This a momentous year for whistleblowing, muckraking and activism, we’ve selected our must-reads on activism and resistance.
Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous by Gabriella Coleman
Essential reading for anyone interested in the history and workings of the oft-maligned and little-understood activist collective. As Gabriella Coleman reveals, Anonymous’ blend of subversive political tactics and chutzpah has done much to expose wrongdoing in the fight for government and corporate transparency. Like the Occupy movement with which they are often affiliated, the popularity of Anonymous’ broad anti-capitalist, anti-war stance is testament to the Internet’s power for mobilization, making them a movement for our times.
[spacer height=”40px”]
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate by Naomi Klein
This wide-ranging climate change polemic could be the most significant environmental book in generations. Accessible, powerfully argued and urgent, “This Changes Everything” is a wake-up call to the ravaging effects of climate change understood through the crisis of capitalism. Despite the severity of the issues at stake, Klein’s message is ultimately one of optimism as she argues that the radical change required has the power to transform not only how we interact with our environment but our reimagination of social and cultural priorities.
[spacer height=”40px”]
No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State by Glenn Greenwald
This gripping account tracing Edward Snowden’s astonishing NSA revelations is crucial reading for understanding the implications of surveillance state. Greenwald – at the time a journalist for the Guardian – travelled to Hong Kong in May 2013 to meet with a mysterious source. What he was to discover would dramatically transform our discourse of privacy and civil liberties. Reading like a thriller in parts, “No Place to Hide” also offers a compelling treatise on establishment media.
