Coercion: The Professional Persuaders and Why We Listen - Softcover

Rushkoff, Douglas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0316854034 ISBN 13: 9780316854030

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company, 2000

Synopsis

They say that human beings only use ten per cent of their brains. They say the corner office is a position of power. They say you can earn #10,000 a week in your spare time. But who, exactly, are "they"? And why do we listen to them? We each have our own "theys" - bosses, experts and authorities who seem to dictate our lives and create our futures. Like parents, in the best of circumstances they can make us feel safe. But where power and profit are at stake, they can try to make us do what they want: buy their product, vote for their party, support their cause. This is a manual for survival in a demanding age. Covering everything from the coercive power of casino and shopping-centre design to how door-to-door salesmen employ CIA interrogation techniques, the book shows what "they" do and how they do it.

About this title

Review

In 1994's Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Hyperspace, Douglas Rushkoff extolled the democratic promise of the then-emergent Internet, but the once optimistic author has grown a bit disillusioned with what the Net--and the rest of the world--has become. His exuberantly written, disturbing Coercion may induce paranoia in readers as it illuminates the countless ways marketing has insinuated itself not just into every aspect of Western culture but into our individual lives. Rushkoff opens with a series of pronouncements: "They say human beings use only 10 per cent of their brains ... They say Prozac alleviates depression." But "who, exactly, are 'they'?", he asks and "why do we listen to them?"

Marketing continues to grow more aggressive and Rushkoff tracks the increasingly coercive techniques it employs to ingrain its message in the minds of consumers, as well as the results: toddlers can recognise the golden arches of McDonald's, young rebels get tattooed with the Nike swoosh, and news stories are increasingly taken verbatim from company press releases. "Corporations and consumers are in a coercive arms race," argues Rushkoff. "Every effort we make to regain authority over our actions is met by an even greater effort to usurp it." As he surveys the visual, aural and scented shopping environment and interviews salesmen, public relations men, telemarketers, admen and consumers, Rushkoff--who admits to being one of "them" in his occasional capacity as paid corporate consultant--concludes that "they" are just "us" and that the only way the process of coercion can be reversed is to refuse to comply. "Without us," he assures, "they don't exist." --Kera Bolonik

Review

'Rushkoff is the brilliant heir to Marshall McLuhan' -- NEW PERSPECTIVES QUARTERLY

Edition details

• Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0316854034
• ISBN 13: 9780316854030
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 336