The Two Faces of American Freedom
The Two Faces of American Freedom

Author: Aziz Rana

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2014-04-07

Total Pages: 428

ISBN-13: 0674266552

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The Two Faces of American Freedom boldly reinterprets the American political tradition from the colonial period to modern times, placing issues of race relations, immigration, and presidentialism in the context of shifting notions of empire and citizenship. Today, while the U.S. enjoys tremendous military and economic power, citizens are increasingly insulated from everyday decision-making. This was not always the case. America, Aziz Rana argues, began as a settler society grounded in an ideal of freedom as the exercise of continuous self-rule—one that joined direct political participation with economic independence. However, this vision of freedom was politically bound to the subordination of marginalized groups, especially slaves, Native Americans, and women. These practices of liberty and exclusion were not separate currents, but rather two sides of the same coin. However, at crucial moments, social movements sought to imagine freedom without either subordination or empire. By the mid-twentieth century, these efforts failed, resulting in the rise of hierarchical state and corporate institutions. This new framework presented national and economic security as society’s guiding commitments and nurtured a continual extension of America’s global reach. Rana envisions a democratic society that revives settler ideals, but combines them with meaningful inclusion for those currently at the margins of American life.

Man with Two Faces
Man with Two Faces

Author: Don Swaim

Publisher: Montag Press

Published: 2018-04-02

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 9781940233543

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In Manhattan, during the depths of the Great Depression, Tokol Tokoloshe, a soldier of fortune, diamond thief, and rum runner, has turned vigilante along with his Amazonian-bred, blowgun- wielding sidekick Diana. Despite his crusade to combat evil, Tokol's past catches up with him when he's marked for death by Janus, a former confederate. As the amorously adventurous, sexually equivocal Tokol battles hit men, kidnappers, mobsters, blackmailers, Chinese tongs, spies, and Nazis, he courts celebs such as George and Ira Gershwin, Groucho Marx, Woody Guthrie, Howard Hughes, Orson Welles, Clarence Darrow, and Walter Winchell. Tokol's battle for truth and justice leads him to an unexpected horror in Algiers on the eve of America's entry into World War Two. PRAISE FOR THE ASSASSINATION OF AMBROSE BIERCE: A LOVE STORY BY DON SWAIM: "Swaim weaves an engrossing web-work of literary references, historical detail, and ingenuous imagination. Genuine admirers of Ambrose Bierce will have no trouble falling in love with Swaim's "Love Story" - in fact, the only trouble they will have will be putting the book down for the night." Oldstyle Tales Press PRAISE FOR MAN WITH TWO FACES BY DON SWAIM: "Man with Two Faces is an extravaganza-a wild ride through Depression-era America with hair-raising escapes, daring capers, and cameos by Clarence Darrow, Orson Welles, Albert Camus, and plenty of others from that unforgettable era. Don Swaim writes with such bravura assurance and rollicking good humor that the readers are carried along from beginning to end with little chance-or desire-to catch their breaths. As pure entertainment it ranks very high." S.T. Joshi, author of I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H. P. Lovecraft

The Two Faces of Democracy
The Two Faces of Democracy

Author: Mary F. Scudder

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2023

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 0197623883

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"The democratic imagination is facing significant challenges. These challenges involve not only deep philosophical questions about the core values of democracy, but also pressing practical issues related to how we should understand and confront the rise of right-wing authoritarian populism. What should our stance be as defenders of democratic life? The two most prominent efforts to orient us here are the deliberative and agonistic models of democracy. The former emphasizes reasoned discussion, but some worry that this exclusive focus overlooks structures of injustice that distort civil deliberation. The latter prioritizes contestation and conflict, but its proponents struggle to explain why this prime orientation to defeating political opponents will not also corrode our commitment to normative democratic restraints, like fairness. This book develops an understanding of the moral core of democracy. In doing so, it illuminates how these two faces of democratic life, the deliberative and agonistic, each has a significant, but constrained, role to play in a more capacious comprehension of what our democratic commitments require of us. The "communicative model" of democracy we propose provides better grounds for facing the challenges of contemporary anti-democratic movements than either the deliberative or agonistic models alone"--