Members of Congress from racial minority groups often find themselves in a unique predicament. For one thing; they tend to represent constituencies that are more economically disadvantaged than those of their white colleagues. Moreover; they themselves experience marginalization during the process of policy formulation on Capitol Hill. In Twists of Fate; Vanessa C. Tyson illuminates the experiences of racial minority members of the House of Representatives as they endeavor to provide much-needed resources for their districts. In doing so; she devises a framework for understanding the federal legislative behavior of House members representing marginalized communities. She points to the unique ways in which they conceive of political influence as well as the strategies they have adopted for success. Black; Hispanic; and Asian Pacific American Caucuses; among other minority groups; have built cross-racial coalitions that reflect their linked political fate. This strategy differs considerably from competitive approaches often espoused at the local level and from the more atomized interactions of representatives at the federal level of the policy process. Tyson draws on years of personal experience observing and interacting with members of the House of Representatives in session; in their home districts; at functions sponsored by racial minority caucuses; and at White House events to illustrate her argument. Despite variation of experience and ideology within and amongst racial minority groups; she shows that representatives of minority coalitions have repeatedly and successfully worked together as they advocate for equality and social justice. She also points to a willingness among these coalitions to champion a non-discrimination agenda that extends beyond "traditional" issues of race and ethnicity to issues of class; gender and orientation. Twists of Fate provides a compelling model for understanding how diverse groups can work together to forge hopeful political futures.
#392972 in Books Oxford University Press USA 2015-06-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 6.30 x 1.00 x 9.30l; .0 #File Name: 0190219475280 pagesOxford University Press USA
Review
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful. A deep and rich study of an enigmatic scientist.By goodcampsiteI'm a mathematician; but I majored in history in college; so I often find scientist biographies for laypeople lacking. This book is different: Brown has taken a fascinating and tragic life and turned its story into a artfully layered intellectual and personal history. He fearlessly eschews a linear timeline approach and anchors his book with events in the 1940s (when Planck was in his 80s; long after his greatest scientific discoveries); intertwining them with his earlier life and his relationships with pretty much all the giants of 20th-century physics (especially; Einstein) as well as Hitler and the Nazis.It's a short book---barely 200 pages---but it's dense and deep and rich. A very thought-provoking book about an enigmatic man; with many insights about the nature of science and impossible choices that people must make in times of war. Highly recommended.9 of 9 people found the following review helpful. Highly Recommended.By G. KraaiThis is a great book. Brandon Brown is an excellent writer who makes everything crisp and clear. The relationship between Einstein and Planck is extrememely interesting. I was only vaguely aware of the depth their relationship until I read this book. The book also sheds an interesting light on the Nazi times and the fervent; but blind belief many in Germany had at the time. It is also the sad story of the "h" man imortalized in E=hv; an equation nearly as famous as E= mc21 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Quantum Theory The Hard WayBy CTThis is a brilliant book. It won me with its first sentences and held me until its last words. Anyone interested in General history; the history of physics or even just biography should read this book.Max Planck is best known as the discoverer of So-called "quantum physics". He probably would not have made this self-description until he was an old man. When he was young; he was mostly working in the Clausius-Helmholtz school of thermal physics. Planck's careful work on the foundations of thermal physics helped him join the vaunted pantheon of hose who discovered the correct statement and practical importance of the "second law of thermodynamics" - that entropy is non-decreasing. Planck's greatest single contributions were noticing that black body radiation formulas worked out correctly if you supposed energy was granular (for whatever reason) and his discovery championing of Einstein. To his we can add: the first demonstration that energy etc. were relativistically invariant; the Fokker-Planck equation; some excellent books on statistical mechanics and the inculcation of high standards in German mathematical physics.But this is only half the story. Max Planck the man was; as the title suggests; destroyed by the world wars. He was a man of old Europe; a Prussian Junker; a man who believed in Nationalism for all; universal truth; responsible institutions and - in essence - everything that died with Hitler's rise. Planck saw his purpose as being the head of an institution that would push forward German science; but not in a narrow way. Racial; religious and sexual requirements were foreign to him; the only criteria that made sense to him was quality of work (being a conservative; he played lip service to such concerns but his actions demonstrate what I have said). Unfortunately; as Orwell pointed out in one of his essays on Kipling; this kind of conservative was an impossibility after Hitler. When there were no more responsible institutions to be faithful to; faithful service becomes impossible.This is on a very abstract level. The fact is that Planck not only was not only not prepared for the world wars on an intellectual level; but they destroyed his entire family. Hitler had his last remaining son shot. Planck was an enormously fit man; but this only gave him the sorrow of seeing his family destroyed.As I said at the beginning; this is a great book. Well written; well conceived and worth reading. Highly recommended.
