Thought Reform

Informed by Erik Erikson's concept of the formation of ego identity, this book, which first appeared in 1961, is an analysis of the experiences of 15 Chinese citizens and 25 Westerners who underwent "brainwashing" by the Communist Chinese government. Robert Lifton constructs these case histories through personal interviews and outlines a thematic pattern of death and rebirth, accompanied by feelings of guilt, that characterizes the process of "thought reform."

This work is a landmark in American political thought. Preeminent Richard Hofstadter examines the passion for progress and reform that colored the entire period from 1890 to 1940 with startling and stimulating results. The Age of Reform searches out the moral and emotional motives of the reformers, the myths and dreams in which they believed, and the realities with which they had to compromise.

You are too smart to be in a cult. That is exactly what they want you to believe. In 'The Cult,' Simon Pryce deconstructs the chillingly effective 'social technology' used by high-control groups to dismantle the autonomy of even the most high-functioning individuals. This is not a book about fringed-clothed zealots or irrational theology; it is an analytical deep dive into the specific psychological engineering that powers organizations like NXIVM, Scientology, and Heaven’s Gate. Pryce reveals how these groups use 'Love Bombing' as a neurochemical heist, 'Thought Stopping' as a cognitive ...

Bloomsbury presents The Deserving, written and read by Elizabeth Vartkessian. A groundbreaking new take on the American justice system from one of its unknown revolutionaries, offering a powerful new vision of responsibility, punishment, and repair. "The first book I’m aware of to pull back...

Thought experiments are both fun and useful precursors to smarter, often bolder solutions to life's and society's problems. This updated printing offers 34 thought experiments, each presented concisely.

The definitive biography of American suffragist and women's rights pioneer Elizabeth Cady Stanton, from a preeminent historian of women's suffrage "The life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton still has much to teach us. The invented prisons of race, sex, and class are still with us, but learning about...

Architects of the Nineteenth Century: Biographical Studies of the Figures Who Shaped Modern Culture, Politics, and Art BOOK TWO: John Ruskin Explained: Art, Architecture, Nature, Social Reform, and the Moral Vision That Shaped the Modern World is a comprehensive and deeply engaging biography of one of the most influential and challenging thinkers of the nineteenth century. Spanning art criticism, architecture, economics, education, and environmental thought, this book presents John Ruskin not as a narrow Victorian moralist, but as a visionary whose ideas continue to shape modern debates ...

Vision of a Better World: Exploring the Enduring Ideas of Thomas More invites readers into the life, writings, and moral convictions of one of history’s most influential thinkers. Lawyer, statesman, humanist, and author of Utopia, Thomas More lived during a time of dramatic change as Renaissance humanism flourished and the Reformation began to reshape Europe. His ideas about justice, conscience, property, education, and the common good continue to spark debate five centuries after his death. This book explores More’s vision in depth, examining the foundations of his humanist thought, ...

“This urgent book offers not only a clear-eyed explanation of the forces that broke our politics, but a thoughtful and, yes, patriotic vision of how we create a government that’s truly by and for the people.”—DAVID DALEY, bestselling author of Ratf**ked and Unrigged In the vein of On...

The book that criminology forgot — and urgently needs to remember. Charles Arthur Mercier's Conduct and Its Disorders, Biologically Considered, published by Macmillan in 1911, is one of the most rigorous, most readable, and most unjustly neglected works in the history of criminological thought. Now reissued as The Biology of Conduct Disorders, with a major critical introduction by Graeme R. Newman, it arrives at a moment when the questions it raises — about criminal intent, biological disposition, the limits of punishment, and the poverty of criminological theory — are more pressing ...

Are western Muslims an endangered species, or are they the future of Islam? The accelerated adaptation and change western Muslims are pushed to make in order just to survive has galvanized them into a serious effort of rethinking and reflection. This has, in turn, moved the worldwide debate on Islamic reform into a new higher gear.

Reform and revitalization in higher education are essential elements for the Ummah’s awakening and for the realization of its civilizational aspirations and the success of its global mission. This paper calls for reforming our approach to education particularly through the Islamization of Knowledge so that both divine and human sources are integrated into a powerful whole with Revealed knowledge providing a comprehensive, spiritual and moral guidance in the sphere of human action, universal laws, and scientific and technological knowledge as tools for that action.