Seminar: "Ecology and Imperialism Beyond Unequal Exchange", by Matt Huber

The REAL-Postgrowth project (Post-growth – REAL – A Post-Growth Deal) is excited to announce that Matt Huber, from the University of Syracuse, will present a public talk as part of our monthly public seminar series. It can also be followed online.

Seminar: "Ecology and Imperialism Beyond Unequal Exchange"  

Speaker: Matt Huber, Professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment, University of Syracuse. 

• Date: Thursday, May 28th, 2026
• Time:  12.30 - 13.30 (CET)
• Venue: Sala Montseny (Z/022 & Z/023) ICTA-UAB and online: https://zoom.us/j/92412781572?pwd=nrXJdKxThFcaSbXMTvU4dURDHvzXOY.1

Given current events, the question of imperialism and its relation to ecology is back on the agenda. In contrast to theories of unequal ecological exchange, I argue we must differentiate the concept of imperialism from capitalism. Drawing from the work of Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin (among others), I argue imperialism must be theorized in relation to the capitalist state – and in our historical context that means the US state. I examine the ecology of US empire with historical analyses of the military-industrial complex, extraction in the Democratic Republic of Congo and deforestation in Brazil. 

Matt Huber is a Professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of the University of Syracuse, USA. He received his PhD in Geography from Clark University in 2009. He is the the author of Lifeblood: Oil, Freedom and the Forces of Capital and Climate Change as Class War: Building Socialism on a Warming Planet.