Jeff Sparrow

This is a handbook for change. Because we all know ways in which life could be better. And it can be better. We can make it better. We don't need to wait for a leader or savior. We don't need to limit ourselves to comments and clicks. In this stunningly original comic-book tour of a serious topic, Jeff Sparrow and Sam Wallman explore 12 powerful ideas distilled from the history of struggle for better lives, better working conditions, and a better world. They show how solidarity can be built across growing divisions--without compromising our values. 'Strife' is just another word for making yourself heard. In fun, short, shareable chapters, 12 Rules for Strife shows how together we can change everything.

'Genuine radicalism depends on the provision of hope. It provokes through a scandalous insistence that life can be otherwise, that we aren't doomed to economic and environmental decline, and that the future can exceed than the past.'Jeff Sparrow is one of Australia's leading public intellectuals. From great controversies to the heroes and villains of our time, Provocations raises arguments that matter.History gets made by actions, not by words alone. Yet these pages are filled with the kind of words that inspire action. By showing us that Australia has a history of slavery it needs to reckon with. That amidst the turmoil of catastrophic weather events, Christmas beetles are disappearing as we look the other way. That while war was once an anomaly in a world increasingly devoted to peace, no one believes that anymore.In Provocations, Jeff Sparrow brings together some of his most challenging and continuously relevant work alongside daring new writing.

Traces the global spread of white nationalist and far-right terrorism, from the US to New Zealand to Norway. The massacre of more than fifty worshippers at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, shocked the world. The alleged perpetrator expressed a particular ideology described as "fascism," but what does fascism mean today--and what kind of threat does it pose? Jeff Sparrow traces the history of the far right around the world, showing how fascists have adapted to the new politics of the twenty-first century. He argues that the mosque killer represents a frightening new phenomenon--decentralized right-wing terrorism that recruits by committing atrocities, feeding on itself and spreading from country to country. Burgeoning in dark places online, contemporary fascism exults in violence and picks its targets strategically. Even the widespread despair generated by climate change is being harvested to weaponize young men with the politics of hate. With imitative massacres proliferating, this book makes a compelling, urgent case for a new response to an old menace.

The first book to unearth the Christchurch massacre’s fascist roots and examine what it represents and threatens. The massacre of more than fifty worshippers at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, shocked the world. The murders were not random. They expressed a particular ideology, one that the alleged perpetrator described as ‘fascism’. But what does fascism mean today — and what kind of threat does it pose? Jeff Sparrow traces the history of the far right, showing how fascists have adapted to the new politics of the twenty-first century. Burgeoning in dark places online, contemporary fascism exults in violence and picks its targets strategically. Today, it is Muslims; tomorrow, it will be Jews or gays or Asians. With imitative massacres already occurring around the world, Christchurch must be a wake-up call. This book makes a compelling, urgent case for a new response to an old menace.

A timely examination of progressive politics in the era of radical populism. Since 2016, western democracies have experienced a series of political earthquakes, spectacularly upending conventional political wisdom. Everywhere, outsider politicians rail against ‘the elite’. Yet, with a few notable exceptions, the populist mood has benefited reactionaries rather than reformers. The status quo might be in crisis, but the emerging voices are those of hate and violence. Where is the progressive alternative? In Trigger Warnings, Jeff Sparrow sympathetically but critically examines key progressive ideas. How does a billionaire position himself as anti-elitist? Are the culture wars worth fighting? What's at stake in the battles over political correctness? Should progressives defend it — and, if so, how? Sparrow traces the evolution of the Left and Right to explain the origins of this strange evolution, untangling some of the thorniest controversies of our time and arguing that the future needn't only belong to nihilists and bigots.

Film star. Icon. Agitator. Martyr. Paul Robeson was a twentieth-century icon; the most famous African-American of his time. The son of a former slave, he found worldwide fame as a performer, travelling from Hollywood to the West End, and even to communist Russia. A champion of social justice and equality, he would go on to lose everything for the sake of his principles. Here, Jeff Sparrow traces Robeson’s remarkable life. Part travelogue, part biography, this is a story of political ardour, heritage, and trauma — a luminous portrait of a man and an urgent reflection on the politics that define us now.

Ninety years after the First World War, police in a Victorian country town uncovered, inside a velvet-lined display cabinet, the mummified head of a Turkish soldier - a bullet-ridden souvenir brought home from Gallipoli by a returning ANZAC. The macabre discovery launched Jeff Sparrow on a quest to understand the nature of deadly violence. How did ordinary people - whether in today's wars or in 1915 - learn to take a human life? Was it hard to kill another person or was it terrifyingly easy? And what happened afterwards? What did war do to soldiers to make hoarding a human head seem normal, even necessary? The questions lead Sparrow on a journey through history and across the USA, talking to veterans and slaughtermen, executioners and academics about one of the last remaining taboos. Compassionate, engaged and political, ""Killing"" takes us up close to the ways society kills today, in a prolonged meditation on what violence means, not just for perpetrators but for all of us.