Book Review - NO LOGO by Naomi Klein

Last month, the book on my bedside bookstand was 'No Logo' by Naomi Klein. I'd had the book for at least a couple of years and it sat on my bookshelf waiting until I was in the right frame of mind to read it.

It's not the easiest of reads, in that it is quite a thick book, with very small print and is a very informative kind of book that takes quite a bit of concentration.  It is, however, very well written and a really enjoyable read on account of it being so interesting.

The book charts the rise of capitalism and it's use of marketing, how adverts and marketing have now begun to invade virtually every aspect of our lives (probably more so in the US where there is widespread advertising and promotion in schools and colleges). Klein argues that there is now very little public space not given over to marketing by large global corporations. 

These same corporations, she argues, who are encouraging us to buy their life enhancing products, have in turn eroded job opportunities, by ceasing to employ people to manufacture said products in their own countries and are constantly engaged in outsourcing the production of their goods to cheap labour forces in far flung places, to both lower their operating costs and wring out ever larger profits.

As she points out, corporation after corporation have jumped on the outsourcing bandwagon, leaving a distinct hole in communities in terms of manufacturing employment, secure jobs with proper benefits and a means of earning a decent living for thousands of people living in the US and other developed countries. In addition, she notes how the development of the zero hours contract has eroded job opportunities further, forcing many people to live on or below the poverty line, whilst still being bombarded with marketing enticing them to live the good life, when they struggle to even put food on the table.

Klein also researched the factories in various parts of the world where production is now taking place and describes the conditions for the workers working in these factories, who are largely young women with nimble fingers, and who far from earning big money, which they might be led to believe, can hardly afford to send money back to their families in the countryside. Klein suggests that they are essentially trapped in dead end jobs, working 12 hour days in cramped conditions with few employment rights or trade union protection.

The book goes on to chart the consequent rise of the ad scamming and anti-capitalist movements that have grown up in opposition to these large corporations and their marketing machines, and how they try to subvert the adverts produced in an attempt to highlight the real power of the corporate world and the effect it is having on the life, health and everyday experiences of people the world over.

The issues that she tackles in this book are not new, although they probably hadn't been talked about much in the late 1990's when her book was written, but the way she writes about them is fascinating. It does make you wonder what might happen in the future.

This is not a depressing book, as essentially Klein is suggesting that the world is changing and people are becoming more and more aware of the ways that corporations are manipulating them with false promises of the good life.  She argues that many people are now beginning to fight back and find their own ways to express resistance to the big brands, such as refusing to buy their products or wear their logos and support the corporate hegemony.

I enjoyed this book so much, that I can't wait to get my hands on more books by this author.