Louis Thiemann studied International Politics, History and Development Studies, graduating with a PhD from the International Institute of Social Studies, The Hague. My research converses between alternative and subaltern development practices in the ‚South‘ and post-capitalist politics in the ‚North‘. Its main product is an evolving theory of non-capitalism – The Third Class.

Since 2012, a large part of my work has focused on making sense of post-socialist Cuba, and the multiple transitions taking place within in. With Claudia Mare, I write about the many forms of resistance woven into the subaltern fabric of Cubans’ everyday life and work. With Max Spoor, I follow Cuba’s staggering food import dependency into the concrete limitations faced by peasant farms. Through initiatives such as the Foro Cubano (based at Sergio Arboleda University, Bogotá) and the Food Monitor Programme (a critical food sovereignty watchdog), I participate in discussions held in Cuba’s civil society. More recently, my work has interrogated the coloniality of international academic discussions on Cuba and the lives Cubans lead, resulting in a chapter on „Greenwashing the Revolution” as part of a forthcoming book on The Mythology of the Cuban Revolution (edited by Sergio Angel & Claudia Mare).

When in Europe, my interests revolve around socio-ecological transitions, degrowth and cooperativism. In this context, my aim is to locate (and connect) existing practices, principles and discourses of non-capitalist labor, many of which tend to be overlooked. Inspired by the work of Leopold Kohr, as well as the Cuban experience of regressive power being rooted in progressive discourses, I am interested in polycentric, distributive and diverse pathways, institutions and cultures.

Biographical details correct as of 16.01.25