cover image The New American Crisis: Radical Analyses of the Problems Facing Election Year America

The New American Crisis: Radical Analyses of the Problems Facing Election Year America

. New Press, $13.95 (327pp) ISBN 978-1-56584-317-2

This book of essays, based in part on the Open Magazine Pamphlet series (which the editors publish), is a mixed bag. Several challenging essays, on topics like NAFTA or the Zapatistas are already dated. It's fine for Howard Zinn to decry the Gulf War, but this book says nothing about a radical posture toward Bosnia. Similarly, Manning Marable's thoughtful exegesis of the legacy of Malcolm X is followed by a transcript of a too vague discussion on race and politics between Cornel West and bell hooks. Some essays resonate: Nancy Kranich argues for a public infrastructure in cyberspace; the reliable Noam Chomsky deconstructs the spurious triumph of conservatism, noting that few 1994 voters truly backed the Contract With America; Seymour Melman suggests a demilitarized economy could yield rich fruits, but how to get there?; and Joel Rogers proposes enhanced grassroots democracy and support for the New Party (but doesn't discuss third-party possibilities like Colin Powell). The sensible closing essay, by New Party supporter Juliet Schor, offers ways (reduced hours, democratized corporate governance) to make the economy more people-oriented. An appendix lists organizations and resources for those ready to act. (Feb.)