This Country Must Change: Essays on the ... - Temple University

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audience that is not already involved in social movements or that has not already read radical literature will draw these connections as well as they might if the chapters were organized in any sort of coherent way. Ideally, the editor would have not only organized the chapters better, but could have also included an introductory and concluding piece to each “section” that would help draw these connections and helped to further develop the praxis-oriented approach the book seems to aim for. Especially considering the books laudable goal of reaching those who “have yet to become involved but realize something is wrong in this society” (4), which seems to be an increasing number of disillusioned Americans, if the polls can tell us anything, this kind of organization would have been particularly beneficial. I am also left wondering why the book limits its focus to the United States of America. It seems likely that any coming revolution would have to shift its focus away from the isolationist principle of any given nation-state (an outdated concept, if ever there was one) to a global shift of justice for all. Some chapters in the book makes it obvious that past principles of radical change are outdated in its calls for a revolution that is not anthropocentric, meaning that some authors recognize that a new revolution must be for all and not just for humans, and yet the books stated focus is to emphasize the necessity for change in the USA. Though arguably this is where change is most necessary due to the massive impact of the United States on the rest of the world, our now global society needs global change that does not emphasize the needs of one imagined community of arbitrarily selected individuals over another. If the authors want us to believe that we should move beyond anthropocentric revolutionary principles, why not move past American and Western-centric ones as well? The first full chapter in the book, Jalil A. Muntaqim’s “Towards a New Amerikan Revolution” argues that America cannot be reformed without revolution, stating that a new revolutionary struggle will “depend on oppressed peoples
of all nations and classes” (30), so why should the book’s title and emphasis be only on the most hegemonic of these nations? That being said, I still encourage anyone who recognizes that really revolutionary change is necessary, or who simply feels that something is wrong and needs to change, to read this book. Academics considering using this book for a class might consider reordering the chapters on their syllabus in order to encourage the kind of connections that are not currently promoted. They should also be prepared to draw connections that are not made in the book and to teach aspects of the underlying theory that are not detailed in the chapters. For example, an understanding of hegemony as detailed by Gramsci, Althusser, and later Laclau and Mouffe would help one to better understand certain aspects of the text, such as why revolution has not yet occurred in the United States as well as how historical narratives can be articulated to support the ruling class when they appear to oppose them. Regardless, its easy to understand style would be useful in any undergraduate classroom. Non-academics should be equally willing to read this book. Non-academics will find in this book easy to understand chapters detailing the need for revolution in such a way that is hard to argue with. I suspect that after reading this book almost anyone would agree that revolution is necessary. However, both should be prepared to supplement reading this book with other information gatherings in order to properly analyze and understand the chapters present here. Perhaps this book’s best feature is that all of the authors present unrelenting calls for radical, revolutionary social change. The book pulls no punches in its proposals and does not hesitate on important issues that might make some readers uncomfortable, such as the possibility of a need for violence in a coming revolution. <strong>This</strong>, then, leaves the reader finishing the book craving the know-how to make the revolutionary change that the book convinces us is so
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This Country Must Change: Essays on the ... - Temple University

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