Book reviews
Book Review | The Populist Radical Left in Europe edited by Giorgios Katsambekis and Alexandros Kioupkiolis
In The Populist Radical Left in Europe, editors Giorgios Katsambekis and Alexandros Kioupkiolis bring together contributors to explore populist radical left movements across Europe, discussing examples including Greece’s Syriza, Spain’s Podemos, Slovenia’s Left Party, France’s France Insoumise and Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour, among others. This is an engaging and engaged work of political science, writes Anton Jäger, that provides a necessary moment of reflection on what left populism means, stands for and aims to achieve.
Book Review | Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism by Safiya Umoja Noble
In Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism, Safiya Umoja Noble draws on her research into algorithms and bias to show how online search results are far from neutral, but instead replicate and reinforce racist and sexist beliefs that reverberate in the societies in which search engines operate. This timely and important book sheds light on the ways that search engines impact on our modes of understanding, knowing and relating, writes Helen Kara.
Book Review | A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy by Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum
In A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy, Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum identify and outline the emergence of a new type of conspiracist thinking in our contemporary moment, showing it to pose a fundamental threat to democratic functioning. While questioning whether the book ascribes too much intentionality to those engaging in ‘the new conspiracism’, this is nonetheless a timely and important conceptualisation, writes Ignas Kalpokas.
Book Review | Posh Boys: How the English Public Schools Ruin Britain by Robert Verkaik
In Posh Boys: How the English Public Schools Ruin Britain, Robert Verkaik explores the role that public schooling plays in reproducing inequality in Britain, showing how public schools enable wealthy families to pass down their privilege to their children who subsequently have greater access to the most lucrative and powerful areas of British society. Grounded in statistical evidence, this is a valuable contribution to debates surrounding social mobility in the UK, writes Ross Goldstone.
Book Review | The Future of Capitalism: Facing the New Anxieties by Paul Collier
In The Future of Capitalism: Facing the New Anxieties, Paul Collier offers a forthright discussion of capitalism today that seeks to diagnosis and propose remedies for the anxieties shaping divisions between families, cities and nations. Staying away from clichés, ideology or populism, Collier calls our attention to pragmatism and the ‘hard centre’, and he is impressive in doing so in this notable book, writes Mehmet Emin Bayram.
Book Review | Gender and the Radical and Extreme Right: Mechanisms of Transmission and the Role of Educational Interventions edited by Cynthia Miller-Idriss and Hilary Pilkington
n Gender and the Radical and Extreme Right: Mechanisms of Transmission and the Role of Educational Interventions, editors Cynthia Miller-Idriss and Hilary Pilkington bring together contributors to offer an interdisciplinary perspective on an often overlooked topic: the intersections between the radical and extreme right, education and gender. This volume will be invaluable in present and future efforts to better understand the role that women play in these movements, write Katherine Williams.
Book Review | Shaping Cities in an Urban Age edited by Ricky Burdett and Philipp Rode
n Shaping Cities in an Urban Age, editors Ricky Burdett and Philipp Rode offer a richly illustrated collection of essays that sheds light on the complex past and present forces driving urban change, based on rigorous research in cities of the Global North and South. The volume provides an insightful overview of the current and future dynamics that are shaping and will shape our urban world, writes Laura Neville.
Book Review | A Duty to Resist: When Disobedience Should Be Uncivil by Candice Delmas
In A Duty to Resist: When Disobedience Should Be Uncivil, Candice Delmas aims to foster understanding of resistance to injustice as a capacious concept that can include the possibility of lawful dissent, principled disobedience and revolution. This is a provocative and rewarding contribution to the literature, writes Suzanne Smith, that is particularly valuable for its attention to the question of the situational conditions of obligatory, potentially uncivil resistance.
Book Review | The Constitution of India: A Contextual Analysis by Arun K. Thiruvengadam
In The Constitution of India: A Contextual Analysis, Arun K. Thiruvengadam provides a concise introduction to the Indian Constitution, with insights not only into its history but also the political and legal events that have contributed to its evolution. Sania Ismailee recommends this accessible and engaging book to anyone who is keen to understand the underpinnings of the constitutional system in India.
Book Review | Conservative Moments: Reading Conservative Texts edited by Mark Garnett
In Conservative Moments: Reading Conservative Texts, Mark Garnett brings together essays that reflect on a plethora of figures across the past two millennia of conservatism, including Edmund Burke, David Hume, Alexander Hamilton, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Margaret Thatcher. The book presents a condensed yet detailed account of conservative thought, writes Benjamin Law, that will leave readers with valuable nuggets of information and questions to ponder.
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