Alan Gilbert

poetry and art in a postmodern twilight

Another future

Late in the antenna fields

The treatment of monuments

Originally published in 1993, In Search of a Home filled a conspicuous gap in the literature on housing in the developing world at the time. For many years, self-help settlement and the owner-occupier had commanded the attention of governments and researchers, leaving huge numbers of tenants and sharers invisible. However, the assumption that every family both wished and was able to become an owner-occupier was now under scrutiny and it was becoming clear in many of the larger Latin American cities that there was a limit to universal home ownership, even of the self-help kind. Several governments in the developing world had expressed concern about the rental housing market, which had long been neglected at the policy level. Research activity had begun to respond to these changes, and this book put the spotlight on rental and shared housing. Based on three large surveys carried out by research teams from Caracas, Mexico City and Santiago, the book investigates the nature of owners, tenants, sharers and landlords, and explores the relationships between them. It considers both government policy and the reasons why rental housing was in decline. In Search of a Home is intended for government planners, social scientists and students of development – particularly those concerned about urbanization and the housing of the poor. It is relevant not only to Latin America but also to many other parts of the developing world where large numbers of families live in rental accommodation.

Rental and Shared Housing in Latin America

In Search of a Home

Khalid Koser

Information dissemination to potential asylum seekers in countries of origin and/or transit

A surprising look at the roles of African Americans in the Revolutionary War: “An elegant and passionate writer, Alan Gilbert pulls no punches.”—Historian We think of the American Revolution as the war for independence from British colonial rule. But, of course, that independence actually applied to only a portion of the American population—African Americans would still be bound in slavery for nearly another century. Drawing on first-person accounts and primary sources, Alan Gilbert asks us to rethink what we know about the Revolutionary War, to realize that while white Americans were fighting for their freedom, many black Americans were joining the British imperial forces to gain theirs. Further, a movement led by sailors—both black and white—pushed strongly for emancipation on the American side. There were actually two wars being waged at once: a political revolution for independence from Britain, and a social revolution for emancipation and equality—planting the seeds for future freedom. “The personal stories of those who fought on the patriots’ side in an all-black regiment and on the loyalist side in exchange for a promise of freedom are fascinating and informative.”—Booklist

Fighting for Emancipation in the War for Independence

Black Patriots and Loyalists

After years of decline, poetry is once again regaining its rightful place in the field of popular art and entertainment. This growth has been spurred on by the advent of social networking, which has made it possible for groups of poets to emerge, led by poets who are confident and at ease with their art. One among these is author Alan Gilbert. Way beyond Words: Poetry on Reflection is Gilbert's fourth book of poetry a collection of poems covering a myriad of feelings and emotions. Gilbert has been influenced by the romantic poets as well as more contemporary writers such as Phillip Larkin. He has developed a unique way of exploring evocative poetry in his range and style. Rejecting the obscure language that has deterred readers in the past in favour of poetry that speaks to the soul, Gilbert has created artful poems that hold an immediate, powerful appeal and evoke intense feelings. Examining topics from love lost to a brightly shooting star, the poetry in Way beyond Words seeks to inspire all to explore the wide range of human emotions.

Poetry on Reflection

Way Beyond Words

As each power vies for its national interests on the world stage, how do its own citizens' democratic interests fare at home? Alan Gilbert speaks to an issue at the heart of current international-relations debate. He contends that, in spite of neo-realists' assumptions, a vocal citizen democracy can and must have a role in global politics. Further, he shows that all the major versions of realism and neo-realism, if properly stated with a view of the national interest as a common good, surprisingly lead to democracy. His most striking example focuses on realist criticisms of the Vietnam War. Democratic internationalism, as Gilbert terms it, is really the linking of citizens' interests across national boundaries to overcome the antidemocratic actions of their own governments. Realist misinterpretations have overlooked Thucydides' theme about how a democracy corrupts itself through imperial expansion as well as Karl Marx's observations about the positive effects of democratic movements in one country on events in others. Gilbert also explodes the democratic peace myth that democratic states do not wage war on one another. He suggests instead policies to accord with the interests of ordinary citizens whose shared bond is a desire for peace. Gilbert shows, through such successes as recent treaties on land mines and policies to slow global warming that citizen movements can have salutary effects. His theory of "deliberative democracy" proposes institutional changes that would give the voice of ordinary citizens a greater influence on the international actions of their own government.

Great-Power Realism, Democratic Peace, and Democratic Internationalism

Must Global Politics Constrain Democracy?

Gilbert Alan

The parallels between scientific and moral realism are drawn to reinterpret the history and internal logic of democratic theory and present a powerful argument in favor of the objectivity of democratic individuality.

Democratic Individuality

We commonly think of the American Revolution as simply the war for independence from British colonial rule. But, of course, that independence actually applied to only a portion of the American population—African Americans would still be bound in slavery for nearly another century. In Black Patriots and Loyalists, Alan Gilbert asks us to rethink what we know about the Revolutionary War, to realize that while white Americans were fighting for their freedom, black Americans were joining the British imperial forces to gain theirs. There were actually two wars being waged at once: a political revolution for independence from Britain and a social revolution for emancipation and equality. Drawing upon recently discovered archival material, Gilbert traces the intense imperial and patriot rivalry over recruitment and emancipation that led both sides to depend on blacks. As well, he presents persuasive evidence that slavery could have been abolished during the Revolution itself if either side had fully pursued the military advantage of freeing slaves and pressing them into combat—as when Washington formed the all-black and Native American First Rhode Island Regimen and Lord Dunmore freed slaves and indentured servants to fight for the British. Gilbert's extensive research reveals that free blacks on both sides played a crucial and underappreciated role in the actual fighting. Black Patriots and Loyalists contends that the struggle for emancipation was not only basic to the Revolution itself, but was a rousing force that would inspire freedom movements like the abolition societies of the North and the black loyalist pilgrimages for freedom in places such as Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone. In this thought-provoking history, Gilbert illuminates how the fight for abolition and equality—not just for the independence of the few but for the freedom and self-government of the many—has been central to the American story from its inception.

Alan Gilbert

Books

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