The Importance of Critical Reading

Five weeks ago, I shared a list of books which I felt would help me as I tried to draft a conclusion to the book I’ve been working on for the past few years about the sense of crisis which has gripped us westerners since the start of the new millennium.

I confessed that I was one of these gullible readers who imagined that reading would somehow transmit important messages to my brain – and that I lacked the patience to formulate some questions with which to interrogate a book before I opened it… 

And lo – after 5 weeks – despite having recognised the importance of these books, I’ve failed utterly to follow through. The books lie unread – perhaps because I couldn’t be bothered to pose the sorts of questions which would help me identify those sections of books which seemed to offer answers

So, I’m having another go – but I never learn….I’ve added a few more books!! 

But, this time, I’ll start at the beginning – and try to work my way through the list – gradually…..hopefully posting as I go?  

The first column gives the book titles – in chronological order – starting with the earliest. The second column explains why I think they could be useful 

Title	First Impressions
Development Betrayed – the end of progress and a coevolutionary revisioning of the future; Richard Norgaard (1994)	A profound and clearly-written explanation of what has gone wrong….To keep the narrative going the main text avoids footnotes and references which are put at the end in a superb 65=page set of bibliographic notes
Why the Third Way Failed – economics, morality and the origins of ”the big society”; Bill Jordan (2010)	This, for a social democrat, is one of the most important questions – why did a consensual approach which rebuffs both left and right ideologies fail? Was it the absence of a serious approach? Or are we doomed to be tribal?
Common Ground – democracy and collectivity in an age of individualism Jeremy Gilbert (2013)	The title certainly points to what I consider the central dilemma of our times – although Gilbert’s language is too suffused with French “constructivist” thinking to make much sense to me….what, for example, are we supposed to make of this section – “It explores the implications of ideas of affect for a non-individualist conception of political agency, and goes on to develop these ideas with reference to philosophical reflections on the nature of decision to be found in the work of Derrida, Levinas and Laclau. The chapter then asks what some of the political and analytic implications might be of such a conception of agency, in particular what the implications might be for thinking about cultural and aesthetic experience, examining the arguments for and against Nicolas Bourriaud’s ‘relational aesthetics’ and the ongoing value of Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of the carnivalesque”
Unaccountable – how the elite brokers corrupt; Janine Wedel (2014)	Wedel is an anthropologist – and applies those skills to the contemporary political system of the USA
Rebalancing  Society – radical renewal beyond left, right and center Henry Mintzberg (2015)	One of my favourite little books which I’ve brought in as a measure for the other books. He’s basically got it all – strong analysis of what’s wrong; recognition of the importance of worker coops and social enterprise; and of the need for a shift in power
Back to the future of Socialism Peter Hain (2015)	Most of the books in the table are by academics but this one is by that rarity – a thoughtful and caring politician. The title is a reference to the classic 1956 “Future of Socialism” and is a useful update
Reclaiming the State – a progressive vision of sovereignty in a post neo-liberal worldBill Mitchell and Thomas Fazi (2017)	I like the look of this book – written by an Australian economist- which, unusually for the time, argued for a more activist role for the state. His co-author, interestingly, is an Italian journalist. It’s just that I get impatient with economic arguments these days
A Research Agenda for Neoliberalism Kean Birch (2017)	Seems to be one of these rare clearly- written books which asks the questions citizens want answers to. He seems to be a sociologist?
Wrong Turnings – how the left got lost; Geoff Hodgson (2018)	Hodgson is both a political economist and social democrat and has a strong analysis here
Why the Left Loses – the decline of the centre left in comparative perspective; R Manwaring and P Kennedy (2018)	The classic book on social democracy (Berman) was published 15 years ago. This is a more recent assessment from Australians which looks at the lessons from recent experience. See reading list here
Is Socialism Feasible? Geoffrey Hodgson (2019)	Hodgson writes clearly - and is prepared to face hard truths
From What Is to What If – unleashing the power of imagination to create the world we want Rob Hopkins (2019).	Hopkins is an environmental activist who founded the Resilient Towns movement.
The Demons of Liberal Democracy; Adrian Pabst (2019)	Pabst is a Third Way man who abhors left and right. I felt this would challenge some of my preconceptions
Winners take all – the elite charade of changing the world; A Girdiharadas (2019)	One of the problems progressives have is that the devil has stolen a lot of his tunes.
Goliath – the 100-year war between monopoly power and democracy; Matt Stoller (2019)	very important review suggests the author has swallowed the liberal competition ideas of economists too literally; and has underestimated the power of class struggle in the post-war US achievements
The Free Society in Crisis; David Starkey (2019)	Have included this curious book largely from admiration of the author’s courage in limiting his reading list to books that are more than 50 years old
The evolution of communitarian ideas – history, theory and practice Henry Tam (2019)	Communitarianism is an important strand of progressive thought Tam is a very thoughtful and excellent writer who blogs here
The Third Pillar – how the market and the state leave the community behind Raghuram Rajan (2019)	an overdue analysis of the huge role which community bodies have to play in the future which was all too easily dismissed by the loose talk of ”The Third Way” and the ”Big Society”.  Although we do have to ask why it is that ideas apparently attractive to mainstream opinion were never taken seriously....
The New Class War – saving democracy from the new managerial elite; Michael Lind (2020)	I want to like this book – but feel the argument that managerial power needs taking down is hardly likely in itself to lead to the rebalance of power we need
Twenty-First Century Socialism; Jeremy Gilbert (2020)	This is a short and very readable book.
Unrigged – how Americans are battling back to save democracy; David Daley (2020)	The book may have a focus on the US but the move to discredit democracy and disenfranchise voters is widespread (eg contemporary UK) as is evident from books with titles such as “Against Democracy” (2016)
Rentier Capitalism – who owns the economy? Brett Christophers (2020)	A British economist gives us a good sense of the curious direction the British economy has taken. Strongly influenced by the work of US economist Michael Hudson, famous for his “Killing the Host” and “J is for Junk Economics”
Futures of Socialism – the pandemic and the post-Corbyn Era; ed G Blakewell (2020)	A series of short, succinct statements from pro-Corbyn social scientists working in the UK. Gives a very good sense of what is currently fashionable
Authoritarianism and how to counter it; Bill Jordan (2020)	The sociology author of ”Why the Third Way failed” takes on the question of why voters have turner again to ”the hard men” and what we can do about it...
Corona, Climate, Chronic Emergency: War Communism in the Twenty-First Century ; Andreas Malm (2020)	Malm is a Swedish economic historian/ecologist who has become, in the past decade, one of the most radical of the global warming campaigners. In this latest book, he explores the very different paths governments have taken faced with the Corona and Climate challenges; and maps out a very different route…  There’s an interesting interview with him here
Share the Wealth – how to end rentier capitalism; Philippe Askenazy (2021)	Too many anglo-saxon economists dominate this field – so it’s good to get a French view (a translation of a 2016 book)
Mission Economy – a moonshot guide to changing capitalism; Mariana Mazzucato (2021)	This Italian economist now based in Britain is one of the few economists who has been prepared to argue strongly for public investment and an activist role for government – see also Bill Mitchell (above) and Andrew Cumbers
Consequences of Capitalism; Noam Chomsky and Mary Waterstone (2021)	Very disappointing book – based on recent lectures delivered by Chomsky. And it shows….with the narrative often jumping into distracting stories.
Post Growth – life after capitalism ; Tim Jackson (2021)	The elephant in the room…. Written in a refreshingly accessible style
The Return of the State – restructuring Britain for the Common Good Ed P Allen et al (2021)	A book calling for a rethink on globalisation and the place of financial capital – with contributions from people such as Robert Skidelsky, Ann Pettifor and Stewart Lansley – questioning the role of financial capital.