New Book by Harry Boyt to be Published in September
Harry Boyte recently sent me some info about his forthcoming book, "Everyday Politics: Reconnecting Citizens and Public Life." A pioneer in our field, Boyte is founder and co-director of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the University of Minnesota (www.publicwork.org). In Everyday Politics, Boyte transcends partisan politics to offer an alternative. He demonstrates how community-rooted activities reconnect citizens to engaged, responsible public life, not just on election day but throughout the year. Boyte demonstrates that this type of activism has a rich history and strong philosophical foundations. It rests on the stubborn faith that the talents and insights of ordinary citizens?—from nursery school to nursing home?—are crucial elements in public life and everyday politics. Click below for the full announcement.
Everyday Politics: Reconnecting Citizens and Public Life
Harry C. Boyte
?“As Mark Twain said about the weather, everybody talks about the need for a new politics of participation and deliberation, but nobody does anything about it. Harry Boyte has. Through a combination of experience, political analysis, and philosophy, he shows us how ?‘everyday politics?’ can actually improve people's lives.?”?—Jennifer Hochschild, Professor of African American Studies and Political Science, Harvard, editor, Perspectives on Politics
?“Everyday Politics restores the dignity of real politics, with all its warts and conflicts, as the best way for diverse citizens to build a common life.?”?—William A. Galston, Stern Professor of Civic Engagement, University of Maryland
?“Boyte?’s novel take on the burgeoning efforts to renew civic life is a must-read for scholars and community-based practitioners alike who are recreating work-centered commonwealth traditions in an information age.?”?—David Mathews, President, Kettering Foundation
?“Harry Boyte and the Center for Democracy and Citizenship have without doubt exercised the premier intellectual leadership role in the movement for civic renewal in the U.S. over the past decade. In Everyday Politics, Boyte describes their approach.?”?—Carmen Sirianni, co-author, Civic Innovation in America
Increasingly a spectator sport, electoral politics has become bitterly polarized by professional consultants and lobbyists, boiled down to the distributive mantra of ?“who gets what.?” In Everyday Politics, Harry Boyte transcends partisan politics to offer an alternative. He demonstrates how community-rooted activities reconnect citizens to engaged, responsible public life, not just on election day but throughout the year. Boyte demonstrates that this type of activism has a rich history and strong philosophical foundations. It rests on the stubborn faith that the talents and insights of ordinary citizens?—from nursery school to nursing home?—are crucial elements in public life and everyday politics.
Drawing on concrete examples of successful public work projects accomplished by diverse groups of people across the nation, Boyte shows how citizens can master essential political skills such as understanding issues in public terms, mapping complex power dynamics to create alliances, raising funds, communicating, and negotiating across lines of difference. He describes how these skills can be used to address the larger challenges of our time, advancing a renewed vision of democratic society and freedom in the 21st century.
Harry C. Boyte is founder and co-director of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the University of Minnesota and Senior Fellow at the Humphrey Institute. He is the author of many books, including The Backyard Revolution and with Sara Evans, Free Spaces.
September 2004 / 208 pages / 6 x 9
ISBN: 0-8122-3814-1 Cloth / $29.95
Comparative Politics / Political Science / American History
