Publisher's Weekly Review
Reich (Selling Our Soul: The Commodification of Hospital Care in the United States) and Bearman (Doormen), both Columbia professors, recount the results of their work with the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) in this fascinating and entertaining examination of the retail giant. Over the course of their "Summer of Respect," the authors sent young researchers to Walmart stores across the country to conduct in-depth interviews with Walmart employees and support OUR Walmart in labor organizing. Along with presenting interview data and field observations, the authors analyze Walmart employees' online comments and anonymous reviews of the company on employer ratings website Glassdoor, conduct a survey, and perform fMRI scans on their student researchers to see whether their levels of trust in each other changed after their summer working together. Their account of the results is accessible and, at times, surprisingly page-turning. They define Walmartism as a "control regime" that "combines the arbitrary authority of managers with a deeply penetrative system of observation and measurement assembled by linking cameras to scanners to customers" and point out that the workers speak more of a desire for respect than about wanting specific financial improvements. The use of interview excerpts amplifies the voices of low-wage workers not often heard in public discourse. This is an insightful examination of the inner workings of the "country's largest corporate employer." (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Choice Review
Reich and Bearman, both sociologists at Columbia University, examine experiences of workers at Walmart and of 20 college students and graduates who participated in a research project about Walmart workers' experiences. The interaction between relatively privileged student researchers and low-wage Walmart workers becomes one focal exploration of possibilities of and challenges to building understanding and solidarity across social difference. Another, equal focus is how one large corporate entity reproduces its power, especially over its workers, and the circumstances in which this power might be challenged. The book also provides broader lessons about scholarship and social change. One key thread that binds the book together is its analysis of how and when the complex relations we have with others make possible (and constrain) opportunities for collective action. This book is only one among many that analyze Walmart's societal impact. What differentiates and recommends it for close reading are the anecdotes and perspectives of workers who face down enormous personal and social challenges and barriers, only to have their goals to contribute and thrive in American society tempered or more often dashed by what they (and the authors) see as corporate measures of compliance, coercion, and control. Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty and professionals. --Gord Bruyere, University of Lethbridge
