Capitalism

A Ghost Story

by

Published Feb. 24, 2014 by Haymarket Books.

ISBN:
978-1-60846-385-5
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5 stars (1 review)

From the poisoned rivers, barren wells, and clear-cut forests, to the hundreds of thousands of farmers who have committed suicide to escape punishing debt, to the hundreds of millions of people who live on less than two dollars a day, there are ghosts nearly everywhere you look in India. India is a nation of 1.2 billion, but the country’s 100 richest people own assets equivalent to one-fourth of India’s gross domestic product.

Capitalism: A Ghost Story examines the dark side of democracy in contemporary India, and shows how the demands of globalized capitalism has subjugated billions of people to the highest and most intense forms of racism and exploitation.

4 editions

reviewed Capitalism by Arundhati Roy

Sad, informative, and beautiful.

5 stars

There's a lot in here that I have little idea about, which is largely because I don't know much about what has happened throughout India and its relationships to its neighbours (particularly Pakistan) in the recent past. Though I know about Partition, I haven't had a lot of exposure to Indian politics until recently. It's one of many knowledge gaps that I'm filling, even if it's very gradual.

But this book of essays is... Well, with good reason, there are a lot of very upsetting elements. But the way that Arundhati Roy wrote about these topics is... Oddly beautiful. The analogies and metaphors used clearly communicate the frustration and anger of many people.