Synopses & Reviews
For debtors everywhere who want to understand how the system really works, this handbook provides practical tools for fighting debt in its most exploitative forms. Over the last 30 years as wages have stagnated across the country, average household debt has more than doubled. Increasingly, people are forced to take on debt to meet their needs; from housing to education and medical care. The results—wrecked lives, devastated communities, and an increasing reliance on credit to maintain basic living standards—reveal an economic system that enriches the few at the expense of the many. Detailed strategies, resources, and insider tips for dealing with some of the most common kinds of debt are covered in this manual, including credit card debt, medical debt, student debt, and housing debt. It also contains tactics for navigating the pitfalls of personal bankruptcy, as well as information on how to be protected from credit reporting agencies, debt collectors, payday lenders, check-cashing outlets, rent-to-own stores, and more. Additional chapters cover tax debt, sovereign debt, the relationship between debt and climate, and an expanded vision for a movement of mass debt resistance.
Review
“That debt is neither inevitable nor ethical is one of the powerful assertions of Strike Debt, whose brilliant manual is both a practical handbook and a manifesto for a true debt jubilee: an economic rebirth in which the indebted are freed and financial institutions are reinvented.” —Rebecca Solnit, author, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster
Review
“Two tasks for those who care about the health of the society: change the design, and find ways to cope as effectively with the failures it imposes. This valuable monograph by Strike Debt provides a good guide to undertake both.” —Noam Chomsky, author, Hopes and Prospects
Synopsis
Over the last thirty years, as wages have stagnated across the country, average household debt has more than doubled. Increasingly, we are forced to take on debt to meet our needs--from housing, to education, to medical care. The results--wrecked lives, devastated communities, and an increasing reliance on credit to maintain our basic living standards--reveal an economic system that enriches the few at the expense of the many.
The Debt Resisters' Operations Manual is a handbook for debtors everywhere to understand how this system really works, while providing practical tools for fighting debt in its most exploitative forms. Inside, you'll find detailed strategies, resources, and insider tips for dealing with some of the most common kinds of debt, including credit card debt, medical debt, student debt, and housing debt. The book also contains tactics for navigating the pitfalls of personal bankruptcy, and information to help protect yourself from credit reporting agencies, debt collectors, payday lenders, check cashing outlets, rent-to-own stores, and more.
Written and edited by a network of activists, writers, and academics from Occupy Wall Street, additional chapters cover tax debt, sovereign debt, the relationship between debt and climate, and an expanded vision for a movement of mass debt resistance.
About the Author
George Caffentzis is a political philosopher and an autonomist Marxist. He founded the Midnight Notes Collective, is a founding member of the Committee for Academic Freedom in Africa, and is a professor of philosophy at the University of Southern Maine. His books include In Letters of Blood and Fire: Work, Machines, and the Crisis of Capitalism. He Lives in New York City. Strike Debt is a network of activists, writers, and academics from Occupy Wall Street. It is located in New York City. David Graeber is an anthropologist, author, and anarchist who is a reader in social anthropology at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is the author of many books, including Debt: The First 5,000 Years. Amin Husain is an artist and activist. He was among the founding organizers of the Occupy Wall Street Movement and an editor of the movements journal, Tidal. His writing has appeared in Yes! Magazine, Adbusters magazine, and the Nation, among many others. He lives in New York City. Nicholas Mirzoeff is a visual culture theorist and professor in the department of media, culture, and communication at New York University. He is best known for his work developing the field of visual culture and for his many books, including The Right to Look: A Counterhistory of Visuality. He lives in New York City. Andrew Ross is a professor in the department of social and cultural analysis at New York University. A writer for Artforum International Magazine, the Nation, and the Village Voice, he is also the author and/or editor of numerous books including Nice Work If You Can Get It: Life and Labor in Precarious Times. He lives in New York City. Natasha Singh is an artist and activist who was among the founding organizers of the Occupy Wall Street Movement and an editor of the movements journal, Tidal. Yes! Magazine, Adbusters magazine, and the Nation, among many others. She lives in New York City. Astra Taylor is a Canadian-American documentary filmmaker and writer, best known for her 2005 film, Žižek!, about the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, and for her 2008 film, Examined Life. She is coeditor of Occupy!: Scenes from Occupied America and author of The People's Platform: And Other Digital Delusions. She lives in New York City.