Naomi Klein’s classic work combines on-the-ground reporting with original analysis in a trailblazing book that’s as much an handbook for activists as an inspired work of cultural criticism.
No Logo describes the insidious practices and far-reaching effects of corporate marketing, which has evolved to become a major shaper of culture, transforming corporations from producers of products to “branders,” trafficking in dreams, aspirations and identities — in a word, “lifestyles” (think Apple, Gap, Nike, Starbucks, et al). They penetrate all aspects of life and dominate the airwaves, physical space and cyberspace. They exert “talismanic power,” over young people especially, even as they exploit workers young and old in the United States and abroad.
In the second half of the book Klein describes the growing activist backlash against corporate manipulation, a wave of resistance that takes many forms and is expressed in the arts, through the courts, in politics and, of course, on the streets. She sets this rebellion in detailed economic and cultural perspective and shows how activists turn the brand bullies’ weapons (technology, imagery, media) back against them — in the service of self-determination, community and genuine freedom.
No Logo is a dazzling exposé of corporate global rule and the forces opposing it.