The Triumph Of Broken Promises

Communist and capitalist states alike were scarred by the economic shocks of the 1970s. Why did only communist governments fall in their wake? Fritz Bartel argues that Western democracies were insulated by neoliberalism. While austerity was fatal to the legitimacy of communism, democratic politicians could win votes by pushing market discipline.

Throughout the twentieth century in the lands of Yugoslavia, socialists embarked on multiple projects of supranational unification. Sensitive to the vulnerability of small nations in a world of great powers, they pursued political sovereignty, economic development, and cultural modernization at a scale between the national and the global – from regional strategies of Balkan federalism to continental visions of European integration to the internationalist ambitions of the Non-Aligned Movement. In Mediating Spaces James Robertson offers an intellectual history of the diverse supranational politics of Yugoslav socialism, beginning with its birth in the 1870s and concluding with its violent collapse in the 1990s. Showcasing the ways in which socialists in Southeast Europe confronted the political, economic, and cultural dimensions of globalization, the book frames the evolution of supranational politics as a response to the shifting dynamics of global economic and geopolitical competition. Arguing that literature was a crucial vehicle for imagining new communities beyond the nation, Robertson analyzes the manuscripts, journals, and personal correspondence of the literary left to excavate the cultural geographies that animated Yugoslav socialism and its supranational horizons. The book ultimately illuminates the innovative strategies of cultural development used by socialist writers to challenge global asymmetries of power and prestige. Mediating Spaces reveals the full significance of supranationalism in the history of socialist thought, recovering a key concern for an era of renewed geopolitical contestation in Eastern Europe.

In "Broken Promises. Promised Land," delve into the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the poignant lens of the Palestinian narrative. This compelling account unravels the complexities of the longstanding struggle, offering a gripping portrayal of historical events and their reverberations in the present. From the historically significant Nakba to the recent events unfolding in the Gaza Strip, this book presents a powerful exploration of the challenges faced by the Palestinian people. Gain insight into the human stories, the resilient spirit, and the untold experiences that lie at the core of this enduring conflict. With a focus on recent events in the Gaza Strip, the book provides a timely and thought-provoking analysis, shedding light on the impact of broken promises and the quest for justice. It invites readers to question, reflect, and engage with the multifaceted layers of a conflict that continues to shape the lives of those living in the Promised Land. "Broken Promises. Promised Land" is a testament to the strength of the human spirit amidst adversity, urging readers to confront the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the eyes of those who have endured its impact. This book is a call for empathy, understanding, and a renewed commitment to seeking a just and lasting resolution in the region.

Henry W Cabarrus, Jr's formative years occurred during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. A young black male seeking self-identity through family and work, Henry struggled to find himself amidst the surrounding social cacophony. In 1954, the US Supreme Court ruled that segregation in US schools was unconstitutional. The decision kicked off a massive resistance movement in Virginia, where Henry's family lived. In response to the resistance, it was ruled that operation of public schools was a local option for the state's counties and cities, and no provision was made for educating the county's black children. With no education, prospects, or family support, Henry found himself saved from a near suicide attempt. He left Virginia in pursuit of a formal education and his place in the world. College was a struggle, but Henry prevailed, graduating with a 4.0 GPA from Saint Paul's College. Henry's memoir, Many Broken Promises and Yet I Stand!, is part history, part relationships, and part social commentary.

This book provides an urgent framework and collective reflection on understanding ways to reconsider and recast architecture within ideas and politics of the commons and practices of commoning. Architecture from Public to Commons opens with Institutions the dialogue with the scales of the commons, the limits of language for fluid identities, the practices and challenges of architecture as an institution, the design of objects with apparent shared value in Chile, land protocols that explore alternatives to profit-seeking of property in New York, and spirited conversations about revolting against architectural labor from Latin America. Continuing chapters explore, under Territories, the boundaries of Blackness across the Atlantic between Ethiopia and Atlanta, the underground woven network with conflicting grounds of ipê wood between Brazil and the US, water cycles in depleted territories in Chile, indigenous women-led territorial and human rights struggles in Guatemala, climate change accidental commons in California, and the active search for racial justice between design and place in New Orleans. Contributions range from theoretical and historical essays to current case studies of on-the-ground practices in the US, the Middle East, Europe, and Central and South America. Bringing together architects, scholars, artists, historians, sociologists, curators, and activists, this book instils an urgent framework and renewed set of tools to pivot from architecture’s traditional public to a politicized commons. It will greatly interest students, academics, and researchers in architecture, urban design, architectural theory, landscape architecture, political economy, and sociology.

The 1970s are widely seen as a turning point for the world economy and a transformative decade for the international order. This volume explores the role played by the oil crises in this transformation, focusing particularly on their impact in previously little-studied regions such as Asia and Africa. Examining the intersection between the oil crises and the Third World project, their impact on Asian economic development and the contrasting responses of two African countries, this collection covers new ground on the global and regional effects of the crises, and ties them into the key transformations of the international economy and the Cold War order. Arguing that they were instrumental in reshaping the Asian economies, helping to instigate the boom known as the 'East Asian Miracle', it also demonstrates how the individual responses of countries reflected their own specific circumstances. With chapters from leading scholars such as David Painter and Dane Kennedy, this book shows how the origins, course and consequences of the oil crises of the 1970s are crucial to understanding the transformation of the international order in the late twentieth century.

In Disruption, Michael De Groot argues that the global economic upheaval of the 1970s was decisive in ending the Cold War. Both the West and the Soviet bloc struggled with the slowdown of economic growth; chaos in the international monetary system; inflation; shocks in the commodities markets; and the emergence of offshore financial markets. The superpowers had previously disseminated resources to their allies to enhance their own national security, but the disappearance of postwar conditions during the 1970s forced Washington and Moscow to choose between promoting their own economic interests and supporting their partners in Europe and Asia. De Groot shows that new unexpected macroeconomic imbalances in global capitalism sustained the West during the following decade. Rather than a creditor nation and net exporter, as it had been during the postwar period, the United States became a net importer of capital and goods during the 1980s that helped fund public spending, stimulated economic activity, and lubricated the private sector. The United States could now live beyond its means and continue waging the Cold War, and its allies benefited from access to the booming US market and the strengthened US military umbrella. As Disruption demonstrates, a new symbiotic economic architecture powered the West, but the Eastern European regimes increasingly became a burden to the Soviet Union. They were drowning in debt, and the Kremlin no longer had the resources to rescue them.