You are exploring the wise. ~ Hannah Arendt. http://www.conferenceofbirds.com

Pity the Nation Author: Robert Fisk Publisher: Thunder’s Mouth Press Publication Date:October 2003 Summary: With the Israeli-Palestinian crisis reaching wartime levels, where is the latest confrontation between these two old foes leading? Robert Fisk’s explosive Pity the Nation recounts Sharon and Arafat’s first deadly encounter in Lebanon in the early 1980s and explains why the IsraelPalestine relationship seems so intractable.  A remarkable combination of war reporting and analysis by an author who has witnessed the carnage of Beirut for twenty-five years, Fisk, the first journalist to whom bin Laden announced his jihad against the U. S. , is one of the world’s most fearless and honored foreign correspondents.  He spares no one in this saga of the civil war and subsequent Israeli invasion: the PLO, whose thuggish behavior alienated most Lebanese, the various Lebanese factions, whose appalling brutality spared no one, the Syrians, who supported first the Christians and then the Muslims in their attempt to control Lebanon, and the Israelis, who tried to install their own puppets and, with their 1982 invasion, committed massive war crimes of their own.  It includes a moving finale that recounts the travails of Fisk’s friend Terry Anderson who was kidnapped by Hezbollah and spent 2,454 days in captivity. Fully updated to include the Israeli withdrawl from south Lebanon and Ariel Sharon’s electoral victory over Ehud Barak, this edition has sixty pages of new material and a new preface. “Robert Fisk’s enormous book about Lebanon’s desperate travails is one of the most distinguished in recent times. “ Edward Said http://t.co/AcUClOD ISBN:1560254424

Pity the Nation

Author: Robert Fisk

Publisher: Thunder’s Mouth Press

Publication Date:October 2003

Summary:

With the Israeli-Palestinian crisis reaching wartime levels, where is the latest confrontation between these two old foes leading? Robert Fisk’s explosive Pity the Nation recounts Sharon and Arafat’s first deadly encounter in Lebanon in the early 1980s and explains why the IsraelPalestine relationship seems so intractable. 

A remarkable combination of war reporting and analysis by an author who has witnessed the carnage of Beirut for twenty-five years, Fisk, the first journalist to whom bin Laden announced his jihad against the U. S. , is one of the world’s most fearless and honored foreign correspondents. 

He spares no one in this saga of the civil war and subsequent Israeli invasion: the PLO, whose thuggish behavior alienated most Lebanese, the various Lebanese factions, whose appalling brutality spared no one, the Syrians, who supported first the Christians and then the Muslims in their attempt to control Lebanon, and the Israelis, who tried to install their own puppets and, with their 1982 invasion, committed massive war crimes of their own. 

It includes a moving finale that recounts the travails of Fisk’s friend Terry Anderson who was kidnapped by Hezbollah and spent 2,454 days in captivity. Fully updated to include the Israeli withdrawl from south Lebanon and Ariel Sharon’s electoral victory over Ehud Barak, this edition has sixty pages of new material and a new preface. “Robert Fisk’s enormous book about Lebanon’s desperate travails is one of the most distinguished in recent times. “

Edward Said http://t.co/AcUClOD

ISBN:1560254424

1 note

On Empire: America, War, and Global Supremacy Author: Eric J. Hobsbawm Publisher: New Press Publication Date:June 2009 Summary: Review  PRAISE FOR ERIC HOBSBAWM’S The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991 “The fact is that no other living historian of whatever political affiliation has the intellectual firepower–the range and depth of knowledge, the analytical skill–to bring off a book like this.” –Niall Ferguson, The Sunday Telegraph “Hobsbawm’s magisterial treatment of the short twentieth century will be the definitive fin-de-siècle work.” –Kenneth Prewitt, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University “No historian can match his overwhelming command of fact and source… Hobsbawm’s gift for startling, often seductive generalizations from his material has only grown. He is a historian, not a novelist, but the engine inside his head is a Rolls-Royce imagination.”  –Neal Ascherson, The Independent ISBN:159558465X

On Empire: America, War, and Global Supremacy

Author: Eric J. Hobsbawm

Publisher: New Press

Publication Date:June 2009

Summary: Review 

PRAISE FOR ERIC HOBSBAWM’S The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991 “The fact is that no other living historian of whatever political affiliation has the intellectual firepower–the range and depth of knowledge, the analytical skill–to bring off a book like this.” –Niall Ferguson, The Sunday Telegraph “Hobsbawm’s magisterial treatment of the short twentieth century will be the definitive fin-de-siècle work.” –Kenneth Prewitt, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University “No historian can match his overwhelming command of fact and source… Hobsbawm’s gift for startling, often seductive generalizations from his material has only grown. He is a historian, not a novelist, but the engine inside his head is a Rolls-Royce imagination.”

 –Neal Ascherson, The Independent

ISBN:159558465X

4 notes

Models of Capitalism: Growth and Stagnation in the Modern Era Author:David Coates Publisher: Polity Press Publication Date:January 2000 Summary: Review  ‘A brilliantly comparative analysis of the contradictions that beset all the various capitalist models amidst globalization today as well as of the mode of thinking that limits our perspective to choosing among them. A must read for everyone doing work in comparative and international political economy, and for all those concerned with finding a new way forward for labour movements and the left.’ Leo Panitch, Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science, York University, Toronto ‘This is a truly remarkable and phenomenally important book.  I can only marvel at the breadth of coverage, the prescience of the analysis and of the issues raised, the accessibility of the text and, above all, the depth and sophistication of the argument. In an age of sound-bite politics and, worse still, sound-bite political analysis, this book is likely to become an enduring classic.  It clearly bears comparison with Shonfield’s magisterial Modern Capitalism. In a way, rather like Shonfield’s book, this is simply so good as to be accessible to a very wide audience.’ Colin Hay, Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Birmingham ‘Focusing on the US, UK, German, Japanese and Swedish economies, this very clearly written book examines the differences between their economic and political and cultural systems and sets out to show which of them worked best in the post-war era and the reasons for their comparative success or failure.’ Labour Research ‘The empirical chapters represent a useful, accessible synthesis of research on economic growth from political scientists, economists, and sociologists.  And the book certainly delivers on its promise of being a provocative contribution to the ongoing discourse of thinkers on the Left.’ Political Science Quarterly ‘The systematic arrangement of the book makes it accessible to non-specialists … Through its use of recent literature, the book is also useful to business historians as a survey.’ Business History ‘Confused by the theoretical proliferation of the past decade within the economic social sciences? … Coates’ book will be useful to those who are interested, challenged or just plain confused by all the debates … The book provides a convenient entry point into a range of debates, a detailed guide to the nuances within the literature, as well as a pointer to the broader literature about the relationship between economic regulatory systems and the political economy of industrial relations in a transforming economic marketplace. It is well worth a look.’ The Journal of Industrial Relations “…quite the best overview of recent debates in political economy that I have seen.  I finally have a book I can assign in my “comparative capitalisms” course without flinching.”  Professor Vivek Chibber, Sociology Department, New York University ISBN:0745620590

Models of Capitalism: Growth and Stagnation in the Modern Era

Author:David Coates

Publisher: Polity Press

Publication Date:January 2000

Summary: Review 

‘A brilliantly comparative analysis of the contradictions that beset all the various capitalist models amidst globalization today as well as of the mode of thinking that limits our perspective to choosing among them. A must read for everyone doing work in comparative and international political economy, and for all those concerned with finding a new way forward for labour movements and the left.’ Leo Panitch, Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science, York University, Toronto ‘This is a truly remarkable and phenomenally important book. 

I can only marvel at the breadth of coverage, the prescience of the analysis and of the issues raised, the accessibility of the text and, above all, the depth and sophistication of the argument. In an age of sound-bite politics and, worse still, sound-bite political analysis, this book is likely to become an enduring classic. 

It clearly bears comparison with Shonfield’s magisterial Modern Capitalism. In a way, rather like Shonfield’s book, this is simply so good as to be accessible to a very wide audience.’ Colin Hay, Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Birmingham ‘Focusing on the US, UK, German, Japanese and Swedish economies, this very clearly written book examines the differences between their economic and political and cultural systems and sets out to show which of them worked best in the post-war era and the reasons for their comparative success or failure.’ Labour Research ‘The empirical chapters represent a useful, accessible synthesis of research on economic growth from political scientists, economists, and sociologists. 

And the book certainly delivers on its promise of being a provocative contribution to the ongoing discourse of thinkers on the Left.’ Political Science Quarterly ‘The systematic arrangement of the book makes it accessible to non-specialists … Through its use of recent literature, the book is also useful to business historians as a survey.’ Business History ‘Confused by the theoretical proliferation of the past decade within the economic social sciences? … Coates’ book will be useful to those who are interested, challenged or just plain confused by all the debates … The book provides a convenient entry point into a range of debates, a detailed guide to the nuances within the literature, as well as a pointer to the broader literature about the relationship between economic regulatory systems and the political economy of industrial relations in a transforming economic marketplace. It is well worth a look.’ The Journal of Industrial Relations “…quite the best overview of recent debates in political economy that I have seen. 

I finally have a book I can assign in my “comparative capitalisms” course without flinching.” 

Professor Vivek Chibber, Sociology Department, New York University

ISBN:0745620590

5 notes

In Praise of Barbarians Author: Mike Davis Publisher: Haymarket Books Publication Date:August 2007 Summary: Book Review: “In Praise of Barbarians” by Mike Davis, 2007 The recent past has seen a profusion of left-wing books, films and documentaries. This blog in part is a tribute to this wave of intellectual fervor, which is greater than anything seen since the late 60s and early 70s. Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky, the elder warhorse intellectuals of the left, have been joined by a raft of hard-core atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, environmental activists like Vandana Shiva and James H Kunstler and social and economic critics… the latter including Kevin Phillips, Doug Henwood, Greg Palast, Thomas Frank, Susan Faludi, William Grieder, Michael Parenti, Eric Schlosser, John Perkins and Mike Davis. Read More : http://is.gd/xxWcKg ISBN:1931859426

In Praise of Barbarians

Author: Mike Davis

Publisher: Haymarket Books

Publication Date:August 2007

Summary:

Book Review: “In Praise of Barbarians” by Mike Davis, 2007

The recent past has seen a profusion of left-wing books, films and documentaries. This blog in part is a tribute to this wave of intellectual fervor, which is greater than anything seen since the late 60s and early 70s. Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky, the elder warhorse intellectuals of the left, have been joined by a raft of hard-core atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, environmental activists like Vandana Shiva and James H Kunstler and social and economic critics… the latter including Kevin Phillips, Doug Henwood, Greg Palast, Thomas Frank, Susan Faludi, William Grieder, Michael Parenti, Eric Schlosser, John Perkins and Mike Davis.

Read More : http://is.gd/xxWcKg

ISBN:1931859426

0 notes

Global “Body Shopping”: An Indian Labor System in the Information Technology Industry Author: Biao Xiang Publisher: Princeton University Press Publication Date:November 2006 Summary: Review Bravura ethnographic reportage. Of the many manuscripts and books I have read on anthropological forays into globalization issues, this is the one I would most want my students to have as an exemplar as they plan their research. (George E. Marcus, Rice University, coauthor of “Anthropology as Cultural Critique” ) Product Description How can America’s information technology (IT) industry predict serious labor shortages while at the same time laying off tens of thousands of employees annually? The answer is the industry’s flexible labor management system—a flexibility widely regarded as the modus operandi of global capitalism today. Global “Body Shopping” explores how flexibility and uncertainty in the IT labor market are constructed and sustained through concrete human actions.  Drawing on in-depth field research in southern India and in Australia, and folding an ethnography into a political economy examination, Xiang Biao offers a richly detailed analysis of the India-based global labor management practice known as “body shopping.” In this practice, a group of consultants—body shops—in different countries works together to recruit IT workers. Body shops then farm out workers to clients as project-based labor, and upon a project’s completion they either place the workers with a different client or “bench” them to await the next placement. Thus, labor is managed globally to serve volatile capital movement. Underpinning this practice are unequal socioeconomic relations on multiple levels. While wealth in the New Economy is created in an increasingly abstract manner, everyday realities—stock markets in New York, benched IT workers in Sydney, dowries in Hyderabad, and women and children in Indian villages—sustain this flexibility.  ISBN:0691118515

Global “Body Shopping”: An Indian Labor System in the Information Technology Industry

Author: Biao Xiang

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Publication Date:November 2006

Summary:

Review Bravura ethnographic reportage. Of the many manuscripts and books I have read on anthropological forays into globalization issues, this is the one I would most want my students to have as an exemplar as they plan their research. (George E. Marcus, Rice University, coauthor of “Anthropology as Cultural Critique” ) Product Description How can America’s information technology (IT) industry predict serious labor shortages while at the same time laying off tens of thousands of employees annually? The answer is the industry’s flexible labor management system—a flexibility widely regarded as the modus operandi of global capitalism today. Global “Body Shopping” explores how flexibility and uncertainty in the IT labor market are constructed and sustained through concrete human actions. 

Drawing on in-depth field research in southern India and in Australia, and folding an ethnography into a political economy examination, Xiang Biao offers a richly detailed analysis of the India-based global labor management practice known as “body shopping.” In this practice, a group of consultants—body shops—in different countries works together to recruit IT workers. Body shops then farm out workers to clients as project-based labor, and upon a project’s completion they either place the workers with a different client or “bench” them to await the next placement. Thus, labor is managed globally to serve volatile capital movement. Underpinning this practice are unequal socioeconomic relations on multiple levels. While wealth in the New Economy is created in an increasingly abstract manner, everyday realities—stock markets in New York, benched IT workers in Sydney, dowries in Hyderabad, and women and children in Indian villages—sustain this flexibility. 

ISBN:0691118515

4 notes