Worshipping the Great Moderniser

Worshipping the Great Moderniser PDF Author: Irene Stengs
Publisher: NUS Press
ISBN: 9789971694296
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
An examination of social imaginary surrounding Thai kingship and Thainess that yield an intriguing amalgam of ideas concerning popular religion, Buddhist kingship, nationalism, and material culture. It explores the contemporary appeal of King Chulalongkorn and considers what this ruler's unprecedented popularity says about Thai society.

Worshipping the Great Moderniser

Worshipping the Great Moderniser PDF Author: Irene Stengs
Publisher: NUS Press
ISBN: 9789971694296
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
An examination of social imaginary surrounding Thai kingship and Thainess that yield an intriguing amalgam of ideas concerning popular religion, Buddhist kingship, nationalism, and material culture. It explores the contemporary appeal of King Chulalongkorn and considers what this ruler's unprecedented popularity says about Thai society.

The Autocratic Middle Class

The Autocratic Middle Class PDF Author: Bryn Rosenfeld
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691192197
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
"The conventional wisdom is that a growing middle class will give rise to democracy. Yet the middle classes of the developing world have grown at a remarkable pace over the past two decades, and much of this growth has taken place in countries that remain nondemocratic. Rosenfeld explains this phenomenon by showing how modern autocracies secure support from key middle-class constituencies. Drawing on original surveys, interviews, archival documents, and secondary sources collected from nine months in the field, she compares the experiences of recent post-communist countries, including Russia, the Ukraine, and Kazakhstan, to show that under autocracy, state efforts weaken support for democracy, especially among the middle class. When autocratic states engage extensively in their economies - by offering state employment, offering perks to those to those who are loyal, and threatening dismissal to those who are disloyal - the middle classes become dependent on the state for economic opportunities and career advancement, and, ultimately, do not support a shift toward democratization. Her argument explains why popular support for Ukraine's Orange Revolution unraveled or why Russians did not protest evidence of massive electoral fraud. The author's research questions the assumption that a rising share of educated, white-collar workers always makes the conditions for democracy more favorable, and why dependence on the state has such pernicious consequences for democratization"--

The Ancient Middle Classes

The Ancient Middle Classes PDF Author: Emanuel Mayer
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674065344
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
"Our image of the Roman world is shaped by the writings of Roman statesmen and upper class intellectuals. Yet most of the material evidence we have from Roman times--art, architecture, and household artifacts from Pompeii and elsewhere--belonged to, and was made for, artisans, merchants, and professionals. Roman culture as we have seen it with our own eyes, Emanuel Mayer boldly argues, turns out to be distinctly middle class and requires a radically new framework of analysis. Starting in the first century B.C.E., ancient communities, largely shaped by farmers living within city walls, were transformed into vibrant urban centers where wealth could be quickly acquired through commercial success. From 100 B.C.E. to 250 C.E., the archaeological record details the growth of a cosmopolitan empire and a prosperous new class rising along with it. Not as keen as statesmen and intellectuals to show off their status and refinement, members of this new middle class found novel ways to create pleasure and meaning. In the décor of their houses and tombs, Mayer finds evidence that middle-class Romans took pride in their work and commemorated familial love and affection in ways that departed from the tastes and practices of social elites."--Jacket.

The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution

The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution PDF Author: Ganesh Sitaraman
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0451493923
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 433

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Book Description
In this original, provocative contribution to the debate over economic inequality, Ganesh Sitaraman argues that a strong and sizable middle class is a prerequisite for America’s constitutional system. A New York Times Notable Book of 2017 For most of Western history, Sitaraman argues, constitutional thinkers assumed economic inequality was inevitable and inescapable—and they designed governments to prevent class divisions from spilling over into class warfare. The American Constitution is different. Compared to Europe and the ancient world, America was a society of almost unprecedented economic equality, and the founding generation saw this equality as essential for the preservation of America’s republic. Over the next two centuries, generations of Americans fought to sustain the economic preconditions for our constitutional system. But today, with economic and political inequality on the rise, Sitaraman says Americans face a choice: Will we accept rising economic inequality and risk oligarchy or will we rebuild the middle class and reclaim our republic? The Crisis of the Middle-Class Constitution is a tour de force of history, philosophy, law, and politics. It makes a compelling case that inequality is more than just a moral or economic problem; it threatens the very core of our constitutional system.

China's Emerging Middle Class

China's Emerging Middle Class PDF Author: Cheng Li
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 0815704054
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 417

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Book Description
Decades ago, there was no distinct middle class in the People's Republic of China. Any meaningful discussion of China's economy, politics, or society must take into account the rapid emergence and explosive growth of the Chinese middle class. This book details the origins and characteristics of this dramatic change.

Life in a Medieval Castle

Life in a Medieval Castle PDF Author: Joseph Gies
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062016504
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
From acclaimed historians Frances and Joseph Gies comes the reissue of this definitive classic on medieval castles, which was a source for George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series. “Castles are crumbly and romantic. They still hint at an age more colorful and gallant than our own, but are often debunked by boring people who like to run on about drafts and grumble that the latrines did not work. Joseph and Frances Gies offer a book that helps set the record straight—and keeps the romance too.”—Time A widely respected academic work and a source for George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, Joseph and Frances Gies’s bestselling Life in a Medieval Castle remains a timeless work of popular medieval scholarship. Focusing on Chepstow, an English castle that survived the turbulent Middle Ages with a relative lack of violence, the book offers an exquisite portrait of what day-to-day life was actually like during the era, and of the key role the castle played. The Gieses take us through the full cycle of a medieval year, dictated by the rhythms of the harvest. We learn what lords and serfs alike would have worn, eaten, and done for leisure, and of the outside threats the castle always hoped to keep at bay. For medieval buffs and anyone who wants to learn more about this fascinating era, Life in a Medieval Castle is as timely today as when it was first published.

War on the Middle Class

War on the Middle Class PDF Author: Lou Dobbs
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101218754
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
Lou Dobbs's bestselling exposé of the silent assault on the living standards of ordinary Americans Millions of TV viewers have known Lou Dobbs for years as the Walter Cronkite of economics coverage, and now the anchor has become the preeminent champion of the common man and the good of the national interest, who tells uncomfortable truths in a voice that can't be ignored. In this incendiary book, he presents a frontline report on the betrayal of America's middle class by interests that range from rapacious corporations to an out-of-touch political elite. The result is not only lost jobs but also dysfunctional schools and unaffordable health care. But War on the Middle Class also outlines a bold program for change. As essential as it is infuriating, this book furnishes the talking points for the national debate on income and class.

The Radical Middle Class

The Radical Middle Class PDF Author: Robert D. Johnston
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691096681
Category : Middle class
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
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King of the Class

King of the Class PDF Author: Gila Green
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781926942148
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
Eve and Manny are engaged in post-civil war Israel. Eve studies at the Hebrew University for Jewish Renewal, an island of militant secularism in the religiously-run Shalem State, while Manny is an unemployed graduate student with a secret: he is falling in love with his religious roots and turning his back on modern moral relativism. As their wedding date approaches, Manny deserts Eve, then devastates her a second time with the revelation that he has pre-empted their wedding with a marriage to a new lifestyle. In the midst of this betrayal, Eve collides with a pre-soul who has had his out-of-this-world eyes on her all along. The collision leaves Eve with a choice: reconcile with Manny or else condemn a soul to never living. Now, more than a decade later, the couple live with their three children off the Tel Aviv Coast on the manmade Yovel Islands. But Eve’s uncanny encounter has left a mark and she now has her own secret, one that may save her only son’s life, or else tear her family apart. King of the Class is a futuristic satire on the toxic brew of religion and politics in modern Israel, poking a playful finger at parental gold-digging and technological dependence.

A Piece of the Action

A Piece of the Action PDF Author: Joe Nocera
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1476744890
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 480

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Book Description
Now with a new introduction describing the fallout of America’s consumer credit boom, 1994’s wildly acclaimed bestseller A Piece of the Action tells the story of how millions of middle class Americans went from being savers to borrowers and investors through the invention of credit cards, mutual funds, and IRAs—resulting in profound societal change. “America began to change on a mid-September day in 1958, when the Bank of America dropped its first 60,000 credit cards on the unassuming city of Fresno, California.” So begins Joe Nocera’s riveting account of one of the most astonishing revolutions in modern American life—what Nocera labels “the money revolution.” In the decades since, the middle class has gained access to credit cards, to mutual funds, to retirement accounts—and to hundreds of other financial vehicles that have allowed everyone to get “a piece of the action.” In this lively, engaging book, some of the great financial characters of modern times—from Charles Merrill to Charles Schwab to Peter Lynch—strut across the stage as the course of this great financial shift is charted. In an all-new introduction, Nocera takes a look back at the consequences of the money revolution. Were members of the middle class as prepared as the innovators claimed to take control of their financial lives? Or did events like the dot-com and the housing bubbles suggest something else: that far too many of us lacked the wherewithal to make sound investment decisions?