Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World MarketThis expansive history traces the hidden connections between oil and capitalism from the late 1800s to the current climate crisis. Beyond simplistic narratives that frame oil as 'prize' or 'curse', Crude Capitalism uncovers the surprising ways that oil is woven into the fabric of our modern world: the rise of an American-centered global order; the breakdown of Empire and anti-colonial rebellion; contemporary finance and US dollar hegemony; debt and militarism; and the emergence of new forms of synthetic consumption. Much more than an energy source or transport fuel, oil has a foundational place in all aspects of contemporary life - no challenge to the fossil fuel industry can be effective without taking this fact seriously. Crude Capitalism maps the varied geographies of oil, including the rise of OPEC, the importance of revolutionary and Post-Soviet Russia, the crucial role of African upstream reserves, and the new petrochemical circuits that link the Middle East, China, and East Asia. The book provides an original and fine-grained empirical analysis of corporate ownership and control, including refining and petrochemicals. By exposing these structures of power and placing oil in capitalism, the book makes an essential contribution to debates around oil-dependency and the struggle for climate justice. |
Contents
Approaching | |
The Rise of the US Oil Industry | |
The Middle East and the Seven Sisters | |
From Baku to the Bolsheviks | |
Europes Shift to | |
Anticolonial Revolt and OPEC 7 Petrochemicals and the Emergence of a Synthetic World | |
Myths and Consequences of the First Oil Shock | |
Other editions - View all
Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market Adam Hanieh Limited preview - 2024 |
Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market Adam Hanieh Limited preview - 2025 |
Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market Adam Hanieh Limited preview - 2024 |
Common terms and phrases
American oil Aramco Asia assets Baku banks billion biofuels Branobel Britain British capital carbon cent chemical industry climate change coal commodity concession consumption corporate countries country’s crude oil decades dollar domestic dominant economic emerged emissions energy European ExxonMobil foreign fossil fuel global oil Gulf hydrogen Ibid important increase integrated firms investment Iran labour largest oil LUKoil Middle East nationalisation NOCs oil and gas oil companies oil exports oil fields oil firms oil industry oil majors oil market oil prices oil production oil’s OPEC ownership petrochemical Petroleum pipelines plastics political post-war privatisation profit Putin refineries region role Rosneft Royal Dutch Shell Russian oil Saudi Arabia Saudi Aramco sector Seven Sisters share Shell social SONJ Soviet oil Soviet Union state-owned structure supermajors supply Surgutneftegaz synthetic technologies TNK-BP trade transport University Press upstream Venezuela vertically integrated Western Europe Western oil world market world oil