Penguin Books Australia

Arguing that fear has been a crucial factor in shaping Australian public policy, this study charts its consequences on the Australian community. Examining the effects of being constantly warned about the risk of terrorism, this account discusses how xenophobia has shaped policies toward refugees, indigenous Australians, and Islamic fundamentalists.

Should we pay children to read books or to get good grades? Is it ethical to pay people to test risky new drugs or to donate their organs? What about hiring mercenaries to fight our wars, outsourcing inmates to for-profit prisons, auctioning admission to elite universities, or selling citizenship to immigrants willing to pay? Isn't there something wrong with a world in which everything is for sale?...

In recent years, economic growth has been regarded as a self-evident good, with political debate focused on the best means to achieve it. But there are now signs that this shared assumption is weakening. Anger at 'greedy' bankers and their 'obscene' bonuses has given way to a deeper dissatisfaction with an economic system geared overwhelmingly to the accumulation of wealth. Huge income disparities...

What is being done in conflict-affected countries to advance women's participation in peace processes and decision-making?

'And yet stories, even the best and truest, can't save us from our own folly. Stories can't protect us from suffering and error, from natural and artificial catastrophes, from our own suicidal greed. The only thing they can do is ... offer consolation for suffering and words to name our experience. Stories can tell us who we are ... and suggest ways of imagining a future that, without calling for comfortable...

In 1848, two young men published what would become one of the defining documents of modern history.  The Communist Manifesto rapidly realigned political fault-lines all over the world and its aftershock resonates to this day.  In the many years since its publication, no other social program has inspired such divisive and violent debate.  Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union-the...

After the publication of Atlas Shrugged in 1957, Ayn Rand turned to nonfiction writing and occasional lecturing.  Her aim was to bring her philosophy, Objectivism, to a wider audience and apply it to current cultural and political issues.  The taped lectures and the question-and-answer sessions that followed not only added an eloquent new dimension to Ayn Rand's ideas and beliefs, but a fresh...

'If a ruler wants to survive, he must learn to stop being good'

'No one is born complete; perfect yourself and your activities day by day until you become a truly consummate being, your talents and your qualities all perfected'

A philosopher/mechanic destroys the pretensions of the high-prestige workplace and makes an irresistible case for working with one's hands.

Aung San Suu Kyi, human rights activist and leader of Burma's National League for Democracy, has since 1989 repeatedly been placed under house arrested by the SLORC, the ruling military junta.   Despite strong pressure from the international community, who have campaigned unsuccessfully for her release, she remains a prisoner of conscience in Rangoon.  

This collection of writings –...

'The hungry judges soon the sentence sign,And wretches hang that jurymen may dine'
 

'One of the most popular teachers in the world' Observer

Should we pay children to read books or to get good grades? Is it ethical to pay people to test risky new drugs or to donate their organs? What about hiring mercenaries to fight our wars, outsourcing inmates to for-profit prisons, or auctioning admission to elite universities? Isn't there something wrong with a world in which everything is for...

'A gripping political thriller, a masterpiece of investigative journalism'
Peter Manseau, author of Rag and Bone

The secretive Christian fundamentalist group known as 'The Family' is leading a new crusade for 'God-led government'. Jeff Sharlet, author  The Family (more than 100,000 copies sold worldwide), is the only journalist to have reported from inside the organisation.