In the current phase of The People’s Book Project, I have been doing extensive research and writing on the global economic crisis and anti-austerity and resistance movements worldwide.
My objective is to finish this book as soon as possible, to have it published by the end of the year. However, I do need your support in order to continue my work on this project. With an objective to raise $2,500, I have so far raised $975.00, meaning that there is $1,525 to go!
Thus, far, I have written extensively on the causes of the American housing crisis and financial collapse and bailouts; the causes and consequences of the European debt crisis; the anti-austerity movements – such as the Indignados – but also violent resistance in the streets of Athens, that have been taking place in Europe; I have already done a significant degree of work on the Quebec student movement, as well as the Chilean student movement, and have been doing a good deal of research on the U.K. student movement from 2010 as well as the Occupy movement.
While over 250 pages of detailed research have been written and compiled, there is still a ways to go! There is more work to be done on the European debt crisis. I have roughly 50 pages single-spaced just on Greece alone, roughly the equivalent for Spain, as well as Italy, and a comparable amount for an analysis of the European politics of power at the high levels (France, Germany, Brussels); however, I still need to complete research and work on Ireland and Portugal, as well as finishing up the other sections. My main problem in writing about the European debt crisis is that every week there seem to be new and dramatic events unfolding in the EU, and it is a challenge to keep up with just the surface of what’s going on, let alone all the causes and consequences. However, I am quite determined, and my research into the crisis shows me just how unbelievably important it is to do the best research I can on this subject, and to properly explain the situation in words and terms that everyone can relate to and understand. This means I have to analyze and criticize the language which is used by politicians, economists, bankers, and the media when they describe the crisis, its causes, and its ‘solutions.’
I have also done a good deal of work on the situation in Canada, in terms of Canada’s experience with the economic crisis, and a coming housing collapse in the country, approaching austerity and growing resistance. I have yet to study the Mexican student movement, but it will definitely be included as well.
There is a great deal more work to do, and as much work as I am accomplishing, I can’t seem to be going fast enough to my liking. But I also don’t want to rush through just for the sake of finishing. Your support has to go toward the development of a finished product which I can be proud of, and which I hope others may find helpful and informative.
I have not done any recent work on the Arab Spring, and due to the length and effort already put in this book so far, and considering how far I have left to go, I may have to consider leaving it out for the moment, though this would be unfortunate. But this I will not decide right now.
I have also posted several articles, samples, and research excerpts from my book and the type of information I am examining and analyzing. These are very rough drafts, but it gives readers an idea of the work that is going into the project (in terms of the detail) – for example, in the articles on Italy’s crisis – but also on some of the analytical approaches to the subject matter – such as in my piece on political language – and of course on the scope I am hoping to reach – such as in the piece on ‘world revolution.’ Here are my recent samples:
- “Italy in Crisis: The Decline of the Roman Democracy and Rise of the ‘Super Mario’ Technocracy”
- “Super Mario Monti and the Dictatorship of Austerity in Italy”
- “Austerity, Adjustment, and Social Genocide: Political Language and the European Debt Crisis”
- “Welcome to the World Revolution in the Global Age of Rage”
The more research and writing I do on this massive crisis and the resistance erupting around the world has me utterly convinced of two major points: first, the elite are waging unrestrained class warfare the likes of which have never before been seen on such a truly massive global scale; and second, the people of the world are sporadically and often surprisingly rising up in different contexts and through different tactics against this corrupt and archaic system. The elite are seeking all for them and nothing for all, while the people are rising up, sensing instinctively that humanity was not meant to live like this.
I feel a great sense of urgency in finishing this book as soon as possible, for the global circumstances are themselves changing so rapidly, and I feel that this information needs to be approachable and accessible as soon as humanly possible. So help me to do what I can to put words to paper so that you and others may ‘read the revolution’ before – and even as – you go out and start it!
Thank you for all of your amazing and constant support!
Thank you for your donations, for sharing my articles, for re-posting my articles, for discussing this project, and for translating my work into different languages, and for sending me information and being sources of inspiration!
Sincerely,
Andrew Gavin Marshall
