Episode 204: The Great Neoliberal Burden Shift (Part I) - How Corporate America Offset Liability Onto the Public
Added 2024-07-03 15:26:29 +0000 UTC“Choose the product best suited for baby,” Nestlé urged in a 1970s baby formula ad. “What size is your carbon footprint?” wondered oil giant BP in 2003. “Texting, music listening put distracted pedestrians at risk,” USA Today announced in 2012.
These headlines and ad copy all offer a glimpse into a longstanding strategy among corporations: place the burdens of safety, health, and wellbeing on individuals, in order to deflect responsibility and regulation. Whether in the areas of transportation, climate, or nutrition and food safety, individuals, namely “consumers,” are increasingly expected to assume full responsibility for their own wellbeing, and are blamed, shamed, and punished–or worse, made ill or injured–when they can’t live up to these unrealistic expectations.
Sure, everyone must bear some level of personal responsibility in matters of health and safety, obviously. But corporations from Chrysler to Nestlé, in concert with a compliant US media, have taken advantage of this truism to place a disproportionate level of obligation onto the people who work in their warehouses and buy their products. At the same time, they’ve been able to fend off even the most minor of structural changes–say, using less plastic or healthier ingredients–with often dangerous, even deadly, consequences.
This is Part I of a two-part series on what we’re calling “The Great Neoliberal Burden Shift,” a process in which corporations deflect blame onto the relatively powerless. On this episode, we examine how corporations have shifted the burdens of liability onto “consumers” and other individuals, examining how the auto, fossil-fuel, and food and beverage industries have orchestrated media campaigns to frame the people they harm, whether directly or indirectly, as responsible for their own misfortunes.
This episode was produced in collaboration with Workday Magazine.
Our guest is journalist Jessie Singer.
*
Guests
Jessie Singer (@jessiesingernyc) is a journalist and author of the book, "There Are No Accidents: The Deadly Rise of Injury and Disaster – Who Profits and Who Pays the Price," published by Simon & Schuster in 2022. Her writing has appeared in many publications, including the Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Nation, New York magazine, and The Guardian.
**
Show Notes
When Cars Kill, It’s Not an “Accident”
Jessie Singer | August 11, 2022 | Mother Jones
The forgotten history of how automakers invented the crime of "jaywalking"
Joseph Stromberg | November 4, 2015 | Vox
The Case for Legalizing Jaywalking
Abigail Weinberg | February 7, 2023 | Mother Jones
To Protect Pedestrians, Stop Yelling at Drivers
Jessie Singer | February 19, 2022 | The Atlantic
Seattle’s first jaywalking law in 1917 was part of the city’s class war
Tom Fucoloro | February 7, 2023 | Seattle Bike Blog
Distracted by “distracted pedestrians”?
Kelcie Ralph and Ian Girardeau | May 2020 | Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
From the beginning, Seattle ‘jaywalker’ stings were used to arrest poor people
Tom Fucoloro | January 5, 2021 | Seattle Bike Blog
The Keep America Beautiful Campaign and Greenwashing
Michelle Thompson | June 3rd, 2022 | Dogwood Alliance
Ginger Strand | November 20, 2008 | Orion Magazine
The “Crying Indian" Ad That Fooled the Environmental Movement
Finis Dunaway | November 9, 2017 | Zócalo Public Square
How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled
Laura Sullivan | September 11, 2020 | NPR Morning Edition
BP dials back climate pledge amid soaring oil profits
Evan Halper and Aaron Gregg | February 7, 2023 | The Washington Post
BP dropped green energy projects worth billions to focus on fossil fuels
Terry Macalister | April 16, 2015 | The Guardian
Nestlé adds more sugar to baby food in poorer countries, report finds
Andrew Jeong | April 23, 2024 | The Washington Post
In Criminalizing Error, We Are Doomed to Repeat Our Mistakes
Jessie Singer | April 5, 2022 | The Nation
This Viral Formula Ad Absolves You for Using Formula
Rebecca Shuman | June 4, 2015 | Slate
The Baby Killer [PDF]
Mike Muller | March 1974 | War On Want
November 16 1957 | The New York Times
***
Transcript
For a full transcript of this episode, go here. In the meantime, you can find transcripts of past episodes, live shows, Beg-a-Thons, Interviews and News Briefs here.
****
Citations Merch
Remember that the Citations Needed merch store is open! Please consider further supporting the show by picking up a t-shirt, tank top, hoodie, tote, water bottle or mug for yourself or your favorite Citations fan (or everyone you know!).
*****
Credits
Senior Producer: Florence Barrau-Adams
Producer: Julianne Tveten
Production Assistant: Trendel Lightburn
Newsletter: Marco Cartolano
Transcription: Mahnoor Imran
Music: Grandaddy
******
Comments
I think about this all the time. Under capitalism, the responsibility for personal and societal outcomes is outsourced to the individual. This personal responsibility is then commodified and sold to us with condescending messaging. There’s a brand of paper snack bags I buy called ‘if you care’ (sounds like a passive aggressive mother) or the myriad children’s cereals that are saving the gorillas or puffins or whatever.
Natalie Fielland
2024-07-10 16:03:59 +0000 UTCI'm a long-time listener, and this episode is easily one of my favorites from your team. I study AI Ethics and I see history repeating itself in this field. The oft-repeated phrase "AI won't take your job, it's somebody using AI that will take your job" is the new "Guns don't kill people, people kill people". Please connect with me if you ever need research assistance with AI-related topics.
Alec Foster
2024-07-08 19:53:25 +0000 UTChttps://youtube.com/shorts/BA7j6A-9KgU?si=cNx329daaP5k_krt
Eric
2024-07-05 03:12:12 +0000 UTCCan’t help but marvel at how SCOTUS’ bullshit decisions this term further dismantling the administrative state will hasten the descent into even greater calls for individual responsibility (blame), eye-rolling PSAs, and calls for churches and charities to provide “a thousand points of light”. /rant
Unruly Quaker
2024-07-04 16:27:11 +0000 UTCSuper episode. I love PSAs (PIFs in my part of the world - public information films)! And any attack on the personal responsibility trope is always welcome. Looking forward to part 2.
Ciaran Colley
2024-07-04 08:50:34 +0000 UTCAs a Seattleite who grew up in the Boston area where "jaywalking" is otherwise known as crossing the street, looking forward to this one.
Isadore Nabi
2024-07-03 15:45:54 +0000 UTCLong time, no comment. First
David
2024-07-03 15:28:31 +0000 UTC
