It’s easy to become disillusioned with the state of the labour movement. With unions immersed in rearguard actions and membership often seen as little more than an insurance policy, it’s fair to say that they are not the fighting organisations called for by the circumstances. It’s instructive, then, to look at what unions can be and can do in the present day. Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell) by Jane McAlevey does precisely that, providing case studies of the author’s work as an organiser for US unions AFL-CIO and SEIU. The first part of the title is how she sees the work of the organiser, expanding the realms of possibility for members; what sort of life they should aspire to, what they are capable of; the second reflects the result.