Levers of Power

Praise for Radical Protest and Social Structure: The Southern Farmers' Alliance and Cotton Tenancy, 1880-1890: Michael Schwartz's book is really three books in one-an analysis of the structural changes that produced one of the most oppressive social systems the world has known (the one-crop cotton tenancy economy and the system of institutionalized racism and authoritarian one-party politics that was required to preserve the fragile economic arrangement); a theoretical analysis of the origins, mobilization, and outcome of insurgent challenges; and a meticulous application of that theory to the rise and collapse of the Populist movement. -- Craig Jenkins * Theory and Society * Praise for Blood of the Earth, Resource Nationalism, Revolution, and Empire in Bolivia: The importance of this book to contemporary conversations about extractivism in Bolivia cannot be overstated. * Latin American Perspectives * Praise for Blood of the Earth, Resource Nationalism, Revolution, and Empire in Bolivia: [Young] draws a complex and fascinating picture of the struggles over mining and oil from the Chaco War in the 1930s through the 1952 Revolution and the unraveling of the revolutionary state in the 1960s. * Against the Current * Praise for Blood of the Earth, Resource Nationalism, Revolution, and Empire in Bolivia: Young is to be congratulated on creating a comprehensive history of recent Bolivian history that also offers a new lens for interpreting Latin American populism. It is one of the finest examples of the recent, and very welcome, production of works on Latin American economic history. * The Americas * Praise for Blood of the Earth, Resource Nationalism, Revolution, and Empire in Bolivia: Young expertly contextualizes his discussion of resource nationalism with previous attempts to bring natural resources under governmental control...[A] compelling and wonderful book. * American Historical Review * Praise for Blood of the Earth, Resource Nationalism, Revolution, and Empire in Bolivia: Blood of the Earth makes a significant contribution to the historiography of the Bolivian revolution and provides new analytical insights into U.S. Cold War objectives in Latin America. * Diplomatic History * Praise for Blood of the Earth, Resource Nationalism, Revolution, and Empire in Bolivia: Blood of the Earth provides a compelling retelling of a Cold War story against the grain, in which the United States funded and tamed a revolution instead of intervening with force. * Hispanic American Historical Review * Young, Banerjee and Schwartz identify the importance of capital strikes in forcing government officials to provide the tax cuts, subsidies and regulatory cutbacks business demands. Focusing on key episodes during the Obama era, Levers of Power explains how capitalists really exert pressure on legislators and regulators and shows why popular forces accomplish more when they pressure capitalists with strikes, boycotts and demonstrations rather than targeting elected officials. This book is essential if we want to understand what tactics will be most effective in building mass power. -- Richard Lachmann Levers of Power disrupts American democratic myths. Through rigorous research and penetrating analysis, Levers of Power dissects the power of elections, courts, Congress, politicians, presidents, lobbyists, social movements, and major corporations. It provides jarring and surprising conclusions of who really rules America; changes how we think about American centers of power; and which among them governs our lives. Everyone interested in democracy should read Levers of Power to become enlightened citizens. -- Aldon Morris, Author of <i>The Scholar Denied</i> Levers of Power is a powerful tool for activists and scholars alike, detailing how power remains in the hands of the 1% while also showing how elite institutions and structures can be undermined and even defeated, creating a world of, by, and for the 99%. -- Marina Sitrin