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A review by sonjaloviisa
No LOGO: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs by Naomi Klein
4.0
If I could be anyone, in terms of academia and my profession, I would be Naomi Klein. Her intelligence and wit emanates from every single word she writes. Reading her work, I get the same feeling that I get when I'm around people in my life who I find to be smart beyond my own understanding: absolute awe and a little bit of jealousy.
I read No Logo for the first time in 2015-2016 when I was writing my master's thesis. (Well, "read" is a term I use here very loosely, considering that I mostly just skimmed for passages that would be useful in constructing arguments about the efficacy of branding in identity development.) But this was my first time reading this from cover to cover. And I'm kind of upset that I didn't do so earlier.
As I mentioned, Klein is really damn smart. Which makes it so that this book is not necessarily easily approachable on every page. Some things definitely went over my head and felt uninteresting, simply due to their complexity. But don't get me wrong, that doesn't take away from the fact that this book is absolutely vital to the way we exist in our capitalistic culture today. And imagine, this was written in 1999 and you would honestly never know without checking, because every argument is still so relevant.
If you're a consumer, you need to read this. You need to soak this in and understand all of this. Understand how uncomfortable these facts are and understand that you (yes, YOU) need to stop making excuses and stop consuming, at all costs. And understand that if you choose not to because it's too difficult or you really want those Nike shoes, you're promoting something immoral and unethical. Because as much as we want to blame the big guys, we're the ones funding them.
Despite my rage for the state of consumption in today's world, Klein herself remains seemingly optimistic and positive towards the consumer, while focusing her criticism mostly on the businesses themselves. What says it all is Klein's quote from Utah Phillips: "The earth is not dying, it is being killed. And those that are killing it have names and addresses." She also provides a litany of examples of just how powerful we as consumers are, which to me underlines our responsibility in this situation. We can't be perfect and we most likely can't save the world, but it is our responsibility to be aware and to at least try. Making the changes that we need to be making is supposed to be uncomfortable.
So thank you Naomi Klein for allowing me to write an interesting master's thesis. And thank you now for giving me a kick in the butt to get a move on with my doctorate degree, which I've been dreaming about ever since the day I graduated. I have a feeling No Logo will be referenced in that thesis as well...
I read No Logo for the first time in 2015-2016 when I was writing my master's thesis. (Well, "read" is a term I use here very loosely, considering that I mostly just skimmed for passages that would be useful in constructing arguments about the efficacy of branding in identity development.) But this was my first time reading this from cover to cover. And I'm kind of upset that I didn't do so earlier.
As I mentioned, Klein is really damn smart. Which makes it so that this book is not necessarily easily approachable on every page. Some things definitely went over my head and felt uninteresting, simply due to their complexity. But don't get me wrong, that doesn't take away from the fact that this book is absolutely vital to the way we exist in our capitalistic culture today. And imagine, this was written in 1999 and you would honestly never know without checking, because every argument is still so relevant.
If you're a consumer, you need to read this. You need to soak this in and understand all of this. Understand how uncomfortable these facts are and understand that you (yes, YOU) need to stop making excuses and stop consuming, at all costs. And understand that if you choose not to because it's too difficult or you really want those Nike shoes, you're promoting something immoral and unethical. Because as much as we want to blame the big guys, we're the ones funding them.
Despite my rage for the state of consumption in today's world, Klein herself remains seemingly optimistic and positive towards the consumer, while focusing her criticism mostly on the businesses themselves. What says it all is Klein's quote from Utah Phillips: "The earth is not dying, it is being killed. And those that are killing it have names and addresses." She also provides a litany of examples of just how powerful we as consumers are, which to me underlines our responsibility in this situation. We can't be perfect and we most likely can't save the world, but it is our responsibility to be aware and to at least try. Making the changes that we need to be making is supposed to be uncomfortable.
So thank you Naomi Klein for allowing me to write an interesting master's thesis. And thank you now for giving me a kick in the butt to get a move on with my doctorate degree, which I've been dreaming about ever since the day I graduated. I have a feeling No Logo will be referenced in that thesis as well...