This unparalleled social and cultural history traces the development of Costa Rica's culture and institutions. With the perspective of more than half a century of first-hand observation, the Biesanzes describe how Costa Rica's economy, government, educational and health-care systems, family structures, religion, and other institutions have evolved, and how this evolution has    More >

Most young Africans are living in a state of "waithood," argues Alcinda Honwana, finding themselves suspended in limbo between childhood and adulthood. Failed neoliberal economic policies, bad governance, and political instability have caused stable jobs to disappear; and without jobs that pay living wages, these young people cannot become fully participating members of society. But that    More >

It is undisputed that the Republican Party has changed dramatically since the 1940s and '50s. But the exact nature of that change—and how it came to be—remain subject to debate. Jeffrey Stonecash meticulously assesses the cumulative effect of a range of contentious issues in US politics to shed light on the decisions that party leaders have made to attract voters, the essence of    More >

Clyde Weed recovers and analyzes the largely lost history of the Republican Party in the first half of the twentieth century. Exploring the internal dynamics of the GOP during those decades, Weed draws on a wide range of previously neglected sources to explore the fundamental transformation that the party experienced—and in the process to shed new light, as well, on the ideology and    More >

What's wrong with U.S. unions, and what could make it right? These are the questions addressed by eighteen partisans—union dissidents and noted scholars—of union democracy. Agreeing that any long-term solutions must come from the grassroots of the union movement, they argue for expansion rather than contraction, militancy rather than accommodation, and internal democracy rather    More >

In The Tree Climber, a detective, a lizard, a time-traveling dervish, and a magic tree all help to turn the quiet life of a married couple upside down. "Tawfiq al-Hakim’s plays deal with themes of universal rather than local application: the role of the artist in society, the predicament of man in the face of forces he neither controls nor understands, the use and abuse of power....    More >

One of the most durable myths of US political economy is that we take from the rich and give to the poor—penalizing the rich for their hard work and rewarding the undeserving. Mark Mattern turns that story on its head. Documenting the everyday, institutionalized ways that income and wealth are transferred upward in the United States, Mattern shows how in fact the bottom subsidizes the    More >

In the present international climate, the Korean Peninsula is central to restructuring political and economic relationships in Northeast Asia. And as the sole remaining superpower, the United States plays a significant role in this reconfiguration, mediating conflicts and managing challenges that often originate in North Korea. This collection provides a cogent assessment of the new triangular    More >

Grappling with the constraints and opportunities the U.S. Army faces in designing policy and strategic options for the post-INF era, a select group of scholars, military officers, and policymakers outline the current strategic posture of the army, the challenges of the future, and the steps needed to meet those challenges.   The book is the outgrowth of a workshop held to address issues    More >

Exploring the construction of spatial lines and zones in physical, social, and academic terms, this volume presents the U.S.–Mexico border as a site from which to survey both the social and economic networks and the issues of identity and symbolism that surround borders. The editors provide a theoretical introduction to the intrinsic nature of borders, as well as an overview of current    More >