Benjamin Barber's Books

Aristocracy of Everyone

By: Benjamin Barber

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In this brilliant, controversial, and profoundly original book, Benjamin R. Barber fundamentally alters the terms of the current debate over the value of opportunity in American education, politics, and culture. Barber argues that the fashionable rallying cries of cultural literacy and political correctness completely miss the point of what is wrong with our society. While we fret about "the closing of the American mind" we utterly ignore the closing of American schools. While we worry about Japanese technology, we fail to tap the more fundamental ideological resources on which our country was founded. As Barber argues, the future of America lies not in competition but in education. Education in America can and must embrace both democracy and excellence. Barber demonstrates persuasively that our national story has always comprised an intermingling of diverse, contradictory, often subversive voices. Multiculturalism has, from the very start, defined America. From his gripping portrait of America poised on the brink of unprecedented change, Barber offers a daringly original program for effecting change: for teaching democracy depends not only on the preeminence of education but on a resurgence of true community service. A ringing challenge to the complacency, cynicism, and muddled thinking of our time that will change the way you feel about being an American citizen.

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345

Publisher

Ballantine Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307827283

ISBN 13

9780307827289

An Aristocracy of Everyone

The Politics of Education and the Future of America

By: Benjamin R. Barber

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An Aristocracy of Everyone

The Politics of Education and the Future of America

By: Benjamin R. Barber

In a book that fundamentally alters the terms of the current debate over education in America, Barber argues that rather than pursuing a debate defined by controversy over who should be taught, what should be taught, and how it should be paid for, Americans must address education for what itis: the well-spring of democracy in the United States. With such an education young Americans will gain nothing less than an apprenticeship in liberty--one grounded in a renewed commitment to community service--an idea that Barber put into practice at Rutgers University, and one which PresidentClinton has enbraced as the key to a revitalized America. This approach will provide Americans the literacy to live in a civil society and the competence to participate in democratic communities, while promoting an educational excellence that will maintain America's economic, technical, andpolitical preeminence in a rapidly changing world. An Aristocracy of Everyone shows that education offers the only path toward rebuilding and reinvigorating the United States, and that this is a path we must begin to follow now.

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Page Count

307

Publisher

Oxford University Press, USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

019509154X

ISBN 13

9780195091540

The Struggle for Democracy

By: Patrick Watson,Benjamin R. Barber

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The Struggle for Democracy

By: Patrick Watson,Benjamin R. Barber

This book provides a clear understanding of the origin and nature of democracy, citizenship and free speech. First published in 1989, the revised edition includes 16 pages of color photographs and has been update to include recent events.

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252

Published Date

ISBN 10

1552631680

ISBN 13

9781552631683

Strong Democracy

Participatory Politics for a New Age

By: Benjamin R. Barber

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Strong Democracy

Participatory Politics for a New Age

By: Benjamin R. Barber

Arguing that an excess of liberalism has undone American democratic institutions, Barber demonstrates that the political crises of this era -- cynicism about voting, alienation, privatism and the growing paralysis of public institutions -- are symptoms of a malaise due to liberal ways of thinking about and doing politics. He believes that if Americans are to survive as a free people, they will have to participate more in their political system through such means as neighborhood assemblies, national initiatives, referendums and election of some political offices by a rotation system. Citizens of a strong democracy formulate policies not on the basis of absolute values but on what can be agreed as reasonable. ISBN 0-520-05115-7 : $16.95.

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320

Published Date

ISBN 10

0520056167

ISBN 13

9780520056169

The Truth of Power

Intellectual Affairs in the Clinton White House

By: Benjamin R. Barber

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The Truth of Power

Intellectual Affairs in the Clinton White House

By: Benjamin R. Barber

In 1994 Benjamin R. Barber was invited by President Clinton to participate in a seminar on the future of democratic ideas and ideals. Following their meeting, Barber became an informal consultant to the Clinton White House, working with a president who proved to be an astonishing listener open to a variety of ideas. Barber's experiences were unexpected and enlightening-the most unpredictable being his interactions with the president himself. Barber's meditation on Bill Clinton's tenure in office offers a balanced and complex portrait of the Clinton administration, especially in its relationship to America's intellectual and scholarly community. Barber also identifies the true faultlines of power that future candidates must negotiate if they are to win an election. For this edition, Barber has written a new afterword reflecting on Clinton's "vision" problem, his controversial role in shaping today's Democratic Party, and his efforts to confront the challenges of interdependence and terrorism. He concludes with a provocative assessment of Hillary Clinton as a Democratic primary candidate in the battle for the presidency.

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Page Count

338

Publisher

Columbia University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0231144393

ISBN 13

9780231144391

Jihad vs. McWorld

Terrorism's Challenge to Democracy

By: Benjamin Barber

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Jihad vs. McWorld

Terrorism's Challenge to Democracy

By: Benjamin Barber

Jihad vs. McWorld is a groundbreaking work, an elegant and illuminating analysis of the central conflict of our times: consumerist capitalism versus religious and tribal fundamentalism. These diametrically opposed but strangely intertwined forces are tearing apart--and bringing together--the world as we know it, undermining democracy and the nation-state on which it depends. On the one hand, consumer capitalism on the global level is rapidly dissolving the social and economic barriers between nations, transforming the world's diverse populations into a blandly uniform market. On the other hand, ethnic, religious, and racial hatreds are fragmenting the political landscape into smaller and smaller tribal units. Jihad vs. McWorld is the term that distinguished writer and political scientist Benjamin R. Barber has coined to describe the powerful and paradoxical interdependence of these forces. In this important new book, he explores the alarming repercussions of this potent dialectic for democracy. A work of persuasive originality and penetrating insight, Jihad vs. McWorld holds up a sharp, clear lens to the dangerous chaos of the post-Cold War world. Critics and political leaders have already heralded Benjamin R. Barber's work for its bold vision and moral courage. Jihad vs. McWorld is an essential text for anyone who wants to understand our troubled present and the crisis threatening our future.

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Page Count

428

Publisher

Ballantine Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307874443

ISBN 13

9780307874443

A Passion for Democracy

American Essays

By: Benjamin R. Barber

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A Passion for Democracy

American Essays

By: Benjamin R. Barber

Benjamin Barber is one of America's preeminent political theorists. He has been a significant voice in the continuing debate about the nature and role of democracy in the contemporary world. A Passion for Democracy collects twenty of his most important writings on American democracy. Together they refine his distinctive position in democratic theory. Barber's conception of "strong democracy" contrasts with traditional concepts of "liberal democracy," especially in its emphasis on citizen participation in central issues of public debate. These essays critique the "thin representation" of liberal democracy and buttress the arguments presented in Barber's twelve books, most recently in his well-received Jihad vs. McWorld: How Globalism and Tribalism Are Re-shaping the World. In these pieces, Barber argues for participatory democracy without dependence on abstract metaphysical foundations, and he stresses the relationship among democracy and civil society, civic education, and culture. A Passion for Democracy is divided into four sections. In the first, "American Theory: Democracy, Liberalism, and Rights," Barber addresses issues of ongoing relevance to today's debates about the roots of participatory democracy, including individualism vs. community, the importance of consent, and the irrelevance of Marxism. Essays in the second section, "American Practice: Leadership, Citizenship, and Censorship" provide a "strong democracy" critique of American democratic practice. "Education for Democracy: Civic Education, Service, and Citizenship" applies Barber's theories to three related topics and includes his much-discussed essay "America Skips School." The final section, "Democracy and Technology: Endless Frontier or End of Democracy?" provides glimpses into a future that technology alone cannot secure for democracy. In his preface, Barber writes: "In these essays ... I have been hard on my country. Like most ardent democrats, I want more for it than it has achieved, despite the fact that it has achieved more than most people have dared to want." This wide-ranging collection displays not only his passion for democracy, but also his unique perspective on issues of abiding importance for the democratic process.

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306

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

069122790X

ISBN 13

9780691227900

A Place for Us

How to Make Society Civil and Democracy Strong

By: Benjamin R. Barber

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A Place for Us

How to Make Society Civil and Democracy Strong

By: Benjamin R. Barber

In our crowded, noisy world—too many people, too much crime, too many wars, not enough time—it seems almost impossible to locate and preserve the common ground where a civil society might flourish. Whatever happened to the civic virtue and community life that nourished true democracy? In this provocative, hard-hitting book, political scientist Benjamin Barber tackles these questions head-on and, in answering them, retrieves the ideals of "civil society" from the nostalgists who want to re-create old-fashioned (and discriminatory) small communities and from the free-marketeers who associate it with unfettered commercial activity. Commentators have been making a fashion of civil society, but they tend to mean many different things by the phrase: this bracingly clear book shows how diverse the various notions are and how best to think about them. Barber proposes practical strategies for making civil society real, for civilizing public discourse and promoting civic debate, and for affirming values beyond those of work and leisure, commerce and bureaucracy.

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Page Count

175

Publisher

Macmillan

Published Date

ISBN 10

080907656X

ISBN 13

9780809076567

Barberville

By: Benjamin D. Brotemarkle

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Barberville

By: Benjamin D. Brotemarkle

For as long as people have traveled in Central Florida, Barberville has been an important crossroads for their journeys. Native Americans created a trail that crossed the St. John's River, passed through the future Barberville, and continued over the Tomoka River to what is now Ormond Beach. When the Spanish came to Florida, they adopted the path and renamed it the Spanish Trail. As pioneers moved to Barberville in the 1800s, the town served as an intersection linking Pierson and Seville to the north, DeLeon Springs and DeLand to the south, Ormond Beach and Daytona Beach to the east, and Astor and Ocala to the west. As urban sprawl envelops much of Central Florida, Barberville remains a rural, agricultural outpost celebrating and remembering local history and culture and encouraging visitors and tourists to do the same.

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132

Publisher

Arcadia Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

0738517755

ISBN 13

9780738517759

If Mayors Ruled the World

Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities

By: Benjamin R. Barber

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If Mayors Ruled the World

Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities

By: Benjamin R. Barber

In the face of the most perilous challenges of our time--climate change, terrorism, poverty, and trafficking of drugs, guns, and people--the nations of the world seem paralyzed. The problems are too big for governments to deal with. Benjamin Barber contends that cities, and the mayors who run them, can do and are doing a better job than nations. He cites the unique qualities cities worldwide share: pragmatism, civic trust, participation, indifference to borders and sovereignty, and a democratic penchant for networking, creativity, innovation, and cooperation. He demonstrates how city mayors, singly and jointly, are responding to transnational problems more effectively than nation-states mired in ideological infighting and sovereign rivalries. The book features profiles of a dozen mayors around the world, making a persuasive case that the city is democracy's best hope in a globalizing world, and that great mayors are already proving that this is so"--

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Page Count

434

Publisher

Yale University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0300164831

ISBN 13

9780300164831

Book's by Benjamin Barber

Aristocracy of Everyone

Aristocracy of Everyone

An Aristocracy of Everyone

An Aristocracy of Everyone

The Struggle for Democracy

The Struggle for Democracy

Strong Democracy

Strong Democracy

The Truth of Power

The Truth of Power

Jihad vs. McWorld

Jihad vs. McWorld

A Passion for Democracy

A Passion for Democracy

A Place for Us

A Place for Us

Barberville

Barberville

If Mayors Ruled the World

If Mayors Ruled the World

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