Bøger af Clifton Ross

In this collection of interviews with one of the central poets of the San Francisco Literary Renaissance (which preceded the Beat movement) William Everson/Brother Antoninus ponders the mystical dimensions of poetry. The interviews span the final fifteen years of his life and contain his final thoughts on the prophetic, the shamanistic and the aesthetic dimensions of his craft, as well as his own life, characterized by the Portuguese proverb that "God writes straight with crooked lines." The interviews, accompanied by selected poems, were conducted, edited and introduced by Clifton Ross and were first published two years after the poets death by Stride Publications, UK, republished by Freedom Voices to honor the centennial of the poet's birth.

The Pink Tide rose in Latin America at the beginning of this millennium and by the end of the first decade began to reveal contradictions that have yet to be fully assessed -- or, in some cases, even acknowledged. Clifton Ross, the co-editor of "Until the Rulers Obey: Voices from Latin American Social Movements" (2014, PM Press), offers his perspective on the problems confronting the US anti-imperialist and solidarity movement in North America. Focusing particularly on Venezuela, he discusses hard problems and big questions about the viability of that project and considers a possible approach for US activists to take that avoids enabling dysfunctional policies, while at the same time maintaining a firm stance against US government and other interference. "The Map or the Territory" challenges the anti-imperialist and solidarity left to reconsider and update ideas developed over the course of the twentieth century in the light of globalization and the rise of "progressive" governments that, like their right-wing counterparts in other countries of Latin America, are basing their economies on the extraction resources from the land. The extractivist industries are increasingly bringing the progressive governments into conflict with social movements. In addition, some of the more "radical" governments of the Pink Tide are rooted in populism, and their authoritarian methods of governing have also generated conflicts with social movements and civil society. Taking Venezuela as the prime example of the issues of an economy based on an extractivist model and a populist political process, Ross considers the implications for North Americans interested in doing work with Latin America.

Until the Rulers Obey brings together voices from the movements behind the wave of change that swept Latin America at the turn of the twenty-first century. These movements have galvanized long-silent—or silenced—sectors of society: indigenous people, campesinos, students, the LGBT community, the unemployed, and all those left out of the promised utopia of a globalized economy. They have deployed a wide range of strategies and actions, sometimes building schools or clinics, sometimes occupying factories or fields, sometimes building and occupying political parties to take the reins of the state, and sometimes resisting government policies in order to protect their newfound power in community.This unique collection of interviews features five dozen leaders and grassroots activists from fifteen countries presenting their work and debating pressing questions of power, organizational forms, and relations with the state. They have mobilized on a wide range of issues: fighting against mines and agribusiness and for living space, rural and urban; for social space won through recognition of language, culture, and equal participation; for community and environmental survival. The book is organized in chapters by country with each chapter introduced by a solidarity activist, writer, or academic with deep knowledge of the place. This indispensable compilation of primary source material gives participants, students, and observers of social movements a chance to learn from their experience.Contributors include ACOGUATE, Luis Ballesteros, Marc Becker, Margi Clarke, Benjamin Dangl, Mar Daza, Mickey Ellinger, Michael Fox, J. Heyward, Raphael Hoetmer, Hilary Klein, Diego Benegas Loyo, Courtney Martinez, Chuck Morse, Mario A. Murillo, Phil Neff, Fabíola Ortiz dos Santos, Hernán Ouviña, Margot Pepper, Adrienne Pine, Marcy Rein, Christy Rodgers, Clifton Ross, Susan Spronk, Marie Trigona, Jeffery R. Webber, and Raúl Zibechi.