I'd have to do further investigating to find out more about what happened with Madison supermarkets.
Just some preliminary thoughts:
I like the way you frame the question of "keeping money in the neighborhood" in terms of larger questions, ones that call to question the slogan, "Think global. Buy local."
How mobile are services like haircutting?
How does the concept of quality figure into debates around ethical consumerism? How have people used the concept of quality to promote some interests over others? Perhaps more specifically, how do markers of quality, such as organic certification and ISO 9000 certification (which companies pay dearly for even though it certifies only management practices but companies have used to suggest something greater)? What kinds of power have institutions of certification gained and lost under the banner of ethical consumerism? One thinks of markers of certification in terms of the branding phenomena to which Naomi Klein draws our attention.
How do arguments over quality change in transnational contexts? Or does quality as a concept figure historically in debates around transnational markets?
You helpfully foreground the problem of automotive markets in the question of "domestic" and "foreign" cars when companies with "Japanese" names have more assembly plants inside the U.S. than those with "American" names, which have more assembly plants outside of the U.S. I'm reminded of a recent Consumer Reports I can look up if you're interested.
Just some preliminary thoughts:
I like the way you frame the question of "keeping money in the neighborhood" in terms of larger questions, ones that call to question the slogan, "Think global. Buy local."
How mobile are services like haircutting?
How does the concept of quality figure into debates around ethical consumerism? How have people used the concept of quality to promote some interests over others? Perhaps more specifically, how do markers of quality, such as organic certification and ISO 9000 certification (which companies pay dearly for even though it certifies only management practices but companies have used to suggest something greater)? What kinds of power have institutions of certification gained and lost under the banner of ethical consumerism? One thinks of markers of certification in terms of the branding phenomena to which Naomi Klein draws our attention.
How do arguments over quality change in transnational contexts? Or does quality as a concept figure historically in debates around transnational markets?
You helpfully foreground the problem of automotive markets in the question of "domestic" and "foreign" cars when companies with "Japanese" names have more assembly plants inside the U.S. than those with "American" names, which have more assembly plants outside of the U.S. I'm reminded of a recent Consumer Reports I can look up if you're interested.
No comments:
Post a Comment