Magazine Issue 7 - Spring 1998
Book Reviews

Beyond Beef.
The rise and fall of the Cattle Culture, by Jeremy Rifkin. REVIEW BY JEN LINTON

"There are currently 1.28 billion cattle populating the earth. They take up nearly 24 per cent of the landmass of the planet and consume enough grain to feed hundreds of millions of people". So begins "Beyond Beef: The rise and fall of the cattle culture", Jeremy Rilkin's riveting account of the development and proliferation of a "global cattle complex". Now referred to by the United States Department of Agriculture as a "grain consuming animal unit", the cow has become little more than a unit of production in a global cattle complex dating hack to the Eurasian Steppes over 6,000 years ago.

According to Rifkin, throughout time beef has become such an important part of our diet and social structure that we will turn a blind eye to environmental destruction and starvation in order to ensure that enough cattle are produced to satisfy the global appetite.

Beyond Beef illuminates a situation which has transcended all borders. Country by country Rifkin describes destruction of the environment and displacement of populations in order to supply land for cattle grazing and grain (one-third of the world's grain goes to feed livestock while 40-60 million people die each year from hunger-related diseases); the horrible conditions in abbatoirs; the link between beef, nationalism, class and gender- hierarchies and the central role of multinationals in creating and proliferating the entire cattle complex and thus turning the cow into "beef".

Rilkin's main fault is that he sometimes seems t6 get carried away: "By eliminating beef from the human diet," we are told in the very last sentence, "our species takes a significant step toward a new species consciousness, reaching out in a spirit of shared partnership with the bovine, and, by extension, other sentient creatures with whom we share the earth".

But don't let the thought of a shared bovine experience deter you, for, as a whole, Beyond Beef is a fascinating read and should be required reading for all beef eaters. It is unlikely that anyone reading this book in its entirety would ever be able to bite into a hamburger with a clear conscience again. Published by Plume (Penguin), 1992


Inside Cowley
Trade union struggle in the 1970s, by Alan Thornett. REVIEW BY MARK LYNAS
On the east side of Oxford, where the road into Cowley turns off the bypass, there is a large area of derelict land - several acres across, bordered by closely-packed housing estates. A mere thirty years ago this windswept and uninviting place was the scene of some of the most important union battles in twentieth century Britain - struggles of working men and women which left an indelible impact on this country's political landscape.

On the other side of the bypass, the scene is dominated by the remaining half of what was then British Leyland. Now Rover, it is still one of Oxford's biggest employers, but the unions which once wielded such power are a neutered, emasculated force. Back in 1969 alone there were over 600 strikes at the Cowley car plant, which was one of the most militant in the country. There were many victories - in pay, conditions and union recognition. But throughout the seventies, even as the shop stewards movement gained in strength, the union was being subtly undeimined - by its own leadership.

In his meticulous chronicling of those heady days, Alan Thornett is carrying out a vital task. Memories have faded fast, and in a country brainwashed by Thatcherism unions are increasingly remembered only as dinosaurs. That working people can fight and win in a collective struggle is no longer part of Britain's popular consciousness.

It was George Orwell who pointed out: "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." And it's true that to date the history of the union movement has mainly been written h~ the bosses. That is why 'Inside Cowley' such an important book - reclaiming the pas is the first step towards the ultimate objectivr of reclaiming the future'.

Published by Porcupine Press, 10 Woburn Walk, London WCIH OJL ISBN 1 899438 270


Confronting Tyranny.
The case for monetary reform and economic democracy, by Mike Rowbotham. Review by Chris Grimshaw

Money is a fiction. It has no intrinsic value You can't eat it, build houses out of it, or d( anything particularly useful with it directly Its value lies in exchanging it for goods an( services and it exists only by the consent 0 those who use it. Row can it be then that this convenient fiction has come to govern om lives and actively hinder the sustainabl~ development of society? Why can we noi afford all the teachers and nurses, housing an~ public services that we so desparately need Why does the economy favour cheap, lo~ quality mass-produced goods shipped bact and forth around the globe rather than long. lasting quality goods produced within local communities? And how can every country ir the world be in debt?

Mike Rowbotham's book approache': economics from a rarely considered angle the nature of money itself. The staggering faci about money is how it is made - not by government but by the banks and building societies. Every time you borrow money, take out a mortgage or overdraft, new money created. The bank does not lend you someone else's deposited cash, it simply creates money out of nothing.

Drawing on the work of Abraham Lincoln, who was murdered just weeks after concluding his critique of the fiscal system. and C.H. Douglas, the pioneer of Social Credit, Rowbotham offers a radical critique ol the problems confronting society and show's how the debt-money system has created the climate in which these all-too-familiar insanities have come about. Re also proposes a simple solution to the problem...
Get a copy of this book and leave it under an economist's pillow.

Copies available for £15 from Brett's Cottage, Chapel Road, Thurgarton, Norwich, Norfolk, NRII 7NP.