Global Industrial Complex

Steven Best is associate professor of humanities and philosophy at University of Texas, El Paso.Richard Kahn is core faculty in education at Antioch University Los Angeles.Peter McLaren is a professor in the school of critical studies in education at University of Auckland, New Zealand.Anthony J. Nocella II is visiting professor in the School of Education at Hamline University.

• IntroductionChapter One: Crisis and Hope: Theirs and OursChapter Two: The Corporate War EconomyChapter Three: The Security Industrial ComplexChapter Four: The Media-Military Industrial ComplexChapter Five: The Criminal (Justice) Industrial ComplexChaper Six: The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: The Non-Profit Industrial ComplexChapter Seven: Higher Education's Industrial ModelChapter Eight: The Agricultural Industrial ComplexChapter Nine: Origins and Consequences of the Animal Industrial ComplexChapter Ten: Bad For Your Health: The U.S. Medical Industrial Complex Goes GlobalChapter Eleven: College Sports: It's All About the Money!Chapter Twelve: Driving to Carmageddon: Capitalism, Transportation, and the Logic of Planetary CrisisAfterword

This volume consists of high-quality essays addressing "the global industrial complex dominated by capitalist growth and profit imperatives, bureaucratic efficiency requirements, technological mass production of standardization, and hierarchical administration." A beginning essay by Noam Chomsky sets the stage. The following 11 essays treat topics such as the corporate war economy, the security industrial complex, and the linkage between the media and the military. Ward Churchill's outstanding chapter on the history of government repression is a high point of the volume. Surprisingly, Churchill, famous for his extensive analysis of government mistreatment of Native Americans, does not address this subject except for including the American Indian Movement in a list of organizations that have been targeted. Toby Miller's much shorter study also requires special notice. Miller shows how the government has been able to influence the media, which has been more than willing to produce material that serves propagandist purposes. Singling out these two contributions is not intended to diminish the importance of the other contributions. The essays are well written and devoid of unnecessary jargon. The book's structure is such that students will find it especially useful in terms of research in these subjects, and specialists will also profit from this collection. Summing Up: Highly recommended.