues in relation to a general understanding of the nature of an information politics that emerged with the rise of mass digital cultures and the internet. He locates it within a field of power and rebellion that is populated by many interwoven social and political conflicts including gender, class and ecology.*BR**BR*The exploitations both facilitated by, and contested through increases in information flows; the embedding of information technologies in daily life, and the intersection of network and control protocols are all examined. Anyone hoping to get to grips with the rapidly changing terrain of digital culture and conflict should start here.

The Bolsheviks Come to Power is one of the most important histories of the Russian Revolution to challenge the mainstream narratives. Originally published to great acclaim in 2004, this new edition marks the 100th anniversary of one of the explosive and game-changing moments in modern times.*BR**BR*In this absorbing narrative, Alexander Rabinowitch counters the claims by mainstream historians that the revolution was a military coup led by Lenin and a small band of fanatics. He refutes the Soviet myth that the party's triumph in the October Revolution was inevitable, and explains the ebbs and flows of the revolutionary period, tracing the moods of the working class and the political positions of the Bolsheviks at different historical moments, including the immediate aftermath of the February Revolution, the July Days, the Kornilov affair, and up to and including the October Revolution itself.*BR**BR*Drawn from a wealth of primary sources and archival material, this new edition of Rabinowitch's classic account is a must-have for anyone interested in clearing away the tired platitudes of mainstream historians, and reclaiming the revolution on this important anniversary.

A collection of original essays by novelists, journalists and academics exploring belonging and identity in Europe

Leading anthropologist Thomas Hylland Eriksen shows how anthropology is a revolutionary way of thinking about the human world. Perfect for students, but also for those who have never encountered anthropology before, this book explores the key issues in an exciting and innovative way. Eriksen explains how to see the world from below and from within - emphasising the importance of adopting an insider's perspective. He reveals how seemingly enormous cultural differences actually conceal the deep unity of humanity. Lucid and accessible, What is Anthropology? draws examples from current affairs as well as anthropological studies. The first section presents the history of anthropology, its unique research methods and some of its central concepts, such as society, culture and translation. Eriksen shows how anthropology helps to shape contemporary thinking and why it is inherently radical. In the second section he discusses core issues in greater detail. Reciprocity, or exchange, or gift-giving, is shown to be the basis of every society. Eriksen examines kinship in traditional societies, and shows why it remains important in complex ones. He argues nature is partly cultural, and explores anthropological views on human nature as well as ecology. He delves into cultural relativism and the problem of understanding others. Finally, he describes the paradoxes of identity - ethnic, national, religious or postmodern, as the case may be.

Explores the different facets of how austerity in Britain is a form of institutional violence

Unpacks the political economy of new science and technology projects, and the implications for a utopian future

Biography of the anti-imperialist fighter and slave liberator Toussaint Louverture, explored through the prism of his radical politics