I don’t know how I managed it, but I burned through my summer reading list in record time earlier this month.  Perhaps it was a week spent on vacation in Northern Michigan; maybe the heat has kept me inside more than usual.  In any case, I figure folks might be wrapping up their own summer reading and interested in some additional recommendations, so over the next couple of days, I’ll chime in with some ideas.

First up is a back issue of the Inter-American Development Bank’s in-house magazine, IDBAmerica.  The July issue is anchored by BOP content, which makes it a must-read for NextBillionaires.  (Side note – NextBillionaires or NextBillionites?  I can’t decide – comment away if you have a preference).  Anyway, highlights include:

To paraphrase Nestor Canclini, Argentina’s celebrated cultural critic, what happens when an anthropologist reads the Harvard Business Review and the McKinsey Quarterly, two publications that advocate selling to the poor?  From what I can tell, there are three common reactions.  The first reaction is characterized by a sudden burst of apoplexy.  As anyone who reads these publications knows, capitalist pigs, who play on consumers’ insecurities to sell their products, are now employing the same manipulative tactics in the developing world.  The second response is marked by moral indignation, topped off with a dollop of self-righteousness.  If the corporate board room understood the value of culture and operated more like an Anthropology Department, things would be a whole lot better, even if meetings became significantly less efficient.  And the third response would call for calm and order, suggesting that low-income consumerism be examined within its broader political context.  This is exactly what Nestor Canclini does in his insightful book, Consumers and Citizens, which provides a new and refreshing look at the rise of consumer culture in Latin America.