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» A new political movement developed in the mid-nineties to challenge the growing power of multinationalcorporations.

» Bypassing traditional government channels, this movement took issue with corporate business practices

by taking direct aim at corporations themselves.

» This anti-corporate resistance arose against the backdrop of globalization, responding to new tradepolicies and increasing corporate consolidation indifferent to national boundaries and traditional waysof thinking about political change and reform.

» As this fledgling movement took shape, there were as yet no intellectual tools available to make senseof it.

» It was clear that there was marked and rising anger against multinational corporations like McDonald’s,Nike and Shell Oil – but unclear why so many people seemed to be so angry, and why so many youngpeople in particular were suddenly so bold as to go after multinationals directly.

» As Naomi Klein tried to make sense of this anger and resentment, the corporate management strategyof "lifestyle branding" moved front and center: brands provided a new means for conceptualizing risinganti-corporate resentment and anger, and for organizing and mobilizing a viable reform movement.

» "Lifestyle branding" refers to a corporate marketing strategy that arose in the 90s when companiesdecided they needed to shift their thinking about the true nature of what they were selling to remaincompetitive in the global marketplace.

» The "lifestyle branding" strategy is based on the belief that sell is not the actual products or commoditiesit sells – but an idea and a lifestyle: meaning itself.

» This fundamental shift – from marketing things to marketing meaning – explains why today we see thefollowing: a full-scale corporate assault on the public sphere; wildly creative forms of marketing directedat young people; growing corporate consolidation and therefore shrinking options for consumers despitethe promise of more choice and interactivity; and the spread of sweat shops, temporary jobs, and lowquality of work.

» These global forces work to produce no public space, no consumer choice and no real jobs – but theyhave also produced a countermovement to the brand mentality: a "no logo" spirit of anti-corporateresistance that seeks to recapture public space, public discourse and democracy.

2. What is a "multinational" corporation?

3. Why, specifically, might the rise of multinational corporations threaten older ways of thinking about nations,the state, and governments?

4. The introduction talks quite a bit about "globalization." How would you define globalization? How do youthink it relates to the kind of large multinational corporations discussed in this section?

5. Klein says that it was difficult at first to make sense of growing resentment to global corporate power in themid-nineties. How does she go on to explain the source of this difficulty?

6. According to Klein, what was the key to making sense of the rising tide of resentment againstcorporations?And why was this an important breakthrough in conceptualizing this growing resistance?