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: How to Fight Inequality (and Why That Fight Needs You) by Ben Phillips
In How to Fight Inequality (and Why That Fight Needs You), international civil society activist Ben Phillips offers a new book that aims to empower readers to join the fight to bring an end to inequalities, showing how lessons from the past are key to building a more equitable future. Filled with powerful stories of change secured through the organising […]
GalleryBook Review: A Philosopher’s Economist: Hume and the Rise of Capitalism by Margaret Schabas and Carl Wennerlind
In A Philosopher’s Economist: Hume and the Rise of Capitalism, Margaret Schabas and Carl Wennerlind offer a new study that fills a gap in scholarship on David Hume, connecting his economic thought to his philosophy and showing the central place of Hume’s economics in his life and work. This is a well-researched and artfully written volume, finds Mark G. Spencer, that […]
GalleryBook Review: The Technology Takers: Leading Change in the Digital Era by Jens P. Flanding, Genevieve M. Grabman and Sheila Q. Cox
In The Technology Takers: Leading Change in the Digital Era, Jens P. Flanding, Genevieve M. Grabman and Sheila Q. Cox explore how organisations and managers can lead change and pursue strategic opportunities at a time when contemporary digital technologies place most firms in the position of being ‘technology takers’ that must use services on offer from the big technology companies. While […]
GalleryBook Review: Delivering Impact with Digital Resources: Planning Strategy in the Attention Economy by Simon Tanner
In Delivering Impact with Digital Resources: Planning Strategy in the Attention Economy, Simon Tanner offers a new guide to delivering and sustaining the impact of digital content, focusing particularly on the galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) sector. While the book could further interrogate the value of impact and delve deeper into the complexities of the attention economy, this book charts […]
GalleryBook Review: Military Waste: The Unexpected Consequences of Permanent War Readiness by Joshua O. Reno
In Military Waste: The Unexpected Consequences of Permanent War Readiness, Joshua O. Reno offers a new ethnographic study of the long retired physical manifestations of the US military-industrial complex in order to unravel the impact of US military waste on the people and communities living outside of formal war zones. This book is an essential contribution to the larger global conversation […]
GalleryBook Review: Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism by Mariana Mazzucato
LSE MSc Environmental Policy and Regulation candidate, Flora Parkin, reviews Mariana Mazzucato’s new book, Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, and questions whether it goes far enough to tackle the worsening global climate crisis.
This review was originally posted on the LSE International Development blog. If you are interested in this book, you can also watch a video of Mariana Mazzucato’s guest […]
GalleryBook Review: The Asset Economy by Lisa Adkins, Melinda Cooper and Martijn Konings
In The Asset Economy, Lisa Adkins, Melinda Cooper and Martijn Konings retell the story of neoliberalism through the lens of assets, showing how asset ownership and asset inflation have been driving forces behind inequality and new class divides. This book is a highly readable and timely intervention in the burgeoning debate on rentiership and will inspire future research in showing the […]
GalleryBook Review: Redeeming Leadership: An Anti-Racist Feminist Intervention by Helena Liu
In Redeeming Leadership: An Anti-Racist Feminist Intervention, Helena Liu critiques and seeks to dismantle celebrated leadership narratives that draw from and protect systems of oppression rooted in imperialism, white supremacy, neoliberal capitalism and patriarchy in order to consider more substantive actions for institutional and societal change. This is a timely, thought-provoking and hopeful read recommended to all those who wish to […]
GalleryBook Review: The Fight Against Platform Capitalism: An Inquiry into the Global Struggles of the Gig Economy by Jamie Woodcock
In The Fight Against Platform Capitalism: An Inquiry into the Global Struggles of the Gig Economy, Jamie Woodcock argues that we are witnessing the emergence of an increasingly organised and transnational movement of platform workers against capitalism. The book shines in drawing from workers’ experiences to develop an understanding of the current contours of political struggle in the platform […]
GalleryBook Review: In the Dragon’s Shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese Century by Sebastian Strangio
In In the Dragon’s Shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese Century, Sebastian Strangio offers a new study exploring relations between China and the nations of Southeast Asia, not only examining China’s contemporary involvement in the region but also providing historical context and reflecting on the implications for the twenty-first century. This book sets a high standard for future scholarship in […]
