The Break Down: A World Made of Oil w/ Adam Hanieh

Over the coming weeks Macrodose will be co-publishing The Break Down - a new series created by our friends over at Common Wealth.

This series is dedicated to examining the role of capitalism in the climate and ecological crisis, and will feature long-form interviews with former Roundtable guest Adrienne Buller.

Today Adrienne is joined by Adam Hanieh, Professor of Political Economy and Global Development at the University of Exeter. His latest book, Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market (Verso) is out September 2024.

Oil is fundamental to our understanding of the climate crisis. But despite its starring role, the dominance of oil in the global energy system is a relatively recent phenomenon, with the industry only really taking off after the Second World War. So how, in just a few decades, did oil become so integral to American power and to our understanding of global capitalism?

Adrienne and Adam break down the history and geopolitics of oil and imperialism, and explore how the petrochemicals and plastics that now permeate our lives, from the foods we eat to the clothes we wear and everything in between, are making it increasingly difficult to challenge the power of the fossil fuel industry.

The Break Down will also be releasing some fantastic original essays and other resources that dig into the complex questions around how we got into this crisis, what the future might look like, and how we can build the power to change it. 

Find all that and much much more over at www.break-down.org

A massive thank you to all of our existing Patreon subscribers. You can support the show at: patreon.com/Macrodose

We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch at ⁠⁠macrodose@planetbproductions.co.uk⁠⁠