The Global Politics of Sport Book

I had heard really good things about this book, but was a little bit skeptical about it given that the author calls herself a Witch. And, indeed, she talks about casting spells and such throughout the book, but not at any great depth, and also in a way that came off as less ridiculous than I expected. (Think of it as 'casting good vibes' rather than casting spells.)
But whatever your take on Paganism, it remains that Starhawk writes eloquently about the needs for the global justice movement and the challenges it faces. The book is a collection of short essays, the first half centered around various events - the WTO protest in Seattle, the A16 protest in DC, and other protests and gatherings in Quebec, Genoa, and Prague - while the last half is general considerations on the tactics and goals for global justice. The juxtaposition is interesting, as you read her vivid accounts of police brutality in all of the cities just mentioned (and by police brutality, think non-violent, elderly women protesters being raided in the middle of the night while they sleep, beaten, then arrested while they're at the hospital, and then jailed and tortured; this was exactly what happened in Genoa, where the police, coincidently, were trained by American police who had been at the WTO Seattle protest) and then read her insights into the use of non-violence, its appropriateness but also its challenges (non-violent movements have traditionally been organized hierarchically around father-figures such as Gandhi or King, and women participants often marginalized). Her deep commitment to non-violent resistance, given the amount of abuse she has witnessed, is something I respect tremendously. Like her, however, I also question the ways in which the non-violence movement has become mostly focused on standing for certain principles, without being concerned with how effective certain non-violent direct actions actually are. But Starhawk manages to address these issues of methodology while simultaneously remaining focused on the need for action, and on inspiring others to become involved in future action for global justice. I think this - along with the engaging first-person perspective on some of the major events in the anti-corporate globalization movement - make her book definitely worth the read.