The book The World of Wal-Mart: Discounting the American Dream by Christine Labuski and Nick Copeland is not a conclusive book on Walmart, nor is it a criticism of the company. Wal-Mart is instead analyzed through the various contradictions that are portrayed about the company by American Culture. Walmart is viewed from an anthropological point of view as the authors demonstrate the different concepts by taking a critical look at Wal-Mart and the American Dream. The authors examine the uprising of Wal-Mart and accredit its success partially to the failures of the American society in not making the Dream available to society. In the World of Wal-Mart, Copeland credits Walmart with some ethical principles but says that these are overturned by
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I found this technique to be very captivating as it furthered my knowledge of how Wal-Mart feels like a “natural” part of the American landscape because they attempt to portray themselves as “normal” in society. When surveyed which company best symbolizes America, Wal-Mart came out on top as the number one answer (Copeland and Labuski 3). By keeping their workers and customers content while simultaneously co-existing with the aggressive capitalistic views for the growth of the company they are able to accomplish normalizing themselves into American Culture. Copeland and Labuski presented an interesting point of view when they displayed how Wal-Mart has accomplished being portrayed as an “American” company, despite being operated through un-American business strategies. Wal-Mart’s actions contradict the idea of America being free. For example, the authors continuously mention that Wal-Mart labor costs are “the lowest in the business” and have to remain low for the business to “deliver low prices” (Copeland and Labuski 66). Wal-Mart attempted a “Buy America” campaign which failed because American products were too expensive (Copeland &
I found this technique to be very captivating as it furthered my knowledge of how Wal-Mart feels like a “natural” part of the American landscape because they attempt to portray themselves as “normal” in society. When surveyed which company best symbolizes America, Wal-Mart came out on top as the number one answer (Copeland and Labuski 3). By keeping their workers and customers content while simultaneously co-existing with the aggressive capitalistic views for the growth of the company they are able to accomplish normalizing themselves into American Culture. Copeland and Labuski presented an interesting point of view when they displayed how Wal-Mart has accomplished being portrayed as an “American” company, despite being operated through un-American business strategies. Wal-Mart’s actions contradict the idea of America being free. For example, the authors continuously mention that Wal-Mart labor costs are “the lowest in the business” and have to remain low for the business to “deliver low prices” (Copeland and Labuski 66). Wal-Mart attempted a “Buy America” campaign which failed because American products were too expensive (Copeland &