The Divide

By: Jason Hickel

Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley

Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's Summary

Sixty percent of humanity - some four-point-three billion people - live in debilitating poverty. The standard development narrative suggests that alleviating poverty in poor countries is a matter of getting the internal policies right, combined with aid from rich countries. But anthropologist Jason Hickel argues that this approach misses the broader political forces at play.

Global poverty - and the growing divide between "developing" and "developed" countries - has to do with how the global economy has been designed over the course of 500 years through conquest, colonialism, regime change, debt, and trade deals. Global inequality doesn't just exist; it has been created.

To close the divide, Dr. Hickel proposes dramatic action rooted in real justice: we must abolish debt burdens in the developing world; democratize the IMF, World Bank, and WTO; and institute a global minimum wage, among many other vital steps. Only then will we have a chance at a world built on equal footing.

©2017 Jason Hickel (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

eye-opening

an eye-opening expose of systemic disadvantages. if the information inside is true, it really undermines the whole notion that global capitalism is helping to lift the developing world out of poverty. the narrator gave a very good performance

1 person found this helpful

eye opening, slow first few chapters

Incredible book, but the first few chapters are very slow and technical. Push yourself through that section and you'll be rewarded with incredible stories on the other side.

The Legacy of Fifteenth Century Enclosures

Terrifying colonial history that brings you right to present day and describes how we are still living the legacy of colonial rule. The enclosure acts in Europe that removed people from their land to feed the global amoeba market and create dependence in the 1400’s has repeatedly happened throughout history and continues in new ways today. The amount that developed countries are dependent on global south minerals and cheap labor is still an injustice we benefit from today. Happy he ends with an emphasis on soil health and restoring the indigenous practices that colonialism has undone.

Wow - a MUST read

Jason Hickel provides an incredibly detailed analysis of the global economic system with this book. He truly leaves no stone unturned. Hickel challenges commonly accepted ideologies tied to capitalism, neoliberalism, and free market theories.

Enlightening

narrator was good. The author truly synthesized the problem and prescribed the solutions. The book gave me a renew sense of focus and drive to so my best by advocating for justice and action to combat all this inequities that plague our socciety.

A must read.

In depth and revealing the grim future under capitalism. Growth for the sake of growth is the way of cancer cells.