The future is vibrant, hopeful, and filled with dragons. In WINGS OF RENEWAL, nineteen authors explore the exciting new subgenre of solarpunk through the lens of these majestic creatures. Whether they irrigate dry terrain or serve as spaceships, are mythic beasts come to life or biomechanical creations of man, these dragons show us a world where renewable energy overcomes gas and oil, and cooperation replaces competition. If you love fantasy/sci-fi fusion, this is an anthology you do not want to miss! So hop on solar wings, and follow us into futures that-for all their witches and dragons-are far more possible than they might seem. ------ Every dollar earned from Wings of Renewal sales goes directly to Native-led environmental movements and actions such as NoDAPL. We fully believe in solarpunk not only as a literary genre, but as a vision of the future and a movement of the present.

Renewal in the Church is not primarily about topics and issues, as some so tediously seem to think. Those who think the Church would be stronger if it changed some of its teachings don't seem to take seriously enough the experience of those churches that have already changed those same teachings. This book is written as a series of letters on renewal. But, these are not letters previously sent to individuals and now being brought together. They were written for this book. They have been called letters instead of chapters to allow for their different lengths and the different levels of scholarship required by each topic. It also allows for a more personal style of writing. The chosen topics are all relevant to renewal, and the comments are limited to how they open up opportunities for renewal, or illustrate the ongoing need for it within the Catholic Church. This is an international Church which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the beginning of Vatican II in 2012. It is a timely moment to reflect on the Church and its continual renewal in todays world.

Peronism, the Argentine political movement created by Juan Perón in the 1940's, has revolved since its inception around a personalistic leader, a set of powerful trade unions, and a weakly institutionalized political party. This book examines why Peronism continued to be weakly institutionalized as a party after Perón was overthrown in 1955 and argues that this weakness has impeded the consolidation of Argentine democracy. Within an analysis of Peronism from 1943 to 1995, the author pays special attention to the 1962-66 and 1984-88 periods, when some Peronist politicians and union leaders tried, but failed, to strengthen the party structure. By identifying the forces that led to these efforts of party-building and by analyzing the counterforces that thwarted them, he shows how these failures have shaped Argentina's experience with democracy. Drawing on this interpretation of Peronism and its place in Argentine politics, the book develops a distributive conflict/political party explanation for Argentina's democratic instability and contrasts it to alternatives that stress economic dependency, populist economic policies, political culture, and military interventionism.