GO SOUTH 2021
ANNUAL CONVENTION ON THE GLOBAL SOUTH :
International Order Beyond the Pandemic: Repositioning of the Global South
The Issue
Over these past years, we witnessed world transformation that emerged extremely fast and in unprecedented scalability. The COVID-19 global pandemic has mainly brought about far-reaching impacts, ranging from economic stagnation, the crisis of multilateralism, and social unrest in many parts of the world. While the rise of emerging powers has significantly influenced the dynamics of the global economy, the continued tensions between great powers, especially the US and China, would determine current and future consolidation of geopolitics and stability. Such dynamics are further complicated by global precarity, uneven access to technologies, and severe threats posed by climate changes. These complex trends are constitutive to making a new international order, whether it would create a more democratic, just, and peaceful world—or otherwise.
The 2021 Annual Convention on Global South aims at exploring alternatives to comprehend and direct the repositioning of the Global South in such a rapid changing of the global order. Indeed, the Global South countries are now being forced to find immediate solutions to problems—from providing vaccines, restoring economic conditions to resolving conflicts and violence. Yet, critical conversations on the repositioning of the Global South in the post-pandemic global transformation are urgent. Such discussion enables the Global South to navigate and strive to grow its influences in the changing world.
Institute of International Studies (IIS), Universitas Gadjah Mada, is developing insights on International Relations studies from the Global South perspectives. Initiated from the “Bandung Conference and Beyond” in 2015, IIS has committed to contribute to Global South studies by hosting the series of Annual Convention on the Global South that began in 2019. The upcoming forum will discuss how the Global South repositions themselves in current global political dynamics from several aspects and perspectives through various thematic panels.
The Panels
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Contesting Resilience: Pandemic, Development, Resistance
Initially designed to consolidate development and climate change agenda, resilience focus on crisis adaptation has become an appealing strategy for post-COVID-19 recovery. Resilience consists of different knowledge and practice, determining who is made to be resilient, by whom and how. It is particularly relevant in the Global South, whose vulnerability has situated itself as the main target of resilience intervention, rolling out from the top through a complex network of public, private and non-profit organisations. Thus this panel seeks to discuss how resilience as discourse and practices are introduced in the Global South? What are the implications for the conduct of democracy and welfare? How does the politics of post-pandemic recovery affect the social coalition and power constellation in the Global South?
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Theorising the Global South: Representation, Moral Basis and Realpolitik
The Global South has been frequently claimed as a moral force in world politics due to its normative commitment to solidarity, reform, and peace. Historically, this commitment manifested in the New International Economic Order (NIEO) initiatives in the 1970s. Despite offering these alternatives, the Global North continues to see the Global South through its colonial gaze. The Global South is seen as backward and undeveloped, passively waiting to be intervened and emancipated by the modern Global North. This panel seeks to reevaluate the moral claim of the Global South by rethinking the theorisation of the Global South and its positions regarding contemporary issues.
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South-South Cooperation and the Reconfiguration of Geopolitics
South-South Cooperation (SSC) has often been promoted as a development scheme that allows the Global South to foster solidarity and mutual development. However, critics have pointed out that Global South countries have frequently utilised SSC to pursue their egotistical interests, such as expanding their sphere of influence, accessing foreign markets, or deflecting foreign criticism. The SSC also raised questions and brought several analyses on whether the world is moving into multipolarity and what it would mean for the international community. This panel seeks to unpack the idea of SSC through various lenses, which includes but not limited to economic, political, security, and socio-normative aspects.
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Digital Global Development: From Digital Inequality to Digital Justice
Global digital development has long been discussed to exacerbate existing development inequalities between the Global South and Global North. The emergence of technology companies and their infrastructures that flourished in the Global North only use the South as part of its market often accused of digital colonialism. This panel seeks to look further at how the emergence of digital space and technology, which brings promises of development, have impacted the North-South relations? How do countries navigate the existing technological gaps? How do actors push back and overcome this challenge?
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Climate Justice and Environmental Issues in Global South
The threat of climate change and the impacts of environmental crises are evident everywhere. However, the scale of vulnerability and risks varies across and within countries, depending on social, political and economic resources. Thus, this panel is designed to investigate the ways climate change provokes the uneven development process at the global and national and local levels. By looking beyond the technical debate, this panel will explore how the impacts of climate change disproportionately manifested across different layers of society? Most importantly, what are the initiatives and strategies employed by state and non-state actors to access resources, claim recognition, and expand participation in pursuing climate justice?