I really enjoyed this book. It was very different to what I was expecting, given the other media and pop culture that it has influenced, which seems to have badly ‘flanderised’ certain aspects (for example the idea of a ‘street samurai’) while leaving out the interesting plot and philosophical aspects.

There was also very clear influence of this book on the film The Matrix, with the idea of Zion, etc.

The only problem I had was there were big chunks when I had no idea what was going on.

One of the best books I've ever read, written in an entertaining and easy-to-read style, covering a wide range of topics from the history and implications of scientific management, the increasing alienation of workers from their labour, mechanisation in both factories and offices, and far more. Braverman's book is a treasure trove of knowledge on the work process under capitalism. An absolute must-read for anyone who wants to understand and change the world.

I’m really torn between giving this two and three stars. I love the influences of militant second wave feminism. I love the writing style which feels very real and breezy (even if it sometimes grates). I love the characterisation—Plum Kettle really feels like a fully alive person, and her transformation from self-hatred to self-confident feminist felt natural.

But there’s just so much about this book that is baaaaad. Firstly the plot threads just never really cohere. A whole bunch of stuff just happens, feeling like it’s going to come together at the end, and when the plot threads finally do meet it’s like, “um is that it? really?” It’s supposed to be this really character defining moment for the protagonist but it just isn’t, and then the book ends.

Which leads to the second problem. What is the message of the book? It seems to be that random murder, kidnapping, general violence and bribery against men and anyone who supports or sleeps with men is good, as long as someone else is doing it and not you. Instead what you should do is join a tiny feminist pressure group which publishes exposes of beauty companies and unsuccessfully lobbies parliament to pass laws restricting certain diet drugs. I loved the book’s critique of the fashion, diet and porn industries, but when it branched out from there it lost its way. Instead of directing its anger at government and corporate sexism, it lashed out mainly at random acts of sexism by men in the street. The message seemed to be most encapsulated by one character who said, “There are far more haters than there are us. You can’t smash all of them.” While the book ended with the protagonist feeling “free”, it was the freedom of an individual who still felt that everyone around her was an enemy and there was little she could do about it. Not very liberating.

The last problem, and the one which probably hampered my enjoyment of the book the most, is the racism. This book is super racist. The terrorists, who we seem to be encouraged to support, target a Mosque in London for being sexist, but there is no mention as far as I can remember of them targeting any Christian churches. The names of rapists listed were nearly all stereotypically Black and Latino names—seemingly all rapists are poor men of colour, not rich white frat boys. There is a weird and pointless recurring subplot about a group of Jews who are (mistaken for?) Israeli spies and have multiple bomb threats made against them by (presumably) Palestinian terrorists. There is a chapter set during the invasion of Afghanistan where US soldiers are besieged by crazed Taliban fighters who are described as babbling in a “nonsense language”.

The book was mostly very enjoyable, but in the end it left me feeling let down.

Best book ever

SO much good stuff in this one. Tom Bramble's discussion of the crisis of unionism in Australia, the history that lead to this, and what can be done to fix it is invaluable for anyone wanting to fight against oppression and exploitation.

Rebecca Barrigos's discussion of the political history of Queensland and how that has led to a right wing climate that produces authoritarian, conservative nutjobs like Jo Bjelke-Petersen is particularly relevant with Fraser Anning and Bob Katter referencing the Holocaust in their call for a new White Australia Policy and Peter Dutton narrowly missing out on his bid for Prime Ministerhsip.

Justen Bellingham's portrait of Bolshevik Jurist Evgeny Pashukanis is particularly illuminating, providing an eye-opening exploration of the law under capitalism as well as exploring his tragic downfall under Stalinism.

The other two articles are equally fascinating.

So gay! 🌈🌈🌈

I got Bruce Pascoe’s book Dark Emu for Christmas and I’ve already finished it. I’ve known for a while not that most of the stuff I was taught about Indigenous Australians at school—that they were nomadic hunter-gatherers, that when the British arrived Australia was wild, untamed bush and barren desert, that the pictures painted by Europeans of Australia looking like an English garden or countryside were nostalgic misrepresentations rather than a true depiction of Australia—were false, but the degree to which I have discovered they were false has shocked and horrified me.

Pre-Invasion, indigenous Australians lived in partly sedentary communities, in large villages of hundreds of people, in sturdy permanent homes made of stone or baked clay or large logs, many with internal walls and doors, some over 12ft tall and able to hold tens of people.

They farmed the land—not using European techniques, but using fire to regenerate some areas while other areas grow, as well as using hoes and turning the soil. But they didn’t grow monocultures, so the soil was never degraded. They used complex terracing and irrigation techniques, even in the desert, to stop soil erosion and runoff.

They ground grains to bake cakes, caught fish, eels, kangaroos and emus in elaborate and complex traps (some 40,000 years old), and stored huge surpluses of food in sealed containers for up to a year.

They ticked all the boxes that Europeans have decided designate a “civilisation”—living in towns, farming, pottery, etc.

British settlers burnt down their villages, dismantled their structures and built over their wells, and despite written and photographic evidence, none of this is ever taught in school.

The truth of pre-Invasion Aboriginal civilisation is hugely important. The common assumption is that humans are essentially greedy, and that any society whose technology advances far enough to be able to produce a surplus of food will inevitably develop class divisions, masters and slaves, kings and peasants, bosses and workers. But Aboriginal society shows that is not true.

For tens of thousands of years, Indigenous Australians used advanced technological and agricultural knowledge to produce huge surpluses of food while living in an egalitarian, collaborative society based on relationships of mutual reciprocity. Families, clan groups and individuals had responsibility for taking care of different elements of the land, such as forests, animal herds, or rivers. However, instead of owning these elements, they know they were sharing it with others—for example, the clans on the other side of a forest, or the clans along the whole length of the river, even if they would never meet some of these people—and that they were passing it down to for future generations. There is also no evidence of any warfare in the history of Aboriginal society.

At Marxism Conference there is going to be a session discussing Can Humans Live Collectively? (marxismconference.org/program/can-humans-live-collectively/) introduced by activist, author and historian Sandra Bloodworth. Dark Emu is an excellent book to read in preparation for it, totally busting the myth of human nature as selfish and violent and inherently hierarchical. Grab your tickets at marxismconference.org/tickets today!

An absolutely outstanding book! Such political clarity, mixed with passion and lyricism, particularly in sections where Morrow is denouncing the unforgivable crimes of the Stalinists.

We live in a world where the far-right and fascism is once again on the rise, and also where there is a resurgence of interest in socialism. This book is invaluable for understanding the real, historic limitations of anarchy, failures of social democracy and treachery of Stalinism, and for helping to understand why revolutionary, internationalist socialism from below, in the tradition of Marx, Lenin, Luxemburg and Trotsky, is the only way of defeating fascism and fighting for an equal and just world.