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”

‘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”