Corporation Nation: How Corporations Are Taking Over Our Lives -- And What We Can Do about It

This is a book that shoud be read by anyone who is in the least bit interested in global economic affairs, sweatshop-labor, and flight of capital.Charles Derber gives an excellent description of the history of corporations within the United States and elsewhere as well as timeline leading into what they have become. He advocates careful legislation, but more importantly - grassroots activism. His solutions include educated consumerism, socially-responsible investing, and cooperation of non-profits.This book is an easy read that doesn't require an MBA to understand - it should be required reading for political economics courses.

Like another recent book, "Opposing The System" by Charles Reich, this effort by sociologist Charles Derber takes aim against the elitist and anti-democratic influence of contemporary multi-national corporations. Noting that corporations have so invaded the social, economic and political arenas of life in modern postindustrial societies that it is problematic for an individual to live a free and meaningful lifestyle without surrendering vital parts of his liberty and free choice to the whims and caprices of corporate policy. Thus, Derber claims, corporations have transformed the meaning of citizenship into a silent euphemism for corporate membership, and the society tends to identify loyalty to these organizations as a sort of patriotism (buy American).This is an interesting and entertaining reading experience, and Derber's thesis is similar to and compatible with a number of other contemporary social critics like Reich, Neil Postman, Bill McKibben, and Kirkpatrick Sales. To the extent the rise of multinational corporation to a position of nearly exclusive domination of world markets with the new "global capitalism" (touted by politicians as the best thing since sliced bread) continues and endures, to that extent will our lives be increasingly influenced and characterized the kinds of choice these corporate entities view to be in their own narrowly conceived and fundamentally anti-democratic goals and objectives. Thus, to an ever-greater extent, these corporate entities are empowered at our expense to influence, manipulate, and even dictate the specific terms of social, economic and even political transactions within and without our borders. Probably this single greatest recent example of this trend were the actions by the U.S Congress to ratify both the NAFTA and GATT trade treaties, whose main beneficiaries were multinational corporate entities. There was little or no meaningful national debate, And most Americans were so distracted by their petty personal pursuits of money, material goods, and the good life that they hardly paid any attention to all this happening under their noses. Rather than focusing on these issues, the national electronic media chose to cover other non-news events like the Michael Jackson child molestation charge, the OJ Simpson trial, the Louise Woodward trial, the Monica Lewinsky scandal, etc. Meanwhile, the corporations achieved their goals, and the future of American worker was sealed. All this transpired without any meaningful or informed public debate. And isn't it quite a coincidence that the electronic media in this country is owned, lock, stock, and barrel by several different multinational corporations. The author offers an alternative by way of what he terms "positive populism", by which he then outlines an alternative approach to re-engaging the American public in a self-enlightened attempt to regain control of their lives and future through the available political p

What seduced me into buy Derber's book was opening page where he put forth the idea of a "corporate mystique" - a concept he derived from Friedan's "feminie mystique". He noted that American workers live with an impending sense of doom, but can't pinpoint the source of their trepidation. Derber's book is easily read, and offers the reader very useful information. He goes through the history of the corporation and populist movements in America and also provides a nice analysis of corporate influence on people's lives, and, ultimately on democracy. What I like most about Corporation Nation is that Derber devoted the second half of the book to providing solutions and ways that the reader can become involved to influence change. Much of what Derber wrote in '98 about current populism is proving true - a grassroots movement is growing in America. The rise of union and community groups working together for change, as well as the strengthening of third parties, such as the Green Party, are examples of the increased consciousness and activity that Derber saw the seeds of when the book was written. I highly recommend this book to anyone who lives with that mysterious sense of impending doom.

Of the dozens of classes I took while attending Boston College, Prof Derber's classes were my favorite. His intelligence, compassion for society and his desire for justice were qualities that engaged and enlightened all whom attended his classes. These skills make Corporation Nation a book that is a pleasure to read not only for its informative analysis, but for its style and demeanor. Derber's work does not suffer from the tedious nature of most books written to inform rather than entertain. It may sound cheesy, but reading this was fun! And when I as finished, I was empowered with a benchmark set of standards from which to judge the corporate job market I was about to enter.

Professor Derber's book is one of the most profoundly important books I've ever read about the impact of corporations on all our lives. The book has awakened me to critical dimensions of corporate power and influence. Anyone who thinks that corporations are private entities only should read this work. Not only does it tell some important truths about corporate ascendancy in America, but it also offer real solutions to the problem. It is especially critical that those working for corporations understand how and why their jobs are in jeopardy.