JOHN GREEN is fascinated by a history that excavates the enormous role played by agricultural workers in recent times
A useful work of political ecology
MARTIN GRAHAM recommends a book that makes a critique of neoclassical economics and attempts to envision a sustainable global future
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ALEX HALL recommends a book that places empirical evidence at the heart of understanding racism
A recognition that individually we are powerless both politically and socially is essential, writes GORDON PARSONS
Ben Cowles speaks with IAN ‘TREE’ ROBINSON and ANDY DAVIES, two of the string pullers behind the Manchester Punk Festival, ahead of its 10th year show later this month
PAUL FOLEY is disappointed by a production that encourages the audience to laugh at rather than with the characters
Odysseus’s homecoming myth is treated as a factual story, with strong resonances for our contemporary world. This is an implicit anti-war film that has an urgent relevance, writes JOHN GREEN
The Star's critics ANDY HEDGECOCK, MARTIN HALL, MICHAL BONCZA, ANGUS REID reviews Holy Cow, One to One: John and Yoko, King of Kings, Panda Bear in Africa
The Physics of Capitalism: How a New Political Ecology Can Change the World
by Erald Kolasi
Monthly Review Press £27.99
READERS who struggle with the maths and abstractions inherent in the physics of the 20th and 21st centuries — Einstein, Niels Bohr and all that flowed from their work — should not be deterred by the title of this book.
Erald Kolasi draws only on classical physics to show how energy flows determine the fate of complex systems, including economic systems and life itself. It also equips him to provide a devastating critique of neoclassical economics and enables him to give us a vision of a sustainable global future — all without resorting to a single equation!
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MARTIN GRAHAM recommends an excellent starting point for unions and the wider movement for discussion of the housing crisis
Powerful exposition of Marxist political economy