Convergence Is Not Equality

Abstract

Despite the fall in global income inequality in the last two decades, levels of living among individuals in the world are still very different and are likely to remain so for a very long time. The uneven rate of decline in inequality and growth volatility in commodity‐dependent countries suggest that there is no reason to believe that global inequality will continue to fall until it reaches acceptably low levels. Global disparities in incomes and welfare, especially in social protection, are at the heart of the problem of migration and populism in Western democracies in recent years. They bring out in bold relief the lack of fit between claims of global convergence and people's perceptions on incomes and well‐being between the global North and South. In this regard, it is more realistic to talk about ‘multiple geographies of 21st century development’ than a ‘one world’ or single geography of global development. Issues of power, and the way global and national relationships and rules allocate advantages and disadvantages, or promote convergence and divergence, between and within countries, need to be front and centre in the discussion on global convergence.

Towards a new paradigm of global development? Beyond the limits of international development

“…A key concern relates to an understanding of global development as scale, 6 rather than as scope as advocated above, and consequent suggestions that the ‘international’, ‘national’ and other scales are implicitly downplayed. For example, Bangura interprets global development as a ‘single world’ global approach replacing lower-scale categories (Bangura, 2019: 12). He associates global development with issues such as global public goods, and ‘what the world will look like and can do if there is a global government’ or if countries reduce national-self interest in global development policy-making, yet rightly says this has not happened and is unlikely to.…”

“…Attention must also be given to a much wider range of global development challenges and practices that go beyond those typically considered as subject to aid financing (see also Hulme, 2016; Janus et al, 2015). Although varying degrees of scepticism exist as to their influence (Bangura, 2019; Horn and Grugel, 2018; Liverman, 2018; Fukuda-Parr and McNeill, 2019), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) may serve as a trigger mechanism in this regard.…”

1 - Epic Battles in Radical Development Theory, Field Research and Praxis: A Celebration of Björn Beckman (1938–2019)

“…It exposed the continent as not only a laggard in most social and economic indicators, but as the only region where, apart from South Africa, large-scale industrialisation has not occurred and which has not experienced much income convergence with industrialised countries. Despite a narrative of 'Africa rising'during the 2010s, Africa's per capita income as a percentage of rich countries' per capita income is still substantially lower than in the 1960s and 1970s (Bangura 2019).…”

Global development and urban studies: tactics for thinking beyond the North–South binary

“…Regarding the former, Forum contributors drew attention to uneven development progress in the global South, beyond the exceptional case of China, as evidence for the continued salience of the rich/developed/ North-poor/developing/South distinction. (13) Horner and Hulme were also criticized for treating indicators such as per capita income and the Human Development Index as unproblematic measures of development, while neglecting alternative dimensions such as unpaid socially reproductive work and access to social protection. (14) In addition, their choice of 1990 as a baseline for measuring North-South convergence was questioned on the grounds that it ignores the gains lost in many Southern countries in the 1980s due to the imposition of structural adjustment programmes.…”