A monthly Radical Reading Group at Left Bank Leeds with Pluto Press & Left Book Club.

Click the bookcase for the catalogue 📚

The reading group meet on the last Wednesday of every month at 6.30pm. Register to attend the next one 🗓

Become Ungovernable by H.L.T. Quan •

As if already free by Holly High & Joshua O Reno •

Badvertising by Andrew Murray & Leo Simms •

Less Is More by Jason Hickel •

Radical Intimacy by Sophie K Rosa •

Queer Footprints by Dan Glass

Hope In Hopeless Times by John Holloway

Become Ungovernable by H.L.T. Quan •

As if already free by Holly High & Joshua O Reno •

Badvertising by Andrew Murray & Leo Simms •

Less Is More by Jason Hickel •

Radical Intimacy by Sophie K Rosa •

Become Ungovernable by H.L.T. Quan •

Queer Footprints by Dan Glass

As if already free by Holly High & Joshua O Reno •

Badvertising by Andrew Murray & Leo Simms •

Less Is More by Jason Hickel •

Queer Footprints by Dan Glass

Radical Intimacy by Sophie K Rosa •

Hope In Hopeless Times by John Holloway

Queer Footprints

Enough

Become Ungovernable by H.L.T. Quan • As if already free by Holly High & Joshua O Reno • Badvertising by Andrew Murray & Leo Simms • Less Is More by Jason Hickel • Radical Intimacy by Sophie K Rosa • Queer Footprints by Dan Glass Hope In Hopeless Times by John Holloway Become Ungovernable by H.L.T. Quan • As if already free by Holly High & Joshua O Reno • Badvertising by Andrew Murray & Leo Simms • Less Is More by Jason Hickel • Radical Intimacy by Sophie K Rosa • Become Ungovernable by H.L.T. Quan • Queer Footprints by Dan Glass As if already free by Holly High & Joshua O Reno • Badvertising by Andrew Murray & Leo Simms • Less Is More by Jason Hickel • Queer Footprints by Dan Glass Radical Intimacy by Sophie K Rosa • Hope In Hopeless Times by John Holloway Queer Footprints Enough

Radical Reading

Room FAQ’s

Workers Can Win
Sarah Allison Sarah Allison

Workers Can Win

The Covid, climate and cost of living crises all hang heavy in the air. It's more obvious than ever that we need radical social and political change. But in the vacuum left by defeated labour movements, where should we begin? For longtime workplace activist Ian Allinson, the answer is clear: organising at work is essential to rebuild working-class power.

The premise is simple: organising builds confidence, capacity and collective power - and with power we can win change. Workers Can Win is an essential, practical guide for rank-and-file workers and union activists. Drawing on more than 20 years of organising experience, Allinson combines practical techniques with an analysis of the theory and politics of organising and unions.

The book offers insight into tried and tested methods for effective organising. It deals with tactics and strategies, and addresses some of the roots of conflict, common problems with unions and the resistance of management to worker organising. As a 101 guide to workplace organising with politically radical horizons, Workers Can Win is destined to become an essential tool for workplace struggles in the years to come.

Read More
Sound System
Sarah Allison Sarah Allison

Sound System

Musicians have often wanted to change the world. From underground innovators to pop icons many have believed in the political power of music. Rulers recognise it too. Music has been used to challenge the political and social order - and to prop up the status quo.

Sound System is the story of one musician's journey to discover what makes music so powerful. Dave Randall uses his insider's knowledge of the industry to shed light on the secrets of celebrity, commodification and culture.

This is a book of raves, riots and revolution. From the Glastonbury Festival to the Arab Spring, Pop Idol to Trinidadian Carnival, Randall finds political inspiration across the musical spectrum and poses the question: how can we make music serve the interests of the many, rather than the few?

Published in partnership with the Left Book Club.

Read More
The Geopolitics of Green Colonialism
Sarah Allison Sarah Allison

The Geopolitics of Green Colonialism

The time for denial is over. Across the Global North, the question of how we should respond to the climate crisis has been answered: with a shift to renewables, electric cars, carbon trading and hydrogen. Green New Deals across Europe and North America promise to reduce emissions while creating new jobs.

But beneath the sustainability branding, these climate 'solutions' are leading to new environmental injustices and green colonialism. The green growth and clean energy plans of the Global North require the large-scale extraction of strategic minerals from the Global South. The geopolitics of transition imply sacrificing not only territories, but truly sustainable ways of inhabiting this world. A new subordination in the global energy economy prevents societies in the South from developing sovereign strategies to foster a dignified life.

This book provides a platform for the voices that have been conspicuously absent in debates around energy and climate in the Global North. Drawing on case studies from across the Global South, the authors offer incisive critiques of green colonialism in its material, political and symbolic dimensions, discuss the multiple entanglements that forcefully connect the transitions of different world regions in a globalised economy, and explore alternative pathways toward a liveable and globally just future for all.

Read More

I just wanted to write a 'thank you' message for the reading group that you offer at Left Bank and for creating the space to explore such important topics.  I'm grateful that in a chaotic world, there are quiet places like this one, where there is space to think differently, question the current ways of things and explore alternatives.”