Results by title

87 books match the query 'Political Freedom' and 4 start with d

cover of Decentring Race: The Politics of Welcoming Ukrainians in Romania

Decentring Race

The Politics of Welcoming Ukrainians in Romania

Raluca Bejan

Central European University Press, 2026

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and people began to flee the country, the hospitality of neighbouring countries towards Ukrainians was set in stark contrast to their reluctance to accommodate refugees from Africa and the Middle East. Critics suggested that Europe was treating refugees from Ukraine better than those from the Global South, and attributed this difference to race. Using Romania as a case study, and drawing on fifty-one interviews with civil society stakeholders, community activists, and Romanian state officials, and twenty-five interviews with international students who were in Ukraine at the time of the invasion, Decentring Race complicates the story that singles out race as the primary factor in the categorization of refugees as either deserving or undeserving. Alongside nationality, ethnicity, religion, class, gender, and local racial politics, it brings to the fore geopolitical realities and the bipartite EU-Ukraine legislative framework as factors that shaped the granting of transnational mobility rights.
[more]
cover of Decolonizing Israel, Liberating Palestine: Zionism, Settler Colonialism, and the Case for One Democratic State

Decolonizing Israel, Liberating Palestine

Zionism, Settler Colonialism, and the Case for One Democratic State

Jeff Halper

Pluto Press, 2021

'Extremely convincing' - Electronic Intifada

For decades we have spoken of the 'Israel-Palestine conflict', but what if our understanding of the issue has been wrong all along? This book explores how the concept of settler colonialism provides a clearer understanding of the Zionist movement's project to establish a Jewish state in Palestine, displacing the Palestinian Arab population and marginalizing its cultural presence.

Jeff Halper argues that the only way out of a colonial situation is decolonization: the dismantling of Zionist structures of domination and control and their replacement by a single democratic state, in which Palestinians and Israeli Jews forge a new civil society and a shared political community.

To show how this can be done, Halper uses the 10-point program of the One Democratic State Campaign as a guide for thinking through the process of decolonization to its post-colonial conclusion. Halper's unflinching reframing will empower activists fighting for the rights of the Palestinians and democracy for all.
[more]
cover of Democracy in the Headwinds: The Rise, Erosion, and Defence of Liberal Democracy

Democracy in the Headwinds

The Rise, Erosion, and Defence of Liberal Democracy

Andreas Busch

Haus Publishing, 2026

In Democracy in the Headwinds, Andreas Busch examines the growing threats to democracy worldwide and outlines the principles needed to safeguard it.

A mob storms the United States Capitol. A Hungarian strongman hollows out courts, media, and civil society for sixteen years, then is voted out in a landslide. Brexit exposes the fragility of a constitution built on unwritten conventions. In Germany, one in five voters chooses a party classified by the state’s own security apparatus as a suspected threat to the democratic order. What is going on—and should it concern us?

Drawing on evidence from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Hungary, Poland, and the wider democratic world, Andreas Busch tells the story of liberal democracy’s rise, its erosion by elected leaders who dismantle institutions from within, and the defenses that hold it together. He traces how economic dislocation, digital disruption, and the polarization of political life have converged to put mature democracies under pressure they were assumed to have outgrown.

At the heart of the book lies a deceptively simple argument: the procedural core of democracy—free and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power—is the foundation on which everything else rests. Protect the mechanics, and everything else can be rebuilt. Lose them, and nothing can.

[more]
cover of Dictators and the Higher Education Dilemma: State Power and the University in Modern Iran

Dictators and the Higher Education Dilemma

State Power and the University in Modern Iran

Saeid Golkar

Rutgers University Press, 0

Dictators and the Higher Education Dilemma explores a powerful contradiction at the heart of modern authoritarian regimes: While universities are essential for producing skilled labor and projecting national progress, they also cultivate critical thinkers who can challenge state power. Drawing on Iran’s modern history, from the Pahlavi monarchy to the Islamic Republic, Saeid Golkar shows how dictators use universities not only to train technocrats and showcase development but also as tools for shaping ideology, suppressing dissent, and co-opting academics. In authoritarian systems, education becomes a double-edged sword, essential for growth yet dangerous when it empowers independent thought. Golkar reveals how regimes manipulate admissions, censor curricula, and reward loyalty to create compliant intellectuals and loyal elites. Blending personal experience with rich historical and political analysis, this book exposes the tactics used to turn universities into instruments of social control. It speaks to a growing trend worldwide, offering vital insights into the clash between authoritarian power and academic freedom from Iran to China, Russia, and beyond.

[more]