The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism: Amazon.co.uk: Naomi Klein: Books

Frequently Bought Together

+

Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda

Price For All Three: �16.15

Show availability and delivery details

This item: The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
No Logo: No Space. No Choice. No Jobs by Naomi Klein
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda by Noam Chomsky
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

No Logo: No Space. No Choice. No Jobs

by Naomi Klein

3.8 out of 5 stars (90) �5.20

Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda

by Noam Chomsky

4.5 out of 5 stars (20) �4.49

Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain

by George Monbiot

4.1 out of 5 stars (28) �6.48

The New Rulers of the World

by John Pilger

4.6 out of 5 stars (27) �5.98

Flat Earth News: An Award-winning Reporter Exposes Falsehood, Distortion and Propaganda in the Global Media

by Nick Davies

4.3 out of 5 stars (47) �6.27

› Explore similar items

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

(What is this?)

Anti-Capitalism Studies opens new browser window

www.studiesinanti-capitalism.net - Raymond Williams, Gay History, Anti-Globalization, and much more..

The Shock Doctrine opens new browser window

www.CapitolReader.com - Save time with summaries of today's top political books.

Product Description

Review

Powerful … epic … dramatic (Daily Telegraph )

A brilliant book written with a perfectly distilled anger, channelled through hard fact. She has indeed surpassed No Logo (Independent )

Excoriating … passionate and informed … Her prose packs a punch (Scotsman )

A brilliant, brave and terrifying book (Arundhati Roy )

Lucid, calm, impeccably researched, gorgeously readable (Observer )

There are few books that really help us understand the present. The Shock Doctrine is one of those books (Guardian )

If you read only one non-fiction book this year, make it this one (Metro )

Packed with thinking dynamite … a book to be read everywhere (John Berger )

Impassioned, hugely informative, wonderfully controversial, and scary as hell (John le Carré )

John Berger

`Packed with thinking dynamite ... a book to be read everywhere'

See all Product Description

Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
Born and raised in New Orleans, he'd been out of the flooded city for a week. Read the first page

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

economics(10)

naomi klein(10)

politics(10)

chile(6)

iraq(6)

argentina(5)

indonesia(5)

russia(5)

bolivia(3)

democracy(2)

friedman(2)

See all 55 tags...

Customer Reviews

59 Reviews

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (59 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

176 of 185 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Profiting From Disaster, 25 May 2008

By	Lleu Christopher (Hudson Valley, NY) - See all my reviews

Ideology aside, I consider this to be one of the most important books of our time. The reason I started off the way I did is that many people will react to Naomi Klein's book based on their political leanings. In fact, before starting this book, I was inclined to disagree with her premise -that Chicago School economics can be directly tied to oppressive regimes in many parts of the world. This book, however, thoroughly proves this disconcerting truth. The Shock Doctrine is also a brilliant expose and an elegant model which enables us to understand modern history in a new way.

I had originally seen a short video online that summarized the ideas of this book, and my first reaction (again, before reading the book) was that this must be a typical leftist rant, making an abstruse analogy between an economic system with which the author disagrees and real life practices like torture and shock treatment. As someone who was raised, or at least self-raised as basically a libertarian, I did not want to believe Klein's argument. In fact, the only reason I bothered to read the book is that I liked her earlier book, No Logo so much. She is one of the few writers on political and economic subjects whom I actually enjoy reading. Her style is so lucid that, even if I don't agree with some of her ideas, I understand where she is coming from and enjoy following her reasoning.

Alas, there is nothing abstract, symbolic or abstruse about The Shock Doctrine. Nor is it any kind of conspiracy theory, as one reviewer oddly remarked. Everything in this book is well documented, and most of the references are anything but obscure. You can find almost everything that is written about here by going back over newspapers of the last few decades. The fact is, recent oppressive regimes in South America, Eastern Europe and Asia built their systems around the ideas of Milton Friedman and Chicago School economics. This is not a theory or an accusation, but a matter of public record. The only thing that we can dispute and speculate over is whether or not Milton Friedman (and his Chicago School disciples) really approved of the actions of tyrants like Pinochet. In the end, does this really matter?

Again, when I first saw the video based on this book, I was skeptical, especially when I watched graphic footage of people being tortured and then told that there is a nearly perfect analogy between the literal shocking of political prisoners and the economic "shock therapy" inflicted on many nations. The reason this book overcame my skepticism is that these practices really were carried out in a symmetrical manner. That is, individuals were being tortured (by people who studied manuals on shock therapy, devised by a real life "mad doctor" named Ewen Cameron) at the same time their governments were conspiring with Chicago School luminaries.

Advocates of free market economics have always said that we must separate economic and political freedom. For example, we can be horrified by the actions of a Pinochet and yet admire the "economic freedom" that exists under such a regime.
I think one of the most impressive achievements of The Shock Doctrine is the way it discredits this widely held assumption. Even assuming that Chicago School ideas represent the ultimate in economic freedom, is it right, even by libertarian standards, to force such freedom on people who don't want it? The idea of forcing people to be free is an oxymoron, and yet this seems to be the mentality of the U.S. government, World Bank and other supposed defenders of freedom when implementing their strategies in the Third World.

Hardcore libertarians will argue that nothing in this book is a refutation of free market capitalism because none of the examples given are true examples of pure laissez faire capitalism. As someone who would have said this myself twenty years ago, I would now simply ask, what difference does it make? Similar arguments are made by dogmatic Marxists concerning the atrocities of Mao and Stalin (they weren't "really" communists). If we are shown, time after time, that a given ideology is used as a justification for implementing policies that include torture, the murder of dissidents and wide-scale corruption, it may be time to rethink that ideology.

Naomi Klein is an advocate of a "Third Way" between capitalism and communism. Examples of this include the relatively free but socialistic Scandinavian nations. Personally, I don't find these rather bureaucratic societies very attractive, being something of a hardcore anarcho-capitalist in my heart. Yet if people genuinely want a society that looks like modern day Sweden or Venezuela, do I (or the U.S. government) have the right to say they can't have it?

The Shock Doctrine illustrates something that goes beyond politics and ideology. I don't really believe that the people in government, industry and the World Bank, who are responsible for many of the atrocities Klein documents, are actually believers in Chicago School economics, laissez faire or any other system. What they want is wealth and power, and they use ideology as a justification for their actions.

If we put aside the political theory and look at the actions and strategies this book catalogs, we see a clear pattern. These people, as Klein documents, use war, terrorist attacks, natural disasters and the like as opportunities to exploit the masses. This is not a mere hypothesis, for there are ample quotes in the book where this doctrine is openly admitted by those who carry it out. Klein stops short of conspiracy theory, the kind that claims that catastrophic events (such as 9/11 and even natural disasters) were orchestrated by those who later exploited them. Whether Klein's more moderate position or the conspiratorial one is closer to the truth is ultimately of secondary importance. The fact is, those at the top of the power structure use disasters as opportunities to increase their wealth and power.

The beauty of this book is that it presents a coherent picture of American (and allied nations) foreign policy and, to some extent, domestic policy -- the Patriot Act and the Katrina tragedy are also described -- that clearly explains the modus operandi of the power elite. It doesn't matter what kind of political system you think is ideal. This is what is really happening. The book concludes on an upbeat note, as hard to believe as that might seem. There is evidence that as people wise up to the shock doctrine strategy, it will become less effective. Hopefully, many people will read this book and the process will be accelerated.

Comment Comments (4) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fragile democracy, 29 Aug 2008

By	L. Baden (Denmark) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book has shocked me thoroughly. In Denmark, we currently have a liberal government slowly dismantling our welfare system, which some would say is about high time since we have the highest taxes in the world. But reading the Shock Doctrine I have become a staunch believer in a social democratic society. I will happily pay my high taxes if I can trust my government is spending them right. The alternative is not an option for me. A happy society is one where all people have true opportunities, where very few are poor, and where those who are not able to fend for themselves are helped to lead a decent life by the society.
What is so ironic about Naomi Klein's revelations is the fact that the US shout out to anyone who cares to listen that they are defending democracy and want to spread it to the Middle East and elesewhere. Yeah sure. What hypocracy! The Shock Doctrine reminds us that the US have been behind the dismantling of some 12 democracies around the world for pure economic and geopolitical self-interest. My estimate is that most of those countries would today have been well functioning, prosperous democracies instead of poor developing nations traumatized by former cruel dictatorships installed by the US.
I don't know about you Americans, but I'm sure ready for CHANGE :O)

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Totally mindblowing, 30 Oct 2008

By	BassBoy2k (London, England) - See all my reviews

This is my first ever review on Amazon. No book has ever moved me to want to take action before like The Shock Dcotrine. Ok, so writing an Amazon review isn't going to change the world but getting as many people as possible to read this book is a step in the right direction.

A friend who recommended the book to me said it was powerful, but I wasn't prepared for just how powerful. Page after page I felt real physical rage and disbelief at how these horrific and world changing events have been happening for decades (and continue to happen) and yet have remained so under the radar of most of us.

Describing the contents of the book has been done very eloquently in other reviews, so I won't repeat that here. But I will just say PLEASE, whatever your political colour, however sceptical you are, PLEASE read this book, it will change how you view the world.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 59 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Compulsory reading
Probably the most important book I have ever read. The insight it brings will make you look at the world, international politics and monetary policy in a completely different way... Read more

Published 4 days ago by O. Gospel

5.0 out of 5 stars Rigorous, analytical explanation of Western post-war policy
Everyone should read this book.

If you have ever wondered about the contradictions in the received explanations of Western policies, or of why our taxes seem to be... Read more

Published 5 days ago by Dick Chuckens

5.0 out of 5 stars Shock reading!
A fantastic read! Historically, very thought-provoking and convincing, and very well-researched. Unfettered capitalism has a lot to answer for. Read more

Published 24 days ago by Mr. S. Geissler

5.0 out of 5 stars What everyone should know
Recent years have seen increasing alignment between governments, corporations and global organisations such as The World Bank and IMF, so much so that the players are... Read more

Published 24 days ago by Clive Menzies

1.0 out of 5 stars Some good points but a lot of nonsense
The author is clever and persuasive but ultimately it's just another left-wing conspiracy rant seeing evil capitalists behind everything wrong in the world. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Mr. Jr Baker

5.0 out of 5 stars An important voice
Naomi Klein has written a shocker of a book, a terrifying book, a book that stands up for the poor and dispossessed. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Bryan N. Bartlett

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for any concerned human being
This is a highly intelligent, insightful and searingly well-researched expose of the devastating effects across the world economy of free-market economic theory as developed by... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Mr. Adam F. Dupre

5.0 out of 5 stars Making the Connections
This is an excellent work of synthesis, drawing together many apparently disparate examples from the real world, and making a strong case for identifying the Neo-Liberals (as... Read more

Published 2 months ago by S Wood

5.0 out of 5 stars simply brilliant
To my shame I always had the impression that Ms. Klein was just another liberal lefty. I have to admit based on this book i am totally wrong. Not only does Ms. Read more

Published 2 months ago by P. Heron

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating but flawed
I read this book after strong recommendations by academic colleagues teaching our International Business degree programme. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Rory Ridley-Duff

› See all 59 customer reviews...

Listmania!

Some of the Best Radical Writers of Recentish Times: A list by S Wood
My books 3: A list by Golden Gordon
MAfashion-contextual studies-list2: A list by N. Komor

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject

Feedback

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.

	88% buy the item featured on this page: The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism 4.3 out of 5 stars (59) �6.46
	5% buy No Logo: No Space. No Choice. No Jobs 3.8 out of 5 stars (90) �5.20
	4% buy Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda 4.5 out of 5 stars (20) �4.49
	1% buy Bad Science 4.5 out of 5 stars (205) �3.58

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (Paperback)

Frequently Bought Together

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Product details

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

Product Description

Review

John Berger

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Customer Reviews

Customer Discussions

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Listmania!

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject

Feedback

Your Recent History