For over a decade now, the reigning consensus has held that the combination of free markets and democracy would transform the third world and sweep...
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Jun 01, 2011
Whitaker
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I LOVE THIS BOOK! It’s tight, nuanced, dismissive of simplistic explanations, and—except for an unfortunate lapse towards the end—doesn’t overreach in its analysis. What’s great about this book is not only what it’s about but what it’s NOT about. It’s not about how capitalism is evil; it’s not about developing countries being unsuited for democracy; and it’s emphatically not about capitalism and democracy being the causes of inter-ethnic hatred and violence.
Prof Chua takes care to f More...
Prof Chua takes care to f More...
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Dec 03, 2007
Russell
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In this book Amy Chua explains how the first tide of globalism is invariably brought by "market dominant minorities", read: jews, chinese, overseas Europeans of all stripes. The local population invariably revolts against globalism by killing the messenger in riots, pograms, etc.
This step of the analysis was excellent. Globalism, the great wave of the hour is still entrenched in the great issue of the last century, ethnicity.
Her further analysis fell flat for me More...
This step of the analysis was excellent. Globalism, the great wave of the hour is still entrenched in the great issue of the last century, ethnicity.
Her further analysis fell flat for me More...
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Dec 20, 2011
Js
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This is my opinion. But, I wrote in Indonesian:
Saya beruntung, 7 tahun yang lalu, 28 April 2004, salah satu mantan murid, sehabis melawat ke Amerika, mengantar ‘buah tangan’ berupa buku. Seolah, mantan murid itu, tahu apa yang sedang saya pikirkan dan impikan yaitu “World on Fire” karya Amy Chua.
Kini, ternyata ketika saya baca ulang buku setebal 348 halaman, tersusun dengan pendahuluan, bagian pertama yang mengulas The Economic Impact of Globalization dengan 4 rincian (Rubies More...
Saya beruntung, 7 tahun yang lalu, 28 April 2004, salah satu mantan murid, sehabis melawat ke Amerika, mengantar ‘buah tangan’ berupa buku. Seolah, mantan murid itu, tahu apa yang sedang saya pikirkan dan impikan yaitu “World on Fire” karya Amy Chua.
Kini, ternyata ketika saya baca ulang buku setebal 348 halaman, tersusun dengan pendahuluan, bagian pertama yang mengulas The Economic Impact of Globalization dengan 4 rincian (Rubies More...
Oct 17, 2011
Doug
rated it: 
I really liked reading Joseph Stiglitz's Globalization and Its Discontents, and this book adds an ethnic dimension to the thesis of how America's rigid adherence to imposing laissez-faire capitalism on developing nations is causing more harm than good and leads to a backlash against globalization.
In the West we tend to think of Sierra Leone as a country where modernization and globalization have not yet penetrated. But Sierra Leone reached this stage of savagery in part as a result oMore...
Nov 20, 2011
John
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Amy Chau's " World On Fire" should be required reading for both non-fiction and fiction writers. Why? It will reveal how there is always an inherent tension between market-dominant-minorities which causes inflamed dormant ethnic hatred. Which can help show why characters in a novel react to social forces.
Author Chau reveals how in certain pockets of the United States market-dominant-minorities control the market of the ethnic majority. A glaring example is that in all the major More...
Author Chau reveals how in certain pockets of the United States market-dominant-minorities control the market of the ethnic majority. A glaring example is that in all the major More...
Dec 01, 2011
Jarek
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A free market think tank opposed this book while misunderstanding its thesis, which is probably as good of a recommendation as they come.
Reading this book I was reminded a little about reading recent Michael Lewis articles. It reads well, the arguments seem tight and are backed up with more examples and anecdotes than you care to think about, it's generally agreeable, and you want to believe it, but at times it's hard to tell which stories are taken for more than they're really worth More...
Reading this book I was reminded a little about reading recent Michael Lewis articles. It reads well, the arguments seem tight and are backed up with more examples and anecdotes than you care to think about, it's generally agreeable, and you want to believe it, but at times it's hard to tell which stories are taken for more than they're really worth More...
Jan 04, 2011
Amy Chua's talent is gathering evidence. This shouldn't surprise me-- she was a lawyer by training-- but she ignores what generates market-dominant minority, and in doing so, leaves out a critical part of how to solve the problems she articulates. Furthermore, she has a way of hazarding her own solutions. First she suggests market reforms, then education, and then kind of backpedals on both of those.
She's quite right in saying that there's no universal panacea for the instabilities More...
She's quite right in saying that there's no universal panacea for the instabilities More...
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Aug 11, 2010
Adfitz
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I mostly enjoyed this one for the concise summary of many post colonial conflicts I knew very little about. The main brunt of the book explores the dangers of the typical democratic and free market packages that the US is shipping into unsteady territories (with a decent although sometimes unapologetic recognition of colonialism and post-colonialism as a primary source of inequity). What makes this book unique from other critiques of modernization is the emphasis on ethnicity as something that
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May 12, 2009
Alexander
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This was a very well done scholarly work. She makes sure to note that her thesis is just a trend and doesn't apply in all situations or explain all conflict but that it does do a lot of work and explain a lot of phenomena. That is a very smart route to go on when presenting political theories. I came away from the book very convinced that the ways in which the United States is trying to export democracy and free markets is doing more damage than good. We must learn the virtue of patience and
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Jan 21, 2009
Guy
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This was an interesting book read during my MBA Global Macroeconomics course. Often, I had wondered why a Free-Market Democracy took off like a rocket in some places (Germany, Japan) and failed so miserably in others (Russia). I concluded that it was a matter of discipline - i.e. in order for it to take off, accountability and determination were prerequisites for success. Chua's book focuses more on the reasons for failure than for success; primarily, once the tyrrany of a minority is removed
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Mar 18, 2011
Brett
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Amy Chua got a lot of ink earlier this year for her essay about motherhood, but since I'm perpetually behind the times, I'm just getting to her 2004 book about globalization, democracy, and market-dominant minorities. Her thesis is pretty sound: in societies where market-dominant minorities exist (and her research is convincing that these do exist in many places in the world), the sudden democratization can create a volatile environment that can lead to persecuation--and in extreme cases, even
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Aug 27, 2008
Ed
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How exporting fee market democracy breeds ethnic hatred and global instability
If creating participatory democracy in nations that are now ruled by oligarchs, kings, sultans or presidents for life and if opening up backward economies in the developing world are good things, what could be better than doing both at the same time? While it might sound lovely, Amy Chua’s very incisive, well reasoned and beautifully written book shows that while trying to impose either democracy or free ma More...
If creating participatory democracy in nations that are now ruled by oligarchs, kings, sultans or presidents for life and if opening up backward economies in the developing world are good things, what could be better than doing both at the same time? While it might sound lovely, Amy Chua’s very incisive, well reasoned and beautifully written book shows that while trying to impose either democracy or free ma More...
Oct 31, 2007
Evan
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I did read this book a few years ago, but remembered it today while writing about the May 1998 anti-Chinese riots in Jakarta. In 2004, it was one of the shrewder books I had read disentangling free trade from democratization, and hence arguing against the neoliberal ideology of the Washington consensus.
The basic thesis, which is easy to grasp without reading the book, is that in many parts of the world (especially the so-called developing world), national economies are largely in the More...
The basic thesis, which is easy to grasp without reading the book, is that in many parts of the world (especially the so-called developing world), national economies are largely in the More...
Oct 26, 2007
Liza
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My mom saw an interview with Chua and decided to buy this book. I don't know if she'll ever read it, because she prefers the newspaper, but I might have to persuade her otherwise. Chua's thesis is that the market dominance of ethnic minorities incites ethnic hatred and that this is becoming increasingly problematic with globalization. World on Fire was published in 2003, so the examples she references have become all the more stark with recent developments in Burma (where Chinese are the market-
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Jul 10, 2007
Kerry
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One of the most brilliant books I've ever read. It sounds like a dull topic but the writer's passion for the subject brings it to life. Full of fascinating and surprising details about how democracy works (or, more accurately, doesn't work) when superimposed on other cultures and economic systems. It provides gripping examples demonstrating why economic democracy and political democracy have to be introduced in the proper sequence or political democracy will not only fail but fail spectacular
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Feb 22, 2011
Bev
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This is a disturbing overview of the ethnic situation in most developing countries of the world. It answered my questions as to what is behind the instability and genocide in countries in the last few decades. Most of the countries Chua describes in Africa, Asia and South America are controlled by an ethnic minority, such as Chinese control of the Philippines. When democracy puts the ehnic majority in charge the answer is genocide as in Rwanda. I think this is an important and thought provoking
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Jan 03, 2010
Eric_W
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We read this in our college reading club several years ago. It's an excellent book to read along with Niall Ferguson's War of the World: Twentieth Century Conflict and Descent of the West and The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein. Chua's basic premise is that ethnic economic disparities that often arise in times of economic progress lead to ethnic strife during economic instability. Market dominant ethnic majorities become much richer even as ethnic majority poor g
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Mar 30, 2011
Bre
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It was slow reading, and I'm not a slow reader.
The ideas presented in the text were well-reasoned and backed-up. The evidence, I hate to say, became repetitive, but that makes the author's argument all the more compelling.
By time the author addresses possible "fixes" to the patterns of hate, corruption and destruction, I was getting impatient for them. I appreciate that she didn't prescribe a "one-size-fits-all" solution.
I would recom
The ideas presented in the text were well-reasoned and backed-up. The evidence, I hate to say, became repetitive, but that makes the author's argument all the more compelling.
By time the author addresses possible "fixes" to the patterns of hate, corruption and destruction, I was getting impatient for them. I appreciate that she didn't prescribe a "one-size-fits-all" solution.
I would recom
Jul 29, 2011
Kirk
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Really enjoyed this book. It is a great book for contrasting "World is Flat." As Friedmann spends his time interviewing CEOs, tech tycoons, big investors,etc. - Chu looks at the people Friedmann overlooks. The people of underdeveloped nations and the effects of a global market on them. Chu takles the issues of ethnic violence, greed, exploitation, and chaos that is found in developing nations. Emphasis is placed on globalization based on responsibilities.
Aug 02, 2010
Joy
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This is really a must-read book for all Americans... Chua takes a hard look at the negative consequences of exporting capitalism and democracy to countries in one fell swoop. Chua successfully keeps her discussion very accessible, while also discussing a very important topic.
Suggested accompanying Books
*Anything on Nelson Mandela
* "End of Poverty" by Jeffrey Sachs
* "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair
Suggested accompanying Books
*Anything on Nelson Mandela
* "End of Poverty" by Jeffrey Sachs
* "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair
Jun 04, 2011
Steve
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Chua links unfairness of ‘market dominant minorities’ and the rise in instability in the world through the increasing use of democracy and the ethnonationalism this generates among the less privileged majority. It is a fascinating angle, and in the examples given it seems to fit part of the explanation for much trouble around the world. Further she expands this view at the regional level (Israel as the market dominant minority in the Middle East) and then global level (the US as the market domin
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Apr 11, 2011
Marks54
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This is a sharp book about the perils faced by economically prosperous ethnic minorities in countries around the world, with the ultimate point that creating too many losers in an economy can imperil democracy - as well as the winners - and lead to authoritarian rule. Short, but very well written.
Dec 05, 2010
Brian
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I was impressed when I saw Amy speak ~2002/2003. Her book offers an articulate and in-depth account of globalization's impacts and consequences. I particularly enjoyed her insights on the role of market-dominant minorities and the discussion of ethnonationalism.
Dec 30, 2010
Lally
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She's an attorney, and so a lot of political scientists have been skeptical about this book's reach. I don't think it's trying to be something it's not. The theory is intriguing - recommended for those curious about the sources of ethnic conflict.
Oct 02, 2008
Sarah
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In the first few pages of World on Fire, Chua divulges her own family's tragedy in connection with the effects of exporting free-market democracy. Such a dramatic introduction to the issue drew me into this book, and encouraged me to trudge through some of the economic jargon and statistics, as the sensitive topic was all informed by the author's personal loss.
Having witnessed this phenomenon with the Chinese in Southeast Asia prior to reading the book, it was provocative to rethink my ow More...
Having witnessed this phenomenon with the Chinese in Southeast Asia prior to reading the book, it was provocative to rethink my ow More...
Aug 02, 2011
This book is worthy of being an additional to the world debate every decade has a book that defines the role of super powers in the economy and this one makes a good attempt at being one, well written
Dec 01, 2009
Kenneth
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Capitalism + Democracy in third world countries that have "market-dominant minorities" leads to trouble. That's Amy Chua's thesis, and she does such a good job pointing it out that everything seems obvious...
Sep 27, 2007
Cherie
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B: Someone put this on my desk at work--I returned from the weekend to find this waiting for me. I don't know who left it, but it is a fascinating book. Chua examines why so many developing countries undergo ethnic violence and economic instability after adopted "free market democracy." She looks at how a select minority of people rule a country--and what happens when the majority try to get control of what they feel belongs to them. A lot of it is a critique of the United States and t
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Jan 25, 2011
Stuart
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Amazing review of the atrocities of south pacific business and labor based upon historical facts. Very depressing but in a way enlightening and informative. Data is dated though- 2004 and earlier.
Aug 12, 2011
mybluesunset
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This is a very good book, well written and researched and with a strong central concept, but it couldn't hold my interest all the way. I read the beginning and skimmed the rest.
