Books published by Pluto Press

This classic text deals with a broad range of questions concerning the organisation and exercise of political power

Sivanandan's influence extends well beyond the limits of formal acknowledgement. His ideas and writings have been consistently quoted, copied and plagiarised. He was both and intellectual and an activist, his work has made a profound impact on the political life of Britain from the 1970s to the 2010s. *BR**BR*This collection of his writings ranges widely - over the history of black struggles against British racism from the 1940s to the uprisings of Brixton and Toxleth in 1981: the Black Panthers: immigration and race policies of British governments: and 'the liberation of the black intellectual', including essays on individuals such as James Baldwin, Angela Davis and Paul Robeson. *BR*

This is a concise guide to the Israel-Palestine conflict. There are many different, competing histories of the conflict, however, this book collects those which are based on the most considered historical research.*BR**BR*The book covers key events in chronological order, in each case examining the varied historical accounts and presenting the beliefs of key thinkers across the ideological spectrum, from Edward Said to Binyamin Netanyahu. *BR**BR*Starting the with emergence of the Zionist movement in the nineteenth century, and the figures who shaped it, the authors go on to cover the founding of Israel and its subsequent history, up to and including the 'roadmap for peace', the construction of the wall, the death of Arafat and the withdrawal from Gaza.

This book argues that state-building, as it is currently conceived, does not work. *BR**BR*In the 1990s, interventionist policies challenged the rights of individual states to self-governance. Today, non-western states are more likely to be feted by international institutions offering programmes of poverty-reduction, democratisation and good governance. *BR**BR*States without the right of self-government will always lack legitimate authority. The international policy agenda focuses on bureaucratic mechanisms, which can only institutionalise divisions between the West and the non-West and are unable to overcome the social and political divisions of post-conflict states. Highlighting the dangers of current policy - including the redefinition of sovereignty, and the subsequent erosion of ties linking power and accountability.

The first comprehensive introduction to Marxist approaches to art history.

From schoolgirls to matriarchs, single mothers to extended families, and businesswomen to factory workers, the experience of Asian women in Britain today is polarised by class and religion. *BR**BR*This book explores the lives and struggles of two generations of British Asian women to present a political account of their experiences: personal and public, individual and collective, their struggles take on power structures within the family, the community and, on occasion, the British state. *BR**BR*Combining their personal testimony within a theoretical framework, Amrit Wilson locates their experiences in the wider context of global and regional politics. She examines what impact the feminist movement has had on their lives, and explores issues such as domestic violence, Asian marriages, representations of Asian women, mental disturbance and suicide.*BR*

Ramparts of Resistance examines the experience of British and US workers during the last three decades to show the urgency of the need for a new independent politics of trade unionism. *BR**BR*The twentieth century saw great changes in the trade union movement, from waves of strikes in the 1970s to a battery of employer and state onslaughts, culminating in the anti-union legislation of the 1980s and 1990s. Looking at grassroots labour struggles, Cohen explores issues of reformism, trade union democracy and the political meaning of ordinary workplace resistance, and puts forward ideas for change. *BR**BR*Ramparts of Resistance examines the failure of the union movement to rise to the neo-liberal challenge and calls for a new politics of independent unionism and an explicitly class-based renewal of workers' power. Coming at a time when union activity and membership involvement continues despite the odds, this book is an inspiring guide to the direction that unionism should take.

Habermas is a hugely influential thinker, yet his writing can be dense and inaccessible. This critical introduction offers undergraduates a clear way into Habermas's concept of the 'public sphere' and its relevance to contemporary society. Luke Goode's lively account also sheds new light on the 'public sphere' debate that will interest readers already familiar with Habermas's work.*BR**BR*For Habermas, the 'public sphere' was a social forum that allowed people to debate -- whether it was the town hall or the coffee house, maintaining a space for public debate was an essential part of democracy. Habermas's controversial work examines the erosion of these spaces within consumer society and calls for new thinking about democracy today.*BR**BR*Drawing on Habermas's early and more recent writings, this book examines the 'public sphere' in its full complexity, outlining its relevance to today's media and culture. It will be of interest to students and scholars in a range of disciplines across the social sciences and humanities.

As the European Union is not a nation state, it is not generally perceived to have a foreign policy. However, this book argues that quite the reverse is true: that an overemphasis on procedure and structures has disguised the fact that the EU has a clear foreign policy that can be analysed in much the same way as that of the sovereign state. *BR**BR*Conventional assessments of the EU focus on the mechanisms, institutions and treaties through which policies are implemented. Smith shows how this can lead to a massive underestimation of the capacities of the EU. Rather than concentrating on how the policy of the EU is made, Smith investigates the action that it has engaged in abroad, and the nature of its diverse global interventions - in relation to the United States and the industrialised North, the various regions of the South and, most recently, its huge involvement in east and central Europe and the entire European continent. *BR**BR*Developing a pathbreaking analysis of the nature of EU foreign policy, this comprehensive account shows how the EU can be very effective indeed in promoting its own domestic interests abroad.

An acclaimed translation of one of Marx's most important texts, along with essays discussing its contemporary relevance.

Critical account of the economic boom in Ireland and the neoliberal culture that has accompanied it

Over the past fifteen years, ideas in the field of development studies have been highly contested. During this time, most countries from the South have come under the iron heel of the IMF and World Bank, who have imposed structural adjustment programmes wherever they have provided loan capital to governments. However, these programmes have had little success, and development studies has suffered accordingly. *BR**BR*Many development theorists turned to postmodernist theory to try to move on from this impasse, which in the 1990s led to a new line of critical thought that heralded 'the end of development'. They argued that development studies should be replaced by new strategies of emancipation, or 'new social movements' theory, originating in groups such as the Zapatistas of Mexico. *BR**BR*This book summarises the contested ideas of development studies and new social movements theory while rejecting calls for the end of development. Using postmodern theory to demonstrate that forms of development can be complementary to emancipatory social movement projects, Trevor Parfitt develops an alternative model of development which incorporates the needs of peoples both South and North.

This is a comprehensive history of Asians from the Indian subcontinent in Britain. Spanning four centuries, it tells the history of the Indian community in Britain from the servants, ayahs and sailors of the seventeenth century, to the students, princes, soldiers, professionals and entrepreneurs of the 19th and 20th centuries. *BR**BR*Rozina Visram examines the nature and pattern of Asian migration; official attitudes to Asian settlement; the reactions and perceptions of the British people; the responses of the Asians themselves and their social, cultural and political lives in Britain. *BR**BR*This imaginative and detailed investigation asks what it would have been like for Asians to live in Britain, in the heart of an imperial metropolis, and documents the anti-colonial struggle by Asians and their allies in the UK. It is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the origins of the many different communities that make up contemporary Britain.

The Bacardi rum company is one of the most successful and recognisable brands in the world. It spends millions on marketing itself as the spirit of youth and vitality. But behind its image as a party drink lies a very different story.*BR**BR*In this book, investigative journalist Hernando Calvo Ospina brings to light the commercial and political activities of the Bacardi empire to reveal its role in fostering the 40-year long confrontation between the United States and the revolutionary government of Cuba. Through meticulous research, Ospina reveals how directors and shareholders of the family-owned firm have aggressively worked to undermine the Castro government. He explores how they have been implicated in supporting paramilitary organisations that have carried out terrorist attacks, and reveals their links to the extreme right-wing Cuban-American Foundation that supported Ronald Reagan's Contra war in Nicaragua.*BR**BR*Bacardi: The Hidden War explains the company's hand in promoting 'special interest' legislation against its competitor, Havana Club Rum, which is manufactured in Cuba and promoted by the European company Pernod-Ricard. Ospina reveals the implications of Bacardi's involvement in this growing dispute that threatens to create a trade war between America and Europe. Exploring the Bacardi empire's links to the CIA, as well as its inside links with the Bush administration, this fascinating account shows how multinational companies act for political as well as economic interests.

This book describes how Irish women have always played a key role in the struggle for independence. The author depicts the role women have played in the 'Irish struggle' from 1881 to the present day, particularly in the crucial post 1916 period, and in so doing underlines the irony whereby 'fellow' nationalists, despite their common struggle, remained factionalised. The author focuses on three pivotal Irish nationalist women's organisations - the Ladies Land League, Inghinidhe na hEireann and Cumann na mBan - and shows how, despite the inherent differences between the three movements, a salient theme emerges, namely the underwhelming extent to which Irish women have been recognised as a driving force in Irish political history. *BR**BR*Since Mary Robinson's election as president, however, a new agenda had been set in Irish politics. Irish women politicians are acquiring the profile they deserve - a trend most clearly marked by the 'feminisation' of Sinn Fein. As the Irish political climate changes almost daily, Margaret Ward's Unmanagable Revolutionaries should, therefore, be read not only as a study of past neglect, but also as a celebration and endorsement of emerging recognition of the role of women in Irish politics.

One of the most enduring of the Marxist classics

Furedi finds a disturbingly deep conservative agenda stifling the experimental and new ideas around the studying of history

Examines the prospects for social equality in post-war Britain, and provides a detailed consideration of what has been achieved so far

Examines the questions of the environment, sustainable development and politics of the future

Challenges many of the Left's traditional attitudes toward crime and policing, proposing instead a rigourous, new Left realism

In this book, John Hutnyk questions the meaning of cultural hybridity. Using the growing popularity of Asian culture in the West as a case study, he looks at just who benefits from this intermingling of culture. *BR**BR*Focusing on music, race and politics, Hutnyk offers a cogently theorised critique of the culture industry. He looks at artists such as Asian Dub Foundation, FunDaMental and Apache Indian to see how their music is both produced and received. He analyses 'world' music festivals, racist policing and the power of corporate pop stars to market exotica across the globe. Throughout, Hutnyk provides a searing critique of a world that sells exotica as race relations and visibility as redress.

'This beautifully written and lucidly argued study is the most persuasive account of Bourdieu's work yet to be published. Lane illuminates much that can puzzle a foreign readership by expertly situating Bourdieu within a French context. At the same time he points to those aspects of Bourdieu's writing which are of particular relevance to contemporary debates on questions of citizenship and globalisation. He gives a fascinating account of Bourdieu's astonishingly prescient analyses of the impact of the expansion of higher education, the influence of the mass media, the growth of the culture industries, and the changing nature of political and social elites, not just in France, but in the western world.' - Professor Jill Forbes, Queen Mary and Westfield, University of London

Online journalism is revolutionising the way news is reported and read. The rise of the internet has forever changed the way audiences interact with the news - stories are posted the moment they break and readers routinely expect to be able to access both the news sources and local perspectives. Online news and the pattern of media ownership raise a number of urgent questions about accuracy, press autonomy, freedom of speech and economic exclusion. *BR**BR*Jim Hall provides a comprehensive guide to the emerging field of cyberjournalism and examines the issues it raises. Looking at how interactive texts are both written and read, the book surveys the new technologies and conventions that online journalism has ushered in. The author uses case studies such as Monicagate and the war in Kosovo to illustrate both the opportunities and the limitations of cyberjournalism.*BR**BR*It is designed as a text to introduce how cyberjournalism works and how it can be used in innovative ways.

Addresses the central position of fieldwork in modern social anthropology

A detailed survey of the most prominent cases of scandalising art

Explores connections between psychology and Marxism, to make sense of what has become a double crisis

The development and legacy of the slave trade

Radically assessing George W. Bush's security policy, the impact it has had on world security and the grave implications that it holds for future peace, not only in the Middle East but throughout the world come to light. *BR**BR*Moving from the war in Afghanistan and its aftermath to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the continuing development of al-Qaida and its associates through to the war on Iraq, Rogers presents a uniquely cogent analysis of these rapid and traumatic events. In a world in which the US and other states of the Atlantic community are increasingly speaking a different language to that of the majority of the world, Paul Rogers offers a vital critical assessment of the language of dominance and control as 'the New American Century' unfolds.*BR**BR*For the US, in particular, the post-9/11 world is one in which it is essential to maintain firm control of international security, extending to pre-emptive military action. In this book, Rogers demonstrates how futile, mistaken and deeply counter-productive that belief is, and points the way to more effective routes to a more just and secure world.

A concise argument for the enduring importance of the feminist movement today by one of the world's leading feminist writers

In clear and concise terms, Robert Went demythologises globalization. He refutes the myth that globalization is an entirely new phenomenon and that it is an unavoidable process. While recognising that it poses serious strategic challenges to the Left, he argues that these challenges are not insurmountable and that there is hope for advocating real change.*BR**BR*Went puts globalization into its historical perspective. He shows that there is no option of returning to the postwar mode of expansion, but that the current trend must be altered. If not, he warns of greater social inequality, levelling of wages, worsening of working conditions, life-threatening ecological deterioration and a pervasive dictatorship of the market. To combat this rampant globalization, Went challenges the Left to rebuild its own movement and offer up a credible alternative.*BR**BR*From reviews of the Dutch and German edition*BR**BR*'Every category of reader will find in Went an author who understands the art of writing very clearly and accessibly for a broad public'. Het Financiele Dagblad (Amsterdam), 14 March 1996 (The Dutch 'Financial Times')*BR**BR*'This sober analysis of the globalization phenomenon is very accessible and smoothly written'. Financieel-Economische Tijd (Brussels), 20 April 1996*BR**BR*'(Went's) greatest merit is that he proves on the one hand that globalization is not storming ahead as fast as many would have us believe; and on the other hand he shows that great societal changes are taking place'. Onze Wereld (Amsterdam), June 1996 (one of the main Dutch Third World solidarity magazines).