I agree with Hickel in the main (historic and present exploitation often buried under “sorry we killed you, but we meant well!” propaganda), and most of my remaining criticisms center on his optimistic solutions and ideological critiques.įrom here, I’ll add notes in order of topics’ appearance. I had these mixed feelings about the book while I was reading, but I ended up liking the book for its passionate - and often carefully considered - critique of the world’s current order. They often cause the problems they blame on others (Donald Trump is a gift: a political disaster of random oversized id.) It means that countries - and citizens - need home-grown solutions.
Does he attribute causality (and thus solutions) correctly? No, I think not. Should Hickel complain of their harms? Yes, indeed. These organizations (the IMF, UN, et al.) are the bastard children of quarreling “great powers” who try to dominate but mostly fcuk things up. It’s enamored of GDP statistics, fine-tuned rules, and a lack of imagination. The WTO is not trying to (or capable) of exploitative trade regimes. The World Bank isn’t conspiring to rob the poor they’re just ideological and incompetent, slaves to the “raving scribblings of some forgotten economist”. He is right to explain how various development agencies are more interested in “hitting KPIs” than actual development. He is right to trace the flow of stolen money from “poor” countries to private bank accounts in “rich” countries (the UK and US being top destinations). Hickel is right to point out that these countries have been attacked, undermined and stripped of wealth, choice and opportunity. In some case, I agreed with Hickel (meaning he’s not wrong) in others, I disagreed (meaning he’s wrong).įirst, where he’s not wrong (i.e., “I agree with him but maybe we’re both wrong”): The colonial period - and a current reality of post-colonial theft by corrupt locals and global elites - was and is terrible for many people now living in “developing” countries. Jason Hickel’s book (subtitled “Global Inequality from Conquest to Free Markets” in the US and “A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions” in the UK) delves into questions that matter to me, in my post-colonial woke state.
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