Naomi Klein – Doppelganger – review by Anthony Nanson

Naomi Klein’s superb book Doppelganger (2023) sheds light on complex issues of communication and leadership in today's circumstances of the mass production of false information. The book was born of Klein’s distress at being repeatedly confused with Noami Wolf. Both women had started out as right-on liberal journalists, but in the covid pandemic Wolf became a celebrated proponent of conspiracy theories, beginning with antivax covid scepticism, and a frequent guest on Steve Bannon’s far-right War Room podcast; while Klein stayed true to her calling, as an investigative journalist, to rigorously dig out and communicate the facts of what’s really going on.

The line of research that began with scrutinising Wolf's conduct expanded into an ambitious and fascinating seam of investigation. Klein describes as the ‘Mirror World’ the reversed interpretations of reality that have been constructed by the likes of Bannon, exploited by Donald Trump, and accepted as reality by millions of people, thanks to the massive amplification of misinformation made possible by digital media.

One strange phenomenon of the pandemic was the common cause that seemed to arise between far-right libertarians, on the one hand, and many – but not all – people active in the ‘wellness industry’ of exercise classes, complementary healthcare, and the like. This latter sector was hard hit by the lockdown restrictions imposed by governments, so it’s understandable that some workers in this field should desire to resist them. The bigger picture that Klein unpacks is that both political libertarianism and much of the wellness industry are underpinned by ideology that emphasises the strength and well-being of the individual. ‘The underlying message is quite similar,’ writes Klein: ‘society is crashing, and you as an individual (not a member of society) need to prepare and toughen up, whether by optimizing your body, stocking your disaster bunker, or both. … In neither worldview is there any mention of collective solutions or structural changes that would make a healthy life possible for all.’ Such an outlook then provides an impetus to believe things it suits you to believe.

Klein theorises that surrender to the Mirror World’s ocean of misinformation can be triggered by a personal crisis, especially one that undermines your sense of your identity. For example, Wolf’s rebranding as an antivax influencer arose after the very public, and cruel, collapse of her authority as a journalist when a key historical error in one of her books was exposed in her presence on live radio. But for many people, I suspect, it may just be the accumulative impact of algorithmically shaped input from cyberspace, intersecting their fears and aspirations in our very challenging times, that lures them into the illusions of the Mirror World.

It would be easy to feel disheartened by the scale of mass-produced misinformation that Klein’s book presents, and the frightening consequences in, for example, Trump’s pursuit of policies that will only exacerbate, not remedy, the environmental crisis and the economic and political crises that flow from that. However, Doppelganger is so well written, and from such a good-hearted place, that it makes an exhilarating read. The remedy for misinformation is the truth – the truth of what’s really real. Klein’s committed investigative journalism is a demonstration of exactly the kind of ethical communication we need.