Extractive Capitalism: How Commodities and Cronyism Drive the Global Economy

An exposé of the extractive industries powering globalization —and a primer on fighting back

Laleh Khalili reflects on 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, wry, and constantly revealing, Extractive Capitalism brings vividly to light the dark truths behind the world’s most voracious industries.

Whether it is pumping oil, mining resources, or shipping commodities across oceans, the global economy runs on extraction. Promises of frictionless trade and lucrative speculation are the hallmarks of our era, but the backbone of globalization is still low-cost labor and rapacious corporate control. Extractive capitalism is what made—and what maintains—our unequal world.