Joshua Clark Davis
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780231171588
- eISBN:
- 9780231543088
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231171588.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Economic History
In the 1960s and ’70s, a diverse range of storefronts—including head shops, African American bookstores, feminist businesses, and organic grocers—brought the work of the New Left, Black Power, ...
More
In the 1960s and ’70s, a diverse range of storefronts—including head shops, African American bookstores, feminist businesses, and organic grocers—brought the work of the New Left, Black Power, feminism, environmentalism, and other movements into the marketplace. Through shared ownership, limited growth, and democratic workplaces, these activist entrepreneurs offered alternatives to conventional profit-driven corporate business models. By the middle of the 1970s, thousands of these enterprises operated across the United States—but only a handful survive today. Some, such as Whole Foods Market, have abandoned their quest for collective political change in favor of maximizing profits. Vividly portraying the struggles, successes, and sacrifices of these unlikely entrepreneurs, From Head Shops to Whole Foods writes a new history of social movements and capitalism by showing how activists embraced small businesses in a way few historians have considered. The book challenges the widespread but mistaken idea that activism and political dissent are inherently antithetical to participation in the marketplace. Joshua Clark Davis uncovers the historical roots of contemporary interest in ethical consumption, social enterprise, buying local, and mission-driven business, while also showing how today’s companies have adopted the language—but not often the mission—of liberation and social change.Less
In the 1960s and ’70s, a diverse range of storefronts—including head shops, African American bookstores, feminist businesses, and organic grocers—brought the work of the New Left, Black Power, feminism, environmentalism, and other movements into the marketplace. Through shared ownership, limited growth, and democratic workplaces, these activist entrepreneurs offered alternatives to conventional profit-driven corporate business models. By the middle of the 1970s, thousands of these enterprises operated across the United States—but only a handful survive today. Some, such as Whole Foods Market, have abandoned their quest for collective political change in favor of maximizing profits. Vividly portraying the struggles, successes, and sacrifices of these unlikely entrepreneurs, From Head Shops to Whole Foods writes a new history of social movements and capitalism by showing how activists embraced small businesses in a way few historians have considered. The book challenges the widespread but mistaken idea that activism and political dissent are inherently antithetical to participation in the marketplace. Joshua Clark Davis uncovers the historical roots of contemporary interest in ethical consumption, social enterprise, buying local, and mission-driven business, while also showing how today’s companies have adopted the language—but not often the mission—of liberation and social change.
Joshua Clark Davis
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780231171588
- eISBN:
- 9780231543088
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231171588.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Economic History
The introduction introduces progressive and radical activists who established small businesses in the 1960s and ‘70s to advance the goals of social justice and political transformation through the ...
More
The introduction introduces progressive and radical activists who established small businesses in the 1960s and ‘70s to advance the goals of social justice and political transformation through the examples of the Psychedelic Shop, Drum and Spear Bookstore, Diana Press, and SaferWay. These businesses grew out of the New Left and the era’s “movement of movements” that included civil rights, Black Power, feminism, pacifism, environmentalism, and the hippie counterculture. With their small, politically informed, and often struggling shops, activist entrepreneurs offered alternatives to what they saw as the homogenous, discriminatory, and spiritually bankrupt consumer culture of chain stores, modern industrial production, and multinational corporations. Activist entrepreneurs re-envisioned the products, places, and processes of American business.Less
The introduction introduces progressive and radical activists who established small businesses in the 1960s and ‘70s to advance the goals of social justice and political transformation through the examples of the Psychedelic Shop, Drum and Spear Bookstore, Diana Press, and SaferWay. These businesses grew out of the New Left and the era’s “movement of movements” that included civil rights, Black Power, feminism, pacifism, environmentalism, and the hippie counterculture. With their small, politically informed, and often struggling shops, activist entrepreneurs offered alternatives to what they saw as the homogenous, discriminatory, and spiritually bankrupt consumer culture of chain stores, modern industrial production, and multinational corporations. Activist entrepreneurs re-envisioned the products, places, and processes of American business.
