Past Highlights

The Politics of Social Inclusion: Bridging Knowledge and Policies Towards Social Change

16 Apr 2020

2020/04 – Comparative Research Programme on Poverty (CROP), International Social Science Council (ISSC); book; Author(s): Gabriele Koehler et al.

This open access book presents extensive case studies from across the world to provide critical perspectives on the concepts of social inclusion and exclusion. A collaboration between UNESCO and the Comparative Research Programme on Poverty (CROP), this volume traces a number of discourses, all of them routed in a relational power analysis, examining them in the context of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030 with its commitment to “leave no one behind.”

continue: The Politics of Social Inclusion: Bridging Knowledge and Policies Towards Social Change (external link)

Mining for Change. Natural Resources and Industry in Africa (Open Access Book)

05 Mar 2020

2020/02 – United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER); February 2020; Author(s): John Page; Finn Tarp

The book presents research undertaken to understand how better management of the revenues and opportunities associated with natural resources can accelerate diversification and structural change in Africa. It begins with essays on managing the boom, the construction sector, and linking industry to the major issues that frame the question of how to use natural resources for structural change.

continue: Mining for Change. Natural Resources and Industry in Africa (Open Access Book) (external link)

Creative Coalitions in a Fractured World: An Opportunity for Transformative Change?

20 Feb 2020

2020/02 – United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD); Occasional Paper 4; Author(s): Gabriele Köhler

Citizens, activists and analysts around the world are alarmed by ever-increasing political, social, economic and climate inequalities and intensifying obstacles vis-à-vis the promises of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In many places, policy retrogression is undermining transformation towards economic, social and climate justice. Many of the growing fractures have their roots in the structures and trends of the economic system that prevails at national and global levels, and the social contract of democratic welfare statism is under threat. However, hitherto siloed activist communities are coalescing in the form of “creative” coalitions. This paper discusses their commonalities, strengths and shortcomings, and asks whether these creative coalitions could counter the power of economic interests and retrogressive government policies.

continue: Creative Coalitions in a Fractured World: An Opportunity for Transformative Change? (external link)

State of Power 2020: The Corporation

07 Feb 2020

2020/01 – Transnational Institute (TNI); State of Power report 11; Author(s): Grietje Baarset et al.

The Corporation is capitalism's preeminent institution, dominating our economy, distorting our politics and reshaping society. TNI's ninth flagship State of Power report delves deep into the changing nature of the corporation in a time of digitalisation and financialisation and asks how we might best confront its power and construct alternatives.

continue: State of Power 2020: The Corporation (external link)

The Many Hidden Faces of Extreme Poverty. Inclusion and Exclusion of Extreme Poor People in Development Interventions in Bangladesh, Benin and Ethiopia

28 Jan 2020

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2020/01 – African Studies Centre (ASC); open access book; Author(s): Anika Altaf

While the inclusion of extreme poor people is a noble and necessary objective, it is challenging. This book provides deeper understanding of the mechanisms of in- and exclusion of extreme poor people, the structural causes of extreme poverty and the desirability of a univocal definition of extreme poverty. The book contributes to such an understanding through an analysis of extreme poor and marginalised people and their multiple dimensions of wellbeing.

continue: The Many Hidden Faces of Extreme Poverty. Inclusion and Exclusion of Extreme Poor People in Development Interventions in Bangladesh, Benin and Ethiopia (external link)

Envision 4.7: Roadmap in Support of SDG Target 4.7

10 Jan 2020

2019/12 – EADI; briefing paper; Author(s): Bridge 47

As part of the Bridge 47 Project on Global Citizenship Education, the participants of the "Envision 47 Event" last November in Helsinki have developed a set of policy recommendations and considerations to form the basis of frameworks that support life-long learning linked to sustainable development through formal, non-formal and informal education.

continue: Envision 4.7: Roadmap in Support of SDG Target 4.7 (external link)

Sustainable Development Goals and Human Rights

20 Dec 2019

2019/11 – open access book; Author(s): Markus Kaltenborn, Markus Krajewski, Heike Kuhn (Editors)

This book analyses the interplay of sustainable development and human rights from different perspectives including fight against poverty, health, gender equality, working conditions, climate change and the role of private actors. Each aspect is addressed from a more human rights-focused angle and a development-policy angle. This allows comparisons between the different approaches but also seeks to close gaps which would remain if only one perspective would be at the centre of the discussions.

continue: Sustainable Development Goals and Human Rights (external link)

Emissions Gap Report 2019

06 Dec 2019

2019/11 – November 2019; Author(s): United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi

The latest UNEP Emissions Gap Report reveals that, over the next decade, global emissions need to be cut by 7.6 percent every year to meet 1.5°C Paris target. According to current unconditional pledges, the world is heading for a 3.2°C temperature rise. G20 nations account for 78 per cent of all emissions, but 15 of them have not even committed to a timeline for net-zero emissions. The report finds that greenhouse gas emissions have risen 1.5 per cent per year over the last decade. Emissions in 2018, including from land-use changes such as deforestation, hit a new high of 55.3 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent

continue: Emissions Gap Report 2019 (external link)

The Politics of Social Protection in Eastern and Southern Africa (Open Access Book)

25 Nov 2019

2019/11 – November 2019; Author(s): Sam Hickey et al (editors)

This book challenges the common conception that the introduction of social protection schemes has been entirely driven by international development agencies, instead focusing on the critical role of political dynamics within specific African countries. It details how the power and politics at multiple levels of governance shapes the extent to which political elites are committed to social protection, the form that this commitment takes, and the implications that this has for future welfare regimes and state-citizen relations in Africa. It reveals how international pressures only take hold when they become aligned with the incentives and ideas of ruling elites in particular contexts. It shows how elections, the politics of clientelism, political ideologies, and elite perceptions all play powerful roles in shaping when countries adopt social protection and at what levels, which groups receive benefits, and how programmes are delivered.

continue: The Politics of Social Protection in Eastern and Southern Africa (Open Access Book) (external link)

The Business of Building Walls

08 Nov 2019

2019/11 – Transnational Institute (TNI); research paper; Author(s): Mark Akkerman

This report explores the business of building walls in Europe, which has both fuelled and benefited from a massive expansion of public spending on border security by the European Union (EU) and its member states. The main beneficiaries of this development are the businesses involved, some of them also global players who tap into a global market for border security estimated to be worth approximately €17.5 billion in 2018, with annual growth of at least 8% expected in coming years. It is important to look both beyond and behind Europe’s walls and fencing, because the real barriers to contemporary migration are not so much the fencing, but the vast array of technology that underpins it, from the radar systems to the drones to the surveillance cameras to the biometric fingerprinting systems.

continue: The Business of Building Walls (external link)

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