While the book purports to merely dish out common sense for the 1970's, it is just as relevant 30 years later. Who needs theory (although the book contains enough to keep you occupied if you so choose), when you've got action? If you want to learn how to take back *your* work, read this book!

Although globalization is an inevitable force thoughout modernity we can have a voice in how globalization is enacted. As citizens of the global community, we do not have to sit back and be content with the pathway of globalization that is defined by such global organizations as the WTO and the IMF in addition to transnational corporations and the American government.

"Globalization from Below" investigates the emergence of the anti-globalization social movement that targets the negative actions and consequences of various institutions and corporations in their effort to increase their profits and power. Unlike other social movements the anti-globalization movement is unique because it consists of a multitude of social agendas ranging anywhere from environmental to labor rights causes. Although they have differential agendas together they strive for the same objective of returning to a democracy of business decisions made by institutions that don't favor the status of the wealthy minority. The true promises of globalization never became realized. Instead social problems are increasingly becoming more intensified. The disparity between the rich and poor grows larger and the environment is under constant attack. Due to the decline of national power many previous hard-fought laws and regulations protecting consumers and workers are being overruled by global treaties and trade agreements. The influence of global capital and unregulated markets puts both humans and the planet in danger. In the midst of the rapid acceleration of globalization within the past century basic human rights often take a back seat.

This book is a good introduction to the anti-globalization social movement that continues to gain more momentum as individuals become increasingly aware of the dire and drastic consequences of the current trajectory of globalization. It's a short read but well worth it.

Strike! is a classic book of American labor history. It's definitely worth reading if you want to understand some of the more amazing points when labor negotiations have broken down and workers walked out.

Strike, is not a history of the American labor movements. Neither is it a history of strikes, despite the claim of other reviewers. It's an examination of the mass strike. That is when the normal course of labor struggles reach a boiling point. Mass strikes are when a strike starts in a specific shop but spreads horizontally across an industry or even the whole nation. Brecher profiles the few but real times in which a spreading strike presented the possibility of more radical and systemic change.

He talks about how at these times of mass strike, the ideas and possibility for real radical change takes hold among previously apolitical rank and file workers. When this happens, often the state, unions, and business conspire together to put a stop to these growing strikes. This is very similar to what happened in with the 'communist' union bosses in France in May 68. As soon as the option of radical change where the bosses of industry and unions could be thrown out, the unions take up their roll as labor regulators.

Unfortunately Brecher does not look in to the dynamics of why this happens. Nor does he consider the roll of the IWW, the one American labor federation which worked to create mass strikes. He also does not address the issue of ideology the unions or social movements during the times of mass strike. He rightly, claims that most workers who spread mass strikes are not working from an ideological perspective, but he doesn't look in to the roll in which ideology plays. Often mass strikes take hold in times of general political upheaval, understanding the relationship between mass strikes and other social change struggles seems to me to be an essential and missed point in the book.

The other amazing aspect of the book is that it chronicles how labor demands have becoming increasingly less radical over time. During the first mass strikes in the 1880's workers were demanding fundamental autonomy and the dismantling the very system of corporations and trusts. By the last mass strikes in the US during 1960's workers were demanding better wages, conditions, and self management. The concept that the system of exploitation could be dismantled and we could return to a world of small artisans had disappeared.

Strike's other fault is that it only looks at American labor history. There were major activities and ideas in other countries which had a direct influence on American labor. Brecher doesn't deal with the roll of immigration and the ideas and practices immigration brings to the labor movement. In the last chapter of this updated edition he talks about the very successful UPS strike. While it is a good story and I think it's important he updated the book, the UPS strike was not a mass strike. We haven't had any mass strikes of the kind Brecher profiles in Strike since the 60's.

This book is definitely worth the read. It's well written and entertaining. It makes labor history exciting. Unfortunately it is not a full labor history, and if you want to understand the history of American labor struggles you'll need to read further. Strike is a good place to start learning about our collective labor history and I highly recommend it.

Jeremy Brecher's "Strike!" takes on one narrow subject and does it in a very interesting if limited way. It's simply a history of strikes, no more no less. That history is a fascinating and often shocking one -- few of us in this country know about the huge strikes and violent repression that occurred in the late 19th century and early 20th, and we should. This book catalogues a lot of that history and memorably illustrates the growth of labor consciousness and state opposition.

However, it only occasionally gives much context in terms of legal background, the rising and falling strength of the labor movement and the changes in industry. So it's actually a book full of examples from which you'll have to draw your own conclusions, not a comprehensive history. But it's a hard-hitting introduction to labor history and an enticement to read more. Very worthwhile.

A classic ploy of employers who want to keep unions out of their companies is to paint the unions as outsiders, a bunch of rabble rousing radiclas who will disrupt what was once industrial harmony. This theme has lasted through the years, from last century, when all socialists where decried as immmagrants, to modern union busting campaigns.

There is certainly a short term, self-serving aspect to this image, but there is also a larger social claim: american workers are basically satisfied. America is the land of opportunity and no regular Joe worker would question this fact if outsiders didn't come in and cause trouble.

Jeremy Brecher's classic book, Strike!, runs gaping holes through this image. He details several of the countless times in American history that workers have spontainiously risen to fight for better jobs, better lives and a better world. Further, he shows that labor leaders, whether conservative or radical (socialist, communist etc) have have historically acted to hold the militancy of the workers at bay and channel them into the compromise of collective bargaining. A system which the labor leaders control and profit from.

An important book for anyone interested in unions, labor, or the history of the American working class.

This book is a more political version of Ben Barber's Jihad vs. McWorld. It is thorough and broad on the Political/Economic front, and rather weak on the cultural front. The authors have a good understanding of the unchecked and immorally wielded power of the IMF, and see a margin of hope in strategic cooperation of NGOs. I believe their faith in the potential of these groups to effectively challenge the powers is naive, and could be refined with a deeper understanding of the totalitanian participation of mass culture in the designs of the IMF. Culture is a powerful shaper of worldview, and is inherently conservative (In the sense of resistant to evolution). A holistic approach is needed. Global Pillage is an important book, and is fairly readable, but would be hard for a newcomer to the movement to understand. It is well researched and thoughtful, and successfully avoids any taste of Ivory Tower irrelevance. I recommend this book, with the warning that real change will require a holistic cooperation to engage the society beyond the political realm.

This book combines perfectly the thorough criticism of academic literature and the accessibility of popular writing to clearly communicate how multinational corporations have played different population bases against one another and what those groups are doing to build a common set of standards to counter the race to the bottom. Written in plain language with hundreds of citations, Global Village is a book that unites scholar and layperson in an exploration of the spreading marketplace while avoiding both dogma and tediousness.