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A review by theol
In Defense of Looting: A Riotous History of Uncivil Action by Vicky Osterweil
5.0
The author traces the roots of contemporary civil unrest and looting to the history and tactics of the black liberation movement and slave revolts, recontextualizing the self-liberation of slaves in the U.S. South as property theft/destruction due to the objectification and comoditization of black people. She does a fantastic job of illustrating the interconnectedness of racism and capitalism in a very clear and concise way, with a great balance of historical context and analysis.
I don't normally write reviews, but I felt the need to now because I was so surprised by the negative reactions to the book I've seen. Very funny to see people appalled by the defense of illegal actions as protest to an unjust system in reaction to a book that spends so long discussing how the self-liberation of slaves was literally illegal at the time and severely punished by the proto-police force as the theft of plantation owners' property, and would have severely inconvenienced those benefitting off that unjust system as well. One through line of this book is about this culture's valuing of property over human autonomy and quality of life, and I think the overly sanitized versions of history we are constantly being fed leads people to overlook that.
That being said, I personally don't like some of the more casual phrasing the book uses, particularly towards the begining, but that's more of an issue of personal preference and less of an actual issue of the writing itself. Overall a great and engaging quick read for those who are receptive to it.
I don't normally write reviews, but I felt the need to now because I was so surprised by the negative reactions to the book I've seen. Very funny to see people appalled by the defense of illegal actions as protest to an unjust system in reaction to a book that spends so long discussing how the self-liberation of slaves was literally illegal at the time and severely punished by the proto-police force as the theft of plantation owners' property, and would have severely inconvenienced those benefitting off that unjust system as well. One through line of this book is about this culture's valuing of property over human autonomy and quality of life, and I think the overly sanitized versions of history we are constantly being fed leads people to overlook that.
That being said, I personally don't like some of the more casual phrasing the book uses, particularly towards the begining, but that's more of an issue of personal preference and less of an actual issue of the writing itself. Overall a great and engaging quick read for those who are receptive to it.