The Shock Doctrine
Also known as The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
Naomi Klein's 2007 argument that crises are used to push through free-market policies people would otherwise resist.
At a glance
Key ideas
Disaster capitalism, Shock therapy, Chile, 1973 …
See all 5Reception
John Gray, The Guardian, Joseph Stiglitz, The New York Times, John Willman, Financial Times
See all 3Connections
Naomi Klein and Milton Friedman
See all 2
Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Klein argues that neoliberal policies associated with Milton Friedman and the Chicago school spread through a strategy she calls disaster capitalism.
- Political actors use the chaos of disasters, wars and other crises to push through unpopular measures such as deregulation and privatization, while people are too overwhelmed to resist.
- She traces it from Pinochet's Chile through Thatcher's Britain, Poland, Russia and South Africa to the occupation of Iraq and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
- Some reviewers praised it as essential; others said it oversimplifies.
Why it matters
- It gave a name, disaster capitalism, to a widely discussed critique of free-market reform; The Guardian ranked it the 18th greatest book since 2000.
Key facts
- Author
- Naomi Klein1
- Published
- 20071
- Structure
- Seven parts, 21 chapters1
- Film
- The basis of a 2009 documentary of the same name directed by Michael Winterbottom1
- Lists
- A best book of 2007 for the Village Voice, Publishers Weekly, The Observer and the Seattle Times; 18th on The Guardian's 2019 list of the best books since 20001
Key ideas
-
Disaster capitalism1
Crises are exploited to push through deregulation and privatization before people can respond.
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Shock therapy1
Klein draws a parallel between economic shock therapy and Ewen Cameron's CIA-linked psychiatric shock experiments.
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Chile, 19731
Pinochet's coup and the Chicago Boys are her first case of the doctrine in action.
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The disaster capitalism complex1
Private firms profit from disasters through networks that blur public and private, much like the military-industrial complex.
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Iraq1
She calls the 2003 invasion and occupation the most comprehensive application of the shock doctrine ever attempted.
Reception
-
John Gray, The Guardian1
One of the "very few books that really help us understand the present".
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Joseph Stiglitz, The New York Times1
Called the shock-therapy parallel "overdramatic and unconvincing", but said the case against those policies is even stronger than Klein's.
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John Willman, Financial Times1
Called it a deeply flawed work that blends disparate things into a beguiling but dishonest argument.
Connections
Links
Sources
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