Books published by Pluto Press

This book champions social movements as one of the most influential agents that shape our conceptions of human rights.*BR**BR*It argues that human rights cannot be understood outside of the context of social movement struggles. It explains how much of the literature on human rights has systematically obscured this link, consequently distorting our understandings of human rights. *BR**BR*Neil Stammers shows how human rights can be understood. He suggests that what he calls the 'paradox of institutionalisation' can only be addressed through a recognition of the importance of human rights arising out of grassroots activism, and through processes of institutional democratisation.

This book traces the essence of the Islamist Revolution from its origins in Egypt, through Najaf, Lebanon, Iran and the Iranian Revolution to today. Alastair Crooke presents a compelling account of the ideas and energy which are mobilising the Islamic world.*BR**BR*Crooke argues that the West faces a mass mobilisation against the US-led Western project. The roots of this conflict are described in terms of religious themes that extend back over 500 years. They represent clashing systems of thinking and values. Islamists have a vision for the future of their own societies which would entail radical change from Western norms. Resistance is presented as the means to force Western behaviour to change and to expose the essential differences between the two modes of thinking.*BR**BR*This is a rigourous account that traces the threads of revolution of various movements, including the influence of 'political Shi'ism' and the Iranian Revolution and its impact on Hezbollah and Hamas.

This is an introduction to the thought of the radical French thinker Felix Guattari.*BR**BR*Guattari's main works were published in the 1970s and 1980s. His background was in psychoanalysis -- he was trained by Lacan and he practised as a psychoanalyst for much of his life. He developed a distinctive psychoanalytic method informed always by his revolutionary politics.*BR**BR*Guattari was actively involved in numerous political movements, from Trotskyism to Autonomism, tackling ecological and sexual politics along the way. A true believer in collectivity, much of his work was written in collaboration, most famously with Gilles Deleuze.*BR**BR*This is also an introduction to key concepts such as schizoanalysis, transversality, a-signifying semiotics and various kinds of machine.

Critical and iconoclastic, Comrade or Brother? traces the history of the British Labour Movement from its beginnings at the onset of industrialisation through its development within a capitalist society, up to the end of the twentieth-century. *BR**BR*Written by a leading activist in the labour movement, the book redresses the balance in much labour history writing. It examines the place of women and the influence of racism and sexism as well as providing a critical analysis of the rival ideologies which played a role in the uneven development of the labour movement.

John Holloway et al explore solutions to postmodern political paralysis in the 'negative dialectics' of Theodor Adorno.

Hatim Kanaaneh is a Palestinian doctor who has struggled for over 35 years to bring medical care to Palestinians in Galilee, against a culture of anti-Arab discrimination. This is the story of how he fought for the human rights of his patients and overcame the Israeli authorities' cruel indifference to their suffering.*BR* *BR*Kanaaneh is a native of Galilee, born before the creation of Israel. He left to study medicine at Harvard, before returning to work as a public health physician with the intention of helping his own people. He discovered a shocking level of disease and malnutrition in his community and a shameful lack of support from the Israeli authorities. After doing all he could for his patients by working from inside the system, Kanaaneh set up The Galilee Society, an NGO working for equitable health, environmental and socio-economic conditions for Palestinian Arabs in Israel.*BR* *BR*This is a brilliant memoir that shows how grass roots organisations can loosen the Zionist grip upon Palestinian lives.*BR*

This book takes a look at China's position a range of global issues, arguing that its multipolar diplomacy offers a strategy to constrain US hegemony.*BR* *BR*Many people assume that China will follow an imperialistic strategy and stand in direct conflict with the American empire. However, China is in fact taking a multilateral approach, offering real assistance to developing countries and helping to build the institutions required to run a multipolar world. *BR**BR*Whist acknowledging China's own internal difficulties, the book argues that its international consensus-building could lead to a more peaceful and equitable world.

Thomas Frank coined the term 'the conquest of cool'. This book shows how this conquest is at the heart of the dynamics of contemporary capitalism. *BR**BR*Jim McGuigan argues that 'cool capitalism' incorporates disaffection into capitalism itself, absorbing rebellion and neutralising opposition to the present system of culture and society.*BR**BR*The book explores a huge variety of cultural examples, from the sleek images of mainstream advertising, to the fringes of artistic production, offering a vigourous critique of our understanding of subversion, resistance and counter-culturalism. *BR**BR*Is there is still any space left for rebellion against the seductive power of the free market economy?

How international solidarity activists can support non-violent movements across the globe

This book presents a comprehensive overview of EU immigration, asylum, race and security policies.*BR**BR*Liz Fekete argues that at the same time as the EU introduces selective migration policies, it closes its borders against asylum seekers who were the first victims of the growth of the security state which now embraces Muslims. She explores the way in which antiterrorist legislation has been used to evict undesirable migrants, how deportation policies commodify and dehumanise the most vulnerable and how these go hand in hand with evolving forms of racism, particularly Islamophobia.*BR**BR*At the heart of the book is an examination of xenoracism - a non-colour coded form of institutionalised racism - where migrants who do not assimilate, or who are believed to be incapable of assimilation, are excluded.

A radical guide to ethical and sustainable living.

The world's leading climate campaigners offer practical solutions on climate change

In 2006, four years after the illegal prison in Guantanamo Bay opened, the Pentagon finally released the names of the 773 men held there, as well as 7,000 pages of transcripts from tribunals assessing their status as 'enemy combatants'. Andy Worthington is the only person to have analysed every page of these transcripts and this book reveals the stories of all those imprisoned in Guantanamo. *BR**BR*Deprived of the safeguards of the Geneva Conventions, and, for the most part, sold to the Americans by their allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the detainees have struggled for five years to have their stories heard. Looking in detail at the circumstances of their capture, and at the coercive interrogations and unsubstantiated allegations that have been used to justify their detention. Stories of torture in Afghanistan and Guantanamo are uncovered, as well as new information about the process of 'extraordinary rendition' that underpins the US administration's 'war on terror'. *BR**BR*Who will speak for the 773 men who have been held in Guantanamo? This passionate and brilliantly detailed book brings their stories to the world for the first time.

Illegal migrants who evade detection, creators of value in insecure and precarious working conditions and those who refuse the constraints of sexual and biomedical classifications: these are the people who manage to subvert power and to craft unexpected sociabilities and experiences. Escape Routes shows how people can escape control and create social change by becoming imperceptible to the political system of Global North Atlantic societies. *BR**BR*'A profound and brilliant examination of the power of exodus to create radical interventions in perhaps the three most important and contested fields of society today: life, migration and precarious labour. It is in these fields that the present and future of multitude is at stake. Escape Routes is a toolbox in the hands of multitude.'*BR*Antonio Negri, author of Insurgencies and co-author of Empire and Multitude*BR*

The Slow Food movement was set up in Italy as a response to the dominance of fast food chains, supermarkets and large-scale agribusiness. It seeks to defend what it calls 'the universal right to pleasure' and promotes an alternative approach to food production and consumption based on the promotion of 'good, clean and fair' local products.*BR* *BR*This is the first in-depth study of the fascinating politics of Slow Food, which in twenty years has grown into an international organisation with more than 80,000 members in over 100 countries. With its roots in the 1960s and 1970s counter-culture, Slow Food's distinctive politics lie in the unity between gastronomic pleasure and environmental responsibility. The movement crosses the left-right divide to embrace both the conservative desire to preserve traditional rural communities and an alternative 'virtuous' idea of globalisation.*BR* *BR*Geoff Andrews shows that the alternative future embodied in Slow Food extends to all aspects of modern life. The Slow Food Story presents an extensive new critique of fast-moving, work-obsessed contemporary capitalist culture.

Inequalities of income, wealth and of power have been with us for millennia. This book is a critique of the counter-productivity of growing economic inequality from the 1980s to today. Douglas Dowd argues against capitalist expansion, exploitation and oligarchic rule.*BR**BR*The book states that the globalisation and growth of the financial sector will impact painfully upon hundreds of millions of people. *BR**BR*Presenting both a history of the current crisis and well as an overview of its politics, Inequality and the Global Economic Crisis look at militarism, consumerism, the media, education, housing and the homeless, nutrition and hunger, family life for a full picture of the destruction of global financialisation.

The Clean Clothes Campaign is a worldwide movement that aims to improve the wages and conditions of sweatshop workers. This is the story of their struggle.*BR**BR*Large retailers such as Tesco, Walmart and Carrefour lure shoppers in with prices that seem too good to be true. This book shows that they're too good to be fair. All along the industry's supply chain, workers, often children, are exploited through poverty wages, unpaid overtime and harsh anti-union measures. The campaign urges those in charge of the garment industry's supply lines to protect their workers and treat them fairly.*BR**BR*This dynamic account of direct engagement by concerned consumers is a must read for those that see globalisation differently and want their shopping choices to support the most vulnerable people involved in the clothing industry.

***Winner of the Eileen Basker Prize and the Wellcome Medal for Anthropology as Applied to Medical Problems****BR**BR*On the Game is an ethnographic account of prostitutes and prostitution. Sophie Day has followed the lives of individual women over fifteen years, and her book details their attempts to manage their lives against a backdrop of social disapproval. The period was one of substantial change within the sex industry.*BR**BR*Through the lens of public health, economics, criminalisation and human rights, Day explores how individual sex workers live, in public and in private. This offers a unique perspective on contemporary capitalist society that will be of interest both to a broad range of social scientists.*BR**BR*The author brings a unique perspective to her work -- as both an anthropologist and the founder of the renowned Praed Street Project, set up in 1986, as a referral and support centre for London prostitutes.

--Shows that the Mao era was benficial for most Chinese citizens--*BR**BR*"e;A powerful mixture of political passion and original research, a brave polemic against the fashionable view on China. ... Aims a knockout blow at Jung Chang's recent book on Mao, which Bush and the conservatives rave-reviewed."e; Gregor Benton, Professor of Chinese History, University of Cardiff*BR**BR*"e;This important book opens a much needed window onto Chinese perceptions of the country's post-Mao direction. ... Highlights the renewal of popular support for socialism and the growing opposition to contemporary state policies."e;*BR*Martin Hart-Landsberg, Professor of Economics, Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon*BR**BR*Mao and his policies have long been demonised in the West, with the Cultural Revolution considered a fundamental violation of human rights. *BR**BR*As China embraces capitalism, the Mao era is being surgically denigrated by the Chinese political and intellectual elite. This book tackles the extremely negative depiction of China under Mao in recent publications and argues most people in China, including the rural poor and the urban working class, actually benefited from Mao's policy of a comprehensive welfare system for the urban and basic health and education provision for the rural, which is being reversed in the current rush towards capitalism.*BR**BR*By a critical analysis of the mainstream account of the Mao era and the Cultural Revolution and by revealing what is offered in the unofficial e-media debates this book sets the record straight, making a convincing argument for the positive effects of Mao's policies on the well-being of the Chinese people.

From museums and the preservation of old buildings to broader questions of community and identity, heritage is now a political issue. *BR**BR*This book explores what heritage means now heritage is big business and how it is used to encourage people to identify with particular places and 'traditions', now it is entangled with capitalism. Examining a range of questions, including the way contemporary societies use heritage in the creation and management of collective identities, and how heritage is involved with the complexities of multicultural societies. *BR**BR*As resources are poured into heritage and questions of identity enter into public discourse, this book shows how the heritage industry is used politically and commercially to shape the ways people represent themselves, and are represented, in diverse and hybrid societies.

Following the disappearance of the Soviet Union, scholars across the political spectrum tackled the world-historical significance of the end of communism. This book addresses the balance-sheets of modern political history offered by three writers -- Francis Fukuyama, Eric Hobsbawm and Perry Anderson -- comparing them with the future projected by Marx in The Communist Manifesto.*BR* *BR*Gregory Elliott argues that Marx is central to all three accounts and that, along with the Manifesto, they form a quartet of analyses of the results and prospects of capitalism and socialism, which are of enduring significance for the Left.*BR* *BR*This book provides a readable survey of key historical and political thinkers that will appeal to anyone interested in modern political thought.

Millions of people in the West are running up huge ecological debts: from the amount of oil and coal that we burn to heat our houses and run our cars, to what we consume and the waste that we create, the impact of our lifestyles is felt worldwide. *BR**BR*Whilst these debts go unpaid, millions more living in poverty in the majority world suffer the burden of paying dubious foreign financial debts. Ecological Debt explores this great paradox of our age. Highlighting how and why this has happened, it also shows what can be done differently in the future. *BR**BR*Now updated throughout, this is a passionate account of the steps we can take to stop pushing the planet to the point of environmental bankruptcy.

From downloading music and movies to accessing free software, digital media is forcing us to rethink the very idea of intellectual property. *BR**BR*While big companies complain about lost profits, the individual has never enjoyed such freedom and autonomy.*BR* *BR*Berry explores this debate in a concise way, offering an ideal introduction for anyone not versed in the legalistic terminology that - up until now - has dominated coverage of this issue.*BR**BR*Looking at the historical development of the free software and the open source movement he examines its growth, politics and potential impact, showing how the ideas that inspired the movement have now begun to influence the wider cultural landscape. He explores whether free software offers us the potential to re-think our relationship with technology in the information society.*BR* *BR*This book will appeal to students of media and journalism, and anyone interested in new opportunities for creating a truly independent and democratic media.

Is Britain becoming a more racist society? Arun Kundnani looks behind the media hysteria to show how multicultural Britain is under attack by government policies and vitriolic press campaigns that play upon fear and encourage racism.*BR**BR*Exacerbated by the attacks of 9/11 and 7/7, Kundnani argues that a new form of racism is emerging that is based on a systematic failure to understand the causes of forced migration, global terrorism and social segregation. The result is a climate of hatred, especially against Muslims and asylum seekers. Yet the government presses ahead with flawed policies and anti-terrorist legislation that creates further resentment, alienation and criminalisation. *BR**BR*What can be done? This timely and precise analysis is a useful account of why racism is now thriving - and what we can do to stop it.

"e;A radical methodological approach to psychology that is open to social change - in an anti-capitalist, anti-racist and feminist politics."e; Antonio Negri*BR**BR*Psychology is meant to help people cope with the afflictions of modern society. But how useful is it? Ian Parker argues that current psychological practice has become part of the problem, rather than the solution.*BR**BR*Ideal for undergraduates, this book deconstructs the discipline to reveal the neoliberal sensitivities that underlie its theory and practice. Psychology focuses on the happiness of 'the individual'. Yet it neglects the fact that the happiness of the individual depends on their social and political surroundings. *BR**BR*Ian Parker argues that a new approach to psychology is needed. He offers an alternative vision, outlining how the discipline can be linked to political practice and how it can help people as part of a wider progressive agenda. This groundbreaking book is at the cutting edge of current thinking on the discipline and should be required reading on all psychology courses.

This book analyses the causes of armed conflicts in Southern Africa during the Cold War. It examines the influence of the various external forces in the region during this period and their relationship to local movements and governments.*BR* *BR*The book focuses on states experiencing violent internal conflict and foreign intervention, that is Angola, Mozambique, Namibia , South Africa and Zimbabwe.*BR* *BR*The author provides an unique history of the key part that the Soviet Union played in these developments. Spanning 30 years, the book explores how each country struggled for genuine independence against colonialism and apartheid and their place in the wider conflicts encompassed by the Cold War.