Retail Revolution

Wal-Mart is the world's largest company and it sets the standard--both social and commercial--for a huge swath of the global economy. In this probing investigation, historian Nelson Lichtenstein shows how the company's success has spread evangelical Protestantism into the workplace, made South China an American workshop, and pushed American politics to the right. At the same time, he anticipates a day of reckoning, when challenges to the Wal-Mart way, at home and abroad, are likely to change the far-flung empire. Insightful and original, "The Retail Revolution" gives a fresh and necessary understanding of the phenomenon that has reshaped international commerce.

Nelson Lichtenstein is one of the country's leading experts on labor and politics and the editor of a much-cited collection of essays on Wal-Mart. A professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he directs the Center for the Study of Work, Labor, and Democracy, he is also the author of several highly regarded books on American history, including the award-winning "Walter Reuther: The Most Dangerous Man in Detroit."

Wal-Mart, the world's largest company, roared out of the rural South to change the way business is done. Deploying computer-age technology, Reagan-era politics, and Protestant evangelism, Sam Walton's firm became a byword for cheap goods and low-paid workers, famed for the ruthless efficiency of its global network of stores and factories. But the revolution has gone further: Sam's proteges have created a new economic order which puts thousands of manufacturers--indeed, whole regions--in thrall to a retail royalty. Like the Pennsylvania Railroad and General Motors in their heyday, Wal-Mart sets the commercial model for a huge swath of the global economy.
In this lively, probing investigation, historian Nelson Lichtenstein deepens and expands our knowledge of the merchandising giant. He shows that Wal-Mart's rise was closely linked to the cultural and religious values of Bible Belt America as well as to the imperial politics, deregulatory economics, and laissez-faire globalization of Ronald Reagan and his heirs. He explains how the company's success has transformed American politics, and he anticipates a day of reckoning, when challenges to the Wal-Mart way, at home and abroad, are likely to change the far-flung empire.
Insightful, original, and steeped in the culture of retail life, "The Retail Revolution" draws on firsthand reporting from coastal China to rural Arkansas to give a fresh and necessary understanding of the phenomenon that has reshaped international commerce. "Nelson Lichtenstein has written "the" book on Wal-Mart. You can read it as a sober indictment of the rogue company that happens also to be the world's largest corporation. Or you can read it as a brilliantly reported case study in what's gone wrong with the American--and the global--economy. Either way, you will read it, as I did, with complete fascination."--Barbara Ehrenreich, author of "Nickel and Dimed"

"Lichtenstein's sheds valuable light on the technological reasons for the company's success. His detailed account of the company's early prowess in exploiting bar-code scanning and satellite technology helps explain how Wal-Mart revolutionized the way distribution channels are organized. Lichtenstein, a professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, also provides a detailed look at the dark side of the company's employment practices. From its ruthless efforts at union-busting to its determination to overcome basic safety and hours regulation to its widespread employment of sweatshop subcontractors in China, Wal-Mart has consistently maintained that no one has the right to limit the corporation's freedom to act as it pleases."--Robert Frank, "The New York Times Book Review"
"As a labor historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Lichtenstein's Wal-Mart expertise carries weight . . . At first glance, the reader might question, why another book on Wal-Mart business and logistics, why now? But "Retail Revolution" is more than a timeline of Wal-Mart's path from discounter in the Ozarks to mega player in the global marketplace. The book is most interesting for sociological insight into how Wal-Mart rose to success--not despite its rural origins, but by capitalizing 'backward' southern values."--Lily-Hayes Kaufman, "Forbes
""Nelson Lichtenstein has written "the" book on Wal-Mart. You can read it as a sober indictment of the rogue company that happens also to be the world's largest corporation. Or you can read it as a brilliantly reported case study in what's gone wrong with the American--and the global--economy. Either way, you will read it, as I did, with complete fascination."--Barbara Ehrenreich, author of "Nickel and Dimed
""America's wisest historian of business and labor has produced a masterpiece of reportage and analysis about the self-service country store that grew into the biggest merchandiser in the world. "The Retail Revolution" is far more than the best book ever written about Wal-Mart. It is a landmark work about the history of our time."--Michael Kazin, author of "A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan
""This lively yet incisive account of Wal-Mart, one of our era's most important economic institutions, challenges the claim that the company has been a boon to the U.S. economy, providing a thoughtful and much-needed perspective on inequality and insecurity in modern America."--Sanford M. Jacoby, author of "The Embedded Corporation
""Lichtenstein's calmly critical book sets the rise of Wal-Mart within its broader historical and cultural context, adding a valuable new perspective to the often fraught debate over the role of the world's largest retailer."--Jonathan Birchall, U.S. consumer correspondent, "The Financial Times
""Nelson Lichtenstein is the paramount authority on the world's largest and most influential company, on