Barbara Kingsolver
A young woman living on a farm in Tennessee, struggling to make ends meet and raise her family, finds herself on the frontline of the battle against climate change when an endangered species lands in her backyard. Flight Behaviour raises the issues of climate change denial, the complicated relationship between science and government policy, and the impact of climate change on the lives of ordinary people.
David Harvey
Rebel Cities is Harvey's response to the inspiring anti-capitalist movements we've seen around the world in the last few years. He argues that movements like Occupy have the potential to become a global struggle. As such the book is more than just an analysis of the urban nature of capitalist crisis; it is also a manifesto for urban struggles against the system. Harvey clearly lays out his analysis and frustrations, and his hopes for the future of the left.
Kathi Weeks
Weeks presents a thought-provoking case for an "anti-work politics", arguing that Marxists and feminists need to break away from the idea that productive labour should be the central feature of a post-capitalist society. She begins with a detailed review of the capitalist work ethic, and goes on to discuss Marxist "productivism". She bases this critique on two variants of Marxism.
The first she calls "socialist modernisation", according to which socialist production will be organised along the same lines as it is now, only more efficiently.
Danny Dorling
For those familiar with Danny Dorling's work, this book will not necessarily present anything new, but it pulls together a selection of his work on social justice in Britain in a comprehensive and accessible way. Fair Play is a collection of articles, research projects and lecture transcripts arranged alongside stories, statistics and facts and figures.
Portugal became the third of the Eurozone "PIGS" (Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Spain) to apply for a bailout from the European Central Bank (ECB) last month.
For several months we've been told that the bailouts of Ireland and Greece had solved the Eurozone's problems once and for all. A Portuguese bailout was out of the question because measures had been taken to get the economy back on track. But jittery investors and credit ratings agencies have forced the decision.
Portugal's prime minister Jose Socrates failed to get parliament to accept his austerity package, amid anger and strikes from trade unions. His resignation triggered panic in the bond markets at the prospect of political limbo and social unrest.
Ruth Lorimer argues that we could run society without the need for bosses
Many workers believe that bosses are necessary, but if you ask if their own boss is necessary, they say they could run things better themselves.
