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What I Read in 2019
As continuity from 2018, this is my 2019 reading list. Some of these books I will have more to comment on than others, and that should probably be taken as an indication of my (personal) assessment of them.
Inventing the Future — Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams
I’ve had this book for a while, and bought it mostly for the discussion on universal basic income (which is a topic I keep telling myself I’ll write something on eventually). My first attempt at this book failed because, near the beginning, the authors spend some time talking about protest strategies, which I found somewhat dull. I think, in hindsight, they are correct to be thinking about how movements are built, and it is simply the purposes for which I bought the book which made this part drag. Beyond this, I did like the book, though their central argument seems to be we must demand radical policy because that’s the only way we will get radical policies — which I agree with — though this narrative can at time make the book feel like a manifesto for the aether.
Fictitious Capital — Cedric Durand
A book about global finance, money and neoliberalism. This is going to be a theme. I think Fictitious Capital is a fine book, especially if you want many of the arguments Ann Pettifor’s The Production of Money covers from a more Marxist perspective.
