a wide variety of stories to match the globalisation theme - all worrying in their precedent and scope; courageous author

Klein, along with Arudhati Roy, is one of the star commentators on current activist politics – and paradoxically a sort of celebrity activist. Readers should not approach this collection of reports, commentaries and journalism looking for the sort of thesis-driven analysis of current trends seen in either No Logo or The Shock Doctrine, but should expect to (and do) find inspiring tales of struggle and resistance, and developing alternatives to the current anti-democratic, exploitative, reactionary political trends. There is a good blend of bottom up struggle and critique of the activities of those in power. Good reportage and solid liberal/democratic socialist analysis – and as she admits elsewhere better at analysis that solutions: in this case, there should be plenty to inspire (in windows to alternatives) and much to annoy (in fences erected to limit struggle).

This book was pretty okay, but I'm not going to lie, I didn't read the whole thing. It turns out books about current events become a lot less interesting when the events aren't current anymore.

Yes...yes....I am reading her book again. This time it was volunteering. As a former Mass Communication student, Globalisation watcher, and a CURRENT World Bank loan beneficiary agent......I MUST read this book to keep my feet on the ground and my eye on the reality.

Besides, it is easier to watch the predator's moves from its own nest

This was not that interesting.

while this is a good collection of klein's articles and there are a few standout pieces - chiapas, the social centers of italy - overall i'd rather read her focused non-fiction than this. shock doctrine and no logo blow this one out of the water.

Despite 20 years having passed since its publication, this book's themes and writings remain current and relevant, as power continues to sacrifice the downtrodden to a global economic model that benefits the holders of wealth, further cementing inequality.

This book is very situated within the time it is written. As a collection of essays and articles Klein wrote for major newspapers and other outlets this shouldn’t be surprising, but it is quite obvious reading it in the 2020’s. The thesis of the book is very intimately wrapped up in the moment of its writing: that the post-WTO Seattle protests presented a watershed movement for activism. It was the beginning of a distributed anti-globalization movement that had no singular ideology. It was the beginning of networked communication between activist groups. It was, she claims, the beginning of more concerted efforts from law enforcement to stifle protests and activists.

I don’t know if all of these hold up now but it’s quite interesting to read in hindsight. The fractured, distributed nature of the anti-globalization movement lead absolutely nowhere. I don’t think you can argue that it posed a serious challenge to the existing structure of our global society. Maybe from an optics perspective there’s a heightened awareness, and there are definitely some outgrowths of this that persist to this day (ethical coffee, go local agriculture etc.) but it’s not a serious challenge to the business as usual that has persisted.

I also don’t know if her thoughts on the ramping up of enforcement against protesters holds up. One would argue in the wake of 2001 and the passing of the PATRIOT act, there were definitely more powers given to law enforcement to aid in “national security”, but I don’t know if the examples Klein uses that were personally happening to her and others around her were quite so unprecedented. The surveillance and disruption of the Civil Rights Movement and other activist groups by both the FBI and the CIA during the 20th century is well documented. Undoubtedly all of this was abhorrent, but it felt more like Klein was reacting to it more vividly due to the personal nature of these events.

The last aspect was the most interesting which was the book as a document of the beginning nature of online activism. It was clear that in those early days the focus was much more on finding others and coordinating for in-person activism. It provided an enormously valuable forum for the exchange of ideas between activists across national boundaries and organize. Contrasting with today, where online activism is almost a pejorative, given the focus on merely expressing disapproval of a topic.

Overall, not the most interesting book. If you’re familiar with Klein, none of this will be a surprise to you. Many of the ideas were rehashed and reused over the course of the book due to the nature of its collection. Though there some interesting nuggets if you ever do want to dive in (the commentary on the internet, some of the writing on the Zapatistas)

Читается пободрее, чем No Logo. Эта книга - сборник статей-хроник, лог событий, а не теоретические основы антиглобализации.

- well-written and intelligent (Klein is brilliant, with ideas as revolutionary as Marshall McLuhan's - who was also a Canadian, by the way).
- not rated as highly as her 'No Logo', which was ground-breaking, and the best thing I have ever read on the subject of Corporate Branding...unfortunately 'Fences And Windows:...', although an interesting collection of Klein's essays, speeches, and newspaper-columns - doesn't really introduce any new arguments.
- She does add evidence, and reformulates her description of our current global crisis - the divesting of control on all fronts to unbelievably wealthy and powerful multinational corporations

Very interesting but it was harder to read than the others

Acceptable left-wing reportage from Naomi Klein, even if her optimism and naivete can be a bit grating at points, and some of these essays have aged as well as a film review in Ain't It Cool News circa 1998. For instance, her report on the carnivalesque street protests that accompanied the meetings of various global elites in the '90s were horrifically self-important (raise your hands if you never want to hear phrases like "culture jamming" ever, ever again), even if as they went on, she realized that there needed to be stronger real action in addition to mere shows of force. Furthermore, the criticism of GMOs in principle -- while Monsanto et al deserve all the hate they can get -- strikes me as at least a little bit first-world liberal in orientation and scientifically illiterate. Read if you're a Naomi Klein fan, but otherwise pass.