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The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions

Jason Hickel

4.65 · Rating details · 1,418 ratings · 222 reviews

**As seen on Sky News All Out Politics**

‘There’s no understanding global inequality without understanding its history. In The Divide, Jason Hickel brilliantly lays it out, layer upon layer, until you are left reeling with the outrage of it all.’ - Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics

For decades we have been told a story about the divide between rich countries and poo **As seen on Sky News All Out Politics**

‘There’s no understanding global inequality without understanding its history. In The Divide, Jason Hickel brilliantly lays it out, layer upon layer, until you are left reeling with the outrage of it all.’ - Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics

For decades we have been told a story about the divide between rich countries and poor countries.

We have been told that development is working: that the global South is catching up to the North, that poverty has been cut in half over the past thirty years, and will be eradicated by 2030. It’s a comforting tale, and one that is endorsed by the world’s most powerful governments and corporations. But is it true?

Since 1960, the income gap between the North and South has roughly tripled in size. Today 4.3 billion people, 60 per cent of the world's population, live on less than $5 per day. Some 1 billion live on less than $1 a day. The richest eight people now control the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the world combined.

What is causing this growing divide? We are told that poverty is a natural phenomenon that can be fixed with aid. But in reality it is a political problem: poverty doesn’t just exist, it has been created.

Poor countries are poor because they are integrated into the global economic system on unequal terms. Aid only works to hide the deep patterns of wealth extraction that cause poverty and inequality in the first place: rigged trade deals, tax evasion, land grabs and the costs associated with climate change. The Divide tracks the evolution of this system, from the expeditions of Christopher Columbus in the 1490s to the international debt regime, which has allowed a handful of rich countries to effectively control economic policies in the rest of the world.

Because poverty is a political problem, it requires political solutions. The Divide offers a range of revelatory answers, but also explains that something much more radical is needed – a revolution in our way of thinking. Drawing on pioneering research, detailed analysis and years of first-hand experience, The Divide is a provocative, urgent and ultimately uplifting account of how the world works, and how it can change. ...more

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Hardcover, 368 pages

Published May 4th 2017 by William Heinemann (first published 2017)

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Aug 27, 2018 David M rated it it was amazing

Eat a dick, Pinker.

...

Ha, seriously though, this is a deeply important little book. Seems to me a definitive refutation of the dominant paradigm purveyed by everyone from Bono to Bill Gates to, yes, Steven Pinker. Why the combination of charity and 'free market' capitalism will never be sufficient to alleviate the plight of global poverty. Poverty is not some inexplicable fact of nature, but rather the result of a particular social system, and ultimately there is no humanitarian solution that is ...more

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Dec 13, 2018 Mehrsa rated it it was amazing

If you’ve read Hans rosling or Pinker or Gates or listened to ted talks by them (I’m including you Obama), you have to read this book. You have to.

Poverty is CREATED!

flag 69 likes · Like · see review

Jun 26, 2021 Kevin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: econ-inequality, econ-imperialism, 1-how-the-world-works, econ-development, 2-brilliant-intros-101

Finally, a comprehensive intro to global inequality!

Preamble
--It’s a relief to finally retire Chang’s Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism as my go-to recommendation introducing global inequality. That book is an infuriating mix of the brilliant (free trade = “kicking away the ladder”) and the banal (post-WWII Bretton Woods era US empire = “enlightened hegemony”). We can do better for an intro, leaving that book as an excellent secondary book to unpack and ...more

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Jul 18, 2017 Daniel rated it really liked it

We are all concerned about the Global Poor; we all want to help. Many NGOs have been helping the hungry and homeless in poor countries.

Hickel however explained that it is the rich world that first created the Third World. Europeans subjugated and killed almost all the native Americans, and take African slaves to work in the American plantations. The British ruled India and destroyed its then vibrant textile business and forced Indians to buy British textiles; defeated China and forced it to buy We are all concerned about the Global Poor; we all want to help. Many NGOs have been helping the hungry and homeless in poor countries.

Hickel however explained that it is the rich world that first created the Third World. Europeans subjugated and killed almost all the native Americans, and take African slaves to work in the American plantations. The British ruled India and destroyed its then vibrant textile business and forced Indians to buy British textiles; defeated China and forced it to buy Indian opium for its tea and porcelain.

The next phase was United States' intervention in the Americas and the Middle East, supporting regimes that served its interests. Those chosen to lead impoverished the population with corruption.

This phase overlapped with World Bank and IMF which forced loans on poor countries, then asked for money even if the countries cannot replay. Meanwhile the rich countries prevent poor countries from developing their industries by promoting free trade, dumping their better and cheaper goods to the poor countries.

Anyway the rich countries were responsible for most of the global warming because they industrialised before. In their search for economic growth, they are ruining the earth.

The solution, according to Hickel, is for the rich world to forgive all the debt, allow protectionism of the poor countries, pay the poor countries for their past transgressions, and stop chasing growth.

I can understand the arguments and can now understand why every time IMF or G8 or G20 meet, demonstrators are always present.

However, the solutions are probably politically untenable. I think it is likely that should all the solutions be implemented, we will have economic equality, but just like communism everyone would just become poorer. For poverty in the global south has many causes: war, natural disasters, lousy leaders, curse of natural resources, and of course the will of the people. I am afraid Hickel is blaming the rich countries for ALL the woes of the poor countries. If that is the case, Asian countries including China, Japan and the 4 tigers would not have been able to grow.

Nonetheless it is a very good read and I enjoyed his arguments. ...more

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Sep 30, 2019 Bartosz Pranczke rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019

Since my teenage years, I was a strong believer in laissez-faire economics. I thought that all that the world needs to be fair economically is to just have equality of opportunity. And what is better than neoliberalism to provide that, right?

This book (along with "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" and "Guns, Germs, and Steel") has finally changed my stubborn mind.

I still believe that capitalism is the best economic system humans have invented so far but I stopped believing that the free mar ...more

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Mar 12, 2018 Tadas Talaikis rated it it was amazing

Shelves: economics

Points:

1. Lowering poverty by increasing GDP growth is a joke, played on poor people by world leaders, because increasing income to $5/day for poorest population purely from GDP will damage climate irreparably with much worse subsequent consequences.

2. Global bank's PPP revisions are discriminatory and doesn't reflect reality. World leaders would with such revisions would reach their "goals" by doing exactly nothing.

3. Several hundred years ago so called "third world" lived better and healthier ...more

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Nov 20, 2018 Lisa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

It took me MONTHS to read this book because it made me so angry I'd read a little bit an then have to put it down.
If you think "Africa/Latin America/poor countries in general just can't get their shit together" read this and learn why. It's eye-opening and infuriating.
Luckily his solutions at the end - while difficult - are feasible and encouraging. We CAN have an equitable world and slow some of this climate destruction and poverty, we just have to start giving a shit. ...more

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Jun 04, 2019 Swapnil Deshpande rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is, hands down, one of THE most outstanding books I have read this year. I found this book un-put-down-able.

Who should read this book?

You should read this book if:

A. You are interested in equality and fairness, you want the world to be a better place, you think about climate change and want to know some of the unknown problems caused by it (and additionally, want to do something about it), you want poorer countries to develop.

and/or

B. If you have read Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong A This is, hands down, one of THE most outstanding books I have read this year. I found this book un-put-down-able.

Who should read this book?

You should read this book if:

A. You are interested in equality and fairness, you want the world to be a better place, you think about climate change and want to know some of the unknown problems caused by it (and additionally, want to do something about it), you want poorer countries to develop.

and/or

B. If you have read Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think (which I have) or The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined (which I have not), if you like data or you value the opinions of popular scientists. I feel that books like “Factfulness” are “feel good” books (and there is nothing wrong with them being so) for people who are tired of seeing current the state of the world and want to see some good, real, data. However, these two books only show you one aspect of the story: the good one. They do not give any information about the bad parts of the story.

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Heads up, majority of book is *very* depressing. At least I found it to be so. It talks about why poor countries are poor in spite of all the “efforts” that are currently being taken. I found the book to be depressing because the way currently the world is, it feels that nothing will change it. If you donate or volunteer in underdeveloped or developing countries, you need to understand that your efforts will NOT help these countries develop. And no, it is not the question about the amount of efforts that get put in to this. The problem is: the system is rigged.

To explain how and why the system is rigged, the author delves into history and economics of poverty. He takes us on an interesting adventure: from history of colonialism to “developed” world, from efforts to “eradicate” poverty and world hunger to the IMF and the World Bank, from “free trade” and debt creation to corporations practicing tax evasions, from assassination of a political leader to millions of people getting unemployed because of a single policy change, from global warming to sustainable farming.

Reading this book made me realize that colonialism has not ended. It has just changed its form to neocolonialism or rather known as “neoliberalism”. And now, because of climate change, it is taking a new form: Carbon Colonialism. Poverty is an economic problem of course, but reading this book made me feel that racism too, is not just a social problem, it is an economic one. It made me feel that the world in its current state will never change without massive, massive efforts on our part.   I’m surprised by the fact that this is not a popular book. Hickel talks the sad reality that no one wants to hear about. He critiques a lot of corporates. I’d say this book is one of the hidden gems I have found. If have read “Factfulness”, if you want to know how poverty is “created” and what can you do about it, I’d recommend you to read this book. ...more

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Nov 03, 2017 Wendy Liu rated it it was amazing

Shelves: capitalism-etc

Basically a red pill for global inequality. Read this to understand why the North-South divide persists in spite of all the generous "aid" being thrown at the problem. ...more

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Jul 20, 2018 Bryan rated it it was ok

Did not finish - I got about halfway before giving up.
While I gave this book a 2, I thought some parts deserved a 3, and many others deserved a 1.

The author has some good information and history about parts of colonialism and conquest that happened for 500 years. There is no disputing the facts of what happened, and he correctly captures much of the negative that happened. With that being said, he draws conclusions that do not seem to be supported by the facts, exaggerates others, and makes ju ...more

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Jul 11, 2019 Dalan rated it it was amazing

Outstanding and eye-opening. A book everyone on this earth must read; for those in the "developing world" to understand how their kind was repeatedly robbed first through brutal violence then through devious means of unfair trade and manipulation, for those in the "developed world" to see the blood on their hands.

Long ago I discovered the fact that world food production exceeds consumption, yet half the planet lives in hunger and poverty. The poor countries were making the food, yet they were t ...more

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Jun 15, 2017 Berta rated it it was amazing

This book is a powerful intervention. Must-reading for anyone who wants to understand what caused mass poverty and global inequality, and why it persists today. Hickel challenges many of the dominant assumptions out there, and does so in a clear and readable way - his writing is accessible and engaging to a lay audience. This book will challenge you and inform you, and will undoubtedly change the debate about global inequality and its solutions.

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Jan 31, 2021 Vinayak Mishra rated it really liked it

An excellent book that deserves to have more people talking about it. If you're curious about the impact of free-market economics on society beyond the usual "liberalization is awesome" narrative, this is a must read.

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"The Divide" is a detailed and data-backed argument for why capitalism doesn't really work for the vast majority of the human race. "GDP growth" and "Free trade" demand ever-increasing resource extraction, labor exploitation and debt fueled consumption, all of which result in g An excellent book that deserves to have more people talking about it. If you're curious about the impact of free-market economics on society beyond the usual "liberalization is awesome" narrative, this is a must read.

-----

"The Divide" is a detailed and data-backed argument for why capitalism doesn't really work for the vast majority of the human race. "GDP growth" and "Free trade" demand ever-increasing resource extraction, labor exploitation and debt fueled consumption, all of which result in gains which are pocketed by a few. The book paints a detailed picture of how we got here, why this is impossible to sustain without ecological collapse, and what can do to create a fairer and more equitable world.

Key highlights include:

1. The message of improvement in living standards under the current economic system is false, or at the very least, exaggerated. The development sector and philanthropy is often intended to be a distraction for deeper structural issues - as long as they remain unsolved, everything else is just a band-aid.

2. Where did "Poverty" come from? Contrary to what many assume, it is not the status quo for many of the world's "developing" nations. It is the result of exploitation, both historical (colonization, political interference in newly established democracies) and present day ("structural adjustment" programs imposed by the IMF and the World Bank in return for loans, unfair trade rules etc.)

3. Global Poverty is a political problem and requires political solutions. These include forgiving the debt of developing nations, strengthening the ability of countries to set appropriate regulations around trade and tariffs, and limiting capital flight via tariff misinvoicing and tax loopholes. Most importantly, it involves imagining and working towards an alternate system, one that is hinged not on limitless growth, but on providing on alternative metrics of societal progress such as happiness or well-being.

My one issue with the book is Jason Hickel's hypocrisy when it comes to talking about data manipulation and exaggeration : he accuses the UN and the World Bank of distorting statistics to suit their narrative of global progress, but I remember at least a couple of instances where he himself indulged in analytical gymnastics to support his viewpoint. Nonetheless, his points are valid for the most part. ...more

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Feb 26, 2019 Marwan Shalaby rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction

This book in my opinion serves two purposes: The first being turning major narratives and conventional wisdom on their head, and the second being serving as a straight forward, accessible alternative history of how the global status-quo came to be. Hickel cleverly and effortlessly dissects and refutes the following economic tropes that are commonly heard within Liberal circles. They include but are not limited to:

1- The world is getting better (propagated by the likes of Steven Pinker and Jordan ...more

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Sep 08, 2019 Theodore rated it it was amazing

The Sapiens book for capitalism. The economic history of the last 500 years. Why poor countries are poor and why rich countries are rich. What does the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO do. What's up with all those NGOs in Africa.

These are some of questions this book answers. Other reviews said it feels like taking the red pill and leaving the Matrix; it is exactly that. And the answers will make you outrageous.

Maybe you won't learn anything new; global equality is a major issue and we all know i ...more

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Apr 03, 2020 Isa Lappalainen rated it it was amazing

How can I convince everyone I know to read this book? It's clear, convincing and very well-written. Hickel's narration is strikingly similar to that of Yuval Noah Harari in Sapiens, and I think anyone with the slightest interest in contemporary society's past, present, and future will thoroughly enjoy it.

It is a history of how the economic interests of the most powerful came to dominate the configuration of human societies, globally. It touches upon an impressive variety of interlinked themes, ...more

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Jun 16, 2021 Hamza Sarfraz rated it it was amazing

This book can be read and judged in two ways. On the theoretical side, it doesn't offer anything new. The Divide's understanding of global inequality is very much rooted in the world-systems theory and the core-periphery model that many scholars (Samir Amin etc.) have been working on. A lot of the perspectives on the damages of colonialism in this book also follow from the work of post-colonial writers. So when it comes to theoretical framing of the issue of global inequality, this book is not u ...more

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May 22, 2021 Chintogtokh rated it it was amazing

This is essential reading for anyone who cares about equity and the future of the planet. Aside from a thorough critique of neoliberalism and its effects on poor countries (reminded me of Confessions of an Economic Hitman), it also dives deep into the ongoing climate catastrophe and how it can never be decoupled from the goals of human development.

"So the problem isn’t just the type of energy we’re using, it’s what we’re doing with it. What would we do with 100 per cent clean energy? Exactly wh ...more

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Jan 06, 2020 Stella Borthwick rated it it was amazing

Shelves: social-justice, politics, non-fiction

reaaaaally interesting read, pretty horrifying for the most part but kind of ended on a hopeful note. big recommend to anyone interested in learning more about how and why the world is the way it is rn and what we should be doing to make things better in terms of global inequality AND climate change

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Jan 08, 2020 Umar Al Faruq rated it it was amazing

A highly relevant book in an era of ecological crises and inequality. Serving as a history of the origins of global poverty and anthropogenic climate change and as an accessible introduction to leftist ideas (as I see it), Jason Hickel managed to write a critical piece that anyone concerned about social inequity and environmental justice will be sorry to miss.

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Jul 21, 2019 Jane rated it it was amazing

Shelves: to-buy-for-personal-library, history, international-development, ideas-worth-spreading

An essential read for everyone. It will outrage you and hopefully it will also inspire you to take action by holding corporations and governments accountable, by taking tangible actions to reduce your own footprint, and for considering issues with a longer historical context.

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Feb 13, 2020 Wendy Waters rated it it was amazing

Essential reading for anyone with a conscience and a desire to find a permanent solution to poverty. I have written a more detailed review on my Blog catchthemoonmary.wordpress.com

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Sep 21, 2019 Yevgeniy Brikman rated it really liked it

This book argues that the popular narrative that, thanks to the spread of capitalism, the rates of global poverty and hunger in poor countries are going down, is wrong. The reality, according to Hickel, is that poverty and hunger are increasing, as is the divide between rich and poor countries, and that this is due to deep injustice and inequality built into the global economic system. This system is structured to allow rich countries to extract all the value from poor countries, so it's really ...more

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May 15, 2020 Szymon rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Such an important book which now, when the world is facing pandemic and crisis, speaks even louder.

I picked up this book because I knew I will probably not agree with it and wanted to get different perspective on the things I perceive as set-in-stone (like the fact that world economies needs to grow year-to year, period).

World is not fair, we all know that. But is it not fair by its nature or is it just the narration we get from the mass media and the leaders of developed countries, protecting ...more

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Jan 27, 2021 Samuel Buckley rated it it was amazing

What a book...

“Once people reject the single story of development, the future is fertile and rich with possibility. We need only have the courage to invent it”

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Apr 18, 2018 Andrew Rodriguez rated it it was amazing

Spectacular analysis of the crippling deficits which burden humanity in our modern age, a consequence of rapacious capitalists whose avarice is boundless. Don't believe anything the IMF and WTO tout, they're the beneficiaries of their own global agenda for the affluent and against the destitute. Only flaw is that the closing section about de-developing doesn't proffer many solutions for the ordinary citizen, but the book is so pregnant with information that this oversight is forgivable. ...more

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Aug 08, 2019 Steven rated it it was amazing

This book does a fantastic job of dispelling the harmful rumor that "everything is getting better" and "we'll be just fine" regarding inequality and global warming. It walks us through the history of various ways that western countries have extracted value (in various forms) from other countries and how that has had harmful effects and is still preventing those countries from developing and preventing people in those countries from living their best lives. ...more

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Jun 01, 2017 Tomas Bella rated it liked it

While I tend to agree with most of the author's recommendations at the end of the book like debt forgiving and need to fight against wage inequality, the whole book is just annoying; simplifying all the world's problems into "Capitalism, imperialism, free trade - bad!" mantra, while ignoring the obvious problems with all their alternatives. ...more

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Jun 25, 2019 Samuel Weitekamp rated it it was amazing

This book was very good as it gave the lie to our Western notions of aid to the global south. It also helped me understand where some gaps in my own understanding were regarding the global history of colonization.

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Jul 20, 2018 Q Crain rated it it was amazing

Shelves: econ

Incredible!! Required corrective to the intellectual pablum of say Steven Pinker on these topics.

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About Jason Hickel

Jason Hickel

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Dr. Jason Hickel is an economic anthropologist, author, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the International Inequalities Institute at the London School of Economics, and Senior Lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London. He serves on the Statistical Advisory Panel for the UN Human Development Report 2020, the advisory board of the Green New Deal for Eur
Dr. Jason Hickel is an economic anthropologist, author, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the International Inequalities Institute at the London School of Economics, and Senior Lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London. He serves on the Statistical Advisory Panel for the UN Human Development Report 2020, the advisory board of the Green New Deal for Europe, and on the Harvard-Lancet Commission on Reparations and Redistributive Justice.

Jason's research focuses on global inequality, political economy, post-development, and ecological economics, which are the subjects of his two most recent books: The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and its Solutions (Penguin, 2017), and Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World (Penguin, 2020).

Jason's ethnographic work focuses on migrant labour and politics in South Africa, which is the subject of his first book, Democracy as Death: The Moral Order of Anti-Liberal Politics in South Africa (University of California Press, 2015). He is co-editor of two additional ethnographic volumes: Ekhaya: The Politics of Home in KwaZulu-Natal (University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2014) and Hierarchy and Value: Comparative Perspectives on Moral Order (Berghahn, 2018).

In addition to his academic work, Jason writes regularly for The Guardian and Foreign Policy, and contributes to a number of other online outlets including Al Jazeera, Fast Company, Prospect, Jacobin, Le Monde Diplomatique, New Internationalist, Red Pepper, Truthout, and Monthly Review. His media appearances include Viewsnight, the Financial Times, the BBC World Service, Sky News All Out Politics, BBC Business Matters, Thinking Allowed, Renegade TV, NPR, Doha Debates, TRT World, the LA Times, Citations Needed, and Russell Brand's podcast Under the Skin.

Jason has received a number of teaching awards, including the ASA/HEA National Award for Excellence in Teaching Anthropology. His research has been funded by Fulbright-Hays, the National Science Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation, and the Leverhulme Trust.

He is originally from Swaziland.

https://www.jasonhickel.org/about ...more