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breadandmushrooms's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
theythemsam's review against another edition
5.0
Chile…I’m just happy I finished this book after 9 months lol. Highly recommend though as it definitely informed me on how terrible capitalism is and how “Black capitalism” isn’t going to uplift and secure Black people in this racist and capitalist society
laureen0515's review against another edition
4.5
Although I knew many of the subjects covered in this book reading the details brought me to tears on more than one occasion. This is a book that I think every black person should read.
One of the few negatives is that much of the information is dated, which is to be expected considering how old the book is. I also wish that the book gave a more in depth discussion about socialism.
One of the few negatives is that much of the information is dated, which is to be expected considering how old the book is. I also wish that the book gave a more in depth discussion about socialism.
vivling's review against another edition
5.0
5 stars because it's that kind of book.
1980s seems a whole lot like today. My only complaint is that I wish the destruction of black education chapter had more history to it, and more time spent on it, but that's just because Marable's writing style made complex problems simple to grasp, and this was a good read, even with horrific subject matter.
1980s seems a whole lot like today. My only complaint is that I wish the destruction of black education chapter had more history to it, and more time spent on it, but that's just because Marable's writing style made complex problems simple to grasp, and this was a good read, even with horrific subject matter.
nup's review against another edition
4.0
Marable was a little too enamored with the aesthetics of Rodney, but the dry repetition of entire paragraphs of statistics where a graph would suffice did help illuminate the points he was making.
For the time, a very prescient book; but his political analyses definitely leave something to be desired (e.g. his failure to define fascism, which he admits in the updated version, hand-waving some things away as authoritarianism, lack of analysis on the BPP, Verso-style liberalism). But, not something I wouldn't recommend reading for someone interested in a historical analysis of Black underdevelopment.
For the time, a very prescient book; but his political analyses definitely leave something to be desired (e.g. his failure to define fascism, which he admits in the updated version, hand-waving some things away as authoritarianism, lack of analysis on the BPP, Verso-style liberalism). But, not something I wouldn't recommend reading for someone interested in a historical analysis of Black underdevelopment.
wai's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
5.0
Even with this having been written in 1983 and no revisions made, the continued relevancy and seeming prescience of this book are a bit unsettling and disheartening. There are a lot of parallels between Manning's criticism of Reagan and current (2020) criticism of Trump. It is difficult and slow going but absolutely necessary for everyone who is pushing for an antiracist, antioppressive future to read and understand how imperative the dismantling of capitalism is for racial justice and as a result all forms of social justice to really occur.
frownonfun's review against another edition
3.0
I don't know if I just really had trouble finding the time for this book but it took me much longer to finish than any other book I've recently read. And I wanted to really like it but there were just too many places where it lagged or bogged down on statistical data. I realize it's important to back up your thesis with some hard numbers, when you can, but I felt it was a little excessive in some places. Like several consecutive paragraphs of just straight statistics. Most of which could have been left to the 30 pages of tables in the back of the book. Still it was a good read. If it's a subject you're interested in then you'll most likely enjoy it. I definitely learned some things I didn't know or hadn't realized about black history, racism and even sexism. It would be nice to have read "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa" as a point of comparison but unfortunately I haven't gotten to that yet. I recommend the updated edition because of the "Critical Reassessment" by the author. He addresses the ways in which he may have been wrong at the time but also the ways in which much of it is still an accurate evaluation.