The Politics of Small Things: The Power of the Powerless in Dark Times

Political change doesn’t always begin with a bang; it often starts with just a whisper. From the discussions around kitchen tables that led to the dismantling of the Soviet bloc to the more recent emergence of Internet initiatives like MoveOn.org and Redeem the Vote that are revolutionizing the American political landscape, consequential political life develops in small spaces where dialogue generates political power.
In The Politics of Small Things, Jeffrey C. Goldfarb provides an innovative way to understand the politics of our times. Moving from small to large, he uncovers a dimension of power that is found in human interaction. He analyzes recent turning points, movements, and institutions: dissent around the old Soviet bloc; life on the streets in Warsaw, Prague, and Bucharest in 1989; the network of terror that spawned 9/11; and the religious and Internet mobilizations that transformed the 2004 presidential election. In such pivotal moments, he masterfully shows, political autonomy can be generated, presenting alternatives to the big politics of the global stage and the dominant narratives of terrorism, antiterrorism, and globalization.
A stirring chronicle of some of the most dramatic political events in recent history, The Politics of Small Things provides a hopeful and empowering reminder that political mobilization and change often have humble beginnings.

PopMatters

"For many people in America and elsewhere around the world, these appear to be gloomy days indeed. Whether it's the unease of life under corporate globalism, the ever-lurking fear of terrorist attack, or dread of the repressive impulses of all manners of fundamentalism, there doesn't seem to be much the average person can do to effect change in the larger scheme of things. Sociologist Jeffrey C. Goldfarb offers a way out of the seeming abyss with his new book The Politics of Small Things: The Power of the Powerless in Dark Times. . . . [It] is a modest book. . . . But it's long enough to make the case that the phrase 'reach out and touch someone' is more than some derelict advertising slogan."--Vincent Carducci, PopMatters

— Vincent Carducci