nationalism communities emancipated reflections

books:

I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala

46 reviews
Rigoberta Menchu, Elisabeth Burgos-Debray

Verso, 1984

Who's fiddling with the title?
The title of this book is, "Rigoberta Menchu and the Story of All Poor Guatemalans ..." and in light of the criticism of it, the generality in the title is important. So who decided to change the title?

Planet of Slums (Reprint)

26 reviews
Mike Davis

Verso, 2007

Important book on slums
In this great book Mike Davis writes about how there are millions of people who live on fringes of major cities around the world and are exploited by entrepreneurs as cheap labour. These temporary workers are usually desperatley poor peasants. Most of these cities are in the global south, and some of these areas can better be described as "garbage slums" where unwanted waste and unwanted ...

The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of the American Working Class (Revised and Expanded Edition) ...

6 reviews
David R. Roediger

Verso, 2007

superb
This book challenges white male racism, proving once again that white males are racist not only when they are affluent, but when they are "working class", a term that bears some scrutiny, because even if a Black person recieves the same wages, they are of course subject to the horrors of racism. When *will* white males ever figure this out???

Magical Urbanism: Latinos Reinvent the US Big City

8 reviews
Mike Davis

Verso, 2001

....and mystical gang bangers rejuvenate small town USA
Davis is sympathetic, but like a typical lefty, places his faith in the labor movement to unite the diverse groups of latinos migrating to US cities. Yeah right. Another pipe-dream that the left can smoke. Hey Mike, how do like Hawaii? Come check out the ****holes like Modesto, Fresno, Salinas and other enclaves in CA that Mexicans are 'reinventing' and then blow back to the islands for your next ...

The Invention of the Jewish People

44 reviews
Shlomo Sand

Verso, 2009

Finally got it!
It comes as no surprise that the truth of this well known myth of Jewry comes out. Even I too who have performed DNA testing of several Palestinians of today, trace themselves as the real blooded Jews, who converted to Islam long ago. Not like the blond haired and blue eyed Jews that make up most of Israel today, who were converts centuries ago. I wish that this fact had been pointed out as ...

Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, New Edition

31 reviews
Benedict Anderson

Verso, 2006

A short-lived idea?
The thesis: "Nations" are imagined communities. They don't exist per se, as we will never know the overwhelming majority of our fellow compatriots. Nations don't respect ethnicity, religion, or preferences. They are not entities formed out of voluntary association. They are not optional at birth. They are political concoctions, perceived as limited and sovereign. Independently of the existing ...

Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World

24 reviews
Mike Davis

Verso, 2002

Imperialism: the deadliest stage of capitalism
Marx wrote about capital's destruction of the old social organizations of the societies it enters into, either originally or by force, that "the history of this, their expropriation, is written in the annals of mankind in letters of blood and fire". Mike Davis demonstrates that this is, indeed, the case, and not just for Western Europe either. Focusing on the case examples of Brazil, India and ...

Damming the Flood: Haiti, Aristide, and the Politics of Containment

4 reviews
Peter Hallward

Verso, 2008

Best Book on Haiti's Recent History
I read a lot of books on Haiti, this is the best one I have seen on Haiti's history between 1990 and 2005. Well-written and researched, with strong analysis. It is important for anyone interested in understanding Haiti today, but it is equally important for understanding current U.S. foreign policy. The excellent explanation of how the U.S. undermined and overthrew Haiti's democracy in 2004 ...

First As Tragedy, Then As Farce

9 reviews
Slavoj Zizek

Verso, 2009

Very interresting book. A few problems with verso books
I am disappointed to realize that Verso Books is chasing the websites that try to share this and other Zizek's books. It is the opposite of what most authors of the left (which they represent) think. Besides that, the book is very interesting and to read. Zizek it is very good because the language is very accessible.

City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles, New Edition

9 reviews
Mike Davis

Verso, 2006

A provocative (but over-reaching) essay on urban inequality
Several years ago I picked this book up on a business trip to L.A. and couldn't put it down. Since then I've become an armchair aficionado of L.A./Southland history and returned to explore the area as often as I can afford. This book has to be compared to the likes of Heidi and Alvin Toffler's "Third Wave" and so forth. It's part essay, part history, and part futurism. As with the "Third ...

The Emancipated Spectator
Jacques Rancière

Verso, 2009

Following up on his acclaimed work The Future of the Image , Rancière explores the meaning of critical art and suggests how we may overcome the potential trap of being a spectator. As passive spectators, he argues, we risk consumerist oppression and an upheaval of social relations. Suggesting a more active part in the process of observation, Rancière reveals how we may affirm the status of spectatorship and build upon it. In our contemporary ...

Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden

17 reviews
Osama bin Laden, Bruce Lawrence, ...

Verso, 2005

Government Class Winner
This book was a book of 3 choices in my government class. I had to write a "reaction paper" on this book. I must say, along with helping get an A on the paper - this book also taught me some things I didn't know! And for thos who THINK they know.. open your minds and THINK again!

The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering, New Edition 2nd Edition

139 reviews
Norman G. Finkelstein

Verso, 2003

HONEST MAN
More work should be devoted to expose an "industry" that are like leaches from the sufferings of a multitude of victims...

The Future of the Image (2009 paperback edition)

1 review
Jacques Ranciere

Verso, 2009

The emancipatory potential of art
"The Future of the Image" by Jacques Ranciere offers an unique critique and perspective on contemporary art forms ranging from film to painting, photography and theater. As an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris, Mr. Ranciere approaches the subject matter not as an art historian but as an intellectual who is interested in exploring the importance of art in society. This ...

A People's History of the World: From the Stone Age to the New Millennium

9 reviews
Chris Harman

Verso, 2008

A great peoples history
Great book. Nice to read something that focuses on people, not just great men. There should be more works like this, and I hope this is just the begining.

Soccer in Sun and Shadow, New Edition

34 reviews
Eduardo Galeano

Verso, 2003

One of my all-time favorite books
I liked the my old paperback edition so much, I bought a hardbound version of the new edition. (The new material BTW is just a continuation of Galeano's commentaries this time centered on the 2002 World Cup tournament. Older version just went up to the 1998 tournament.) Any discussion of Galeano's writing must begin with his inimitable style. For lack of a proper genre, I call his writings ...

In Defense of Lost Causes

6 reviews
Slavoj Zizek

Verso, 2009

No one said it would be easy
Mao said, the revolution is not a dinner party, and along the way horrible things may happen, Zizek here reclaims, or claims again(resurgence) the demise of thinking through the paradigm of change, it is not so much a matter of what has gone wrong but seeing one's mistakes, failing and going on- at it again, he likes Beckett's apt phrase, of Fail and fail again,we are human failure is part of ...

Minima Moralia: Reflections on a Damaged Life (Radical Thinkers)

14 reviews
Theodor W. Adorno

Verso, 2006

Pure thought
Though largely unknown outside of certain obscure academic circles, Theodore W. Adorno was, without a doubt, the foremost socio-political theorist of the 20th century. For truly intelligent, literate, questing minds (free of occultist nonsense) Adorno's MINIMA MORALIA is absolutely indispensible. A compendium of always eloquent, surprising, mournful, and deeply humane musings on modern capitalist ...

The New Old World
Perry Anderson

Verso, 2009

A major work of modern history and political analysis, by the leading historian and social theorist. Surveying the post-Cold War trajectory of each European power, and the halting progress towards social and economic integration, Perry Anderson punctures both domestic and American myths about continental Europe. Whilst noting the relative achievement of German integration, Anderson draws out the connections between the EU?s eastward expansion, a ...

The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice

146 reviews
Christopher Hitchens

Verso, 1997

Relgious People, Why Don't you Read the Book Before you Write a Review?
Hitchens writes with clarity, and an eye for brevity. This is a poignant look at the way that an image can overwhelm a society so much that it takes an author like Hitchens to point out what should have been obvious to everyone. It takes Hitchens less than a hundred pages to point out the hypocritical stances, and the cruelty of the one know as Mother Teresa.

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