Second episode of the Inequalities podcast: the Global South and the West
The second episode of the new ‘Inequalities’ podcast series focuses on the differences between the Global South and the West. Professor Dorine van Norren discusses various perspectives on the concept of development.
In the second episode of a new podcast series (in Dutch) from Leiden University’s Inequalities theme, host Laura Jansen talks with Dorine van Norren, Professor by Special Appointment of Intercultural Rights, Citizenship, and Sustainability at Leiden University College The Hague and strategic adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, about inequality between the Global South and the West. Whose idea of a good life actually determines what development looks like?
In 2015, the United Nations set out 17 Sustainable Development Goals, ranging from no poverty and zero hunger to climate action and responsible consumption. But were the countries these goals concern able to help shape them on equal terms? Laura and Dorine discuss three non-Western philosophies that Dorine examined in her PhD thesis: Ubuntu from South Africa, Buen Vivir from Ecuador, and Gross National Happiness from Bhutan. What do these ways of thinking entail, how do they approach inequality, and to what extent are they reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals? Jansen and Van Norren also reflect on the Monitor of Well-being (Monitor Brede Welvaart), which tracks how the Netherlands is doing in relation to these goals.
About the podcast
Inequality has many faces. It is not only about income, but also about health, access to justice, political power, and education. In this podcast series, we invite experts each month to discuss a different aspect of inequality. Listen to the podcast here. Please note: this podcast is in Dutch.
This podcast series is part of the activities of the Leiden University interfaculty theme ‘Inequalities’. Leiden University studies the causes and consequences of inequality and the promising ways in which individuals, organisations and policy can move towards more just societies. For example, we help find solutions relating to income and wealth inequalities. We study the role of the education system in perpetuating or reducing inequalities, as well as the causes of health inequalities among socioeconomic groups and people from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. Furthermore, we examine the dynamics of discrimination and exclusion, political representation, civic participation and social justice.