Michael Jordan and the New Global Capitalism, New and Expanded Edition | 
 enlarge | Author: Walter Lafeber
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 420035
Media: Paperback
Edition: Expanded
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
ISBN: 0393323692
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.323092
EAN: 9780393323696
ASIN: 0393323692
Publication Date: September 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: SERVICEABLE copy. PASSAGES UNDERLINED.
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Amazon.com Review
Not everyone embraces the "American Way." But as historian Walter LaFeber demonstrates in this highly original look at the effects of global capitalism, not everyone has a choice. Using powerful communications satellites in the 1980s and, later, unbridled capital, transnational corporations such as McDonald's and Nike and their media-mogul counterparts have infiltrated cultures from Paris to Beijing, understanding perfectly that what the world sees the world buys (in this case, Big Macs and anything plastered with a Nike swoosh). Of course, it helps when hoops legend Michael Jordan--the world's most idolized athlete--is pitching your products. His influence is pervasive: "McDonald's, blaring Michael Jordan's endorsement, operated in 103 nations and fed one percent of the world's population each day. 'Within the East Asian urban environment,' one historian of the firm notes, 'McDonald's fills a niche once occupied by the teahouse, the neighborhood shop, the street-side stall, and the park bench.'" LaFeber transitions smoothly from Michael Jordan biography to socioeconomic commentary, first exploring Jordan as the great American hero, then turning a critical eye on Nike and its shoddy overseas labor practices. Jordan can certainly sell shoes, but at what cost? In the final chapter heading, LaFeber asks whether Michael Jordan is the "Greatest Endorser of the Twentieth Century" or "An Insidious Form of Imperialism." He presents evidence of both, but ultimately The New Global Capitalism becomes less about Jordan's marketing prowess than America's influence over the world's consumer habits, and, subsequently, the havoc that power can wreak. LaFeber's short (164 pages), lucid study gives readers a fresh perspective on the battle between capital and culture. Recommended. --Rob McDonald
Product Description
Walter LaFeber's timely analysis looks at the ways that triumphant capitalism, coupled with high-tech telecommunications, is conquering the nations of the world, one mind—one pair of feet—at a time. With Michael Jordan and the New Global Capitalism, Walter LaFeber has written a biography, a social history, and a far-ranging economic critique. From basketball prodigy to international phenomenon to seductive commercial ideal, Michael Jordan is the supreme example of how American corporations have used technology in a brave, massively wired new world to sell their products in every corner of the globe. LaFeber's examination of Nike and its particular dominion over the global marketplace is often scathing, while his fascinating mini-biography of Michael Jordan and the commercial history of basketball reveal much about American society. For this new paperback edition, LaFeber has added a chapter on globalization in a changed world, after mass protests and since September 11.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Capital vs Culture September 23, 2007
LaFeber was well-known and loved by his students at Cornell as a spell binding lecturer and is widely respected as an expert on the history U.S foreign relations. So at first I wondered what about Michael Jordan could possibly interest a distinguished and conscientious scholar of American history, someone not normally associated with forays into pop culture. But it's a really fascinating, thoughtful, and surprising essay. LaFeber argues that Jordan is even bigger than we think--not as a sports icon but as both a symptom and cause of revolutionary change in the global order of things. Yes, the world changed with the fall of the Berlin Wall and with the end of the cold war, he says, but the rise of Jordan is an even bigger watershed moment in world history. The real kicker comes late in the book and is somewhat understated--that there is a war between culture and capital and capital is winning. The implications of this idea are enormous and mostly frightening. This is the maelstrom Marshall McLuhan was trying to warn us about. For anyone interested in media studies, cultural criticism, or a scholarly historian's perspective on global capitalism, this book will be eye-opening and mind-expanding. And the bits about Jordan himself are pretty fascinating.
A must read for all world citizens June 30, 2005
Just a short note to say that this is one of the most important books I have read in the past 10 years. It tackles capitalism, race, & the role of the individual in the global context in an engaging yet very well informed manner. As a History professor, I have tought this book at several major universities and it has always met with much approval from my students.
Simply Wonderful book. Definitely recommend it. May 5, 2005
This book was absolutely riveting. Provides in-depth information about anything to do with Michael Jordan and basketball in terms of its relations to the world. You will not have any questions when done reading. Gives a whole new perspective on the marketing of the NBA and how things work and evolve. The author shows how one person can affect millions, even billions of people. It allows us a glimpse of how something small can be so big at the same time.
 There Is More To Michael Jordan Then Playing Basketball... May 14, 2004
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
In Michael Jordan And The New Global Capitalism, Walter LaFaber uses his ability to research and write about something to express to the readers how important advertising is to any corporation or business. For the Nike Corporation, they partnered up with Michael Jordan and worked out a plan to advertise him and their products through worldwide telecommunications. When Michael Jordan won (which was something he did a lot), the Nike Corporation won too, because everyone wanted to be "like Mike," and the only way to be "like Mike" was to buy his footwear and apparel or other Nike footwear and apparel. This book is a good awakening to anyone interested in how our economy works for big businesses, and its also a good book for anyone interested in basketball and or Michael Jordan. This is a definite must read all in all, because even if you end up not liking this book, you will be better off having read it.
Good Enough October 21, 2002
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Lafeber really shows you how putting time and effort into something can really take you far in life. I found the book to be very fascinating because it gives all the history of how basketball got started and how MJ and Nike became such powerful household names. This book is a really good read for any MJ fan who wants to learn the whole history behind him. It shows you what global advertising can do to a persons popularity. The bottom line this book is filled with tons of very interesting facts and just tells a good story, so go pick it up as soon as you can.
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