What book did the most to shape your politics?
- Thread starter J Ed
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Idris2002
Stay Alive in '25
It was TWL of the A for me too, at least partly. Also very important - Raymond Williams' book on Orwell.
oryx
Sitting on the bok of the day
It was probably Below Stairs by Margaret Powell, the autobiography of a woman who was a servant in the early-mid 20c.
I used to spend a lot of time at my grandparents as a child and would read my gran's books including this one. I was probably about 10 (it's an easy read, no boasting there!). It really woke me up to class inequality.
I used to spend a lot of time at my grandparents as a child and would read my gran's books including this one. I was probably about 10 (it's an easy read, no boasting there!). It really woke me up to class inequality.
purenarcotic
Conveniently Pocket Sized
Actually having given this some more thought and rather bizarrely it was some of Jacqueline Wilson’s books that started me thinking. The Bed and Breakfast Star and The Lottie Project - obviously not great political works but I questioned the unfairness of it all a lot.
Me too...it was a 13th birthday present from my stepdad (he was a housepainter, sign writer, woodgrainer and stippler)...along with a membership for the YCL (although, to be fair, I had wanted some Max Factor turquoise eye shadow but hey...)
Named my first dog 'Nimrod'.
LDC
On est tous des pangolins
'Pre-politics' and in my early teens How the Other Half Dies by Susan George, then some novels by Andre Brink about South Africa under apartheid spring to mind.
In my mid-teens Anarchism by George Woodcock gave me the first insight into the historical breadth of those politics, and was easy to read; and sadly enough all the Vague/RAF/Televisionaries stuff as it was in my local Waterstones at the time - and this was pre-internet and easy access to ordering books.
Then The Monkeywrench Gang by Ed Abbey and Green Rage by Christopher Manes, as well as all the deep ecology/wilderness/anti-civ stuff in the early/mid 1990s. Before ending up totally going down that wormhole I read the Aufheben analysis of the anti-roads movement and then their take on the anti-CJA which really influenced me, as did some of the situ/pro-situ writing and some bits of Social Ecology, although at the time I was more critical than I am now of that.
More recently I'd be hard pressed to pick out specific books, although I really liked Nihilist Communism by Monsieur Dupont, and then the whole anti-State communist and ultra-left stable of thought. Still need to get round to dealing with Capital as well but my brain hurts just thinking about it.
In my mid-teens Anarchism by George Woodcock gave me the first insight into the historical breadth of those politics, and was easy to read; and sadly enough all the Vague/RAF/Televisionaries stuff as it was in my local Waterstones at the time - and this was pre-internet and easy access to ordering books.
Then The Monkeywrench Gang by Ed Abbey and Green Rage by Christopher Manes, as well as all the deep ecology/wilderness/anti-civ stuff in the early/mid 1990s. Before ending up totally going down that wormhole I read the Aufheben analysis of the anti-roads movement and then their take on the anti-CJA which really influenced me, as did some of the situ/pro-situ writing and some bits of Social Ecology, although at the time I was more critical than I am now of that.
More recently I'd be hard pressed to pick out specific books, although I really liked Nihilist Communism by Monsieur Dupont, and then the whole anti-State communist and ultra-left stable of thought. Still need to get round to dealing with Capital as well but my brain hurts just thinking about it.
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ed marimba
Active Member
Animal Farm
Animal Farm's message is not that socialism inevitably fails. Rather it describes with great clarity the weaknesses which ultimately sabotage attempts to put socialism into practice. Its target is not socialist ideals but the political systems that fail those ideals , that sabotage the path to freedom and divert it towards tyranny and oppression. The book describes this process via a simple story , a beautiful simplicity that stems from integrity and compassion. Although it is based on the events of the Russian revolution and subsequent descent into Stalinism, its message is about something wider - an understanding of how great hope and optimism can end in brutal tragedy. The story of the animals and their path to disaster is described in terms of errors and failings made at each stage which combine and compound . How assumptions are made which cannot be questioned and how this causes weakness not strength. But the outcome is not inevitable, this story shows what can go wrong and such insights can help in avoiding making the same errors again.
Unfortunately, this opportunity is ignored and the book usually seen as simply anti-Stalinist. Left wing politics seems to have remained highly conservative and resistant to the idea that failures of socialism can be acknowledged and learned from. That it can be refined and improved as a theory. Left wing parties have given up on it either becoming alternative right wing parties or else shouting slogans about revolution for effect rather than in any belief in it actually happening. So we are left with no coherent alternative to right wing capitalism and a growing perception that it is now 'proven' , politics simply a matter of choosing who will do capitalism best.
I continue to find Animal Farm inspiring because it is a story of belief in freedom and a better life and an attempt to make it happen. And although it goes wrong, it does not suggest it was not worth trying . The message is not one of cynicism or hopelessness , instead it points out that good intentions are not enough on their own. We need to be vigilant, to make checks, ask questions. Not rest on assumptions or hide behind denial, either personally or as a society. Socialism has gone terribly wrong in the past and needs to change in many ways but its vision of greater justice and equality might just be achievable, we should not give up hope of making something better than this
Animal Farm's message is not that socialism inevitably fails. Rather it describes with great clarity the weaknesses which ultimately sabotage attempts to put socialism into practice. Its target is not socialist ideals but the political systems that fail those ideals , that sabotage the path to freedom and divert it towards tyranny and oppression. The book describes this process via a simple story , a beautiful simplicity that stems from integrity and compassion. Although it is based on the events of the Russian revolution and subsequent descent into Stalinism, its message is about something wider - an understanding of how great hope and optimism can end in brutal tragedy. The story of the animals and their path to disaster is described in terms of errors and failings made at each stage which combine and compound . How assumptions are made which cannot be questioned and how this causes weakness not strength. But the outcome is not inevitable, this story shows what can go wrong and such insights can help in avoiding making the same errors again.
Unfortunately, this opportunity is ignored and the book usually seen as simply anti-Stalinist. Left wing politics seems to have remained highly conservative and resistant to the idea that failures of socialism can be acknowledged and learned from. That it can be refined and improved as a theory. Left wing parties have given up on it either becoming alternative right wing parties or else shouting slogans about revolution for effect rather than in any belief in it actually happening. So we are left with no coherent alternative to right wing capitalism and a growing perception that it is now 'proven' , politics simply a matter of choosing who will do capitalism best.
I continue to find Animal Farm inspiring because it is a story of belief in freedom and a better life and an attempt to make it happen. And although it goes wrong, it does not suggest it was not worth trying . The message is not one of cynicism or hopelessness , instead it points out that good intentions are not enough on their own. We need to be vigilant, to make checks, ask questions. Not rest on assumptions or hide behind denial, either personally or as a society. Socialism has gone terribly wrong in the past and needs to change in many ways but its vision of greater justice and equality might just be achievable, we should not give up hope of making something better than this
H
Humirax
Guest
Hard to pick just one. Either An Anarchist FAQ, The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin or What is Anarchism?/The ABC of Anarchism by Alexander Berkman (which is probably the best out of those three).
But then The Female Eunoch by Germaine Greer also had quite an impact, perhaps dated but an impressive read. Mutual Aid, A Factor of Evolution by Kropotkin was another. Then there was Bash the Rich by Ian Bone and others . . . Anarchism, A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements by George Woodcock, a classic exploration of Anarchism. The Spanish Anarchists, The Heroic Years by Murray Bookchin is a great read for understanding the History of the Anarchist movement in Spain. The writings of George Orwell have certainly had an impact on me aswell, especially Down and Out in Paris and London and Homage To Catalonia (as well as his more obvious/well known books) and even The Autobiography of Malcolm X. I would also like to mention Anarchy in Action by Colin Ward.
But then The Female Eunoch by Germaine Greer also had quite an impact, perhaps dated but an impressive read. Mutual Aid, A Factor of Evolution by Kropotkin was another. Then there was Bash the Rich by Ian Bone and others . . . Anarchism, A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements by George Woodcock, a classic exploration of Anarchism. The Spanish Anarchists, The Heroic Years by Murray Bookchin is a great read for understanding the History of the Anarchist movement in Spain. The writings of George Orwell have certainly had an impact on me aswell, especially Down and Out in Paris and London and Homage To Catalonia (as well as his more obvious/well known books) and even The Autobiography of Malcolm X. I would also like to mention Anarchy in Action by Colin Ward.
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Pickman's model
Starry Wisdom
in addition to the bible, 'unfinished business', 'decade of disorder' and 'ballymurphy and the irish war'
sunnysidedown
caput mortuum
Younger: Class War newspaper
Older: The Impotence of the Revolutionary Group
Older: The Impotence of the Revolutionary Group
H
Humirax
Guest
A great book, my girlfriend/partner got me that for my birthday several years ago.
H
Humirax
Guest
Yep, that's got to be another one for me aswell.
I only remembered yesterday that a book I read and re-read as a spotty eighteen year old, was Paul Foot’s: Why You Should be a Socialist, given to me by a union rep. Although forty odd years later I cannot recall where or with whom I left it.
The case for a new SWP!
It opened with a poem written by Hugo Dewar. Arsey-Versy World, which I copied out and stuck inside my locker at work . Ha, the things you forget that threads on Urban bring back!
The case for a new SWP!
It opened with a poem written by Hugo Dewar. Arsey-Versy World, which I copied out and stuck inside my locker at work . Ha, the things you forget that threads on Urban bring back!
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Kaka Tim
Half Arsed and Slapdash till I Die
Initially it was the NME and the likes of the clash, UB40 and the specials that informed me that thatcher, racism and the national front were all a pile of shit. Which was important because as a 12 year old i parroted my dads tory views, thought jim davidson was funny and drew swastikas on my school books.
Eamon McCann's "War and an Irish Town" - initially it was just an extract that I read in an o level history course book on "the Irish Question" - about the Derry Housing Action committee dragging this old fellas caravan to the steps of Derry town hall in order to pressure the council into giving him a council house - this was probably the first example I'd come across of the power of community based direct action.
Reading the whole book then gave me a whole new perspective on why shit was going down in northern ireland - because all you got from the media was "IRA = evil murderers. Our boys - keeping the peace. Something to do with catholics and protestants - but not clear"
Grapes of Wrath.
The English Rebels - ( account of oft overlooked history of english radicalism, rebellions and uprisings going back to Wat Tyler).
Homage to Catalonia.
The Chatto Book of Dissent. An anthology of dissenting voices throughout history - really good in itself but also for pointing towards interesting areas for further reading.
Eamon McCann's "War and an Irish Town" - initially it was just an extract that I read in an o level history course book on "the Irish Question" - about the Derry Housing Action committee dragging this old fellas caravan to the steps of Derry town hall in order to pressure the council into giving him a council house - this was probably the first example I'd come across of the power of community based direct action.
Reading the whole book then gave me a whole new perspective on why shit was going down in northern ireland - because all you got from the media was "IRA = evil murderers. Our boys - keeping the peace. Something to do with catholics and protestants - but not clear"
Grapes of Wrath.
The English Rebels - ( account of oft overlooked history of english radicalism, rebellions and uprisings going back to Wat Tyler).
Homage to Catalonia.
The Chatto Book of Dissent. An anthology of dissenting voices throughout history - really good in itself but also for pointing towards interesting areas for further reading.
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