The average rating for Faces of the Great Southwest Texas (A Photo Essay and Oral History of A Rare Breed) Second E... based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.
Review # 1 was written on 2017-03-11 00:00:00 Maria Teresinha Cardoso The jacket summary for this book describes a sordid story of corporations using mercenaries or local militias to advance their interests, namely profits. However, I found most of the stories to be more typical tales of companies having to pay bribes to protect their businesses or being overwhelmed by local conflicts and making the best of it. The funds used to protect and maintain corporate facilities are used by locals to either enrich themselves or buy arms for use upon their neighbors. Basically, the corporations have a choice of being indirect financiers of human rights abuses or of closing their facilities and attempting to make money elsewhere. I understand the author's position and support it to a degree, but I was disappointed in the examples. The summary reads like the corporations are actively involved, as if they have their own private armies, but actually most of the examples are of indirect support. The coporations have to make choices to balance financial interests with human interests that aren't entirely in theri control. This is similar to the choices that the U.S. and other countries make every day in foreign policy. Other than overstating the case, I found this book interesting. While many of the examples were new to me (especially the Canadian ones), the situation as a whole is old hat that has been going on for a long time. The worst cases were those in the colonial period and Uganda in the Congo. While these had a corporate aspect, they were essentially extensions of national policy. A little slow, but worth reading overall. |
Review # 2 was written on 2012-10-09 00:00:00 Stephanie Ouzts Stellar, compact summary of Jewish history--albeit with a very right-wing and religious slant. Made me want to make aliya. I love Ken Spiro :-) Very readable: grades 7-12. |
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