Taking on the Brands - No Logo by Naomi Klein
Same old, same old. Not yet crushingly bored, which is encouraging. Went for a walk last week with Dad which was nice. I was about to write ‘less than a month until Spring’ as an upbeat end to this intro, but Google tells me that’s not until 20 March :(
Review of the Week
Something which stood out from the usual mix of crime novels & football books on my parents’ bookshelf was No Logo by Naomi Klein, her first book. Having previously listened to her on a podcast and been recommended her books on climate change, I thought it would be worth giving it a go, particularly since a quick search revealed it was considered one of the 100 best non-fiction books of all time by The Guardian.
In my opinion, for something to be considered an all-time great book it shouldn’t feel dated, but unfortunately that’s the main criticism I have for this book twenty years after publication. That’s not to say that it doesn’t have plenty of thought-provoking ideas, which I’ll explore below.
I feel it could almost be split into two books, written for different audiences and dating itself at different speeds:
- The first book would study the history of the brand and follow the stories of the individuals and organizations at the forefront of the protest movement in the US. Although this material was interesting, twenty years on it doesn’t really offer me loads. It doesn’t feel as immediate now as it would have done then.
- The second book would look at the impact that brands are having on the worker and the consumer. I feel much of the commentary in this section is ahead of its time and we see many similar topics being discussed today. This is where the strongest bits of the book are found.
In the sections about the history of the protest movement, my main takeaway comes from the way she describes the cyclical nature of the battles being fought by protesters. In the 60s there was a focus on identity, which gave way to economic battles in the 70s. Then in the late 80s and early 90s it was back to battles of identity, before returning to economic wellbeing. This includes the battles against the brands. She uses the term ‘culture war’ to describe the identity battles and criticises those activists for not taking part in more important battles like poverty and the right to secure jobs. If the battles against the brands are being fought on the grounds of diversity and identity in adverts and products, then the brands will happily oblige in order to increase their profits. However, if protesters asked for larger goals, like producers to be paid a living wage, then the brands fight back.
This debate over direction summarises how I feel about the ongoing ‘culture war’. These issues discussed by many on the left aren’t unimportant, but problems of inequality, poverty and poor life chances for those from economically deprived upbringings should be centre stage. I’m still shocked and disappointed at the lack of uproar over the conditions and pay in Leicester sweatshops for workers producing clothes for BooHoo.com. After a couple of days of bad headlines, it appears like it’s business as usual. Yet issues which are trivial in the broader scheme of things like equalising distances in women’s domestic cross-country races gets thousands of non-athletes petitioning England Athletics to change the rules. In this example I’m not saying it’s not important, but that protesters should leave these questions to the stakeholders (in particular the female athletes involved) and attack deeper injustices instead.
There were deeper and more interesting points in the chapters about the negative effects of branding on society, and in particular those affecting two distinct groups - consumers and producers. For the consumer, we end up with a loss of choice as these large brands swoop in and undercut smaller shops and products. This ends up as a depressing mono-culture of chain stores and sponsored public spaces. There is also some discussion about what endless exposure to advertisements is doing to our brains, but considering where the next twenty years took us with social media, this feels like a minor concern (see The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Zuboff and many others for a discussion of these effects).
More concerning to me are the negative consequences that our branded future is having on workers. In First World countries, we have shipped overseas manufacturing jobs which used to be secure work that workers could take pride. Many have now had to turn to retail work as part of an army of temps and part-time workers who have insecure working conditions and often struggle to make ends meet. This leads to a sense of alienation and a loss of belonging among many citizens in First World countries.
For those in the Third World who have taken on these manufacturing jobs, the conditions and pay make for grim reading. Pay is below minimum wage, harassment is frequent, conditions are horrible and unions are forbidden. Klein does a fantastic job in telling the human stories of those who are suffering at the hands of the bigger brands, it definitely gave me pause to think about these things and what it means to be an ethical consumer.
Like many other authors writing about the ills of modern society, she does a strong job highlighting issues with the world but is weak on viable solutions. She sees power shift from governments to multinational corporations as a problem, but doesn’t go into much depth about how to disperse that power back to the people, instead focusing on the role that protest plays. In my opinion, for many issues, small- and medium-scale protest can curb only the worst excesses of corporations. In order to see the future she believes in, I think she should really look to more systematic change being led by governments and a democratization of power back to the people. Many see government as being against the common person (typified now by attitudes like ‘All Tories are Evil’), but I often believe it is just careful about which battles to fight. By pushing the focus of protest towards the intervention of government rather than large-scale peer pressure, then maybe some of these powers could be curbed. Instead, she risks the cyclical nature of the protest movement being swept back towards issues of identity rather than economic progress, without having effected substantive change.
Training Thoughts
Weeks 1 & 2 of my new training plan seemed to go quite well, but I’m starting to question the Sunday evening strength & conditioning sessions which seem to leave me sore for the next two days. Next race is the virtual 5 mile race next weekend, hoping to lay down a personal marker there.
Coding Projects
Felt quite tired, arranged to do another practise session before Google Hash Code in 3 weeks, and we all struggled. Just gotta be in the mood I guess!
Top Twitter Follows
Stephen Bush is the political editor of the New Statesman, my favourite news magazine, which gives a varied but broadly left-wing perspective on modern day events. Stephen posts a nice mix of interesting observation as well as doom-laden comments on Arsenal to enjoy.
Other Thoughts
- While reading about the Vienna Circle, I found a really nice quote about the cafés they frequented. The actual source is a Viennese novel written in the late 1920s. It made me miss not being able to go to one at the moment:
Sitting in cafés is a barrier against the enforced activity which makes our lives miserable… People like us always have the mistaken feeling that they are wasting time, missing something irretrievable… As if a man had a set of things to get done in a set amount of time… [It’s] the harmful influence of our materialistic generation, a generation of physical labor and advanced technology… But the minute you enter a café, you’re on holiday – the yoke is lifted from your shoulders, snapped in half.
- My puzzle of the roof of the Sistine Chapel is nearly finished. Doing it in puzzle form (rather than just looking at a photo) makes me realise just how amazing a piece of art it is.
- I got shortlisted for a philosophy writing prize today, which is kind of cool. Might post it somewhere (or here!) once I find out if it was published or not.
Next up I’m thinking of going a bit rogue and writing a review of Seasons 1 & 2 of The West Wing, but throwing out some really hot takes in the process. Get hyped!