by Charles Derber
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Product Description
Foreword by Ralph Nader. In Corporation Nation Derber addresses the unchecked power of today’s corporations to shape the way we work, earn, buy, sell, and think—the very way we live. Huge, far-reaching mergers are now commonplace, downsizing is rampant, and our lines of communication, news and entertainment media, jobs, and savings are increasingly controlled by a handful of global—and unaccountable—conglomerates. We are, in effect, losing our financial and emotional security, depending more than ever on the whim of these corporations. But it doesn’t have to be this way, as this book makes clear. Just as the original Populist movement of the nineteenth century helped dethrone the robber barons, Derber contends that a new, positive populism can help the U.S. workforce regain its self-control. Drawing on core sociological concepts and demonstrating the power of the sociological imagination, he calls for revisions in our corporate system, changes designed to keep corporations healthy while also making them answerable to the people. From rewriting corporate charters to altering consumer habits, Derber offers new aims for businesses and empowering strategies by which we all can make a difference.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Take This Medication an Hour Before or Two Hours After Eating , 2008-10-09
... or you will throw up.
It's that depressing, folks.
Not the book, but what it speaks of.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
 Unbelievably Brilliant!, 2004-08-11
I don't give top ratings lightly, but this book is breathtakingly well written and carries a powerful message. Any given chapter is a great eye-opener to how our society works and what's REALLY going on in the world around us... with all the distractions stripped away.
Unlike Arianna Huffington's "Pigs at the Trough," which consists entirely of disjointed anecdotes on "what's bad," this book tackles the underlying reasons for WHY it's bad. Corporations have quietly and efficiently consolidated their economic muscle and merged it with political power--witness the everyday complaint that Special Interests hold sway in Washington. But as Derber shows, few are willing to make the obvious connection--that the problem is not simply government per se, but unrestrained corporate power.
And Derber is no hippie anti-capitalist wacko, either. He acknowledges that globalization is inevitable, but simply notes that we need to ensure it's the right KIND of globalization... the kind that's accountable to the public and that serves the public good. For all the conservative and libertarian whining about how the evil UN represents a "loss of U.S. sovereignty," notice that they never say a word about the WTO and similar business deals that have _already_ undermined our sovereignty, setting up arrangements that subordinate our laws to corporate profits--all with zero accountability to anyone but the executives and stockholders.
This books outlines real, practical solutions for putting the brakes on corporate power while still promoting economic growth and profitability. Environmentalists and unions don't HAVE to be at odds, not when they can unite against the common enemy and take positive action to force corporations into their proper, subordinate role to public government.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
 Maybe good for beginners, 2004-06-23
If you haven't read any other critiques of corporate power, this isn't a bad introduction. It covers the basics adequately (deregulation, privatization, monopolies, anti-unionism), but you have to wade through prose like "The language of responsibility -- rather than accountability or democracy -- reflects the depoliticizing of a movement that claims to speak for empowerment." For more experienced readers, I would recommend "The Corporation" by Joel Bakan.
22 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
 Verbose unstructured rambling, 2002-11-12
The essence of the book is "corporations behave badly". I happen to agree but I don't need 339 pages to tell me this. I was hoping to learn something here. I was hoping for some history of how corporations developed. Nothing of the kind. Just a comparison to the gilded age (late 1800s) repeated throughout the book that is obvious to anyone who knows American history. Those liberals who love to read long winded tirades that support their point of view may enjoy this book. But if you aren't a liberal or if you are a liberal with a brain, this book will bore you to tears.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
An easy read that includes consumer responsibility., 2002-09-21
This is a book that shoud be read by anyone who is in the least bit interested in global economic affairs, sweatshop-labor, and flight of capital.Charles Derber gives an excellent description of the history of corporations within the United States and elsewhere as well as timeline leading into what they have become. He advocates careful legislation, but more importantly - grassroots activism. His solutions include educated consumerism, socially-responsible investing, and cooperation of non-profits. This book is an easy read that doesn't require an MBA to understand - it should be required reading for political economics courses.
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