The Anti-Capitalist Dictionary

Book excerpt: This dictionary is an alternative and a counter-balance to the many political dictionaries that ignore or marginalize the history and influence of anti-capitalist movements. It paints a rich picture of the ideas and issues that inform today's anti-capitalist activity. Anti-capitalism has existed in many forms and with a variety of names since the advent of capitalism. But this kind of oppositional force has often been ignored, misrepresented or trivialised by many in the mainstream media and academia and by established political parties. In the wake of the protests which started in Seattle in 1999, the continuing dissent around the Bush/Blair regimes, and ongoing commitments to neo-liberalism around the world, the movement continues to flourish. The Anti-Capitalist Dictionary is organised in an easily accessible alphabetical format, with self-contained, cross-referenced entries that introduce and explain concepts and issues that are integral to understanding today's global movement. The Dictionary demonstrates how the meaning and relevance of some of these have evolved and illustrates a linkage between past and present activity that might be unfamiliar to people who are involved or interested in the movement's current manifestations. This Dictionary has international coverage and will prove invaluable to students of politics as well as to activists and the general reader. David Lowes has a PhD on the theory and practice of labour activism from Liverpool John Moores University. He has been active in labour movement politics for over twenty years.