The Battle for Paradise

Puerto Rico takes on the disaster capitalists

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Naomi Klein: The Battle for Paradise (2018)

80 pages

English language

Published Oct. 9, 2018

ISBN:
978-1-60846-586-6
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OCLC Number:
1030901739

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"In the rubble of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans and ultrarich "Puertopians" are locked in a pitched struggle over how to remake the island. In this vital and startling investigation, New York Times bestselling author and activist Naomi Klein uncovers how the forces of shock politics and disaster capitalism seek to undermine the nation's radical, resilient vision for a just recovery."--page[4] of cover.

2 editions

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I have a complicated relationship with Puerto Rico. I'm ethnically Puerto Rican but I don't look it, never had a good grasp of the language, and have only visited once. I simultaneously want to have it be a bigger part of my identity and don't feel like I deserve to. But the least I could do is stay informed on what's going on down there.

This book was a pretty specific snapshot of 2018, just one year after Hurricane Maria, and what conditions on the ground were like. And I guess there's value in knowing what things were like in a pivotal time like that, but I almost feel like it was written too early? It sets up a ton of different directions the local economy, government, and culture could go in the post-disaster aftermath, and suggests that any change would be made quickly. So a part of me feels …

Subjects

  • Emergency management
  • Politics and government
  • Economic conditions
  • Hurricanes
  • Disaster relief
  • Neoliberalism
  • Capitalism

Places

  • United States
  • Puerto Rico