Politics Forum Reading Group • Page 2

Well, if we are going to get this going, we should make formal suggestions. Each person recommend one book or essay. The cut off time is can be June sixth, and then we can vote on them.

 

I just bought Wages of Rebellion by Chris Hedges

 

as i'm finding myself getting more into trying to understand politics / economics / U.S./world history i'm wondering if there are any stand out books about these topics and / or books that break these complex topics into easily understandable "follow-along for dummies" folks like me?

(aside from the "blah blah blah for dummies" books which i've found highly uninformative and unhelpful for many topics oddly enough).

 

Have you guys read "Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty" by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson? It's well written and one of the most insightful books I have ever read.

 

idk how i missed this thread but i want in.

gonna throw meaning of marxism by paul d'amato in the sugggestions. looks like a good introduction.

 

Now that I've finished it, I would suggest The Political Economy of Slavery by Eugene Genovese, for those interested in the pre-American Civil War South

 

I bought this the other day:

Marxism and Social Movements


"Marxism and Social Movements is the first sustained engagement between social-movement theory and Marxist approaches to collective action. The chapters collected here, by leading figures in both fields, discuss the potential for a Marxist theory of social movements. Exploring struggles on six continents over 150 years, it sets a new agenda both for Marxist theory and for movement research."

 

This seems very timely. Is there a digital copy we could all share?

 

Here you go:

https://istifhane.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/marxismandsocialmovements.pdf

 

How did this turn out? Anything else in that series that may be as or more relevant?

Just bought "Prisoners of The American Dream" by Mike Davis. If there's more great material on Marxist movements then I'd love to dive into that ASAP, otherwise I'll be engulfing myself in the Frankfurt School.

 

The new Thomas Friedman book is pretty good. The name makes it sound like it is a self help book but it's actually more or less a follow up to The World Is Flat.

 

Thomas Friedman is the absolute worst. Everything that's wrong with neoliberalism all at once in one neat and tidy package.

 

I finished America's Bitter Pill by Steven Brill a couple days ago. It's a pretty insightful telling of the story of the ACA from context, drafting, passage, to aftermath. It was great until the very end when he proposed his "fix"... It works within the confines of our system of private insurance and competing healthcare providers as something that may be politically feasible, which I'm totally on board with and understand. But, he dismisses single-payer (and never mentions socialized medicine) as something that "will never happen", because that is what most businessmen, politicians, and lobbyists had told him during his diligent research. I think the amount of time someone spends around these people is as harmful as it is insightful because of how insulated Washington is. The least he could do is admit that these systems would solve a majority of our problems. However, I understand getting into that subject could spiral into an entirely different book...

A group I worked with in my hometown managed to book an event later this year with George Lakey, the author of Viking Economics, which I've heard great things about and is now on my short list. He's making the rounds now and had a good interview with David Pakman recently if anyone's curious.

Started now on Adorno's "Dialectic of Enlightenment". Already sprung on this passage:

 

mentioned this in general pol but since this thread won't be as busy:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0520292154/?tag=absolutepunk-20

 

And The Band Played On has been sitting on my shelf unread because it's so daunting in length and subject matter, I think reading along with someone else might motivate me if anyone's interested

 

This looks really good. I wouldn't be able to get to it for a while but would love to hear your thoughts if you dive in.

Had the immense pleasure of seeing Michelle Alexander, Naomi Klein, and Keeanga Yamahtta Taylor speak here in Chicago on the burgeoning movement ( here!). I've since been kicking myself for not reading all of their stuff. So many books!

Also, as it seems pretty hard to actually get a proper conventional simultaneous reading together, could we maybe reformat this to where people simply share and discuss books they're reading? It'd be a great way to narrow our reading lists more efficiently.

 

About halfway through this and I can't recommend it enough.

 

I'm in the process of putting together a syllabus for a reading group I'm thinking about starting with my local DSA chapter for Jacobin's ABCs of Socialism since a lot of people are new to the DSA and to the idea of socialism. Other than the book and the referenced articles, any other readings, excerpts, etc that you all would recommend to include?

 

It’s Their Party

Black Faces in High Places

Winning Power, Not Just Government

Towards a revolutionary socialist party | International Socialist Review

The Power of Deep Organizing


The Fate of the Fast against the Slow

Organizing in the University

Making Waves (Part 1)

White Purity

Striking at the Roots

 

Perfect, thanks Dom!

 

Why Don't the Poor Rise Up? | AK Press

 

Finished Adorno and spent the best $35 I've ever spent on books at a radical book fair put on by ISO

 

Year of the Sword: The Assyrian Christian Genocide, A History

 

Class, Race and Marxism: David Roediger: 9781786631237: Amazon.com: Books