Ordinary People's Politics

Respected academics Judith Brett and Anthony Moran get ordinary Australians to talk about life, politics and the future of their country.

This unique series of snapshots of Australian political culture takes us from the Depression through the post war boom, the economic changes of the 1980s to the early 2000s and the war on terror. Based on interviews done in the 1950s, the 1980s and the early 2000s, twenty-two ordinary Australians talk about politics and its place in their lives. The portraits are sharply etched to read like well-crafted political short stories.

You can hear Geraldine Doogue's interview with the authors from ABC radio here

Only $25. Order at progressivecanberra@gmail.com

Brothers: Eight Leaders of the NSW Labor Council

Written by a sympathetic insider, this book by Marilyn Dodkin lifts the lid on one of the bases of power for the NSW Right - the peak union body, now known as UnionsNSW but still referred to by one and all as "the Labor Council".
For half a century the right wing of the New South Wales Labor Party has dominated the state branch and had a major influence on the federal ALP. Fundamental to the power of the Right has been its extraordinary grip on the leadership of the Labor Council of New South Wales.
This is a critical examination of the rise to power of eight men who led the Labor Council between 1946 and 2001. It provides an insight into the relationship between the Labor Council and the Labor Party and throws new light on the right-wing faction. Labor Council leaders Jim Kenny, Ralph Marsh and John Ducker were major players in the Industrial Groups and the fight against communists in the unions during the turbulent 1950s. In later years Barry Unsworth, John MacBean, Michael Easson, Peter Sams and Michael Costa brought their own styles to the leadership, all of them exercising power in the Labor Party.

Only$10. Order at progressivecanberra@gmail.com

Supercapitalism

robert Reich was Bill Clinton's reforming Secretary for Labour in his administration, often pushing porgressive views into public policy. In this book written just beofre the Global Financial Crisis, Reich outlines how Mid-twentieth-century capitalism has turned into global capitalism, and global capitalism has turned into supercapitalism.
Reich explains how supercapitalism has widened inequalities of income and wealth, heightened job insecurity, and how the spreading effects of global warming are its logical outcomes. He shows us why companies, fighting harder than ever to maintain their competitive positions, have become even more deeply involved in politics; and how average citizens, seeking great deals and invested in the stock market to an unprecedented degree, are increasingly loath to stand by their values if it means biting the hands that feed them. He makes clear how the tools traditionally used to temper social problems — fair taxation, well-funded public education, trade unions — have withered as supercapitalism has burgeoned.
Reich sets out a clear course to a vibrant capitalism and a concurrent, equally vibrant democracy. He argues forcefully that the spheres of business and politics must be kept distinct. And he calls for an end to the legal fiction that corporations are citizens, as well as the illusion that corporations can be ‘socially responsible’ until laws define social needs.

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The Progressive Patriot: Billy Bragg's search for belonging

What does it mean to be English? What does it mean to be British? Is the cross of St George a proud symbol of a great tradition, or the badge of a neo-Nazi?

In a world where British citizens can lay bombs to kill their countrymen, where religious fundamentalism is on the increase and where the British National Party are somehow part of the democratic process, what does patriotism actually mean?

This book is legendary folk-rocker Billy Bragg's urgent, eloquent and passionate response to the events of 7 July 2005, when four bombs tore through a busy morning in London. The Progressive Patriot is a book we all need to read. It pulls no punches in its insights and its radical vision offers a positive hope for a country teetering on the brink of catastrophe.

Only $20. Order at progressivecanberra@gmail.com

Raging against the machine: 30 years of campaigning for global justice

After 30 years in print, New Internationalist remains one of the most popular progressive magazines in the world. This collection of the most influential pieces of writing in the magazine is more than just a retrospective, it provides a compelling argument for a collective future.

Only $20. Order at progressivecanberra@gmail.com