The Shock Doctrine

Why it’s on the list: Naomi Klein’s argument that crises are the window in which unpopular economic programmes get enacted — contested in its particulars, and one of the most-cited frames for how policy actually moves.

Where I heard about it

• Photographed in November 2015 (Books photo album)

• Spotted at Powell’s City of Books, Portland — December 2022 (Books photo album)

• @WillManidis’s thread — named in the replies to his question “what is the single best book you can read that will explain an entire industry?”, June 2025. Full set of replies: what is the single best book… (tweet).

• @SpencrGreenberg’s thread — named in the replies to his question “What non-fiction book taught you the most about how the world really works?”, June 2025. Full set of replies: A question for you — What non-fiction… (tweet).

• nathan shuherk (@schizophrenicreads) — on a BookTok reading list about US empire, policing and disaster capitalism.

Three separate crowds reached for it in answer to different questions, which is the signal worth acting on.

Connections

• what is the single best book… (tweet) — the thread this came out of; the full recovered list lives there.
• A question for you — What non-fiction… (tweet) — the thread this came out of; the full recovered list lives there.
• Geopolitics