A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things

Patel and Moore are two scholars whose collaboration has produced analyses of the intersection of capitalism, ecology, and social justice. Their joint work contributes to the fields of research of global economic systems and their impact on the environment and society.

Patel is a British academic, journalist, and activist. He holds a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics from Oxford and earned a PhD in development sociology from Cornell University, where he studied the impact of economic policies on poverty and inequality. Patel’s educational background equipped him with a multidisciplinary perspective, blending economics, politics, and sociology, which he applies to his approach to understanding global issues. Patel worked for the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, and the United Nations as part of his academic training. These experiences likely informed his critical perspective on global capitalism, as he has since become an outspoken critic of these organizations. Patel has written extensively on food systems, economics, and social justice in books such as Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System (2008) and The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy (2010).

Moore is an American environmental historian and historical geographer. He holds a PhD in geography from the University of California, Berkeley, and is currently an associate professor of sociology at Binghamton University. Moore’s research focuses on the long-term history of capitalism, environmental change, and social inequality. His work explores how human societies interact with their environments over time, particularly under capitalist systems. His research focuses on the historical patterns of resource extraction, ecological transformations, and their implications for socioeconomic structures. He developed the concept of the “Capitalocene,” arguing that capitalism should be understood as a world-ecological system that has reshaped the planet’s environment and social relations over the past five centuries. Moore’s previous books include Capitalism in the Web of Life: Ecology and the Accumulation of Capital (2015) and Anthropocene or Capitalocene? Nature, History, and the Crisis of Capitalism (2016).