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The Shock Doctrine of the Left
Shocks, from natural disasters to military catastrophes, have long been exploited by the state to impose privatization, cuts and rampant free markets. This book argues that the left can use such moments of chaos to achieve emancipation.
Graham Jones illustrates how everyone can help to exploit these shocks and bring about a new world of compassion and care. He examines how combining mutually reinforcing strategies of ‘smashing, building, healing and taming’ can become the basis of a unified left. His vivid personal experience underpins a compelling, practical vision for activism, from the scale of the individual body to the global social movement.
This bold book is a toolkit for revolution for activists and radical millennials everywhere.
Graham Jones illustrates how everyone can help to exploit these shocks and bring about a new world of compassion and care. He examines how combining mutually reinforcing strategies of ‘smashing, building, healing and taming’ can become the basis of a unified left. His vivid personal experience underpins a compelling, practical vision for activism, from the scale of the individual body to the global social movement.
This bold book is a toolkit for revolution for activists and radical millennials everywhere.
- GenresPoliticsNonfiction
140 pages, Paperback
Published September 4, 2018
2 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 29, 2020
Aimed at nineteen year old revolutionaries?
I am sure Graham Jones is a great person. Described online as ‘the radical hairdresser of Deptford’ he is certainly concerned about care and mutual support and about a left-wing movement that includes all kinds of people that have often been left on the margins while the revolution gets led by the white, middle-class, heterosexual male. Students may find this interesting as an effort to apply Marxist-Leninist revolutionary theory to day to day radical politics in the UK.
It is interesting reading this book during Covid lockdown – because one of its premises is that the progressive movement should be organised and ready to take advantage of external shocks and crises, just as the right wing have taken advantage of crises to impose austerity as part of a long term agenda, and the Russian Communists were ready to take advantage of the catastrophe of the Great War in Russia to drive revolution through a structure of soviets that was already formed. But the principle that a crisis and the spontaneous response to it should be used to gather supporters, crowd fund campaigns and create a growing movement of campaigners, seems to be demonstrated more by the Black Lives Matter movement than by the traditional left.
Part of the problem is that Jones is rooted in quite old-fashioned socialism and models of collective ownership, which are likely to rapidly alienate potential allies – those for instance who feel that they want to have improved access to capitalist jobs, careers and consumer goods, rather than rejecting them for the politics of communal living. His vision is of the workers in control of public services – not the consumers, the tenants or the electorate, and even some on the left would see this as ‘provider capture’. He might ally himself to the climate change movement – but only as part of a campaign to destabilise capitalism, and not because he sees our climate future as requiring radical and rapid action, that might be more important than ideological distinctions between private initiative and public strategy. His vision is more akin to primitive democracy – taking office through random lots. He is worried about democratic elections – because if they are successful in delivering change, they may undermine the case for more radical revolution. He wants to tame the state – a vision that has something in common with anarchism and old Marxist ideas of the ‘withering away of the state’ and something in common with the right-wing US small government movement. He likes being in demos and fights and has a potentially justified paranoia about police spies. He is inspired by Catalan cooperatives and by the squatters’ movements in the UK.
He is highly quotable if you are writing an essay on this kind of thing as an undergraduate. He also has some important points to make about the importance of networking, not just with the usual people, and making common ground with a variety of progressive movements. He is good on the importance of a nurturing movement that people see a point belonging to and giving to because they get enough back from it. He makes reasonable points about the way our austerity-driven society excludes and disenfranchises those with physical and mental illnesses, who feel cut off from the basic opportunities of income, homes and a fulfilling life. He is good on saying that caring work, paid or unpaid, needs to be more highly valued by us all and in the economy.
I am however sceptical about whether his model of ‘smash, build, heal and tame’ offers a practical handbook for revolution. He talks about building the solidarity economy of co-operatives but the public sector solidarity economy of public services and the bigger, older co-operative movements are missing from his model, probably because they have been too successful to count in his book. He talks about smashing and taming the state, when we may need a more accountable state with progressive leadership to face up to the shocks that face us – of climate destruction and global pandemics.
I am sure Graham Jones is a great person. Described online as ‘the radical hairdresser of Deptford’ he is certainly concerned about care and mutual support and about a left-wing movement that includes all kinds of people that have often been left on the margins while the revolution gets led by the white, middle-class, heterosexual male. Students may find this interesting as an effort to apply Marxist-Leninist revolutionary theory to day to day radical politics in the UK.
It is interesting reading this book during Covid lockdown – because one of its premises is that the progressive movement should be organised and ready to take advantage of external shocks and crises, just as the right wing have taken advantage of crises to impose austerity as part of a long term agenda, and the Russian Communists were ready to take advantage of the catastrophe of the Great War in Russia to drive revolution through a structure of soviets that was already formed. But the principle that a crisis and the spontaneous response to it should be used to gather supporters, crowd fund campaigns and create a growing movement of campaigners, seems to be demonstrated more by the Black Lives Matter movement than by the traditional left.
Part of the problem is that Jones is rooted in quite old-fashioned socialism and models of collective ownership, which are likely to rapidly alienate potential allies – those for instance who feel that they want to have improved access to capitalist jobs, careers and consumer goods, rather than rejecting them for the politics of communal living. His vision is of the workers in control of public services – not the consumers, the tenants or the electorate, and even some on the left would see this as ‘provider capture’. He might ally himself to the climate change movement – but only as part of a campaign to destabilise capitalism, and not because he sees our climate future as requiring radical and rapid action, that might be more important than ideological distinctions between private initiative and public strategy. His vision is more akin to primitive democracy – taking office through random lots. He is worried about democratic elections – because if they are successful in delivering change, they may undermine the case for more radical revolution. He wants to tame the state – a vision that has something in common with anarchism and old Marxist ideas of the ‘withering away of the state’ and something in common with the right-wing US small government movement. He likes being in demos and fights and has a potentially justified paranoia about police spies. He is inspired by Catalan cooperatives and by the squatters’ movements in the UK.
He is highly quotable if you are writing an essay on this kind of thing as an undergraduate. He also has some important points to make about the importance of networking, not just with the usual people, and making common ground with a variety of progressive movements. He is good on the importance of a nurturing movement that people see a point belonging to and giving to because they get enough back from it. He makes reasonable points about the way our austerity-driven society excludes and disenfranchises those with physical and mental illnesses, who feel cut off from the basic opportunities of income, homes and a fulfilling life. He is good on saying that caring work, paid or unpaid, needs to be more highly valued by us all and in the economy.
I am however sceptical about whether his model of ‘smash, build, heal and tame’ offers a practical handbook for revolution. He talks about building the solidarity economy of co-operatives but the public sector solidarity economy of public services and the bigger, older co-operative movements are missing from his model, probably because they have been too successful to count in his book. He talks about smashing and taming the state, when we may need a more accountable state with progressive leadership to face up to the shocks that face us – of climate destruction and global pandemics.
October 11, 2018
Graham Jones is a social movement activist with experience in grassroots campaigns including Radical Think Tank and Radical Housing Network and in this so-so book aimed at helping those on the hard left to mobilise and build support he offers a left-wing response to Naomi Klein’s THE SHOCK DOCTRINE, enabling the left to benefit from chaos by offering new solutions and so take power with an emphasis on smashing, building, healing and taming.
December 23, 2024
Hard to say what this was: an activist diary and organisation guide perhaps comes closest. It certainly wasn't something that I expected from Polity Press. In sync with the times, the theory that there is is seen through a biological analogy. I appreciated bringing care into the equation of activism, but otherwise the title is misleading. This is not a diagnosis of our times (like Naomi Klein's book where the title is nicked) nor a theory book a la Polity.
January 12, 2019
Unintentionally funny rehash of 150 years of dead-end anarcho-opportunism.
http://marxistupdate.blogspot.com/201...
No class line: the state just drifts along, waiting for activists to manipulate social disasters to get their programs enacted.
Moral: use methods of bourgeoisie to thwart bourgeoisie.
Millions have died pursuing this perspective.
http://marxistupdate.blogspot.com/201...
No class line: the state just drifts along, waiting for activists to manipulate social disasters to get their programs enacted.
Moral: use methods of bourgeoisie to thwart bourgeoisie.
Millions have died pursuing this perspective.
June 22, 2019
Another nobody upset by the too much freedom. Free markets? There should be limited to only what Jones and the King approve. And at what Jones and the King deem as good prices. And that is about all: a man who never amounted to anything aspiring to be like a King.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews