"Brings together cutting-edge accounts of social movements concerned with civil and political rights, globalization, peace, the environment, migrant and factory labour, the rights of middle- and working-class women, and sexual identity in an overarching framework of analysis that forefronts the importance of human rights and the state as a focus for social activism in a region characterized by a history of authoritarian developmentalism and weak civil society"--Provided by publisher.

The United States is more vulnerable today than ever before-including during the Great Depression and the Civil War-because the pillars of democracy that once supported a booming middle class have been corrupted, and without them, America teeters on the verge of the next Great Crash. The United States is in the midst of an economic implosion that could make the Great Depression look like child's play. In THE CRASH OF 2016, Thom Hartmann argues that the facade of our once-great United States will soon disintegrate to reveal the rotting core where corporate and billionaire power and greed have replaced democratic infrastructure and governance. Our once-enlightened political and economic systems have been manipulated to ensure the success of only a fraction of the population at the expense of the rest of us. The result is a "for the rich, by the rich" scheme leading to policies that only benefit the highest bidders. Hartmann outlines the destructive forces-planted by Lewis Powell in 1971 and come to fruition with the "Reagan Revolution"-that have looted our nation over the past decade, and how their actions fit into a cycle of American history that lets such forces rise to power every four generations. However, a backlash is now palpable against the "economic royalists"-a term coined by FDR to describe those hoarding power and wealth-including the banksters, oligarchs, and politicians who have plunged our nation into economic chaos and social instability. Although we are in the midst of what could become the most catastrophic economic crash in American History, a way forward is emerging, just as it did in the previous great crashes of the 1760s, 1856, and 1929. The choices we make now will redefine American culture. Before us stands a genuine opportunity to embrace the moral motive over the profit motive-and to rebuild the American economic model that once yielded great success. Thoroughly researched and passionately argued, THE CRASH OF 2016 is not just a roadmap to redemption in post-Crash America, but a critical wake-up call, challenging us to act. Only if the right reforms are enacted and the moral choices are made, can we avert disaster and make our nation whole again"-- ""One of our most influential progressive voices tells the story of the hollowing of the American middle class and lays out the choices that we must make now to ensure that the dream of prosperity can live on for generations.

"Children growing up today are confronted by four difficult and intersecting challenges: dangerous environmental change, weakening democracies, growing social inequality, and a global economy marked by unprecedented youth unemployment and unsustainable resource extraction. Yet on streets everywhere, there is also a strong, youthful energy for change.This book sets out an inspiring new agenda for citizenship and environmental education which reflects the responsibility and opportunities facing educators, researchers, parents and community groups to support young citizens as they learn to 'make a difference' on the issues that concern them. Controversial yet ultimately hopeful, political scientist Bronwyn Hayward rethinks assumptions about youth citizenship in neoliberal democracies. Her comparative discussion with the US and UK draws on lessons from New Zealand, a country where young citizens often express a strong sense of personal responsibility for their planet but where many children also face shocking social conditions. Hayward develops a 'SEEDS' model of ecological citizenship education (Social agency, Environmental Education, Embedded justice, Decentred deliberative democracy and Self transcendence). The discussion considers how the SEEDs model can support young citizens' democratic imagination and develop their 'handprint' for social justice.From eco-worriers and citizen-scientists to streetwise sceptics, "Children, Citizenship and Environment" identifies a variety of forms of citizenship and discusses why many approaches make it more difficult, not easier, for young citizens to effect change. This book will be of interest to a wide audience, in particular teachers of children aged 8-12 and professionals who work in Environmental Citizenship Education as well as students and researchers with an interest in environmental change, democracy and intergenerational justice.Introduced by international sustainability expert Tim Jackson, the book includes forewords by leading European and USA academics, Andrew Dobson and Roger Hart.Half the author's royalties will be donated to child poverty projects following the earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand.Follow Bronwyn Hayward's blog at: http://growing-greens.blogspot.co.nz/<BR>"-- "Today's millennial generation inherit a world confronted by four difficult and intersecting challenges: dangerous environmental change, weakening democracies, growing social inequality, and a paradigm of economic growth that has contributed to unprecedented youth unemployment and resource extraction beyond our planet's limits. But the future is not inevitable and today on the streets everywhere; there is a strong, youthful energy for change. 'Children, Citizenship and Environment' sets out a new agenda for citizenship education which reflects both the responsibility and opportunities we are confronted with to support young citizens. In a myth busting discussion of issues facing young citizens growing up in neoliberal democracies, political scientist Bronwyn Hayward draws on the experience of New Zealanders, a nation where young citizens often express a strong sense of personal responsibility for their planet but where many face shocking social conditions. Theoretically informed and written with engaging practical insight, Hayward argues that young citizens today will need fewer lessons in how to recycle or when to switch off the lights and more intergenerational support to reclaim their democratic imagination and discover the 'seeds' of ecological citizenship and their own SMART ' handprint' for social justice. This book will be of interest to a wide audience including teachers in the Education sector, students and researchers, as well as policy makers and N.G.Os who work in the area of Youth Citizenship"--