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Local Democracy Under Siege: Activism, Public Interests, and Private Politics
Contributor(s): Holland, Dorothy C. (Author), Lutz, Catherine (Author), Bartlett, Lesley (Author)
ISBN: 0814736777     ISBN-13: 9780814736777
Publisher: New York University Press
OUR PRICE:   $88.11  
Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats
Published: March 2007
Qty:
Annotation: "A luminous work about everyday citizens that should free up local democratic energies across the land!"
--Aihwa Ong, author of "Buddha is Hiding: Refugees, Citizenship, the New America"

"Local Democracy Under Siege argues persuasively that American democracy is at a pivotal moment where the forces of exclusion and the ideology of market rule contest with new forms of political activism and engaged citizenship. Readers will take away new perspectives on power, race, class, and activism from this cogent and timely analysis."
--Louise Lamphere, co-author of "Sunbelt Working Mothers: Reconciling Family and Factory"

"This unique study provides a vital enquiry into the troubled times of local democracy and poses critical questions about its future in the USA."
--John Clarke, author of "Changing Welfare, Changing States"

What is the state of democracy at the turn of the 21st century? To answer this question, seven scholars lived for a year in five North Carolina communities. They observed public meetings of all sorts, had informal and formal interviews with people, and listened as people conversed with each other at bus stops and barber shops, soccer games and workplaces. Their collaborative ethnography allows us to understand how diverse members of a community-not just the elite-think about and experience "politics" in ways that include much more than merely voting.

This book illustrates how the social and economic changes of the last three decades have made some new routes to active democratic participation possible while making others more difficult. Local Democracy Under Siege suggests how we can account for the current limitations of U.S. democracy and howremedies can be created that ensure more meaningful participation by a greater range of people.
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Political Science | American Government - State
Dewey: 320.809
LCCN: 2006030098
Physical Information: 0.88" H x 6" W x 9" (1.33 lbs) 368 pages
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:

2007 Society for the Anthropology of North America (SANA) Book Award
Complete List of Authors: Dorothy Holland, Donald M. Nonini, Catherine Lutz, Lesley Bartlett, Marla Frederick-McGlathery, Thaddeus C. Guldbrandsen, and Enrique G. Murillo, Jr.
What is the state of democracy at the turn of the twenty-first century? To answer this question, seven scholars lived for a year in five North Carolina communities. They observed public meetings of all sorts, had informal and formal interviews with people, and listened as people conversed with each other at bus stops and barbershops, soccer games and workplaces. Their collaborative ethnography allows us to understand how diverse members of a community not just the elite think about and experience "politics" in ways that include much more than merely voting.
This book illustrates how the social and economic changes of the last three decades have made some new routes to active democratic participation possible while making others more difficult. Local Democracy Under Siege suggests how we can account for the current limitations of U.S. democracy and how remedies can be created that ensure more meaningful participation by a greater range of people.

Complete List of Authors (pictured)

From Left to Right, bottom row: Enrique Murillo, Jr., Thaddeus Guldbrandsen, Marla Frederick-McGlathery.
Top row: Dorothy Holland, Catherine Lutz, Lesley Bartlett, and Don Nonini.

Contributor Bio(s): Holland, Dorothy: -

Dorothy Holland is Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Donald M. Nonini is Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Bartlett, Lesley: -

Lesley Bartlett is Assistant Professor of Comparative and International Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Frederick-McGlathery, Marla: -

Marla Frederick-McGlatherly is Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies and the Study of Religion at Harvard University.

Guldbrandsen, Thaddeus C.: -

Thaddeus C. Guldbrandsen is Director of the Center for Rural Partnerships and Research Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire.

Murillo, Enrique G.: -

Enrique G. Murillo, Jr., is Associate Professor of Language, Literacy & Culture in the College of Education, California State University, San Bernardino.

Lutz, Catherine: -

Catherine Lutz is Professor of Anthropology at Brown University, where she has a joint appointment with the Watson Institute for International Studies. Her books include Homefront: A Military City and the American 20th Century.