The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - Softcover

Klein, Naomi

4.27

47,690 ratings by Goodreads

9780676978018: The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0676978010 ISBN 13: 9780676978018

Publisher: Random House of Canada Ltd, 2008

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Winner of the 2009 Warwick Prize for Writing

"Only a crisis – actual or perceived – produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around."
—Milton Friedman

The shock doctrine is the unofficial story of how the "free market" came to dominate the world, from Chile to Russia, China to Iraq, South Africa to Canada. But it is a story radically different from the one usually told. It is a story about violence and shock perpetrated on people, on countries, on economies. About a program of social and economic engineering that is driving our world, that Naomi Klein calls "disaster capitalism."

Based on breakthrough historical research and four years of on-the-ground reporting in disaster zones, Klein explodes the myth that the global free market triumphed democratically, and that unfettered capitalism goes hand-in-hand with democracy. Instead, she argues it has consistently relied on violence and shock, and reveals the puppet strings behind the critical events of the last four decades.

"The shock doctrine" is the influential but little understood theory that in order to push through profoundly unpopular policies that enrich the few and impoverish the many, there needs to be some kind of collective crisis or disaster – either real or manufactured. A crisis that opens up a "window of opportunity" – when people and societies are too disoriented to protect their own interests – for radically remaking countries using the trademark tactic of rapid-fire economic shock therapy and, all too often, less metaphorical forms of shock: the shock of the police truncheon, the Taser gun or the electric prod in the prison cell.

Klein vividly traces the origins of modern shock tactics back to the economic lab of the University of Chicago under Milton Friedman in the 60s, and beyond to the CIA-funded electroshock experiments at McGill University in the 50s which helped write the torture manuals used today at Guantanamo Bay. She details, in this riveting – indeed shocking – story, the well-known events of the recent past that have been deliberate, active theatres for the shock doctrine: among them, Pinochet’s coup in Chile in 1973, the Falklands War in 1982, the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991; and, more recently, the September 11 attacks, the "Shock and Awe" invasion of Iraq, the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. And she shows how – in the hands of the Bush Administration – the "war on terror" is a thin cover for a thriving destruction/ reconstruction complex, with disasters, wars and homeland security fuelling a booming new economy. Naomi Klein has once again written a book that will change the way we see the world.

"The world is a messy place, and someone has to clean it up."
—Condoleezza Rice, September 2002, on the need to invade Iraq

"George’s answer to any problem at the ranch is to cut it down with a chainsaw. Which I think is why he and Cheney and Rumsfeld get along so well."
—Laura Bush

From Chile to China to Iraq, torture has been a silent partner in the global free market crusade. But torture is more than a tool used to enforce unwanted policies on rebellious peoples; it is also a metaphor of the shock doctrine’s underlying logic. Torture, or in CIA language "coercive interrogation," is a set of techniques designed to put prisoners into a state of deep disorientation and shock in order to force them to make concessions against their will. ...The shock doctrine mimics this process precisely, attempting to achieve on a mass scale what torture does one on one in the interrogation cell. ...The original disaster – the coup, the terrorist attack, the market meltdown, the war, the tsunami, the hurricane – puts the entire population into a state of collective shock. The falling bombs, the bursts of terror, the pounding winds serve to soften up whole societies much as the blaring music and blows in the torture cells soften up prisoners. Like the terrorized prisoner who gives up the names of comrades and renounces his faith, shocked societies often give up things they would otherwise fiercely protect.
—from Shock Doctrine
From the Hardcover edition.

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Review:

Praise for "No Logo":
"A movement bible."
--"The New York Times"
"Klein . . . takes the mounting anecdotal evidence and places it in an analytical context that is articulate, entertaining and illuminating. . . . Her Canadian perspective allows her a spacious view of the terrain that many U.S. critics, obsessed with empire, often lack."
--"The Globe and Mail"
"No Logo is an intelligently written and superbly reported account of a culture that has moved from selling products to hawking brands . . . A couple of chapters in, your mind is already reeling. Klein can write: favouring informality and crispness over jargon . . .convincing and necessary, clear and fresh, calm but unsparing."
--"The Guardian"
"A riveting conscientious piece of journalism and a call to arms. Packed with enlightening statistics and extraordinary anecdotal evidence, No Logo is fluent, undogmatically alive to the contradictions and omissions, and positively seethes with intelligent anger."
--"The Observer"

"Impassioned, hugely informative, wonderfully controversial, and scary as hell."--John le Carre
"Bold and brilliantly conceived . . . Klein may well have revealed the master narrative of our time."--William S. Kowinski, "San Francisco Chronicle
""This is a brilliant book, one of the most important I have read in a long time."--Howard Zinn
"Klein provides a rich description of the political machinations required to force unsavory economic policies on resisting countries and of the human toll. She paints a disturbing portrait of hubris, not only on the part of Friedman but also of those who adopted his doctrines, sometimes to pursue more corporatist objectives."--Joseph E. Stiglitz, "The New York Times Book Review
""A brilliant, brave, and" "terrifying book. It's nothing less than the secret history of what we call the 'free market.' It should be compulsory reading."--Arundhati Roy
"Pulls the curtain back on free-market myths and exposes the forces that are really driving our economy . . . Klein's book is powerful and prophetic. . . . A brilliant dissection."--Arianna Huffington, "The Huffington Post
""Naomi Klein is one of the most important new voices in American journalism today."--Seymour M. Hersh
""The Shock Doctrine" is the defining, covert history of our era."--Jeremy Scahill, author of "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army"

"Impassioned, hugely informative, wonderfully controversial, and scary as hell."--John le Carre
"Bold and brilliantly conceived . . . Klein may well have revealed the master narrative of our time."--William S. Kowinski, "San Francisco Chronicle
""This is a brilliant book, one of the most important I have read in a long time."--Howard Zinn
"Klein provides a rich description of the political machinations required to force unsavory economic policies on resisting countries and of the human toll. She paints a disturbing portrait of hubris, not only on the part of Friedman but also of those who adopted his doctrines, sometimes to pursue more corporatist objectives."--Joseph E. Stiglitz, "The New York Times Book Review
""A brilliant, brave, and""terrifying book. It's nothing less than the secret history of what we call the 'free market.' It should be compulsory reading."--Arundhati Roy
"Pulls the curtain back on free-market myths and exposes the forces that are really driving our economy . . . Klein's book is powerful and prophetic. . . . A brilliant dissection."--Arianna Huffington, "The Huffington Post
""Naomi Klein is one of the most important new voices in American journalism today."--Seymour M. Hersh
""The Shock Doctrine" is the defining, covert history of our era."--Jeremy Scahill, author of "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army"

Impassioned, hugely informative, wonderfully controversial, and scary as hell. "John le Carre"

Bold and brilliantly conceived . . . Klein may well have revealed the master narrative of our time. "William S. Kowinski, San Francisco Chronicle"

This is a brilliant book, one of the most important I have read in a long time. "Howard Zinn"

Klein provides a rich description of the political machinations required to force unsavory economic policies on resisting countries and of the human toll. She paints a disturbing portrait of hubris, not only on the part of Friedman but also of those who adopted his doctrines, sometimes to pursue more corporatist objectives. "Joseph E. Stiglitz, The New York Times Book Review"

A brilliant, brave, and terrifying book. It's nothing less than the secret history of what we call the 'free market.' It should be compulsory reading. "Arundhati Roy"

Pulls the curtain back on free-market myths and exposes the forces that are really driving our economy . . . Klein's book is powerful and prophetic. . . . A brilliant dissection. "Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post"

Naomi Klein is one of the most important new voices in American journalism today. "Seymour M. Hersh"

"The Shock Doctrine" is the defining, covert history of our era. "Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army""

"Impassioned, hugely informative, wonderfully controversial, and scary as hell." --John le Carre

"Bold and brilliantly conceived . . . Klein may well have revealed the master narrative of our time." --William S. Kowinski, San Francisco Chronicle

"This is a brilliant book, one of the most important I have read in a long time." --Howard Zinn

"Klein provides a rich description of the political machinations required to force unsavory economic policies on resisting countries and of the human toll. She paints a disturbing portrait of hubris, not only on the part of Friedman but also of those who adopted his doctrines, sometimes to pursue more corporatist objectives." --Joseph E. Stiglitz, The New York Times Book Review

"A brilliant, brave, and terrifying book. It's nothing less than the secret history of what we call the 'free market.' It should be compulsory reading." --Arundhati Roy

"Pulls the curtain back on free-market myths and exposes the forces that are really driving our economy . . . Klein's book is powerful and prophetic. . . . A brilliant dissection." --Arianna Huffington, The Huffington Post

"Naomi Klein is one of the most important new voices in American journalism today." --Seymour M. Hersh

"The Shock Doctrine is the defining, covert history of our era." --Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army

About the Author:

NAOMI KLEIN is an award-winning journalist, author, and filmmaker. Her first book, the international bestseller No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, was translated into twenty-eight languages and called "a movement bible" by The New York Times. She writes an internationally syndicated column for The Nation and The Guardian and reported from Iraq for Harper's Magazine. In 2004, she released The Take, a feature documentary about Argentina's occupied factories, co-produced with director Avi Lewis. She is a former Miliband Fellow at the London School of Economics and holds an honorary Doctor of Civil Laws degree from the University of King's College, Nova Scotia.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.