Читать книгу Empire in Waves. A Political History of Surfing онлайн

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Recognizing the confluence of politics and economic policy, Empire in Waves likewise explores the development of commercial surf culture and its relationship to global neoliberalism. What began as small outfits founded by surfers looking for ways to subsidize their wave-riding lifestyle had become, by the 1980s and 1990s, billion-dollar corporations with a retail presence throughout the industrialized world. Clothing brands such as Quiksilver, Billabong, and Rip Curl were increasingly found not only in traditional surf communities but also in inland malls from Topeka to Kuala Lumpur. By the close of the twentieth century, surf culture had indeed gone global. With billions of dollars at stake, it is little surprise that “non-endemic” corporations would seek to tap the surf market, and, by the early twenty-first century, the “organics” faced growing competition from Nike, Target, and—perhaps most bizarrely of all—the Abercrombie & Fitch subsidiary Hollister. Yet unexplored by scholars has been the extent to which the manufacture and assembly of surfwear products has been enabled by the neoliberal trade policies pursued by the United States and its industrial allies. In particular, the so-called “race to the bottom” that has mixed a minimal standard of environmental regulation with an abundant supply of low-wage workers has been at the heart of American efforts to promote “free trade.” Clothing and apparel manufacturers have benefited enormously from this situation.