The authors intentionally challenge published history that emphasizes working-class white opposition to civil rights and radical politics and attributes most white radicalism to students. By Maya Pisel “Hillbilly Nationalists, Urban Race Rebels, and Black Power: Community Organizing in Radical Times” presents the histories of five organizations that fought racism in the 1960s and ’70s by [...]
In light of the popular movements of today and the debate on democracy they triggered, we don’t even know if traditional party politics will be the most adequate vehicle to address the challenges related to globalization, financial capitalism, inequality or the environment. But, thanks to “What is Left of the Left?” we have a better [...]
“The Strange Non-Death of Neoliberalism” offers a broad, well informed and accessible account of why neoliberal ideas and those who gain from them have so far emerged unscathed from a crisis of their own making. By Matthew Lloyd-Cape To many observers, neoliberalism seemed terminally wounded by the 2008 economic crisis, but do not have much of [...]
History aficionados will find “Conquistadora” a fascinating text with detailed views of a Puerto Rican sugar cane plantation in the mid-19th century. By Rafael Ocasio Esmeralda Santiago was born in the working-class neighborhood of Villa Palmeras, in Santurce, in the outskirts of San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1948. In 1961, when she was barely a teenager, she arrived [...]
“Jam packed with shocking statistics and revealing interviews with interns and those that employ and coordinate them, “Intern Nation” provides an inside view into the topic and a welcome break from the hordes of self-help books proclaiming the value of an unpaid internship.” By Ben Lear It is clear that the economy has changed dramatically [...]
“A proposal for a better understanding of the global justice movement.” Geoffrey Pleyers, author of “Alter-Globalization: Becoming Actors in the Global Age”, writes: I usually really appreciate your website and its articles. As you may imagine, I’m quite disappointed with the review of “Alter-Globalization” that was published on October 3. There is no doubt that [...]
Scholarship that fails to analyze the motivations and strategies of most actors in a social movement and instead exalts a group of self-proclaimed “experts,” who the author readily admits were alternately dismissed or hated as charlatans by a broad swath of the movement, does not provide an account that is honest to the history [...]
It is a testimonial to the power and potential of the sustainable food systems movement to transform not just the lives of the Whole Foods set, but of a diverse group of people. by Abbe Futterman Part coffee table book, part documentary account, “Growing a Garden City” by journalist Jeremy N. Smith is a celebration [...]
There is enough book here – an arm-wearying 934 pages – that it is no great trick to find plenty to respect, admire, and learn from, while also not running short of elements that are disappointing and off-putting. By Scott Neigh The best part of “Earth Into Property: Colonization, Decolonization, and Capitalism,” the second and [...]
“While corporations and the state have certainly targeted activists as ‘eco-terrorists,’ too many other populations have also been targeted for repression to sufficiently pair the Red Scares and the Green Scare.” By Craig Hughes and Kevin Van Meter “McCarthyism is Americanism with its sleeves rolled,” said Joe McCarthy to a public audience at the height [...]
Rob Nixon’s “Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor” (Harvard University Press 2011) explores the slow, steady, and often ignored violence of socio-environmental degradation around the globe, and the writer-activists trying to bring it to light. By Christine Shearer In “Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor” (Harvard University Press 2011), Rachel Carson Professor [...]
This up-close view of the end of a factory in Detroit is valuable for both policy makers and general readers. By Margie Burns “Punching Out: One Year in a Closing Auto Plant” details the last months and ultimately the last days of a Detroit manufacturing plant. It is the second title by Paul Clemens, whose [...]
“Commodified and Criminalized” shows how black athletes’ success becomes evidence of American colorblindness, while their failure is made to remind us of the persistent power of race. By Paul Heideman It is almost an axiom of American culture today that sports and politics don’t mix. Despite the militarization of sporting spectacles, the intimate involvement of [...]
The portrait that emerges is of a courageous person who cared about the welfare of other people. By William J. Kelleher, Ph.D. “Troublemaker” is the memoir of Bill Zimmerman, a 60s-through-70s activist who then became a professional political consultant for progressive candidates and causes. In part, it is an excellent history of the times, written [...]
In “Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away,” first-time novelist Christie Watson lays bare the poverty stricken lives of traditional Nigerian villagers through the perspective of a young girl named Blessing. By Eva Wojcik “Eh! The politicians are controlled by the oil companies! This war would not be happening if the oil companies did not pay for the [...]
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