THE SHOCK DOCTRINE REVISITED: CLIMATE CATASTROPHE AND THE POSTCOLONIAL STATE AS A SITE OF NEOLIBERAL DISASTER GOVERNANCE

Abstract

This research revisits Naomi Klein’s shock doctrine framework to examine the ways in which climate-induced catastrophes are increasingly instrumentalized to impose neoliberal economic reforms in postcolonial and semi-colonial contexts. It argues that extreme weather events—while often framed as apolitical environmental crises—function as critical junctures for the reconfiguration of state-citizen relations, land use, and public sector responsibilities in favor of market-centric models. Grounded in Postcolonial State Theory (Chatterjee, 2004), Ecological Marxism (Foster, 2000), and the framework of Racial Capitalism (Robinson, 1983), the study interrogates how disaster governance regimes enable technocratic rule, erode democratic accountability, and deepen structural inequalities through mechanisms such as privatization, debt-financing, and elite land capture. Focusing on comparative case studies from Pakistan, Mozambique, and Puerto Rico etc, the paper analyzes how institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, and domestic ruling classes deploy the language of "resilience," "green recovery," and "adaptation finance" to justify interventions that benefit investors while marginalizing disaster-affected communities. These case studies demonstrate how disasters serve as legitimizing tools for the expansion of neoliberal governance—where recovery efforts become sites of profit-making, land speculation, and securitized control rather than community-led rebuilding. The research aims to contribute to the growing field of climate justice by foregrounding the role of political economy, historical power asymmetries, and ideological narratives in shaping climate responses. It ultimately calls for a reimagining of postcolonial sovereignty rooted in ecological equity, participatory governance, and reparative justice, challenging the use of climate emergencies as gateways to deepen global capitalism’s reach into the most vulnerable regions of the world.