Torkil Lauesen joins us to discuss the political economy of imperialism and trade, Arghiri Emmanuel’s theory of unequal exchange, political action in the imperial core, his years in prison, and the current geopolitical moment of hegemonic transition.

Works mentioned: Unequal Exchange: Past, Present, and Future; Unequal Exchange.

Torkil Lauesen is a communist writer. In 1969 he joined a Maoist cadre organization based in Copenhagen, Denmark. It specialized in undercover material support work for liberation movements in The Third World. Besides this it provided political schooling and study groups analysing the world system for developing their strategy and praxis. This work continued for nearly 20 years until their cover was blown in 1989. He turned the years in prison into a long field study, writing a master thesis in political science about the prison system. After being released, he continued anti-imperialist activism and took up writing for publishing in an effort to pass on their experience. He is a member of anti-imperialist net and a board member of the Arghiri Emmanuel Association.

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Theme: Eye for an Eye, Haram (2017)

Art: Vivek Venkatraman

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