Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The End(S) Of The State(?), Daniel J. Whelan

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Last February, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote an op-ed that anticipated Klein’s article, in part. In his view, the Bush administration has been engaged in an effort to “Green-Zone” the United States government by gutting the professional civil service—dubbed as “the enemy” by the American Enterprise Institute—and replacing its ranks with political appointees who have little interest or experience in running a state, but quite a bit of interest in enriching the private sector with public largesse. Klein’s “Disaster Capitalism” takes Krugman’s theme and pumps up the volume ten-fold.

If It Were Only That Simple, Katherine Gockel

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Reading “Disaster Capitalism,” one would think that the current dire situation in Iraq and the lingering effects of Hurricane Katrina are all because of an emphasis on “small” government, privatization, and partnerships with the business sector. If only it were that simple.

The Personal Side Of Disaster Capitalism, Susan Waltz

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Two weeks ago a tornado ripped through my small hometown in rural Michigan (population 3,500), unexpectedly providing fresh perspective on the phenomenon Naomi Klein has called “Disaster Capitalism.” While I was writing this commentary, work crews were out with chainsaws and chippers, cutting up the remains of fallen trees and clearing mountains of debris from roads and sidewalks.

November Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“Disaster Capitalism: The New Economy of Catastrophe” by Naomi Klein. Harper’s. October 2007.

American Capitalism - Disasterous Consequences?, Richard Falk

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Naomi Klein’s depiction of late-capitalism as feeding off a disaster-prone planet and state-system is provocative and illuminating, even if it seems to be itself a form of “shock and awe” journalism. The great cultural critic of the 1960s, Norman O. Brown, memorably said of psychoanalysis, “[o]nly the exaggerations are valuable,” and so it might be with this critique of the dark sides of recent tendencies in world economic activity. It is notable that the book version of Klein’s article bears the title The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, which itself can be read as a sly admission that …

A Democratic Disaster, Michael Goodhart

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Naomi Klein’s “Disaster Capitalism” paints a grim and compelling portrait of an emerging American dystopia: Large corporations making huge profits on non-bid contracts to handle the government’s response to natural and political disasters (like Katrina and Iraq). She envisions “a collective future of disaster apartheid, in which survival is determined primarily by one’s ability to pay.” The catalogue of outrages Klein supplies is enough to make even the local chamber of commerce president blush. Yet as I read her piece, I found myself angry not so much with the corporations as with my fellow citizens. How can we allow this …

Sylvia Maier On Human Rights In The World Community. Issues And Action (Third Edition) Edited By Richard Pierre Claude And Burns H. Weston. Philadelphia: University Of Pennsylvania Press, 2006. 543 Pp., Sylvia Maier

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Human Rights in the World Community. Issues and Action (Third Edition) edited by Richard Pierre Claude and Burns H. Weston. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006. 543 pp.

The Scope And Nature Of Panhandling And The Related Crime In Denver, Colorado, Megan A. Gall

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

Nationally, increases in the number of panhandlers and homeless people are associated with social and economic issues and are the subject of public policy debate, sociological inquiry and public interest (DHPG 2003). Panhandlers and homeless people are collectively called transients for this research. In the 1950s, the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill caused the first major influx of homelessness. Discrepancies between affordable housing and wages grew through the 1960s and 1970s and the problem did not gain national attention until the 1980s (DCEH n.d.). The increased attention is primarily due to the continued scarcity of housing, increasing discrepancies between housing …

Disability Rights, Annika Johnson

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Disability rights are often ignored in discussions of human rights. Recently, however, scholars and activists have begun producing a body of literature on disability rights in Russia and the former Soviet bloc states. Much of the literature focuses on children’s rights with an emphasis on the right to inclusive education. The literature addressing adult issues includes articles considering civil society, civil rights, and community integration. Finally, several articles address the intersection of disability rights with gender rights and ethnic minority rights.

Civil Society And Human Rights, Ken Bonneville

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A dynamic civil society is essential to a functioning democracy. After the fall of the Soviet Union there was hope that Russia could create a robust civil society to compliment its burgeoning democracy, but 15 years after the fall neither occurrence appears to be the case. Instead of an open society, Russian civil society faces challenges of oppression, threats of violence, an overbearing bureaucracy, and a constitution open to interpretation. The following research outlines some of the obstacles facing Russia’s civil society and addresses how the government is restricting civil society functions.