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July 28 2004

SEMANTIC SPIN-DOCTORS AT WORK IN THE 1700s

When activists protest against unethical industries, the perpetrators often turn to their PR consultants to put a positive spin on their operations. And it’s been going on longer than you might imagine.

In a fascinating history of the 18^th century’s anti-slavery movement, Adam Hochschild describes the slave-traders’ attempts to win over the public, which was clamouring for abolition. When the British Parliament moved to regulate the treatment of slaves, for example, the planters reacted by adopting their own voluntary code of conduct.

More telling was the pro-slavery advisor who suggested to the slavers in 1789: “The vulgar are influenced by names and titles. Instead of calling the Negroes slaves, let us call then instead Assistant Planters. Then we shall not hear such violent outcries against the slave-trade.

The spin-doctors of today would more likely have called the slaves “associates”, as Wal-Mart hypocritically dubs its minimum-wage employees. Or they might refer to the slaves as “stakeholders in the global economy”, or as “participants in an outsourced investment opportunity,” or as “partners in sustainable development governed by a best-practice corporate code of conduct”.

These are all euphemisms now frequently used by corporations and their apologists to rationalize their predatory and exploitive activities and their mistreatment of workers.

                        - New Internationalist