Precarious Paths To Freedom

Miller analyzes US-Venezuelan relations during the 1950s and 1960s as a case study for the broader political dynamics of the hemisphere and beyond during the critical period of the global Cold War. He addresses the perception that US foreign policy toward Latin America was an overwhelming failure in which initiatives intended to promote democracy and modernization, and to insulate the hemisphere from the ideological struggles of the global Cold War, reaped only authoritarian regimes, uneven and sluggish economic growth, and abstract debates over capitalism and communism that distracted attention from Latin America’s pressing socioeconomic problems. Precarious Paths to Freedom demonstrates that Washington rather achieved success by cultivating a partnership with a democratizing Venezuela. From 1958 onward US policymakers identified Venezuela as the crucial bulwark against political extremism and as the ideal partner in the creation of a modernized, prosperous, and pro-US Latin America.

In May 2008, Anne Jackson asked a question on her blog, “What is one thing you feel you can’t say in church?” Hundreds responded. Everyone had a story. Permission to Speak Freely is the unique new project and movement of author Anne Jackson, who is finished with keeping brokenness in the dark. Bringing to light the original intent of God’s sanctuary as a place of help and healing, Anne reveals that through confession, both to God and to others, we can live lives that are whole and healed. Told with disarming transparency, Anne shares what led to her own addictions and the ensuing lifestyle that left her wounded and withdrawn, but ultimately rescued and redeemed. She includes dramatic stories of others who also learned to abandon their fear, pride, and masks; to identify their hurts; and to find the courage to speak freely. Their confessions, submitted as mixed media pieces, photography, and sketches, were collected from people across the world, and are included throughout the book. Readers will share in the opportunity to find their own path to redemption and freedom.

Explains how bold efforts at profound progressive change provoked a powerful reactionary backlash that led to the imposition of brutal, regressive dictatorships.

"After discussions of the media environments in the three countries, an overview and critique of current theories of media systems highlight how existing frameworks rest on the misguided presumption that nations and their press freedom landscapes exist within a state of linear democratization-that societies have progressed and will continue to progress from non-democracy to democracy-when, in actuality, specific events can unravel structures and derail democracy-building processes. Many existing frameworks are grounded in Western ways of thinking and tend to take a universalistic approach to the press that doesn't account for transitions and change. Press freedom means different things in different countries and within different contexts, making it difficult for any theory to aptly apply, thus, a more detailed set of considerations for understanding media systems outside of the Western world is needed"--

Illusions of Freedom examines the opinions and ideas of two twentieth-century writers--Thomas Merton, a Catholic monk living in the United States, and Jacques Ellul, a French Protestant. Contemporaries, they never met or corresponded with each other, but their critique of the influence that technology was beginning to have on the human condition is strikingly similar. Both Merton and Ellul drew upon the ideas of others in formulating their worldview, to include Karl Barth, Soren Kierkegaard, Aldous Huxley, and Karl Marx. Jeffrey Shaw examines the influence that these other philosophers had on Merton and Ellul as they formulated their own ideas on technology's impact on freedom. Tracing the similarities, and in some cases the differences, between their critiques of technology and the idea that progress is always to be seen as something inherently good, one finds that they bring a unique perspective to the debate and offer readers an alternative avenue for reflecting on the meaning of technology and its impact on our lives in the twenty-first century.

The former slave gets into the eye of the Caribbean hurricane during the French Revolution there in 1794. He fights in Napoleonic Wars and get English Pow. He returns back to Guadeloupe after his release and takes part in the rebellion of the Bataillon des Antilles in May 1802 when slavery was to be reintroduced by the order of Napoleon. The unit is expelled from the island. François is ordered to serve in Mantua, where he escapes and finds refuge in the Danish duchy of Holstein. He settles there and founds a family in October 1806. François is a direct ancestor of the author. His biography is retraced. The conditions of slave trade are analyzed for Nigeria, the trade itself as are society and culture in Guadeloupe. Which are the factors leading to the rebellion of May 1802? How Guadeloupe deals with it and the reintroduction of slavery? The deportation of the soldiers causes an international diplomatic affair. Which policy does Napoleon lead referring to people of color? What happens in the unit of Black Pioneers in Mantua? François is literally fighting for freedom and a humble decent life, free of the construct of slavery. He finds his freedom in the Danish duchy of Holstein. The book contributes a micro-historic view to the macro-history.

A new interpretation of the Essais, situating Montaigne's project of self-study in the context of a broader commitment to liberty.