Talking About a Revolution: Interviews with Michael Albert, Noam Chomsky, Barbara Ehrenreich, bell hooks, Peter Kwong, Winona LaDuke, Manning Marable, Urvashi Vaid, and Howard Zinn [Hardcover]

The South End Press Collective (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0896085880 | ISBN-13: 978-0896085886

On its twentieth anniversary, the South End Press collective has gathered the left's most prominent intellectuals for a wide-ranging discussion of the past twenty years and the next twenty years of progressive social movements in the United States. In nine accessible, personal interviews, Chomsky, Zinn, Hooks, Ehrenreich, Marable, and the other activists and writers included let readers know their most deeply held beliefs and hopes for the progressive movements they have worked to build over the last two decades. Everyone who would like to see a revitalized, more effective movement for social change in the United States whether feminist, anti-racist, populist, anarchist, socialist, or union activist will want to read Talking About a Revolution. Talking About a Revolution offers an easy and lively introduction to the ideas of some of the leading intellectuals on the left today.An accessible collection of original interviews with the left's best intellectuals and activists.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

In Talking About a Revolution, you will find:

Noam Chomsky on GOALS:

"There are big efforts to make people feel helpless, as if there is some kind of mysterious economic law that forces things to happen in a particular way, like the law of gravitation. That is just nonsense. [Illegitimate institutions] are human institutions, they are subject to human will. They can be eliminated like other tyrannical institutions have been."

Howard Zinn on the FUTURE:

"The success or failure of what we strive for can never be predicted; the only thing that can be predicted is that if we don't try to do something about economic justice, race and gender discrimination, nothing good will happen." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Dr. Howard Zinn, the acclaimed historian, is the author of fourteen books, the most recent being The Howard Zinn Reader and You Can't Remain Neutral on a Moving Train. His classic A People's History of the United States has sold more than 350,000 copies. Based in the Boston-area, he speaks widely on college campuses, and is active in movements such as that against the death penalty. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 131 pages
• Publisher: South End Press (July 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896085880
• ISBN-13: 978-0896085886
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,916,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars please give informed reviews, February 27, 2010

By 

miquixote - See all my reviews

This review is from: Talking About a Revolution: Interviews with Michael Albert, Noam Chomsky, Barbara Ehrenreich, bell hooks, Peter Kwong, Winona LaDuke, Manning Marable, Urvashi Vaid, and Howard Zinn (Hardcover)

a very important book, in a time when education and awareness is absolutely key, an incredible list of internationally-respected (blithering idiot reviewer opinions aside) leaders.

First of all, these are not second-hand-dealers of information, they are leading activists, who were and are at the front-lines eg. in the anti-Vietnam war protests risking their 'glorified government jobs' in doing so.

The above review shows a typically blatant, (and very American) hatred towards academia and critical thought.

The academics who contribute to the book, are undoubtedly really concerned leaders who are devoting their lives to the causes they are writing about, and trying their best to fight for *realistic* solutions to the varied social, environmental and economic problems in America. You can find the bios of any of them on the internet so please feel free to do a little research on them.

about the last reviewers attack on full employment, free education, free health care and so on...systematic studies have been done, time and time again, it's just American media won't show it. but it is hardly a complicated thing to look it up on google, wikipedia, the simplest searchs would double the above reviewer's iq. one finds it evident very quickly the huge differences in quality of health care between the US and all other developed countries, just check things like 'mortality rates due to inadequate health care', or even more basic 'life expectancy rates'.

I will do a little research for you, a good indicator is the Human Poverty Index which ranks the most developed countries in the world on several factors:

the USA has the highest probability of not surviving to age 60 of the 19 developed countries ranked.(11.6%) the best is 6.7% in Sweden. Undoubtedly related to the fact that the US has private health care and of course too many guns.

the USa has the 4th highest percentage in functional illiteracy (20%)the best is Sweden which has 7,5%. (The above reviewer is an excellent stereotype of that functionally illiterate American).

The USa has the highest percentage of its population below 50% of its median income (17%)the best is 5.4% in Finland. Latin Americans and Black Americans with the highest percentages in that group (as I demonstrate below).

The overall poverty rate of the USa IS RANKED 17TH OF 19 COUNTRIES. (a score of 15.4) compare that to the country with the lowest poverty rate (Sweden with 6.3).


I hope the reviewer looks it up and thinks before he writes next time. But wait, I'm not finished with educating.

Black Americans and Hispanic Americans are indeed the poorest groups in America.Wikipedia source follows:

While White Americans made up roughly 75.1% of all persons in 2000,[17] 87.93% of all households in the top 5% were headed by a person who identified as being White alone.
Only 4.75% of all household in the top 5% were headed by someone who identified him or herself as being Hispanic or Latino of any race,[18] versus 12.5% of persons identifying themselves as Hispanic or Latino in the general population.[17]
Overall, 86.01% of all households in the top two quintiles with upper-middle range incomes of over $55,331 were headed by a head of household who identified him or herself as White alone, while only 7.21% were being headed by someone who identified as being Hispanic and 7.37% by someone who identified as being African American or Black.

[18] Overall, households headed by Hispanics and African Americans or Blacks were underrepresented in the top two quintiles and overrepresented in the bottom two quintiles.

I hardly think this denotes that black people don't have anything in common. apparently the above reviewer can't read Statstical Abstracts very well...but first he should go back to elementary school.

it is however in jail that african-americans get the highest representation. 40% are african- americans!

black people have the lowest levels of income (along with hispanics), highest incarceration rates and lowest representation in "higher" professions (along with Hispanics).
I wonder if I wasted my time with all this research for this conservative nimrod who should be doing it himself before shooting his racist ignorant mouth off, so i will leave it to him to do the rest.

God save America if there are too many others like him out there...

Please read this book with an open mind and discover America's (and indeed the worlds')most intelligent humanists doing their best to envision an improved more democratic America.