Nerve 13 - Round-up of Recommended Reads

Round-up of Recommended Reads

I used to object to teachers in my children's primary school calling their drawings and writings "work" as if this was something serious and distinct from "play". They thought I was a bit weird as they were only trying to give the children some respect for their efforts. But I do wonder what the difference is between work and play.

One distinction people use is whether you get paid for what you do and another is whether you have any choice in the matter. If the answer is 'no' on both counts then it's slavery, which is exactly how 27 million people in the world today, from London to Burma, are living right now, as detailed powerfully by Caroline Cox & John Marks in "This Immoral Trade: Slavery in the 21st Century" (Monarch £8.99).

You could of course be getting paid but having very little choice in the matter, and be prevented by assassination squads from joining a trades union, as in the case of Coca-Cola workers in Colombia. Mark Thomas's latest offering is "Belching Out the Devil: Global Adventures in Coca-Cola" (Ebury £11.99). Along with the Colombians, he tells us about child labourers in the sugar cane fields of El Salvador and Indian workers exposed to toxic chemicals, all in the name of a fizzy drink. Don't ever drink it again!

While we're on the subject of Marx - sorry Marks - that other comic socialist, Mark Steel seems to have gone off the rails lately; upset both in his personal life and by the state of the world, he at least manages to make us laugh by documenting it all in "What's Going On? The Meanderings of a Comic Mind in Confusion" (Simon & Schuster £12.99)

We all know what's wrong with the world of work, what we need are some alternative ideas. Sheila Cohen has some in "Ramparts of Resistance: Why Workers Lost Their Power and How to Get It Back" (Pluto £16.99) calling for a new politics of independent unionism and an explicitly class-based renewal of workers' power. You could also look at "How to Set Up a Workers Co-operative" (Radical Routes £3) - go on, the time is ripe.

And widening out a bit to general neighbourhood change, Tony Gibson's "Streetwide Worldwide: Where People Power Begins" (Jon Carpenter £14.99) is a fantastic inspiration to get moving, by pooling skills & know-how and by-passing politicians.

Talking of the street, the Independent reviewer said of this next book, "His name is magic, his poems are songs of the street." They were talking of course of the one and only Lemn Sissay, recently in Liverpool - if you missed him, you must get hold of his latest collection "Listener" (Canongate £8.99). It's overflowing with love poems, inner-city odes and journeys through history, mystery & culture.

And finally, for a bit of Liverpool history check out "The Liverpool Docklands: Life & Work in Athol Street" by Pat Ayers (Liver Press £4.95). Words and photos to bring back to life that near, but oh so far, past.

Online ordering from the REAL Amazons - www.newsfromnowhere.org.uk

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