George W. Bush came into office only after a bitterly contested election result, but has since proceeded to establish himself as one of the most powerful, and one of the most arrogant, of all American presidents. He has involved the USA in the invasion of two Islamic countries, seems determined to impose global American hegemony, and has launched a 'war on terror' which risks perpetuating an unremitting state of crisis. And yet the sources of this enormous power are still shrouded in mystery. He relies on fanatical ideologues, fundamentalist Christians, shady businessmen and right-wing...

Intimacy, choice, movement - these are the elements which make up the desirable lifestyle in the mainstream of affluent societies. They also undermine traditional forms of power and control. And they create a web of connections between individuals all over the world, which promises to be more flexible and less restrictive than any which have existed before.





Bill Jordan sets out to explain the particular attractions of this vision of freedom, equality and harmony. He traces its appeal to a formula for human institutions which emerged with the birth of...

In this pathbreaking book, one of the world's leading analysts of globalization and global governance confronts the failures of international politics in the aftermath of 9/11 and the war against Iraq. He argues that there were and are alternatives to the way the western coalitions responded to the profound challenges of mass terrorism and political violence - alternatives which can better address the roots of these challenges and deliver political and social justice.

In order to grasp this alternative, the changing structure of the global order has to be understood. To this end,...

In this pathbreaking book, one of the world's leading analysts of globalization and global governance confronts the failures of international politics in the aftermath of 9/11 and the war against Iraq. He argues that there were and are alternatives to the way the western coalitions responded to the profound challenges of mass terrorism and political violence - alternatives which can better address the roots of these challenges and deliver political and social justice.

In order to grasp this alternative, the changing structure of the global order has to be understood. To this end,...

The Beckham enigma continues. Since the publication of Cashmore's challenging social biography in 2003, the working-class kid from the East London has left Manchester and conquered the world. Undisputedly one of the world's most famous men, Beckham has transcended sport to become an all-purpose cultural icon for the twenty-first century.


What are the sources of Beckham's godlike status? Why does someone who looks good, but speaks in platitudes and does little but play football, command the adulation of the planet? By dissecting his life and setting it in context of the age...

This illuminating analysis by one of the world's leading intellectuals addresses fundamental questions about the new world disorder exemplified by the war on terrorism, the Iraq conflict and its aftermath and the current state of transatlantic relations.


In eight concise chapters, Todorov discusses the use of force versus diplomacy, the emergence of new powers and the reactions of different players such as the UK, France, Poland and the United Nations, to the imperialist turn in US foreign policy. He argues that a new Europe is capable of reducing its dependence on the...

Gender studies has become one of the core fields in the social sciences and humanities. As a result of the struggles of feminists, women are no longer hidden from history or unacknowledged in social research or cultural analysis. Over recent years, again largely because of the influence of feminism, masculinity has also increasingly been made problematic and opened up to scrutiny. Gender is thereby recognised to be central to the analysis of structures of power, the organization of social and cultural institutions, and modes of ideological control in modern societies.

'To construct a civilization around the nostrum that the public realm is morally, economically and socially inferior to the private realm is to submit to an alien barbarism in which what we hold in common is permanently placed as second best. David Marquand has constructed a masterly and highly readable plea for the idea of the public once again to be celebrated in British life. His re-entry into the national conversation could not be better timed or more important. Let's hope our fellow citizens take arms in the battle he invites us to join.'
--Will Hutton, Columnist, Observer...