Wrestling with Starbucks: Conscience, Capital, Cappuccino

by Kim Fellner

Overview

You can find a Starbucks coffeehouse almost anywhere, from Paris, France to Paducah, Kentucky, from the crowded streets of Thailand to shopping malls in Qatar. With nearly 200 of them in New York City alone, this coffee retail giant with humble beginnings has become an actor and icon in the global economy. As we sip our cappuccinos, frappuccinos, and our double half-caf venti low-fat mochaccinos, many of us wonder if Starbucks is a haven of civilization or a cultural predator, a good or bad employer, a fair trader or a global menace. In this entertaining and provocative ramble through Starbucks's ethos and actions, Kim Fellner asks how a coffeehouse chain with a liberal reputation came to symbolize, for some, the ills of globalization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813545066
Publisher:	Rutgers University Press
Publication date:	06/19/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	477 KB

About the Author

Kim Fellner is a longtime progressive organizer and communicator. She earned an M.S. in Communications from the University of Pittsburgh. She lives in Washington D.C.-a short walk from nine coffee joints.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Global Economy Comes Home     1
The Empire Strikes Gold     15
Running the 10-K     27
Banking on the Bean     47
Go Sell It on the Mountain     69
Moving Up on Eighth Street     105
The Cross-Dressing of Coffee-Counter Culture     123
When Worker Met Partner     140
At the Global Crossroads     163
The View from Headquarters     186
Capitalism Is Like Fire ...     203
Goodness As Battleground     220
Bread. Roses. Coffee     236
Acknowledgments     245
Notes     249
Index     267