Reviews

Short primer on Capitalism and its deep roots into the state apparatus. Chibber distills some complex theory into a very readable and understandable text, and makes for timely reading with the current strikes and energy/water crises in the UK. The final chapter was a little weak on potential next steps, and got a little bogged down in the USSR, but a good book in all - the kind of thing I wished I had available to me 20 years ago.

vampfang's review against another edition

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3.0

the first chapter is basically a summary of capital, the second is how capitalism and the state work together in present-day us which i thought was pretty good, the third talks about the importance of worker solidarity in perhaps more detail than necessary and implies that achieving economic equality is more important than racial or gender equality, and the fourth claims to offer alternatives yet really doesn’t

lynn00's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

4.0

privileged_loitering's review

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informative medium-paced

4.0

shawcrit's review against another edition

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4.0

This achieves what it sets out to do by providing an accessible, introductory text explaining capitalism, labour politics, and routes to resisting capitalism grounded in Marxist theory and labour organizing. As Chibber points to in the preface, this feels like a pamphlet that would be an excellent resource for people new to labour activism, or a great teaching tool for people curious but intimidated by a lot of very academic left texts. I love Chibber's conversational tone and accessible writing style and I wish more academics wrote in this way.
He also briefly touches on more recent debates around "identity politics" in a very clear yet nuanced way that I don't often see and that I appreciated greatly.
A recommended reading list in the back provides guidance if readers are interested in learning more.
Well done and highly recommended.