From Head Shops to Whole Foods writes a new history of social movements and capitalism by showing how activists embraced small businesses. Joshua Clark Davis uncovers the historical roots of contemporary interest in ethical consumption while exploring how today's companies have adopted the language-but not the mission-of social change.
Davis's crisp prose makes for an accessible read and his book makes a very good case for studying activist entrepreneurs as part of the trademark movements of the 1960s, instead of focusing solely on demonstrations and mass meetings, and for appreciating their legacies on the contemporary marketplace. . . . Davis must be congratulated for contributing to the history of postwar business and the history of the long 1960s in what is ultimately a fine piece of scholarship.