The ABCs of Economic Crisis: What Working People Need to Know (review)
This book is valuable for comparative studies of the labour market and organizing strategies in global cities. In this sense, the book could be useful not only for academics but also for activists. An interesting issue raised is the strategic importance of faith based organizing. The only sticking point I have with the authors is the characterization of a migrant division of labour which is supposedly new. There is an implication that there was no migrant citizen dynamic in the pre 1980s period and that what we have today is something categorically novel. It is implied that in earlier decades, immigrants and asylum seekers became British citizens, therefore the politics of being migrant or citizen was not significant. This is debatable. Citizenship does not only consist of a legal document. It involves inclusion of 'outsiders' into a (white) nation and is a highly contentious process. Despite having citizenship on paper, were earlier immigrants accepted as Britishers? Part of the racism they faced was that Blacks, which included Asians in those years, were never considered as part of the 'Union Jack. As against that, today's non white precarious workers are not only racialized socially but also legally by being denied British citizenship. EU workers who are part of the migrant working class hold a 'European' (white) identity and are preferred by employers over their nonwhite counterparts. Employer preference of white workers over non white workers continues. Old and new forms of exclusions could be analyzed in a more nuanced manner. No doubt, the class divisions in migrant and immigrant communities have become more significant, which have inevitably changed the forms of racism experienced by them and their identification as 'British, 'Black, 'Indian' or 'Bangladeshi. There are highly skilled, middle class immigrants who are eligible for citizenship rights unlike their unskilled working class counterparts. The issues of class divisions among migrant/immigrant communities and its impact on anti racism organizing could be further explored. Overall, I recommend this book highly for activists and researchers, and for undergraduate and graduate courses. Tania Das Gupta York University