This book discusses how to make sense of the international catastrophes and transitions of the past two decades – including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the events of September 11, 2001, and other body blows to the nation and to political order. September 11 and crises like it are matters that grab all of our hearts. Adrienne Redd was a mom (and sociology professor) when the events of September 11, 2001 transpired. That day led her on a seven-year journey to make sense of changing political order and earn a doctoral degree. She has a down-to-earth approach to political scholarship. How are global events eroding and pressuring traditional political institutions, such as the nation? Her book offers an affirmative rather than doomsday picture of how the public and our leaders need to re-think how the world is organized at the highest levels. Fallen Walls and Fallen Towers describes in entertaining terms how the nation was conceived about 350 years ago, how it grew to meet the needs of the industrial age, how it is being threatened by several trends of globalization, and how ordinary people and leaders really can influence its survival by how they think and talk about national government. In what ways do people have to reconsider fundamental concepts like boundaries and sovereignty in order to foster future social stability? Adrienne Redd's research into the writing of sixteen leading writers about globalization provides a unique database from which she develops a startling new view of sovereignty, not phased out, but instead reimagined, retuned, and reinvigorated.
