workers

Wed 9.09.09| C. Wright Mills Reconsidered

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Daniel Geary, Radical Ambition: C. Wright Mills, the Left, and American Social Thought UC Press, 2009

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C. Wright Mills liked to think big. His analyses of power elites, white collar workplaces, the Cuban Revolution, and potential sources of radical social transformation were influential with thinkers, activists, and concerned citizens in many parts of the globe. Daniel Geary describes Mills's ideas and their impact on a number of social movements, especially the New Left.

Mon 9.07.09| Anatomy of a Crisis

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David McNally, Another World is Possible: Globalization and Anti-Capitalism Arbeiter Ring, 2006

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In David McNally's analysis of the nature and causes of the ongoing economic crisis, he highlights, among other things, the volatility of money, the uses and abuses of working-class debt, a post-1982 expansion in global capitalism, and the fateful financialization of the economy. Debt has played a significant role, McNally argues in a recent article, in disciplining workers and poor people both here and abroad. (Holiday encore presentation.)

Wed 8.19.09| Oil, Class, "Enclosure"

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George Caffentzis, No Blood For Oil! Energy, Class Struggle, and War, 1998-2004 (pdf)

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Peak Oil, with its assertions that oil production is or soon will be in permanent decline, is all the rage. But from a radical, anticapitalist perspective, does Peak Oil hold water? The philosopher George Caffentzis offers a critique that emphasizes the role of workers and displaced communities in oil production.

Mon 6.29.09| "Rights Talk" and Workers

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Richard McIntyre, Are Worker Rights Human Rights? U. of Michigan Press, 2008

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Human rights and their violation are an insistent focus of many activists and organizations. But are there important limitations to rights-based politics? Because an individualist interpretation of rights holds sway, Richard McIntyre asserts that the rights revolution has failed to advance the collective strength of US workers.

Mon 4.20.09| Bay Politics

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Debugging the Silicon Dream: Real Life in a Virtual World conference

Sherwood & Powell, eds., The San Francisco Labor Landmarks Guide Book

Machine politics, industrial growth, environmental advocacy, labor and community organizing -- these and other factors can determine how urban power is configured and exercised. Nari Rhee describes the political-economic development of Silicon Valley. Also, Robert Cherny and Catherine Powell talk about a new guide to San Francisco labor landmarks.

Tues 4.07.09| Class Power, Worker Power

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David Harvey, A Brief History of Neo-Liberalism Oxford U. Press, 2007

 

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There was too much money floating around. It had to be put somewhere, and clever people in the financial markets knew it. So begins one of David Harvey's many insights into the origins of the economic mess that nations around the world are scrambling to address. And Howard Kimeldorf talks about the Seattle General Strike of 1919 in relation to the long tradition of labor syndicalism.

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