Revolt!

Championing counter ideology, societal education, and direct action professor Asimakopoulos develops a theory to action model for working class movement building toward societies based on self-organization and self-direction. Revolt! begins with an analysis of the 2008 economic collapse showing how neoliberal globalization is intensifying capitalism's contradictions resulting in perpetual crises affecting workers. By looking at the labor and civil rights movements it then demonstrates meaningful working class gains were obtained through high levels of class conflict made possible by radical leaders and ideology, class-consciousness and solidarity through societal education, and even rebellion. Now, argues professor Asimakopoulos, social justice can only be achieved through a new movement which, short of the immediate overthrow of capitalism, can obtain with direct action specific working class victories that will set in motion evolutionary radical change. One strategic proposal is demanding corporate boards of directors only include community and labor representatives. Revolt! will be of most interest to workers, activists, college students, and scholars, as well as anyone interested in the practical side of radical anarchism, Marxism, and social movements.

About the Author :
John Asimakopoulos, Ph.D., is Full Professor of Sociology at the City University of New York and executive director of the Transformative Studies Institute (TSI), an educational think tank. He has advanced degrees in and has taught sociology, political science, and economics resulting in a unique interdisciplinary perspective. His students include undergraduates and graduates from diverse ethnic, economic, and educational backgrounds who honor him for over 20 years with the highest teaching evaluations. His research is focused on social movements, critical theory, and international political economy. Asimakopoulos is author of Social Structures of Direct Democracy (Brill/Haymarket Books), The Accumulation of Freedom (AK Press) and Revolt! (TSI Press). He has published many journal articles, book chapters, and is editor in chief of Theory in Action, an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal focusing on scholar-activism. He is currently working with his colleagues at TSI to establish a new free and progressive university for working class students operated by scholar-activists. For more resources and information, readers are encouraged to visit TSI's website at: www.transformativestudies.org

Review :

"A welcome return to the center stage of political discourse - and action - for the working class, and class consciousness. A must read for everyone that actually takes working class self-determination seriously."

Ramsey Kanaan,

PM Press

Revolt! is a superb book, and Asimakopoulos knows that the crisis of the times demands nothing short of a complete transformation of capitalism into a socialist alternative. The time has come for a radical transformation of our social universe. The time has come for Revolt!

Dr. Peter McLaren

University of California, Los Angeles

"Machine-breakers were once threatened with the death penalty if they took direct action against the systems of production that reduced them to poverty. Kleptocracy capitalism describes a similar juxtaposition: the facilitation of systematic corporate exploitation running alongside policies which criminalise individuals who steal in order to live. John Asimakopoulos' critique draws inspiration from the history of working class activism and, in presenting a clear and accessible analysis of the system's operation, he also calls for direct action to combat it, passionately giving voice to a popular and deeply held view - that the status quo must be challenged."

Ruth Ellen Kinna,

Editor Anarchist Studies

"The times are ripe for books like Revolt! Where the owning class has nearly succeeded in robbing the world blind in the most recent 'global recession, ' works like Revolt! are crucial for forming effective class consciousness and resistance to political-economic tyranny. Revolt! is a healthy return to informed working class aggression, rather than the limp-spined liberalism that defines the 'left' in U.S. political discourse."

William Armaline,

Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Coordinator

Department of Justice Studies

San Jose State University