Back to index of Nerve 8 - Spring 2006

Round-up of Radical Reads

By Mandy Vere

Typical - you wait years for a critique of supermarket giant Wal-Mart (owners of Asda) and then three come along at once! The best two seem to be: Wal-Mart: the Face of 21st Century Capitalism (New Press £12.99) edited by Nelson Lichtenstein, renowned American labour historian, which is an ambitious effort to dissect its business operations, social effects & role in the world economy, and Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Price (Disinformation £7.99) by Greg Spotts, a book about the making of the recent documentary on the grass-roots pressure campaign against the company. While we’re on an anti-capitalist tip and if you can’t bear those radical places like News From Nowhere that seem full of shallow Che Guevara images, you’ll like The Rebel Sell: How the Counterculture Became Consumer Culture by Joseph Heath & Andrew Potter (Capstone £8.99), a provocative book which argues that the idea of mocking the system by being countercultural is not only counterproductive but contributes to that very consumer society. Ok we’re told… But in our defence we also stock The Anti-Coke Manifesto (Colombia Solidarity Campaign £1), a pamphlet on why you should support the boycott campaign and when you’ve read about the murders of trade unionists in Colombia you’ll never want to touch Coca Cola again.

So… capitalism, corporacy & collapse or community, connection & compassion? No contest.

Moving on to the latter, I love the look of this book by Tim Root - Love, Empowerment and Social Justice (seems like everything’s coming in threes at the moment) (Open Gate £14.95). Tim has undertaken research on emotional well-being, and activism, to understand how we can improve our lives both individually and collectively. At a time when we sometimes seem to be drowning in new age books about inner change, it’s great to see one which combines the inner & the outer – the only way forward I’d say.

That‘s the real way to regenerate, and might make the need for the next book ultimately obsolete. Waiting for the Future: Poems by Children on Poverty and Bad Housing (Shelter £5), a heartbreaking collection which must move us to action.

Anyone notice International Women’s Day on March 8th? If not, you’re not alone, but here’s three titles on international women just to remind you.

Desert Children by Waris Dirie (Virago £10.99) is a follow-up to her autobiography and focuses on the crime of female genital mutilation as practised in her home country of Somalia. The Trouble with Islam Today by Irshad Manji (Mainstream £7.99) is a wake-up call for honesty & change within Islam by an American feminist and lesbian. Feminism is For Everybody by bell hooks (Pluto £11.99) is an inclusive, positive book which encourages women & men to see feminism’s relevance in a fresh light. And boy (girl) do we need a bit of that - don’t get me started…

All available at News From Nowhere Bookshop 96 Bold St Liverpool L1 4HY 0151 708 7270 www.newsfromnowhere.org.uk (online ordering from the REAL Amazons – boycott union-busting Amazon!)