Books by Al Sandine

The history of the United States has been largely shaped, for better or for worse, by the actions of large groups of people. Rioters on a village green, shoppers lurching about a labyrinthine mall, slaves packed into the dark hold of a ship, strikers assembling outside the factory gates, all have their place in the rich and sometimes tragic history of the American crowd. This study traces that history from the days of anti-colonial revolt to today's passive, "colonized crowds" that fill our sports arenas, commercial centers, and workplaces. The author argues for the progressive role crowds have played in securing greater democracy, civil rights, and free speech. But he also investigates crowds in their more dangerous forms, such as lynch mobs and anti-immigrant riots. This work explains how the crowd as an active subject of change, often positive, sometimes not, has been replaced by the passive crowd as object of control and regulation. Today, the imperatives of mass society organize people in large numbers to consume goods and conform to permissible behavioral patterns, not to openly contest power. But, with the world entering a new period of economic uncertainty and mass protests erupting across the globe, it is time to reverse that trend. This book shows us the history of the untamed crowd and urges us to reclaim its legacy.

By taking this heart-rending journey into his own luminous past and the more remote and sombre past of the lumber-town where he grew up, Al Sandine has masterfully laid bare some of the most crucial issues facing America and the world today. An important, accessible, daring book, of interest to anyone puzzled and outraged by the dilemmas and secrets of globalisation. Upon visiting his hometown of Coos Bay on Oregon''s rainy coast in 1998, the author was shocked by the transformation of the major lumber port that he recalled from childhood into an economic disaster zone. This book tells the story of how corporate greed destroyed a way of life. Blending historical records with political passion, Plundertown, USA provides a regional, national, and global context for the area''s decline and points the way to a better future for other places like Coos Bay.