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Organized interests are perennially under fire for distorting public policies. Critics charge that they privilege the demands of favored constituencies at the expense of the broader public interest. Yet despite the importance of interest groups in the political process, little systematic research has been conducted into the development of political identities and lobbying capacities among major advocacy organizations. How does a group come to represent a set of interests? Are the identities and...

Dorothy Day died recently in New York City. With her death, the Catholic Worker Movement lost the last of its founders and leaders. In this insightful and well-documented study, Aronica answers the question whether and how the Movement has survived beyond the founders. Starting from the notion of charismatic leadership, the author converts the Catholic Worker Movement into a test case for the classical analysis of social organization. Through participant observation, Aronica uncovers and explain...

"McLuhan's Children" is an inside look at Greenpeace's rise to global prominence through its savvy use of mass media imagery. From the flamboyant, guerilla-theatre approach to the emergence of environmentalism as a dominant international issue.

Women and Politics in the Islamic Republic of Iran looks at the rise and role of female activism in Iran since the 1979 Revolution. Since 1979 women have played a decisive role in elections and assumed political posts. This study assesses this role as well as the impact of domestic and international policies on women's activism, highlighting the contradictions between politics and religion within the Islamic Republic. It also seeks to evaluate political and economic developments and the transfo...

From the days of the fur trade through the contemporary period, women have played important roles in the public life of Canada. Until the 1970s, however, these contributions were generally overlooked. This book focuses on two questions: are the doors to participation presently open wider than they were in the past? How can these doors be opened wider, both in terms of real-world participation and our scholarly understanding of public engagement? These tightly argued essays shed new light on the...

The global economy has witnessed important changes in recent years. In the United States, enterprising communities have transitioned from tobacco farming to growing organic produce, from extractive fishing to vertical farming, from nonrenewable energy consumption to the implementation of solar cooperatives -- and have transformed from impoverished neighborhoods into green development zones. Yet these promising achievements remain a small part of the total economy and are largely ignored by polic...

What to make of the Tea Party? To some, it is a grassroots movementaiming to reclaim an out-of-touch government for the people.To others, it is a proto-fascist organization of the misinformed andmanipulated lower middle class. Either way, it is surely one of themost significant forms of reaction in the age of Obama.In this definitive socio-political analysis of the Tea Party, AnthonyDiMaggio examines the Tea Party phenomenon, using a vast arrayof primary and secondary sources as well as first-ha...

Turkey stands at the crossroads of the Middle East--caught between the West and ISIS, Syria and Russia, and governed by an increasingly forceful leader. Acclaimed writer Kaya Genc has been covering his country for the past decade. In Under the Shadow he meets activists from both sides of Turkey's political divide: Gezi park protestors who fought tear gas and batons to transform their country's future, and supporters of Erdogan's conservative vision who are no less passionate in their activism. H...