1) Enough is Enough!: From the Center for the Advancement of a Steady State Economy (CASSE), this book explores specific strategies to limit resource use, stabilize population, achieve a fair distribution of income and wealth, reform the financial system, reduce unemployment, and more—all with the aim of maximizing long-term well-being instead of short-term profits. The book also provides some wisdom around changing consumer behavior and shifting the political conversation away from the misguided pursuit of economic growth and toward the things that really matter to people.

2) A People’s Guide to the Federal Budget: Published by the National Priorities Project (NPP), this is a comprehensive and engaging resource on what everyone in the U.S. should know about how our government raises and spends our tax dollars. Includes a history of the budget process, details about the ongoing budget conflict, charts explaining where every federal dollar goes, and simple explanations of budget terminology. It serves as a foundation for the novice, a reference tool for a more advanced audience, and is perfect for use in high school and college classrooms. NPP is a non-partisan, non-profit research organization that makes our federal budget transparent and accessible so people can exercise their right and responsibility to oversee and influence how their tax dollars are spent. 244 pages; $15 paperback.

3) Handbook on Legislation on Violence Against Women: Published by UN Women, this 68-page document serves as a useful tool in supporting efforts to provide justice, protection and remedies to victims and to hold perpetrators accountable. It outlines the international and regional legal and policy frameworks which mandate states to enact and implement laws to address violence against women. It then presents a model framework for legislation on violence against women. Finally, the Handbook provides users with a checklist of considerations to be kept in mind when drafting legislation on violence against women. Read it online here.

4) Secrets, lies, and propaganda: Hollywood’s Zero Dark Thirty, America’s liberal culture of torture, and the struggle for its abolition: This 57-page report by Tom Reifer was released in early January 2013 in response to the film "Zero Dark Thirty," which depicts the use of torture on "war on terror" prisoners. Download the report from the Transnational Institute's website.