joakley's review against another edition
5.0
As an idiot moron know nothing when it comes to this kind of stuff, this whole book was great and informative. My one standout take is that is was really cool to see how most of this stuff about eroding capitalism and promoting socialism is actually literally done by bolstering democracy. Kinda cool kinda fun!
lynn00's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
izcanbeguscott's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
3.5
Nice little introduction to anticapitalism, and I like that this does have some good recommendations for at least some steps to be taken in reducing the overwhelming sledgehammer that is capitalism.
Not the most radical book by any means, but something nice to get for a friend who hates their job and wonders why and what they can do.
Not the most radical book by any means, but something nice to get for a friend who hates their job and wonders why and what they can do.
fionamclary's review against another edition
3.25
This was a good introduction to anticapitalist ideas from the perspective of a sociologist/economist for someone who is very much neither of those things. Sometimes it went a little too into the technical weeds for me, but those moments were brief and didn't really hamper my understanding. I liked how the concept of "eroding capitalism" provides opportunities for any kind of anticapitalist to participate, whether your tendency is to form a commune or disrupt the government from the inside. I also liked that he provided lots of varied and concrete examples rather than talking in broad terms or pushing a single specific framework.
That said, I found his writing to be a bit dry and uninspired, which is probably why it took me about a year to actually finish this book. His suggestions also rely on government in ways that I didn't love, but I can grudgingly understand why it makes sense to involve existing structures, perhaps appearing to support them in the short term, but ultimately weakening them.
In short, I'd say this is a good jumping-off point for people interested in what anticapitalism is all about, or who are already anticapitalists but lack the background to form coherent and grounded explanations for and solutions to the problems they observe.
That said, I found his writing to be a bit dry and uninspired, which is probably why it took me about a year to actually finish this book. His suggestions also rely on government in ways that I didn't love, but I can grudgingly understand why it makes sense to involve existing structures, perhaps appearing to support them in the short term, but ultimately weakening them.
In short, I'd say this is a good jumping-off point for people interested in what anticapitalism is all about, or who are already anticapitalists but lack the background to form coherent and grounded explanations for and solutions to the problems they observe.
gingerreader99's review against another edition
4.0
This was solid. A lot of it wasn't exactly new ideas to me, having finished a BA in Political Science but it was a very digestible and easy to read explanation for "Anticapitalism" and how to work towards applying it. Or more specific to the argument ,how to get rid of capitalism, and replace it with a robust socialist system.
Wright touches on a lot of good notes and covers his bases despite the volume being fairly slim. I believe this should be a book profs include in their courses when discussing socialism and the issues of capitalism. To pick 1 chapter to assign ch. 3 "Varieties of Anticapitalism" did a great job of breaking down the different ways it can manifest itself.
It's sad knowing that Wright has passed away since this piece was written and we won't get a follow up, though I'm glad we got this before he passed.
Wright touches on a lot of good notes and covers his bases despite the volume being fairly slim. I believe this should be a book profs include in their courses when discussing socialism and the issues of capitalism. To pick 1 chapter to assign ch. 3 "Varieties of Anticapitalism" did a great job of breaking down the different ways it can manifest itself.
It's sad knowing that Wright has passed away since this piece was written and we won't get a follow up, though I'm glad we got this before he passed.