Out of the Mainstream: Books and Films You May Have Missed
- Out of the MainstreamBooks and Films You May Have Missed
Books
13 Bankers
By Simon Johnson and James Kwak
Pantheon, 2010
This book explains in convincing detail how Wall Street destroyed the economy, why elected officials and regulators in both the Bush and Obama administrations failed to take the necessary action, and what ought to be done now.
1877: America's Year of Living Violently
By Michael A. Bellesiles
The New Press, 2010
1877, like 1968 or 2001, was a year in which events converged to change the course of U.S. history. An historian writes in accessible style about a year of economic depression in which white mobs attacked African-Americans and Mexicans, a national railroad strike headlined a series of major battles between working people and big capital, and the U.S. Army faced stiff resistance from Native Americans.
A Shameful Business
By James A. Gross
Cornell University Press, 2010
Politicians of various stripes occasionally find it useful to decry human rights abuses in other countries. This book details the human rights abuses built into the American workplace, where property rights are consistently valued over workers' rights.
Colorblind
By Tim Wise
City Lights, 2010
America needs not to "move beyond" race but to adopt innovative public policies that directly address it. Wise gives specific ideas of what those policies might be.
Dreams of Repair
By Eleanor Rubin
Charta, 2010
As Howard Zinn suggests in his introduction to this collection of works by a longtime printmaker and watercolor artist, Rubin's art responds to suffering in the world on a life-affirming, emotional level rather than as propaganda. [End Page 114]
Ending the U.S. War in Afghanistan
By David Wildman and Phyllis Bennis
Olive Branch, 2010
In question-and-answer format, analysts from the United Methodist Church and the Institute for Policy Studies provide essential background on the real reasons for the Bush invasion of Afghanistan and the continuation of the war by President Obama. They also address the question of how the U.S. can bring its involvement to an end.
Green Gone Wrong
By Heather Rogers
Scribner, 2010
Many Americans feel that they are taking meaningful action about climate change by substituting cloth shopping bags for plastic ones or buying organic food. But having real impact requires joining together to win government action to control greenhouse gas emissions, develop and distribute alternative energy, invest in mass transit, encourage sustainable local food production, and address the global wealth gap.
Railroad Noir
By Linda Grant Niemann, with photographs by Joel Jensen
Indiana University Press, 2010
The author provides an unvarnished account of her experiences as one of the first women to serve as a "brakeman" and conductor on American railroads. Her plain-spoken description of the pros and cons of the work, as well as the way work life has deteriorated under the management assault of the past few decades, could apply to many other kinds of blue-collar work. Her vignettes are accompanied by stunning photos that capture the drama, isolation, and danger often involved in railroad work.
Seeds of Change
By John Atlas
Vanderbilt University Press, 2010
The president of the National Housing institute has written an impressively detailed, thoughtful, and honest history of ACORN, from its founding to its recent reorganization forced by right-wing attacks.
Share This!
By Deanna Zandt
Berrett-Koehler, 2010
An experienced progressive activist shares her knowledge and insights about the potential and limits of social networking.
The Autobiography of an Execution
By David R. Dow
Twelve, 2010
A Texas law professor who has handled appeals in more than a hundred death penalty cases provides a powerful personal account of the issues, contradictions, and stresses that his work involves.
The Can Man
By Laura E. Williams and Craig Orback
Lee and Low, 2010
In this children's book, a young boy watches a neighbor collect cans for survival after becoming homeless because of hard times. The boy gets the idea that he could collect the cans instead, in order to buy a new...
