SHOCK DOCTRINE

In her best-selling book, The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein examines the rise of disaster capitalism, a doctrine which enables governments and global companies to exploit the economies of countries affected by wars, terrorist attacks or natural catastrophes. Tracing the origins of this theory back to neo-liberal economist Milton Friedman, the film proceeds to follow various applications of these ideas in contemporary history: the economic models of Pinochet’s Chile, Jelzin’s Russia and Thatcher’s Great Britain all bear the unmistakable mark of radical neoliberalism; but political catastrophes such as the Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing or the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq are also the result of aggressive laissez-faire capitalism. This film focuses on the dark side of Friedman’s theory which, the film postulates, can only be implemented by a system of violence and oppression.

Michael Winterbottom – filmography (selection)
Jude (1996)
In This World (2002)
Genova (2008)
The Road to Guantanamo (2006)

Mat Whitecross – filmography (selection)
Pot v Guantanamo/The Road to Guantanamo (2006)
he Shock Doctrine (2009)
Moving to Mars (2009)

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