I Read, Therefore I Blog

The Blurb On The Back:

Deep new rifts are tearing apart the fabric of Britain and other Western societies: thriving cities versus the provinces, the highly skilled elite versus the less-educated, wealthy versus developing countries. So far these rifts have been answered only by the stale politics of left vs right. We have heard many critiques of capitalism but no one has laid out a realistic way to fix it, until now.

In this passionate and polemical book, Paul Collier outlines original and ethical ways of healing these rifts with the cool head of pragmatism, rather than the fervour of ideological revivalism. He reveals how he has personally lived across these three divides, moving from working class Sheffield to hyper-competitive Oxford, and working between Britain and Africa. Drawing on his own solutions as well as ideas from some of the world’s greatest social scientists, he shows us how to save capitalism from itself.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Paul Collier is Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Oxford University. This centrist polemic is smug, politically naive and offers weirdly paternalistic “solutions” that fail to tackle the structural issues responsible for the rifts in society that he professes to want to resolve. As a lawyer, I also found his constant digs at lawyers to be dull and uninformed and I was really uncomfortable with the revelations about his family.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

What we count matters - and, in a world where policies and decisions are underpinned by numbers, statistics, and data, if you’re not counted, you don’t count.

Alex Cobham argues that systematic gaps in economic and demographic data lead us not only to understate a wide range of damaging inequalities, but also to actively exacerbate them. He shows how, in statistics ranging from electoral registers to household surveys and census data, people from disadvantaged groups, such as indigenous populations, women and people living with disabilities, are consistently underrepresented. This further marginalises them, reducing everything from their political power to their weight in public spending decisions. Meanwhile, corporations and the ultra rich seek ever greater complexity and opacity in their financial affairs - and when their wealth goes unallied, it means they can avoid regulation and taxation.

This brilliantly researched book shows how what we do and don’t count is not a neutral or ‘technical’ question: the numbers that rule our world are skewed by raw politics. Cobham forensically lays bare how these issues strike at the heart of our democracy, entrenching inequality and injustice - and outlines what we can do about it.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Alex Cobham is an economist and chief executive of the Tax Justice Network. This deep dive into failures in collating economic and demographic data argues that official figures are skewered against society’s most disadvantaged and increase inequality, which is further exacerbated by multinational tax avoidance. However, the tone here assumes familiarity with the underlying subject matter and is quite academic, making it difficult to get into.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Not long ago, people thought that a ten-hour, six-day week was normal; now, it’s the eight-hour, five-day week. Will that soon be history too?

In this book, three leading experts argue why it should be. They map out a pragmatic pathway to a shorter working week that safeguards earnings for the lower-paid and keeps the economy flourishing. They argue that this radical vision will give workers time to be better parents and carers, allow men and women to share paid and unpaid work more equally, and help to save jobs - and create new ones - in the post-pandemic era. Not only that, but it will combat stress and illness caused by overwork and help to protect the environment.

This is essential reading for anyone who has ever felt they could live and work a lot better if all weekends are three days long.

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The Verdict:

Anna Coote is Principal Fellow, Aidan Harper a Researcher and Alfie Stirling the Director of Research and the Chief Economist at the New Economics Foundation. Published during the COVID-19 pandemic, this is a timely and thought-provoking look at the arguments in favour of the introduction of a four-day work week (including some fascinating case studies where reduced work hours have been introduced) and sets out a roadmap for achieving the same.

THE CASE FOR A FOUR DAY WEEK was released in the United Kingdom on 27th November 2020. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Our broken economic model drives inequality and disempowerment, lining the pockets of corporations while extracting wealth from local communities.

Joe Guinan and Martin O’Neill argue for an approach that uses the power of democratic participation to drive equitable development and ensure that wealth is widely shared. They show how this model - Community Wealth Building - can transform our economic system by creating a web of collaborative institutions, from worker cooperatives to community land trusts and public banks, that empower and enrich the many, not the few.

This book is essential reading for everyone interested in building more equal, inclusive, and democratic societies.

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The Verdict:

Joe Guinan is Vice President at The Democracy Collaborative and Executive Director of the Next System Project. Martin O’Neill is Senior Lecturer in Political Philosophy at York University. This disappointing book chooses to sloganise against the evils of neo-liberalism and make sweeping assertions about the potential for Community Wealth Building rather than offer any detail to back those assertions up and thus fails to make the case for it.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

We have the chance to live better than ever. But, as humans become ever more powerful, can we avoid blundering into disaster?

Feeding the world, climate change, biodiversity, antibiotics, plastics - the list of concerns seems endless. But what I most pressing, what are the knock-on effects of our actions, and what should we do first? Do we all need to become vegetarian? How can we fly in a low carbon world? Should we frack? How can we take control of technology? Does it all come down to population? And, given the global nature of the challenges we now face, what on Earth can any of us do?

Fortunately, Mike Berners-Lee has crunched the numbers and plotted a course of action that is practical and even enjoyable.

There Is No Planet B maps it out in an accessible and entertaining way, filled with astonishing facts and analysis. For the first time you’ll find big-picture perspective on the environmental and economic challenges of the day laid out in one place, and traced through to the underlying roots - questions of how we live and think. This book will shock you, surprise you - and then make you laugh.

And you’ll find practical and even inspiring ideas for what you can actually do to help humanity thrive on this - our only - planet.

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The Verdict:

Mike Berners-Lee is Professor at Lancaster University’s Institute for Social Futures and in this informative, thought-provoking but depressing book (that at times gets too caught up in the numbers and analogies), he sets out some of the facts and figures relating to climate change (which he expands to look at food supply, biodiversity and plastic use) to give the reader ideas for how to reduce the damage they do to the planet.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

What explains the spreading backlash against the global elite? In this revelatory investigation Anand Giridharadas takes us into the inner sanctums of a new gilded age, showing how the elite follow a ‘win-win’ logic, fighting for equality and justice any way they can – except ways that threaten their position at the top.

But why should our gravest problems be solved by consultancies, technology companies and corporate-sponsored charities instead of public institutions and elected officials? Why should we rely on scraps from the winners? Trenchant and gripping, this is an indispensable guide and call to action for elites and citizens alike.

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The Verdict:

Anand Giridharadas is a former McKinsey consultant, a political analyst for MSNBC and a writer and in this topical book that bristles with anger and frustration but is very repetitive, he sets out how the global elite attempt to use neo-liberal, market-based win-win solutions to fight inequality but fail to realise that their refusal to allow discussion or solutions that threaten their own interests only serve to increase resentment.

WINNERS TAKE ALL was released in the United Kingdom on 24th January 2019. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Walmart, Coca-Cola, BP, Toyota. The world economy runs on the profits of transnational corporations. Politicians need their backing. Non-profit organizations rely on their philanthropy. People look to their brands for meaning. And their power continues to rise.

Can these companies, as so many are now hoping, provide the solutions to end the mounting global environmental crisis? Absolutely, the CEOs of big business are telling us: the commitment to corporate social responsibility will ensure it happens voluntarily.

Peter Dauvergne challenges this claim, arguing instead that corporations are still doing far more to destroy than protect our planet. Trusting big business to lead sustainability is, he cautions, unwise – perhaps even catastrophic. Planetary sustainability will require reining in the power of big business, starting now.

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The Verdict:

Peter Dauvergne is Professor of International Relations at the University of British Columbia and in this caustic, thought-provoking book he argues that while big business sustainability efforts help minimise the destruction of the environment, they play second fiddle to the need to generate profit and therefore governmental and international control is required to curb their activities and reduce their damaging impact on the environment.

WILL BIG BUSINESS DESTROY OUR PLANET? was released in the United Kingdom on 6th April 2018. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Every minute 24 people are forced to leave their homes; currently, more than 65 million are displaced worldwide. Small wonder that tackling the refugee and migration crisis has become a global political priority.

Can this crisis be resolved and, if so, how? In this compelling essay, Jacqueline Bhabha explains why forced migration demands compassion, generosity, and a vigorous acknowledgement of our shared dependence on human mobility as a key element of global collaboration. Unless we develop humane “win-win” strategies for tackling the inequalities and conflicts driving migration and for addressing the fears fuelling xenophobia, innocent lives and cardinal human rights principles will be squandered in the service of futile nationalism and oppressive border control.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Jacqueline Bhabha is Professor of Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and in this essay (which is an okay primer but quite academic in tone and didn’t add much to my overall knowledge of the subject), she examines what constitutes a “crisis”, how we should evaluate the ethical issues relating to the current crisis, the applicable legal and administrative framework and what’s driving this forced migration.

CAN WE SOLVE THE MIGRATION CRISIS? was released in the United Kingdom on 2nd March 2018. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

From DNA sequences stored on computer databases to archived forensic samples and biomedical records, bioinformation comes in many forms. Its unique provenance - the fact that it is 'mined' from the very fabric of the human body - makes it a mercurial resource; one that no one seemingly owns, but in which many have deeply vested interests.

In this groundbreaking book, authors Bronwyn Parry and Beth Greenhough explore the complex economic, social and political questions arising from the creation and use of bioinformation. Drawing on a range of highly topical cases - including the commercialisation of human sequence data, the forensic use of retained bioinformation, biobanking and genealogical research - they show how dramatically demand for this resource has grown, driving a burgeoning but often highly controversial global economy in bioinformation. But, they argue, change is afoot as new models emerge that challenge the ethos of privatisation by creating instead a dynamic open source 'bioinformation commons' available for all future generations.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

In this book Parry and Greenhough look at the ethical, legal and moral issues relating to the use and storage of bioinformation including issues such as donor consent, the use of bioinformation for forensics purposes and biobanking for medical research in a fascinating read that serves as an excellent introduction to anyone wishing to know more about the topic.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

The trend that began with ATMs and do-it-yourself checkouts is moving at lightning speed. Everything from driving to teaching to the care of the elderly and, indeed, code-writing can now be done by smart machines. Conventional wisdom says there will be new jobs to replace those we lose – but is it so simple? And are we ready?

Technology writer and think-tank director Nigel Cameron argues it’s naïve to believe we face a smooth transition. Whether or not there are “new” jobs, we face massive disruption as the jobs millions of us are doing gets outsourced to machines. A twenty-first century “rust belt” will rapidly corrode the labour market and affect literally hundreds of different kinds of jobs simultaneously.

Robots won’t design our future – we will. Yet, shockingly, political leaders and policymakers don’t seem to have this in their line of sight. So how should we assess and prepare for the risks of this unknown future?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Nigel M. de S. Cameron is President and CEO of the Center for Policy on Emerging Technologies and this essay is a timely, fascinating and accessible call to action on the part of policy makers to prepare for the impact that the current rate of technological development on employment that had me gripped from beginning to end.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.