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The Shock Doctrine

The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

By Naomi Klein

(83)

| Hardcover | 9780805079838

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Book Description

The bestselling author of No Logo exposes the rise of disaster capitalism and destroys the myth of the global “free market”
In her groundbreaking reporting from Iraq, Naomi Klein exposed how the trauma of the invasion was being exploited to remake the country in the inteContinue

The bestselling author of No Logo exposes the rise of disaster capitalism and destroys the myth of the global “free market”
In her groundbreaking reporting from Iraq, Naomi Klein exposed how the trauma of the invasion was being exploited to remake the country in the interest of foreign corporations. She called it “disaster capitalism.” Covering Sri Lanka in the wake of the tsunami and New Orleans post-Katrina, she witnessed something remarkably similar. People still reeling from catastrophe were being hit again, this time with economic “shock therapy,” losing their land and homes to rapid-fire corporate makeovers.
In Blank Is Beautiful, Klein explores the deeply rooted impulse to erase what is inconvenient and start over from scratch. This journey takes her back to two formative experiments in the 1950s, both funded by the U.S. government. One was a covert university research project in Montreal that blanked the minds of psychiatric patients through sensory deprivation and electroshock—the basis of torture techniques from Pinochet’s Chile to Guantánamo Bay. The other was a program that turned the University of Chicago’s economics department into a factory for developing world politicians. Guided by Milton Friedman, students learned to remake their countries as laissez-faire utopias—but only after what was there had been wiped away. Tracing the imposition of these ideas in the decades since, Klein explodes the myth that the global “free market” triumphed peacefully and democratically. Instead, she argues, it has consistently relied on violence and shock, resulting in the rise of disaster capitalism.

Critics

  • Her ranting obscures her reasoning

    The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein Penguin £25, pp560 Naomi Klein is confused. She has written a tough attack on capitalism's capacity to insist that public policy be run wholly in its own interests and its conspirator ... (read full critics)

    guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

  • Bleakonomics

    There are no accidents in the world as seen by Naomi Klein. The destruction of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina expelled many poor black residents and allowed most of the city’s public schools to be replaced by privately run charter schools. The tort ... (read full critics)

    nytimes published on Sat, 18 Sep 2010

12 Reviews

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  • 3 people find this helpful

    Great food for thought

    This is probably one of the most interesting books I have read lately. Even though I don't agree with 100% of what Naomi says, I would recommend it to anybody who is interested in knowing what the"Free-Market" policies really cause. Don't get intimidated by it, thinking you need to know Economics to ... (continue)

    This is probably one of the most interesting books I have read lately. Even though I don't agree with 100% of what Naomi says, I would recommend it to anybody who is interested in knowing what the"Free-Market" policies really cause. Don't get intimidated by it, thinking you need to know Economics to understand it. Naomi is not an academic and her style is really simple. It is more a history book than a economics book

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    Farfan Eduardo said on Oct 2, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • 2 people find this helpful

    真人真事比恐怖片更恐怖，都唔知有冇勇氣睇完本書。

    Well, this book again, make me think that, maybe I should not read any books written by reporters unless it is news stories.

    Naomi is very careful and deligently trying to make sense on what happened on so many developing countries. But unfortunately fall into j ... (continue)

    真人真事比恐怖片更恐怖，都唔知有冇勇氣睇完本書。

    Well, this book again, make me think that, maybe I should not read any books written by reporters unless it is news stories.

    Naomi is very careful and deligently trying to make sense on what happened on so many developing countries. But unfortunately fall into just another conspiracy theory.

    The chapters on Latin America is eye-opening for an Asian like me. I never know the details on how the USA manipulate latin America. But, the chapter on China show me that, Naomi has not much idea on what happened in China. And linking F Friedman to June 4 massacare.... well.... is a "flatter" to Friedman.

    Who do Friedman think he is? He is just an "old friend" of China. The Chinese government listen a bit of those Western economists' idea, and Friedman is just one of them.

    Obviously, the China government very wisely did not adopt Friedman's ideas at all. So China end up to be SOOOOOO prosporus economically (compare China who goes her own way, with the poor Russia who follow Freidman's ideas........ such a HUGE difference)!

    I don't believe in conspiracy theory. CIA and Friedman are not so smart, able to secretely plot so many things and manipulate the whole world as they wish.

    It is just the aggregate effects of many factors, or, a global historical trend. When you look at the trend, the trend looks like an intelligent animal, so, it must be some people / organization behind this trend!

    But I don't think so.

    This is just the another trends when the river of history flow up to contemporary world.

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    Samsara said on May 21, 2009 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • 2 people find this helpful

    Terrific and frightening at the same time

    You can hardly belive all that. But I have lived through history and I witnessed that all that happened.
    Just one point: I don't think the Chinese student in Tienanmen were demonstrating against neo-liberals.
    They were fighting for democracy.
    Anyway, a clear book. Frightening and un ... (continue)

    You can hardly belive all that. But I have lived through history and I witnessed that all that happened.
    Just one point: I don't think the Chinese student in Tienanmen were demonstrating against neo-liberals.
    They were fighting for democracy.
    Anyway, a clear book. Frightening and unbelievable human nature!

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    CineP said on Mar 24, 2008 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • A brutal and powerful eye-opener, The Shock Doctrine is a book to treasure. Shame on me for leaving it on my bookshelf for so long. Klein's plain and simple writing displays an enormous deal of facts, scandals, violence and natural disasters exploiting. She quietly links all the worst that's been ha ... (continue)

    A brutal and powerful eye-opener, The Shock Doctrine is a book to treasure. Shame on me for leaving it on my bookshelf for so long. Klein's plain and simple writing displays an enormous deal of facts, scandals, violence and natural disasters exploiting. She quietly links all the worst that's been happening in our world in the last 40 years to capitalism and free-market economy. It's hard to argue with that, since the book is not a matter of hollow opinions. There are many pages of notes and references to check what Klein is saying, undeniable proofs of what's been going on in China, Israel, Russia, Iraq, Sri Lanka, South America and, of course, US among others. Some of it now is already well-known, but still there's plenty to learn here. Reading this means looking at the world around you in a different way.

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    Gekko P. said on Mar 13, 2012 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • Understanding the post-9/11 world

    I would say this is one of the best non-fiction books on current affairs I've ever read. Better written than No Logo, and of course more relevant right now, The Shock Doctrine is a clear and impassionate look at the world recent history under the lens of extreme free-market ideology and savage capit ... (continue)

    I would say this is one of the best non-fiction books on current affairs I've ever read. Better written than No Logo, and of course more relevant right now, The Shock Doctrine is a clear and impassionate look at the world recent history under the lens of extreme free-market ideology and savage capitalism. I would agree with the Metro reviewer: "If you only read one non-fiction book, make it this one."

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    Zugi ☯ said on Sep 27, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

  • Not neutral enough

    Please read my related blog post http://2chanze.blogspot.com/2011/08/23-big-lies-about-free-market-economy.html

    Is this helpful?

    2chanze said on Aug 27, 2011 about the Paperback edition | Add your feedback

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