Recommended Reading

The Art of War, by Tsung Tzu

How Non-Violence Protects The State, by Peter Gelderloos. Contemporary movements for social change face plenty of difficult questions, but sometimes matters of strategy and tactics receive low priority. Many North American activists fail to scrutinize the role of nonviolence, never posing essential questions:
• Is nonviolence effective at ending systems of oppression?
• Does nonviolence intersect with white privilege and the dominance of North over South?
• How does pacifism reinforce the same power dynamic as patriarchy?
• Ultimately, does nonviolence protect the state?

Pacifism as Pathology, by Ward Churchhill. Pacifism, the ideology of nonviolent political resistance, has been the norm among mainstream North American progressive groups for decades. But to what end? Ward Churchill challenges the pacifist movement's heralded victories—Ghandhi in India, 1960s anti-war activists, even Martin Luther King's civil rights movement—suggesting that their success was in spite of, rather than because of, their nonviolent tactics.

Empty Cages: Facing the Challenge of Animal Rights, by Tom Regan.  Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (2004)  See in particular Chapter 1 on how animal exploitation industries shamelessly manipulate “welfare” language to mask the cruelties they inflict on animals and position animal rights activists as extremists.

Igniting A Revolution, editors Steven Best, PhD and Anthony J. Nocella II. Lantern Books (2006). Whether you're drawn by frustration with environmental strategies that, to date, have been ineffective against this growing ecological crisis, or simply by curiosity (Who are these people? Why are they doing this? What do they hope to gain?), Igniting a Revolution offers a fascinating and compelling look at the emerging movement of revolutionary environmentalism.

Terrorists or Freedom Fighters: Reflections on the Liberation of Animals, editors Steven Best, PhD and Anthony J. Nocella II. Lantern Books (2004). The first anthology of writings on the history, ethics, politics and tactics of the Animal Liberation Front, Terrorists or Freedom Fighters features both academic and activist perspectives and offers powerful insights into this international organization and its position within the animal rights movement.

Toxic Sludge Is Good for You!: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry, by John Stauber, Sheldon Rampton. Common Courage Press (1995) An excellent critique of the Orwellian distortions of meaning by public relations firms. “Scarier than anything by Stephen King” says author Martin Teitel.

Trust Us We're Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future, by John Stauber, Sheldon Rampton.Penguin Putnam (2002) The great follow up work by Stauber and Rampton, this time focusing on how scientists are tools for PR industries’ anti-consumer agendas. This is the book that “unmasks the sneaky and widespread methods industry uses to influence opinion through bogus experts, doctored data, and manufactured facts.”

Sacred Cows and Golden Geese: The Human Cost of Experiments on Animals, by Ray C. Greek and Jean Swingle Greek. Continumm (2002). The first in a trilogy of superb books debunking the myths of vivisection and establishing its scientifically fraudulent nature. Because of important differences in animal and human physiology, the Greeks contend, animals often have a wildly different response to diseases and medications than do humans. The authors argue that every year roughly 100,000 Americans die of adverse reactions to drugs that proved, in animals, to be perfectly safe. Where vivisectors have a highly creative reading of medical history, falsely claiming that the most significant medical advances came from using animal models, the Greeks argue that, much to the contrary, animal models have delayed key breakthrough which came about only when they were abandoned in favor of alternatives.

Specious Science: How Genetics and Evolution Reveal Why Medical Research on Animals Harms Humans, by Ray C. Greek and Jean Swingle Greek. Continuum (2003). In their second volume debunking the myths of vivisection, the Greeks use current knowledge of genetics and evolution “to explain why animal-modeled science should be viewed with the same skepticism that most educated people view crystal therapy, pyramid power, and faith healing” (reviewer Rick Bogle). The book also describes recent breakthroughs and advances in medicine that stem from alternative models using human biology, genetics, epidemiology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics.

What Will We Do If We Don't Experiment on Animals: Medical Research for the Twenty-First Century, by Ray C. Greek and Jean Swingle Greek Continuum (2004). In their third volume exposing the waste and fraud of vivisection, the Greeks mount still more evidence in their devastating critique of vivisection, as they compile more important research showing how alternatives to animal models are providing new insights into human disease and offering potential new cures. The Greeks give readers an enlightening tour of truly modern medical research that is grounded in a thorough appreciation of the underlying genetics behind disease and our individual responses to drug therapies.