Who Is Jason Hickel? Age, Biography, and Wiki
Jason Hickel, born in 1982, is an accomplished economic anthropologist known for his influential work on global inequality, economic development, and post-colonialism. As of 2025, Hickel is 43 years old and has continued to make significant contributions to the fields of anthropology and economics. He is widely recognized for his critical perspectives on conventional economic models and seeks to promote sustainable development practices worldwide. His scholarly work and activism have positioned him as a leading voice in debates about globalization and social justice.
| Occupation | Anthropologist |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 1982 (age 43) |
| Age | 43 Years |
| Birth Place | Eswatini |
| Horoscope | |
| Country |
Popularity
Jason Hickel's Popularity over time
Height, Weight & Measurements
While specific details about Jason Hickel's height and weight are not publicly disclosed, he is often described as having a lean and athletic build. His commitment to health and fitness reflects his active lifestyle, which includes participating in various outdoor activities and maintaining a balanced diet.
Family, Dating & Relationship Status
As of 2025, Jason Hickel remains private about his personal life, including his family and relationship status. There have been no confirmed reports regarding a girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, or wife. Hickel often emphasizes the importance of keeping his familial life out of the public eye, focusing instead on his professional endeavors and academic contributions.
According to Tibor Rutar, the relationship between capitalism and colonialism is more complex than is often suggested. He argues that many colonial powers (such as Spain and Portugal) in the early modern period were still pre-capitalist. Moreover, he claims that these powers rarely introduced capitalist institutions into their colonies.
Only in a few settler colonies, such as the United States and Australia, did a genuine capitalist development take place. According to Rutar, economic profit motives alone are insufficient to classify colonialism as a specifically capitalist practice.
Balance of payments analyses also show that colonial plunder generally did not play a necessary or decisive role in Europe’s economic growth—except in the case of settler colonies.
Net Worth and Salary
Jason Hickel's net worth is estimated to be significantly impacted by his academic roles, public speaking engagements, and authorship. Although specific figures are not available, it is believed that his combined earnings from his academic positions, book deals, and consultancy work amount to a substantial net worth. His books and articles on anthropology and economics also contribute to his income.
Hickel argues in The Divide that pre-colonial societies were not poor. He argues that precolonial agricultural societies in Africa and India were "quite content" with a "subsistence lifestyle" and that it was colonialism that made them worse off..
He argues that the dominant narrative of "progress" in international development is overstated, and that poverty remains a widespread and persistent feature of the global economy, reproduced by power imbalances between the Global North and Global South.
Hickel argues that the International poverty line used to underwrite the progress narrative, (US$1.90 per day in 2011 PPP, the World Bank's definition of extreme poverty), has no empirical grounding in actual human needs, and is inadequate to achieve basic nutrition and health.
Hickel argues that US$7.40 per day is required for nutrition and health. Many other economists agree with Hickel that it would be more useful to use a higher daily income to define the poverty threshold, with some recommending $15 per day.
As a consequence of population growth, the absolute number of people living under this threshold has increased from 3.2 billion in 1981 to 4.2 billion in 2015, according to World Bank data.
Hickel states that the vast majority of gains against poverty have been achieved by China and East Asian countries that were not subjected to structural adjustment schemes. Elsewhere, increases in income among the poor have been very small, and mostly inadequate to lift people out of his definition of poverty.
However, all scholars and intellectuals, including Hickel, agree that the incomes of the poorest people in the world have increased since 1981.
Nevertheless, Sullivan and Hickel argue that poverty persists under contemporary global capitalism (in spite of it being highly productive) because masses of working people are cut off from common land and resources, have no ownership or control over the means of production, and have their labor power "appropriated by a ruling class or an external
imperial power," thereby maintaining extreme inequality.
Career, Business and Investments
Hickel's career trajectory has been marked by a commitment to understanding the complexities of economic systems. Known for his critical stance on neoliberal economics, Hickel's academic work focuses on developmental anthropology and ecological sustainability. As of 2025, he holds a prominent position in academia and has authored several influential books on economic justice, many of which have garnered international acclaim. Jason Hickel also engages in consultancy and advisory roles, working with various NGOs and governmental organizations to advocate for more equitable economic policies.
He holds a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Wheaton College, USA (2004). He worked in the non-profit sector in Nagaland, India and in Swaziland, and received his PhD in anthropology from the University of Virginia in August 2011.
His doctoral thesis was entitled Democracy and Sabotage: Moral Order and Political Conflict in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He taught at the London School of Economics from 2011 to 2017, where he held a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship, and at Goldsmiths, University of London, from 2017 to 2021.
Social Network
Jason Hickel is an active participant in the social media landscape, using these platforms to amplify his research and engage with followers on important social issues. He has a substantial following on Twitter, where he shares insights related to economics, anthropology, and social justice. Additionally, Hickel often utilizes platforms like LinkedIn to connect with other academics and professionals in his field.
Education
Hickel is well-educated, holding degrees from prestigious institutions. He completed his Ph.D. in anthropology, where he focused on development and globalization. His educational background has provided him with a solid foundation to analyze and critique modern economic practices extensively.
Jason Edward Hickel (born 1982) is an anthropologist and professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Hickel's research and writing focuses on economic anthropology and development, and is particularly opposed to capitalism, neocolonialism, as well as economic growth as a measure of human development.
