International Labour Day – May 1st

Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements (PRISM), a digital collection, is being highlighted in observance of International Workers’ Day or Labor Day. PRISM, a digitization collaboration of Florida Atlantic University and University of Central Florida libraries, features a collection of pamphlets from the 19th and 20th centuries reflective of leftist and liberal views and experiences not dissimilar to those of today.

PRISM is one of several collections in the Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials (PALMM), a cooperative digital initiative of the 11 state university libraries of Florida to provide access to source materials for research and scholarship.

Struggle for Quality of Life through the PRISM of Work

In observance of International Workers’ Day or Labor Day, FAU Digital Library brings you PRISM (Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements), a collaboratively digitized collection of the Florida Atlantic University and University of Central Florida libraries. PRISM, a collection of pamphlets, from the 19th and 20th centuries, reveals a gamut of burning issues reflective of leftist and liberal views  from around the world.

These issues are similar to the experiences of today. For example, fair trade is moving at a slow pace. Despite the growing number of organizations and projects addressing labor rights, social equality continues to be a rallying cry as was made apparent in parts of the Middle East, Europe, and even in Wisconsin, United States.

In a recent statement to observe World Day of Social Justice, International Labour Organization Director-General Juan Somavia declared:

Women and men without jobs or livelihoods really don’t care if their economies grow at 3, 5 or 10 per cent per year, if such growth leaves them behind and without protection.

International Workers’ Day, also referred to as May Day, had its origins in the United States with the 1886 founding of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). In 1955, AFL merged with the splinter group, Congress of Industrial Organizations, to become the AFL-CIO.

PRISM is one of several collections in PALMM (Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials), a cooperative digital initiative of the public universities of Florida to provide access to source materials for research and scholarship.

Peace Week & the Conservative Movement

Week of February 22, 2010

In the News: It’s “Expressions of Peace Week” at Florida Atlantic University. The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet will give a public address on February 24th.

Also In the News: The Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, took place in Washington, DC this past week. According to the American Conservative Union website, this “convention for conservative activists” draws about 10,000 attendees each year.

Peace

The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living
By the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler. Riverhead Books, 1998
Call Number: BQ7395 .B774 A78 1998

Building Peace: Practical Reflections from the Field
Edited by Craig Zelizer and Robert A. Rubinstein, 2009
Call Number: JZ5538 .B847 2009

The Contemporary US Peace Movement
By Laura L. Toussaint. Routledge, 2009
Call Number: JZ5584 .U6 T68 2009

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In the News: Liberal Economic Backlash

Week of March 30, 2009

News Item: President Barack Obama’s administration has drawn fire from left-leaning economists for continuing to bail out banks with hundreds of billions in taxpayer money. Some observe how this is a continuation of George W. Bush’s administrative policies. Many of these economists had been supportive of Obama’s bid for the presidency in the lead up to the November 2008 election. Paul Krugman, 2008 winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics; Joseph Stigletz, former World Bank Chief Economist; and Robert Reich, Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration; among others, argue that greater spending on social programs and infrastructure will have a more positive influence on the economy in the long term than propping up banks destined for failure.

Contributed by James F. Tracy, Assoc. Professor, Communication and Multimedia Studies

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In the News: The White House

Week of January 20, 2009

News Item: Barack Obama will become the 44th President of the United States on January 20, at which time he and his family will take up residence in the White House. The titles listed here provide various insights into the building located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. (As an aside: The Vice President and his family will move to Number One Observatory Circle at the U.S. Naval Observatory.)


America’s First Families: An Inside View of 200 Years of Private Life in the White House
By Carl Sferrazza Anthony. Touchstone, 2000
Call Number: E176.1 .A68 2000

The Architecture of the West Wing of the White House
Published by the Executive Office of the President, 1995
Call Number: PREX 1.2:AR 2 (Government Documents)

Behind the Scenes in the Lincoln White House: Memoirs of an African-American Seamstress
By Elizabeth Keckley. Dover Publications, 2006
Call Number: E457.15 .K26 2006
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In the News: Third Party Politics

Week of September 15, 2008

News Item: Although presidential elections have traditionally pitted Democrats against Republicans, many third party candidates have played important roles in drawing attention to some issues that are overlooked by the major parties. Current and former third party presidential candidates include Cynthia McKinney, Bob Barr, Pat Buchanan, Ross Perot, Ron Paul, and Ralph Nader.

America’s Three Regimes: A new Political History
By Morton Keller. Oxford University Press, 2007
Call Number: E183 .K48 2007

Conservative Radicalism: A Sociology of Conservative Party Youth Structures and Libertarianism, 1970-1992
By Timothy Evans. Berghahn Books, 1996
Call Number: JN1129 .C7 E93 1996

The Life of the Parties: A History of American Political Parties
By A. James Reichley. Rowman & Littlefield, 2000
Call Number: JK2261 .R33 2000

Multiparty Politics in America: Prospects and Performance
Edited by Paul S. Herrnson and John C. Green. Rowman & Littlefield, 2002
Call Number: JK2261 .M85 2002

Political Parties and the State: The American Historical Experience
By Martin Shefter. Princeton University Press, 1994
Call Number: JK2261 .S45 1994 (Also available at Jupiter and online through NetLibrary)

Politics at the Periphery Third Parties in Two-Party America
By J. David Gillespie. University of South Carolina Press, 1993
Call Number: Available online through NetLibrary

Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement
By Brian Doherty. PublicAffairs, 2007
Call Number: JC599 .U5 D64 2007 (Also available at Jupiter)

Third Parties in America: Citizen Response to Major Party Failure
By Steven J. Rosenstone et al. Princeton University Press, 1996
Call Number: JK2261 .R67 1996

True Mission: Socialists and the Labor Party Question in the U.S.
By Eric Thomas Chester. Pluto Press, 2004
Call Number: JK2265 .C46 2004

Two Parties-Or More?: The American Party System
By John F. Bibby and L. Sandy Maisel. Westview Press, 2003
Call Number: JK2261 .B493 2003

Why Parties?: The Origin and Transformation of Political Parties in America
By John H. Aldrich. The University of Chicago Press, 1995
Call Number: JK2261 .A46 1995