by Mehrsa Baradaran ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2024
Essential reading to understand the economic state of the nation.
An insightful examination of how neoliberalism created widespread inequality and injustice in America.
The current economic landscape suffers from skyrocketing student debt, predatory lending, and stark income inequality. Baradaran, a law professor specializing in financial regulation and the author of The Color of Money and How the Other Half Banks, shows us how neoliberalism’s emphasis on corporations over people has “augment[ed] the power of corporations and capital over that of national governments,” creating an economic system that everyday citizens (and even lawyers and government officials) cannot navigate effectively. The transformation has unfolded slowly over decades and passed through countless hands, making it difficult to trace. Baradaran builds a carefully sourced, intricate narrative tapestry, moving from neoliberalism’s beginning as political propaganda, which allowed Nixon a seemingly “race-neutral” approach to maintaining the status quo in the wake of the civil rights movements, to the current situation in the U.S., in which seemingly everyone but the top earners grapples with inflation, a lack of affordable health care, and mountains of debt. “Neoliberalism transformed every level of the judicial process, from the courts to the way that laws are made in legislatures to agency rule making,” writes the author. “The result is the society we live in today.” Employing prose that is both accessible and intellectually rich, Baradaran deftly weaves key events in the history of neoliberalism into a complete picture. Using a keen, critical eye, she walks readers through pivotal Supreme Court cases, the dominance of the religious right within modern conservatism, and the removal of usury caps that used to prevent the institution of loans with extreme interest. Rather than a clear, quick power shift, the “quiet coup” has been just that: a series of small, often imperceptible shifts with radical repercussions for legal and economic policy.
Essential reading to understand the economic state of the nation.Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781324091165
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
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New York Times Bestseller
by Emmanuel Acho & Noa Tishby ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 2024
An important dialogue at a fraught time, emphasizing mutual candor, curiosity, and respect.
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New York Times Bestseller
Two bestselling authors engage in an enlightening back-and-forth about Jewishness and antisemitism.
Acho, author of Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, and Tishby, author of Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth, discuss many of the searing issues for Jews today, delving into whether Jewishness is a religion, culture, ethnicity, or community—or all of the above. As Tishby points out, unlike in Christianity, one can be comfortably atheist and still be considered a Jew. She defines Judaism as a “big tent” religion with four main elements: religion, peoplehood, nationhood, and the idea of tikkun olam (“repairing the world through our actions”). She addresses candidly the hurtful stereotypes about Jews (that they are rich and powerful) that Acho grew up with in Dallas and how Jews internalize these antisemitic judgments. Moreover, Tishby notes, “it is literally impossible to be Jewish and not have any connection with Israel, and I’m not talking about borders or a dot on the map. Judaism…is an indigenous religion.” Acho wonders if one can legitimately criticize “Jewish people and their ideologies” without being antisemitic, and Tishby offers ways to check whether one’s criticism of Jews or Zionism is antisemitic or factually straightforward. The authors also touch on the deteriorating relationship between Black and Jewish Americans, despite their historically close alliance during the civil rights era. “As long as Jewish people get to benefit from appearing white while Black people have to suffer for being Black, there will always be resentment,” notes Acho. “Because the same thing that grants you all access—your skin color—is what grants us pain and punishment in perpetuity.” Finally, the authors underscore the importance of being mutual allies, and they conclude with helpful indexes on vernacular terms and customs.
An important dialogue at a fraught time, emphasizing mutual candor, curiosity, and respect.Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781668057858
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Simon Element
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
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by Alok Vaid-Menon ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 2, 2020
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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by Shavone Charles ; illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky
by Leo Baker ; illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky
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