change Books

In my effort to learn about climate change, I found it admittedly very difficult to read the lengthy IPCC reports (e.g. Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis), so it's wonderful to have Dessler's and Parson's short, inexpensive book to give a guide to the findings of the IPCC, as well as to explain some of the politics in a calm, rational way. I think that any citizen genuinely interested in this topic should try to become familiar with the actual IPCC findings.

What is the IPCC ? What have they concluded ? How uncertain are the conclusions ? How have the policy makers reacted ? What are the scientific criticisms ? These issues are explained in this nice compact book. A very good aspect of this book is that it conforms to the standard practice of scientific argument: it shows data, describes theories (models), discusses how the theory fits data, explains the uncertainties, and (importantly) cites references. When looking into this subject, I suggest the reader beware of books or articles that are primarily "expert opinion" with no, or very little, reference to actual data.

The only reasons I didn't give 5 stars are: a) I would have liked it if the book could have covered the 2007 edition of IPCC report (maybe they will update it ?), and b) The book has a somewhat dry, academic style which probably will not make it very popular with a mass audience, hence limiting it's impact. At least it's short, though. Perhaps when they update it they can bring in a science writer to improve the style.

This is a good very good review of science and policy of Global Climate Change without bias esotheric science or paragraphs going nowhere.

Recomended to the reader who wants to make up their own mind. The book will find a use in introductory survey coures in High School and College.

More graphs and diagrams would have been helpful, although they are available to those scanning the internet.

How does science work? And how do politics work? How does it all fit together with the data that has come from various sources all over the planet - and is climate change real? All these questions are addressed in an easy read, very neutral. The authors take a firm stand on the issue finally, from a scientific perspective, and the result is clear: Yes, it is real, and it is coming at us, while politicans are incapable and totally overwhelmed by the problem. It is a new kind of threat nobody can deal with, thus we ignore it. Too much for us. Surprising to read from two high profile, Ex-NASA scientists from the US themselves. Alerting at the same time. A must read to be up to date with the debate or quickly get an overview. Stefan Klose - University of Ulm - Germany

I was disappointed in the writing. The book reads like a scientific treatise. The authors write, "This tangling of positive with normative claims, and of explicit arguments with unstated assumptions, obstructs reasoned deliberations on public policy." (p. 22.) OK. No doubt this is true. It borders on common sense and needs to be said. The problem is that, for the non-scientific person to whom this book is addressed, such language obstructs understanding. We don't talk that way. I gather that the authors are keen to be as objective and sound in their discussion as possible. Certainly this is commendable. Do they need to speak in these kinds of terms in order to be objective? Do they need to speak in such language in order to convey these basic concepts? Not to the degree they have done so. I give the book only four stars because I was anxious to learn more about this topic, and I was annoyed when an "accessible primer" is made unnecessarily difficult. I'm not planning in taking a degree in the subject.

The book takes a logical stance from the development of observations in science to a political conclusion and what to do about climate change. This is two books. One is the science of global warming and climate change. The other is about politics.

The science side is abbreviated. The authors avoid an in-depth discussion and rely mostly on correlations for explanation. A graph on page 74 is stunning. It is a better match than Gore's correlation from An Inconvenient Truth. I had only hoped that the authors had talked about laboratory results of experiments on greenhouse gases.

The politics side is wordy and a bit predictable, although Dessler and Parson do a good job in making a very logical and well-developed case.

Theda Perdue's book, "Cherokee Women" is an intelligent, well written work on the history of the Cherokee prior to their removal in the late 1830s to what is today Oklahoma. Far from being a book that simply high-lights certain Cherokee women or certain moments where Cherokee women influenced their people's history, Perdue sets about providing an excellent account of the Cherokee past. She skillfully demonstrates that women were an integral part of the story. Indeed, after reading her book one sees that the history of the Cherokee can not be fully told without the perspective that Perdue provides.

In three parts, Perdue describes how women shaped and defined Cherokee culture from pre-contact with Europeans, during the initial contact period, and through the "civilization" efforts of European Americans. She points out the cultural differences between women of Cherokee and Anglo-American societies, and adds a new dimension of thought to these subjects. This book is highly recommended as an important contribution to Cherokee History and to History in general for its illuminating ideas about the roles of women.

Thea Perdue adds an excellent addition to the Indians of the Southeast series by giving a new perspective on the role of women in Cherokee society. There are very few books that assess how women were affected by European invaders in a traditional society. The women existed in a matrilineal world where they controlled trade and social functions which are retold expertly here. Perdue recounts how war, diplomacy, and economics changed the roles of women and how the European viewpoints were dominant. The book ends with a look at the supposed Renaissance that occurred when missionaries from the Moravians began to work on a language and develop societal roles in Cherokee tribes.

The literature on Indians of the Southeast, and Indians in general, is growing quickly and this will become a staple within the historiography. For those who want to look at the history of the Cherokee this is an invaluable source. Furthermore for those who want to look at matrilineal roles and how they affected European and Indian relations than this is a great way to study them.

In her well-written Cherokee Women: Gender and Culture Change, 1700-1835, historian Theda Perdue argues that "the story of most Cherokee women is not cultural transformation...but remarkable cultural persistence." This is not to say, she argues, that these women did not experience significant changes in their status and condition, especially if one looks at the "decline" of Native Americans only in terms of land losses and military defeats. If, however, historians looks at "other indices of cultural change, including production, reproduction, religion, and perceptions of self, as well as political and economic institutions," then a different image emerges of Cherokee women over time: one of cultural persistence. Perdue does not deny that contact with Europeans had a profound, and ultimately negative, impact on the lives and well being of native peoples, including women of the seven Cherokee clans. She is particularly lucid in describing how the deer skin trade, military alliances and the insistence by whites of negotiating only with males in treaty making and land deals diminished much of the influence women had in terms of trade, material possessions and political status.
Perdue interprets the changes in Cherokee life for men and women, beginning in the 18th century, as a cultural retooling, in which men became predominantly involved in external affairs of the tribe (war, military alliances, commercial enterprises, treaties) and women maintained internal power and status within the tribe. "While women became dependent on men in some respects," she notes, "men also relied increasingly on women to plant corn, perpetuate lineages, and maintain village life." She goes on to state that the deerskin trade may actually have enhanced the power of women within their Cherokee communities "by removing men for much of the year." Additionally, for most of their yearly sustenance, male hunters still relied on the bounty of agricultural production, which remained almost exclusively the domain of females. Finally, Perdue argues that despite the encroachment of whites, the male takeover of tribal political leadership and institutions by the late 18th century, and relocation to the west by 1839, "a distinct culture survived removal, rebuilding, civil war, reconstruction, allotment and Oklahoma statehood." As proof of the survival and persistence of this culture, Perdue briefly points to the continuing significant role of women at the end of the 20th century. Thus, she concludes that the fate of Cherokee women has not been one of cultural declension, but one of "persistence and change, conservatism and adaptation, tragedy and survival."
Much of Perdue's interpretation of persistence and survival of women's culture within the Cherokee clans is quite persuasive. However, her treatment of the growing external role of men with regard to leadership and war and the corresponding decline in female power and influence on tribal matters of extreme (and ultimately devastating) importance to the Cherokees is problematic. By arguing that the male takeover of political power and control of land allowed women to consolidate internal, domestic power within the tribes seems to make a virtue out of an inescapable necessity. This is not to refute Perdue's recognition of the important spheres women continued to control; nevertheless, her contention that the external pressures of the U.S. government's "civilization program," land sessions, wars and eventual removal did not result in "declining status and lost culture" may be significantly overstated. For example, she asserts that although men dominated most aspects of commercial relations with whites, "women did occupy one position that had long-term implications for the Cherokees-they became wives of traders." While marriage to whites may in fact have been an effective method of survival and adaptation for Cherokee women, Perdue's use of this trend as evidence of cultural persistence is questionable. Similarly, Perdue argues that when Cherokee wives of British soldiers at the besieged Ft. Loudoun in 1760 provided supplies and intelligence to their husbands, they "acted according to long-established standards of behavior for married women." These women saw themselves not as part of "an abstract Cherokee nation," but as "members of clans and lineages," of whom their red-coated husbands were part. This assertion refutes her earlier statement that husbands were not kinsmen of their wives, they were outsiders to her clan. Furthermore, the fact that these native women were willing to defy their own people in a time of war in order to help the enemies of the tribe may also be seen as evidence of waning tribal cohesion.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Ms. Perdue's book about the Cherokee Women. It is a well researched volume. It opened my eyes to a lot about the life of the Cherokees, both men and women. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Native American cultures.

Ms. Perdue makes what could be a boring subject into a great read. The book held my attention and piqued my interest in the lives of Native Amercian women from the past and today.

CHEROKEE WOMEN, Gender and Culture Change 1700 to 1835. Theda Perdue
University of Nebraska Press 1998




Although this book is eight years old it is a good one and deserves a new review. We used this book in teaching the workshop to the Chiefs in July of this year.

The book is constructed of three major sections. The first is called a Woman's World and has two sub-sections on Constructing Gender and Defining Community.

These are exceptionally well done and show how Cherokee women were equal in the world to men as they were of the Earth medicine while the men were of the Sun. It shows how this balance, much as in the story at the beginning of the Newsletter, was achieved and maintained.

This was not a shallow equality under the law but a deep spiritual one with each group having their own power that made the other powerless without it.

It no more represented slavery to stereotype than being a Soprano or a Bass does to the opposite gender. The Creator gave the place and so their job was, again like the singer, to fulfill it completely.

The community and the ceremonials in the community all pointed the way to the achievement of the goals of significance by each Kituwah person. For they were all followers of the Kituwah faith at that time.

In the second section she traces the beginnings of the breakdown of Cherokee equality as the Men, through hunting and trade start to assume political power.

This is like the Sun coming too close to the earth and killing the plants and that is what happened. Agricultural technology withered as the women lost power and they became enslaved to the exotic trade goods that were largely inferior to their hand made original articles. To counter the men, the women married traders and even soldiers to gain back the lost power.

This led to the section on War. It is a well trod trail and yet Perdue still has some insights to offer.

In this second section however, I believe she falls to the aggravating factor that makes so many of these stories predictable and lacking in insight. At the root is an inability to assign quality without romance to Native forms. Did Indians have science, technology, law, and the arts? How about economics? Well yes. If that is so then how were they different earlier and how did they change later? Were they as successful?

In the third section on Civilization she tries to deal with this but again doesn't succeed in really drawing out the full adult lives of the individuals involved. It is a depressing often told story.

I have been surprised in my own research to find such full rich lives in our ancestors when they are so often depicted as being without a deep psychological and spiritual life. Although this is now being explored it will take many more books before we can explore the egg tempera of Cherokee artists working with bird yokes and berry dyes on woodplanks. The few extant are exquisite.

How about the Agricultural technology? And where is the music? The rhythmic complexity of real Southern drumming is both powerful dance and powerful art. Where are the scholars to study, preserve and develop that?

In Selu meets Eve, Perdue almost brings this to life but the "gift" is missing. An energy exchange (economics) exists in all cultures and is one of the crucial elements of human communication. It need not be money but an exchange does happen. It can be a payment or it can be a gift. Either way it has rules.

I would and have encouraged Dr. Perdue to look into this in another book. I hope she will for she writes wonderfully and is a first rate scholar.


Ray Evans Harrell (written for the nuyagi keetoowah newsletter sept 2005)

this book is extremly bad,,too mucho technich and encripted,,with stupid examples and long long lines,,saying nothing,, this book is so bad,,that I did not finish reading it,, is so boring,,if I could I would give 0 star to this book,,,I highly reccommend the book "the first time manager,,,"
that book is master and exceptional,,written in a very simple a open language,,this book is 100% excellent..

This book is geared more towards the executive manager, but it has some advice that is useful for any new employee. Some of it talked about the importance of first impressions, and what you need to achieve in order to earn credibility in a new position. It also wrote about the psychological effects of going from an individual contributor position to supervisory/management position. Overall, it hasn't been that helpful to me but I will keep it on my shelf for the future.

I read this book several years ago, and I have used the pragmatic advice over and over in my career. Chapter three has been particularly valuable because it has kept me focused upon the principle of making my boss look good!

Time after time, Mr. Betof and Mr. Harwood present the difficult choices and harsh realities of leadership and give you guidance as to what to do. I don't agree with everything they advise, but without question they warn you about what you will face when you are in charge and at least give you a practical plan to work from.

If you aspire to lead, I would recommend reading this book now and then watch leaders to observe how they deal with their challenges and decide what you think works. I applaud the authors' effort to outline a plan of action, but I trust that you will develop your own version for better or worse as you learn.

The great thing about this book is that it addresses the power and politics of the business world. I have seen quite a few promising but naive managers fail because they were blind-sided by coniving opponents. This book is useful to prepare good people to succeed and thereby make companies successful.

This was the first management book I read and I didn't realize how good it was until I read a couple of others. This book has the most thorough and practical advice of all the management books I've read.

No book is going to give you the magic bullet of management and this book seems to acknowledge that. If you enjoy being treated like an adult and aren't out looking for a "Snake Oil" magic management cure-all I would recommend this book (If you enjoyed "Who Moved My Cheese" might I recommend you stop reading this review and go look at "Frog and Toad Are Friends").

Also, while the title claims this book is focused on the "First 12 Months" of your new management position most of the methods and examples it gives aren't specific to that time period--although that is the best time to start.

The authors of this book seem to believe that the best individual performers should become managers - that is not something that I can agree with. It is full of pompous language (I do not want to see the word empowerment again in my whole life) instead of real-world advice. I simultaneously bought the book First-Time Manager and it is much better.

This is one of those rare books that truly challenges us to think about our approach to leadership and its consequences. With numerous historical and contemporary examples, O'Toole contrasts tough, situational leadership with democratic, values-based leadership.

By using tough leadership examples like Lee Kuan Yew who led Singapore from a Third World country to the First World and Jack Welch who probably has the best performance record of any modern CEO, he makes his task of showing the superiority of values-based leadership all the more difficult. In addition to the Rushmoreans - Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and T. Roosevelt - he uses contemporary examples like Nelson Mandela and Max De Pree to illustrate the lasting impact of values-based leaders.

He makes us question whether the short-term gains of tough leadership are worth the long-term consequences, even for Singapore and General Electric. His message is all the more relevant now that we have seen the damage caused by the Enrons of this world. His is a critical message and, if heeded, could make this a better world.

Leading Change is divided into two roughly equal parts. Part one: Leaders Leading Change introduces the idea of "values-based" leadership. Values-based leadership is inclusive, enabling others to lead by sharing information and fostering a sense of community. Institutionalizing continuous change and renewal are hallmarks of values-based leadership. At the bottom line is the moral principle of respect for people. This philosophy of leadership is contrasted with a Realist-relativist-contingency school of leadership that is more authoritarian, tough, and less "democratic." These two schools of leadership are exemplified in an interesting way by means of several profiles of historical and corporate leaders. O'Toole concludes that amoral leadership ultimately doesn't work because it is based on a relativistic and situational ethic. It does not foster the inalienable right of the pursuit of happiness.
Part Two: Followers (and Leaders) Resisting Change, tries to answer the question: Why is change resisted? O'Toole presents a list of hypotheses to answer this question, all having some validity. Of interest is his examination of the reasons for the initial rejection of some very profound managerial philosophies and practices that ultimately attained great success and broad acceptance. Those reasons are summarized as fear, loss of power, and resistance to the imposition of the will of others. I recommend the book. It is accessible and interesting, offering a well reasoned argument for value-based leadership.
Author James O'Toole taught for over twenty years on the faculty of the Graduate School of Business at the University of Southern California. He is the author of twelve books and over seventy articles and is currently vice president of The Aspen Institute. SWS

It is a popular tenet among managers and leaders that sometimes when circumstances are difficult, you are justified in being "tough." Not so, says author James O'Toole, director of the Corporate Leaders Forum at the Aspen Institute in Colorado. Abusive leadership, says O'Toole, is never justifiable. What's more, it's not effective in the long run. Leaders who step on the rights and sensibilities of their employees will find that they will not have their employee's support when they need it most. No CEO in today's world can go it alone. No matter what industry you are in, you need the skills, knowledge and experience of others to succeed.

To be a change leader you must be willing to listen to your employees and involve them in changes in the company. You must also have respect for your employees and be willing to compromise. Values-based leadership begins with a commitment to upholding integrity, fostering trust and doing what is best for your followers. There will always be resistance to change, says O'Toole, but acting "tough" will not help to change the minds of employees. More often than not, it will only make them resentful. You must, instead, lead change by inspiring it, and involving everyone in the process.

Change led by value-based leaders has the following characteristics:
· Top management support. Leaders must make a commitment to the change, including change of their own behavior.
· Participation in the change at all levels of the organization.
· Total coverage. You cannot change just one part of the organization. All parts of the organization are connected to each other, and must change together.
· Ongoing effort. A value-based leader tries to instill a culture of continuous change, innovation and learning.

By all means, I recommend you to read this book. However, since this book came out in 1995, a NEW VERSION is available in paperback. The new version includes an extra preface and some revisions to chapter 2 and chapter 8.

Author James O'Toole is definitely not afraid of creating controversy. His book is a refreshing approach to leadership in many ways. Stylistically and philosophically, Leading Change is a different kind of book about leaders and the natural resistance of the change process. O'Toole left a comfortable 20 year university chair in academia to begin working with the Aspen Institute. This experience was a major inspiration in writing this enterprising book.

Perhaps the most daring aspect of Leading Change is O'Toole's clear repudiation of the contingency theories so prevalent today in leadership research and coaching programs. He obviously did not come to this conclusion frivolously. This work includes his observations and experience from over two decades of working with both corporate leaders and with respected mentors such as Bennis, Drucker, Gardner, DePree and others! O'Toole loudly proclaims that the contingency theories so revered today simply don't work in the long run. He maintains that by their very design they typically destroy trust between leaders and followers. He then offers a values-based alternative, which is a primary focus of the book.

Leading Change begins with O'Toole drawing a number of deep analogies from a painting by James Ensor. He immediately draws you into the books theme by probing a number of profound leadership questions and scenarios analogous to paintings theme. As an author, he seeks to answer three related questions:

1. What are the major causes of resistance to change?

2. How can leaders effectively and morally overcome that resistance?

3. Why is the dominant philosophy of leadership, based on contingency theory, neither an effective nor a moral guide for people who wish to lead change?

To answer these questions O'Toole divides the book into two halves. The first half deals with leaders and the second half with followers. The main theme of his work is to seriously question the validity of contingency theory and propose the alternative of value-based leadership behavior. O'Toole writes, "Instead, values-based leadership is an attitude about people, philosophy, and process. To overcome the resistance to change, one must be willing, for starters, to change oneself. In essence, then, values-based leadership is "unnatural.""

If you want to read and digest a book that will challenge both you and much present thinking about leadership, this book is definitely for you!

We all know about the kinds of things you'll find in this little book.Fortunately,most of us have not actually experienced them....at least not yet.
Being gored by a bull,shot in the head,caught in a volcano,attacked by a Grizzly bear,attacked by Killer bees,do Heroin,be an Albino,be really short,change from a man to a woman,live to 105,go on a hunger strike,get hit by lightning, be buried in an avalance and survive; along with over 40 more experiences are all described by people who actually experienced them.I think the one that surprised me most was the enjoyable experience with death and return. Then ,the person who told of this experience was a spiritual consultant ;could there be a conflict of interest here? We'll all get to experience this one sometime, but I doubt if anyone is in a big hurry! Being a man,I guess I'll have to take the woman's word for how it feels to give birth.
I would, however, like to try the experience of winning a Lottery;not for the money,mind you ,just the experience. If you believe that,maybe you'll believe I'd like to experience an exorcism.
A fun book to kill an hour or so.

Everything all the previous reviews said were true of my reading experience, "Bon Bon Journalism", with the exception of "If this is your idea of humor, you're definitely sick, June 27, 2004 Reviewer: A reader".

If "A reader" thinks the book is "sick" then maybe they read a couple of the accounts just after eating: Which one would know by reading the title that you would not read them right before or right after a meal if you're you have a sensitive stomach. (Same idea if you like Medical Miracle, ER, X-files, Law&Order - You probably don't eat your dinner watching those shows.)

It is catogorized in Humour, and I did find this book in the Humour section of a Barnes and Noble, but it's not likely that many people would have come across this engaging little book, including me, if it had been catagorized differently.

I bought 5 more of these books, and everyone that received the book thought it was just as fun too.

This is what I call bon-bon journalism. The pieces are all under a thousand words, some are under three hundred. They are pithy, quickly sketched and to the point, written in the first person as told to some of the writers at Esquire. I call it bon-bon journalism because the book is like a box of chocolates: you pop one into your mouth and then another and before you know it you've read the whole thing!

There are sixty-one of these little tales taken from the pages of the magazine. I wouldn't be able to pick a best one, but I liked Buzz Aldrin's reprise of what it feels like to walk on the moon: "powdery dust...the sky velvety black...surreal..." Naturally he was super focused on the task and aware that "if we made a mistake, we would regret it for quite a while."

I also liked "Going over Niagara Falls in a Barrel." It was a lot more high tech than you'd think. It took them almost a year and a half to construct the barrel. "Geoffrey Petkovich, 39, self-employed" who did it with a pal got roughed up a bit. His mouthpiece "got driven, hard" into his gums. He had two cans of beer and a pack of smokes in the barrel and two hours worth of oxygen in tanks in case the barrel sank.

Good too was "What It Feels Like to Have an Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder." This guy, "Craig Strobeck, 24, actor" has to take two and a half hour showers. He runs out of hot water but doesn't stop. He has to clean every inch of his body about a thousand times. Sometimes he has to get back in the shower because one area just doesn't feel clean enough.

I was surprised to learn that when giving birth all that pushing that you have to do not only pushes the baby out, but also empties the bowels, etc. leaving a clean up detail that I never heard about before. But the endorphin rush is tremendous, so says "Dee McManamy, 43, housewife."

You get the picture. I think this would be a perfect book to take on a cross country flight, just enough light reading to keep you distracted, but you might want to skip the "What It Feels Like to Be in a Plane Crash." Then again "Ellen Hassman, 55, retired advertising executive" walked away from the detached section of the plane's tail while more than thirty other people died...

As a writer, I admired the crisp way the pieces were edited: tell the story and stop.

The author starts from the clever premise of asking people to describe interesting situations--being struck by lightning, being in a tornado, being shot in the head--and they tell him how it feels and he tells us! It's a quick read but don't let the ease of reading fool you--the book actually teaches us more of what it means to be human, and finally we learn of the bond that links us all, no matter what our experiences.

I saw this book in the humor section of a bookstore. The first "chapter" talks about what it feels like to be struck by lightning. My sister was killed by lightning, so obviously I don't see any humor in that. Other "chapters" talk about being shot in the head, being gored by a bull and having leprosy. Do people find these things to be funny? There might be a place for this book in a bookstore (and on Amazon), but the humor section is not the place.

Eric Hoffers book, The True Believer is probolly the best book I have ever read. It gives insight into human nature that helped me understand the behavior of other people and even myself. It changed my view of the world I live in. Obviously it made a huge impact on me.

Because I was so impressed I quickly bought Hoffers other book The Ordeal of Change. I felt somewhat disapointd with this. I found it to lack the insight into human nature that his earlier work did. The Ordeal of Change seems to discuss how change occurs among a group of people rather than individuals. The True Believer discussed why individuals join groups, there was more emphasis on the individual than the group.

The book is still good. Perhaps I feel dispointed only because I cannot help but compare it to The True Believer which was a masterpiece. I still recomend this book but suggest that you read The True Believer as well.

I read this book (and most of his others) when originally published. No question but THIS IS HIS GREAT WORK. As his work went on, his lack of understanding of institutions (public and private) began to show his failure to fully grasp the implications. When he left what he knew so well, the relations of the workers, he moved so far that his later writing suffers from asute commentary based on incorrect facts and understanding, which require careful reading. But THIS BOOK should be REQUIRED READING -- PERHAPS MOST FOR DUBYA AND HIS CREW, WHO TOTALLY LACK UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCEPT.

Hoffer's essays are the best I have ever read on sociology. They are short, well organized and provide the deepest understanding of human nature. I hardly remember a thinker which could compete with Hoffer in this field.

Every line in this book has the capacity to change your life. It doesn't even have to be an ordeal.

This work contains a mixture of autobiography and philosophical and social reflection. Hoffer wrote ," My writing grows out of my life, just like a branch out of a tree" And his lifelong journey in learning was really integral to his own life. He began reading Montaigne and spent a lifetime reading more and learning all the time. He makes it clear here that he like most human beings fears change, but understands that to truly thrive from change one must learn, understood that those who rely on what they have learned long ago will have the world pass them. In other words he recommended that Societies like individuals be engaged in a continual process of learning and developing.
Hoffer was a one- of - a kind original. A truly decent person, who walked to the sound of his own drummer. Admirable in his anti- totalitarian stance and his refusal to be cowed by intellectual trend or fashion. He was a believer in American freedom , and an example of what a free - society can produce- at its best.

Tarrow examines social movements and contentious politics in an in-depth way, providing a framework for understanding cycles of contention and other issues associated with social movements. This book is valuable in that the reader can use Tarrow's arguments to understand the dynamics of current movements. As the previous reviewer noted, Tarrow does leave out some important aspects of social movements, such as emotion, which detracts from his argument.

What I disliked about this book was the writing style of the author. It seemed that he was trying to express even the most simple concepts with verbose, pedantic language that made his arguments difficult to understand and distracted the reader from the points he was trying to make. For example, he defines a cycle of contention like this: "a phase of heightened conflict across the social system: with a rapid diffusion of collective action from more mobilized to less mobilized sectors; a rapid pace of innovation in the forms of contention; the creation of new or transformed collective action frames; a combination of organized and unorganized participate; and sequences of intensified information flow and interaction between challengers and authorities. Such widespread contention produces externalities that give challengers at least a temporary advantage and allows them to overcome the weaknesses in their resource base. It demands that states devise broad strategies of response that are either repressive or facilitative, or a combination of the two." (Page 142.)

The only reason I can fathom that anyone would feel the need to write in such an absurdly inflated style would be if the author's argument and thesis weren't strong to begin with, and the author's intention was to confuse the reader. I think the author could have gotten his point across in a much clearer and concise way. I would advise anyone who is thinking about reading it to peruse the sample pages for more examples of the author's style- then decide if you can stomach this book.

Overall, good information, but the writing style is ridiculous.

Aside from some introductory matter on the various schools of thought in social movement research, here Tarrow mostly focuses on the influence of political structures on the formation of popular movements. This includes both external political and social influences, plus developments in the interactions between movements and the states/regimes they are confronting. Tarrow mostly uses movements that have had strong political effects in various nations (mostly Europe) as examples for his theories, and utilizes the concept of "cycles of contention" to elaborate on the evolution of movements over time. This specialized focus does lead to some interesting results, such as Tarrow's reconstruction of the disparate revolutions in Europe in 1848 as a widespread movement, or coverage of how states can co-opt a movement's message as a means of control. He has a nearly Marxist conception of such trends, but mostly avoids the tiresome pontificating that is usually fostered by Marxist theorizing. Another bonus is the final chapter of the main text, dealing with new phenomena in globalized or transnational social movements. The book does lose steam frequently as Tarrow gets distracted with long histories of the movements he uses as examples (including way too much repetitive information on the 1848 phenomenon), while his generally strong writing does occasionally lapse into diffuse professor-speak, which sadly is unavoidable in this field. But in the long run, this book offers mostly powerful coverage of politicized social movements, and the study thereof. [~doomsdayer520~]

I had to read an earlier edition of that book for a course on social movements. It was one of my first contacts with social movements literature. Since then, I plug almost everything I read on social movement to the theoretical framework described in this book. I guess the main quality of this book is that the author recognise the contributions made by different schools of thought on social movements and tries to situate them in a larger framework rather then dismiss them. Therefore, anyone working within a specific area of social movement studies can gain something from the reading of this book. However, the major contribution of this book is probably the theorization of the "cycles of contentions" based on changing political opportunity structure. As the opportunity structure open for a social movement, the movement is on the rise... when it close, for example because of a change in the public opinion caused by a rise in insecurity and violence, the movement disolve. Although a very simple theory, it appers very effective in understanding the rise and fall of social movements.

As any student of social movements would argue, this book does not cover all aspect of social movements (e.g. identity, emotions, ...) but Tarrow does leave enough space for other approaches while developing is how theoretical approach to social movements. An excellent book!