Books published by Pluto Press

Brings together Palestinian and international activists in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

What should we make of the culture of the protest movements of the 21st century? From the Arab Spring to the 'indignados' protests in Spain and the Occupy movement, Paolo Gerbaudo examines the relationship between the rise of social media and the emergence of new forms of protest. *BR**BR*Gerbaudo argues that activists' use of Twitter and Facebook does not fit with the image of a 'cyberspace' detached from physical reality. Instead, social media is used as part of a project of re-appropriation of public space, which involves the assembling of different groups around 'occupied' places such as Cairo's Tahrir Square or New York's Zuccotti Park. *BR**BR*An exciting and invigorating journey through the new politics of dissent, Tweets and the Streets points both to the creative possibilities and to the risks of political evanescence which new media brings to the contemporary protest experience.

This book lifts the lid on the reality of Afghanistan's growing drug trade and the role played by the US military in its trajectory. *BR**BR*Where conventional accounts blame the Taliban for the expansion of drug production, Cruel Harvest shows that the US shares responsibility by supporting drug lords, refusing to adopt effective drug control policies and failing to crack down on drug money laundered through Western banks. *BR**BR*Julien Mercille argues that the best way to address drug problems is by reducing demand in consumer countries, not by conducting fruitless and damaging counter narcotics missions in Afghanistan.*BR*

This is a popular history of one of the world's most famous companies. Founded in 1600, the East India Company was the forerunner of the modern multinational. Starting life as a trader in Asian spices, the Company ended its days running Britain's Indian empire. In the process, it shocked its contemporaries with the scale of its violence, corruption and speculation.This is the first-ever book to expose the Company's social record. Robins reveals a hidden story of tragedy and intrigue. War, famine, stock-market bubbles and even duels between rival executives are all to be found in this new account. For Robins, the Company's legacy provides compelling lessons on how to ensure the accountability of today's global business.

Borderline Justice describes the exclusionary policies, inhumane decisions and obstacles to justice for refugees and migrants in the British legal system.*BR**BR*Frances Webber, a long-standing legal practitioner, reveals how the law has been (mis)applied to migrants, refugees and other 'unpopular minorities'. This book records some of the key legal struggles of the past thirty years which have sought to preserve values of universality in human rights - and the importance of continuing to fight for those values, inside and outside the courtroom. *BR**BR*The themes and analysis cross boundaries of law, politics, sociology, criminology, refugee studies and terrorism studies, appealing to the radical tradition in all these disciplines.

Is it possible to move beyond the male-female gender binary system? What happens to gender theory when we consider sex and gender identities as more than just 'male' or 'female'? Crucially, what are the implications of gender and sexual fluidity and multiplicity for social policy, citizenship, new social movements and democracy?*BR**BR*Gender Politics challenges ideas that we are all either male or female, and gay or straight. It explores the experiences of people who transgress these categories, and the social exclusion that they face. *BR**BR*Surya Monro addresses topical debates concerning gender, and looks at different ways of theorising gender pluralism. She explains how gender and sexuality relate to other social characteristics such as 'race', class, and disability. As well as providing a way into some of the key academic discussions in the field of gender and sexuality, Gender Politics is also a tool for activists. Monro analyses the way in which mainstream citizenship, social policy, and democracy can - or cannot - be changed to reflect the needs of marginalised groups. She explores the social implications of equality for transgender, intersex, lesbian, gay and bisexual people, and assesses the conflicts within these communities.

Examining the role of the modern nation state, Dexter Whitfield assesses the achievements, failures, costs and benefits of the neoliberal and 'third way' transformation of the state. *BR**BR*He demonstrates that private finance of infrastructure, marketisation of government and privatisation of the welfare state are accelerating the globalisation process and generating ever larger financial, social and environmental crises. Whitfield analyses current trends which are exacerbated by the marketisation and partnership agenda advocated by global bodies such as the World Bank, IMF and WTO. *BR**BR*He reveals how these policies further reduce the capacity of the state in the global economy, its ability to provide good quality public services and inevitably create a corporate welfare complex. Within a framework for understanding the extent, scale and impact of the transformation of the state, the author forecasts the implications of the continuation of current policies.

Using an historical perspective, Narotzky highlights the interdependent nature of the contemporary world economy, and includes case studies of Western societies. She gives special emphasis to current issues such as the anthropology of work, the informal economy, and the cultures of industrialisation.

Combines the first full synopsis of social movement theory with an integrated account of social movement activity in Latin America

A much-needed antidote to falsehoods, and patronising sexism fuelling anti-pornography campaigns misleading the women's movement

A collection of Marxist writings covering political economy, historical materialism, dialectics, state theory, class, and fetishism

Takes on the government's agenda of university cuts and fee increases

Of the 16 million children to have been orphaned by AIDS worldwide, almost 15 million live in sub-Saharan Africa. Hope Amidst Despair focuses on these children and those who are made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS.*BR**BR*Of the millions affected, many live in deep poverty, experience little schooling, have unmet health and psychological issues and bear the burden of stigma. Their plight is often ignored and, as a result, they lead lives of isolation and exclusion that threaten their futures. The book gives voice to HIV/AIDS orphans, allowing them to tell their stories and explain the challenges they face. Susanna Grannis, founder of CHABHA (Children Affected by HIV/AIDS), shows through first-hand experience and research how young community leaders can, with help, effectively promote children's wellbeing and independence. Readers learn of the complexities and possibilities involved in positive development through the analysis of data on children from five different countries in sub-Saharan Africa. *BR**BR*This will be an essential title for HIV/AIDS campaigners, students of development studies, policy makers, donors, and anyone concerned about the welfare of children in developing countries.

What are our attitudes towards other animals, and how does this affect our humanity? *BR**BR*This work of anthrozoology explores the myriad and evolving ways in which humans and animals interact, the divergent cultural constructions of humanity and animality found around the world, and individual experiences of other animals. *BR**BR*This book looks at case studies covering blood sports (such as hunting, fishing and bull fighting), pet keeping and 'petishism', eco-tourism and wildlife conservation, working animals and animals as food. It addresses the idea of animal exploitation raised by the animal rights movements, as well as the anthropological implications of changing attitudes towards animal personhood, and the rise of a posthumanist philosophy in the social sciences more generally.

This book controversially argues that Al Qaeda has clear aims, and that the only way to defeat it is to engage with its arguments in a serious way.*BR**BR*Since the publication of the first edition in 2006, Mohamedou has brought the text right up-to-date. Starting with Al Qaeda's creation almost twenty years ago, and sketching its global mutation, Mohamedou explains that there is a cogent strategy to Al Qaeda's actions. He shows that the 'war on terror' is failing, only serving to recruit more terrorists to Al Qaeda's cause. He also puts forward a case for how the international community can best respond. *BR**BR*Arguing that it is dangerous to dismiss Al Qaeda as illogical and irrational, this incisive and original book is important for policy-makers and ideal for undergraduates in international relations, Middle East studies and peace/conflict studies.

President Obama may have delivered on his campaign promise to kill Osama bin Laden, but as an Al-Qaeda strategist bin Laden has been dead for years. This book introduces and examines the new generation of Al-Qaeda leaders who have been behind the most recent attacks.*BR**BR*Investigative journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad dedicated his life to revealing the strategies and inner workings of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. He had access to top-level commanders in both movements, as well as within the ISI, Pakistan's intelligence service. Shahzad's work was praised by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for 'bringing to light the troubles extremism poses to Pakistan's stability.' Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban explains the wider aims of both organisations and provides an essential analysis of major terrorist incidents, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks.*BR**BR*In May 2011, Shahzad was abducted and killed in Pakistan, days after writing an article suggesting that insiders in the Pakistani navy had colluded with Al-Qaeda in an attack on a naval air station. This book is a testament to his fearless reporting and analytical rigour. It will provide readers worldwide with an invaluable introduction to a new phase of the ongoing struggle against terrorism which threatens lives in so many countries.

*Winner of the ICA Book of the Year, 2015**BR**BR*Now that we 'curate' even lunch, what happens to the role of the connoisseur in contemporary culture?*BR**BR*'Curate' has become a buzzword, applied to everything from music festivals to artisanal cheese. Inside the art world, the curator reigns supreme, acting as the face of high-profile group shows in a way that can eclipse the contributions of individual artists. At the same time, curatorial-studies programs continue to grow, and businesses are adopting curation as a means of adding value to content. Everyone, it seems, is now a curator.*BR**BR*But what is a curator, exactly? And what does the explosive popularity of curating say about our culture's relationship with taste, labour and the avant-garde? In this vibrant book, David Balzer travels through art history to explore the cult of curation, where it began, how it came to dominate museums and galleries, and how it emerged at the turn of the millennium as a dominant mode of thinking and being.*BR**BR*Recalling such landmark works of cultural criticism as Tom Wolfe's The Painted Word and John Berger's Ways of Seeing, Balzer asks whether curationism has finally reached its own limits, where its widespread success has paradoxically led to its own demise.

This book offers a pioneering window into the elusive workings of state-corporate crime within the mining industry. It follows a campaign of resistance organised by indigenous activists on the island of Bougainville, who struggled to close a Rio Tinto owned copper mine, and investigates the subsequent state-corporate response, which led to the shocking loss of some 10,000 lives. *BR**BR*Drawing on internal records and interviews with senior officials, Kristian Lasslett examines how an articulation of capitalist growth mediated through patrimonial politics, imperial state-power, large-scale mining, and clan-based, rural society, prompted an ostensibly 'responsible' corporate citizen, and liberal state actors, to organise a counterinsurgency campaign punctuated with gross human rights abuses. *BR**BR*State Crime on the Margins of Empire represents a unique intervention rooted in a classical Marxist tradition that challenges positivist streams of criminological scholarship, in order to illuminate with greater detail the historical forces faced by communities in the global south caught in the increasingly violent dynamics of the extractive industries.

Was western intervention in Sierra Leone a genuine case of humanitarianism?

Palestinians in Israel considers a key issue ignored by the official 'peace process' and most mainstream commentators: that of the growing Palestinian minority within Israel itself.*BR**BR*What the Israeli right-wing calls 'the demographic problem' Ben White identifies as 'the democratic problem' which goes to the heart of the conflict. Israel defines itself not as a state of its citizens, but as a Jewish state, despite the substantial and increasing Palestinian population. White demonstrates how the consistent emphasis on privileging one ethno-religious group over another cannot be seen as compatible with democratic values and that, unless addressed, will undermine any attempts to find a lasting peace.*BR**BR*Individual case studies are used to complement this deeply informed study into the great, unspoken contradiction of Israeli democracy. It is a pioneering contribution which will spark debate amongst all those concerned with a resolution to the Israel/Palestine conflict.

Democracy under neoliberalism has become tarnished, as governments become disconnected from voters and pursue policies against the interests of the people. And yet the ideal of democracy continues to inspire movements around the world.*BR**BR*Brian Roper refreshes our understanding of democracy using a Marxist framework. He traces the history of democracy from ancient Athens to the emergence of liberal representative and socialist participatory democracy in Europe and North America, through to the global spread of democracy during the past century.*BR**BR*An an alternative, he offers an engaging Marxist critique of representative democracy, which has the potential to undermine the existing status quo.

During the United States military occupation of Iraq, the Kurdistan region was one of the few places in the country where insurgent violence was not a daily occurrence. However, as tension with the Iraqi central government increases over issues of security, oil and gas management and the disputed territory of Kirkuk, and with Turkey and Iran continuing their cross border military operations, Kurdistan Iraq faces numerous challenges.*BR**BR*The current context allows for a fresh look at the situation of the Kurds in Iraq. No longer subject to the cruel regime of Saddam Hussein, the Kurds are set to be important figures in the shaping of Iraq's future.*BR**BR*The Future of Kurdistan: The Iraqi Dilemma focuses on how issues faced by Kurdistan Iraq today are being dealt with by both central government and international forces as well as on the prospects for Kurdistan and Iraq's political, economic and cultural future.

When capitalism is clearly catastrophically out of control and its excesses cannot be sustained socially or ecologically, the ideas of Herbert Marcuse become as relevant as they were in the 1960s. This is the first English introduction to Marcuse to be published for decades, and deals specifically with his aesthetic theories and their relation to a critical theory of society.*BR**BR*Although Marcuse is best known as a critic of consumer society, epitomised in the classic One-Dimensional Man, Malcolm Miles provides an insight into how Marcuse's aesthetic theories evolved within his broader attitudes, from his anxiety at the rise of fascism in the 1930s through heady optimism of the 1960s, to acceptance in the 1970s that radical art becomes an invaluable progressive force when political change has become deadlocked.*BR**BR*Marcuse's aesthetics of liberation, in which art assumes a primary role in interrupting the operation of capitalism, made him a key figure for the student movement in the 1960s. As diverse forms of resistance rise once more, a new generation of students, scholars and activists will find Marcuse's radical theory essential to their struggle.

Inventing Africa is a critical account of narratives which have selectively interpreted and misinterpreted the continent's deep past.*BR**BR*Writers have created alluring images of lost cities, vast prehistoric migrations and golden ages of past civilisations. Debates continue on the African origins of humankind, the contributions of ancient Egypt to the world and Africa's importance to global history.*BR**BR*Images of 'Africa', simplifying a complex and diverse continent, have existed from ancient Mediterranean worlds, slave trading nations and colonial powers to today's political elites, ecotourists and aid-givers. Robin Derricourt draws on his background as publisher and practitioner in archaeology and history to explore the limits and the dangers of simplifications, arguing - as with Said's concept of 'Orientalism' - that ambitious ideas can delude or oppress as well as inform.*BR**BR*Defending Africa against some of the grand narratives that have been imposed upon its peoples, Inventing Africa will spark new debates in the history of Africa and of archaeology.

What happened when Chevron, a multinational mining company, opened a gas plant right next to densely populated villages in rural Bangladesh? *BR**BR*This book reveals contradictory ways that local people attempt to connect to, and are disconnected by, foreign capital. Commentators on the situation have different frameworks, whether of dispossession and scarcity, the success of Corporate Social Responsibility, or imperialist exploitation and corruption. Yet as Gardner argues, what really matters in the struggles over resources is which of these stories are heard, and the power of those who tell them.*BR* *BR*Based on the narratives of dispossessed land owners, urban activists, mining officials and the rural landless, Discordant Development shows the real picture behind the effect multinational capital has on indigenous communities.

Armed resistance, suicide bombings and rocket attacks populate the Western media's depiction of Palestinian resistance. Synthesising data from hundreds of original sources, Dr Mazin Qumsiyeh provides the most comprehensive study of the always creative, often peaceful, civil resistance in Palestine.*BR**BR*Successes, failures, missed opportunities and challenges are chronicled through hundreds of stories from over 100 years of Palestinian resistance. The book critically and comparatively surveys uprisings under Ottoman rule, against the Balfour Declaration and the Oslo Accords, all the way up to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. *BR**BR*The compelling human stories told in this book will inspire people of all faiths and political backgrounds to chart a better and more informed direction for a future of peace with justice.

Art is big business, with some artists able to command huge sums of money for their works, while the vast majority are ignored or dismissed by critics. This book shows that these marginalised artists, the 'dark matter' of the art world, are essential to the survival of the mainstream and that they frequently organize in opposition to it.*BR**BR*Gregory Sholette, a politically engaged artist, argues that imagination and creativity in the art world originate thrive in the non-commercial sector shut off from prestigious galleries and champagne receptions. This broader creative culture feeds the mainstream with new forms and styles that can be commodified and used to sustain the few artists admitted into the elite.*BR**BR*This dependency, and the advent of inexpensive communication, audio and video technology, has allowed this 'dark matter' of the alternative art world to increasingly subvert the mainstream and intervene politically as both new and old forms of non-capitalist, public art. This book is essential for anyone interested in interventionist art, collectivism, and the political economy of the art world.

This is a history of political ideologies during the period from the First World War to the collapse of the Soviet Union, famously described by Eric Hobsbawm as 'The Age of Extremes'.*BR**BR*By introducing the key ideologies of the twentieth-century: liberalism, conservatism, communism and fascism, and considering them in in relation to each other, Willie Thompson shows how these philosophies often emerged from a common root or merged into a common future, stealing each other's clothes and reinventing themselves as the stark opposite of a competing ideology. *BR**BR*This sophisticated yet accessible analysis will be of great interest to students of 20th century history and political theory.

This is the plight of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israel