Review by Choice Review
The book's title is highly misleading. It is no manifesto nor does it make a case for radical politics. Were it a pamphlet containing only its breezy first chapter and chapters 9 and 10, it might rate as a game plan for democratic socialists in the US. But the book's bulk--180 pages--is a rather pedestrian, general survey of left political infighting and party politics, adding up to socialism's failure to achieve meaningful, sustained, democratic political form anywhere in the world from the 19th century to the present. After the obligatory tour through Marx, Sunkara (Jacobin) surveys key political actors and parties in Germany, Russia, Sweden, India, China, and the US. Then the tone turns journalistic, haphazardly recounting a certain Left history covering the 2008 financial crisis, the Obama recovery, Occupy, Black Lives Matter, the rise of Bernie Sanders, and Jeremy Corbyn. Perhaps if the final chapters' recommendations (on capitalism and racism, democratizing unions, and cultivating a mass-membership Leftist party) had been pushed through the earlier chapters as a deliberate critical apparatus, Sunkara's panoramic, serial history might have had some teeth and provided real insight into socialism's failures and promise. Summing Up: Optional. General readers. --Gregg Daniel Miller, independent scholar
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this erudite call to action, Sunkara, publisher of Jacobin magazine, draws lessons from the history of various socialist movements to imagine how socialism could rise in the U.S. Sunkara begins by asking the reader to imagine life as a worker in a factory owned by Jon Bon Jovi, then lays out what life would look like if a peaceful uprising resulted in a socialist system. The whimsy fades away, however, in the second section: a history of socialist and communist movements in Germany, Russia, Sweden, China, and the U.S. Sunkara spends a chapter on the sudden popularity of Bernie Sanders and British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn before laying out a road map for today's socialists to build a movement in the U.S. Ultimately, he argues, social democracy of the type seen in Scandinavia is not enough, for without avenues for people to make choices and hold their leaders accountable, "any postcapitalist society risks creating a new class of oppressors." Sunkara does not attempt to seem unbiased; he draws more positives out of the socialist-turned-authoritarian movements in Russia and China than most history textbooks do. Still, his recommendations for today's socialists are logical and well-informed. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The case for socialism.Jacobin founder and editor Sunkara (editor: The ABCs of Socialism, 2016, etc.) considers the present world of "extreme inequality" and argues that "we can do better than this capitalist reality you're stuck in." At a time of growing popularity for progressive politicians like Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders and of marked dislike of capitalism and affinity for socialism among American 18- to 29-year-olds (though "what young people understand as socialism is not clear"), the author finds a "surprising opportunity" today for socialism in Britain and the United States. In this accessible narrative, Sunkara describes the socialist tradition from Marx to the present and outlines the benefits of a socialist society of "expansive social services and public guarantees" that asserts "the moral worth of every person." His lengthy opening explication of this idyllic viewa day in the life of a socialist citizenwill appeal strongly to readers dissatisfied with the "unnecessary pain and suffering" under capitalism. His subsequent recounting of the realities of socialist movements of the 19th and early 20th centuries in Western Europe and Russia is less enthralling, as the author is aware. Poorly led, facing many roadblocks, and sometimes producing "stifling authoritarianism and an increasingly sclerotic planned economy," many social-democratic experiments "sputtered and failed." In tracing the American storyfrom Eugene Debs to Michael Harrington and beyondSunkara explains how socialism's appeal has been limited by prosperity and individualism; committed socialists were divided by language, geography, and ideologies. Lacking "mass parties, an active base, and a mobilized working class," the country has never created a viable socialist movement. He suggests more than a dozen complex, nuanced actions for socialistsfrom waging democratic battles within unions to taking into account American particularitiesto achieve the goal of "extending democracy radically[and] ending the exploitation of humans by other humans."A sharp, hopeful, and useful primer short on evidence that a socialist future is at hand. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
