Resistance Against Empire – Derrick Jensen [review]

books & media | October 21, 2010 by | Comments Off

resistance Resistance Against Empire Derrick Jensen [review]

Whether it is penning an indictment of civilization or asking questions aimed at inciting radical transformation, Derrick Jensen has emerged as one of the most prominent voices calling for revolutionary change. In Endgame, his best known book, Jensen argued against the spectacle of society. In Resistance Against Empire (Flashpoint/PM Press, 2010), he brings together researchers, activists and others to expose the fissures in the society he talks about in Endgame.

The thinkers profiled are extraordinary. Whether it is Juliet Schor conveying a sense of the history of imperialism or economic models or Ramsey Clark on U.S. foreign policy, the analysis is impressive. But it is Jensen as interviewer that makes Resistance Against Empire so enjoyable.

In his interview with Clark, Jensen is likely one of the few interviewers to bring up how former presidential candidate and Senator John McCain used his status as a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, but never was accountable for the murders of civilians, which were all too commonplace during the war. You may have read a dozen interviews with Robert McChesney, but Jensen manages to make topics that political types have read before more contextual and even more disturbing. In Jensen’s hands, the interviews stand out.

Resistance Against Empire features some particularly notable discussions. Katherine Albrecht discusses technology and the new tracking obsession. RFID, consent, power and the collapse of culture are all entwined in such a dialog. Where else but in the United States, after all, has putting chips in infants and clothing become a socially acceptable response to what are at best random crimes or rare occurrences? In another section, Alfred McCoy investigates the CIA’s role in the drug trade. And although McCoy is realistic about drugs (current drug laws are unlikely to change, but states are making concessions out of budget and solution concerns), he adds a number of thought-provoking points related to the infamous French Connection, which was largely shut down as Turkish opium conduits were simply closed. Anuradha Mittal relates a diversity of issues, including greenwashing and dispossession of indigenous communities. And finally Kevin Bales, interviewed in many outlets but nowhere as uniquely, expounds on past and modern-day slavery.

A few may quibble that Resistance Against Empire is heavy on academics, or that it tends to lean toward an older interview group. However, Jensen succeeds at keeping his sources fresh and the book brisk and accessible.

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