Thoughtful analysis of globalization's ecological and social impacts and of efforts by "corporate environmentalists" to control how problems and solutions are defined....With ecological sustainability, social justice, and democratic participation as his guiding principles, Karliner celebrates "grassroots globalization"--citizens demanding responsible environmental behavior from global corporations--becoming stronger and more articulate around the world.

-- Booklist

A fine effort....The book reads easily, without being breezy, moving from concrete illustrations of how giant global corporations are affecting the lives of ordinary people to more abstract discussion of underlying issues.

--The Ecologist

In The Corporate Planet, [Joshua Karliner] explains how transnational corporations like Dow clean up their image rather than their act.

--The Nation

A Magellan-like journey around the globe, giving readers a guided tour that identifies the protectors and poisoners of planet Earth.

--Monthly Review

A thoughtful examination of the new international balance of power in the global economy.

--San Francisco Bay Guardian


A seminal work about globalization   November 2, 2002
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Joshua Karliner's "The Corporate Planet" was published prior to the Seattle WTO protests. The book's expert analysis of the relationship between private corporations and the plundering of the earth's resources successfully contextualized the protests as few other books written at that time were able.

Since then of course, many have written about globalization and its effects. But I think Karliner's work continues to stand out from the pack and has in fact gained strength as events continue to unfold. The ascendancy of the pro-oil industry Bush administration and its strident anti-environmentalist agenda seems to confirm his thesis: namely, that corporations and their elected cronies (or unelected cronies, in Bush's case) often proclaim themselves to be environmentally friendly on the one hand while simultaneously rolling back environmental protections on the other.

When push comes to shove, the quest to accumulate profits wins over the environment. Karliner does an excellent job of showing how corporate PR or "greenwash" and corporate sustainable development initiatives provide smokescreens for doing business as usual. But when given the opportunity, Karliner documents how companies such as Chevron lobby hard to roll back protections when given a favorable political situation like the one that existed when Republicans gained control of Congress in the mid-1990s.

The author supports his theory by effectively using case studies to illustrate how these dynamics play out in the real world. Large corporations such as Mitsubishi use their economic power to bend governments and citizens to their will, in the process impoverishing communities and environments as local resources are stripped away for the benefit of distant investors.

Karliner proposes a number of remedies that can help turn the situation around. He reasons that greater democratic input and corporate acocuntability is badly needed if we want people and the environment to be given primacy over the rights of the privileged few to reap the rewards of globalization for themselves. While Karliner may not have detailed a specified course of action -- no single person could be expected to do that -- it seems obvious that he has successfully defined the parameters of the struggle.

Intelligently written and supplemented with numerous footnotes and statistics, I believe it is not too much to say that "The Corporate Planet" is a classic work. I strongly recommended it for those who want to learn more about globalization and the central role corporations are playing in the destruction of the environment.


Kirkus Review of THE CORPORATE PLANET sucks   December 9, 1997
Globalization is, obviously, a complicated, misunderstood, and nuanced process. And while THE CORPORATE PLANET is not the last word on that process, or on the dynamics by which corporations are emerging as key shapers of that process, it is also true that it tells stories far too often ignored by Quisslings, diplomats, and book reviewers. I write this because I stumbled across the Kirkus review printed on THE CORPORATE PLANET's page here, and it pissed me off. Particularly irritating is the use of the word "shrill," an adjective that seems reserved for books which contest the common optimism that tells us that radicalism is impractical and unnecessary, and that we need not attend too much to the really dangerous corners of the Big Picture. More statistics? Karliner already has LOTS of statistics here. And if his book is "unhelpful" when it comes to suggesting political alternatives, this may be in part because such alternatives are still unclear, and thus necessarily difficult to spell out in specific form. The corporation is the dominant political form of the modern age, and a principle engine of ecological destruction. In such circumstances, just what kind of an "alternative" does one appeal to? In fact, there are some good ideas here, and some good stories too, important stories well chosen. The emergence of the true transnational corporation is one of the most important development in recent human history. If you wish to know what all the shouting is about, you could do worse than start here.