Akanshya Mahapatra

Directed by Philippe Diaz 2008 | 104 min E nd of Poverty is a documentary on the neoliberal logic of political economy that currently pervades the world. The film aptly builds up one’s understanding of the global apparatus that underpins modern-day capitalism by following a nuanced meditation on land, labour and socio-political structures. Interlaced throughout this historical evolution of neoliberal capitalism, we explore the focal points of shifting geopolitics that dictate our...

W e began with The End of Poverty (Philippe Diaz, 2008), which takes us back to 1492 to ground the U.S. economic order in its imperialist origins. By linking conquest, colonialism and slavery to modern poverty, the film reminds us that wealth is always political — first through land and empire, later through markets and capital. This history feels topical, when the richest people in the U.S. (and by extension the world) are not only shaping markets but installing their own kind into...