What do you think?
Rate this book
Wal-Mart: The Face of Twenty-First-Century Capitalism
A collection of essays that “do an incredible job of balancing the wonders and horrors of the force that is Wal-Mart ” ( Booklist , starred review).
Edited by one of the nation’s preeminent labor historians, this book marks an ambitious effort to dissect the full extent of Wal-Mart’s business operations, its social effects, and its role in the United States and world economy. Wal-Mart is based on a spring 2004 conference of leading historians, business analysts, sociologists, and labor leaders that immediately attracted the attention of the national media, drawing profiles in the New York Times , Los Angeles Times , and the New York Review of Books . Their contributions are adapted here for a general audience.
At the end of the nineteenth century, the Pennsylvania Railroad declared itself “the standard of the world.” In more recent years, IBM and then Microsoft seemed the template for a new, global information economy. But at the dawn of the twenty-first century, Wal-Mart had overtaken all rivals as the world-transforming economic institution of our time.
Presented in an accessible format and extensively illustrated with charts and graphs, Wal-Mart examines such topics as the giant retailer’s managerial culture, revolutionary use of technological innovation, and controversial pay and promotional practices to provide the most complete guide yet available to one of America’s largest companies.
“Like archaeologists who pick over artifacts to understand an ancient society, the scholars here [are] examining Wal-Mart for insights into the very nature of American capitalist culture.” ― The New York Times
“Stimulating perspectives on the world’s largest corporation.” ― Publishers Weekly
Edited by one of the nation’s preeminent labor historians, this book marks an ambitious effort to dissect the full extent of Wal-Mart’s business operations, its social effects, and its role in the United States and world economy. Wal-Mart is based on a spring 2004 conference of leading historians, business analysts, sociologists, and labor leaders that immediately attracted the attention of the national media, drawing profiles in the New York Times , Los Angeles Times , and the New York Review of Books . Their contributions are adapted here for a general audience.
At the end of the nineteenth century, the Pennsylvania Railroad declared itself “the standard of the world.” In more recent years, IBM and then Microsoft seemed the template for a new, global information economy. But at the dawn of the twenty-first century, Wal-Mart had overtaken all rivals as the world-transforming economic institution of our time.
Presented in an accessible format and extensively illustrated with charts and graphs, Wal-Mart examines such topics as the giant retailer’s managerial culture, revolutionary use of technological innovation, and controversial pay and promotional practices to provide the most complete guide yet available to one of America’s largest companies.
“Like archaeologists who pick over artifacts to understand an ancient society, the scholars here [are] examining Wal-Mart for insights into the very nature of American capitalist culture.” ― The New York Times
“Stimulating perspectives on the world’s largest corporation.” ― Publishers Weekly
349 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
15 people are currently reading
128 people want to read
About the author
Nelson Lichtenstein
59 books30 followersNelson Lichtenstein is a professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and director of the Center for the Study of Work, Labor and Democracy.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 19, 2007
Wal-Mart! The myth, the legend, the face of 21st century capitalism. This is the company that defines retail as we know it. I was once asked if this book was "for or against" Wal-Mart. To say both might not be completely true. While the contributors to this collection point out pros to the Wal-Mart Effect, they seem rather quaint and are ultimately buried by the cons. Rock-bottom wages, meager benefits, encouraged sex discrimination and invasion of privacy, Chinese sweatshops, off-the-clock work requirements, employee humiliation and alienation, environmental disregard, the list just keeps on goin'. There's no way around it, Wal-Mart's doing a bang-up job ruining peoples lives, but don't worry they're good for families. Sure, Wal-Mart's made some great technological advancements and contributions to retail, but even these have worked against their employees. This is capitalism at its finest.
The book covers a whole range of topics related to Wal-Mart. If you're an econ/business dunce like me then some spots will become tough to understand and far less interesting. But when an essay catches your attention it's great. Most of the time the book is great.
The book covers a whole range of topics related to Wal-Mart. If you're an econ/business dunce like me then some spots will become tough to understand and far less interesting. But when an essay catches your attention it's great. Most of the time the book is great.
July 5, 2021
Insightful. A good look at Wal-Marts tactics and how they became so dominant in the U.S.A.
June 16, 2022
Dense with information, took me a while. I wish there was an updated version!
November 20, 2014
•
An outstanding collection of essays that firmly fit Wal-Mart inside a well-defined context. If you want to understand Wal-Mart's relationship to the world at-large, reading this book is a great way to start.
•
April 25, 2014
Nuff said.
November 11, 2008
I ended up skimming portions of this since I've already read about Walmart. This was interesting, mostly because of my job-related relationship to Walmart.
Certainly more historical, not biased.
Certainly more historical, not biased.
Read
January 15, 2010sociology
March 26, 2009
The best points and facts in this book are hard to find as it is very detailed.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews