Conclusion
Reviewed by
Marshall Kitchens
Harold's analysis is framed by theories of late capitalism, in Foucault and Deleuze's distinction between the disciplinary societies of Fordist production where power is exerted through "the confinement and atomization of individuals," and the service economy of multinational societies, where discipline has been transformed into control of consumer desires (xxviii). "Control societies," as Harold argues, "do not operate through the confinement and silencing of individuals, but instead through continuous control and communication" (xviii). Harold asserts that one key aspect of the shift from discipline to control is this shift in production from products to brands. This notion of branding pervades all aspects of society, including countercultural spaces created with the intention of escaping corporate control. Harold's text may well serve to open discussion about the relationship between corporate control and individual activism.
Selected Publications by Christine Harold
"Q.U.I.L.T.: A Patchwork of Reflections" (honoring the 20th anniversary of AIDS Memorial Quilt), with Kevin DeLuca and Kenneth Rufo, "Rhetoric and Public Affairs (Winter 2007): 627-654.
"Behold the Corpse: Image Rhetoric and the Lynching of Emmett Till." Co-authored with Kevin DeLuca. Rhetoric and Public Affairs (Summer 2005): 263-286. This article is being reprinted in Visual Rhetoric: A Reader in Communication and American Culture [forthcoming from SAGE]
"Pranking Rhetoric: 'Culture Jamming' as Media Activism." Critical Studies in Media Communication 21.3 (Fall 2004): 189-211.
"The Green Virus: Purity and Contamination in Ralph Nader's 2000 Presidential Campaign." Rhetoric and Public Affairs 4.4 (Winter 2001): 581-603.
"The Rhetorical Function of the Abject Body: Transgressive Corporeality in Trainspotting." JAC: Journal of Advanced Composition. 20 (Fall 2000): 865-881.
"Tracking Heroin Chic: The Abject Body Reconfigures the Rational Argument." Argumentation and Advocacy 36 (Fall 1999): 65-76.