The Rebel Sell

Author: Joseph Heath
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 376

Book Description
"With the incredible popularity of Michael Moore's books and movies, and the continuing success of anti-consumer critiques like ADBUSTERS and Naomi Klien's NO LOGO, it is hard to ignore the growing tide of resistance to the corporate-dominated world. But do these vocal opponents of the status quo offer us a real political alternative?" "In this work of cultural criticism, Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter shatter the central myth of radical political, economic and cultural thinking. The idea of a counterculture, a world outside the consumer-dominated one that encompasses us, pervades everything from the anti-globalization movement to feminism and environmentalism. And the idea that mocking the system, or trying to 'jam' it so it will collapse, they argue, is not only counterproductive but has helped to create the very consumer society that radicals oppose." "In a blend of pop culture, history and philosophical analysis, Heath and Potter offer a startling, clear picture of what a concern for social justice might look like without the confusion of the counterculture obsession with being different."--Book jacket.

Nation of Rebels

Author: Joseph Heath
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 006074586X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 370

Book Description
In this wide-ranging and perceptive work of cultural criticism, Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter shatter the most important myth that dominates much of radical political, economic, and cultural thinking. The idea of a counterculture -- a world outside of the consumer-dominated world that encompasses us -- pervades everything from the antiglobalization movement to feminism and environmentalism. And the idea that mocking or simply hoping the "system" will collapse, the authors argue, is not only counterproductive but has helped to create the very consumer society radicals oppose. In a lively blend of pop culture, history, and philosophical analysis, Heath and Potter offer a startlingly clear picture of what a concern for social justice might look like without the confusion of the counterculture obsession with being different.

The Rebel Sell

Author: Joseph Heath
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Advertising
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
This text asserts that the counterculture is not against consumerism but one of the driving forces. It explores the rebel sell from the first re-branding of Hitler's people car as the rebel lifestyle statement of Californian hippies, through the punk generation to modern times.

Rebel Sell

Author: Joseph Heath
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
ISBN: 155468918X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 419

Book Description
With the popularity of Michael Moore, Adbusters magazine and Naomi Klein’s No Logo, it’s hard to ignore the growing tide of resistance to our corporate-controlled world. But do these vocal opponents of the status quo offer us a real political alternative? In this lively blend of pop culture, history and philosophical analysis, Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter argue that this countercultural opposition to "the system" has not only been unproductive but has helped to create the very consumer society that radicals oppose. This thought-provoking book will enrage and entertain today’s countercultural rebels and their opponents on the political right.

The Conquest of Cool

Author: Thomas Frank
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226260129
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 340

Book Description
Looks at advertising during the 1960s, focusing on the relationship between the counterculture movement and commerce.

Quicklet on Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter's Nation of Rebels: Why Counterculture Became Consumer Culture

Author: Coralie McCormick
Publisher: Hyperink Inc
ISBN: 1614640734
Category : Study Aids
Languages : en
Pages : 52

Book Description
ABOUT THE BOOK In their [Adbusters] view, society has become so thoroughly permeated with propaganda and lies, largely as a consequence of advertising, that the culture as a whole has become an enormous system of ideology all designed to reproduce faith in the system. The authors draw on a lot of personal experience and pique in writing this narrative decrying the countercultural rebel, the person who turns his back on mainstream society to pursue his own path. Whether this person is pursuing an oddball fashion choice, an environmental stance or anti-globalization movement, or travel to Myanmar, the authors find plenty of reasons to see this rebel as undermining society and the momentum for real political change. MEET THE AUTHOR Coralie likes to travel constantly. Chasing monkeys off her balcony in the morning sounds like a great morning constitutional, and she loves finding new dishes to try in new out-of-the-way towns. When Coralie is not travelling, she is planning new trips, taking photographs, playing with her nephews, or writing. Coralie has a degree in Economics and is obsessed with Haruki Murakami novels. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK Heath and Potter both believe that countercultural critique often misses the boat when it comes to effecting change in society. Countercultural values are instead seen as a way of rejecting consumerism and conformity, not as a means of changing what may very well be negative aspects of mass society. The authors trace this paranoia about conformity to the rise of the Nazi regime that led to World War II. This was indoctrination on a mass scale; the masses were part of a broad-based political fascist movement that ferreted out differences in a uniquely abhorrent way. Post-war researchers investigating the phenomenon pointed to the sociological root causes, and the basic difficulty in speaking out against the group.Here, the authors claim, was born the paranoia about conformity, starting with the hippie culture of the sixties. But the world is a much different place now than it was in the mid twentieth century. Our culture, our markets, are open places that have embraced a philosophy of uniform diversity. Are the risks of conformity so dire? CHAPTER OUTLINE Quicklet on Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter's Nation of Rebels: Why Counterculture Became Consumer Culture Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter's Nation of Rebels: Why Counterculture Became Consumer Culture + About Nation of Rebels + About the Authors + Overall Summary + Chapter-by-Chapter Summary & Analysis + ...and much more

The Authenticity Hoax

Author: Andrew Potter
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
ISBN: 1551993473
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 310

Book Description
One of Canada's hippest, smartest cultural critics takes on the West's defining value. We live in a world increasingly dominated by the fake, the prepackaged, the artificial: fast food, scripted reality TV shows, Facebook "friends," and fraudulent memoirs. But people everywhere are demanding the exact opposite, heralding "authenticity" as the cure for isolated individualism and shallow consumerism. Restaurants promote the authenticity of their cuisine, while condo developers promote authentic loft living and book reviewers regularly praise the authenticity of a new writer's voice. International bestselling author Andrew Potter brilliantly unpacks our modern obsession with authenticity. In this perceptive and thought-provoking blend of pop culture, history, and philosophy, he finds that far from serving as a refuge from modern living, the search for authenticity often creates the very problems it's meant to solve.

The Republic of Rock

Author: Michael J. Kramer
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195384865
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Book Description
Michael Kramer draws on new archival sources and interviews to explore sixties music and politics through the lens of these two generation-changing places--San Francisco and Vietnam. From the Acid Tests of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters to hippie disc jockeys on strike, the military's use of rock music to "boost morale" in Vietnam, and the forgotten tale of a South Vietnamese rock band, The Republic of Rock shows how the musical connections between the City of the Summer of Love and war-torn Southeast Asia were crucial to the making of the sixties counterculture. The book also illustrates how and why the legacy of rock music in the sixties continues to matter to the meaning of citizenship in a global society today. --from publisher description

Commodify Your Dissent: Salvos from The Baffler

Author: Thomas Frank
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393342808
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Book Description
From the pages of The Baffler, the most vital and perceptive new magazine of the nineties, sharp, satirical broadsides against the Culture Trust. In the "old" Gilded Age, the barons of business accumulated vast wealth and influence from their railroads, steel mills, and banks. But today it is culture that stands at the heart of the American enterprise, mass entertainment the economic dynamo that brings the public into the consuming fold and consolidates the power of business over the American mind. For a decade The Baffler has been the invigorating voice of dissent against these developments, in the grand tradition of the muckrakers and The American Mercury. This collection gathers the best of its writing to explore such peculiar developments as the birth of the rebel hero as consumer in the pages of Wired and Details; the ever-accelerating race to market youth culture; the rise of new business gurus like Tom Peters and the fad for Hobbesian corporate "reengineering"; and the encroachment of advertising and commercial enterprise into every last nook and cranny of American life. With its liberating attitude and cant-free intelligence, this book is a powerful polemic against the designs of the culture business on us all.

The Apple Revolution

Author: Luke Dormehl
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1448131367
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 546

Book Description
On 26 May, 2010 Apple Inc. passed Microsoft in valuation as the world's largest technology company. Its consumer electronic products - ranging from computers to mobile phones to portable media devices, not to mention its iTunes, iBook and App Store - have influenced nearly every facet of our lives, and it shows no sign of slowing down. But how did Apple - a company set up in the back room of a house by two friends, and one that always marketed itself as the underdog - become the marketplace leader (and the world's second largest company overall), and is it a good thing to have one company hold so much power? In The Apple Revolution Luke Dormehl shares the inside story of how Apple Inc. came to be; from the formation of the company's philosophies and user-friendly ethos, to the "iPod moment" and global domination, leaving you with a deep understanding of how it was created, why it has flourished, and where it might be going next.