Manufacturing discontent : the trap of individualism in corporate society / Michael Perelman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Perelman, Michael.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social responsibility of business--United States.

Social responsibility of business.

Corporations--Social aspects--United States.

Corporations.

Individualism--United States.

Individualism.

Consumption (Economics)--United States.

Consumption (Economics).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (224 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London ; Ann Arbor, Mich. : Pluto Press, 2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Corporate power has a huge impact on the rights and privileges of individuals -- as workers, consumers, and citizens. This book explores how the myth of individualism reinforces corporate power by making people perceive themselves as having choices, when in fact most peoples' options are very limited.Perelman describes the manufacture of unhappiness - the continual generation of dissatisfaction with products people are encouraged to purchase and quickly discard - and the complex techniques corporations employ to avoid responsibility and accountability to their workers, consumers and the environment. He outlines ways in which individuals can surpass individualism and instead work together to check the growing power of corporations. While other books have surveyed the corporate landscape, or decried modern consumerism, Perelman, a professor of economics, places these ideas within a proper economic and historical context. He explores the limits of corporate accountability and responsibility, and investigates the relation between a wide range of phenomena such as food, fear and terrorism.Highly readable, Manufacturing Discontent will appeal to anyone with an interest in the way society works - and what really determines the rights of individuals in a corporate society.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

The Individual Subsumed in the Corporate Economy

People as Consumers

What Corporate Society Does to Workers

Corporate Accountability

Accountability vs. Responsibility

The Role of Risk

Food, Fear, and Terrorism

Individuals as Citizens

Concluding Remark

References

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-202) and index.

ISBN:

9786611750855

9781783718481

178371848X

9781849642804

184964280X

9781281750853

1281750859

9781435662551

1435662555

OCLC:

666935261