Media

Books

The Anti-Capitalism Reader by Joel Schalit (Editor)
A collection of essays covering Anti-Capitalism and the origins of the movement, its history and ideals. Following both traditional academic topics and more pragmatic real-world issues, this book includes the statements of outside observers and self-identified anti-capitalists alike, including articles from Doug Henwood, Naomi Klein, Ali Abunimah, Annalee Newitz, Paul Thomas, Ultra-red, and the Bad Subjects collective and interviews with Slavoj Zizek, Toni Negri, Thomas Frank, and Wendy Brown.

Anti-Capitalism: A Field Guide to the Global Justice Movement by Emma Bircham (Editor)
This book takes a journalistic approach to the events of the global anti-capitalist movement to date, but does so from within the perspective of a committed anti-capitalist. Covering the breadth of the movement from trade, pharmaceutical patents, environmental destruction, genetically modified food, war, and immigration controls to pure anti-globalism, this book gives a breadth of exploratory views on the anti-capitalist movement.

No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies by Naomi Klein
The author illustrates how in a modern world driven by commerce, brand awareness and social trafficking in brand comparison is impossible to avoid, and gestures for a new movement of people resisting brand identity and the call of convenience shopping.

The Silent Takeover: Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy by Noreena Hertz
Attacking the form of neoliberal transnational commerce which flourished under Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, this book explains global capitalism as the fallout from previous generations of liberal societies unable to tame their powerful corporations, and gains its title from a reference to the insidious but unnoticeably slow increase in corporate presence in the everyday lives of Americans.

Globalization and Its Discontents by Joseph E. Stiglitz
Written from a pro-Globalization perspective by a former member of the Clinton Administration cabinet and a Nobel Prize winner in Economics, this book advocates a more responsible globalism and talks endlessly about its advantages, but does not address many of the disadvantages to this system made clear by anti-capitalist doctrine. Those who know the inclination of all combatants are stronger for it.

When Corporations Rule the World by David C. Korten
A moderate with excellent credentials wrote this book to expose the growing trend of corporate dominance of media, cultural icons, government and social behavior. The consequence, as predicted, is a coming age of rule by government in which culture and social aspects take a back seat to profits, as do individual rights. While often the cautious nature of the solutions explored by this book is frustrating to anti-capitalism activists, the information and analysis is priceless.

Music

The Exploited - Death Before Dishonour
Stop -- think of a punk band. Punk hardcore, if you still call it that. You're probably thinking of The Exploited. Anti-capital, anti-society, anti-authority and anti-pretense, with grating loud guitars and abundant energy, in addition to the foothigh mohawks and spiked denim jackets. The music is impeccably punk and brilliantly inventive.

Discharge - Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing
The band that invented crustcore and huge parts of death and black metal, Discharge were prototypical punkers: loud, droning, emotive, vaguely melodic and rhythmically violent. This album came out in 1982 and tens of thousands of bands have been trying to re-create it ever since.

GBH - City Baby Attacked by Rats
Similar to Discharge, this is resonantly droning hardcore music with primitive riffs, simple song structures, and abrupt changes. Urgency in rhythm and minor key melodies keep it moving along at high intensity, and its appeal to the heart slumbering within the everyday working human occurs through impassioned screams and terrifyingly minimal, vivid, and real riffing.

MDC - Millions of Dead Cops/More Dead Cops
From the beginnings of the hardcore crossover movement, this avant-political band tore up stages and eardrums with their bursts of loud but short songs. Criticial of nearly everything, this band slice through the facade of society with low-fi but highly accurate and spirited music.

7 Seconds - The Crew
From the vaults of the classic style of blistering hardcore, Seven Seconds is a storm of energy which flings itself forth onto the world with an aggressive and dissent that makes most people look complacent. Attacking money, church, society and habits of unthinking humans, this music is stimulus for revolution.

Bad Religion - No Control
Although this band is punk in the oldest mainstream tradition, it might be a little bit on the light side for serious punkers. However, the lyrical diatribe here unleashed is liberalized resentment for all things in society that annoy the creators behind this band, forming a wall of political revenge and social critique in omnipotent sound.

Bad Brains - Black Dots
Jazz/fusion players taking some time out from the day trade in music, Bad Brains was one of the first punk bands to accelerate the New York hardcore sound into racing combat music, and remain one of the most enigmatic punk bands to this day for their obscure fusion of reggae, anti-capitalist punk, and race politics. Fast, short songs with marijuana-influenced breaks and island rhythms mixed in with the grating textures of hardcore punk make this a memorable listen.

Black Flag- Damaged
Gnarly west coast punkers made dissonant and jarringly unsettled anthems to suburban discontent and a nasty sinking feeling to the whole product-oriented cold war empire of the United States. If you ever have a sensation of sickness and disorientation to a capitalist society, this album will quickly groove to your angst and inflame it with a rationality reminder of the unreality of our modern environment.

Minor Threat - Complete Discography
Although it all fits onto one CD, the sounds contained therein are some of the foundations of American hardcore. Defining the DC school of punk, and laying down the groundwork for both musical and political exploration to follow, Minor Threat used fast power chords and melodic vocals to create the foundations of emo out of wildly chaotic and violent, dissatisfied music.

DRI - Dealing With It
Land speed records for musical ferocity were set with this disc, which burst onto the scene as punk was first collapsing and metal was fading into hairbandland, channeling years of aggression and frustration with the stupidity of a numb world into fast, short songs blasting dischord at the system. This band recorded the original of "Money Stinks" and in doing so set down ideals which later generations would gladly follow.