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Jason Hickel

@jasonhickel.bsky.social
37K followers 115 following 1.1K posts

Professor at ICREA, ICTA, and the Department of Political Science & Public Law at UAB • Author of THE DIVIDE and LESS IS MORE • Global inequality, political economy and ecological economics

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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Must-watch short on the Bandung movement, when global South countries challenged imperial power in the world-system. More relevant now than ever. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpDU...
youtube.com
What happens when countries stand up to the superpowers? | Bandung 1955
YouTube video by Al Jazeera English
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
During the big waves of privatisation in the 1980s and 1990s, the debate was framed around who can manage production more efficiently, the state or capital. Everyone bought into this frame and we forgot the more important question, which is who gets to decide what is produced, and for whose benefit.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
This piece directly compares the core's net-appropriation from Africa’s CFA zone to China’s. We found that the core net-appropriated on average 20x more than China across materials, land and water. The disparity is even more extreme in per capita terms. jasonhickel.substack.com/p/unequal-ex...
jasonhickel.substack.com
Unequal exchange in Africa’s CFA Zone
New data on France, Europe and China.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Who is draining Africa? This figure shows net-appropriation of resources from Africa's CFA zone, illustrating two key facts. 1) Eurozone countries are the biggest appropriators, benefitting from the Francafrique system. 2) Contrary to conventional Western narratives, China's appropriation is tiny.
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Venus Bivar @vbivar.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Interesting research on neo-colonialism in Africa. Turns out the Eurozone is a much worse offender (by an enormous margin) than China. @70sbachchan.bsky.social and @katemac.bsky.social might be interested.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
I'm happy to announce this new paper we have, exploring unequal exchange between France and the African CFA zone. Here's a few key points 🧵, and a free PDF at the end. www.tandfonline.com/eprint/RABZF...
tandfonline.com
Unequal exchange between France and Africa’s CFA zone: monetary dependency and imperialist appropriation
The material prosperity of the global North relies on the appropriation of labour and resources from the global South through unequal exchange. While recent empirical research demonstrates this gen...
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The British Empire was one of the most violent institutions in modern history, built on explicitly racist ideology and guilty of serial crimes against humanity. It is astonishing that OBEs and other honours are given, accepted and celebrated in its name.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Never forget that the clowns who are currently saying “we can’t stop climate change, just accept it” are the same people who spent the last decade doing everything possible to prevent us from stopping climate change.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
1/ Today I was writing about the My Lai massacre of 1968. US troops murdered over 500 women, children and elderly people. Army photographers captured truly horrifying images. There is zero moral difference between this and the US massacre of schoolchildren in Minab, 2026...
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I'm excited to announce this new piece we have in Nature Sustainability, on the question of post-growth and China. To me, this is the important point: post-growth *must* take account of world-system dynamics and should facilitate, not compromise, Southern liberation. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
On the relevance of post-growth in China - Nature Sustainability
Post-growth debates largely ignore China, despite its key position in the world economy, leaving a gap in sustainability discourse. This Perspective examines China’s role in a post-growth transition, ...
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
In August 5th, 1962, Nelson Mandela was arrested by apartheid police, with support from the CIA, for resisting white minority rule. He was imprisoned for 27 years. US government agencies listed Mandela as a "terrorist" until 2008.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
We're often told that capitalism and market liberalisation are closing the gap between rich and poor countries, and the old colonial inequalities are fading. Is it true? We explored this question in a new paper, just published in NPE. Buckle up for some interesting results! 🧵
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
This grotesque headline is from the Telegraph. 3,000 people in Britain have been killed in heatwaves this year so far. 20,000 in Europe. Even if Britain did get to “embrace Mediterranean life”, what about the actual Mediterranean, what do they get to embrace? What about India?
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michael mezzatesta @michaelmezz.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
capitalism has always required cheap labor and resources from a periphery, and the West has maintained that imperial arrangement through violence. it’s imperative that we transition to a post-capitalist economic system. @jasonhickel.bsky.social on the Better Future Pod:
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
This new study finds that the total death toll in Europe during the June heatwave exceeds 20,000 people. "This result highlights the accelerating threat of mass heat mortality events in Europe despite previous adaptations to heat." Pre-print here: zenodo.org/records/2108...
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ICREA Community @icreacommunity.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
1/ 🤔 🌍 Are poorer countries "catching up" with the richer ones? A new study led by #ICREAResearcher @jasonhickel.bsky.social and Dylan Sullivan(@icta-uab.bsky.social) found that the income gap between richer and developing countries widened by 170–270% between 1960 and 2023.👇 bit.ly/4b4a05O
tandfonline.com
The myth of catch-up development: trends in core–periphery inequality from 1960 to 2023
The conventional narrative in international development holds that poorer countries are “catching up” with richer countries through the process of capitalist growth. This paper assesses this claim ...
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michael mezzatesta @michaelmezz.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
The reason we produce so many private jets and not enough healthcare is that ultra-wealthy people have taken over our economy and democracy. @jasonhickel.bsky.social says taxing the rich is about taking that power back, so we can make more democratic decisions about the future we want to build.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
In one of his first acts as PM, Andy Burnham signs on to support the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran. Disgusting, cowardly stuff.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
I'm pleased to share this new paper, "The myth of 'catch-up' development". The paper assesses trends in core-periphery inequality since 1960, and draws several main conclusions: 🧵https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13563467.2026.2659076
tandfonline.com
The myth of catch-up development: trends in core–periphery inequality from 1960 to 2023
The conventional narrative in international development holds that poorer countries are “catching up” with richer countries through the process of capitalist growth. This paper assesses this claim ...
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
In case you need another reason to believe that public transit is superior to private cars: Not only are private cars more expensive, more resource-intensive, and more climate-damaging, they are also causing us to have dementia. www.newsweek.com/common-tire-...
newsweek.com
Common tire chemical may raise Alzheimer’s risk, study finds
Tires may do more than wear down on the road—a chemical they release could be quietly raising your risk of Alzheimer's.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
I'm proud to join over 100 economists in calling on the US to lift sanctions on Venezuela and unfreeze its assets following the June 24 earthquakes. Venezuela must be allowed to recover and rebuild. english.elpais.com/economy-and-...
english.elpais.com
Over 100 economists ask US to lift sanctions on Venezuela to ease the impact of the earthquakes
Academics call for a moratorium on Venezuelan debt, and urge the IMF to restore Caracas’ access to the Fund: ‘The emergency is human before it is political’
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Lindsey Graham was an imperialist warmonger who supported every major US military intervention during his career. He did not care about humanity, or international law, or even US citizens. He served the interests of the US capitalist class and the US proxy regime of Israel.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
The Palestinian author and visionary Ghassan Kanafani was murdered by Israeli agents on the 9th of July in 1972, together with his niece, who was a child. Kanafani's family was forced out of their home during the Nakba in 1948.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Seven years ago a representative from Google reached out to me in an official capacity to discuss the company's energy use. I told them it would become necessary for major firms in core economies to reduce energy use in order to enable Paris-compliant decarbonisation.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
"The climate crisis cannot be addressed within capitalism. It is vital that we understand this fact and develop our strategies accordingly, otherwise we are headed for certain failure. And failure is not an option." jasonhickel.substack.com/p/climate-so...
jasonhickel.substack.com
Climate socialism
I am writing this message to the millions of people who have been involved in the climate movement over the past several years.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Why did our ruling class not invest in decarbonising faster to avoid this acceleration in deadly heatwaves that scientists warned would come? Because of the capitalist law of value.
jasonhickel.substack.com
Climate socialism
I am writing this message to the millions of people who have been involved in the climate movement over the past several years.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
On June 13th 1954, the US backed a coup against Jacobo Árbenz, the progressive, democratically elected leader of Guatemala, because he sought to restore land to small farmers and Indigenous communities that had been dispossessed by US fruit companies.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
This is an important new paper. When we allocate responsibility for emissions, it's normally in terms of consumption. We tally up direct household emissions (eg, from household energy use) plus the emissions embodied in all the stuff that a household consumes.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Starmer’s legacy is genocide. He provided military and intelligence support to Israel as it perpetrated the crime of crimes against the Palestinian people. That is how he will be remembered.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
It's wild that the term "Free World" emerged in Western discourse in the 1940s, at a time when the Western European powers exercised authoritarian control over the colonised territories and the US was an apartheid regime with institutionalised racial segregation.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
If you're interested in ecological economics and degrowth, including from a world-system perspective, consider applying for the next edition of this MA degree run by ICTA-UAB. Deadline June 30. master.degrowth.org/studies/mast...
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
I disagree that we are in a "New Cold War". Rather, we are in a continuation of what we might call the Long Cold War, or the Great Anti-Sovereignty War,
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Dr Walter Rodney was assassinated on June 13, 1980, by a bomb planted in a walkie talkie. He was 38. His key work, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, exposed the roots of global inequality and the violence of colonial underdevelopment.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that hosting US military bases while the US is using them to illegally attack your neighbours makes you less secure not more. Security and peace in West Asia requires permanently removing the bases.
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Joseph E. Stiglitz @josephestiglitz.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Growth has failed to eradicate poverty or to promote wellbeing. Poverty is not inevitable. It is manufactured. Our op-ed with @deschuttero.bsky.social @jayatighosh.bsky.social @thomaspiketty.bsky.social @kateraworth.bsky.social @jasonhickel.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
We economists have done the maths: ‘growth’ is a doomed strategy – there is a better way | Olivier De Schutter and others
Our roadmap has been shaped by experts across the world. We call on political leaders at all levels to use it, says Olivier De Schutter and others
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
I recently heard a leading public figure claim that high-income countries need more GDP growth in order to increase innovation in things like renewables, EVs, and life-saving medicine. This makes little sense:
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
I spoke the other day in Paris about how socialist policy can enable us to overcome social deprivation and ecological crisis, by aligning investment and production with democratically determined objectives.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Cuba helped several African countries in their liberation struggles against brutal colonial occupiers, including against the apartheid regime in South Africa which the US backed and supported. That’s what he means by “radical left-wing terrorism”, just to be clear. x.com/SecRubio/sta...
x.com
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
New Internationalist is an excellent magazine, and they need support to keep doing their work: brilliant independent journalism with a commitment to internationalist values. Please consider donating and subscribing. @newintermag.bsky.social www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-new-i...
crowdfunder.co.uk
Save New Internationalist: More than a Magazine
We need to raise £150,000 by 7 July to save New Internationalist from closure and continue to publish our unique global justice journalism.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
We know of a man who was caught publishing dozens of AI-generated articles in academic journals. The journal that caught him pursued a ban not only from that journal but also from all journals by that publisher. This is a major crisis and it seems the consequences will be severe.
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Céline Keller / @krustelkram on Twitter @celine.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
🌈 🐌 Exciting News: The Korean version of ⚡WHO IS AFRAID OF DEGROWTH? ⚡ has been published by Narumbooks! You can order it here: blog.naver.com/narumbooks/2... Below I will post a sneak preview of my climate heroes fighting fossil fuel villains and AI tech broligarchs while speaking Korean.
Korean cover of Who Is Afraid of Degrowth? graphic novel featuring a cute little snail representing degrowth holding a heart while tech broligarchs Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg in defensive poses look at it in terror.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
This is a really striking paper. It shows that vehicles "Made in Germany" are mostly not made in Germany at all.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
People are talking about how Spain has lower GDP than the UK... but look how Spain's life expectancy surpasses the UK's in the early 1970s, with progress accelerating again after 2010. Today people in Spain live 2.5 years longer than people in Britain.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
The imperial core has gained $15 trillion through exorbitant privilege since 1970, getting higher returns on foreign assets than what they pay on foreign debt. This privilege is financed by transfers from the global South, outstripping aid flows many times over.
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ICTA-UAB @icta-uab.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
⚠️ECONOMÍA: Se confirma el robo del norte al sur 🌎El Norte Global expolia los recursos de América Latina a través del comercio desigual, según un estudio del ICTA-UAB liderado por Morena Hanbury & @jasonhickel.bsky.social ahorainfo.com.ar/2026/05/26/e...
ahorainfo.com.ar
ECONOMÍA: Se confirma el robo del norte al sur -
El Norte Global expolia los recursos de América Latina a través del comercio desigual, según un estudio Por Arantxa G. El actual sistema económico
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
On May 29th 1830, the US ruling class passed the Indian Removal Act, legalising the ethnic cleansing of Indigenous Americans from their ancestral homelands. Thousands were killed as this crime was carried out. One of the most evil and disgraceful acts in US history.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Wikileaks released footage of a very similar incident perpetrated by US soldiers in 2010. The footage triggered global outrage at the highest levels. Now Israel perpetrates this crime over and over again, with total impunity. Zionism is hollowing out humanity and must be ended.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
US media keeps using the phrase “heightened tensions with Cuba” to describe what is in reality unilateral US aggression, with illegal sanctions and threats of illegal invasion, against innocent people who repeatedly say they just want to be left alone.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Three years ago we started a new ERC-funded project called REAL, with three teams of brilliant researchers. Here are ten exciting papers involving my team that we've published so far, so you can see what we've been up to. And there's much more to come... stay tuned! 🧵
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