Rajeev "Raj" Patel (born 1972) is a British academic,

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, activist and writer who has lived and worked in

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

for extended periods. He has been referred to as "the rock star of social justice writing."

Early life and education

Born to a mother from

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and a father from

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

,About himself at ''21 minuti''
''(Retrieved on 9 February 2010.)'' he grew up in Golders Green in north-west London where his family ran a

corner shop A convenience store, convenience shop, bakkal, bodega, corner store, corner shop, superette or mini-mart is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as convenience food, groceries, beverages, tobacco products, lotter ...

. Patel received a BA in

Philosophy, Politics and Economics Philosophy, politics and economics, or politics, philosophy and economics (PPE), is an interdisciplinary undergraduate or postgraduate academic degree, degree which combines study from three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in P ...

(PPE), from

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, and a master's degree from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, and gained his PhD in Development Sociology from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 2002. As part of his academic training, Patel worked at the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

, and the United Nations. He has since become an outspoken public critic of all of these organisations, and reports having been tear-gassed on four continents protesting against his former employers.Citizine
''(Retrieved on 8 February 2010.)''

Career

Patel is an educator and academic. He has written articles and books. He is possibly best known for his 2008 book, ''Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System''. In 2009, he published '' The Value of Nothing'' which was on ''The New York Times'' best-seller list during February 2010. In 2017, he published, with co-author , '' A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet'' (University of California Press). He has been a visiting scholar at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, and the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

. Patel is listed as a research professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs of the University of Texas at Austin.

Activism

Patel was one of many organizers in the 1999 protests in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington, and has organised in support of food sovereignty. More recently he has resided and worked extensively in Zimbabwe and in South Africa. He was refused a visa extension by the Mugabe regime for his political involvement with the pro-democracy movement. He is associated through his work on food with the

Via Campesina La Vía Campesina (from , meaning the peasant way) is an international farmers organization founded in 1993 in Mons, Belgium, formed by 182 organisations in 81 countries, and describing itself as "an international movement which coordinates pea ...

movement, and through his work on urban poverty and resistance with Abahlali baseMjondolo and the now defunct Landless Peoples Movement in South Africa. Patel has written a number of criticisms of various aspects of the policies and research methods of the World Bank and was a co-editor, with Christopher Brooke, of the online leftist webzine ''The Voice of the Turtle''.

Film appearances

In 2012, he appeared in the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

documentary '' Payback'', based on

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...

's '' Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth'', which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. He appears in the documentary film '' A Place at the Table'' which opened in the US on 1 March 2013.

Honours and awards

In 2007 he was invited to give the keynote address at the university of Abahlali baseMjondolo graduation ceremony. He administers the organisation's website. In 2008 he was asked to testify on the global food crisis before the House Financial Services Committee in the USA. In 2009 he joined the advisory board of Corporate Accountability International's Value the Meal campaign.

Claim that Patel is the 'Maitreya'

In January 2010 some adherents of Share International, following an announcement by Benjamin Creme, concluded that Patel could be the

Maitreya Maitreya (Sanskrit) or Metteyya (Pali), is a bodhisattva who is regarded as the future Buddhahood, Buddha of this world in all schools of Buddhism, prophesied to become Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha.Williams, Paul. ''Mahayana Buddhism: Th ...

, a notion that Patel denied.

Political views

Patel is a

libertarian socialist Libertarian socialism is an anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist political current that emphasises self-governance and workers' self-management. It is contrasted from other forms of socialism by its rejection of state ownership and from other ...

and has described himself as "someone who has very strong anarchist sympathies." In his book '' The Value of Nothing'' he praised the grassroots

participatory democracy Participatory democracy, participant democracy, participative democracy, or semi-direct democracy is a form of government in which Citizenship, citizens participate individually and directly in political decisions and policies that affect their ...

practised in the Zapatista Councils of Good Government in southern Mexico and has advocated similar decentralist models of

economic democracy Economic democracy (sometimes called a democratic economy) is a socioeconomic philosophy that proposes to shift ownership and decision-making power from corporate shareholders and corporate managers (such as a board of directors) to a larger ...

and confederal administration as templates to go by for

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

movements in the

global north Global North and Global South are terms that denote a method of grouping countries based on their defining characteristics with regard to socioeconomics and Global politics, politics. According to UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Global S ...

. He described himself in 2010 as "not a communist r socialist... just open minded". Nonetheless, the analysis of ''A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet'', published seven years later, locates its concept of "cheapness" within a Marxist framework. According to the authors, "Capitalism values only what it can count, and it can count only dollars. Every capitalist wants to invest as little and profit as much as possible. For capitalism, this means that the whole system thrives when powerful states and capitalists can reorganize global nature, invest as little as they can, and receive as much food, work, energy, and raw materials with as little disruption as possible." This extrapolates a key formulation by Marx: “The battle of competition is fought by the cheapening of commodities.”

Personal life

Patel became a

US citizen Citizenship of the United States is a citizenship, legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by ...

on 7 January 2010. In an interview with ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

s Lauren Collins, he said he considers himself an atheist Hindu.

Books

*'' Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System'' (2008) *''Food Rebellions! Crisis and the Hunger for Justice'', Eric Holt Giménez, Raj Patel (2009) *''Food Rebellions!: Forging Food Sovereignty to Solve the Global Food Crisis'' (2009) *'' The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy'' (2010) *Forward to '' No Land! No House! No Vote! Voices from Symphony Way'' by the

Symphony Way Pavement Dwellers Symphony Way Informal Settlement was a small community of pavement dwellers (shack dwellers who live on the pavement) that lived on Symphony Way, a main road in Delft, Cape Town, Delft, South Africa, from February 2008 until late 2009. They were ...

(2011) *'' A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things: A Guide to Capitalism, Nature, and the Future of the Planet'' (2017), with Jason W. Moore *'' Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice'' (2021), with Rupa Marya

References

External links

Raj Patel's websiteStuffed & Starved WebsiteA list of journalism available online by Raj Patel
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Patel, Raj 1972 births Living people Abahlali baseMjondolo members Alumni of the London School of Economics Alumni of the University of Oxford Anti-consumerists Anti-globalization activists Anti-globalization writers British atheists British democracy activists 21st-century British economists British food writers British Hindus British political writers British socialists British sociologists Cornell University alumni Criticism of capitalism Critics of capitalism Naturalized citizens of the United States English people of Indian descent Gujarati people Libertarian socialists Writers from the London Borough of Barnet People from Golders Green