Books about Activism from Amazon.com

Soul of a Citizen awakens within us the desire and the ability to make our voices heard and our actions count. We can lead lives worthy of our convictions

A book of inspiration and integrity, Soul of a Citizen is an antidote to the twin scourges of modern life-powerlessness and cynicism. In his evocative style. Paul Loeb tells moving tells moving stories of ordinary Americans who have found unexpected fulfillment in social involvement. Through their example and Loeb's own wise and powerful lessons, we are compelled to move from passivity to participation. The reward of our action, we learn, is nothing less than a sense of connection and purpose not found in a purely personal life.
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Price: $3.77 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Winner of the 2008 JAMES BEARD HUMANITARIAN AWARD, 2008 NAUTILUS SMALL PRESS GOLD AWARD and 2008 NAUTILUS SILVER AWARD in the category of Social Change/Activism

Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity & Courage in a World Gone Mad is a little book with a big message. Frances Moore Lappe--author of fifteen books, including three-million-copy bestseller Diet for a Small Planet--distills her world-spanning experience and wisdom in a conversational yet hard-hitting style to create a rare "aha" book. In nine short chapters, Lappe leaves readers feeling liberated and courageous. She flouts conventional right-versus-left divisions and affirms readers' basic sanity--their intuitive knowledge that it is possible to stop grasping at straws and grasp the real roots of today's crises, from hunger and poverty to climate change and terrorism. Because we are creatures of the mind, says Lappe, it is the power of "frame"--our core assumptions about how the world works--that determines outcomes. She pinpoints the dominant failing frame now driving out planet toward disaster. By interweaving fresh insights, startling facts, and stirring vignettes of ordinary people pursuing creative solutions to our most pressing global problems, Lappe uncovers a new, empowering "frame" through which real solutions are emerging worldwide.
She writes: "My book's intent is to enable us to see what is happening all around us but is still invisible to most of us. It is about people in all walks of life who are penetrating the spiral of despair and reversing it with new ideas, ingenious innovation--and courage.".
Price: $6.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Expanding Architecture presents a new generation of creative design carried out in the service of the greater public and the greater good. Questioning how design can improve daily lives, editors Bryan Bell and Katie Wakeford map an emerging geography of architectural activism--or "public-interest architecture"--that might function akin to public-interest law or medicine by expanding architecture's all too often elite client base. With 30 essays by practicing architects and designers, urban and community planners, historians, landscape architects, environmental designers and members of other fields, this volume presents recent work from around the world that illustrates the ways in which design can address issues of social justice, allow individuals and communities to plan and improve their own lives and serve a much larger percentage of the population than it has in the past. This new inclusionary practice must define new services and new processes, and these are illuminated in the generously illustrated texts as well.
Building on the momentum of Bell's Good Deeds, Good Design and other recent landmark publications such as Rural Studio and Design Like You Give a Damn, Expanding Architecture examines evolving notions of socially conscious practice and serves as a guide for designers who are willing to take on the social, economic and environmental challenges we face today.
Bryan Bell is the Executive Director of the Raleigh, North Carolina-based Design Corps, which he founded in 1991 to provide community service through architecture. His other initiatives include the Design Corps Fellowship program, the Design Corps Summer Studio and the Structures for Inclusion annual conference. In 2007 he received a National Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects.
Katie Wakeford received her M.Arch from North Carolina State University School of Architecture, where she became interested in community design. She began working with Design Corps in 2002, and currently serves as an intern architect with the North Carolina State College of Design's Home Environments Design Initiative, a research and community outreach endeavor focused on affordable and sustainable housing..
Price: $17.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The Social Movements Reader is an extensive collection of the key classic and contemporary readings on the origins, organization, dynamics, and effects of social movements

• Contains 33 concise essays by leading scholars on the origins, organizations, influences, and development of social movements.
  
• Collects both classic and contemporary readings on social movements.
  
• Provides several case studies including articles on labor, civil rights, women, the environment, religion, and politics.
  
• Includes editorial introductions, chronologies, and definitions of key terms to give further insight and direction.

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Price: $28.90 [Notify me when price goes down.]

AFTER SEPTEMBER 11, 2001...
...the federal government detained several hundred people suspected of terrorist involvement, and continued to search for hundreds more. Some were overseas, some were on the run, but most were already at home -- in America.

Who are these people? Where did they come from? And how could there be so many terrorists or suspected terrorists living among us without action being taken? In American Jihad, Steven Emerson, the world's leading authority on domestic Islamic terrorist networks, tells the full story of the rise of those who wish to destroy the United States from within.

From the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, to foiled attacks on the New York City subway system, to a stunning range of murders across the country, there were numerous warning signs that the "American Jihad" had been gaining momentum. With an up-to-the-minute afterword that explains the stops and starts of the post-9/11 investigation, American Jihad reveals the full story that only Emerson knows -- and the reasons America failed to stop the most devastating attack in history on our own soil. This is a frightening and crucial book for anyone who needs to understand the threat within our borders..
Price: $5.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

No matter what your political persuasion, The One-Hour Activist is your guide to influencing lawmakers, candidates, and reporters   The One-Hour Activist reveals fifteen powerful, proven grassroots actions that persuade lawmakers and candidates to see things your way.  Each action is designed to grab the attention of your representatives and build relationships that serve your issues over the long run.  And each action takes less than an hour to complete, so you can make a difference without giving up your life! The One-Hour Activist is packed with insider advice from elected officials, professional organizers, lobbyists, and journalists who share state-of-the-art tips for getting your message across. Real-life examples of effective letters, e-mail, phone calls, public testimony, and news story pitches from concerned citizens just like you illustrate the actions..
Price: $7.94 [Notify me when price goes down.]