Shiran Illanperuma
@shiranperuma
Industrialism, national liberation, socialist construction 🏭 • Researcher, @tri_continental • Co-editor, Wenhua Zongheng
My essay on an unsung giant of political economy. Sri Lankan Marxist and theorist of underdevelopment, SBD De Silva. Published in @Polity_LK. polity.lk/shiran-illanpe…
“For the first time in two centuries, the West is no longer the leader in future technology, but the follower.” NEW: @kmac and I @phenomenalworld write about what the Chinese tech acceleration means for the world. Subscribe & read here: phenomenalworld.org/analysis/brics…
China’s renewable turn is about thermodynamic efficiency and geopolitics. The systemic shift to higher EROEI plateaus underpins expanded potential energy surpluses. Exporting capacity empowers others. Full essay available on my Substack in next comment.
NEW POST: Ben Selwyn reviews how Alice Amsden unmasked the secret underlying capitalist development: it relied on states breaking all the rules of the free market. But her work also showed that industrialization required corporate discipline, not welfare. developingeconomics.org/2025/06/30/the…
My contribution to the Tricontinental Asia newsletter discusses China's modernisation and the political context of its economic policies. It is based on the latest issue of the international edition of Wenhua Zongheng, a journal which I co-edit. thetricontinental.org/asia/nl_china_…
We have to minimize our dependence on the US, if we want to be sovereign
My take on the US-Israeli war on West Asia and imperialism's drive towards militarisation. At a discussion in Colombo organised by the Asia Progress Forum. facebook.com/share/v/16cKCE…
The course I teach at Cambridge has become exorbitantly expensive and is inaccessible for most people. So I've decided to share the entire reading list with the public — here, via this thread. My course is called "Development Economics" and consists of 8 lectures. 🧵
Currently military spending is 8 times more than aid, but with NATO increases and cuts to aid this will rise to 24 times.
BRICS countries are spearheading the global shift to clean energy. From 15% to 51% of the world's total solar energy in just a dacade.
I love this photo pretty much. China planted "blue" photovoltaic farms in the yellow sandy desert for green energy.
#GTGraphic: Now with 11 members and 10 partners—the #BRICS strengthens momentum, stability in #GlobalSouth cooperation.
Consumption Is Not Nearly as Low as It Appears: CF40 research finds the gap between China & developed countries across various consumption sectors is significantly narrower when measured by actual consumption volumes rather than by per capita expenditure pekingnology.com/p/chinas-consu…
Evidence of the U.S. government's complicity in Israel's genocide in Gaza.
This absolutely stunning chart comparison by the NYT might prove to be the most important geopolitical visualization of the 21st century. The two major superpowers are each cornering a competing energy platform. China bets everything on clean energy, the US on fossil fuels.…
SBD de Silva was among #SriLanka's most original Marxist political economists. Seven years since his death this month, there is renewed interest in the significance of his thought, explains @shiranperuma. polity.lk/shiran-illanpe…
Increasingly think this might be the most important chart in the world right now
China is on track to install ~20 times more solar in 2025 than the United States. Yeah.
Never thought I'd read a treatise on industrial policy that cites Lenin, Stalin, Mazzucato, and Peter B. Evans. The international edition of Wenhua Zongheng published by @tri_continental is trying to bring such unique Chinese scholarship to the world. thetricontinental.org/wenhua-zonghen…
The latest issue of Wenhua Zongheng explores socialist modernisation in China through the lens of experimentation, ideological struggle, and institutional innovation. Featuring essays by Li Tuo, Meng Jie, and a review by Xiong Jie. thetricontinental.org/wenhua-zonghen…