Organize!: Building from the Local for Global Justice

Conceived as a means of demonstrating how local activist movements can collaborate with other groups to increase the effectiveness of their shared aims, both locally and globally, Choudry, Hanley, and Shragge’s (Fight Back: Workplace Justice for Immigrants) earnest book succeeds mostly as a conversation about the obstacles to consensus building rather than providing clear solutions. An abundance of wonky academic writing, primarily by Canadian professors or doctoral candidates, focuses on how different social justice groups, which may share common goals, often fail to coalesce as a result of different priorities. An attempt to combine legal efforts in support of immigrants highlights the tension between differing definitions of success, while an examination of the definitions of human rights demonstrates the role that cultural misunderstanding plays in achieving global change. The book becomes more accessible when the editors allow nonacademics to have the floor. For example, performer and musician Norman Nawrocki makes a clear and concise case for incorporating performance activism into any movement. Despite its atmosphere of a sweaty consensus-building session, the book will be a valuable primer for activists looking for pitfalls to avoid. (Oct.)