Politics & Government

As far as topics go, politics may be as divisive as they come. Still, there's no escaping the role that it plays in our lives. The texts in this collection explore the gamut of how politics shapes and reshapes societies throughout history.

How Democracies Die

by Daniel Ziblatt, Steven Levitsky

Publication year 2018

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Community

Tags Politics & Government, Social Science, Sociology, World History, Philosophy, Philosophy

How Democracies Die (Crown, 2018) is a nonfiction book by political scientists Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. The authors, who are both professors at Harvard, explore how American democracy is threatened by examining past examples of democratic breakdown. In doing so, they demonstrate how since the end of the Cold War, most democracies die not through violent overthrow of government but a gradual weakening of democratic norms and institutions. Using these insights from history, as... Read How Democracies Die Summary

How Does It Feel to Be A Problem

by Moustafa Bayoumi

Publication year 2008

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Marriage

Tags Sociology, Middle Eastern History, US History, Race & Racism, Education, Education, World History, Social Justice, Politics & Government, Religion & Spirituality

How Does It Feel to Be A Problem: Being Young and Arab in America (2008) is a nonfiction text by Brooklyn College English professor and Arab-American Moustafa Bayoumi. The title comes from W.E.B. Du Bois’s 1903 text, The Souls of Black Folk, wherein he directed this question toward the African-American experience. Following the stories of seven young ArabAmericans living in Brooklyn, and including their struggles after the 9/11 attacks, Bayoumi’s book suggests that present-day ArabAmericans absorb the... Read How Does It Feel to Be A Problem Summary

How Fascism Works

by Jason Stanley

Publication year 2018

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Community

Tags Politics & Government, Sociology, World History, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Social Justice

How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us Versus Them is a nonfiction book published in 2018 by the American philosopher and Yale University professor Jason Stanley. In it, the author discusses ten mechanisms by which fascist politicians gain and consolidate power in democratic states, potentially yielding a fascist state with an absolute leader. Drawing on examples that range from Nazi Germany to the contemporary United States, Stanley explains the appeal of fascist ideology during times... Read How Fascism Works Summary

How to Be an Antiracist

by Ibram X. Kendi

Publication year 2019

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Race

Tags Race & Racism, Black Lives Matter, Sociology, World History, Social Justice, Politics & Government

How to Be an Antiracist is a nonfiction book by Ibram X. Kendi, a writer and historian of African American History and the founder of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center. Published in 2019, this New York Times best seller proposes antiracist strategies individuals can employ to transform racist policies. This study guide refers to the Kindle edition of the book.How to Be an Antiracist sets out to define antiracist work as a set of... Read How to Be an Antiracist Summary

How To Do Nothing

by Jenny Odell

Publication year 2019

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Politics & Government, Economics, Place, Community, Objects & Materials, Science & Technology

Tags Philosophy, Technology, Arts & Culture, Self-Improvement, Information Age, Science & Nature, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Politics & Government

... Read How To Do Nothing Summary

How to Stand Up to a Dictator

by Maria Ressa

Publication year 2022

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Hope, Sexual Identity, Teamwork, Colonialism, Community, Economics, Education, Globalization, Nation, Politics & Government, Justice, Literature, Power & Greed, Science & Technology, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags Politics & Government, Asian History, Journalism, Social Justice, World History, Biography

... Read How to Stand Up to a Dictator Summary

How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed

by Slavenka Drakulić

Publication year 1992

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Tags Politics & Government, Women`s Studies, Gender & Feminism, Sociology, World History, Philosophy, Philosophy, Biography

How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed (1992) by Croatian essayist and journalist Slavenka Drakulić details life in Communist Eastern Europe, especially the former Yugoslavia (which after 1989 would become eight distinct countries, including Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, and Montenegro). Drakulić wrote this collection in response to the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall and dissolution of the USSR; in her view, there was more political coverage than reflections of how communism affected quotidian life. In... Read How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed Summary

Humankind

by Rutger Bregman

Publication year 2019

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Community, Politics & Government, Good & Evil

Tags World History, Psychology, Philosophy, Politics & Government, Sociology, Anthropology, Dutch Literature, Anthropology, Science & Nature, Psychology, Philosophy

... Read Humankind Summary

I Am Not Your Negro

by James Baldwin

Publication year 2017

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Justice

Tags Race & Racism, Black Arts Movement, Existentialism, World History, Social Justice, Classic Fiction, Politics & Government, Biography

I Am Not Your Negro by James Baldwin and Raoul Peck is an accompanying text to the 2016 documentary of the same name, directed by Peck. The documentary was released to critical acclaim. It won Best Documentary award at the BAFTA Film Awards and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The text is essentially a transcript of the film, incorporating excerpts of interviews, television features, and films.I Am Not Your Negro... Read I Am Not Your Negro Summary

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler

by Italo Calvino

Publication year 1979

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Literature, Truth & Lies, Art, Community, Beauty

Tags Magical Realism, Postmodernism, Italian Literature, Science & Nature, Arts & Culture, Politics & Government, Sociology, World History, Classic Fiction

If on a winter’s night a traveler is a 1979 postmodernist novel by Italo Calvino. The dual narrative is composed of two parallel strands: numbered chapters in which the narrator directly describes to the audience the process of reading the book, and titled chapters constructed from hypothetical first chapters of various books that the audience is reading. The innovative novel has been praised by critics and hailed as highly influential.This guide uses the 1998 Vintage... Read If on a Winter's Night a Traveler Summary