Monthly Archives: September 2012
Hamilton, Clive. Growth Fetish. 2004. Pluto Press UK and USA.
There is much to like about this book – from the quirky title to the cover quote by Noam Chomsky, “Right on target and badly needed”, to the opening quote, “All great truths begin as blasphemies”, by George Bernard Shaw and to the final closing line by the author, “Nothing is inevitable and no power is invincible”. So after a session of reading very ho-hum works that I couldn’t recommend anyone buy, I was happy to dig into this economics made-easy and action made possible new book from Australia.
When I was in Brazil for the Read more [...]
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Filed under Book Reviews, Clive Hamilton
Halper, Jeff. An Israeli in Palestine: Resisting Dispossession, Redeeming Israel. 2008. Pluto Press, UK.
“As I did when I was involved in the civil rights and anti—war movements in the USA in the 1960s, I today stand with the oppressed, the Palestinians…a struggle for freedom, justice and human rights that is truly global.”
When Jeff Halper spoke recently on a cross—Canada tour, he concentrated on Israeli government policies and their devastating effect on Palestine. He told us about the resistance campaigns of the organization he directs [Israeli Committee against House Demolitions (ICAHD), a group of Israeli & international volunteers Read more [...] Comments Off on Halper, Jeff. An Israeli in Palestine: Resisting Dispossession, Redeeming Israel. 2008. Pluto Press, UK.
Filed under Book Reviews, Jeff Halper
Hallet, Mary and Marilyn Davis. FIRING THE HEATHER: The Life and Times of Nellie McClung. 1994. Fifth House, Canada.
“The phrase [fire the heather] is a Scottish agricultural term that means getting rid of the old crop, so that new growth may begin.” Catherine Kerrigan, Edinburgh University
Someone recently said that ´feminism´ had become invisible and even the word was seldom used. So I thought it was time to re–new my knowledge about the women on whose shoulders modern women stand.
One of them most famous women in Canada was Nellie McClung, 1875–1951. The authors of this biography – and there are others, my public library lists eight, including Read more [...] Comments Off on Hallet, Mary and Marilyn Davis. FIRING THE HEATHER: The Life and Times of Nellie McClung. 1994. Fifth House, Canada.
Filed under Book Reviews, Marilyn Davis, Mary Hallet
Hackett, Robert A. and Yuezhi Zhao, editors. DEMOCRATIZING GLOBAL MEDIA: One World, Many Struggles. Rowan & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. UK & USA.
“We Must Be Our Own Media”
Rosalie Bertell, 1995
This is a compilation of many papers by a diverse (mainly male) group of academics and writers from around the globe. As such, one expects different view points from a group that worked on a research project that spanned years and continents. Still, I found it was a mixed message – the title very moderate and safe with a Zapatista subtitle don’t seem to go together.
The editors however make some points clear in the introduction; many of the contributors believe that global media, those Read more [...]
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Filed under Book Reviews, Robert A. Hackett, Yuezhi Zhao
Griffin, Betty and Susan Lockhart. Their Own History: Women’s Contribution to the Labour Movement of BC. 2002. Published by United Fishermen and Allied Workers’Union & CAW Seniors. New Westminster, BC.
I found this big, photo-packed book at the Cumberland Miners' Memorial with a little hand written sign saying, that if the buyer wished, one of the authors would sign it! Such modesty from Betty Griffin whose writing career started late in life when she had to finish a book her husband did not complete before he died.
I noticed in this engrossing history, activist women seem to live long, productive lives. I checked the directory of women included and was pleased to find friends long gone and even a spunky relative who died recently at ninety-five, Read more [...] Comments Off on Griffin, Betty and Susan Lockhart. Their Own History: Women’s Contribution to the Labour Movement of BC. 2002. Published by United Fishermen and Allied Workers’Union & CAW Seniors. New Westminster, BC.
Filed under Betty Griffin, Book Reviews, Susan Lockhart
Green, John. Ken Sprague: People’s Artist. Hawthorn Press. UK.
Last year the New Internationalist magazine used a famous art image of a big fish and little fishes on its cover. In a later issue the editor apologized for not crediting the artist. So he phoned Ken Sprague and talked to him, the artist said it was the first time anyone had asked permission to use the image. Sprague died weeks later. Fortunately the magazine noted a book about Sprague and after many months I tracked it down. (The fish image was Franco and the Canary Island banana pickers.)
Sprague was indeed a people's artist, for over 50 Read more [...] Comments Off on Green, John. Ken Sprague: People’s Artist. Hawthorn Press. UK.
Filed under Book Reviews, John Green
Govier, Katherine. THREE VIEWS OF CRYSTAL WATER. 2006. HarperCollins. Toronto.
´The pearls of the oyster are divine. And they are found in the dimmest, deepest place in the world, under the scabbiest, tightest lid. That is their magic.´
Katherine Govier is one of Canada´s best novelists, but her work is not well—known, even here. Three Views of Crystal Water is her finest work to date and her portrayal of Japanese society and the nuances of personal and cultural interaction are wonderful. As is often the case in good fiction, history, geography, human behaviour are woven together in a tapestry of narrative, experience, Read more [...]
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Gott, Richard. Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution. 2005. Verso Books, UK & USA.
I read this dense and compact biography of one of the most remarkable leaders of the 21st Century after I returned from El Salvador where I learned of the innovative aid that Venezuela extends across Latin America. In El Salvador agreements about eye surgery and oil imports are made directly with the FMLN because El Salvador is governed by a right-wing pro-American party which won’t deal with Venezuela. Elsewhere Chavez and his government have initiated new international media networks and trade agreements.
When I read recently that Venezuela Read more [...]
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Filed under Book Reviews, Richard Gott
Golinger, Eva. THE CHÁVEZ CODE: Cracking US Intervention in Venezuela. 2006. Olive Branch Press, MA, USA.
“In the case of Venezuela, as this book makes clear, the US government added yet another stain to its national honor. Golinger shows the incontrovertible facts of Washington´s attempt to overthrow the government of Hugo ChÁvez...
...Golinger´s prose radiates a fierce sense of the law´s moral importance. This young Venezuelan–American attorney uses her fact–filled pages almost like a legal brief...” from the foreword by Saul Landau.
When Hugo Chávez, the President of Venezuela spoke last year at the UN General Assembly he held up Read more [...] Comments Off on Golinger, Eva. THE CHÁVEZ CODE: Cracking US Intervention in Venezuela. 2006. Olive Branch Press, MA, USA.
Filed under Book Reviews, Eva Golinger
Gobodo-Madikizela, Pumla. A Human Being Died That Night: A South African Woman Confronts The Legacy of Apartheid. 2004. Mariner Books/ Houghton Mifflin, USA.
The legacy of apartheid horror and violence is a heavy burden for many South Africans. Those who still mourn the loss of children, parents, siblings, beloved friends found some relief in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), an important and unique process that allowed perpetrators of violence and cruelty to atone to their victims and victims' families. It allowed those victims, still alive, and their families to confront their torturers and to stand fearlessly before them and to choose to forgive or not to forgive those who expressed Read more [...] Comments Off on Gobodo-Madikizela, Pumla. A Human Being Died That Night: A South African Woman Confronts The Legacy of Apartheid. 2004. Mariner Books/ Houghton Mifflin, USA.
Filed under Book Reviews, Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
Ginzburg, Oren. There You Go! 2006. Hungry Man Books. UK. Distributed by Survival International, UK.
Cartoon books on serious subjects are great – they are an easy way to introduce issues to kids and adults alike. There You Go! is no exception. Whimsical drawings enhanced by simple text explain with little effort from the reader the illogical absurdity of ‘development’ as it is called and foisted on to those of other cultures by the minority world ‘experts’.
Here the urban professional developers arrive in a tribal village full of happy people who seem to be as developed as they have chosen to be. But force in the form of corporate Read more [...] Comments Off on Ginzburg, Oren. There You Go! 2006. Hungry Man Books. UK. Distributed by Survival International, UK.
Filed under Book Reviews, Oren Ginzburg
Ginzburg, Oren. THE HUNGRY MAN. 2005. Geneva Switzerland.
The first of Ginzburg´s satires is wrapped in whimsical drawings and brief statements. In this book he mocks the foreign development ´business´ where white experts travel abroad to help the poor and starving. After the assessment reports, the charts, the meetings, the social exchange and patronization the hungry man is still hungry. A good guide for sensitive aid workers to help them avoid the pitfalls of our culture´s assumed superiority and to really think about our attitudes and strategies for change.
(Website: www.hungrymanbooks.com) Read more [...] Comments Off on Ginzburg, Oren. THE HUNGRY MAN. 2005. Geneva Switzerland.
Filed under Book Reviews, Oren Ginzburg
