Leben und Leben lassen: Klein fasst in den 4 Kapiteln "No Space, No Choice, No Jobs, No Logo" zusammen wie sehr unser Leben von grossen Konzernen beeinflusst wird.
Sie schildert anschaulich die zwingende Logik nach der unsere Jobs verloren gehen und sich auf dem Weg in die dritte Welt in "Aufträge" für sweat shops verwandeln. Die Produkte, beispielweise Turnschuhe, werden dann reimportiert und unter enormen Marketingaufwand zu überteuerten Preisen verkauft.

Es ist möglich sich dem Markenwahn zu entziehen. Noch gibt es italienische Leder-Schuhe zu kaufen. Man kann jetzt auch wieder europäische Kleidung tragen: im Natur-Segment gibt es eine reichhaltige Auswahl.

Schuhe aus vegetabil gegerbtem Leder sind nicht unbedingt teurer als Markenschuhe, die in Indien mit Chrom gegerbt wurden.

In many ways this is a left wing equivalent of all those right wing columnists who tell us doomsday is nigh. The difference here is that Klein actually uses thorough research to back herself up rather than base her opinion on isolated incidents. As a result it's a fairly depressing overall read, from this you'd think that the corporate drive for profit during the 1990s were completely undermining not only Western society, but also the poorer parts of the globe. Which, to an extent they are. Klein charts how large corporations are systematically divesting themselves of their base earthbound corporeal form (in terms of jobs and goods) and are attempting to ascend to a higher corporate plane, where all they have and sell is their own identity. Even if you disagree with Klein's ideological position it's a fascinating account of how corporations and society are changing.

If it has a major flaw it's that it seems to be hankering after a utopian past, where corporations and branding were less pervasive. Despite that, Klein seems to want this to be an intelligent call to arms, pointing out the problems of rampant capitalism and how, even at an individual level, it can be checked.

Like the opening quote of the book, on the surface No Logo is simply a document of corporate practice. But undeneath that it's an angry polemic positively seething with anger at the sweatshops, job cuts and invasive advertising. It might be overly reductive to say this, but No Logo is an anti-corporate wake up call whose theme is even more relevant today, even if some of the details aren't.

Your reviewer accidentally lost her copy of "No Logo" shortly after she'd finished reading it a couple of years before today's date. She hopes that this bit of redistribution helped in some small way to stengthen Klein's credentials as anti-globalisation icon by re-allocating some of what could otherwise been increased profit (which could be damaging).

It is tempting to describe "No Logo" as pessimistic--because nothing that Klein writes about does she like very much. Brands are vacuous hollows of wealth and power (somehow paid for handsomely by the willing public) that float greedy corporations high above the sullying world of work, which they manage to get third-world workers to do under threat of . . . something or other. Public space is disappearing to be replaced by freedom-restricting private property which looks the same but restricts what you can do there (particularly if what you want to do is stage a protest against its owners). Choices are made for you because the free market simply merges and acquires and concentrates its power, and does not want to tell you what it's doing for you and giving to you (because it's doing things for itself and taking from you really, you understand), and jobs are vanishing because . . . well they are being transferred to cheaper locations (which is unambiguously bad for the exploited labour and the discarded former labour). However, Klein does not seem depressed. In fact, more or less throughout her polemic she appears decidedly optimistic about all the initiatives she champions whereby the liberated rebel is learning to pour sand into the bearings, and throw spanners into the works of corporate machinery. Her sense of activism is rather infectious. She falls short of issuing a call to take up arms, and she actually writes very well, and researches her material meticulously. But it is searingly apparent that what she is into is what she is not into--firstly in making a passionate case against the world, secondly in urging her audience to save themselves from it.

Apart from that, Klein doesn't have many solutions or alternatives. In her pointed critiques of capitalism and (particularly) globalisation, the counterfactual seems to be a utopian paradise, not stagnation and not central planning. Too often she issues platitutes about "genuine democracy" and "citizen empowerment" and "taking control of globalisation away from multinationals"--yet she doesn't explain what any of these looks like, never mind how to get to them and what the sacrifices might be. Her strictures against hiring third-world labour speak truths: "voluntary" employment contracts between Nike and citizens of the Phillipines have nothing like the same relative share of bargaining power as, say, between Google and a senior software developer in California. Hiring people who are drastically short on titled property, legal protection and abundant alternatives certainly doesn't levitate them to the same playing field as those who do have these things. But she either thinks that such benefits should be made to descend from heaven (not sure who else is supposed to provide them), or that this employment just shouldn't happen (rare indeed is the nation whose citizens have been lifted from poverty by "western multinationals" refusing to invest in it). Related to this, Klein tends to slam free-trade, although principally by complaining about how un-free it is--yet apparently proposing an antidote (again) to stop doing it, so no trade is better than un-free trade.

If there is a reason why Klein seems to have a dismantlist bent, it seems to be because she regards corporations as "Frankenstein's monsters": created by governments but more powerful than them, manipulative of them, and probably totally out of control and in need of massive assault. At least she is impressively restrained, and a good measure of eloquent, in conveying this sentiment. She makes you think, and she clearly influences many of her readers. Shame about the disconnect between who she wants to help and whether her movement will do so.

Francesca ( )

A shocking and lively book designed to stir both thought and emotion in the Western reader. It details all that is wrong with globalisation and corporate power, brings to life the tireless yet often unseen operations fighting back, and mercilessly sets out the dreadful treatment of workers being exploited by many of our most well-known brands.

In terms of these corporations and global companies, Klein unapologetically explores the very darkest depths of their capitalist mentality. She names and shames several huge brands, including Nike, Nestle, Disney, Microsoft, Wal-mart, McDonalds and Gap, and frequently refers back to these examples to illustrate her points in a recognisable context.

Another of her tactics, well-used to provoke reaction throughout the book, is to provide the reader with detailed case studies, and accompanying analysis, of some of the more heinous scandals linked to various companies over the years. From strikes by humiliated teenage workers at McDonalds to compulsory pregnancy testing and the sacking of pregnant workers in poor factories, this is really explicit and shocking material. One example that will never leave my mind is that of the death of many young female workers, mostly teenagers, in a poor foreign garment sweatshop. The girls were locked into the factory all day, with no comforts and no safety measures in place. When a bundle of flammable material caught fire, the whole factory went up. The workers had no escape route and died, some in the fire itself and some, tragically, by throwing themselves from the windows to avoid being slowly burned alive.

Alongside these horrors, Klein explores the anti-globalisation politics in the world, as well as the pitiful, hypocritical means used by the brands to try and claw back their popular image. She visits worker unions and help centres trying to liberate sweatshop workers. She looks at boycotts and consumer power in changing the way brands conduct business. Movements such as ‘Reclaim the Streets’ – a disruptive street-blocking festival scene – and ‘Culture Jamming’ – the art of reworking and altering adverts on the streets in order to change their political meaning drastically – are also described in detail.

Whilst it is terribly frustrating to read about the evasive tactics used by companies – moving factories, issuing ‘ethical’ ad campaigns and avoiding monitoring – the final message is one of hope, empowerment and a need for education. A brilliant and eye-opening book that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to anyone who is feeling disillusioned with all-dominating brands and capitalist values in today’s turbulent and morally questionable society. ( )

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