Fences and Windows: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Globalization Debate (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Who are these people?..." (more)
Key Phrases: drug patents, golden rice, World Bank, Quebec City, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The success of Klein's No Logo, a slashing account of how corporations actively go after "market share" and the global misery that can result, makes anticipation for her next project high. As Klein notes in her preface, this book is more a stopgap than a follow-up. Covering the period of late 1999 to 2002, the book collects Klein's in-the-trenches journalism about sweatshops, genetically modified foods, evolving police tactics for crowd control and more. The two title images recur throughout: the fences are real, steel cages keeping protesters from interfering with summits, but they are also metaphorical, such as the "fence" of poverty that prevents the poor from receiving adequate education or health care. Klein argues that globalization has only delivered its promised benefits to the world's wealthiest citizens and that its emphasis on privatization has eroded the availability of public services around the globe. Critics have suggested that the "anti-globalization" movement (a term loathed, Klein notes, by many people actually involved) lacks a cohesive structure, but Klein generally sees this decentralization as a strength, likening the small groups' "hub and spoke" organization to that of linked Web sites. While Klein offers snapshots of success stories involving Nike, Starbucks and other corporate monoliths, she wisely does not suggest any easy solutions to this complex mesh of problems. Despite post-September 11 talk to the contrary, these dispatches indicate that the movement is far from over.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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“Ms. Klein incarnates [her] generation’s invention of the North American left.” —The New York Times
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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Picador; 1 edition (October 4, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312307993
• ISBN-13: 978-0312307998
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #276,519 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique insights and startling reports., February 1, 2003

By	Pen Name? "fluxus" (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

Fences and Windows is a poignant and highly important collection of on-the-scene essays and articles from Klein's travels participating in and observing the ongoing struggles between ruling elites and a diverse array of opposition. Klein is an excellent writer and very incisive. She brings the brute reality of the fences being drawn around democracy while the corporate globalization movement claims to be opening windows to freedom. But it is the diverse and decentralized "global justice" movement that is working to open the windows to a truly democratic globalization, one that places people over profits. While the WTO and FTAA factions work to push through economic legislations that will further remove most people from democratic decision making, the police are developing more brutal strategies to scare the conscientious populace from participation in demonstrations. But as this political climate heats up, the decentralized movement is coming together more cohesively in the face of this repression. Klein writes of how politics is becoming a "gated community," and how the protest movements are struggling but still pushing for real democracy. There are no easy answers in Fences and Windows, but lots of necessary information and insight for anyone who cares about their world.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spokesperson for the post-democracy struggles, January 18, 2003

By	Malvin (Frederick, MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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Naomi Klein's "Fences and Windows" is an inspired and brilliant collection of dispatches written from the front lines of the anti-globalization movement. Whether it was due to the deadline pressures of submitting her newspaper columns, her proximity to numerous protest sites, or her keen understanding of contemporary politics, Ms. Klein's writing in this book is as powerful, concise and insightful as it has ever been.

While Ms. Klein herself might modestly suggest that this book represents a "stopgap" effort sandwiched between "No Logo" and her forthcoming research project, you will be impressed by the author's dedication and conviction to the subject matter. The book has been given structure by grouping its articles into discreet categories that in turn relate to the "fences and windows" theme. For example, the section "Fencing in Democracy" contains stories that describe the ways in which the benefits of free trade have largely been realized by the rich but not the poor, while "Windows to Democracy" describes how formerly exploited communities and peoples have managed to positively transform and better their lives in creative ways.

Throughout the book, Ms. Klein's intellect and analysis is in top form. She skillfully and routinely turns the tables on neoliberal propaganda, exposing the greed and hypocrisy at the heart of the corporate agenda. For example, "Genetically Altered Rice: You Can't Eat Public Relations" deconstructs the claim that genetically engineered (GE) "golden rice" could save millions of lives in Asia. The author correctly points out that malnutrition has more to do with policy decisions than with technology, and that pushing the GE solution is to merely sustain and perpetuate the profits of the agribusiness industry at the expense of the people.

In its totality, the book suggests a world that has become post-democratic in the sense that unelected organizations and unaccountable corporations are exerting greater control over people's lives than perhaps at any time in recent human history. But Ms. Klein has given voice to the scores of people who are speaking truth to power. In my view, this outstanding book is evidence that we couldn't ask for a more articulate and passionate spokesperson for the post-democracy struggles than Ms. Klein.

I encourage everyone to read this timely, relevant and important book.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great "starter's kit" for understanding free trade protests, June 21, 2003

By	Lee L. (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

People who should read this book: fans of Naomi Klein's work, people who are unfamiliar with free trade agreements like NAFTA, and those looking to understand the resistance to those trade agreements.

While any collection of articles and speeches can seem to be all over the place, this book is very well organized and edited. Keep in mind that these are relatively short pieces but they still provide valuable information about the topic if you are not already familiar with it. Not knowing much about free trade before I read the book, I feel much more knowledgeable about it and I feel inclined to learn more. If you already have a good grasp on free trade and the resistance to it, you most likely will not find anything new here, but there are helpful thoughts and entertaining anecdotes from the author that makes it a good, quick read.