Book reviews
Book Review: Sex, Needs and Queer Culture: From Liberation to the Post-Gay by David Alderson
If corporate backing for Pride events is one example of queer subcultures becoming increasingly commercialised, does this threaten the capacity to resist or might capitalism be progressive for queer subjects? In Sex, Needs and Queer Culture: From Liberation to the Post-Gay, David Alderson draws upon the work of Herbert Marcuse and Raymond Williams to examine processes […]
Review Roundtable: Naked Diplomacy: Power and Statecraft in the Digital Age by Tom Fletcher
What is the role of the diplomat in the digital age? In Naked Diplomacy: Power and Statecraft in the Digital Age, Tom Fletcher – former British ambassador to Lebanon and the youngest to be appointed in 200 years – draws upon his own experiences to outline a progressive vision of contemporary diplomacy that challenges top-down or one-way models […]
Book Review: Harold Wilson: The Unprincipled Prime Minister? Reappraising Harold Wilson edited by Andrew S. Crines and Kevin Hickson
2016 marks the centenary of Harold Wilson’s birth, the fiftieth anniversary of his most emphatic election victory and forty years since his resignation as British Prime Minister. In this new volume, Harold Wilson: The Unprincipled Prime Minister? Reappraising Harold Wilson, editors Andrew S. Crines and Kevin Hickson bring together contributors to reflect on Wilson’s legacy […]
Book Review: The Creative Citizen Unbound: How Social Media and DIY Culture Contribute to Democracy, Communities and the Creative Economy edited by Ian Hargreaves and John Hartley
Drawing upon the findings of a 30-month research project, The Creative Citizen Unbound: How Social Media and DIY Culture Contribute to Democracy, Communities and the Creative Economy, edited by Ian Hargreaves and John Hartley, explores the potential of civic-minded individuals to participate in ‘creative citizenship’ by utilising social media and engaging with the creative economy. Although […]
Book Review: Strangers at our Door by Zygmunt Bauman
In this new short book, Strangers at our Door, Zygmunt Bauman examines the origins, contours and impact of the present-day moral panic around the ‘migration crisis’ in Europe. He explores the fear generated by political campaigns, arguing that this ‘crisis of humanity’ instead requires a ‘fusion of horizons’ through dialogue. While Nicolas Schneider suggests that a more systematic […]
Book Review: Politics against Domination by Ian Shapiro
In Politics against Domination, Ian Shapiro proposes non-domination as the guiding value for justice, argues that it is best supported by democracy and speculates about measures to realise it across borders. Shapiro evidences his insight and wisdom as a renowned political theorist in this account, but the work may not fully convince those who view non-domination […]
Book Review: Players and Arenas: The Interactive Dynamics of Protest edited by James M. Jasper and Jan Willem Duyvendak
Players and Arenas: The Interactive Dynamics of Protest, edited by James M. Jasper and Jan Willem Duyvendak, employs a strategic interaction perspective to the study of social movements, bringing to the fore the relational dynamics between various players across different social arenas. In the face of mounting criticism of the movement-centric nature of the scholarship in […]
Book Review: The Coalition Government and Social Policy: Restructuring the Welfare State edited by Hugh Bochel and Martin Powell
The diverse essays included in The Coalition Government and Social Policy: Restructuring the Welfare State, edited by Hugh Bochel and Martin Powell, provide a fascinating and useful contribution to our understanding of recent political history in the UK, argues Mike Pym. The editors’ intention is to ‘locate the coalition’ in the political landscape and uncover the […]
Book Review: Populism’s Power: Radical Grassroots Democracy in America by Laura Grattan
‘Populism’ has often been used as a pejorative term for a ‘paranoid’, anti-democratic style of politics. But is this the only way of understanding its history? In Populism’s Power: Radical Grassroots in America, Laura Grattan argues that this neglects a different kind of populism in the USA: democratic, egalitarian, radical, rebellious and unifying. This book offers […]
Book Review: Global Inequality: A New Approach for the Age of Globalization by Branko Milanovic
In Global Inequality: A New Approach for the Age of Globalization, Branko Milanovic offers a new account of the dynamics that are driving inequality on a global scale. Although left slightly frustrated by its abrupt end, Duncan Green praises this brilliant and thought-provoking book for its political curiosity and insight and, more particularly, for its reflections on […]
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