Shafted.: Free Trade and America's Working Poor

Book Overview

NAFTA. The WTO. Trade agreements are supposed to benefit us all. Instead, in the decade since they've been in effect, life has become much worse for millions of working Americans. In Shafted, working people-family farmers and farmworkers, fishermen and seamstresses-describe the ruin free trade has brought to them, their families, and their towns. These aren't theorists; these are the voices of experience. And they're telling us, clearly and eloquently, that it's time to stop the madness that enriches a few corporations at the cost of justice, human rights, community, family, and the dignity of work and of workers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0935028927
• ISBN13: 9780935028928
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Food First Books
• Length: 94 Pages
• Weight: 0.33 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Another winner from Food First Books

"Shafted" is an easy-to-read and powerful window into the human side of the effects of free trade. It's one thing to read statistics and another to hear stories directly from those affected. The book is based on a congressional briefing in Washington D.C. where a delegation of America's working poor was able to tell members of Congress and the American public how free trade has impacted their lives. "Shafted" is separated into four parts: Farmers, Workers, Farmworkers, and Analysts. What is great about the book is that it includes stories and analyses from people of different backgrounds, including racial, ethnic, and work backgrounds. I especially liked the contributions in the Analysts section (the analysts coming from the Public Citizen organization, Cornell University, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, and California Senate Select Committee on International Trade). I found them accessible and to the point, lacking loads of economic and political jargon. Throughout the book you'll also find short excerpts from important historic documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil Political Rights, American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. This is an important book that addresses a growing menace in our society and in the international arena. It does not provide a suggested plan of action, however it does include resources to further educate yourself and to get involved. "Shafted" is a quick and powerful read that'll open your eyes to another side of America that we hardly get the chance to hear from. And it shows how people are bravely standing up for what they believe it. An invaluable book!

A congressional hearing as if we had a democracy

This may be the best introduction available both to the problems of "free trade" and to what a congressional hearing might look like if Congress were focused on the needs of people rather than the needs of campaign contributors.

A must read on free trade

An invaluable glimpse into the lives of the people affected by "free trade." Concise and eloquent: the perfect book to hand to someone who believes that more trade is necessarily better trade.

Riveting stories about globalization from below!

Shafted is a powerful and punchy read! I recommend this book to all those concerned about the future of our economy and the effects of free trade on working people in America. The testimonies reveal the devastating effects of free trade on workers, family farmers and farmworkers. These testimonies also reveal, however, that people refuse to sit back and allow biased economic policies to destroy their livelihoods and their families. By fighting to expose the myth of "free trade," the working people in Shafted are demanding a shift in the values of America - from the unjust and exploitative values of corporate America to fundamental values of the global community - human rights, justice and dignity of people everywhere.

Collection of Testimony

A must for any progressive library, this book is a collection of cogressional testimony on the evils of NAFTA and the WTO, told by the people who NAFTA is affecting, both locally and internationally. With a foreward written by Dennis Kucinich, this collection is a must for anyone who thinks free trade should be replaced with fair trade.