The Democracy Book Tour Comes to London Next Week!

Dear Readers in the U.K.

Next week the promotion tour for the U.K. edition of our new book, Dignity and Defiance: Stories from Bolivia's Challenge to Globalization (Merlin Press 2008) begins in London. If you are nearby, we hope you will come to one of the two events listed below!

We are very proud of this book, a three-year effort by a young and energetic team of writers to capture, in eight stories, the on-the-ground impact of economic globalization in a nation that has become synonymous with resistance to it.

There will be two events next week. On Monday evening I'll be at the University of London for an academia-focused event. Then on Wednesday evening members of the Bolivian community in London will host a public celebration of the book at the offices of UNITE.

For those interested in ordering the book here are the links to our publishers:

U.K. edition, Merlin Press
U.S. edition, University of California Press

For those in the U.S., get ready to see us in February! We are working up final details now on a full-month of events that will take us to San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Santa Fe, Washington, New York, Chicago, Boston, the Twin Cities and more. We'll post a full schedule soon and we look forward to seeing you on the road!

Jim Shultz

TWO LONDON EVENTS!

With Jim Shultz, Co-Editor, and Executive Director of The Democracy Center – Cochabamba, Bolivia

Monday, December 8, 5pm
The Institute for Study of the Americas
University of London
35 Tavistock Square, London
Room 12, First Floor

Featuring a special brief video, a presentation by Jim Shultz and followed by a discussion

Wednesday, December 10, 6 to 8.30pm
UNITE
128 Theobald's Road, London
[The nearest underground station is Holborn.]

An evening of Bolivia, including a discussion of the book and cultural celebration of music and dance

With thanks to our generous sponsors: UNITE and The Bolivia Solidarity Campaign (BSC)

Praise for Dignity and Defiance

Enraging, unsparing, inspiring.
-- Naomi Klein, Author of "Shock Doctrine"

A vital, inspiring read.
-- John Pilger

The clear, authoritative chapters derive from first-hand knowledge as well as personal engagement.
-- James Dunkerley

Globalization – it is a word that inspires many theories, but what does it really mean on the ground, in the lives of real people?

Dignity and Defiance is the story of one country, Bolivia, but it is representative of many countries around the world. The book tells the story of Bolivia's famous Water Revolt against Bechtel, and its aftermath. It travels to jungles and jails to trace the human impact of the U.S. war on drugs. It pedals by bike across the Bolivian highlands to document the disaster left behind by an Enron/Shell oil spill. It digs deep to trace how IMF economic policies led to bloodshed on the steps of the Bolivian Presidential Palace.

Dignity and Defiance also tells the story, from the ground up, of how people have fought courageously to keep globalization from swallowing their lives and to make it work to their benefit – as activists, workers, and immigrants. Ultimately the book is a story of inspiration, and it goes to the heart of what has drawn so much global attention to Bolivia.Dignity and Defiance offers a powerful mix of story telling and analysis by a collection of writers who have made Bolivia their home and who have worked closely with Bolivian colleagues to get the story right. Bolivia's recent history, like Latin America's and the world's, is about people demanding justice and self- determination in a world of new global forces. By looking up close at what this means for one nation, readers will have an opportunity to deepen their grasp of issues and trends that are universal and that are likely to shape all our lives for decades more to come.