Whirlwinds reviewed in Make/Shift, Doris Zine, and DotRad!
As Kevin van Meter of Team Colors reminded me just a few days ago, we’re quickly approaching the one-year anniversary of the publication of Uses of a Whirlwind: Movement, Movements, and Contemporary Radical Currents in the United States. Crazy! I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since we launched the book at the 2010 US Social Forum in Detroit last June; it was the ideal moment to release a book mapping the ebb and flow of contemporary American social movements, and while it was a struggle to get the project completed on time (overnight shipping to Detroit from our printers in Canada!), I’m so glad we did, because the buzz around the book at the Forum helped it to become one of our bestselling titles of 2010.
And, it’s nice to see that the buzz hasn’t died down yet. Three new reviews of the book have just (or are about to) appear!
In the Spring/Summer 2011 issue of Make/Shift Magazine, Jack Aponte writes “Whirlwind provides both a useful picture of radical organizing in the United States today and a compelling and inspiring perspective of the possibilities before us, should we choose to make that road together.”
Cindy Crabb, of DorisZine, makes a useful critique of the book’s theoretical framework, but stresses the importance of the project for contemporary activism: “This book is a little disjointed and has more theory than I generally am drawn to, there are some essays that seemed like they were written for an audience that doesn’t know much of anything about alternative culture, but I would hate to see it lost to the theory heads, because there is a lot of great info in here that I think would be particularly useful to younger or new activists. Also important for seasoned activists to get us thinking of how to think about and articulate our experiences and what can be learned from them.”
“How do movements grow from streets as fetish, and thus a pressure-campaign ideology, into endeavors that can seize power?,” Ernesto Aguilar wonders in a review on DotRad. Whirlwinds doesn’t provide an answer to this question, nor to many of the other, important ones facing social movements today. But it does begin a conversation about successes and failures, opening a space for possible alternatives. As Ernesto says, “This collection takes revolutionary change as possible — but what if it’s not? Is such a wealthy country going to support radical change en masse or will vanguards by other names be the only ones to push the envelope? […] Talking about not just what captures the imagination, but what hobbles these initiatives from building into mass movements, is also needed.”
It’s an interesting point, and one that we all have to address. Whirlwinds was a first step towards opening a dialogue around these issues (one of the reasons it’s USSF launch was an important milestone), but the dialogue has to continue past the boundaries of the page, and into our communities, our projects, our streets and schools, and, indeed, our movements, such as they are.
Below is a full list of review & other media for the book–check out what other readers are saying about the book, and be sure to visit the book’s website (http://www.whirlwinds.info) for more information, more materials, and other analysis. And, if you haven’t read it yet, be sure to grab a copy today!
Reviews
- Whirlwinds: “Book Review” by Jack Aponte (Make/Shift Magazine. Issue #9, Spring/Summer 2011)
- Whirlwinds: “Book Reviews – Activism” by Cindy Crabb (Doris Zine Blog Spring 2011)
- Whirlwinds: “Book Review” by Ernesto Aguilar (dotrad: notes on insurgent digital culture Winter 2011)
- Whirlwinds: “Radical Thoughts for the Time Between” by Billy Wharton (WIN / War Resisters League Fall 2010)
- Wind(s) from below: Left Commentator Ernesto Aguilar reviews Wind(s) from below (Blog Post, 25 October 2010)
- Whirlwinds: “Uses of a Whirlwind Says Student Activism Isn’t Dead” by Jessica Newman, includes interview with Stevie Peace of Team Colors (Campus Progress, 27 September 2010)
- Whirlwinds: Review of Uses of a Whirlwind by Judas Lee, includes interview with Team Colors (The Defenestrator, Fall 2010)
Media
- Interview on Labor Radio (KBOO Radio, Portland, OR; Summer 2010)
- Interview with the Team Colors Collective by Microcosm Publishing (Summer 2010)
- Philadelphia Book Talk with Craig Hughes & Stevie Peace of Team Colors (at The Wooden Shoe)
- New World From Below Collaborative Book Party at the USSF with Stevie Peace of Team Colors speaking about Whirlwinds and Kevin Van Meter of Team Colors as MC.
- Baltimore Book Talk with Craig Hughes of Team Colors (at Red Emma’s)