You can search our online inventory for books currently in stock, or read some of our reviews of the books we carry below. If you have questions or suggestions, please email books@redemmas.org. If you need to order books for a reading group, let us know - we like to support people getting together to read books by offering discounts on special orders. 

Reviews

The 2009 Slingshot Organizer

by Slingshot Collective

When we heard that the Long Haul Infoshop , which houses the offices of the wonderful Slingshot collective , was raided earlier this year and all their computers seized , we were, besides being deeply troubled by yet another example of the levels of repression faced by those who dare to dissent in 21st century America , also a little concerned that the utterly indispensible Slingshot Organizer was not going to see the light of day this year, throwing radicals everywhere into unscheduled and contactless chaos.  

Happily however, the Slingshot crew came through once again, and Red Emma's is very thrilled to have in stock the 2009 organizer, in two sizes, and a multitude of colors. The big one, yours for just $10, is spiral-bound as in years past, but the pocket organizer, just $6, has an exciting new lay-flat binding that should help it hold up to the abuse we've seen you put these things through a little better.  Also new this year are month-at-a-glance calendar pages, further enhancing the ability of rebels and activists everywhere to get things done in a timely, organized fashion.  And as always, both editions are packed with a year's worth of radical dates of note, a super-convenient directory of radical projects, super-useful info and great diy graphic art on every page.    

 

 

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Wobblies & Zapatistas: Conversations on Anarchism, Marxism and Radical history

by Staughton Lynd & Andrej Grubacic

In the 1920's the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) were at the height of their strength, a radical labor union that was breaking color, gender economic, as well as radical idealogical lines. They stood for a different world with a different kind of politics and in particular embraced hybrid forms of Marxism-Anarchism, Anarchism-Marxism, Libertarian Socialism....the titles could go on, but within the context of the time of their strength as well as their growing strength today, their radical vision of a better world was and contiunes to not be tunneled or blinded by strict ideology. 

In 1994 indigenous campesinos of the poor southern Mexican state of Chiapas declared war and resistance on Neoliberalism and economic globalization. They helped to ignite and inspire new social movements around the globe. They found their roots in a branded form of Marxism yet managed to shed the chains of it's dogma and embrace a new kind of politics, one that sought and continues to seek elements of a variety of radical left ideologies as well as non traditional or euro-centric views of community, power, and autonomy.

Wobblies & Zapatistas is a series of conversations and thoughts that attempts to synthesize what many view as the most influential or best of both Anarchism and Marxism. The conversations and reflections between Staughton Lynd a long time Peace Activist, Historian, Labor Lawyer, Radical, and inspirational figure of the New Left who has been influenced by unorthodox forms of Marxism along with Andrej Grubacic a Sociologist, Dissident from the Balkans, Author, and Radical activist of a younger generation who has been influenced by forms of Anarchism, gives the reader another tool in the toolbox to fight for a better world. 

Filled with personal accounts, critical analysis of ideology, and a tone of understanding and humility this book can help inspire those who are actively engaged in radical politics to address those disabling ideological differences, or it can simply inspire one to think of another world with a very different kind of politics.  

This book is also a new title of PM Press .

 

 

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The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at the College de France, 1978-1979

by Michel Foucault

A common complaint by people trying to use Foucault's work in critical activist practice is that Foucault rarely gets past the 19th century in his substantial works. There's a lot of great material on contemporary politics in Foucault's interviews and especially in the documents from the GIP (Groupe d'Information Sur Les Prisons - The Prison Information Group), but his books tend to focus a lot more on the historical archive.  This latest book,  compiled from the notes and recordings from Foucault's lectures in the 70', is therefore something of a revelation - much of the book is a sustained, detailed critique of Chicago-school neoliberalism (you know, what Barack Obama plans to bring back after Bush's more neoconservative interregnum).  Foucault's argument in The Birth of Biopolitics is interesting; in opposition to thinkers like David Harvey who see neoliberalism as (more or less) a just a new phase in capitalism's ongoing strategy of "accumulation by dispossession", Foucault tries to make the case here that neoliberalism, as an art of government, represents a break with previous regimes of liberal capitalism.  What sets neoliberalism apart, for Foucault, is not so much its unerring faith in the market, but its emphasis on the necessity of establishing markets for everything (say, for education, or carbon emissions, or bad mortgage debts, or the costs of police repression).  Rather than a policy which abandons the planet to the market and the capitalist elite which benefit from it, Foucault sees neoliberalism as fundamentally interventionist, actively creating new terrains of profit and social regulation.   While it might be argued that Foucault's take and Harvey's more Marxist take are basically two sides of the same coin, it's undoubtedly the case that this doesn't mean that you shouldn't read both - the more critical weapons we have for taking apart neoliberalism, the better!

 

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Che: A Graphic Biography

by Spain Rodriguez

Of all  the books in radical historian Paul Buhle 's recent cavalcade of peopl'e's histories in comic form, the latest, by underground comic legend Spain Rodiguez might just be our favorite.  Just over 100 pages, the comic offers a thorough introduction to the life of Che Guevara.  What's geat about this installment of the series is the degree to which Che's life, full of motorcycle journeys, guerilla raids, urban insurrection, and revolutionary rhetoric fits the comic book format perfectly.  Of course there's a lot more to be said (and contested) about Che's legacy, his political vision, and its relevance to today's struggles --- some of which is done in the excellent afterward by Buhle and Sarah Seidman --- but it's great to have something so accessible to flesh out Che-the-commodified-icon-on-a-tshirt with the basic outlines of the story of a revolutionary life that should be a lot more well known.  

     

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A People's History of Sports in the United States

by C

We here at Red Emma's have been eagerly waiting for the release of Dave Zirins' third book on sports and radicalism, A People's History of Sports in the United States . Dave, our favorite sports writer gives us the often untold histories of those athletes, fans, and sports writers that pushed the other boundaries of politics, sexism, racism, homophobia and class. Dave examines sports not only as entertainment or as a way to make a buck, but as a playing field that challenges social barriers within the United States.

 Dave Zirin will also be appearing at the Radical Book Tent Pavillion at this years Baltimore Book Festival. 

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The Art of Struggle

by Son of Nun and DJ Mentos

Today (August 6th) is the official release date for this second album from Baltimore's own Son of Nun (this time joined by DJ Mentos).  We've been fortunate enough to have had an advance copy in the store for a few weeks now.  Extremely fortunate.  Any one who's been to a rally or a political benefit concert in the past year in Baltimore has probably heard Son of Nun perform a few of these songs already - but the album is a revelation, the same raw intensity and uncompromising lyrical radicalism, but coupled with polish and some amazingly tight beats.  We've been waiting for this one for a long time - and it was worth it.       more >>

The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to quit school and get a real life and education

by Grace Llewellyn

The Teenage Liberation Handbook is a guide (it is full of practical information!) for children and young adults (and everyone!) about how to liberate themselves by taking their education into their own hands and refusing to be indoctrinated into obedience and servitude. One of Grace Llewellyn's main points is that mandatory schooling's primary purpose is not to educate but to teach obedience and other skills required to hold a job such as sitting still for extended periods of time and listening to someone tell you what to do.

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Everywhere All the Time: A New Deschooling Reader

by Matt Hern

Over the course of the past decade, there has been a marked increase in skepticism toward current models for public and private schools, and a renewed interest in alternative models for education.  Why?  The simple answer is that many of our educational institutions fail to offer kids the skills they need to be healthy, self-directed life-learners.  They stifle creativity, and encourage conformity of thought.  They utilize draconian disciplinary measures and a one-size-fits-all approach to learning.  And government control of, and corporate intrusion into education has been a further disaster for communities concerned with the welfare of their youngsters.more >>

The Shock Doctrine (in paperback!)

by Naomi Klein

We're really happy to see the hot-off-the-presses paperback edition of Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine hit the shelves here at Red Emma's.  Really one of our favorite books of the past year - a sweeping, ultra-accessible overview of neoliberalism's project of profitably managed global catastrophe - one of the few things we could fault the book for was its $28 hardcover price.  Strangely enough, many people who are deeply concerned about the negative effects of neoliberal economic policies tend to be on the side of the class equation that makes that a little steep!  The paperback, on the other hand, is a much more reasonable $16. more >>

Muqtada!: Muqtada-al-Sadr, the Shia Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq

by Patrick Cockburn

The name sake of this book is not introduced until over halfway through the book. Before this, we are treated to the context in which the Shia--primarily the poor Shia--found themselves at the end of Saddam's rule. Particularly relevant is the history of martyrs the Shia revere and the recent history of Shi'ism in Iraq. This book should be read by anyone professing to have current knowledge of Iraq.

 
Currently, there are three main Shia factions in the Iraqi government:

 

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