Books published by Pluto Press

The ABCs of Political Economy is an accessible introduction to modern political economy. While informed by the work of Marx, Keynes, Veblen, Kalecki and other great political economists, Robin Hahnel teaches the reader the essential tools necessary to understand economic issues today from a modern perspective, searching for ways to replace the economics of competition and greed with the economics of equitable co-operation. The ABCs of Political Economy empowers people who are dissatisfied with today's economies but are often intimidated by conventional economic analysis. No previous economics background is assumed, and everything is explained in verbal form in eight core chapters.Examining the nature of today's economic market, issues of economic justice, macroeconomics and globalization, Robin Hahnel provides an ideal introduction to key economic ideas, offering a critical perspective on our present system and outlining clear alternatives for the future.

It is now 50 years since E.P. Thompson published his classic, The Making of the English Working Class. The Making of an African Working Class follows Thompson in exploring the formation of working class identity among low-paid African workers. In arguing for a radical public anthropology of worker identity, the book seeks to analyse the cultural, legal, ideological and experiential dimensions of labour activism often neglected in other labour studies. *BR**BR*Pnina Werbner shows that by fusing cosmopolitan and local popular cultural forms of protest, unionists have created a distinctive, vernacular way of being a worker in Botswana: one that does not deny workers' roots at home or in the countryside, while being cognisant of a wider world of cosmopolitan labour rights. The assertion of working class dignity, honour and respect, Pnina argues, is a powerful motivating force for manual workers. *BR**BR*Against legal-sceptical approaches, The Making of an African Working Class argues that in challenging the government - their employer - in court, manual workers' protests and mobilisation are deeply embedded in ethics, social justice and the law.

A textbook that will set the standard for the new movement for pluralist economics

The book traces the legacy of racism across three continents, from its origins to the present day, bringing a sophisticated neo-Marxist analysis to bear on a muti-faceted and endemic topic.*BR**BR*Mike Cole takes us through the racial histories of the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. In the UK, he focuses on the effects of colonialism, anti-Gipsy, Roma and Traveller and xeno-racism. Turning to the United States, he charts the legacies of indigenous genocide and slavery, as well as exploring anti-Latina/o racism. Finally, in Australia, he interrogates the idea of 'Terra Nullius' and its ongoing impact on the indigenous peoples, as well as racism experienced by South Sea Islanders and Asians. *BR**BR*International forms are also covered, including Islamophobia, antisemitism and anti-Irish racism.

By tracing the footprint of a unremarkable object across the globe, this book provides new ways of thinking about globalisation.

This is the first book to cover the entire history of social and cultural anthropology in a single volume. Beginning with a summary of the discipline in the nineteenth century, exploring major figures such as Morgan and Tylor, it goes on to provide a comprehensive overview of the discipline in the twentieth century.The bulk of the book is devoted to themes and controversies characteristic of post First World War anthropology, from structural functionalism via structuralism to hermeneutics, cultural ecology, discourse analysis and, most recently, globalization and postmodernism. The authors emphasise throughout the need to see changes in the discipline in a wider social, political and intellectual context. This is a timely, concise history of a major discipline, in an engaging and thought-provoking narrative, that will appeal to students of anthropology worldwide.

The Second World War casts a long shadow, portrayed as a necessary and paradigmatic war that defeated fascism. During recent wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, US presidents and British prime ministers have tried to claim they were following in the footsteps of Winston Churchill by standing up to dictators. *BR**BR*In The Second World War Chris Bambery tests this position in a thorough account of the war and demonstrates why it continues to dominate TV history channels and school history books.*BR**BR*Arguing that the conflict was as much about a division of the world between the great powers as it was as a rising of ordinary people against fascism, he offers a nuanced and radical analysis that sets the book apart from conventional histories of the war.

This is a darkly humorous guide to the three great crises plaguing today's world: environmental degradation, social conflict in the age of austerity and financial instability.*BR**BR*Rob Larson holds mainstream economic theory up against the grim reality of a planet in meltdown. He looks at scientists' conclusions about climate change, the business world's opinions about its own power, and reveals the fingerprints of finance on American elections.*BR**BR*Through ascerbic analysis, Bleakonomics unveils a world of extreme inequality, confusion and insanity.*BR**BR*

Globalisation has created an interconnected world, but has not diminished violence, militarism and inequality. This book describes how the entrenched power of global elites has created a deadly cycle of violence, enacted through the Military Industrial Complex.*BR**BR*Vijay Mehta shows how attempts at peaceful national development, environmental sustainability and human rights are routinely blocked by Western powers. He locates the 2008 financial crisis in US attempts to block China's model of development. He shows how Europe and the US conspire with regional dictators to prevent countries from developing advanced industries, and how this system has fed terrorism. *BR**BR*The Economics of Killing argues that a different world is possible, based on policies of disarmament, demilitarisation and sustainable development.

This book examines the methods used to depict, defend and justify the use of state violence. While others have shown how 'truth is the first casualty of war', this is the first to analyse exactly how pro-war narratives are constructed and normalised. *BR**BR*Brian Rappert details the 'upside-down' world of war in which revelation conceals, knowledge fosters uncertainty, and transparency obscures. He looks at government spin during recent wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya where officials manoeuvre between circulating and withholding information. *BR**BR*Through looking at recent controversies such as the use of weapons of mass destruction, cluster munitions and international law, Rappert considers how ignorance about the operation of war is produced and how individuals and groups can intervene to make a difference.

This book analyses the underlying reasons behind the formation of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), its development, where this current in Irish republicanism is at present and its prospects for the future.*BR**BR*Tommy McKearney, a former IRA member who was part of the 1980 hunger strike, challenges the misconception that the Provisional IRA was only, or even wholly, about ending partition and uniting Ireland. He argues that while these objectives were always the core and headline demands of the organisation, opposition to the old Northern Ireland state was a major dynamic for the IRA's armed campaign. As he explores the makeup and strategy of the IRA he is not uncritical, examining alternative options available to the movement at different periods, arguing that its inability to develop a clear socialist programme has limited its effectiveness and reach.*BR**BR*This authoritative and engaging history provides a fascinating insight into the workings and dynamics of a modern resistance movement.

"e;Jeff Halper's book, like his life's work, is an inspiration. Drawing on his many years of directly challenging Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, he offers one of the most insightful analyses of the occupation I've read. His voice cries out to be heard."e;Jonathan Cook, author of Blood and Religion (2006) and Israel and the Clash of Civilisations (2008)In this book, the Israeli anthropologist and activist Jeff Halper throws a harsh light on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the point of view of a critical insider. While the Zionist founders of Israel created a vibrant society, culture and economy, they did so at a high price: Israel could not maintain its exclusive Jewish character without imposing on the country's Palestinian population policies of ethnic cleansing, occupation and discrimination, expressed most graphically in its ongoing demolition of thousands of Palestinian homes, both inside Israel and in the Occupied Territories.An Israeli in Palestine records Halper's journey 'beyond the membrane' that shields his people from the harsh realities of Palestinian life to his 'discovery' that he was actually living in another country: Palestine. Without dismissing the legitimacy of his own country, he realises that Israel is defined by its oppressive relationship to the Palestinians. Pleading for a view of Israel as a real, living country which must by necessity evolve and change, Halper asks whether the idea of an ethnically pure 'Jewish State' is still viable. More to the point, he offers ways in which Israel can redeem itself through a cultural Zionism upon which regional peace and reconciliation are attainable.

Footwork is an original street-corner ethnography drawing on the themes of urban regeneration, lost space and the 24-hour city. From the rough sleeping homeless to street drinkers and sex workers, it shows how urban modernisation, development and austerity politics impact the hidden lives of people living and working on the streets. *BR**BR*To create this anthropology of the modern British city, Footwork follows the work of a team of outreach workers in Cardiff, tasked to look out for the homeless and others similarly vulnerable, harried and exposed. Tom Hall's fieldwork study encompasses aspects of urban geography, care work and street-level poverty, violence and isolation, this book reveals the stories of the vulnerable and isolated - people living in the city we often choose to ignore.

Agrofuels were heralded as a key weapon in the fight against climate change, but the deforestation and theft of agricultural land that was essential to farmers in the developing world, suggests that they are doing more harm than good.*BR**BR*Francois Houtart argues that the green potential of agrofuels has been hijacked by businesses that put profits above environmental protection. This has led to the absurd situation where an energy source that should be sustainable actually increases human and ecological damage, simply due to the profit-maximising decisions of capitalists rather than a flaw in the concept of agrofuels.*BR**BR*Houtart reveals that we need to rethink neoliberalism's relationship to green politics and ask is capitalism compatible with climate change, or do we need to overhaul our economic system in order to save the planet?

Chomsky, Zizek, Sontag and other scholars show how governments exploit people's fear for political gain

Chomsky, Zizek, Sontag and other scholars show how governments exploit people's fear for political gain

Roland Barthes is one of the most influential cultural theorists of the postwar period and Image-Music-Text collects his most influential essays. Ed White provides students with a clear guide to this essential but difficult text.*BR**BR*As students are increasingly expected to write across a range of media, Barthes' work can be understood as an early mapping of what we now call interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary study. The book's detailed section-by-section readings makes Barthes' most important writings accessible to undergraduate readers.*BR**BR*This book is a perfect companion for teaching and learning Barthes' ideas in cultural studies and literary theory.

This book investigates the way that corporations are strategically shaping children to be hyper-consumers as well as the submissive employees and uncritical citizens of the future.*BR**BR*Sharon Beder shows how marketers and advertisers are targeting ever younger children in a relentless campaign, transforming children's play into a commercial opportunity and taking advantage of childish anxieties.*BR**BR*She presents an alarming picture of how a child's social development - through education, health care and nutrition - has become an ordered conveyor belt of consumerist conditioning. Focusing on education in particular, she also shows how 'difficult' children are taught from an early age that pharmaceuticals can be used to discipline them or to make them 'happy'.

Do notions of community remain central to our sense of who we are, or can we see beyond community closures to a human whole?*BR**BR*This volume explores the nature of contemporary sociality. It focuses on the ethical, organisational and emotional claims and opportunities sought or fashioned for mobilising and evading social collectivities in a world of mobile subjects. *BR**BR*Vered Amit and Nigel Rapport present an examination of the tensions and interactions between everyday forms of fluid fellowship, culturally normative claims to identity, and opportunities for realising a universal humanity.

The success and failures of British automobile workers

A comprehensive survey of the effect of US military bases abroad, including the movements against them.

Argues that destruction of Iraqi culture was aimed at remaking Iraq into a US client state

This book is about the people who always get taken for granted. The people who clean our offices and trains, care for our elders and change the sheets on the bed. Global Cities at Work draws on testimony collected from more than 800 foreign-born workers employed in low-paid jobs in London during the early years of the twenty-first century.*BR**BR*This book breaks new ground in linking London's new migrant division of labour to the twin processes of subcontracting and increased international migration that have been central to contemporary processes of globalisation.*BR**BR*It also raises the level of debate about migrant labour, encouraging us to look behind the headlines. The authors ask us to take a politically informed view of our urban labour markets and to prioritise the issue of poverty in underemployed communities.

American history is not often truthfully told. Dispelling the myths that have bolstered national myth making, Paul Atwood attempts to show Americans that their history is one of constant wars of aggression and imperial expansion.*BR**BR*From the declaration of Independence to present day, War and Empire takes a panoramic view of US military history, explaining US actions in every major war, from early combat with aboriginal nations, imperialist conflicts with Spain, to the war on terror. The book shows that, far from being dragged reluctantly into foreign entanglements, America's leaders have always picked its battles in order to increase their influence and power, with little regard for the American soldiers and 'enemy' civilians killed or made to suffer in the process.*BR**BR*This book is an eye-opening introduction to the American way of life for undergraduate students of American history, politics and international relations.

Neoliberals often point to improvements in public health and nutrition as examples of globalisation's success, but this book argues that the corporate food and medicine industries are destroying environments and ruining living conditions across the world. *BR**BR*Scientist Stan Cox expertly draws out the strong link between Western big business and environmental destruction. This is a shocking account of the huge damage that drug manufacturers and large food corporations are inflicting on the health of people and crops worldwide. Companies discussed include Wal-Mart, GlaxoSmithKline, Tyson Foods and Monsanto. On issues ranging from the poisoning of water supplies in South Asia to natural gas depletion and how it threatens global food supplies, Cox shows how the demand for profits is always put above the public interest.*BR**BR*While individual efforts to 'shop for a better world' and conserve energy are laudable, Cox explains that they need to be accompanied by an economic system that is grounded in ecological sustainability if we are to find a cure for our Sick Planet.

This book compares Islamic and Western political formulations, highlighting areas of agreement and disparity. Building on this analysis, the author goes on to show that political Islam offers a serious alternative to the dominant political system and ideology of the West.*BR**BR*Sabet argues that rather than leading to a 'Clash of Civlizations' or the assimilation of Islam into the Western system, a positive process of interactive self-reflection between Islam and liberal democracy is the best way forward.*BR**BR*Beginning this process, Sabet highlights key concepts of Islamic political thought and brings them into dialogue with Western modernity. The resulting synthesis is essential reading for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of Islamic and Middle Eastern politics, political theory, comparative politics and international relations.

The World Bank is a controversial organisation. It is widely viewed with suspicion, as the international economic arm of the US, in thrall to the President who is responsible for appointing the head of the Bank.*BR**BR*Eric Toussaint gives a highly readable account of just why the World Bank has become so powerful. In short, clear chapters he shows how the bank operates, who funds it, and what it sets out to promote. *BR**BR*The Bank's main purpose is to grant loans to all the newly independent states of the developing world, to help them on their journey to recovery after colonial occupation. In reality, the conditions imposed on these states - including enforced privatisation of all public services, and enforced neo-liberal rules on trade - mean that the Bank has become the new colonial authority in everything but name.

'The best book so far about Derrida's politics of the future.' J. Hillis Miller, University of California

The book explores what characterises a 'good life' and how this idea has been affected by globalisation and neoliberalism.