Please join the Department of International Development for a book talk with Adam Hanieh about his new book, "Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market". Thomas Purcell, Lama Tawakkol and Sean Starrs will be joining the event as speakers.

About the book

This expansive history traces the hidden connections between oil and capitalism from the late 1800s to the current climate crisis. Beyond simplistic narratives that frame oil as 'prize' or 'curse', Crude Capitalism uncovers the surprising ways that oil is woven into the fabric of our modern world: the rise of an American-centered global order; the breakdown of Empire and anti-colonial rebellion; contemporary finance and US dollar hegemony; debt and militarism; and the emergence of new forms of synthetic consumption. Much more than an energy source or transport fuel, oil has a foundational place in all aspects of contemporary life - no challenge to the fossil fuel industry can be effective without taking this fact seriously.

Crude Capitalism maps the varied geographies of oil, including the rise of OPEC, the importance of revolutionary and Post-Soviet Russia, the crucial role of African upstream reserves, and the new petrochemical circuits that link the Middle East, China, and East Asia. The book provides an original and fine-grained empirical analysis of corporate ownership and control, including refining and petrochemicals.

By exposing these structures of power and placing oil in capitalism, the book makes an essential contribution to debates around oil-dependency and the struggle for climate justice.

About the speakers

Thomas Purcell

Dr Thomas Purcell is a Senior Lecturer in International Political Economy at the Department of European and International Studies. Tom’s research spans four principle thematic areas: the political economy of development in Latin America; the relationship between value and rent in global agricultural commodity chains; the ‘financialisation’ of cities and urban infrastructure; and economic and political crisis in Spain and the Eurozone’s periphery.

Lama Tawakkol

Dr Lama Tawakkol is a Lecturer in International Political Economy at the Department of European and International Studies. Her research explores capitalism and the global political economy, with particular focus on the power and politics of development policy and aid, the social inequalities it produces and its impacts on states and marginalized populations in the Middle East.

Sean Starrs

Dr Sean Kenji Starrs is a Lecturer in International Development at the Department of International Development. His research interests include the capitalist rise of China and BRICS+, US hegemony and world order, as well as East Asian political economy and the developmental state.

About the Interrogating Development Seminar Series

The 'Interrogating Development' seminar series is organised by the Department of International Development at King's College London. The series examines some of the most pressing issues of development facing global society today, with the authors of new books presenting cutting-edge research on a variety of topics related to development.

The talk will be followed by a wine reception. The event is open to everyone.