The Politics of Everyday Life by Paul Ginsborg

The Politics of Everyday Life by Paul Ginsborg

A passionate defense of local politics in an age dominated by global media empires. Concern over the present state of the world—its tensions and disparities--fosters in many people the uneasy combination of two sensations: urgency and powerlessness. We feel that something must be done before it is too late, but we have little idea of what we as individuals, or as families, or as groups of friends, can possibly do to stem the tide. This book explores the choices we have. It considers the options for civil society, and for the individual within today’s political culture. It offers a strong critique of the prevailing model of modernity in developed countries, a model which is being exported and imposed on the rest of the world. The solution lies in our own hands. We need to rethink the choices we make on a day-to-day basis: the ways we use our time, the family lives we live, the sorts of goods and services we consume, the quality of democracy we are able to exercise. The individual, the local, and the global are inextricably intertwined, in positive as well as in negative ways. Passivity and indifference at the individual level contribute greatly to collective dismay at the condition of the world.

“At the heart of the book is an analysis of ‘everyday’ politics and what kind of links can be established between individual choices and global politicsGinsborg’s themes are relevant to the politics of many countries, particularly those in Europe and North America.”—Andrew Gamble, Sheffield University

“This book has all Ginsborg’s usual strengths: fluency, vitality, vividness, and a wonderful warmth and directness.”—John Dunn, Cambridge University

“Succinct and lucid. . . . Ginsborg is best known for his authoritative surveys of postwar Italy. . . . In recent years Mr. Ginsborg has been a protagonist in the movement to strengthen Italian civil society and reconfigure the Italian left to meet the challenge of defeating Mr. Berlusconi.”–The New York Times, review of Berlusconi

“At the heart of the book is an analysis of ‘everyday’ politics and what kind of links can be established between individual choices and global politics. Ginsborg’s themes are relevant to the politics of many countries, particularly those in Europe and North America.”—Andrew Gamble, Sheffield University

 

 

-- Andrew Gamble
“This book has all Ginsborg’s usual strengths: fluency, vitality, vividness, and a wonderful warmth and directness.”—John Dunn, Cambridge University

-- John Dunn

Paul Ginsborg taught at Cambridge before becoming professor of contemporary European history at the University of Florence. He has become vigorously involved in Italian civic affairs, especially in reaction to Silvio Berlusconi, and his critical biography of Berlusconi reached the top of the Italian non-fiction bestseller charts. He is also the author of A History of Contemporary Italy and Italy and Its Discontents.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780300107487
ISBN 10	030010748X
Title	The Politics of Everyday Life
Author	Paul Ginsborg
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Yale University Press
Year published	2005-07-11
Number of pages	224
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable