Left and Right: The Small World of Political Ideas, by Christopher Cochrane
| Date | 01 December 2016 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020702016688404 |
| Author | Dubi Kanengisser |
| Published date | 01 December 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
can achieve this feat, thus reimagining the normative understanding of ‘‘develop-
ment’’ that is typically defined by transnational elites and achievable solely by
economic growth.
Garcia cautions that a unified position from social movement groups should not
be anticipated any time soon because of the diversity of their respective causes,
which suggests that the ‘‘Dialogue on development: the BRICS from the perspec-
tive of the people’’ summit in Fortaleza, Brazil in 2014 is a mere commencement
point, from which the motion toward anti-imperialism must continue.
Important to the volume is Wallerstein’s discussion of the origins of the BRICs
acronym, invented by Jim O’Neil of Goldman Sachs in his 2001 paper ‘‘The world
needs better economic BRICs’’ as a means of attracting investors to the world’s
‘‘economic future.’’ ‘‘BRICs’’ (the ‘‘S’’ was capitalized when South Africa joined
the bloc in 2012) progressed from concept to group, becoming both a celebrated
and contested entity. Wallerstein points to the transitory nature of BRICS high
growth rates, indicating that other countries in the South, namely Mexico,
Indonesia, South Korea, and Turkey have already begun to match them.
And from a place of seasoned scholarly wisdom, Wallerstein cautions that the
likelihood of another Goldman Sachs analyst projecting the BRICS as the premiere
economic destination in the future is uncertain.
Finally, BRICS: An Anti-Capitalist Critique is an unmistakably left-wing text
that gives keen insight into leftist rhetoric. It injects much needed criticality of the
BRICS regional bloc into the growing literature surrounding it, giving voice to
scholars who have not claimed a seat on its proverbial bandwagon. That being
said, the book could have benefited from more objectivity.
Christopher Cochrane
Left and Right: The Small World of Political Ideas
Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2015. 216 pp., CAD$34.95 (paper)
ISBN: 9780773545793
Reviewed by: Dubi Kanengisser, University of Toronto
‘‘Left’’ and ‘‘right’’ as political labels are two of the most ubiquitous terms used by
politicians, social scientists, and the general public, but they have proven remark-
ably resistant to definition. Although people generally ‘‘know them when they see
them’’, attempts to give a comprehensive explanation of just what it means to be
left or right usually fail. This has led some to abandon the terms altogether,
declaring that they have no coherent, consistent meaning.
In Left and Right, Christopher Cochrane, a political scientist at the University of
Toronto, takes a new approach to defining these terms. Cochrane describes the
political field as a network of ideas, where different actors (e.g. parties) can sup-
port, oppose, or be neutral toward each idea, and their support or opposition may
vary in strength. Using graph theory and the impressive database of party plat-
forms from the post-Second World War period created by the Comparative
Book Reviews 661
To continue reading
Request your trial