The global economy runs on extraction — whether it’s pumping oil, mining resources or shipping commodities across oceans. Promises of frictionless trade and lucrative speculation are the hallmarks of our era, and yet the backbone of globalisation is still low-cost labour and rapacious corporate control. Extractive capitalism is what made — and is still making — our unequal world.
Laleh Khalili, a renowned expert on globalisation and the oil industry, uncovers the hidden stories behind late capitalism, from seafarers abandoned on debt-ridden container ships to the nefarious reach of consultancy firms and the cronyism that drives record-breaking profits. Piercing, quick-witted and revealing, Extractive Capitalism brings vividly to light the dark truths behind the world’s most voracious industries.
Laleh Khalili is Professor of Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter. An expert in transnational politics, she has written extensively on globalisation, capital, and neo-colonialism, and has worked as a consultant and engineer. Her recent books include Sinews of War and Trade and The Corporeal Life of Seafaring. She is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books.