Naomi Klein Speaks with Jia Tolentino about “Doppelganger”
Sep 19, 2023
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Naomi Klein discusses her new book 'Doppelganger' with Jia Tolentino, delving into the confusion between herself and Naomi Wolf. They explore the concept of doppelgangers in politics and the denialism surrounding climate change along with various conspiracy theories. They also discuss the relationship between the far right and the left during COVID-19 and our responsibility to confront reality.
The left and the right have become doppelgangers of one another, with denialism and conspiracy theories permeating both sides of the political spectrum.
Examining the concept of doppelgangers allows for a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness between individuals and the systemic issues they contribute to, emphasizing the need to confront uncomfortable truths and complicity.
Deep dives
The Doppelganger Situation and Political Uncanniness
Naomi Klein's book 'Doppelganger' explores the confusion between her and Naomi Wolf, which led to online identity mix-ups. Klein uses this doppelganger situation to delve into the collective vertigo and political uncanniness of the current era. She discusses how political movements, like climate change denial and conspiracy theories, can feel like doppelgangers of themselves, providing a means of understanding difficult and unaddressed issues. Klein argues that the left needs to reclaim neglected political territory and address issues like profiteering, power concentration, and vaccine apartheid, instead of dismissing them as conspiracy theories.
The Implications of Doppelganger Thinking
By examining the concept of doppelgangers, Klein highlights the interconnectedness between individuals and the societal and environmental shadows they cast. She argues that Western consumer lifestyles are entwined with the exploitation of individuals in impoverished regions, climate change, and other systemic issues. Klein emphasizes the discomfort of acknowledging complicity and confronting the challenges posed by intertwined economic systems. She also suggests that conspiracy theories act as distractions, allowing people to avoid facing these underlying realities.
Looking at Reality and Flight into Fantasy
Klein underscores the difficulty of confronting the complex realities that people are implicated in, such as exploitation, conflicts, and environmental degradation. She cautions against smugness towards individuals drawn to conspiracy theories, noting that different forms of escapism, including a flight into fantasy novels and films, offer paths to evade reality. Klein urges individuals to take on the work of looking at reality, acknowledging their own role in wider systemic issues and striving to confront the uncomfortable truths of their own complicity.
For twenty-some years, Naomi Klein has been a leading thinker on the left. She’s especially known for the idea of disaster capitalism: an analysis that the forces of big business will exploit any severe disruption to take over more space in our lives. She was often confused with another prominent political writer, Naomi Wolf—once a feminist on the left who has, in recent years, embraced conspiracy theories on the right and is now on good terms with Steve Bannon. Klein’s new book, “Doppelganger,” starts with this simple case of mistaken identity and broadens into an analysis of our political moment, which she describes as “uncanny” in the psychological sense. “Freud described the uncanny as that species of frightening that changes what was once familiar to something unfamiliar,” she tells the staff writer Jia Tolentino. “It’s that weirdness of ‘I think I know what this is, but it’s not what I think.’ ” Klein argues that the left and the right have become doppelgangers of one another—and that denialism regarding climate change has widened to any number of topics, including the claim that Joe Biden is dead and is being played by an actor. “Whenever you don’t like reality, you can just say that it’s not real,” she says.
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