Summer reading suggestions
Holiday reads
You’ve slaved all year, and finally have a moment* to sit down and get your teeth into a decent tome. Where to start?
Well, before you consult the search engines or browse the stacks, go armed with this handful of education- and union-related suggestions.
Happy reading!
Crimes Against Nature: Capitalism and Global Heating
Jeff Sparrow
It’s the topic we can’t ignore, but one that could do with a fresh perspective, and if anyone can do that, it’s Sparrow, whose books always offer a unique take on a major topic or examine neglected but necessary stories.
Crimes argues that “ordinary people have consistently opposed the destruction of nature and so provide an untapped constituency for climate action”.
Reviewer Stuart Rollo describes Sparrow as “an anchor of integrity and considered optimism”. That’s the sort of guide you need to take on such a pervasive yet contentious issue.
Hard Labour: Wage Theft in the Age of Inequality
Ben Schneiders
This new book from The Age’s industrial relations expert is an examination of a heist taking place in plain view – and all the more important for being called out because of it. This book has the lowdown on how billions of dollars have been unlawfully taken from workers at countless businesses, large and small, during an era in which the loss of worker power in Australia has led to rising inequality. Extensively researched, it adeptly contextualises the wage stagnation and oligarchical drift of the past decade and this century.
Rigged: How networks of powerful mates rip off everyday Australians
Cameron K Murray and Paul Frijters
A companion title, or alternative to Hard Labour, this Guardian favourite is a “fascinating and infuriating exploration of how nepotism, corruption and dodgy deals” undermined Australian society and robbed the general population of half our wealth.
Economists Murray and Frijters explore how a small cabal within big corporations, industry groups and government departments have transformed Australia “from one of the most equal societies in the western world to one of the most unequal in just a decade”.
Our Members be Unlimited: A Comic about Workers and their Unions
Sam Wallman
The IEU has promoted this acclaimed book-length comic more than once, but for those of you who haven’t come across it yet, let us quote ourselves: “It’s 256 magnificent colour pages of history, narrative, distinctive art, and thoughtful writing”.
Famous author Christos Tsiolkas, says, “Sam Wallman’s comic is history and argument, it is celebration and reflection, and with every turn of its beautiful, vivid pages it is a reminder of the galvanising power of radical solidarity and of radical love. This book is a gift, it’s exhilarating.”
Unlimited serves as an ideal entry point for young people new to collective action, but it’s also as an invigorating read for those already engaged in the struggle for a better world.
Teacher Misery: Helicopter Parents, Special Snowflakes and Other Bullshit
Jane Morris
And
Happy Teachers Change the World: A Guide for Cultivating Mindfulness in Education
Thich Nhat Hanh, Katherine Weare
Every educator needs a laugh these days, and to read writers who understand what’s really going on in classrooms. Well, here’s two classic, wildly divergent versions of that – the darkly humorous take down and the practical guide to building resilience.
Morris (a pseudonym) has built a mini empire on chronicling “strange, funny, and sometimes unbelievable teaching experiences”. Her schtick is amusing tales of insanity – try on “parents who blame their son’s act of arson on the teacher for causing him low self-esteem” or “the student who offers to teach the teacher how to sell drugs so she can pay her bills”.
Happy Teachers is for when you’re on your health kick in the new year and want easy to follow step-by-step techniques and inspiration for establishing your own mindfulness practice.
Tara Westover
If you’re looking for a sincere, moving take of self-reinvention, look no further than this bestselling memoir of a woman denied education by her religious parents. Tara teaches herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she learns for the first time about the Holocaust and the civil rights movement. Educated is described as a “universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers”: just the tonic for educators looking to revitalise in early January.
*We know this is probably wishful thinking