Jeremy Brecher

Meh, this book was not great. Here are my three main complaints.

1. He spends a far too big chunk of the book talking about the book. Most sections begin with a lengthy description of what's to follow and end with an even lengthier recap of what was just read. If you take away that, plus all the times he references his other books, this would be barely more than a pamphlet.

2. He gives a history of the climate change resistance movement and doesn't once mention Earth First!. In fact, he basically gives Bill McKibben credit for introducing the movement to direct action. I think this has more to do with the author being a liberal than a lack of knowledge or research.

3. After talking a bunch about a climate insurgency and how the only reason governments and corporations have power over the people is because we let them, he offers more government regulations and corporate generosity as solutions to the mess we're in. Hey, Jeremy, the government isn't going to end climate change, wars, poverty, etc.… (meer)

This book takes on globalization, arguing that while globalization from "above" (i.e. in service of elites in the form of transnational capitalism) does more harm than good, that globalization from "below" (grassroots social change) is necessary to fix current problems around the world.

I found this book to lack coherence, and also found it to be really inaccessible. I had a hard time following it and I don't think it's just because I was feeling sick while reading it. The authors repeat themselves a lot, and they also don't really have a main thesis or backbone in this book so it just sort of rambles on until it ends.

A few of the examples of effective change brought about by globalization from below in this book were also problematic, in my opinion. The authors write about how a pact was written to halt the usage of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) but anybody eating in the United States today can tell you that it obviously didn't do any good. See also: Nestlé and their campaign to get people in developing countries to use formula instead of breastfeed. The boycott and subsequent grassroots movements haven't stopped Nestlé at all.

The book was originally published in 2000 and it was interesting to read a book talking about how awful Pat Buchanan and Newt Gingrich are. But the last chapter in this version is an afterward which gives a lot of space to hating on Bush and Cheney, so I guess I still got my fill.… (meer)