Raj Patel

Raj Patel, controversial author, journalist, and food policy expert, continuously challenges our presumptions about the global economy with his work both as a policy analyst and activist. He has worked for some of the most prestigious international organizations and protested against them, and constantly works to find ways to improve the world's food system.

His most recent book, The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy, has been hailed as a deeply thought-provoking guide to the way economics works, exploring the recent economic collapse and painting a clear picture of how to achieve a fairer, more sustainable economy and society. He is also the author of the acclaimed book Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System, which discusses the growing worldwide food crisis and what needs to be done to solve it. He is working on a major documentary film project on how to feed the world in the future, with acclaimed director Steve James (Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters) and Participant Media (An Inconvenient Truth; Food, Inc.).

Patel is currently a visiting scholar in the Center for African Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, and an honorary research fellow at the School of Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He is also the recipient of an IATP Food and Community Fellowship and is a fellow at the Institute for Food and Development Policy, also known as Food First.

The London native graduated from Balliol College at Oxford University and, by way of the London School of Economics, went on to pursue his PhD from Cornell University, which led him to research economic and cultural globalization. After working for the World Bank, interning at the World Trade Organization, and consulting for the United Nations, Patel has become a harsh critic of their methods, and has been tear-gassed on four continents protesting against them. Patel's thoughts on food, hunger, and globalization have appeared in a number of US and international news sources, including The Los Angeles Times, NYTimes.com, and The Guardian. He has been featured in Newsweek and Time, and has appeared on The Colbert Report, the BBC, and NPR, as well as a range of recent food and economic documentaries (Payback, Queen of the Sun, Finding North).

Patel is an advisor to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, and has testified to Congress on the causes of the world food crisis. He is involved in several international organizations, including the Land Research Action Network (LRAN), a network of researchers and social movements committed to the promotion and advancement of the fundamental rights of individuals and communities to land. He also works with La Via Campesina, an international peasant movement advancing the cause of food sovereignty around the world, and with the South African shackdwellers organization, Abahlali baseMjondolo, the largest independent group advocating social change in South Africa.

The co-author of both Promised Land: Competing Visions of Agrarian Reform and Food Rebellions: Crisis and the Hunger for Justice, Raj Patel has also published a range of academic articles appearing in publications as varied as PLoS Medicine, the Journal of Peasant Studies, and Radical Philosophy. His work has been translated into dozens of languages.