The Rebel Sell: How the Counter Culture Became Consumer Culture - Hardcover

'COUNTERCULTURE HAS ALMOST COMPLETELY REPLACED SOCIALISM AS THE BASIS OF RADICAL POLITICAL THOUGHT' With the incredible popularity of Michael Moore's books and movies, and the continuing success of anti--consumer critiques like ADBUSTERS magazine and Naomi Klein's NO LOGO, it is hard to ignore the growing tide of resistance to the corporate--dominated world. But do these vocal opponents of the status quo offer us a real political alternative? In this wide--ranging and perceptive work of cultural criticism, Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter shatter the central myth of radical political, economic and cultural thinking. The idea of a counterculture -- that is, a world outside of the consumer dominated one that encompasses us -- pervades everything from the anti--globalisation movement to feminism and environmentalism. And the idea that mocking the system, or trying to 'jam' it so it will collapse, they argue, is not only counterproductive but has helped to create the very consumer society that 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.