Professor Adam Hanieh

ISRF Political Economy Fellow 2023-24

Professor Adam Hanieh

ISRF Political Economy Fellow 2023-24

Adam Hanieh is Professor of Political Economy and Global Development at the Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, and Distinguished Research Fellow at the Institute of International and Area Studies (IIAS) at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Prior to joining the University of Exeter, he was a Professor of Development Studies at SOAS, University of London.

Adam’s current research focuses on issues of political economy, oil, and capitalism. He has published three books on the Middle East, most recently Money, Markets, and Monarchies: The Gulf Cooperation Council and the Political Economy of the Contemporary Middle East (Cambridge University Press, 2018), which won the 2019 British International Studies Association, International Political Economy Group Book Prize. He is currently completing a book on oil and capitalism that will be published by Verso in 2024.

Adam sits on the editorial board for the UK’s Political Studies Association flagship journal, Politics, and has been a member of the International Advisory Board for the journal Studies in Political Economy since 2015. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of MERIP, the Middle East and Research Information Project, based in Washington D.C., and is currently convening the ‘New Regionalisms’ Working Group at the Arab Council for Social Sciences in Beirut.

Plastic Economies: Power, Politics, and Ecological Futures Across the ‘East-East’ Petrochemical Circuit

As the key raw material in the production of plastics and other synthetic commodities, petroleum-derived chemicals form the basis of our material existence. Industry spokespeople state that petrochemicals are ‘the future of oil’, yet debates around fossil fuels overwhelmingly focus on energy and transport, while ignoring the importance of petrochemicals. At the same time, the centre of the global petrochemical industry has shifted towards the Middle East and East Asia. A new ‘East-East’ Petrochemical Circuit (EEPC) binds together these regions, administered by large, vertically-integrated firms controlling each step of petrochemical production and consumption.

Addressing the ‘petrochemicals blindspot’ – and building upon calls to move away from techno-scientific approaches to the study of fossil fuels – this project investigates what the rapidly changing geographies of the petrochemical industry mean for a global Green Transition. I will map the new forms of corporate power emerging across the EEPC, their linkages with existing state and business elites, and the political economy drivers of the industry. The project also examines the burgeoning social and environmental movements that are resisting the entrenchment of petrochemical consumption in the Middle East and East Asia. Through tracing the interplay of these social forces, my research provides a unique contribution to debates around the Green Transition – an urgent issue closely aligned with ISRF goals.

The project forges an original, interdisciplinary dialogue across political economy, environmental studies, and materials science. Methodologically, it involves elite interviews with industry experts, ethnographic fieldwork across the two regions, and a detailed mapping of the EEPC corporate networks.

Contacting Fellows

If you would like to contact any of our Fellows to discuss their ISRF-funded work, please contact Dr Lars Cornelissen (Academic Editor) in the first instance, at [email protected].