The Divide

“Advocates a strategy of development focused less on material consumption and more on meeting the basic human needs. Accessible to all readers, Hickel’s revealing and sometimes angry critique will spur deeper thought about the inequities of the global economy.” – Library Journal (starred)“Penetratingly explores those forces that perpetuate global inequality and shreds the notion that the fissure between rich and poor is anything other than intentional.” – Publishers Weekly“Sharply argued… . Sure to distress the neoliberals in the audience but a powerful case for reform in the cause of economic justice.” – Kirkus Reviews“An evolutionary leap in our understanding of inequality and poverty. [The Divide] should be required reading for anyone hoping to realize a better world.” – Alnoor Ladha, Greenpeace“In this iconoclastic book, Jason Hickel shakes up the prevailing paradigm of ‘development.’ … [The Divide] will radically change the way in which you understand the workings of the global economic system and the challenges faced by poor countries trying to advance within it.” – Ha-Joon Chang, University of Cambridge, author of 23 Things They Don’t Tell You about Capitalism and Economics: The User’s Guide“A book that crackles with facts, indignation, and heart. Why hasn’t global poverty and hunger really declined in the last decades?…Journalists, aid workers, and anybody who has ever given aid (i.e., nearly everybody) should read this book.” – Antony Loewenstein, author of Disaster Capitalism“The Divide is exceptional, necessary, and essential…Written in a captivating and easy-to-read style, this book must become the standard text for everyone studying, working, or interested in development.” – Firoze Manji, editor of African Awakening: The Emerging Revolutions“With passion and panache, Jason Hickel tells a very different story of why poverty exists, what progress is, and who we are. The Divide is myth busting at its best.” – Danny Dorling, author of Inequality and the 1%

Jason Hickel is an award-winning professor of anthropology at the London School of Economics. His research focuses on globalization, development, and political economy, and he writes regularly for the Guardian. He lives in London.