The Shock Doctrine

Chapter 20: Disaster Apartheid

Links

Documents
Blueprint for Gulf Renewal, August/September 2007
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Gulf Coast Reconstruction Watch assesses the reconstruction efforts on the Gulf Coast and presents an action agenda to effectively rebuild the area, including ways to save public housing, strengthen schools, and create more contractor oversight.
New Orleans Community Leaders Attend Reconstruction Seminar in Thailand, November 2006
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The Asian Coalition for Housing Rights gathered 10 community leaders from New Orleans, 157 community leaders from 9 Asian countries, and representatives from the UN, the Thai government and Thai NGOs to discuss sustainable, community-based disaster recovery efforts. Inspirational reading.
New Orleans Residents Tour Asian Tsunami Areas, September 2006
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Five New Orleans activists discussed community-based reconstruction with tsunami survivors in Thailand and Aceh. This inspirational document contains fantastic photos and notes from the international exchange.
Jamie Peck, "Liberating the City: Between New York and New Orleans," November/December 2006
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This article in Urban Geography concludes that "the neoliberal makeover of the Gulf Coast is being guided by an ideational program manufactured on, and managed from, the East Coast—a first-world form of structural adjustment."
‘National Model’ or Flawed Approach? The Post-Katrina New Orleans Public Schools, November 2006
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The American Federation of Teachers assesses the public school system fifteen months after Hurricane Katrina.
Waste, Fraud and Abuse in Hurricane Katrina Contracts, August 2006
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This U.S. congressional report critiques the reconstruction on the Gulf Coast and concludes that “19 Katrina contracts collectively worth $8.75 billion that have been plagued by waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement.”
Big, Easy Money: Disaster Profiteering on the American Gulf Coast, August 2006
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Released on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, this CorpWatch report also details wasteful contractor spending and delayed reconstruction work on the Gulf Coast.
FEMA Chief's Inappropriate Emails During Hurricane Katrina, August/September 2005
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On the day the levees broke in New Orleans, FEMA Chief Michael Brown asked in an email “Can I quit now? Can I go home?” Read Brown’s emails, in which he discussed not only the unfolding crisis but also his wardrobe attire (“Tie or not for tonight? Button down blue shirt?”).
Groups





Videos

Frontline USA with Avi Lewis visits New Orleans two-and-a-half years after Hurricane Katrina.

Poet Sunni Patterson & Hip-Hop Artist Truth Universal on Democracy Now!. See the full show

Corey Williams talks about rebuilding his home after Hurricane Katrina. See more Voices from the Gulf

Audio

Films

Books

Unnatural Disaster
By Betsy Reed and Adolph Reed

Armed Madhouse
By Greg Palast

See Also

Jacket Cover