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The Guantanamo files : the stories of the 774 detainees in America's illegal prison
- Author:
- WORTHINGTON Andy
- Publisher:
- Pluto Press
- Publication year:
- 2007
- Pagination:
- 338p.
- Place of publication:
- London
Worthington has put together a comprehensive and detailed account of the capture and ill treatment of those swept up in the "war on terror". What emerges is a picture of random detention of those in the wrong place at the wrong time. Many were rounded up by the modern equivalent of bounty hunters or, particularly in the case of Pakistan, as part of a political deal with the US. Very few were of any intelligence value, but the conditions of interrogation and detention were so brutal that they inevitably led to false confessions and false allegations against others, which in turn led to more of the wrong people being detained. The book describes the horrors of the prisons of Afghanistan - Bagram, Kandahar, "The Dark Prison", "The Salt Pit". It describes the use of rendition as well as the brutality in Guantanamo itself. The individual stories are woven into a chronological account of the process of detention. Those rounded up include charity workers, Chinese Muslims escaping persecution in their own country, poor farmers, those answering the call to join the Taliban's battle against the Northern Alliance, a Sudanese cameraman for Al-Jazeera and an ex-colonel in the Yemeni intelligence. It comes to something when one of the military lawyers assigned to represent the prisoners feels compelled to state: "The whole purpose of setting up Guantanamo Bay is for torture. Why do this? Because you want to escape the rule of law." The US government has professed an interest in returning the remaining prisoners to their countries of origin, which, ironically, is proving easier said than done because of the human rights records of those countries. It has also become increasingly clear that hundreds of prisoners are being held in unidentified locations and that rendition is now the preferred method. As Guantanamo starts to fade from the public eye this book provides an invaluable demonstration of the myth of the "rule of law" liberal democracy
It makes you sick: the politics of the NHS
- Author:
- THUNHURST Colin
- Publisher:
- Pluto Press
- Publication year:
- 1983
- Place of publication:
- London
Proposes policies for reshaping and democratising the NHS. To understand ‘health’, we need to explore the political, social, cultural, temporal and spatial context within which the meaning of health is created and the processes that promote or stifle particular healths.
Rethinking 'mixed race'
- Authors:
- PARKER David, SONG Miri, (eds)
- Publisher:
- Pluto Press
- Publication year:
- 2001
- Pagination:
- 201p.
- Place of publication:
- London
One of the fastest growing ethnic populations in many Western societies is that of people of mixed descent. The last decade has seen the growth of both academic research and political movements in the United States specifically for multiracial individuals and families. However, this has yet to be reflected in British social science literature which, where it covers 'mixed race' at all, tends to focus solely on people of black-white background. The contributors argue that people of mixed descent reveal the arbitrary, contested and contradictory logic of categorisation underpinning racial divisions. Falling outside the prevailing definitions of racialised identities, their histories and experiences illuminate the complexities of identity formation in the contemporary multicultural context. The authors, themselves from a wide variety of mixed ethnic heritages such as Iranian-Indian and Chinese-Mexican, examine a range of examples, including gender, mixed race and family in the English-African diaspora; mixed race and class formation in the Caribbean; rediscovering Eurasian identity; transracial and intercountry adoptions in the US and Britain; the social evolution of a multiracial panethnicity; and inter-racial marriage in the United States.
Your right to know: how to use the Freedom of Information Act and other access laws
- Author:
- BROOKE Heather
- Publisher:
- Pluto Press
- Publication year:
- 2005
- Pagination:
- 262p.
- Place of publication:
- London
The Freedom of Information Act came into force on 1 January 2005, giving the British public a legal right, for the first time, to access information from more than 100,000 public authorities. But in order to take advantage of this new right, individuals first have to know who holds the information and how to get it.This book provides the tools needed to get the information. It explains all the main laws of access in clear language with practical advice on how to file actual requests. Chapters deal in depth with how to get information from all areas of public life: central government, transport, security and defense, the justice system, police and law enforcement, health, the environment, education, local government, business, and individuals. In each chapter there is an outline of who is responsible for what, where to go for information and how to get that information and hold public servants and public agencies accountable.
Racism in the Irish experience
- Author:
- GARNER Steve
- Publisher:
- Pluto Press
- Publication year:
- 2004
- Pagination:
- 308p.,bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- London
Ireland's unique position as the only state in the European Union to have been colonized, coupled with the ambivalent experiences of Irish people within the British Empire, means that issues of "race" in Ireland are overlaid by complex social and historical forces. This book is an analysis of the racialization of Irish identities. The author examines key phases in the historical development of an Irish "racial" consciousness, including 16th century colonization and 19th century immigration to America and Great Britain. He then examines the legacy of this relationship, both in terms of the new migration into Ireland and relations with indigenous minorities -travellers and Irish Jews. Garner explores the problematic links between nationalist ideologies and racism. He assesses the economic, social and political factors framing the experience of minorities in contemporary Ireland, and places these in a broader European context.
Better times than this: youth homelessness in Britain
- Author:
- HALL Tom
- Publisher:
- Pluto Press
- Publication year:
- 2003
- Pagination:
- 151p.,bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- London
If the supposedly disaffected young provide the sub-text to so many of our social anxieties, then the young homeless loom larger here than most: our most vivid reminder of social exclusion, and exemplars too of what the tabloid press like to describe as the feckless, wilful poor. This book explores what life is really like for Britain's young homeless: estranged from their families, out of work and making do on the fringes of social security. The result is a portrait of a pressing social problem. Based on extended fieldwork study - the author spent 12 months in the company of young people moving between hostel accommodation, rented bed-sit tenancies and episodes of rooflessness, the book iis a full ethnographic study of youth homelessness.
Asians in Britain: 400 years of history
- Author:
- VISRAM Rozina
- Publisher:
- Pluto Press
- Publication year:
- 2002
- Pagination:
- 488p.,bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- London
This book is an account of Indians in Britain. Spanning three centuries, it tells the history of the Indian community in Britain, from the indentured servants of the 17th century to the princes, professionals, students, conscript soldiers and refuges of the 20th century. Drawing on recently declassified government documents, the author examines the nature of Asian migration; official attitudes towards the immigrant community; the reactions and perceptions of the British people; and the social, cultural and political lives of the Asians themselves. The study is roughly chronological with chapters devoted to different phases of immigration and the resultant impact on both societies
Cyberfutures: culture and politics on the information superhighway
- Editors:
- SARDAR Ziauddin, RAVETZ Jerome R.
- Publisher:
- Pluto Press
- Publication year:
- 1996
- Pagination:
- 167p.,bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- London
Contributors from around the world, with a variety of viewpoints, provide a reflective, critical perspective on the cultural and political dimensions of cyberspace and the internet.
Disabling laws, enabling acts: disability rights in Britain and America
- Author:
- GOODING Caroline
- Publisher:
- Pluto Press
- Publication year:
- 1994
- Pagination:
- 238p.,bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- London
Argues that if the law can be used to counter discrimination on the grounds of race and gender, its scope should be extended to disabled people, and that the welfare model of disability should be abandoned in favour of a rights-based perspective.
The welfare state: privatisation, deregulation, commercialism of public services; alternative strategies for the 1990's
- Author:
- WHITFIELD Dexter
- Publisher:
- Pluto Press
- Publication year:
- 1992
- Pagination:
- 556p.,tables,bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- London
Analyses the social, economic and political impact of privatisation and deregulation, and exposes the myths of post-privatisation performance. Examines the illusion of share ownership, and how cuts in capital spending have led to deterioration of infrastructure, and higher health and safety risks. Suggests new and comprehensive strategies to rebuild, reform and restructure public services, and for controlling resources to meet user needs.