In this section you can read reviews of academic books covering the USA, and its continental neighbours, Canada and Mexico. Each weekend we publish two reviews, aiming to cover a wide range of books on all aspects of public policy and politics.
GalleryBook Review: The Populist Temptation: Economic Grievance and Political Reaction in the Modern Era by Barry Eichengreen
In The Populist Temptation: Economic Grievance and Political Reaction in the Modern Era, Barry Eichengreen places the surge of new populisms within deep historical context, looking at the convulsions caused by populist agitators and the response from the political establishment. Diogo Senra Rodeiro recommends this clear and highly informative analysis.
The Populist Temptation: Economic Grievance and Political Reaction in the Modern Era. Barry Eichengreen. […]
GalleryBook Review: Transformations of Trade Unionism: Comparative and Transnational Perspectives on Workers Organizing in Europe and the United States, Eighteenth to Twenty-First Centuries by Ad Knotter
In Transformations of Trade Unionism: Comparative and Transnational Perspectives on Workers Organizing in Europe and the United States, Eighteenth to Twenty-First Centuries, available to download here for free, Ad Knotter offers a historical analysis of the development of the labour movement in European countries and in the United States from the eighteenth century up to the present day. This detailed, well-written […]
GalleryBook Review: Commodity: The Global Commodity System in the 21st Century by Photis Lysandrou
In Commodity: The Global Commodity System in the 21st Century, Photis Lysandrou offers a critical analysis of the global commodity system and its various developmental tendencies. This is an excellent book, writes Scott Lavery, which deftly charts how financialised capitalism rose to ascendance and its impact on the world economy in the twenty-first century, while also pointing to fruitful areas of […]
GalleryBook Review: Before the Neoliberal Turn: The Rise of Energy Finance and the Limits to US Foreign Economic Policy by Simone Selva
In Before the Neoliberal Turn: The Rise of Energy Finance and the Limits to US Foreign Economic Policy, Simone Selva analyses the struggles of various US presidents to maintain America’s competitive edge while stimulating domestic growth between the 1960s and the late 1970s. This book is a valuable resource for those looking to understand the history of energy finance […]
GalleryBook Review: Heading Home: Motherhood, Work and the Failed Promise of Equality by Shani Orgad
In Heading Home: Motherhood, Work and the Failed Promise of Equality, Shani Orgad draws on interviews with educated, London-based women to explore their decision to leave their successful careers to become stay-at-home mothers. Delving into the profoundly ambivalent, contradictory and conflicting experiences and desires narrated by Orgad’s subjects, this book offers a compelling and essential analysis that makes a powerful argument […]
GalleryBook Review: How Nations Succeed: Manufacturing, Trade, Industrial Policy and Economic Development by Murat A. Yülek
In How Nations Succeed: Manufacturing, Trade, Industrial Policy and Economic Development, Murat A. Yülek offers insight into forward- and outward-looking industrial policy formulation that can further enhance national prosperity, with particular emphasis placed on capacity-building processes, skill accommulation and science and technology development. This is an excellent volume on industrial development and the sustainable policies to drive this, recommends Uchenna R. Efobi.
How Nations Succeed: […]
GalleryBook Review: Welcoming New Americans? Local Governments and Immigrant Incorporation by Abigail Fisher Williamson
In Welcoming New Americans? Local Governments and Immigrant Incorporation, Abigail Fisher Williamson presents a panorama of local US policymaking, showing variation among numerous localities in their response to growing immigrant populations in new destinations. The book offers an in-depth and well-structured look at the dynamics of local politics and local immigrant policies, writes M. Utku Gungor.
Welcoming New Americans? Local Governments and Immigrant […]
GalleryBook Review: Looking Back and Living Forward: Indigenous Research Rising Up edited by Jennifer Markides and Laura Forsythe
In Looking Back and Living Forward: Indigenous Research Rising Up, Jennifer Markides and Laura Forsythe bring together contributors to explore a wide range of topics relating to Indigenous philosophies, methodologies, histories, resurgences, theories and practices. This collection will open readers’ eyes to the diversity and depth of research currently being undertaken in Indigenous studies and is recommended to those looking to […]
GalleryBook Review: Justice and Reconciliation in World Politics by Catherine Lu
In Justice and Reconciliation in World Politics, Catherine Lu examines a foundational question in international ethics: namely, how should we respond to political catastrophes, most particularly the legacies of colonial injustice? The book offers a fresh perspective on global justice, responsibility and reconciliation, writes Marija Antanaviciute, that orients attention from an emphasis on individual accountability to explore strategies for addressing […]
GalleryBook Review: Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World by Meredith Broussard
In Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World, Meredith Broussard adds to the growing literature exploring the limits of artificial intelligence (AI) and techno-solutionism, furthermore showing how its socially-constructed nature replicates existing structural inequalities. Calling for greater racial and gender diversity in tech, the book offers a timely, accessible and often entertaining account that sets the record straight on what current […]
