Monday, April 28, 2008

THE GEOGRAPHY OF BITTERNESS

Thought of the day: "Common sense can, therefore, be profoundly misleading, obfuscating or disguising real problems under cultural prejudices. Cultural and traditional values (such as belief in God and country or views on the position of women in society) and fears (of communists, immigrants, strangers, or 'others') can be mobilized to mask other realities." So sayeth David Harvey, geographer and critic, in his brilliant, if sometimes flawed, book, A Brief History of Neoliberalism (2005). For you wonks, the quote can be found on page 39. Sound familiar? Harvey must be required reading in Hyde Park, though I'm guessing that Austan Goolsbee hasn't cracked the book's spine.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Two references for the same book on the same day........I think I know what you're reading right now.

Unknown said...

What's your sense of its flaws? I'm not saying it isn't, but my memory of the book has gotten fogged up since it first came out. And I took most of the book in a "right on" kind of way.