How did Bill Gates go from poster boy for the new economy to global whipping boy? How did the Nike swoosh–the marketing success of the nineties–become equated with sweatshop labour? Why are some of the most revered brands in the world finding themselves on the wrong end of a bottle of spray paint or the targets of computer hacks and anti-corporate campaigns? What does all this tell us about the future of our communities and the world we live in?
How did Bill Gates go from poster boy for the new economy to global whipping boy? How did the Nike swoosh–the marketing success of the nineties–become equated with sweatshop labour? Why are some of the most revered brands in the world finding themselves on the wrong end of a bottle of spray paint or the targets of computer hacks and anti-corporate campaigns? What does all this tell us about the future of our communities and the world we live in?
In her new book No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, Naomi Klein argues that in their quasi spiritual quest for “brand image,” “brand equity” and “brand meaning,” many multinationals have spent the past decade pouring resources into marketing and yanking them from production, a process which has, simultaneously, seen our public spaces invaded by logos and our workplaces degraded by unprecedented insecurity, even in booming economic times.
By putting all their eggs in the branding basket, Klein argues that multinationals have unwittingly militarized their opposition. Against this backdrop, No Logo announces the birth of a new global movement, one that finally moves past nationalism and protectionism and dares to imagine a different kind of globalization: one driven by the needs of people and the planet rather than by profit alone. In the mass protests outside of APEC summits and World Trade Organization meetings, a genuine agenda is emerging.
What we are seeing is a concerted and co-ordinated attempt to look at labour, human rights and environmental protection through the single lens of the branded multinational corporation, the force behind government and trade policy.
But No Logo is not another book about corporate power and globalization. Rather, it is about pop culture and the air we breathe, because, as Klein argues, in order to understand this anti-corporate movement — where its energy is coming from, what makes it different from movements critical of capital in the past — we need to first understand the force that has so irrevocably changed the way corporations organize themselves.
We need to understand corporate branding.
Klein leads us through ecclesiastic Nike stores to sweatshop factories in Indonesia and the Philippines. She brings us into the North American malls packed with ready-to-wear lifestyles and to the Starbucks outlet with its window shattered.
She introduces us to a broad range of global activists taking aim at the brand bullies: ad busters who jam corporate billboards, the campaigners who took on Shell Oil in the Niger Delta, the forces behind the “McLibel Trial” in London, the computer hackers who have declared war on the systems of any multinational violating human rights in Asia.
Naomi Klein grew up under the marketing microscope and in the age of jobless recoveries. Now, armed with extensive research, and her lucid, candid approach, she uncovers the betrayal of the central promises of the new economy.
In a compelling combination of first-hand reporting and provocative, humorous, often personal anecdotes, she tracks the reasons behind the rise of anti-corporate activism and explains just why this emerging global movement is a force to be reckoned with.
Naomi Klein.
Born in Montreal in 1970, Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author.
Her articles have appeared in numerous publications including The Nation, The New Statesman, Newsweek International, The New York Times, The Village Voice, Ms., The Baffler, and Saturday Night. She writes a weekly column in The Globe and Mail, Canada’s National Newspaper.
For the past five years, Klein has travelled throughout North America, Asia, and Europe, tracking the rise of anti-corporate activism. She is a frequent media commentator and has guest lectured at Harvard, Yale and New York University.
Naomi Klein lives in Toronto.
Author: thee_InVection_report
News Service: TheExperiment Network
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