December 8, 2009
Excerpts from reviews and comments on books by Tim Costello
Common Sense for Hard Times (with Jeremy Brecher), (Washington, D.C./New York: Institute for Policy Studies/Two Continents Publishing Group, 1976)
Building Bridges: The Emerging Grassroots Alliance of Labor and Community (ed., with Jeremy Brecher) (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1990)
Global Village or Global Pillage: Economic Reconstruction from the Bottom Up (with Jeremy Brecher) (Boston: South End Press, 1994)
Globalization from Below: The Power of Solidarity (with Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith) (Cambridge: South End Press, 2000)
EXCERPTED REVIEWS AND COMMENTS ABOUT TIM’S BOOKS
COMMON SENSE FOR HARD TIMES
Common Sense for Hard Times (with Jeremy Brecher), (Washington, D.C./New York: Institute for Policy Studies/Two Continents Publishing Group, 1976)
“A popularly written analysis of modern times . . . a primer on class consciousness, written in popular style but with ample guidance for further reading . . . Recommended for wide purchase.” – Library Journal
“An important teaching aid for those engaged in workers’ education because it makes the questions of economics, social relations, and history relevant to people who generally tend to be turned off by traditional academic treatment of these subjects. In fact, the real strength of the book lies in its ability to make sense out of what is going on around us, both on and off the job.” – Labor Studies Journal
“Exactly what is needed at this moment in the country’s history, a book written in plain language about the central fact in people’s lives, the work people do, what makes it miserable and unfair, what could make it creative and good, how people are resisting the present work-system, and how change might conceivable come about. It is so good I am ordering 200 copies for my course.” – Howard Zinn, Boston University
“As one who teaches an ‘Introduction to Economics’ course, this is the kind of book I have been looking for for a long time . . . There is simply no other book which comes close to it as an ‘Introduction to Economics” . . . Should be carefully read and widely discussed.
“A valuable guide for those who are perplexed by our current economic situation. Provides a unique blend of overall analysis with remarkable descriptions of the lives of working people.” – Stanley Aronowitz
“For most Americans this is going to be a book that beats all the high-faluting political theory by a country mile. After you read it you won’t want to drop out. You’ll want to get busy. And you’ll have a few dozen good ideas of just how.” – Karl Hess
BUILDING BRIDGES
Building Bridges: The Emerging Grassroots Alliance of Labor and Community (ed., with Jeremy Brecher) (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1990)
“A splendid collection of essays on the immensely creative labor-community alliances that flourished in the 1980s. . . one of the best practical how-to organizing manuals around. All the case studies are painstakingly realistic about the nuts, bolts and difficulties. . . the editors take economic democracy seriously; that’s what makes their politics so appealing. . . massively inspiring.” — Dana Frank, The Nation
“Written by people who do know what to do next, and how to do it. . . . It is as instructive as it is inspirational. — David Dyson, Christianity and Crisis
“A powerful and compelling vision. . . . Creatively combines global vision with reports on local action. It appeals to our need for sweeping imagination in a time of fashionable societal pessimism . . . an indispensable preparation for the tasks of the 1990s.” — Z Magazine
“BUILDING BRIDGES is jammed full of ideas, experience, and organizing advice, making it an indispensable source for anyone interested in the fate of labor and the cause of social and economic justice.” — Labor Notes
“Creates a hopeful vision of what’s possible with grassroots organizing. . . A how-to manual . . . instructive and frequently inspiring . . . a stimulating, indispensable guidebook.” — In These Times
“Transcends the recounting of fascinating stories . . . it’s replete with lessons for even the most experienced coalition-builder.” — The Advocate’s Advocate
“Indispensable.” — Cooperative Economics News Service
“A very helpful guide to the kind of coalition building unions will need in the struggles that lie ahead.” — Richard L. Trumka, President, United Mine Workers of America
“An extremely important collection of how-to-do-it essays which should be as useful in organizing daily struggles as it is in helping us think about reshaping the society we live in.” — David Montgomery, Professor of History, Yale
“A comprehensive study of coalitions that have emerged from grassroots involvement. . . well thought-out . . . Labor educators, unionists and community activists, as well as social scientists, will find this a very useful and inspiring book.” — Labor Studies Journal
GLOBAL VILLAGE OR GLOBAL PILLAGE
Global Village or Global Pillage: Economic Reconstruction from the Bottom Up (with Jeremy Brecher) (Boston: South End Press, 1994)
“Penetrating analysis . . . crisp and simple language . . . as revealing as it is succinct . . . an effective antidote to the mood of resignation before the omnipotence of transnational business institutions which pervades the political discourse of our times . . . timely and important.” — Prof. David Montgomery, president, American Historical Association, in The Nation
“Brecher and Costello offer compelling evidence that economic globalization largely benefits the affluent and harms the less affluent. The authors provide substantial documentation for their position. The book is well written without academic jargon, making it readable for anyone with a serious interest in political or economic affairs. . . Sure not to gather dust in any well-used library. All levels.” — Choice
“Probably the best single book on globalization.” — The Texas Observer
“An extremely accessible account of the process of ‘globalization’ . . . a practical guide to what people can do about it.” – The Ecologist
“Popular in style . . . packed with memorable titles [and] subtitles . . . offers a thought-provoking and easily-read alternative. In the face of economic reductionism and market fundamentalism, this suggests not only a political but an ethical agenda.” — Development and Change
“This book is much more than a critique of the new economic world order. It’s a practical guide for action for those who want to think globally and work locally on the economy, trade, and the environment.” — Elaine Bernard, executive director, Trade Union Program, Harvard University
“Makes visible the multiple forms of resistance to global capital that often remain unrecognized. These forms of resistance are themselves becoming transnational and binding people, places and initiatives in alternative global networks. A must read.” — Saskia Sassen, professor of Urban Planning, Columbia University, author of The Global City
“Brecher and Costello’s critique of the current drift of the world economy is devastating, but the greatest value of their book is to depict an emerging politics of grassroots resistance that creatively opens up a new range of radical possibilities for the 1990s.” — Richard Falk, professor of International Law, Princeton University
“Accessible . . . reliable roadmap to the global economy . . . offers inspiring examples of cross-border solidarity . . . a clear and broad picture of the global economy . . . not only a devastating critique of a system gone awry, but a persuasive case that alternatives are still within reach.” — Dollars and Sense
“Understanding the far-reaching destructive powers of transnational corporations and the global institutions they’ve set up to protect their rights in today’s global economy is a tall order. Offering alternatives rooted in grassroots organization and international policy-making is even more daunting. Yet Jeremy Brecher and Tim Costello have managed to do just that . . . This book will set your mind reeling with the possibilities for grassroots global connections.” — Mary McGinn, Labor Notes
“An accessible and thought-provoking manifesto for activists and analysts alike. . . A helpful guide to the challenges and opportunities facing us now and into the next century.” – Food First
“The facts and figures about globalization that Brecher and Costello marshal and the careful documentation make chapter One alone worth the price as a reference book.” — Equity
“Brecher and Costello have written a refreshingly optimistic and useful book. Their strategy of transnational citizen action . . . should be an important part of the effort to bring global institutions under democratic control.” — New Politics
“It is only with the brave thinking and strategies put forth by Brecher and Costello in this hopeful book that humans of diverse concerns and interests can pursue a course for collective economic development more life-sustaining to the Earth we inhabit.” — M. Annette Jaimes, editor, The State of Native America
“Finally someone has stopped long enough to document with real insight and clear analysis the exciting new developments in people-to-people global networking. Brecher and Costello have a lifetime of experience that shows in their writing and their prescriptions. They’re strong lights on the pathway.” — Mark Ritchie, executive director, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
“An important, uniquely comprehensive blending of practical and visionary discussion on how to create a viable world community in a time in which corporations increasingly have power to dictate policies that increase conflict and lower standards of living around the world.” — John Brown Childs, professor, Sociology, University of California at Santa Cruz, Chair, Race and Ethnicity Research Council
“Brecher and Costello introduce us to local women’s groups, from Chiapas to Arkansas to Manila, that are analyzing this not-so-new World Order most revealingly, and in doing so make us smarter.” — Cynthia Enloe, author, The Morning After: Sexual Politics at the End of the Cold War”
The best guide available to globalization and how to challenge it.” CAUT Bulletin
GLOBALIZATION FROM BELOW
Globalization from Below: The Power of Solidarity (with Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith) (Cambridge: South End Press, 2000)
“This is cutting edge stuff. Essential reading for all who want to know how the world is changing in our time and how to be involved in shaping that change. . . does an excellent and precise job. Exhilarating reading!” – Dennis Brutus, poet and playwright
“Indispensable . . . provides us with an insightful toolbox of inspiring visions [and] concrete proposals.” — Dana Frank, author, Buy American
“I picked it up and started reading it on the train from Tokyo to Narita airport. The next thing I remember is the pilot announcing we were landing in Chicago. I had been totally engaged for twelve hours. If you are an activist and think that our side needs the ability to act globally – you now have a new bible.” – Andy Banks, George Meany Center
“Neophyte or social movement veteran, you need this succinct guide to avoid the pitfalls, ambushes, and ordinary stupidity ready to waylay the well-meaning activist. Thanks to Brecher, Costello, and Smith, we can put winning strategies in their place. We may even get it right this time – and, believe me, this time it’s urgent. Bravo.” – Susan George, author, A Fate Worse than Debt
“This lean, thoughtful, and incisive book examines the most important political question raised by the advent of globalization: will the growth of a broad grassroots protest movement grow, succeed in entering the political lists, and transform the corporate-led global agenda. A must-read for political activists.” — Frances Fox Piven, coauthor of Poor People’s Movements
“Rather than falling back on protectionism, this book shows us the possibilities of launching movements for democratization that actually use and enter the new strategic crossborder geography created by economic globalization. Explodes the notion that you have to be a multinational corporation to act globally.” – Saskia Sassen, author, Globalization and Its Discontents
“Almost as slim as the 150-year-old Communist Manifesto itself [it offers] an understanding of our own globalized capitalist order, and a strategy for transforming it, worthy of comparison with that of Marx and Engels. . . A pathbreaking contribution.” – Peter Waterman, author, Globalization, Social Movements, and the New Internationalisms
“A concise and very readable book that assists the read in understanding the ‘new world order’ and its impact on society.” — Edward Asner, actor
“A pleasure to read . . . takes you by the hand and explains what globalization is . . . in a simple and informed manner . . . clear and inspiring.” — Fernando Fasce, Il Manifesto
“Clearly shows that our movement is a profoundly humane response to a global economic system gone awry. . . Gives us direction for turning the tide of the global economy from one that lifts all yachts to one that truly lifts all boats.” – Medea Benjamin, Co-Founder, Global Exchange
“Cut[s] through the global babble . . . how we can stick together (not just huddle together) to create a more humane globalization from below.” – Barbara Garson, author, Money Makes the World Go Around
There are more than a dozen new English- language books aimed mainly at an audience of international-justice activists, strategists and intellectuals. I’ve got the pleasant task of reading these in my role as coordinator of a seminar of 20 masters and doctoral students. Because it raises issues so well and so forthrightly, honestly considers competing arguments, I chose to make one book– Globalization from Below — required reading. . . A very fine mix of empirical observations, political commentary, forays into intellectual debates, program-construction, and applied tactical suggestions. The style is warm, friendly, readable, and efficient. At 164 pages, this is an ideal little back-pocket tome to pull out on those long bus-rides to the next demo in Quebec City, Genoa, Gothenburg,
Washington, Jo’burg or wherever. – Patrick Bond, University of Witwatersrand
I highly recommend the book below for anyone interested in building our own global structure to fight “their globalization.” I started reading it on the train from Tokyo to Narita airport. The next thing I remember is the pilot announcing we were landing in Chicago. I had been totally engaged for twelve hours. If you are an activist and think that our side needs the ability to act globally – you now have a new bible. . . . The ultimate global campaign book”. — Andy Banks, George Meany Center
I just finished reading Globalization From Below and I loved it. I particularly like your Draft Program for Globalization From Below far better than anything else I’ve seen to date. I’ve assigned the book to a class. –Robin Hahnel, Economics Dept., American University
This book is shaped by the experiences of the movement, condensing and articulating its key ideas, yet it does more than hold up a mirror. It offers proposals, programs, strategies, and tactics for activists . . An outstanding example of the ways that ideas and activism must develop in dynamic relationship to each other. . . . Globalization from Below can become a material force in the movement to build a movement . . . Its ideas, grounded in the movement’s own history, can become building blocks of the movement’s future. – Peter Rachleff, History Department, MacAlister College in Z.
The world’s wealthiest classes and corporate elite espouse globalization from above, widespread inequality for maximum profitability. But let us learn from the economic analysis of Jeremy Brecher, Tim Costello and Brendan Smith, authors of an important new book, Globalization from Below. The process of globalization, the authors observe, “has given us more poor people than the world has ever known and increased threats to the environmental conditions on which human life itself depends. — Manning Marable
Compact but ambitious . . . One strength . . . is its grounding in the history of social movements, the power of the people . . . gives the movement for globalization from below some solid analysis to build upon. –Arnie Alpert, American Friends Service Committee, in Peacework
As veteran activists, the authors seek to orient a new generation to the key issues of the day in a systematic, jargon-free way. Their success in doing so makes their book a welcome contribution . . . offers a roadmap showing the various directions in which the movement could go. – International Socialist Review
Both an analysis of the new movement and a guide for activists hoping to create a sustained, institutional movement. . . . Serves as a useful guide for activists seeking to take the struggle to the next level. Labor Notes
Wonderful . . . rich, deep, coherent . . . [the movement’s] best construction manual. – Peter Montague, director, Environmental Research Foundation, in Orion Afield.
Practical vision of a decentralized but coordinated “globalization from below.” . . . A hopeful, idealistic but still pragmatic call for a new, more democratic global order.
— David Moberg, In These Times