reviews – Hegemony How-To

From Protest to Power – The Indypendent review of HHT

July 7, 2017July 16, 2017 by Jonathan Matthew Smucker

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Steven Sherman reviews Hegemony How-To in the July issue of The Indydependent:

The central tension [Smucker] struggles with is that people become radical activists out of a desire to change the world, but often find the subculture of radicalism to be an attractive refuge from the unjust world. This undermines their capacity to connect with people outside their small subculture — but it is only by aligning themselves with substantial portions those outside people that they can actually hope to change the world.

Sherman agrees with the advice of Hegemony How-To, but concludes with an important question about the constraints and limitations an ascendent Left faces today, even if all of this advice were heeded:

Anarchistic emphasis on building “prefigurative” relations in the here and now developed out of a pessimism about the liberatory potential of attaining state power. The first few years in this period of renewed interest in the state-oriented approach haven’t exactly proven them wrong.

Read the full review at The Indydependent.

Rethinking Activism and Embracing Power – Counterpunch review of HHT

May 19, 2017July 13, 2017 by Jonathan Matthew Smucker

Bruce E. Levine wrote a thoughtful review of Hegemony How-To for Counterpunch.

Smucker spares nothing and no one—including himself—in his passion to achieve political victory.

Read the full review at Counterpunch.

Sarah Jaffe reviews Hegemony How-To & Direct Action for Bookforum

February 16, 2017March 15, 2017 by Jonathan Matthew Smucker

Journalist Sarah Jaffe has written a combined book review of Hegemony How-To and L.A. Kauffman’s new history of direct action.

As America is transformed into Trumplandia, L. A. Kauffman’s Direct Action: Protest and the Reinvention of American Radicalism and Jonathan Matthew Smucker’s Hegemony How-To: A Roadmap for Radicals offer vital interventions, ready for a larger audience who, before November 9, might not have considered themselves radical but now see no alternative to joining the fight.

Read the full review at Bookforum.

Publishers Weekly on HHT: “a powerful, rigorous, and clear-eyed guide”

January 1, 2017March 15, 2017 by Jonathan Matthew Smucker

Publishers Weekly is first to review Hegemony How-To:

Smucker, a longtime grassroots organizer, debuts with a powerful, rigorous, and clear-eyed guide to building social justice movements… His writing is personable and accessible even as he engages with complicated social theory. Left-wing political organizers and those interested in social movements will find this book instructive and potent.

Read the full review at Publishers Weekly.