Thatcher and Thatcherism - Eric J. Evans

Drawing extensively on political memoirs, Thatcher and Thatcherism surveys the origins and impact of 'Thatcherism' as a cultural construct and an economic creed.
Focusing on the career of Margaret Thatcher, Eric J. Evans proposes that the ideological coherence and originality of 'Thatcherism' was illusory. He argues that 'Thatcherism' was a bold experiment in ideologically driven government which failed to meet its main objectives.

He includes discussion of:
* privatization and the fate of the trade unions
* Britain's slow economic decline versus Thatcher's delusions of British grandeur
* the legacy of the Falklands and of Britain's approach to Europe
* education, the civil service, and crime.
* the contribution of the poll tax fiasco to her fall from power.
With full bibliography and explanation of the economic, social and historical context of Britain in the late 1970s and 80s, Thatcher and Thatcherism is an invaluable guide to the complexities and paradoxes of contemporary Britain.

Althusser: The Detour of Theory - Gregory Elliot

 

First published in 1987, Althusser, The Detour of Theory was widely received as the fullest account of its subject to date. Drawing on a wide range of hitherto untranslated material, it examined the political and intellectual contexts of Althusser's `return to Marx' in the mid-1960s; analysed the novel character of the Marxism developed in his major works; charted their author's subsequent evolution, from his self-criticism to the proclamation of a `crisis of Marxism'; and concluded with a balance-sheet of Althusser's contribution to historical materialism.

Debates in Transgender, Queer, and Feminist Theory - Patricia Elliot

Transgender studies is a heterogeneous site of debate that is marked by tensions, border wars, and rifts both within the field and among feminist and queer theorists. Intersecting the domains of women’s studies, sexuality, gender and transgender studies, Debates in Transgender, Queer, and Feminist Theory provides a critical analysis of key texts and theories, engaging in a dialogue with prominent theorists of transgendered identity, embodiment and sexual politics, and intervening in various aspects of a conceptually and politically difficult terrain. A central concern is the question of whether the theories and practices needed to foster and secure the lives of transsexuals and transgendered persons will be promoted or undermined - a concern that raises broader social, political, and ethical questions surrounding assumptions about gender, sexuality, and sexual difference; perceptions of transgendered embodiments and identities; and conceptions of divergent desires, goals and visions.

About the Author: Patricia Elliot chairs the Department of Sociology at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada.