Professor at ICTA-UAB and Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE • Author of THE DIVIDE and LESS IS MORE • Global inequality, political economy and ecological economicshttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mufdz6a3hk2xWho 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.31 Aug 2026 16:42 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mufdz6a3hk2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3muaquk46tc2cI'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. https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/RABZFUQFGAQ5N32NWXRJ/full29 Aug 2026 20:49 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3muaquk46tc2chttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mu5wfluces2oThe 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.28 Aug 2026 17:50 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu5wfluces2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mt27tlca2222Never 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.14 Aug 2026 13:03 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt27tlca2222https://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mstifk233k2r1/ 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...11 Aug 2026 20:48 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mstifk233k2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3msqv5ashxc22I'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. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-026-01889-610 Aug 2026 19:58 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3msqv5ashxc22https://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3msfrk3mzqk2vIn 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 2008.06 Aug 2026 09:54 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3msfrk3mzqk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3ms67lyqzws2fWe'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! 🧵03 Aug 2026 09:44 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3ms67lyqzws2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mrxb2wrxnk2eThis 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?31 Jul 2026 15:22 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrxb2wrxnk2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mrn5yptof22cThis 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: https://zenodo.org/records/2108373327 Jul 2026 15:00 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrn5yptof22chttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mrb2qqcs4k2oIn one of his first acts as PM, Andy Burnham signs on to support the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran. Disgusting, cowardly stuff. [contains quote post or other embedded content]22 Jul 2026 19:30 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrb2qqcs4k2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mr3ujfweac2t20 Jul 2026 17:56 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mr3ujfweac2thttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mqytgnqt422rI'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/10.1080/13563467.2026.265907619 Jul 2026 12:58 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqytgnqt422rhttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mqotuynmu22eIn 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. https://www.newsweek.com/common-tire-chemical-may-raise-alzheimers-risk-study-finds-1217206215 Jul 2026 13:40 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqotuynmu22ehttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mqmawcgcoc2qI'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. https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2026-07-07/over-100-economists-ask-us-to-lift-sanctions-on-venezuela-to-ease-the-impact-of-the-earthquakes.html14 Jul 2026 12:55 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqmawcgcoc2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mqm46xbzjs2pLindsey 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.14 Jul 2026 11:30 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqm46xbzjs2phttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mqbpw3ps4c2rThe 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 1948.10 Jul 2026 08:24 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqbpw3ps4c2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mpvhfucbh22rSeven 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.05 Jul 2026 11:20 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpvhfucbh22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mpnonlv7sc2n"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." https://jasonhickel.substack.com/p/climate-socialism02 Jul 2026 09:08 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpnonlv7sc2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mpih3c7wpk25Why 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. https://jasonhickel.substack.com/p/climate-socialism30 Jun 2026 07:09 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpih3c7wpk25https://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mpayycn22k27On 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.27 Jun 2026 08:08 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpayycn22k27https://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mp2a7uohf22mThis 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.24 Jun 2026 15:29 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mp2a7uohf22mhttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mowmyo3dcs2wStarmer’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.23 Jun 2026 05:07 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mowmyo3dcs2whttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mou3445vkc2bIt'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.22 Jun 2026 04:42 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mou3445vkc2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3moskml6orc2fIf 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. https://master.degrowth.org/studies/master-on-degrowth/apply-degrowth21 Jun 2026 14:14 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3moskml6orc2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/jasonhickel.bsky.social/post/3mooqqhnnf22pI 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,20 Jun 2026 01:53 +0000at://did:plc:mwvvoxbu6j76obtign7dh4pr/app.bsky.feed.post/3mooqqhnnf22p