REVIEWS:
A brilliantly trenchant critique of the Democrats. penchant for
outsourcing canvassing to professionals-for-hire sheds light on why Kerry
was blown away by Bush in 2004...[Activism, Inc.] is in many ways a model
of primary sociological research, and Fisher's nuanced findings are all
the more powerful and urgent because of that. As this essay will show,
Activism, Inc is a timely and important contribution to the question, what
has happened to Western democracy?
For a charmingly recherché
complaint, check out "Activism, Inc: How the Outsourcing of Grassroots
Campaigns Is Strangling Progressive Politics in America," by Dana R.
Fisher.
— Election Day by Michael Kinsley in the New York Times Book
Review (5 November 2008)
This book is an important read for
anyone running or working in the trenches of progressive politics at the
non-profit level.
David Sirota's "BOOK REVIEWS: Getting Our Right Brians Working"
on the SirotaBlog
“Young people, listen up.
For those of you seeking to curb
corporate crime and violence --
For those of you seeking to counter
the right-wing, corporate drift of the country --
For those of you seeking to push
back against the Chamber of Commerce, the Fortune 500, and the corporate
control over the two major political parties --
Three words of advice: Read this
book.”
— Review by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman of the
DC-based Corporate Crime Reporter
"Few scholars have taken such a close look at the
individuals involved in progressive activism and their backgrounds,
motivations, and experiences, which makes Fisher's work an important
contribution to the study of social movements. Required reading for anyone
considering a summer job trying to change the
world."
—Library
Journal
"If Activism, Inc.: How the Outsourcing of Grassroots
Campaigns is Strangling Progressive Politics in America tells us anything,
it is that this is not what democracy looks like. And it is not what
progressive politics should look like either."
--Review by Mike
Connery of futuremajority.com
department of sociology ▪ columbia university ▪ drf2004@columbia.edu