Publisher's Synopsis
WeSay:
A carefully built, layer upon layer argument laying the responsiblity strictly, before our own consciences, for the many different oppressions that exist on a global scale, but chiefly designed in the west. At once showing succinctly, cogently, yet never despairingly, how we are all too often oblivious to the oblivion of others in society, of different cultures and the very earth itself. A book that should be read by everyone, to re-kindle the damped down fire in our bellies. It ought to be put into the hands of all of us, as ammunition against the horrendous and plainly stupid injustices we foist upon ourselves and others. A deeply humane book with true hope in its message. - Ray, bookseller, Oxford
An eye-opening book about how societies are designed to support the status of those in power at the destructive expense of those without it. Read it and take responsibility.
ECOLOGICAL OPPRESSION
In 1958, China declared war on sparrows, destroying its own crops and contributing to the deaths of more than 10 million people.
ECONOMIC OPPRESSION
In the nineteenth century, the Shuar people of Ecuador were driven by economic necessity to procure shrunken heads for the Western curio market. The bloody wars that ensued nearly destroyed their society.
EDUCATIONAL OPPRESSION
There have been fifty-five prime ministers of Great Britain, of whom forty-eight have been privately educated, creating a society built by and for the privileged.
These are just some of the stories in this remarkable book that illustrate the key factors that allow societies to create and sustain oppressive systems. Some are historical. Others have played out right before our eyes over the last decade. All are rooted in the systems in which we all participate.
Together they represent the layers of systematic, often insidious oppression that make up the world today.
'I thought I had a pretty good sense of how colonialism shapes modern society, but Dr Davy has shown me that understanding these things is a lifetime's work. In the absence of time to read everything, you could not ask for a more eloquent guide than this book. Essential' - Sathnam Sanghera
