American Writers (One Hundred Pages at a Time)

So in this part of my review of Dos Passos' U.S.A. trilogy we meet J. Ward Moorehouse, Eleanor Stoddard, and Janey Williams. Still no plot, but all a brilliant mosaic of American life in the early 20th century.

I begin a long series on Lost Generation American writers with this look at the first part of John Dos Passos' U.S.A. Trilogy. This section focuses on the character of Mac, a working class radical skilled in printing who become a Wobbly. Good stuff.

The final part of my massive review of Sven Beckert's masterpiece Capitalism: A Global History. In this last section we survey the neoliberal hell we currently exist in and get all depressed.

In this penultimate part of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History looks at the golden age of capitalism in the West, the period from 1945-1970s. What ever happened to the "Affluent Society"? Maybe we will find out.

In this part of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History I finish chapter 14 and read through chapter 15, exploring the response to the Great Depression and the rise of "insurgent" capitalisms in the colonial world.

Part 7 of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History. In this section of the book we explore Beckert's commentary on state expansion and the origins of the Great Depression.

In part 6 of this 10 part review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History I read the chapters on the "reconstructions" of capital and labor in the later 19th century. It is in these reconstructions that the foundations of modern capitalism were laid

Wow, we are half done with this massive book. The next part of my review of Capitalism: A Global History by Sven Beckert. This section focuses on the emergence of a capitalist culture and the rebellions that brought the "old regime capitalism" to an end. It is fascinating stuff.

These chapters of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History explore the revolutions we often lump together as the Industrial Revolution and the growing expansion of capitalism into the hinterland. It is increasingly clear we need to take a hinterland first view of capitalism's spread.

In this third part of my review of Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History I explore chapters 5-6 on the developments in industrial production in the early modern period and their relationships with capitalism, as well as the reasons capitalism broke out from the islands due to a "perfect storm" of feedback loops.

Part two of my review of Sven Beckert's brilliant Capitalism: A Global History. This section centers on how the islands of capital became connected and extended their reach in the early modern period. 

For the next 10 episodes I will be reading Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History, which covers the history of capitalism from its earliest origins to the present. It consolidates most of the findings in the recent "history of capitalism" trend in historical scholarship. I am very excited to begin this project. 

A pretty short episode capping off this rather long series on James Scott and others. Anna Tsing's thoughts on disturbed areas is amazing and relevant to how to make sense of our disrupted world. I guess I was excited to start my look at Sven Beckert's Capitalism: A Global History. Not sure if he is an American though (Born in Germany I guess). Should not matter. Let's do this. Next ten episodes w...

In this episode I look at The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Tsing. In this first half of the book we explore the human history of the matsutake mushroom. This great book will be the conclusion of this series that began with our look at The Moral Economy of the Peasant so many months ago. 

The finale of my review of The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrove. In this section we look at the origins (or non-origins) of the state and return to the indigenous critique of Europe.

Part 4 of my review of David Wengrove and David Graeber's The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity. As we come to the close of this book we begin to go deeper into the Neolithic and explore urban forms and political systems, asking the question if anything has an origin and if not, how can we tell the story of early humanity?  

Part three of my review of David Graeber and David Wengrove's massive book The Dawn of Everything. In this section we focus on the origins of agriculture and communities and hierarchies. 

Hey guys. Back with another section of my review of The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrove. In this section I focus on his chapters on the origins of agriculture, the sections that have the most to contrast with James Scott's Against the Grain.

As a follow up to James C. Scott's Against the Grain I wanted to look into the more comprehensive and perhaps more radical and challenging interpretation give in The Dawn of Everything by David Wengrove and David Graeber. Here is the first of five parts. 

Part two and the conclusion of my review of Race Rebels by Robin Kelley. In this second half of the book, we explore the infrapolitics that inspired mid to later 20th century black politics especially black communism and internationalism, and the politics of rap music. 

In this episode I look at Robin Kelley's wonderful exploration of black politics in the 20th century Race Rebels. It is the best example that I know of an author using James C. Scott's theory of "infrapolitics". The result of a fascinating account of politics from "way, way below". 

In this episode I close our my review of James C. Scott's works with a reading of his final book In Praise of Floods. It is a good summary of many of his major arguments but shows where some of his thinking had he lived longer. 

In this second half of my review of James C. Scott's Against the Grain, I explore his arguments about the origin of the state and the "golden age for barbarians". 

After enjoying Scott's take on anarchism we can move onto his penultimate book, a text exploring the origins of agriculture and the impact it has on human beings. We will be taking a closer look at his arguments and other perspectives on early agricultural societies when we read The Dawn of Everything, but for now let's enjoy the first half of Against the Grain.

My review of James C. Scott's short book Two Cheers for Anarchism. The book is a great introduction to Scott's ideas and a useful guide to putting an anarchist perspective on the world we live in.