Drawing on his book Crude Capitalism (Verso, 2024), Adam Hanieh will explore the centrality of oil to contemporary capitalism and why we need to understand its role across the entire value chain, from extraction and refining to petrochemicals, finance, and global trade.

 

He will examine how this perspective helps us make sense of the current war in the Middle East and the region’s place in the wider world economy. The talk will also explore what the continued growth of fossil fuel consumption, alongside the expansion of renewable energy, tells us about the trajectories of the so-called ‘green transition’.