Scan barcode
A review by june_moon
Imagine: Living in a Socialist USA by Michael Smith, Frances Goldin, Debby Smith
3.0
Three and a half stars.
I picked out this book expecting to find a series of somewhat utopian essays from anticapitalist thinkers describing what their vision of a “Socialist U.S.A.” might look like. However, it was not really like that at all. Overall this is still a worthwhile and accessible anthology, but of essays that critique capitalism and the organization of society more often than conceptualize about a socialist version of it. Some absolutely do stick to the "imagine" theme and offer persuasive and compelling visualizations that stir up hope for a socialist (or sometimes reformist or anarchist or syndicalist) future, but many describe only what not to do.
Something that I found to be frustrating about the book is that it appears to be based on submissions rather than a collaborative effort. For example, nearly every chapter begins with its own historically-based introduction, which would be useful if one were reading these as individual essays; unfortunately, in chapter book format it just becomes repetitive reading 20 different authors’ interpretations of the history of neoliberalism. For this reason I found it easier to read over a long period of time at a rate of one essay per sitting rather than reading it as complete book. My favorites include the essays by Arun Gupta on agriculture, Mat Callahan on art and intellectual property, and Kazembe Balagun on anti-racism.
This is a valuable book to keep on your shelf and flip through on days you're feeling beat down by society. If you’d like to read another book that imagines socialism in the U.S.A., I recommend “Socialism …Seriously” by Danny Katch. If you’d like to read another book that offers similar critiques of society and poses solutions from a left-leaning perspective I recommend “Alternatives to Economic Globalization” by John Cavanaugh.
I picked out this book expecting to find a series of somewhat utopian essays from anticapitalist thinkers describing what their vision of a “Socialist U.S.A.” might look like. However, it was not really like that at all. Overall this is still a worthwhile and accessible anthology, but of essays that critique capitalism and the organization of society more often than conceptualize about a socialist version of it. Some absolutely do stick to the "imagine" theme and offer persuasive and compelling visualizations that stir up hope for a socialist (or sometimes reformist or anarchist or syndicalist) future, but many describe only what not to do.
Something that I found to be frustrating about the book is that it appears to be based on submissions rather than a collaborative effort. For example, nearly every chapter begins with its own historically-based introduction, which would be useful if one were reading these as individual essays; unfortunately, in chapter book format it just becomes repetitive reading 20 different authors’ interpretations of the history of neoliberalism. For this reason I found it easier to read over a long period of time at a rate of one essay per sitting rather than reading it as complete book. My favorites include the essays by Arun Gupta on agriculture, Mat Callahan on art and intellectual property, and Kazembe Balagun on anti-racism.
This is a valuable book to keep on your shelf and flip through on days you're feeling beat down by society. If you’d like to read another book that imagines socialism in the U.S.A., I recommend “Socialism …Seriously” by Danny Katch. If you’d like to read another book that offers similar critiques of society and poses solutions from a left-leaning perspective I recommend “Alternatives to Economic Globalization” by John Cavanaugh.