The Divide by Jason Hickel Summary

The Divide examines global inequality’s roots in colonialism, unfair trade policies, and modern financial systems. Hickel argues poverty results from systemic exploitation, not natural circumstances, and proposes solutions like debt cancellation and shifting from GDP growth to well-being metrics.

This book suits readers interested in economics, social justice, or postcolonial studies. Policymakers, activists, and students will find its critique of development models and actionable solutions valuable for understanding systemic inequality.

Yes. Critics praise its data-driven analysis of wealth extraction and urgent call for systemic change. It’s endorsed by Greenpeace and academic circles for blending historical insight with modern relevance.

Hickel traces poverty to colonial plunder, forced labor, and postcolonial policies like IMF structural adjustments. He highlights how $97 trillion in resources were extracted from the Global South, creating entrenched economic disparities.

Key solutions include canceling Global South debt, closing tax havens, ending unfair trade terms, and prioritizing ecological sustainability over growth. Hickel advocates measuring progress via well-being metrics instead of GDP.

Yes. Hickel calls aid a “band-aid” masking systemic issues like tax evasion and resource drain. He argues aid often perpetuates dependency while ignoring root causes like wealth extraction.

Colonialism’s ecological and economic plunder—from land grabs to slave labor—laid the foundation for modern inequality. Europe’s industrial rise depended on extracted resources and forced labor from colonized regions.

It links ecological crises to capitalism’s growth obsession, arguing that both inequality and climate breakdown stem from systems prioritizing profit over human and planetary health.

Some economists debate the feasibility of Hickel’s solutions, like debt cancellation, while others argue his critique underplays progress in poverty reduction. Critics also question his rejection of GDP-focused development.

Unlike Thomas Piketty’s Capital, which focuses on wealth concentration, Hickel emphasizes historical exploitation and Global South perspectives. It contrasts with Jeffrey Sachs’ aid-centric approach by prioritizing systemic reform.

“Poverty doesn’t just exist—it has been created” and “The global economy is built on exploitation” encapsulate Hickel’s argument that inequality is a political choice, not an inevitability.

With ongoing debt crises, climate emergencies, and populist backlash against neoliberalism, Hickel’s critique of austerity and growth-centric policies remains urgent for policymakers and activists.