564 American Anthropologist • Vol. 108, No. 3 • September 2006 it can be a useful way to understanding indigenous social practice. The chapters in the book discuss indigenous life projects in different regions and from different thematic angles (economics, gender, citizenship, ethnicity, political activism). The chapters are weighted heavily toward the indigenous Americas, including several on Paraguay and Chile, which is a welcome addition to a critical literature, in that the indigenous peoples of both places receive rela- tively less attention. Most of the other chapters explore life projects in Native and First Nations North America. In the end, In the Way of Development marks an impor- tant moment in the debate over indigenous peoples and development. The idea of a “life project” expresses quite well the emergence of a postdevelopment paradigm, at least in relation to indigenous peoples in certain parts of the world, especially those represented in the volume. The volume would make an excellent companion to Escobar’s Encountering Development and will also be indispensable for instructors of both undergraduate and graduate anthro- pology courses who would like to incorporate into their syllabi reflections on indigenousness, globalization, devel- opment, and other related topics from a postdevelopment perspective. REFERENCE CITED Escobar, Arturo 1995 Encountering Development: The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Equality and Economy: The Global Challenge. Michael Blim. New York: AltaMira Press, 2005. 243 pp. JEFFREY H. COHEN The Ohio State University Michael Blim begins Equality and Economy with three vi- gnettes of people in the global market system. Two are ex- amples of people struggling at the margins of the world’s growing global capital system—a Moldovan woman sold into sexual slavery and a Brazilian working man in the la- bor camps in Mato Grosso. The third notes that the average CEO in North America earned 475 times what the average nonmanagerial employee earned. Using the stark contrast of poverty and wealth, Blim poses a simple but profound question: How can we value human life when nearly a half of the world’s population earns less than $2.00 a day? He re- minds us that “deprivation is absolute” and has little to do with local standards that may mean an Ethiopian can live comfortably on a fraction of the wealth held by an average U.S. citizen, for example. In place of relativistic concepts of well-being, Blim suggests we promote a universal concept of equality organized along three axes: the economic, social, and political. In this way, Blim sets the tone for an excellent introduction to the concepts and challenges that come with economic globalization and the parallel increase in global inequality (particularly for marginal people and those most typically studied by anthropologists). In the ensuing chapters (all quite readable and inter- esting), Blim defines and describes the structure of global capitalism and its impact on poor and rural population around the world. Importantly, he includes communities in the United States as well as overseas in his discussion, and he clearly shows that the crisis of inequality is not sim- ply something we need to worry about for others; it is here and affects communities and individuals living in North America as well as the Third World (chs. 9 and 10). In his discussion of values (chs. 3–6), Blim is also quite clear. His goal is not to replace Western market logic with morally based platitudes about the unfortunate among us who suffer as markets expand at their expense. Rather, his goal is to help us think through just what “values” are and how we might build toward a more inclusive model. An inclusive value-based model recognizes social and cultural difference but, at the same time, does not use those differ- ences to argue that the gaps between people and countries cannot be bridged. Rather, Blim sees hope in the interaction of communities and NGOs—a growth in democracy and in what he calls “participatory budgeting,” that is, a process whereby local populations are involved in decision making and economic programming. Blim uses the framework of healthcare (among other examples) to explore how we might move toward a more just and equitable world. What will likely be most surprising for the student reader is the cost of worldwide healthcare. Rather than a program that would fundamentally bankrupt our nation (among others), Blim shows that healthcare can become global and the poor, who typically do with care of any kind, can gain access to support. Furthermore, as is clear, healthy global populations live longer, more produc- tive lives and are able to participate more fully in global systems. Is there a future for equality? Blim surely thinks so, and he uses the penultimate chapter to explore what a “good enough economy” might include. State powers are con- trolled and reduced through democratic involvement, fair trade is protected, and individuals are encouraged to par- ticipate even as they are protected from abuse and misuse. Perhaps the CEO making several magnitudes more than his underlings will not appreciate such a plan, but it has po- tential. But the plan or proposal can leaves us as readers wanting. Is it possible to really succeed and build toward equality? In his concluding chapter, Blim answers with a resounding “yes.” We can all work toward equality, and it begins with small steps—the sort made by readers and our students, for example, in choosing fair trade goods and in encouraging fair practices among those businesses we sup- port through our purchases. Throughout his text, Blim does not simply list problems—this is not a book recounting the errors that states and transnational corporations have committed in the name of globalization—rather, Blim suggests pathways through which we might resolve some of the inequalities that mark the global system. His solutions are not ground breaking; rather, and more importantly, they are workable.