A forceful argument for genuine business accountability.
How profits can follow responsible business practices.
Business professor, lecturer, and Forbes columnist Marquis mounts a sharp critique of businesses that have hidden the negative social and environmental impacts of the ways they produce and deliver their products and services. “Behind a smoke screen of rhetoric about individual responsibility and personal choice,” writes the author, “corporations and their leaders ruthlessly pursue their own interests, shifting the blame for the harms they cause onto society at large.” These businesses typically use two strategies to deflect responsibility for environmental pollution, labor exploitation, and systemic discrimination: gaslighting, which presents “a false view of reality with the aim of convincing the ‘victim’ (i.e. us) that they are responsible for a wrong that the gaslighter committed,” and greenwashing, whereby companies publicize an ecologically sound image—a new logo or advertising slogan—“while continuing to operate in the same dirty way they always have.” Marquis points out, for example, the “big lie” told by the Plastics Industry Association about recycling: Most plastics are not recyclable, instead ending up in landfills. In presenting practical ideas for reform, Marquis sees a growing movement from “a linear ‘take, make, waste’ orientation to one where virtuous cycles drive positive change.” Among many companies working to eliminate pollution and reduce their carbon footprints are the shoe manufacturer Allbirds, furniture superstore IKEA, personal care enterprise Dr. Bronner’s, household cleaning supply company Seventh Generation, and clothing manufacturer Patagonia. The establishment of benefit corporations and B-corporate certification has spread internationally as a result of shareholder activism and corporate collaboration. In addition to programs for recycling and reuse, many companies are actively promoting reduced consumption. “Doing well by doing good,” Marquis reveals, “is an easy pill for the public to swallow, and companies know this.”
A forceful argument for genuine business accountability.Pub Date: May 14, 2024
ISBN: 9781541703520
Page Count: 352
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Maher calls out idiocy wherever he sees it, with a comedic delivery that veers between a stiletto and a sledgehammer.
The comedian argues that the arts of moderation and common sense must be reinvigorated.
Some people are born snarky, some become snarky, and some have snarkiness thrust upon them. Judging from this book, Maher—host of HBO’s Real Time program and author of The New New Rules and When You Ride Alone, You Ride With bin Laden—is all three. As a comedian, he has a great deal of leeway to make fun of people in politics, and he often delivers hilarious swipes with a deadpan face. The author describes himself as a traditional liberal, with a disdain for Republicans (especially the MAGA variety) and a belief in free speech and personal freedom. He claims that he has stayed much the same for more than 20 years, while the left, he argues, has marched toward intolerance. He sees an addiction to extremism on both sides of the aisle, which fosters the belief that anyone who disagrees with you must be an enemy to be destroyed. However, Maher has always displayed his own streaks of extremism, and his scorched-earth takedowns eventually become problematic. The author has something nasty to say about everyone, it seems, and the sarcastic tone starts after more than 300 pages. As has been the case throughout his career, Maher is best taken in small doses. The book is worth reading for the author’s often spot-on skewering of inept politicians and celebrities, but it might be advisable to occasionally dip into it rather than read the whole thing in one sitting. Some parts of the text are hilarious, but others are merely insulting. Maher is undeniably talented, but some restraint would have produced a better book.
Maher calls out idiocy wherever he sees it, with a comedic delivery that veers between a stiletto and a sledgehammer.Pub Date: May 21, 2024
ISBN: 9781668051351
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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