The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
by Naomi Klein

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
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Book Summary Information

Author: Naomi Klein
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-06-24
ISBN: 0312427999
Number of pages: 720
Publisher: Picador
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Book Reviews of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Book Review: Sensational & Manipulative - The World according to Naomi Klein
Summary: 2 Stars

Naomi Klein wants to shock. Shock sells. If shock is the means by which what she calls "Disaster Capitalism" achieves its aims, why shouldn't it be hers as well? The prime example is her 6 minutes horror film on YouTube advertising her book. Watch this and spare youself suffering through 500plus pages. Here's her recipe: Make up a thrilling headline, take a number of events in contempary history, add two dozen quotes taken out of context, a half-baked conspiracy theory, dress yourself to kill, give the left a much needed sex appeal, put it all into a blender and - voila! - you're an overnite sensation selling millions of books. In a profile on Naomi Klein in 'The New Yorker' her husband was quoted as saying "Naomi is a pattern recognizer. Some people feel that she's bent examples to fit the thesis." My feelings exactly.

Summary of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

In this groundbreaking alternative history of the most dominant ideology of our time, Milton Friedman's free-market economic revolution, Naomi Klein challenges the popular myth of this movement's peaceful global victory. From Chile in 1973 to Iraq today, Klein shows how Friedman and his followers have repeatedly harnessed terrible shocks and violence to implement their radical policies. As John Gray wrote in The Guardian, "There are very few books that really help us understand the present. The Shock Doctrine is one of those books."


Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine advances a truly unnerving argument: historically, while people were reeling from natural disasters, wars and economic upheavals, savvy politicians and industry leaders nefariously implemented policies that would never have passed during less muddled times. As Klein demonstrates, this reprehensible game of bait-and-switch isn't just some relic from the bad old days. It's alive and well in contemporary society, and coming soon to a disaster area near you.

"At the most chaotic juncture in Iraq'' civil war, a new law is unveiled that will allow Shell and BP to claim the country's vast oil reserves. Immediately following September 11, the Bush Administration quietly outsources the running of the 'War on Terror' to Halliburton and Blackwater. After a tsunami wipes out the coasts of Southeast Asia, the pristine beaches are auctioned off to tourist resorts. New Orleans residents, scattered from Hurricane Katrina, discover that their public housing, hospitals and schools will never be re-opened." Klein not only kicks butt, she names names, notably economist Milton Friedman and his radical Chicago School of the 1950s and 60s which she notes "produced many of the leading neo-conservative and neo-liberal thinkers whose influence is still profound in Washington today." Stand up and take a bow, Donald Rumsfeld.

There's little doubt Klein's book--which arrived to enormous attention and fanfare thanks to her previous missive, the best-selling No Logo, will stir the ire of the right and corporate America. It's also true that Klein's assertions are coherent, comprehensively researched and footnoted, and she makes a very credible case. Even if the world isn't going to hell in a hand-basket just yet, it's nice to know a sharp customer like Klein is bearing witness to the backroom machinations of government and industry in times of turmoil. --Kim Hughes

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