Necessary Trouble is the definitive book on the movements that are poised to permanently remake American politics. We are witnessing a moment of unprecedented political turmoil and social activism. Over the last few years; we've seen the growth of the Tea Party; a twenty-first-century black freedom struggle with BlackLivesMatter; Occupy Wall Street; and the grassroots networks supporting presidential candidates in defiance of the traditional party elites.Sarah Jaffe leads readers into the heart of these movements; explaining what has made ordinary Americans become activists. As Jaffe argues; the financial crisis in 2008 was the spark; the moment that crystallized that something was wrong. For years; Jaffe crisscrossed the country; asking people what they were angry about; and what they were doing to take power back. She attended a people's assembly in a church gymnasium in Ferguson; Missouri; walked a picket line at an Atlanta Burger King; rode a bus from New York to Ohio with student organizers; and went door-to-door in Queens days after Hurricane Sandy.From the successful fight for a 15 minimum wage in Seattle and New York to the halting of Shell's Arctic drilling program; Americans are discovering the effectiveness of making good; necessary trouble. Regardless of political alignment; they are boldly challenging who wields power in this country.
#748528 in Books 2000-08-21 2000-08-21Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.38 x .57 x 5.54l; .58 #File Name: 1566633095220 pages
Review
10 of 16 people found the following review helpful. fascinating and innovative look at witchcraftBy A CustomerWinn Carlson has found the facts behind Salem's horror but others may not like that. The witchcraft "industry" is alive and well in academia; where people have embraced the girlish hysteria stuff for decades. Time to rid those poor girls of their Freudian explanations. Thanks to Winn Carlson; the women are no longer seen as acting out or trying to get attention. The bird migration routes seem logical; and match up with the recent epidemic of encephalitis in New York City. This book is a must for someone who wants to look at history in a new way. Who knows how many other historical events can be explained scientifically by disease?2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Weighed in the Balance and Found WantingBy V. M. SmithThe author's hypothesis is simple enough: The frightening "fits" of accusers during the 1692 Salem witchcraft crisis were caused by an outbreak of encephalitis lethargica; a neurological disorder popularized in Oliver Sacks' 1973 book Awakenings. (A film version starring Robin Williams and Robert De Nero was released in 1990.)As a former cell biologist; I'm well-disposed to considering microorganisms and disease as the moving force of history. (See Hans Zinsser's classic; Rats; Lice; and History: being a study in biography; which; after twelve preliminary chapters indispensable for the preparation of the lay reader; deals with the life history of typhus fever.) In this case however; the author fails to make the case.There were a few things that prejudiced me against this book: publication by a small house (Ivan R. Dee); description of the author as an "independent scholar;" somehow implying other scholars aren't; a noticeable disdain for the entire field of psychology; and; inclusion of material that is at best tangential; at worst; irrelevant. For example; there is an afterword titled Satanic Possession and Christian Beliefs outlining how to differentiate between mental illness and demonic possession. The mere possibility that there is any reality to demonic possession is antithetical to the author's hypothesis. Chapter Seven; Alternate Outcomes; recounts experiences in New Hampshire a half century after the Salem witchcraft crisis to predict how the Salem crisis might have gone. A much better example would have been the similar crisis in Stamford Connecticut that was concurrent with that in Salem. (See Richard Godbeer's Escaping Salem: the other witch hunt of 1692.)Encephalitis lethargica is a rare neurological disorder that appeared at about the same time as the 1918 influenza pandemic. Unlike influenza which is caused by a virus; the definitive cause of encephalitis lethargica is unknown. It might even be an immunological consequence of influenza. It's symptoms are varied and vague: high fever; headache; double vision; delayed physical and mental response; lethargy; coma (in acute cases); abnormal eye movements; upper body weakness; muscular pains; tremors; neck rigidity; and behavioral changes including psychosis. (See National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.)Like Linnda Caporeal (Ergotism: The Satan Loosed in Salem?) ; Carlson tries to shoehorn symptoms like "abnormal eye movements" and "psychoses" into a physical cause. A great deal of her argument is comparing experiences reported by accusers and their observers against possible symptoms for encephalitis lethargica. In many cases; commitment to "proving" her hypothesis ignores obvious; more mundane explanations. For example; descriptions of symptoms like "some suffered only a mild affliction; perhaps a heavy weight on their chests and legs while in bed; which left them momentarily paralyzed;" or "people felt sudden weights on their chests at night so that they could not breathe ... complained about weight on their chests while in bed at night; an inability to speak;" are well-known descriptions of the common experience called "sleep paralysis." They do not require special explanation.The author is sometimes overreaching; if not plain wrong. For example; page 46 states:[Midwives] were present in Salem and in colonial settlements; but there are no references to individuals or their families seeking them out for assistance in combating an epidemic. .... Some women who were tried as witches had performed as midwives; but they were not tried for any offense connected with their vocation.Both Mary Beth Norton's In the Devil's Snare; and Richard Godbeer's Escaping Salem report midwives did indeed serve as a kind of "nurse practitioner:"Women like [midwife] Sarah Bates emerged as experts from those communities of mutual care; their skills endorsed by the experience and gratitude of their neighbors rather than university degrees or formal apprenticeship. Goody Bates had a finely honed instinct for discerning what ailed a sick neighbor and was widely respected for her abilities.But what's missing from A Fever in Salem is epidemiology. This is most evident in the "touch test" used to "prove" an accused was indeed a witch. An accuser would fall into a fit - and usually faint - at the mere sight of an accused witch. If the accuser revived at the touch of the accused; it "proved" the accused was a witch. Biological epidemics are not so easily turned on and off.In some ways; A Fever in Salem is an example of cognitive dissonance. The author continually tries to extend her hypothesis; and thereby add validity; but at each step the exercise backfires. For example; a map reprinted from Robin Briggs' Witches Neighbors: the social and cultural context of European witchcraft; shows areas of heavy; moderate; or light "persecution or important witch-hunts." Not surprisingly; dark centers spread into moderate; then lighter areas. Two pages after; a different map; with a four-fold change in scale; shows bird migration patterns. The author's conclusion?... we see how closely they match up. Birds migrating from sub-equatorial western Africa fly directly over these areas as they head north each spring ... Migratory birds may have brought disease from western Africa to Europe; where a virus in their blood was extracted by arboviral mosquitoes who then fed on peasants and villagers.Not only do they not match up closely (to my eyes); eight pages later Carlson suggests the vector might have been ticks.In all; weighed in the balance; and found wanting. I would not recommend this book.4 of 7 people found the following review helpful. Under-researched; lacking effort by the writerBy H. QuinnLaurie Carlson had a theory about Salem and supported it using an ambivalence for fact that you might experience gossiping with friends over a beer at Chili's. What a disappointment because it could have been interesting. Where do I start?[1] All her research was done using books written in the 20th century. She is (sadly) unknowingly swayed by the biases of those 20th century authors. She wrongly accepts their judgements as fact; which annoyed me immensely. [2] She accepts outlandish courtroom pranks as genuine physical ailments. Why? Even by her own description; the 'fever' that was present in the colony subscribed to far more uncontrollable symptoms than repeating the words of the accused 'in chorus'. [3] She would have benefitted from reading documents from the period. Her understanding of the period is academic and lacks any genuine understanding of the events that unfolded. [4] The sentence that finally made me stop reading? "The first arrivals at Plymouth had been delighted to discover that the Indian population had already been wiped out by an epidemic... [any 3rd grader can tell you there were Indians in Plymouth]" an epidemic which she credits to the French in Nova Scotia; despite the fact that Europeans had been fishing the waters up and down the coastline for years and had even established outposts along the coast long before the puritans arrived in Plymouth. Sigh. [5] Please don't read this book.
