SDG lecture: The making and unmaking of development: the SDGs and beyond

24-09-2020

 

Panel debate with Jason Hickel (LSE), Lata Narayanaswamy (Leeds University) and Ruth Nyambura (Nairobi, Kenya)
organised by the Ghent Centre for Global Studies & the Governance in Conflict Network

The development paradigm, rooted in colonial heritages, based on modernist notions of progress, and premised on unsustainable economic growth, has been subject to postcolonial academic and (grassroots) activist critiques almost as early as it was introduced in the 1950s. Presently, however, with the compounded effects of economic and climate crises, and the migration/refugee debate, the notion of ‘post-development’ is gaining wider currency, urging both academics and the development sector to explore alternatives to development. Addressing key challenges such as debt, poverty, growing inequalities and environmental degradation, the panel debate will discuss the SDGs as the most recent (inherently contradictory) expressions of the development paradigm, and debate alternative approaches, knowledge-bases and practices.