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Rethinking inequalities, growth limits and social injustice

By Rogelio Madrueño Aguilar, José María Larrú and David Castells-Quintana

Inequality is above all a multidimensional problem. It is by all means a complex issue that requires global solutions in accordance with the challenges imposed by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As stated in this agenda “the achievement of inclusive and sustainable economic growth […] will only be possible if wealth is shared and income inequality is addressed”. Continue reading “Rethinking inequalities, growth limits and social injustice”

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Contending Regions? A geographical approach to the 2030 Agenda

What are the most crucial changes brought about by the SDGs? Where does the Agenda 2030 leave Latin America and Africa? What can we as researchers do? And do we need new economic perspectives such as degrowth to achieve sustainable development? 

The panel session at the recent EADI Directors’ Meeting in Cordoba raised more questions than it provided answers – which did not come unexpected, given that the SDGs are far from being implemented in any country of the world. At the same time, all discussants agreed that the world requires more than typical business-as-usual approaches. But as always, the devil is in the detail… Continue reading “Contending Regions? A geographical approach to the 2030 Agenda”

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‘Justice’ not ‘aid’ for the Global South

By Koen Bogaert, Julie Carlier, Brecht De Smet, Marlies Casier, Dorien Vanden Boer and Bernard Mazijn

Development cooperation does not work. It has never worked. So why not flush the European DG Development down the drain? That was the conclusion of a recent piece published by European researchers Jan Orbie and Sarah Delputte. The danger of this conclusion is that Europe would ignore its historic accountability and the problems it has created. This is why we want to engage with some of the points that our colleagues have touched upon. Where does this idea of Europe needing to ‘develop’ the rest of the world come from? What is left unsaid when we talk about development aid? And what would a post development era look like if we would really listen to voices from the Global South? Continue reading “‘Justice’ not ‘aid’ for the Global South”

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Terra Nullius: What is going on in the rural world?

By Mariel Aguilar-Støen 

How can we understand the complexity of the contemporary rural world, and its entanglements with the urban? This is the first blog post of the  Rural transformations in the new century research group at the Centre for Development and the Environmen (SUM), University of Oslo

In the 1990s, scholars had declared the death of “the peasant” as a useful analytical category, but the Zapatista movement made peasant issues such as land visible again.

Continue reading “Terra Nullius: What is going on in the rural world?”

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Why do we need Solidarity in Development Studies

By Kees Biekart

The next EADI Development Studies conference is about “Solidarity, Peace and Social Justice”. But what does solidarity actually mean in relation to development studies?

Let’s assume development essentially comes down to a process of social change. Or better, a wide range of connected processes of social change. We can think of female textile workers in Bangladesh trying to unionise, even though the employers try to prevent this. Or we can think of measures to deal with massive flooding in the Bangladeshi deltas, washing away many houses of these textile workers’ families. Continue reading “Why do we need Solidarity in Development Studies”