Nation of Rebels: Why Counterculture Became Consumer Culture [Paperback]

Joseph Heath (Author), Andrew Potter (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 14, 2004

In this wide-ranging and perceptive work of cultural criticism, Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter shatter the most important myth that dominates much of radical political, economic, and cultural thinking. The idea of a counterculture -- a world outside of the consumer-dominated world that encompasses us -- pervades everything from the antiglobalization movement to feminism and environmentalism. And the idea that mocking or simply hoping the "system" will collapse, the authors argue, is not only counterproductive but has helped to create the very consumer society radicals oppose.

In a lively blend of pop culture, history, and philosophical analysis, Heath and Potter offer a startlingly clear picture of what a concern for social justice might look like without the confusion of the counterculture obsession with being different.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

So-called rebellion not only perpetuates the market economy, it's the economy's biggest driving factor. So argue Canadian philosophy professors Heath and Potter; in their world, you can't "sell out" or be "co-opted," because you're already participating in the market, where rebellion is just another word for relentless innovation, fashion and cool. With sharp humor, the two make a solid case for consumerism being motivated by competitiveness rather than conformity, while pointing out the hypocrisies and shortcomings of "alternative" lifestyles, like the fascination with ancient non-Western medicine as somehow nobler and purer than modern science. Their theoretical underpinnings range from critiques of Freud to French postmodernism, and they layer their philosophical arguments with personal experience (though the use of "I" without identifying the writer as either Heath or Potter becomes irritating). The authors tear into veterans of the '60s counterculture repeatedly, and blaming the "all or nothing" approach of would-be radicals who drop out for holding back progress. The arguments are familiar, but Heath and Potter's sustained scrutiny of the premises from a market perspective freshens them.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Although a more fitting title for this book might be Why Counter Culture Becomes Consumer Culture, the authors adeptly and succinctly sum up 200 years of consumer culture. Within the first few chapters, this book enlightens us enough to accomplish its goal while being quite an infectious read as well as inspiration to forge ahead to analyze how average lifestyle decisions affect the big picture of capitalism. (The book should not be read without some note taking and, later, examining many of the references to books, movies, and music.) Heath and Potter seek to make us realize how our lifestyles and spending habits reverberate throughout every facet of our lives. The lesson is, if one wants to participate in the consumer culture, continue with the current lifestyle, but if one desires to be a genuine rebel, move to the forest and become a hunter-gatherer like our ancestors (and Ted Kaczynski). Ed Dwyer
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: HarperBusiness; First U.S. Edition, Later Printing edition (December 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006074586X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060745868
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #618,162 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, Witty January 21, 2005

By California reader

Format:Paperback

A brilliant, witty critique of the counterculture and how it has diverted our energies from pursuing effective political solutions to our social problems and redirected them into silly, self-indulgent, self-defeating gestures of pseudo-rebellion. Very similar to what Thomas Frank and his crew of wits at The Baffler are saying, only more incisive and analytical. Heath and Potter are masters of lucid exposition (for example, I've never read a more elegant description of the Prisoner's Dilemma than theirs) who use Thorstein Veblen's economic theories to pull the whole lid off the notion of commodified "dissent".

My only quarrel with the book is that 1) it is light on prescription (the authors content themselves with brief, general calls for more regulation to control the worst excesses of corporate behavior); and 2) it doesn't always address the strongest arguments against corporate hegemony (the authors are content to argue that Walmart isn't so bad, because it offers low prices and friendly service, but they don't mention anything about its underhanded business practices or its devastating effect on local economies).

Nevertheless, this is the most persuasive and thoroughgoing critique I've yet read on the sad fraud that is the counterculture.

104 of 125 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant book, but within limits January 8, 2005

By Gigi

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

A good book to consider in tandem with this one is James Masterson's "The Search for the Real Self." Masterson's thesis is that those with borderline and narcissistic personality disorders have never really had support for the development of real, authentic, core selves. It's but a small leap from there to Christopher Lasch's "The Culture of Narcissism." The idea is that many, and perhaps most, Americans today have that pervasive sense of emptiness, a lack of self.

One of the authors of "Nation of Rebels" admits to having been a punk rocker rebel in a prior phase of life. He then goes on to say that that phase was, he realized upon reflection, an example of the false rebellion that the book talks about. But then, disturbingly, it becomes apparent as one reads the book, that Heath and Potter assume the same lack of self in all members of todays "nation of rebels." In other words, all consumption is based upon false, status, pseudo-rebellious tendencies.

The problem here is that the authors assume that no one buys a BMW in order to have an exciting driving experience, but only to impress the neighbors. They assume that no one buys a home theater in order to simply enjoy movies, but only to have the latest "thing." They would assume that no 20 year old would quit college simply because it wasn't right for him or her, and that the only conceivable reason would be a false sense of rebellion against parents, society, or whatnot.

In other words, they truly seem to believe what they posit early in the book: that real, authentic selves do not exist. In anyone. Talk about psychological projection outward from their own inner circumstances on a doozy of a scale! To that extent, as brilliant as this book is, I suspect that the authors are playing at being deeper, more serious social activists, and are playing at being Canadian philosophy professors, in the same exact way that one of them once played at being a rebel.

The second limitation of the book is the assumption that the authors make that "progressive" politics are a given. If you disagree with that premise, as conservatives, moderates, and many of the countercultural-type liberals that Heath and Potter are attacking in this book would surely do, then the authors have nothing for you. The book collapses into a battle between the authors as Ralph Nader-like diligent old-style liberals, and the standard liberal of the Clinton or Kerry variety. As such, the true audience for this book becomes, in all likelihood, the conservative reader-as-voyeur, as such standard liberal icons as Marcuse, Ellul, Mumford, Laing, Baudrillard, Foucault, and on and on are cleaned and gutted with profound gusto.

I sense this is an important book, and is a bomb thrown into a crowded room. I'm not sure what the results are, or what they will be further down the road. I look forward to how other readers respond.

35 of 42 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Thesis, Mediocre Execution October 19, 2005

By Jason E. Bradfield

Format:Paperback

The authors are right on in their fundamental critique of counterculture "politics." They describe how much counterculture activity does not the subvert the "system" at all and actually interferes with authentic efforts toward social justice.

For example, the counterculture emphasis on individuality and uniqueness prevents many leftists activists from making a coherent case for increasing state regulations in an effort to achieve progressive aims such as less inequality and a cleaner environment.

Unfortunately, the authors too frequently engage in overgeneralizations. Their overgeneralizations are so numerous that they often appear guilty of the very all-or-nothing thinking that they accuse counterculture rebels of. Furthermore, the authors make too many blanket assertions about subjects that are outside their field of expertise. These unsubstantiated assertions seriously undermine their credibility.

This book is a great first draft, but it should have been better researched, should have included better footnotes, and should have been far less polemical.

The main problem I see with the counterculture "rebels" is that they too often engage in black or white thinking. For example, rejecting all of the capitalism because of certain problems. However, this book will not go far in changing that because the authors commit the exact same error in thought.

In short, this book's main idea desparately needs to gain currency among leftists, but it must be presented by an author who is more nuanced, scholarly, and less judgemental than these two.