A Polity On The Edge

"Powerful! Using national surveys as well as surveys of the Quebec electorate, A Polity on the Edge is a brilliant assessment of Canada's viability as a nation." - Richard Price, University of Windsor

The edge of irony, says Linda Hutcheon, is always a social and political edge. Irony depends upon interpretation; it happens in the tricky, unpredictable space between expression and understanding. Irony's Edge is a fascinating, compulsively readable study of the myriad forms and the effects of irony. It sets out, for the first time, a sustained, clear analysis of the theory and the political contexts of irony, using a wide range of references from contemporary culture. Examples extend from Madonna to Wagner, from a clever quip in conversation to a contentious exhibition in a museum. Irony's Edge outlines and then challenges all the major existing theories of irony, providing the most comprehensive and critically challengin theory of irony to date.

Paul MacEwan (1943-2017) was a singular politician, an outlier who successfully pushed the limits of Nova Scotia's political norms over the longest continuous service record in the history of the legislature. Yet he never achieved the sort of prominence such a record might command -- though serving as Speaker (1993-1996), he was never made a cabinet minister. MacEwan's brand of constituent-centred politics saw him victorious in nine consecutive general elections over thirty-three years, a record unlikely to fall anytime soon. At the same time, he didn't fit into the club-like atmosphere of the legislature. Obsessive, at times bombastic, few politicians have been as polarizing as MacEwan. He made few friends and rarely socialized with other legislators; instead he was always "on-call" for his constituents. His electoral victories came under four different partisan labels -- first as a New Democrat (1970, 1974, 1978), twice as an independent (1981, 1988) once as leader of his own short-lived Cape Breton Labour Party (1984), and finally as a Liberal (1993, 1998, 1999) -- before retiring from politics in 2003. For a Canadian politician to change their electoral colours successfully even once is rare--MacEwan ran under four, a peripatetic record unparalleled in modern Canadian politics. Author Ian Stewart recounts Paul MacEwan's life, his austere home environment, his social convictions and electoral prowess, unorthodox style and, particularly, his singular dedication to constituents. From his longevity to his checkered partisanship to his obsessive personality, Paul MacEwan cut a remarkably distinctive profile. In all ways, MacEwan personified politics on the edge.

Comprehensive overview of the inroads made by Complexity Thinking approaches and ideas in the study and practice of world politics. Why are policymakers, scholars, and the general public so surprised when the world turns out to be unpredictable? World Politics at the Edge of Chaos suggests that the study of international politics needs new forms of knowledge to respond to emerging challenges such as the interconnectedness between local and transnational realities; between markets, migration, and social movements; and between pandemics, a looming energy crisis, and climate change. Asserting that Complexity Thinking (CT) provides a much-needed lens for interpreting these challenges, the contributors offer a parallel assessment of the impact of CT to anthropocentric and non-anthropocentric (post-human) International Relations. Using this perspective, the result should be less surprise when confronting the dynamism of a fragile and unpredictable global life.

Comprehensive overview of the inroads made by Complexity Thinking approaches and ideas in the study and practice of world politics. Why are policymakers, scholars, and the general public so surprised when the world turns out to be unpredictable? World Politics at the Edge of Chaos suggests that the study of international politics needs new forms of knowledge to respond to emerging challenges such as the interconnectedness between local and transnational realities; between markets, migration, and social movements; and between pandemics, a looming energy crisis, and climate change. Asserting that Complexity Thinking (CT) provides a much-needed lens for interpreting these challenges, the contributors offer a parallel assessment of the impact of CT to anthropocentric and non-anthropocentric (post-human) International Relations. Using this perspective, the result should be less surprise when confronting the dynamism of a fragile and unpredictable global life. Emilian Kavalski is Associate Professor of Global Studies at the Institute for Social Justice at Australian Catholic University, North Sydney. He is the author and editor of several books, including Central Asia and the Rise of Normative Powers: Contextualizing the Security Governance of the European Union, China, and India.

A timely study of Hong Kong's politics and society since the 1997 handover that explores the city's long history of resistance.

The far right is back with a vengeance. After several decades at the political margins, far-right politics has again taken center stage. Three of the world’s largest democracies – Brazil, India, and the United States – now have a radical right leader, while far-right parties continue to increase their profile and support within Europe. In this timely book, leading global expert on political extremism Cas Mudde provides a concise overview of the fourth wave of postwar far-right politics, exploring its history, ideology, organization, causes, and consequences, as well as the responses available to civil society, party, and state actors to challenge its ideas and influence. What defines this current far-right renaissance, Mudde argues, is its mainstreaming and normalization within the contemporary political landscape. Challenging orthodox thinking on the relationship between conventional and far-right politics, Mudde offers a complex and insightful picture of one of the key political challenges of our time.

The wake of the financial crisis has inspired hopes for dramatic change and stirred visions of capitalism’s terminal collapse. Yet capitalism is not on its deathbed, utopia is not in our future, and revolution is not in the cards. In Capitalism on Edge, Albena Azmanova demonstrates that radical progressive change is still attainable, but it must come from an unexpected direction. Azmanova’s new critique of capitalism focuses on the competitive pursuit of profit rather than on forms of ownership and patterns of wealth distribution. She contends that neoliberal capitalism has mutated into a new form—precarity capitalism—marked by the emergence of a precarious multitude. Widespread economic insecurity ails the 99 percent across differences in income, education, and professional occupation; it is the underlying cause of such diverse hardships as work-related stress and chronic unemployment. In response, Azmanova calls for forging a broad alliance of strange bedfellows whose discontent would challenge not only capitalism’s unfair outcomes but also the drive for profit at its core. To achieve this synthesis, progressive forces need to go beyond the old ideological certitudes of, on the left, fighting inequality and, on the right, increasing competition. Azmanova details reforms that would enable a dramatic transformation of the current system without a revolutionary break. An iconoclastic critique of left orthodoxy, Capitalism on Edge confronts the intellectual and political impasses of our time to discern a new path of emancipation.