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For Immediate Release

All Rise Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity By Robert W. Fuller

In his bestselling book of 2003, Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank, Robert W. Fuller diagnosed the previously unnamed but pervasive malady of "rankism"—abuse and discrimination based on the power of rank. The book struck a nerve and was widely covered in publications including The New York Times, Fast Company and O: The Oprah Magazine.

America has made significant strides against racism and sexism over the past few decades, and cases of mistreatment based on either race or sex have declined substantially. But, it is still acceptable to discriminate against people based on their socioeconomic standing or their rank in the workplace. Not simply another "-ism", rankism can be seen as the fundamental form of oppression underlying all others. The existence of rankism and its disastrous consequences were made clear to the world in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Drawing on his experiences as a teacher in the inner city and as former president of Oberlin College, Fuller further explores the social and political costs of rankism in his new book All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity. He counters this malady with his vision of a "dignitarian society"—not an egalitarian society in which all are equal in rank, but one in which all are equal in dignity. All Rise makes the case that building a dignitarian society is democracy’s next natural step. Fuller shows how this can be done in a way that spans the current conservative-liberal divide that wracks our country today.

In All Rise, Fuller lays the groundwork for a dignitarian society by delineating the scope and impact of rankism and then shows how a dignitarian movement can defeat it by addressing questions such as: What would workplaces, schools, health-care organizations, politics, religion, and international relations look like if they were to embody dignitarian values? What policies could we develop to defend dignity in our various social institutions? How can we embody these principles in our lives and create a culture of universal dignity?

All Rise offers hope and practical solutions for fashioning a world where human relationships are governed by respect and every person’s right to dignity is affirmed. In doing so, Robert Fuller shows how what noted historian Bernard Bailyn called "the contagion of liberty" can be further spread throughout our society.

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"Any democracy movement is, at its heart, a dignity movement. In All Rise, Bob Fuller gives us the essential tools to fight abuses of rank and to build high-performing institutions and organizations based on respect. All Rise is the operating manual for leaders who recognize the latent power of each individual to make a difference in a free and fair society." —Wes Boyd, Co-founder of MoveOn.org

"Robert Fuller looks at life through a provocative and unusual lens. Even if you begin by thinking your own worldview is different, you will nonetheless find here an array of observations that leave you intrigued, surprised, and unexpectedly nodding your head in agreement." —Adam Hochschild, Founder of Mother Jones Magazine and author of Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves

"All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity give us a clear mandate for transforming our society into a true democracy. With insight, compassion, and a fundamental understanding of how rankism in all areas of our culture impacts individuals and communities, the reader is called to look at human degradation and discrimination in new ways. But unlike so many books that only articulate a problem, All Rise gives us a way to go beyond discussion to change our personal relationships, professional practices, and our involvement in our political and economic systems." —Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bee Moms & Kingpin Dads and Queen Bees and Wannabes (on which the film Mean Girls was based)

"If only all the problems in the world were just about money, or land, or religion, or racism. But in fact, they're about power. All of these things are just excuses for the ugly tendency of those in power to abuse those without it. Worse, power often seduces the powerless as much as it corrupts the powerful. Robert Fuller exposes these ugly dynamics...and in exposing them, helps to make them easier to overturn." —Esther Dyson, Internet guru, editor Release 1.0 and author Release 2.1

"Fuller has it right: many are just plain tired of the somebodies stealing their dignity…[He] provides us a roadmap to a better society, one that’s characterized by equal dignity for all." —Robert Spanogle, National Adjutant, The American Legion

"This important and useful book, which is not a critique of the concept of rank, but of its abuse, should be read by leaders of ALL failing institutions, particularly those in the public school system. It is a sad commentary on our society that this statement in favor of human dignity should be so necessary at this time." —A. Lawrence Chickering, Research Fellow, Hoover Institution

After earning his Ph.D. in physics at Princeton University in 1961, Robert Fuller taught at Columbia University and co-authored the book Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics. In 1970 he was appointed president of his alma mater Oberlin College at the age of 33. In 1974 Fuller traveled to India (as a consultant to Indira Gandhi) and saw firsthand the famine resulting from the war with Pakistan over Bangladesh. In 1977 Fuller began a campaign to persuade the newly elected president Jimmy Carter to end world hunger. This led to a meeting in the Oval Office in June 1977 that resulted in the establishment of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger. During the 1980s, Fuller traveled frequently to the USSR, working as a citizen-scientist to improve Cold War relationships. With the collapse of the USSR, Fuller’s work as a citizen diplomat came to a close and he began reflecting on his career and came to understand that he had, at various times, been both a "somebody" and a "nobody". Fuller eventually to identify and investigate rankism—defined as abuse of the power inherent in rank— and ultimately to write the two books Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank (New Society Publishers, 2003) and All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity.

All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity By Robert W. Fuller Published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. ISBN: 978-1-57675-385-9 A BK Currents Book Cloth: $22.95 Number of Pages: 203 Publication Date: June 2006