BE Sociology • globalization S T, KA “At a time when it is increasingly more difficult to find insightful and accessible work challenging the struc- H tural and ideological foundations of neoliberal economic savagery, The Global Industrial Complex: Systems N, of Domination provides a key resource for such a task. This is a wide ranging and thoughtful book that not N O only critically analyzes the deepening and myriad forms of global market authoritarianism but also offers the C E theoretical tools to challenge it. A must read for anyone concerned about the promise of a real democracy LL and the economic, political, and cultural forces subverting it.” A, AN —HENRY GIROUX, McMaster University and author of Beyond the Spectacle of Terrorism: Global Uncertainty and the Challenge of the New Media D MC “An excellent, well-researched, and richly informed compendium on the nature of global exploitation and LA power, a nourishing corrective to the vapid evasions we are usually fed.” R —MICHAEL PARENTI, author of The Face of Imperialism (2011) and God and His Demons (2010) EN The Global Industrial Complex: Systems of Domination, is a groundbreaking collection of essays by leading scholars from wide scholarly and activist backgrounds who examine the entangled array of contemporary industrial complexes—what the editors refer to as the “power complex”—that was first analyzed by C. Wright Mills in his 1956 classic work The Power Elite. In this new volume edited by Steven Best, Richard THE GLOBAL INDUS Kahn, Anthony J. Nocella II, and Peter McLaren, the power complex is conceived as co-constituted, interde- pendent, and imbricated systems of domination. Spreading insidiously on a global level, the transnational institutional relationships of the power complex combine the logics of capitalist exploitation with the profits and industrialist norms of efficiency, control, and mass production. While some have begun to analyze these institutional complexes as separate entities, The Global Industrial Complex analyzes them as overlapping, mutually-enforcing systems that operate globally and will undoubtedly frame the macro-narrative of the 21st century (and perhaps beyond). The global industrial complex—a grand power complex of complexes— thus poses one of the most formidable challenges to the sustainability of planetary democracy, freedom, and peace today. But there can be no serious talk of opposition to the power complex until it is more popularly named and understood, and The Global Industrial Complex aims to be a foundational contribution to this emerging educational and political project. Contributors: T Steve Best, Carl Boggs, Noam Chomsky, Ward Churchill, Michael Dawson, Angela Hattery, Asif Ismail, R Richard Kahn, Peter McLaren, Toby Miller, Mechthild Nagel, Cary Nelson, David Nibert, Anthony J. Nocella II, I Vandana Shiva, Andrea Smith, and Earl Smith AL COMPLEX STEVEN BEST is associate professor of humanities and philosophy at University of Texas, El Paso. RICHARD KAHN is core faculty in education at Antioch University, Los Angeles. PETER MCLAREN is a professor in the school of critical studies in education at University of Auckland, THE GLOBAL New Zealand. ANTHONY J. NOCELLA II is visiting professor in the school of education at Hamline University. INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX LEXINGTON BOOKS A wholly owned subsidiary of 90000 SYSTEMS OF DOMINATION The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 800-462-6420 • www.rowman.com 9780739 136980 Edited by STEVEN BEST, RICHARD KAHN, Cover image by Erin Currier ANTHONY J. NOCELLA II, and PETER MCLAREN PRAISE FOR THE GLOBAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX “With capitalism battering the Third World and forcing the First World to lower its expectations of opportunity, human rights and a future, getting an unflinching, intelligent look at so-called recessions, superprofits and resis- tance is needed more than ever. Who better to illuminate politics, social movements and finance than this constellation of authors? None better can present matters of such urgency as accessibly or sharply.” —Ernesto Aguilar, program director, KPFT, Pacifica Radio “The Global Industrial Complex makes an immense contribution to the litera- ture by engaging the key thoughts and ideas of some of the most important, influential and outspoken public intellectuals of our time. In doing so the book provides not only a searing and devastating critique of contemporary ‘capitalist’ society, but also engages in a full frontal assault on the poverty of imagination evident in those who refuse to believe that there are real alterna- tives, and that active resistance is necessary to achieve them. It deserves to be read widely.” —Richard White, editor of the Journal for Critical Animal Studies “Human society is organized in a way that privileges a tiny minority at the expense of the vast majority of humanity and to the detriment of the entirety of the non-human world. With this collection, Best, Kahn, Nocella, and McLaren intervene in that and ask the question: ‘Might things be done another way?’ The answer, of course, is a resounding ‘Yes!’ Read this book and join us in creating a world free of the constraints placed on us by domina- tion in all of its myriad forms!” —Deric Shannon, co-author of Political Sociology: Oppression, Resistance, and the State “This penetrating, insightful book written by a collection of the world’s most prominent public intellectuals, is a skilled combination of lucid explanation and cogently argued critique of what the contributors term the ‘global indus- trial complex.’ The authors combine scholarship with insight, erudition with moral passion as they critique the fundamental direction in which our world is moving financially, politically and economically. The conclusions are radi- cal and profound. No activist, academic or student can afford to ignore their arguments.” —Susan L. Thomas, director of gender and women’s studies, Hollins University “In this book, leading American radical scholars provide important insights into interlocking networks of power under global capitalism. This fine col- lection of essays is a useful tool for those seeking to understand and alter the corporate structures that dominate our world.” —John Sorenson, chair of the department of sociology, Brock University The UnitingGlobal EuropeIndustrial Complex The Global Industrial Complex Systems of Domination Steven Best, Richard Kahn, Anthony J. Nocella II, and Peter McLaren LEXINGTON BOOKS Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK Published by Lexington Books A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.lexingtonbooks.com Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom Copyright © 2011 by Lexington Books All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The global industrial complex : systems of domination / Steven Best . [et al.]. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7391-3697-3 (cloth) — ISBN 978-0-7391-3698-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-7391-3699-7 (electronic : alk. paper) 1. Capitalism—Social aspects. 2. Capitalism—Political aspects. 3. Big business. 4. Power (Social sciences) 5. Social institutions. I. Best, Steven. HB501.G5495 2011 306.3'42—dc23 2011030966 ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Printed in the United States of America Contents Acknowledgments vii Introduction Steven Best ix Chapter One Crisis and Hope: Theirs and Ours Noam Chomsky 1 Chapter Two The Corporate War Economy Carl Boggs 25 Chapter Three The Security Industrial Complex Ward Churchill 43 Chapter Four The Media-Military Industrial Complex Toby Miller 97 Chapter Five The Criminal (Justice) Industrial Complex Mechthild Nagel 117 Chapter Six The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: The Nonprofit Industrial Complex Andrea Smith 133 Chapter Seven Higher Education’s Industrial Model Cary Nelson 155 Chapter Eight The Agricultural Industrial Complex Vandana Shiva 169 v vi Contents Chapter Nine Origins and Consequences of the Animal Industrial Complex David Nibert 197 Chapter Ten Bad For Your Health: The U.S. Medical Industrial Complex Goes Global Asif Ismail 211 Chapter Eleven College Sports: It’s All about the Money! Earl Smith and Angela Hattery 233 Chapter Twelve Driving to Carmageddon: Capitalism, Transportation, and the Logic of Planetary Crisis Michael Dawson 263 Afterword Peter McLaren 287 Index 301 Contributors 305 Editors 313 Acknowledgments We, the editors, would like to thank all of the contributors for taking time out of their schedules to contribute to this book. We would also like to thank Erin Currier, the artist of the powerful front cover. Additionally, we would like to thank everyone at Lexington Books, especially Michael Sisskin and Eric Wrona, for their assistance and support of this project. Finally, we would like to thank our human and nonhuman friends and family throughout our lives that have supported us. vii Introduction Pathologies of Power and the Rise of the Global Industrial Complex Steven Best Investigations of various topics and