Insurrection: Citizen Challenges to Corporate Power

The world was shocked to see more than 50,000 people converge on Seattle in November 1999 to protest the policies of a then little-known institution called the World Trade Organization. Pundits and ordinary citizens wondered, "Who are these people?" " What are they so angry about, and what do they want?" Since then, the protests and the enthusiasm for the cause has quickly multiplied. In their fascinating narrative of a growing movement, Kevin Danaher and Jason Mark answer those questions by showing how the Seattle protests and subsequent mass demonstrations against the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are the dramatic result of a full decade of growing agitation over corporate sponsored globalization. From uncovering major retailers' links to sweatshop abuses and revealing the deception of American tobacco companies, to questioning corporations' ties to repressive dictators, shaming food processors into selling dolphin-safe tuna and demanding that businesses stop destroying old growth forests, citizens have become far more aggressive in directly challenging corporate behavior. Written by two activists who are constantly in the eye of this storm, Insurrect charts the growth of this dissatisfaction and gives us a glimpse of where this movement might be heading.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Corporate Power vs. People's Power A History of U.S. Corporate Accountability Struggles 2. Would You Let Your Sister Work There? The Conflict Over Sweatshops 3. Flipper vs. the WTO The Dolphin/Tuna Dilemma 4. Citizen Diplomacy vs. Corporate Profits The Struggle to Free Burma 5. Up In Smoke: Tobacco Profits vs. Public Health 6. Trading Democracy The Struggle Over Rule-Making in the Global Economy Conclusion: Movement-Building for Global Democracy Resources

About the Author :
Described by The New York Times as the ³Paul Revere of globalization¹s woes,² Kevin Danaher is the author or editor of ten books about globalization, and the co-founder of the human rights organization Global Exchange. His book Corporations Are Gonna Get Your Mama was named one of the best books of 1997 by TheProgressive. His op-eds have appeared in The WashingtonPost, The Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Jason Mark, a one-time reporter, has helped develop corporate accountability campaigns targeting Nike, Starbucks, Procter & Gamble, and Ford Motor Company. His op-eds have appeared in the Miami Herald and the San Francisco Chronicle. This is his first book. To learn more about their work, visit www.globalexchange.org.

Review :
"If you're waiting for the rallying cry to join the historic battle against global corporate greed, here it is! Insurrection -- the time is now." -- Jim Hightower, author of Thieves in High Places: They've Stolen OurCountry and It's Time to Take It Back! "This book is not another sad-faced whine telling us what we already know. It details real victories against corporate dictatorship, and how we can help do more." -- Jello Biafra "Insurrection: Citizen Challenges to Corporate Power provides invaluable information about important recent challenges to corporate arrogance by various organizations within the US movement for corporate responsibility. The documented histories of anti-sweat shop, anti-tobacco, anti-WTO, Free Burma, and pro-democracy campaigns make clear that corporations are not invincible. Kevin Danaher and Jason Mark also make a compelling case for why the movement must not only continue to demand responsibility from individual corporations, but must also move on to demand that government enforce corporate accountability in general. Danaher and Mark's experience as activists as well as researchers makes their discussion of anti-corporate strategy and tactics, and their suggestions for how to transform the movement for corporate responsibility into a movement for global democracy particularly insightful." -- Robin Hahnel, American University, and Author of TheABCs of Political Economy: A Modern Approach