about contributors submissions book series advertising contests tour dates Mixed Media PopMatters Picks
|
|
Vince CarducciAbout Vince Carducci Vince Carducci reviews books for PopMatters and is currently completing a PhD dissertation on global consumerism and its discontents at the New School for Social Research in New York City. Features
Manufacturing MotownLike the nameplates on the auto industry's productive output, Motown's headline acts were brand identities under which cultural commodities were sold. [27 January 2009] Confidence Games on Canal StreetConsumers of counterfeit branded products may be dupes or they may be shrewd shoppers, but they are also communicators; people who demonstrate literacy in the meanings attached to certain symbols in the marketplace both of goods and ideas. [27 July 2007] Work, the SequelMost people don't have the luxury of choosing to bail from a high-paying job to live the stressed-out, pizza-scarfing life of a grad student. [17 July 2007] Free Culture (While Supplies Last)PopMatters books writer Vince Carducci takes stock of World Book and Copyright Day and other aspects of the global marketplace for ideas. [1 June 2006] Reviews
The Shadows of Consumption by by Peter DauvergneDauvergne acknowledges that globalization isn’t just about making life better; it’s about making boatloads of money. [23 January 2009] 
Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its LusterA fashion reporter peels back the veneer of today's luxury brands and uncovers the unseemly impulses that have opened exclusivity up to the masses, mostly for the worse. [14 October 2008] 
Networking Futures by Jeffrey S. JurisThis stands as a pioneering document of what may yet prove to be a new new world order. [3 September 2008] 
Brand New China by Jing WangWorlds collide in this report on China’s budding consumer society and how corporations are slicing and dicing it. [31 July 2008] 
Confronting the New Conservatism by Michael J. Thompson [Editor]It makes for worthy if sometimes scary reading as the United States slouches toward the 2008 election. [13 August 2007] 
Getting Loose by Sam BinkleyBinkley does more than simply mark the transition from Yippy to yuppie. [26 June 2007] 
Gamer Theory by McKenzie WarkGamer Theory concerns itself with more than just the interpretation of video games; it's about gaming ambience -- that is, gamespace -- as the kinetic field within which game players exist. [5 June 2007] 
Ecology Without Nature by Timothy MortonIf we must forsake the Romantic idea of nature, we must similarly abandon its understanding of art as something to be held on high. [21 May 2007] 
Profane Waste by Gretchen Craft Rubin and Dana HoeyWhat is the point of a self-indulgent celebration of waste, profane or otherwise, in this age of inconvenient truth, a time in which ecological sustainability is the single-most pressing issue facing the planet? [20 February 2007] 
Steal This Music by Joanna DemersMusic has presented copyright challenges nearly from the start, according to Demers, in part because the law has generally lagged behind technology. [16 February 2007] 
The Central Liberal Truth by Lawrence E. HarrisonAlthough the book has the word liberal in its title, it is hardly progressive. [1 September 2006] 
The Politics of Small Things: The Power of the Powerless in Dark Times by Jeffrey C. GoldfarbGoldfarb examines the day-to-day connections between people that help them escape isolation, loneliness and despair, the very things Arendt identifies as seeds of the terror that totalitarianism reaps. [26 May 2006] 
Sprawl: A Compact History by Robert BruegmannBruegmann maintains that there are at least two causes of sprawl in its modern form, increased affluence and the spread of democracy. [26 April 2006] 
Spice: the History of a Temptation by Jack TurnerThe allure of spice lives on in the present, although certainly in a less rarified atmosphere than in its heyday. [28 November 2005] 
Consuming Kids: Protecting Our Children from the Onslaught of Marketing and Advertising by Susan LinA puppeteer who regularly appeared on Mister Roger's Neighborhood, Linn alleges that the children's marketing industry is making kids fat, unimaginative, materialistic, and insensitive. [17 November 2005] 
Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats Are Hijacking the Global Economy by Moisés NaThe book offers several cases where economic necessity has blurred the line between legal and illegal activity in many parts of the world. [2 November 2005] 
Hot Property: The Stealing of Ideas in an Age of Globalization by Pat ChoateThe intellectual property debate typically divides into two camps -- those who defend the rights of ownership and those who defend free speech. [28 October 2005] 
Old Clothes, New Looks: Second Hand Fashion by Alexandra Palmer and Hazel ClarkOne of the book's main themes is how the second hand clothing market has provided opportunities for female self-determination, however limited by the silk canopy of patriarchal authority. [3 August 2005] 
Plethora (2005) - PopMatters Film Review )It's billed as 'a documentary about stuff', but it's really about self-identity and interpersonal relationships, and how our personal belongings serve as extensions of our selves. [22 July 2005] 
Point of Purchase: How Shopping Changed American Culture by Sharon ZukinZukin points out that in a world where 'too many goods chase too few buyers' it shouldn't be surprising that we're shopping more but enjoying it less. [3 June 2005] 
Yves Saint-Laurent: His Life and Times (2004)As much as he ostensibly seems to be in denial about it, Saint-Laurent did bring a new level of aesthetic consciousness to segments of the consumer market where it hadn't before been. [23 March 2005] 
How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding by Douglas B. HoltMore than merely reflecting people and the times in which they live, iconic brands offer myths that help resolve the contradictions of society. [1 March 2005] 
“Fear: Its Political Uses and Abuses”, Social Research by Arien MackThe weight of evidence presented and deconstructed by the various researchers could lead the average reader to shrink before the seeming omnipotence of the neoconservative cabal now at the nation's helm. [22 February 2005] 
A Hacker Manifesto by McKenzie WarkBy mashing up Romantic idealism with historical materialism and looping in some samples of cyberpunk futurism to boot, Wark offers a glimpse of potential new worlds. [15 February 2005] 
The Rise of Fashion: A Reader by Daniel Leonhard PurdyIn many respects, the fashion debate is a product of the emergence of modern culture and its various forms of accommodation and resistance. [14 December 2004] 
Fashion Under Fascism: Beyond the Black Shirt by Eugenia PaulicelliThe Fascists took up the fashion industry cause as part of their agenda of managing cultural expressions of nation, class and gender in the construction of a New Italy. [15 June 2004] 
Consuming the American Landscape by John GanisIt's the split between mind and body at the center of Western civilization's ill-fated attempt under technocratic reason to rule over all things which Ganis's photographs seek to repair. [3 February 2004] 
Red, White and Liberal: How Left is Right and Right is Wrong by Alan ColmesOne can appreciate Colmes's need to do some CYA when it comes to his employer, yet his repeated defense of Fox News reinforces the opinion of those liberals who brand him a sell-out. [19 December 2003] 
Rumsfeld: A Personal Portrait by Midge DectorDector has said that Rumsfeld is her attempt to speak directly to the American people over the heads of the media. But she's only interested in telling them what she and her fellow neocons want them to hear. [11 November 2003] 
The New Imperialism by David HarveyThe United States, David Harvey notes, has long sought to control the flow of oil from the Middle East as a way to maintain political and economic superiority. [5 November 2003] 
War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America’s Campaign to Create a Master Race by Edwin BlackUncovers a long-repressed chapter of social history significant enough to command reappraisal of the legacy of eugenics for today and for the future. [17 September 2003] 
Off with their Heads: Traitors, Crooks and Obstructionists in American Politics, Media and BusinessMorris chastises 'Hollywood apologists' for acting as if they had political standing in the same way they pretend to be the characters they portray onscreen or in song. But with his motives so plainly in view, the opinions espoused by Morris, former Trent Lott and Clinton campaign advisor and now Rupert Murdoch operative, have no more weight than those of whom he so vociferously denounces. [20 August 2003] 
A Consumer’s Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America by Lizabeth CohenWhere Cohen really excels is showing how social, economic and political forces came together in the Consumers' Republic. After the Second World War, converting back to the peacetime economy meant also reestablishing the dominance of the mostly white men coming home from service. [2 July 2003] 
Something for Nothing: Luck in America by Jackson LearsWith a legacy son in the White House and the rewards of hard work a crapshoot (thanks to corporate grifters like Enron), these days more attention is turning to the place of luck in American culture. [26 June 2003] BlogsChannel Surfing: GM’s ‘Total Confidence’ Ad Campaign [7 May 2009]Sound Affects: None More White: The Beatle’s White Album [18 November 2008] |
Now on PopMatters
Columns
Moving Pixels: Parent-Child Bonding: Video Games that Bridge the Generation Gap The Rockist: Metal, Back from Purgatory
Blogs
Short Ends and Leader: Forrest Gump: 15th Anniversary Edition (1994) Peripatetic Postcards: What’s Hot in Korea Marginal Utility: A Quick Theory of the Self
Music
:. Say Anything: Say Anything :. Wolfmother: Cosmic Egg :. The Swell Season: Strict Joy :. Neon Indian: Psychic Chasms :. Karen O and the Kids: Where The Wild Things Are :. Slaraffenland: We’re on Your Side :. Gloria Jones: Share My Love
Film
:. The Men Who Stare at Goats :. Endgame :. The Fourth Kind :. Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire :. Disney’s A Christmas Carol :. Gentlemen Broncos
DVDs
:. Adult Swim in a Box :. The 39 Steps :. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (Those Aren’t Pillows Edition)
News
:. Craig Ferguson’s autobiography is a testimony to America’s eternal appeal to immigrants :. INTERVIEW:Jeff Bridges abides, and works like crazy :. Roland Emmerich’s latest big-budget doomsday extravaganza is his ‘darkest film’ to date :. INTERVIEW:Hit repeat with Steely Dan and ‘Aja’ :. INTERVIEW:Lily Tomlin has had an extraordinary career being ordinary :. Film changes student’s course: ‘Precious’ star pursuing acting
|
