The overall substance of the arguments developed in City of Quartz and Ecology of Fear has not been refuted, but the sensationalism and viciousness with which the attack has been carried out suggests a rhetorical strategy built on destroying Davis' credibility without having to deal with his arguments. While it is perfectly valid and reasonable to criticize Davis' arguments on either factual or ideological terms, it is intellectually dishonest to argue on ideological terms but pretend to be concerned with facts. While free-market fanatics like Kotkin dismiss Davis for being too ideologically rigid, their real problem with him may be that he is not rigid enough. Not content within the confines of disciplinary myopia, Davis' work reaches across artificial boundaries, taking the risks essential to meaningful scholarly inquiry in today's increasingly compartmentalized academic world. The second version is only slightly more readable than the first.
Wastewater is a terrible writer.
Sal Covarrubias Mike Davis gets it right. This is a favorable piece about Davis which does not mention the controversy, but has been quoted as further evidence that Davis is some kind of fraud. More from Suck . Attacks City of Quartz and publicizes more of Wastewater. Nothing new here, no surprise.