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Fences and Windows

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Fences and Windows
Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Globalization Debate
AuthorNaomi Klein
SubjectAnti-globalization
GenreNon-fiction
PublisherVintage Canada , Picador
Publication date
2002
Media typePrint (Trade paperback)
Pages267 pp.
ISBNISBN 0312307993 (10) & ISBN 9780312307998 (13) Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character
OCLC50681860

Fences and Windows: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Globalization Debate is a 2002 book by Canadian journalist Naomi Klein and editor Debra Ann Levy. The book is a collection of newspaper articles, mostly from The Globe and Mail, with a few magazine articles from The Nation and speech transcripts. The articles and speeches were all written by Klein in the 30 months after the publication of her first book, No Logo, from December 1999 to March 2002. The articles focus upon the anti-globalization movement, including protest events and responses by law enforcement. The book was published in North America and the United Kingdom in October 2002.

The imagery of fences and windows appear through the work. The fences represent exclusion and barriers while the windows are opportunities for expressing alternative ideas. Reviews of the book were mixed, some positive and others negative. Two of the articles were singled out by several reviewers as being the exceptional. One, "America is not a Hamburger", discusses the US State Department's attempt to re-brand America's image overseas. The second, "The Brutal Calculus of Suffering", discusses media portrayals of war.

Background

The unexpected success of her first book, No Logo, extended author and journalist Naomi Klein's book tour beyond its original two week schedule.[1] She would spend the next 30 months traveling the world promoting the book, as well as writing newspaper articles covering the anti-globalization movement.[2] Most of her articles were originally published in the Canadian national newspaper The Globe and Mail while some were published The Nation, The New York Times and The Guardian. During this time she resisted her publisher's urgings to write a new book and the pressure to match No Logo's success was bearing down upon her.[3] She relented to the pressure for another publication by collecting the best of the articles and speeches she written since No Logo.[4] She did not intend this new book to be a sequel or follow-up, but rather a stand alone collection of writing.[5]

Content

The first section entitled "Windows of Dissent" begins with an article written for The New York Times covering the 1999 Seattle protests, which she calls the coming out party of the anti-globalization movement. The remaining five articles in the section come from The Globe and Mail, with one from The Nation, and cover World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization (WTO) protests in Washington, D.C., Prague and Toronto from April to September 2000. She describes the protesters as hundreds of decentralized groups with various independent interests, leaderless but organized and searching for a strategy.

The next section, "Fencing in Democracy" consists of articles from The Globe and Mail and the transcript of a speech. The section is divided into two sub-sections. The first explores some of the impacts that economic globalization has had on communities, focusing on Mexico and Argentina, and misconceptions that supporters of the WTO-associated organizations have of the anti-globalization movement. The second focuses on the co-opting of the commons, such as genetics, culture, and public sector infrastructure, for private economic gains.

The next section "Fencing in the Movement" chronicles the escalation of security tactics to counter protesters. Klein finds that police have been removing the distinction between civil disobedience and violence and purposefully normalizing violence so it is the expected outcome, not a rare event. She matches the decline of civil liberties and freedom of speech with the rise of free speech zones, indiscriminate use of tear gas and pepper spray, plain clothes officers, surveillance, and pre-emptive arrests. The fourth section "Capitalizing on Terror" discusses opportunism that used the September 11 attacks to further political and economic objectives. An editorial piece for the Los Angeles Times, Klein argues that the US has sold its image too well as the land of opportunity and plenty and that rising anti-Americanism was the result of the US inability to share this.

The final section "Windows to Democracy" contains two articles written for The Nation, two for The Globe and Mail and one for The Guardian. These articles examine potential directions for the movement to take, focusing upon the World Social Forum, Mexican Zapatistas, and political parties. The final article calls upon the movement to shift from attacking symbols of globalization at protests and use the decentralized local groups to provide alternatives; define themselves as fighting for, rather than against, something.

Style and themes

The book takes the form of an anthology of news and magazine articles, along with the transcripts of several speeches, all written by Klein between December 1999 and March 2002. With the help of Debra Ann Levy, the articles were edited to fit them better together in the book. A preface, with original writing, is used by Klein to introduce her background on how she came to write the articles, provide context for the content, and set up the themes. The two most predominant themes are the two title images, fences and windows. The fences represent exclusion and are portrayed, both literally and metaphorically, as the barriers that keep protesters away from the economic meetings, the walls between factories and neighbouring impoverished communities, and the restrictions on intellectual property or the commons. The windows are opportunities where dissenting or alternative voices and ideas can be expressed.[6][7]

Publication and reception

Fences and Windows was published as a trade paperback by Picador in the US, Vintage Canada in Canada, and Flamingo in the UK. It was released in October 2002 with little promotion.[8] The resulting sales were lower than expected.[9] A portion of the book's proceeds were given to a legal defense fund for activists and for education concerning global democracy.

Reception to the book was mixed. Reviewers found the collection of re-printed journalistic articles left the book sometimes repetitive, lacking details, historical context and analysis of its subjects.[1][6][10][11] Some reviewers criticized the book's silence on alternatives to globalization or the democracy that lead to globalization.[6][12][13][14] The writing is alternatively described as choppy, colourful, engaging, and straightforward.[1][2][10][15] Two chapters were singled out as being exceptionally well-done: Los Angeles Times article "America is not a Hamburger" describing the US State Department's attempt to re-brand the USA rather than describing the US State Department's belief that rising anti-Americanism was a misunderstanding rather than a reaction to American policy directions, and Klein's October 2001 speech at a journalism conference in Stockholm, "The Brutal Calculus of Suffering" contrasting the media depictions of American versus non-American deaths.[8][11][16][17][18]

Describing the book the reviewer for the feminist magazine Herizons wrote, "Fences and Windows was written to be read and shared and talked about and carried around in your bag. It is a book that begs you to write in the margins, and highlight relevant quotes because it's filled with stories, insights, shocking statistics, inspiring anecdotes and refreshing critiques. It's small, it's smart and it's jammed with information and ideas that inspire hope and motivate action."[19] Similarly, reviewing for The Guardian, Stuart Christie wrote, "This is a book to be savoured and referred to every so often, even if just to recharge one's moral batteries."[20] In The Globe and Mail, Stan Persky wrote, "What I like about Klein's reflections on the nascent movement that she both participates in and analyzes is that she indulges in minimal rhetorical rah-rah. Nor does she fudge the shortcomings and screwups of the fledgling activists."[21]

The review in The Economist and Shane Neilson reviewing for Books in Canada attacked Klein personally. Neilson mocks the work as "idiocy", "intellectual sloppiness that approaches dishonesty" and writes that "The ideological failure of this book is total."[22] He argues that Klein assumes, rather than proves, the international organizations which are being protested are guilty of the protesters' charges. The Economist review, anonymous but assumed to be Sameena Ahmad whom Klein had embarrassed in a public debate the previous week,[4][23][24] calls Klein "an angry adolescent" and charges that her reporting is assisting "a cause that can only harm the people she claims to care most about".[25] Klein responded to The Economist review calling it "personal and childish".[26]

References

  1. ^ a b c Higgs,, Kerryn (January 2003). "Passing the ammunition". Women's Review of Books. 20 (4): 5–6.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  2. ^ a b Sheppard, Robert (October 14, 2002). "As the World Shrinks". Maclean's. 115 (41): 74–75.
  3. ^ Groen, Danielle (October 1, 2007). "Naomi Klein: The making of a global activist". Chatelaine. 16 (4): 141. ISSN 0009-1995. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b Preville, Philip (October 1, 2007). "What Naomi Wants". Toronto Life: 90. ISSN 0049-4194. Retrieved February 5, 2009.
  5. ^ Gold, Sarah F. (August 26, 2002). "Fences and Windows (Book)". Publishers Weekly. 249 (34): 59. ISSN 0000-0019. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b c Good, Alex (November 2, 2002). "Limited Visibility from these Windows". Guelph Mercury. {{cite news}}: Text "page C4" ignored (help)
  7. ^ "Fences and Windows (Book)". Multinational Monitor. 24 (1 & 2): 37. January & February 2003. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ a b Exon, Mike (November 7, 2002). "Don't sit on the fence". Design Week. 17 (45): 36.
  9. ^ "Giuliani tops at Indigo". Quill & Quire. 69 (2): 5. February 2003.
  10. ^ a b Hanks, Robert (November 16, 2002). "Doing it for the voles Two passionate campaigners against capitalism are frustratingly vague". Daily Telegraph. {{cite news}}: Text "page 4" ignored (help); line feed character in |title= at position 74 (help)
  11. ^ a b Olson, Geoff (November 3, 2002). "Klein's dispatches insightful, penetrating". Vancouver Courier. {{cite news}}: Text "page 32" ignored (help)
  12. ^ Weyer, Martin Vander (November 16, 2002). "Simple, spray-painted slogans". The Spectator. 290 (9093): 62–63.
  13. ^ Scott, Alec (October 2002). "Fences and Windows". Quill & Quire. 68 (10): 34. Retrieved February 8, 2009.
  14. ^ Hudson, Robbie (November 10, 2002). "Fences and Windows". The Sunday Times. Retrieved February 3, 2009. {{cite news}}: Text "page 36" ignored (help)
  15. ^ "Bookmark". NZ Marketing Magazine. 22 (1): 9. February 2003. ISSN 0111-9044.
  16. ^ Kemp, Alan (July 2003). "Anyone for Globalisation?". Management Today: 40. ISSN 0025-1925.
  17. ^ Avery, Bryant (September 29, 2002). "Klein takes a run at globalization". Edmonton Journal. {{cite news}}: Text "page D13" ignored (help)
  18. ^ Jelbert, Steve (November 23, 2002). "Global appeal". The Times. {{cite news}}: Text "page 15" ignored (help)
  19. ^ Stasko, Carly (Spring 2003). "Fences of Enclosure Windows of Opportunity". Herizons. 16 (4): 35–36.
  20. ^ Christie, Stuart (November 9, 2002). "Clear and present danger". The Guardian. Retrieved February 8, 2009. {{cite news}}: Text "page 15" ignored (help)
  21. ^ Persky, Stan (September 28, 2002). "Fences and windows: dispatches from the front lines of the globalization debate". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved February 8, 2009. {{cite news}}: Text "page D8" ignored (help)
  22. ^ Neilson, Shane (May 2003). "Money, Three Ways". Books in Canada. 32 (4): 27-30.
  23. ^ Press, Joy (October 16, 2002). "Logo Rhythms". Village Voice. 47 (42): 56. Retrieved February 3, 2009.
  24. ^ Lott, Jeremy (January 20, 2003). "Brand-name beauty". Report Newsmagazine (Alberta Edition): 36. ISSN 1488-8092.
  25. ^ "Why Naomi Klein needs to grow up". The Economist. 365 (8298): 86. November 9, 2002. ISSN 1364-7431.
  26. ^ Klein, Naomi (November 11, 2002). "Naomi Responds to the Economist". naomiklein.org. Retrieved February 5, 2009.
General references

External links

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