Research Output – Debating Development Research

03/12/2024

Trading with the ‘Jungle’: The European Union’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences

By Jan Orbie, Antonio Salvador Alcazar III and Tinus Sioen

The notions of ‘developing countries’ and ‘development cooperation’ have been waning in discourses by scholars, policymakers and civil society actors. At least rhetorically, the colonial and patronising nature of these notions has been recognised at the European Union (EU) level. For instance, the Development Commissioner has been rechristened as the ‘Commissioner of International Partnerships’ since 2019. In recent years, the EU has pursued plenty of ‘partnerships’ in areas such as climate, energy, trade and deforestation.

15/10/2024

Colonialism’s Blind Spot in Climate Change Solutions: Why Feminist Approaches Are Falling Short

By Bernadette P. Resurrección

Efforts to integrate gender equality into climate change solutions have gained momentum in recent years. However, despite this progress, many of these initiatives are missing a crucial element—colonialism. This glaring oversight leaves today’s climate policies struggling to deliver truly feminist, just, and transformative results.

06/06/2024

Unravelling the Geographies of the Green Transition: Understanding the Finance-Extraction-Transitions Nexus

By Tobias Franz and Angus McNelly

The transition from fossil fuels to green energy in the 21st century – driven by the urgent need to address anthropogenic climate change – represents a monumental shift in not just global energy systems but generally within global capitalism. This transition mirrors historical transformations in energy systems, such as the emergence of fossil capital in northern England or the shift from coal to oil in the 20th century, which have had profound impacts on the world economy. The ongoing green transition presents similar unique challenges and opportunities, requiring a fundamental reconfiguration of energy production and consumption patterns to avoid catastrophic climate collapse.

07/05/2024

Uneven Decommodification Geographies and Global Structural Inequalities

By Geoff Goodwin

When Covid-19 ground the world economy to a halt in early 2020, governments from across the political spectrum took measures to shield sectors of society from the full impact of the socioeconomic crisis. Yet the scale and form of these responses varied enormously between countries and regions. What explains this unevenness? What does it tell us about capitalism today? I take up these questions in a new article in EPA: Economy and Space.

09/04/202429/04/2024

Medical Drones in Africa: A Gamechanger for the Continent’s ‘Ailing’ Health Sector?

By Edwin Ambani Ameso and Gift Mwonzora

While medical drones can be lauded as game-changing health technologies that help save lives, and usher efficiency and cost-effectiveness in the often contextualized as fragile African health systems, Edwin Ambani Ameso and Gift Mwonzora argue that this is not the complete picture.