Life Inc: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take it Back by Douglas Rushkoff
| Life Inc: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take it Back by Douglas Rushkoff | |
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| Category: Politics and Society | |
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Reviewer: Zoe Morris
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| Summary: A timely and relevant book about how big business controls our lives, and how we can fight back... | |
| Buy? Maybe | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 304 | Date: June 2010 |
| Publisher: Vintage | |
| ISBN: 978-0099516699 | |
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The author of this book was mugged outside his apartment one Christmas Eve. He posted a note online to warn his neighbours to be extra careful, and was promptly berated for doing something so public that could potentially damage property values in his local area. This is a thought-provoking snippet, and if the whole book was like this, I'm sure I would have been gripped.
Unfortunately, this is one of the better tit-bits. It’s told on the back cover, to catch your eye in the shop, and repeated inside, but most of the other tales aren’t quite as enticing. This book is about corporatism, which in itself is an intriguing concept, but despite this continued theme, the different chapters seem to be mish-mash of unconnected ideas that came back to a single conclusion that all corporations are evil. This seems rather simplistic and I would have liked more time to have been spent on the scope of their 'evilness' and where different companies sit on the spectrum.
Reading Life Inc is like being on a roller coaster – not because it's a wild ride, but because it's just full of ups and downs. There were certain parts, for example the inside look at the Wealth Expo, that I found both interesting and enlightening, but this and similar sections didn't make up the majority of the book, so failed to keep my attention. I also thought that the historical segments were too bland and unrelated to the here and now: the whole point is that the state of the world today bares absolutely no resemblance to the world there once was.
I also found the writing an effort to get through at times, like some old PPE textbook written by a fusty Oxford Don. The subject can be described as a pseudo-science at best, so this approach is over the top, and a chatty, accessible tone would have made the world of difference. The book has a comprehensive index and notes section, but these are separate to the text itself, and therefore you are left reading un-annotated pages which miss the necessary references, contributing to the half-text book, half-not feel. Another reviewer suggested that the author lacks intellectual maturity in his arguments. I am not sufficiently well-versed on the topic to assess the worth of Rushkoff’s arguments but I did find some surprisingly simple at times.
I cannot be entirely negative about this book, though. I thought the subject was a timely one, and that the author tried hard to bring the 'bigger picture' to readers. It's also a short book which means even though not every page is 100% engaging, it's also not unnecessarily padded out, nor does it drag.
I think the topic has potential, but the book was not the wonder I imagined it would be. Good...just not great. Borrow it for a skim first before you decide whether it's one to buy, though for students of related subjects I think it could be quite relevant.
Thanks go to the publishers for sending us this book.
Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain by George Monbiot tells a similar story, but with, as the title clearly indicates, more of a focus on this side of the pond.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Life Inc: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take it Back by Douglas Rushkoff at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Life Inc: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take it Back by Douglas Rushkoff at Amazon.com.
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