Overview

A provocative history of Disney's rise to cultural dominance, pulling skeletons from the corporate closet to decode the political messages hidden in all of your favorite childhood movies. Vicky Osterweil takes us on a quest to discover how Disney's ""imagineers"" have made it impossible to reflect on the wonders of growing up without thinking of Disney's movies, amusement parks, and merchandising. Drawing on extensive interviews with filmmakers, screenwriters, union organizers, and Disney ""adults"" alike, Osterweil unearths reactionary political commitments and maleficent legal maneuvers so cartoonishly evil they would make one of Walt's own animated villains blush. and beyond!

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Table of Contents

Reviews

"Praise for In Defense of Looting ""Osterweil debuts with a provocative, Marxist-informed defense of looting as a radical and effective protest tactic...a bracing rethink of the goals and methods of protest."" ―Publishers Weekly ""A reflection on violence as a form of social protest that can lead to social change."" ―New York Journal of Books ""[ In Defense of Looting ] is as much an argument for the possibilities of a riot as it is a reckoning between history as it happens and history as it is read.... [Osterweil's] readings of history lend the book its exhilarating quality and make anything seem possible."" ―Frieze "" In Defense of Looting is a clear and damning indictment of the origins and evolution of property rights, race, and policing in the United States. Ultimately, Osterweil demands we not only overcome the respectability politics animating our desire for 'peaceful protests, ' but that we ambitiously work to abolish the racial capitalist logics at the heart of American empire."" ―Zo� Samudzi, coauthor of As Black As Resistance ""In engaging and accessible prose, Vicky Osterweil lays out an intellectual defense of looting that is as thorough and compelling as it is necessary and revolutionary. The history here is alive and vital, and Osterweil's grasp of it pushes any reader who has doubted the legitimacy of looting as a political action to search deeply and reconsider their position."" ―Mychal Denzel Smith, author of Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream ""With the right ideas at the right time, Vicky Osterweil has given us a powerful tool for resistance in the 21st century. In Defense of Looting could change American politics forever."" ―Malcolm Harris, author of Kids These Days: The Making of Millennials ""A passionate, in-depth study of one of history's most radical-and reviled-forms of direct action. In clear, precise prose, Osterweil lays bare the racialized settler-colonial roots of policing and property in the US, outlines the possibilities of militant resistance, and emphasizes the necessity of Black and Indigenous liberation. In Defense of Looting is a bracing and necessary read, written with great care and radical hope. As Osterweil herself says, 'The future is ours to take. We just need to loot it.'"" ―Kim Kelly, labor columnist, Teen Vogue ""In this book the act of looting is the starting point for challenging the conventional beliefs around people, property, and justice. How we treat looting, whose acts are considered looting, and what is looted frame essential interventions in understanding uprising. The stakes are not of 'stuff, ' TVs, and clothes; they're about ourselves and our communities. Whether at the policy level or in our personal daily politics, the historical insights and moral clarity of this book illuminate a way forward from the real crimes that structure our society."" ―Ayesha A. Siddiqi, writer and emeritus editor-in-chief of The New Inquiry "" In Defense of Looting incisively explores the history of revolution, breaking down the myths that not only reinforce white supremacy, but also whitewash civil rights struggles and revolutionary acts, removing valuable tools from the arsenals of those who need them most... In Defense of Looting is not merely playing devil's advocate or being provocative for the sake of being provocative, it is full-force challenging everyone to take a hard look at a hard subject, to stare slavery and injustice square in the eyes and not blink."" ―San Francisco Book Review"

Praise for In Defense of Looting: ""Osterweil debuts with a provocative, Marxist-informed defense of looting as a radical and effective protest tactic...a bracing rethink of the goals and methods of protest."" ―Publishers Weekly ""A reflection on violence as a form of social protest that can lead to social change."" ―New York Journal of Books ""[In Defense of Looting] is as much an argument for the possibilities of a riot as it is a reckoning between history as it happens and history as it is read.... [Osterweil's] readings of history lend the book its exhilarating quality and make anything seem possible."" ―Frieze ""In Defense of Looting is a clear and damning indictment of the origins and evolution of property rights, race, and policing in the United States. Ultimately, Osterweil demands we not only overcome the respectability politics animating our desire for 'peaceful protests, ' but that we ambitiously work to abolish the racial capitalist logics at the heart of American empire."" ―Zoé Samudzi, coauthor of As Black As Resistance ""In engaging and accessible prose, Vicky Osterweil lays out an intellectual defense of looting that is as thorough and compelling as it is necessary and revolutionary. The history here is alive and vital, and Osterweil's grasp of it pushes any reader who has doubted the legitimacy of looting as a political action to search deeply and reconsider their position."" ―Mychal Denzel Smith, author of Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream ""With the right ideas at the right time, Vicky Osterweil has given us a powerful tool for resistance in the 21st century. In Defense of Looting could change American politics forever."" ―Malcolm Harris, author of Kids These Days: The Making of Millennials ""A passionate, in-depth study of one of history's most radical-and reviled-forms of direct action. In clear, precise prose, Osterweil lays bare the racialized settler-colonial roots of policing and property in the US, outlines the possibilities of militant resistance, and emphasizes the necessity of Black and Indigenous liberation. In Defense of Looting is a bracing and necessary read, written with great care and radical hope. As Osterweil herself says, 'The future is ours to take. We just need to loot it.'"" ―Kim Kelly, author of Fight Like Hell ""In this book the act of looting is the starting point for challenging the conventional beliefs around people, property, and justice. How we treat looting, whose acts are considered looting, and what is looted frame essential interventions in understanding uprising. The stakes are not of 'stuff, ' TVs, and clothes; they're about ourselves and our communities. Whether at the policy level or in our personal daily politics, the historical insights and moral clarity of this book illuminate a way forward from the real crimes that structure our society."" ―Ayesha A. Siddiqi, writer and emeritus editor-in-chief of The New Inquiry

"Praise for In Defense of Looting ""Osterweil debuts with a provocative, Marxist-informed defense of looting as a radical and effective protest tactic...a bracing rethink of the goals and methods of protest."" ―Publishers Weekly ""A reflection on violence as a form of social protest that can lead to social change."" ―New York Journal of Books ""[In Defense of Looting ] is as much an argument for the possibilities of a riot as it is a reckoning between history as it happens and history as it is read.... [Osterweil's] readings of history lend the book its exhilarating quality and make anything seem possible."" ―Frieze ""In Defense of Looting is a clear and damning indictment of the origins and evolution of property rights, race, and policing in the United States. Ultimately, Osterweil demands we not only overcome the respectability politics animating our desire for 'peaceful protests, ' but that we ambitiously work to abolish the racial capitalist logics at the heart of American empire."" ―Zo� Samudzi, coauthor of As Black As Resistance ""In engaging and accessible prose, Vicky Osterweil lays out an intellectual defense of looting that is as thorough and compelling as it is necessary and revolutionary. The history here is alive and vital, and Osterweil's grasp of it pushes any reader who has doubted the legitimacy of looting as a political action to search deeply and reconsider their position."" ―Mychal Denzel Smith, author of Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream ""With the right ideas at the right time, Vicky Osterweil has given us a powerful tool for resistance in the 21st century. In Defense of Looting could change American politics forever."" ―Malcolm Harris, author of Kids These Days: The Making of Millennials ""A passionate, in-depth study of one of history's most radical-and reviled-forms of direct action. In clear, precise prose, Osterweil lays bare the racialized settler-colonial roots of policing and property in the US, outlines the possibilities of militant resistance, and emphasizes the necessity of Black and Indigenous liberation. In Defense of Looting is a bracing and necessary read, written with great care and radical hope. As Osterweil herself says, 'The future is ours to take. We just need to loot it.'"" ―Kim Kelly, author of Fight Like Hell ""In this book the act of looting is the starting point for challenging the conventional beliefs around people, property, and justice. How we treat looting, whose acts are considered looting, and what is looted frame essential interventions in understanding uprising. The stakes are not of 'stuff, ' TVs, and clothes; they're about ourselves and our communities. Whether at the policy level or in our personal daily politics, the historical insights and moral clarity of this book illuminate a way forward from the real crimes that structure our society."" ―Ayesha A. Siddiqi, writer and emeritus editor-in-chief of The New Inquiry ""In Defense of Looting incisively explores the history of revolution, breaking down the myths that not only reinforce white supremacy, but also whitewash civil rights struggles and revolutionary acts, removing valuable tools from the arsenals of those who need them most... In Defense of Looting is not merely playing devil's advocate or being provocative for the sake of being provocative, it is full-force challenging everyone to take a hard look at a hard subject, to stare slavery and injustice square in the eyes and not blink."" ―San Francisco Book Review"

Author Information

Vicky Osterweil is a Philadelphia-based writer, agitator, and worker whose first book, In Defense of Looting, described historical struggles for liberation in the US. She is a member of the anarchist journal CAW and has written about the intersections of film, politics, and culture for publications such as The Paris Review, Art in America, Al Jazeera America, The Baffler, Dissent, Lux Magazine, and The New Inquiry, where she was also a culture editor for many years.

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