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Fra Socialist Review nr. 329

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Review: Disposable People. Contemporary Global Slavery (Hayward Touring)

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Today some 27 million people worldwide are locked into slavery or servitude. Disposable people is a new photograhy exhibition showing the work of eight Magnum photograhers commissioned by the charity Autograph ABP. Their reportages range from the trafficking of young people from Eastern Europe to Haitian cane workers held in organised bonded labour in the Dominican Republic.

Editorial

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The world has changed in the last month and the repercussions are only just beginning to be felt.
This month Socialist Review has devoted ten pages to issues raised by the economic crisis and increased instability around the globe.

Judith Orr: Economic crisis: Crash course in capitalism

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It will be years for the full effects of the crash of September 2008 to be felt.
The mainstream media ran out of superlatives as they struggled to keep up with the events that threatened the whole basis of the capitalist system. All reflected shock and disbelief that everything that seemed so solid had melted into air.

Patrick Ward: Economic crisis: Losers take all

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As suited City workers laden with cardboard boxes left their glass and steel monuments to the free market for the last time, Bloomberg, the cable channel for traders, solemnly replaced its continuous on-screen ticker-tape share price updates with "Lehman staff clear desks, call head hunters, weep".

Joseph Choonara: Economic crisis: State of collapse

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The US government is frantically relieving banks of their "toxic assets". But even the huge amount of dollars used for the buyouts is unlikely to rescue a system which shows all the signs of further collapse.

Leo Zeilig: A new phase of struggle in post-deal Zimbabwe

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It was difficult to watch the power-sharing deal signing ceremony between Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the ruling party ZANU-PF on 15 September.

Patrick Ward: State capitalists

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One of the questions on certain people's lips as a result of the economic crisis is, "Where should I put my savings?"

Patrick Ward: Economics class

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One of the other questions on certain people's lips is, "Where should I put my children?"

Lindsey German: In my opinion: Beyond the Palin effect

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I was rather surprised when someone said to me recently, "You almost have to admire Sarah Palin."

Kirstie Richardson: Feedback: Revolutionary dancer

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In response to Andy Aitken (Feedback, Socialist Review, September 2008) dismissing dance as a middle class elitist profession which should be left alone by socialists, I feel the need to put him straight on a few facts.

Roger Huddle: Feedback: Shakespeare on Mars

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In the week I read Andy Aitken's letter (Feedback, Socialist Review, September 2008) I heard an emotional, blistering performance of Dimitri Shostakovich's 10th Symphony played by the Berlin Philharmonic at the Proms.

Gordon Blair: Feedback: Brass covers

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For those of us who share Andy Aitken's prejudice against high art (Feedback, Socialist Review, September 2008), there is a possible remedy.

Paul Haste: Feedback: Wrong about Somers Town

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I was disappointed with Alasdair Smith's review of Shane Meadows' film Somers Town (Culture, Socialist Review, September 2008).

Denis Godard: Letter from ...: France

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The victory of conservative Nicolas Sarkozy last year has led to disorientation for the mainstream left. But this can offer exciting possibilities for anti-capitalists, argues Denis Godard.

Alex Callinicos: Economic turmoil and endless war: System failure

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As the worst economic crisis since the 1929 crash rips through the world's markets, Alex Callinicos analyses the factors driving ever greater political instabilities across the globe.

Chris Harman: Market madness

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The ruling classes of the US and Britain are reeling in the face of the economic meltdown of their system and the real character of capitalism is exposed, writes Chris Harman.

Mark Serwotka: Union-made: Finding our voice

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On occasion I get mail (some of it signed) telling me to stick to union issues and stay out of politics.
But what a hospital cleaner, tanker driver or civil servant gets paid compared to, say, a commodities trader or chief executive of a bank is political. And the government's policy of holding down public sector wages in a time of rampant inflation has made it doubly so.

Lee Billingham: Interview: Jon McClure of Reverend and the Makers

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Jon McClure, lead singer of Sheffield band, Reverend and The Makers, hosted the recent 4,500-strong Love Music Hate Racism Rotherham Carnival. He speaks to Lee Billingham about his music and politics.

Grace Lally: A to Z of Socialism: P is for production

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References to production come up all the time in Marxist writing.

Sean Vernell: With the workers always

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Profound economic crisis and renewed militancy from the working class means the relevance of Marxist ideas for 21st century trade unionism, and the role socialists can play within the movement, is worth revisiting.

Andy Durgan: Book review: The Revolution and the Civil War in Spain

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by Pierre Broué and Emile Témime, Haymarket, £30.
The Revolution and the Civil War in Spain remains one of the most cogent histories of events in Spain between 1936 and 1939.

Des Freedman: Book review: The New Blue Media

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by Theodore Hamm, The New Press, £14.99
The premise of this interesting book is that the US political landscape has been transformed by the rise of progressive media figures like Michael Moore and Jon Stewart and innovative online sites like MoveOn.org and the Daily Kos. Motivated in particular by a fierce opposition to the invasion and occupation of Iraq, this "new blue media" (blue, in the US context, refers to Democrats; red to Republicans) has helped to carve out a significant space in US political culture.

Laura Miles: Book review: The Global Assault on Teaching , Teachers, and Their Unions

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Eds: Mary Compton and Lois Weiner, Palgrave Macmillan, £16.99
If you want to understand what is happening to education across the globe in the face of privatisation and marketisation this book is indispensable.

Clare Fermont: Book review: A Most Wanted Man

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by John Le Carré, Hodder & Stoughton, £18.99
John Le Carré's 21st novel continues his wonderful 48-year exploration of Western intelligence agencies as they jostle for influence in an ever-changing world.
A Most Wanted Man is the first to tackle the "war on terror" era. Set in Hamburg, it involves terrified Muslim refugees, money-laundering banks, shadowy intelligence agencies infected by Islamophobic obsessions and, of course, extraordinary renditions.

Andy Wilson: Book review: Unjust Rewards

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by Polly Toynbee and David Walker, Granta Books, £12.99
In 11 years of Labour government the gap between the richest and poorest in Britain has increased. Twenty years ago the chief executives of FTSE 100 companies earned, on average, 17 times as much as their companies' workers: now they earn 75 times as much.

Andy Ridley: Book review: From A to X

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by John Berger, Verso, £12.99
Before we read the letters that make up this book, John Berger writes, "The universe resembles a brain not a machine. Life is a story being told now. The first reality is story. This is what being a mechanic has taught me."
So from the start the words are already dripping with unidentified reference.

John Parrington: Book review: Bad Science

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by Ben Goldacre, Fourth Estate, £12.99
Under modern capitalism our lives are increasingly dependent on scientific and technological advances, from mobile phones and MP3 players to the latest drug or surgical treatment. Yet at the same time there is also much public fear and misunderstanding about science. In Bad Science Ben Goldacre, most widely known for his Guardian column of the same name, investigates the consequences of such fear and ignorance, specifically in relation to the biomedical sciences and the various alternative health movements that have sprung up in opposition to them.

Gaverne Bennett: Book review: The Turnaround

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by George Pelecanos, Orion, £12.99
The Turnaround shows how just 15 minutes of someone's life can dominate the next 35 years. The story begins in the racially charged atmosphere of 1972 Washington DC. Three white youths, Alex Pappas, Billy Cachoris and Peter Whitten, decide to drive into a rough black neighbourhood shouting racial epithets at its inhabitants. In their joyriding ecstasy they mistakenly drive into a dead end street to escape a group of teenagers who chase them. When their car is surrounded, one manages to run away, another is disfigured for life and the third is shot dead. This is the 15 minutes.

Simon Assaf: Book review: Inside Egypt

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by John R Bradley, Palgrave Macmillan, £14.99
Egypt is on the brink of revolution, unless the US changes its policy towards the regime of Husni Mubarak. That at least is the conclusion of John R Bradley's new book, Inside Egypt – The land of the Pharaohs on the brink of a revolution.

Beth Stone: Book review: All Our Wordly Goods

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by Irène Némirovsky, Chatto & Windus, £16.99
This novel was first published in France in 1947, five years after Irène Némirovsky died in Auschwitz. Unlike her unfinished Suite Francaise, the novel is complete and the tone relatively optimistic, with no idea of the author's impending fate.
Némirovsky has been a subject of controversy through her contributions to anti-Semitic journals and rejection of her Jewish identity. None of this finds expression in this novel.

Patrick Ward: Book review: Indignation

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by Philip Roth, Jonathan Cape, £16.99
It is 1951 and the Korean War has entered its second year. Marcus Messner, the young son of a kosher butcher in Newark, directs every ounce of his energy into his studies to avoid entering the conflict at a low rank and getting butchered like his cousins in the Second World War.

Charlotte Bence: Book review: The Paradise Trail

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by Duncan Campbell, Headline, £7.99
I usually find a book blurb with the word "backpackers" in it rather off-putting. This is because it tends to suggest that the author has rewritten and improved a travel journal from their own gap year, with a few amusing anecdotes blended in for good measure.
Happily, that cannot be said of The Paradise Trail.

Jennifer Jones: Book review: Mike's Election Guide 2008

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by Michael Moore, Penguin Books, £7.99
Michael Moore takes a welcome step back from the rhetoric and bombast of party politics to look at the flaws within the very fabric of the US system.

Book review: New in paperback & children's books

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Benn Diary – Great Partition – British Empire – Rosen on Grief

Mike Gonzalez: Culture Column: Andy Warhol: the man who wasn't there

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It might be said that Andy Warhol's most important art work was himself, or at least himself and the circle that he created around him – The Factory.

Louis Bayman: Film Review: Gomorrah

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Director: Matteo Garrone; Release date: 10 October
Like any good drama, Gomorrah sums itself up in its opening scene. Some friendly chat, and several men, stripped to their trunks and none too pretty, prepare themselves for the tanning stands. Without warning, the setting turns to brutal violence as the men are shot in a coordinated gangland killing.

Jacqui Freeman: Film Review: Linha de Passe

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Directors: Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas; Release date: out now
The opening shots of Linha de Passe capture eloquently the sense of movement at the heart of this beautifully filmed and thought-provoking portrayal of Brazilian society: an exuberant crowd chanting at a football match, a young motorcycle courier speeding through traffic, a fervent congregation of swaying evangelical Christians and a young boy riding a bus.

Magdalena Tulaza: Film Review: Outlanders

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Director: Dominic Lees; Release date: 24 October
Emigration has become a huge part of Eastern European reality as thousands of people have decided to leave in search of a better life. Most people in Eastern Europe have friends or family members abroad they are waiting to hear from. Many young people leave for education, experience or simply lifestyle. But most emigrants leave their secure, familiar neighbourhoods "za chlebem" (literally "for bread") to provide their families with money to fulfill their basic needs. Lack of language, inability to adjust and, most of all, fear of the unknown make this group vulnerable and susceptible to abuse.

Five Things to get or see this month

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Le Corbusier – War Photos – Cheltenham – Roll Deep – London Film Festival

John Molyneux: Art Review: Francis Bacon (Tate Modern)

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Many on the left have long been suspicious of, even hostile to, Bacon.

Keith Flett + Tim Sanders + Eileen Short: Cartoon: A People's History of the World. 16: What have the Romans ever done for us? Part II

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Vicky Williamson: Book Review: Halting State (online only)

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by Charles Stross, Orbit, £7.99
In the mid 1980s there was a rash of science fiction films and books set inside computer games and virtual reality. More recently this setting has gone out of fashion. It's strange because what was then just speculation and imagined technology is now closer and more vivid and its implications are much broader.
Charles Stross has explored some of the issues thrown up by recent, and potential, advances in computer technology in his near future thriller set in a newly independent Scotland.

Jacob Middleton: Book Review: The Great Crash (online only)

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by Selwyn Parker, Piatkus, £12.99
In the last five days before this was written, two of the world's largest investment banks have disappeared: Lehman Brothers in a puff of derivatives, Merrill Lynch swallowed whole by a competitor. HBOS, holding one in every six pounds saved in Britain, was gobbled up by Lloyds-TSB, the Brown government tearing up its own anti-monopoly rules to force the takeover through. And the largest insurer in the world was nationalised to prevent its collapse. One-time apologists for neoliberal capitalism are nervously looking at their history, and wondering if a second Great Depression is already upon us. Selwyn Parker's well-timed book, The Great Crash, attempts to provide a short history of the period.

Simon Byrne: Book Review: Return to the Middle Kingdom (online only)

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by Yuan-Tsung Chen, Union Square Press, £8.99
Reading down a contents page and discovering a chapter titled "Blending Confucius, Lincoln and Marx" is rarely going to fill a Marxist with glee. And if we are to take the book in its entirety, purely for its politics, we would also be disappointed.
Return to the Middle Kingdom tells the story of three generations of revolutionaries in China spanning a period of more than 150 years. It begins at the time of the Opium Wars of 1839-1842, tells of the workers' struggles of 1925-1927 through until the revolution of 1949 and beyond.