Reviews and Comments

A good little book to get white people started on anti-racism, and a good refresher for white people with prior knowledge. This book is written with a German audience in mind, which is important because many Germans like to pretend like racism is an American problem. The book invites the (presumed white) reader to introspect about their white fragility and other defense mechanisms that may arise during reading. It also points to the many situations where we enjoy white privilege without noticing. I found this very valuable. As far as knowledge goes, I didn't gain much from the book, because it stays on a very basic level; I already know the history of colonialism and what a microaggression is. What I did gain is the introspection mentioned above. Reading books like this regularly is valuable for any white person looking to develop an anti-racist attitude in everyday life. Now of course, an anti-racist mentality and attitude is not enough - action on the political and societal level is necessary, which the book doesn't address. This is fine of course. Anti-racism needs to start somewhere.

The first third is entirely skippable. It makes the argument that fascists shouldn't be given a platform (chapter 1) and that the Left has lost ground on social issues, which have been recuperated by fascists (chapter 2).

Chapter 3 is where the fun begins. The "organizing" concept is described as an alternative to "autonomous" leftist politics.

Chapter 4 is the heart of the book. Activists from six different organizations that embody some aspects of the organizing concept were interviewed by the author. These interviews get summarized and quoted extensively. The description by frontline activists of the work they do is enjoyable to read, and extremely valuable for my own activism. I gained many new insights into what leftist activism can be.

The book suffers from a lot of typos and other small mistakes. Its strength lies in the interviews of activists, its weakness is all the theorizing around them. The antifascism theme is little more than a framing device - ultimately, this is just a book about the concept of organizing and how six german groups implemented it. That imo is valuable enough on its own.