Culture, Inc.: The Corporate Takeover of Public Expression (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The Second World War ended when two nuclear weapons were exploded successively over Hiroshima and Nagasaki..." (more)
Key Phrases: corporate speech, new international information order, national information policy, United States, World War, New York Times (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Excellent work! Great teaching tool!"--Terrence M. Bresnahan, John F. Kennedy University

"As brilliant as usual. . . . addresses important theoretical concerns on the issue of culture and market."--Chakarin Komolsiri, SUNY at Binghamton

"Raises some very provocative points on American political culture and its origins."--Jack Corbett, Lewis and Clark College

"Excellent book--good analysis of an increasingly important area of social and cultural life."--Jeff Ferrell, Regis College

"In this important study, Herbert Schiller focuses his attention on topics of major significance that are far too easily ignored. He develops a powerful, cogent, and persuasive case that concentrated power over the private economy is increasingly translated into domination over every crucial aspect of social and cultural life, depriving democratic forms of substantive meaning. These are crucial features of the modern world that we ignore at our peril."--Noam Chomsky

"Schiller's account of the privatization of culture is an essential antidote to the prevalent notion of the 'free marketplace of ideas.' His powerful arguments challenge conventional thinking and pose basic issues long missing from the scholarly and political agenda."--George Gerbner, University of Pennsylvania

"The book itself admirably fulfills the promise of its name. It does have a whole slew of fine quotations, all carefully documented, which catch the clever right-wing culture designers with their intellectual pants down....Schiller thus clearly grasps the subtle yet pervasive connections between anti-radicalism and the establishment of a consumerist culture in this country....His analysis is as penetrating and hard-hitting as the documentation he presents....Schiller's book is invaluable for its careful documentation, and its vigorous analysis of how monopoly capitalism has cemented its control of the United States, and now much of the rest of the world too."--People's Culture

"Thought-provoking....A penetrating and timely defense of democratic expression and free access to information."--Stuart Ewen, Hunter College, City University of New York

"Brilliant book. I use it in every class I teach."--Anthony Arnove, Brown University

Product Description

Most Americans take for granted that they live in an open society with a free market of ideas. But as Herbert Schiller reveals in Culture, Inc., the corporate arm has reached into every corner of daily life, and from the shopping mall to the art gallery, big-business influence has brought about some frightening changes in American culture. Examining the effects of fifty years worth of corporate growth on American culture, Schiller argues that corporate control over such arenas of culture as museums, theaters, performing arts centers, and public broadcasting stations has resulted in a broad manipulation of consciousness as well as an insidious form of censorship. A disturbing but enlightening picture of corporate America, Culture, Inc. exposes the agenda and methods of the corporate cultural takeover, reveals the growing threat to free access to information at home and abroad, shows how independent channels of expression have been greatly restricted, and explains how the few keep managing to benefit from the many.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (May 23, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195067835
• ISBN-13: 978-0195067835
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #381,158 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars outstanding, April 21, 2000

By	"deltronfan" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

oustanding and concise account of how america and amercian corporations are peeling away freedom and free expression creating "an illusion of freedom". i re-read parts of this book on a weekly basis.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, more and more true., June 25, 2009

By	Dee Dee Halleck "DeeDee" (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an important warning about the corporatization of culture. More and more true as the days go on.