Vijay Prashad

One of the best things I have done, for a long time, is to join the Left Book Club. I would not have come across this, yet another excellent selection, without them.

This book gives the perspective from the third world. Unlike some books, this one does its best to be objective. This is not the story of how the third world countries are/were perfect and the west evil: which would have been fair enough to offset my education which tried to indoctrinate me into the obverse view!

It is amazing to see how stupid we all are and how easily greed over rides good judgement. Somewhat depressing, but eminently believable.… (more)

A thought-provoking examination of the Third World's anti-colonial struggles in the C20th, from co-operating to try and make their agenda herd in the UN to organizing as a Non-Aligned Movement to distance thmselvs from both First and Second world interference. There are case studies of liberation movements which are often, to quote Franz Fanon, "better at the struggle for freedom or the creation of manifestos than governance", sometimes usurped by military coups (frequently sposored by the US) or by elites who speak "freedom" but are closely aligned with the First world capitalists who of course will only give financial assistance (at extortionate interest rates) in return for corporate concessions that don't benefit the local people. In the end it's an instructive but depressing book. Highly recommended.… (more)

This is largely a sociological history book, discussing various race relations.

But, in the middle of it is this amazing criticism of multiculturalism and the idea that we aren't (and can't) be strictly segregated into arbitrarily defined 'pure' culture bubbles: that's just not how culture works. We borrow from, adapt, reinvent and change as people, and trying to define strict cultural bounderies is counterproductive.

I'm still digesting all the thoughts in here, but I love it, and it seems to echo so much of the shortcomings of multiculturalism I've seen myself.

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