<p>It&#39;s been nearly ten years since the publication of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri&#39;s <em>Empire</em>, one of the most influential (and controversial) texts in radical political philosophy in recent memory, a touchstone for the then thriving &quot;anti-globalization&quot; movement. While the euphoria of that historical moment may have passed, the demand to think through the politics of resistance on a global scale has, if anything, become more urgent.&nbsp; And for those of us who have not given up on such a project, who still believe, to invoke the watchword of years past, that &quot;another world is possible&quot;, the continuing work of Hardt and Negri to theorize both their Power to dominate the world and our (collective) power to fight back and build alternatives remains an inspiration and a vitally necessary starting point.</p><p><br />We are thus exceptionally excited to welcome Michael Hardt to Baltimore for an evening of discussion on the occasion of the release of <em>Commonwealth</em>, the final volume in the trilogy, co-authored with Antonio Negri, that began with <em>Empire</em> and continued with 2004&#39;s <em>Multitude</em>.&nbsp; This new text attempts to outline a grand synthesis between many of the most important strands of recent critical inquiry, weaving together the autonomist Marxist insistence on the defense of &quot;the commons&quot; together with an equally essential notion of &quot;altermodernity&quot; drawn from postcolonial theory and related struggles taking place at the intersections of race and gender.&nbsp; And it does all this in a way which is immediately accessible to an interested reader, not restricted to the specialist or expert, not demanding years of previous reading --- one can read <em>Commonwealth</em> not as the end of a trilogy, but as a book that stands alone.&nbsp; Ultimately, it is more an introduction rather than a conclusion, a roadmap to the depth and breadth of recent radical theory and an invitation to join (or rejoin) the continuing struggle for a better world.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The news <span class="il">in</span> 2008 was that women had taken huge strides forward. Feminists&rsquo; decades-long struggle finally seemed to be paying off, not only <span class="il">in</span> boardrooms, classrooms, and kitchens but also at the very top&mdash;<span class="il">in</span> presidential politics. But what is the truth behind the headlines?</p><div><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><span class="il">In</span> <em><span class="il">Sexism</span> <span class="il">in</span> <span class="il">America</span>: Alive, Well, and Ruining Our Future</em>, renowned feminist author Barbara J. Berg debunks the many myths about how far women have come and the pervasive belief that ours is a postfeminist society. Combining authoritative research and compelling storytelling, Berg traces the assault on women&rsquo;s status from the 1950s&mdash;when <em>Newsweek</em> declared &ldquo;for the American girl, books and babies don&rsquo;t mix&rdquo;&mdash;to the present, exploring the deception about women&rsquo;s progress and contextualizing our current situation. All women are hurt by a society lauding their attributes <span class="il">in</span> speeches while scorning them <span class="il">in</span> public policy and popular culture, and the legacy of the women&rsquo;s movement is being short-circuited <span class="il">in</span> every aspect of their lives.</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt">Passionate, extensively documented, humorous, and persuasive, <em><span class="il">Sexism</span> <span class="il">in</span> <span class="il">America</span> </em>is simultaneously enlightening, frightening, and revitalizing. Berg, an ardent optimist, helps women understand where they are and why and how they can move beyond the marginalizing strategies. It is exactly the right book at exactly the right time.</p></div>