community-based, non-corporate, participatory media
The Starbucks Paradox
by John Lacny
Thursday, Feb. 19, 2004 at 4:42 PM
The favorite target of WTO protesters is actually far more diverse than the American anti-globalization movement. Kim Fellner looks into the contradictions of coffee, class, and race.
From "The Starbucks Paradox," by Kim Fellner, ColorLines, Spring 2004
"I frankly like having Starbucks at the airport, and at strip malls in strange cities. I wouldn't mind independently-owned coffee shops instead, but Starbucks is usually what's there. Moreover, progressives have tended to romanticize small businesses; yet many sweatshops in this country have been small, family-owned enterprises, and that didn't benefit those who worked there. As a rule, racial minorities have fared better in larger institutions. Was Starbucks doing right by race? What about class and politics?"
full: http://www.arc.org/C_Lines/CLArchive/story7_1_02.html
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