Here are three lectures delivered by Harvey, a geographer by trade, in 2004. In the first he analyses neoliberalism in what is a finely composed exposition of its meaning: the restoration of ruling class power. The second is focused on uneven geographical development and Harvey masterfully employs his Marxian analytical toolbox to demonstrate how this unevenness is inherent to the system via processes of primitive accumulation, competing capitals and commodity fetishism. Finally, for the specialist Harvey tackles the notion of ‘space’, producing a nine-coordinate ‘matrix’ of different conceptions which we are asked to consider simultaneously and dialectically; it’s challenging stuff. SS
Verso; 2006; 154 pages
Sixteen short essays, written between 2001 and 2006, linked by the thread of the hope (or in Berger’s coinage ‘undefeated despair’) that enables people to continue the struggle – ‘surviving the nights and imagining a new day’ – in an era of unrestrained capitalism and the ‘war on terror’. A thread that takes him through the plight of the Palestinians, the poetry of Nazim Hikmet, Hurricane Katrina, the films of Pasolini, the music of Dvorak, the invasion of Iraq, the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the stories of Platonov, 9/11, the July 7 bombings, and much more besides. AS
When devastating capitalist crisis offers a justification for the savage intensification of market discipline (for the masses), to counter-attack on either political or aesthetic grounds may seem audacious enough. To do so on both at once is outrageous and, in the case of Militant Modernism, outrageously brilliant – with thrilling style and a swaggering contempt Hatherley dismisses the pathetic unoriginality of new private housing, market-fetishising artistic practices and much else besides. He serves up a newly emancipating rediscovery of socialist modernism in public housing, planning, film and sexuality and writes with exhilarating confidence and astonishing thematic breadth: “Forward! Never forgetting.” AB
By turns lyrical and meditative, playful and ironic, imbued with exile and loss, and steadfastly truthful, the pieces in this collection were mostly written in Ramallah during the summer of 2006, as Israel invaded Lebanon. By juxtaposing fully-worked poems, journal entries, poetic fragments and prose poems Darwish blurs the boundaries between forms. In the final entry he writes, “All prose here is primitive poetry lacking a skilled craftsman, and all the poetry is prose accessible to passers-by.” A fitting farewell to a writer regarded as the voice of the Palestinian people and one of the greatest poets of our time. AS
Why do working class Kansans support a Republican Party that consistently acts against their interests? Frank’s simple answer is that culture has substituted for class; moral righteousness functions as an outlet for underlying anger at economic injustice. He examines the rhetoric of talk radio ‘shock jocks’, evangelicals, Fox News and right-wing politicians. Unfortunately the book is overly journalistic in places and the analysis is occasionally lightweight. Acknowledging the working class’s abandonment by the Democrats, Frank recommends a return to an old-fashioned economic populism. Despite its limitations, it’s encouraging to see a bestseller placing class at the heart of its analysis. SS
Malik’s study is an awesome and challenging counter-narrative of the history of ‘race’. He charts how the notion originated and developed through slavery and colonialism and the ways in which it was formalised via a scientific discourse. So far, so familiar. Malik’s originality lies in his bravura conclusion: he demonstrates how in the post-war era the discredited idea of ‘race’ was transmogrified into the equally tenuous notion of ‘culture’ and, even more ephemerally, ‘ethnicity’, serving merely as codes for the unscientific concept of ‘race’. Usefully, this thought-provoking work powerfully emphasises the strategic dead-end of identity politics and multiculturalism as ideology. SS
Mamdani’s is an ambitious endeavour: to challenge the dominant narrative on Darfur, to offer an alternative explanation of the conflict and to associate its representations with the “war on terror”. He meets his objectives but the scope of the book makes it rather disjointed. The first section is the most interesting: he forensically demonstrates the deceit and exaggerations of the Save Darfur organisation. Later sections devoted to how colonial policy constructed ethnic categories which still frame internal conflicts – despite their inaccuracy – are familiar from elsewhere, while his account of Sudan’s history is detailed but confusing to the non-expert. SS
This novel is centred on Stalingrad during the second world war. Soviet and Nazi troops fight street by street. In house 6/1 normal military discipline has broken down amongst the Russian troops, and yet they repel every attack. The taste of freedom has emboldened them. The cast of characters takes us beyond Stalingrad, to Nazi death camps and villages deep in the Russian hinterland. Grossman’s first hand experiences of the war give this book a raw descriptive power and a deep humanism. It is about human beings struggling for freedom even when “life is full to the brim with need”. JM
This special issue of City investigates the theory and practice of resisting commodification in urban communities. The case studies offer a fascinating insight into struggles for justice in the city and include a diverse range of examples across the Europe, the US and elsewhere. The theoretical contributions are less impressive, though Slaters’ brilliant and surgical dismantling of gentrifying approaches to ‘regeneration’ provides a notable exception. Otherwise the specific modalities of urban power are not persuasively defined as autonomous from power operations in capitalist society as a whole whilst the strategic outlook eschews the working class without presenting a viable alternative. AB
This spellbinding novel paints a vivid and enthralling picture of contemporary Mumbai, ranging from the utterly chronic corruption of the Indian state to the desperation of millions shut out of the ‘economic miracle’. But Chandra is no dour realist: his prose is a delight and carries the densely epic plot with an elegance that offers moments of uproarious hilarity inseparably mixed with heartbreak. Police, gangsters, far-right Hindu nationalists and secret service operatives engage in a kaleidoscopic power struggle with minimal democratic interference. The analytical perspective is liberal rather than left-wing, but reading Sacred Games is a thrilling and fantastic experience. AB
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