About the Book
An incisive and powerful investigation of corporate impact on human and planetary well-being
Freedom of choice lies at the heart of American society. Every day, individuals decide what to eat, which doctors to see, who to connect with online, and where to educate their children. Yet, many Americans don't realize that these choices are illusory at best. By the start of the 21st century, every major industrial sector in the global economy was controlled by no more than five transnational corporations, and in about a third of these sectors, a single company accounted for more than 40 percent of global sales. The available options in food, healthcare, education, transportation, and even online presence are largely constructed by corporations, whose sweeping influence have made them the public face and executive agents of 21st-century capitalism.
At What Cost confronts how globalization, financial speculation, monopolies, and control of science and technology have enhanced the ability of corporations and their allies to overwhelm influences of government, family, community, and faith. As corporations manipulate demand through skillful marketing and veto the choices that undermine their bottom line, free consumer choice has all but disappeared, and with it, the personal protections guarding our collective health. At What Cost argues that the world created by 21st-century capitalism is simply not fit to solve our most serious public health problems, from climate change to opioid addiction. However, author and public health expert Nicholas Freudenberg also shows that though the road is steep, human and planetary well-being constitute a powerful mobilizing idea for a new social movement, one that will restore the power of individual voice to our democracy.
With impeccably detailed research and an eye towards a better future, At What Cost arms ordinary citizens, activists, and health professionals with an understanding of how we've arrived at the precipice, and what we can do to ensure a healthier collective future.
Table of Contents:
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I. Introduction
1. The Changing Face of U.S. and Global Capitalism
Part II. The Pillars of Health
2. Food: Ultraprocessed Products Become the Global Diet
3. Education: Private Capital Goes to School
4. Health Care: the Medical Care Industry's War on Cancer
5. Consequences of the Growth of Low-Wage and Precarious Work
6. Transportation: Uber and Autonomous Vehicles vs. Mass Transit
7. Social Connections: Extracting Profit from Human Relations
Part III. Conclusion
8. Transitions from 21st-century Capitalism
9. From Now to Next: To Build a Movement for Another World
References
About the Author :
Nicholas Freudenberg, DrPH, MPH, is Distinguished Professor of Public Health at the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, Director of the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute, and Founder of Corporations and Health Watch, a website that monitors the impact of corporations on health. Dr. Freudenberg is the author or co-author of five other books and more than 100 scientific articles. His work has been supported
by the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Open Society Institute.
Review :
"At What Cost is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand why food insecurity, low-wage work, chronic disease, and environmental degradation are such widespread and seemingly intractable problems. Capitalism may not be their only cause, but it is common to all of them. This important book provides compelling evidence for the need to join together to change this system to one better for people and the planet." -- Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, Professor
Emerita of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, New York University and author of Unsavory Truth
"If there's an upside to this era of heat and disease, it's that we finally have no choice but to ask some very basic questions about the framework of our world. This book takes some important steps in precisely that direction!" -- Bill McKibben, author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?
"In At What Cost, Freudenberg details the need for a better economic system and shows how only through this change can we hope to see global health and justice." -- Mark Bittman, author of Animal Vegetable Junk
"Freudenberg's timely analysis of what he terms 'modern capitalism' is critical reading for health professionals who are seeking evidence and ideas to understand why and how globalized and national prioritizing of private profit and privatization wreak such harms to people's health and planetary health. Analyzing the intertwined cases of food, education, healthcare, work, transportation, and social connection, he clarifies why movements for social change are
crucial for building an equitable, sustainable, and healthy future." -- Nancy Krieger, PhD, Professor of Social Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health
"In At What Cost, Freudenberg offers an insightful analysis reminding us that the pathologies with which we must contend most urgently aren't simply those that happen under our skin but those that happen at the level of our economics and politics. At What Cost is required reading for those who recognize the imperative for political action for public health." -- Abdul El-Sayed, MD, physician, epidemiologist, and progressive activist
