Introduction -- The origins and ideologies of activist business -- Liberation through literacy: African American bookstores, Black Power, and the -- Mainstreaming of black books -- The business of getting high: head shops, countercultural capitalism, and the battle over marijuana -- "The feminist economic revolution": businesses in the women's movement -- Natural foods stores: environmental entrepreneurs and the perils of growth -- Perseverance and appropriation: activist business in the twenty-first century -- Conclusion.
Summary:
In the 1960s and 70s, a diverse range of storefrontsincluding head shops, African American bookstores, feminist businesses, and organic grocersbrought the work of the New Left, Black Power, feminism, environmentalism, and other movements into the marketplace. Through shared ownership, limited growth, and democratic workplaces, these activist entrepreneurs offered alternatives to conventional profit-driven corporate business models. By the middle of the 1970s, thousands of these enterprises operated across the United Statesbut only a handful survive today. Some, such as Whole Foods Market, have abandoned their quest for collective political change in favor of maximizing profits
Series:
Columbia studies in the history of U.S. capitalism
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