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The hard knocks being suffered by the European middle class are leading to shifts in the political landscape of Europe. The causes date back to long before the financial crisis of 2008. It is therefore an illusion to hope that this dip is temporar...

Occupational change in itself cannot explain the decline of the European middle class. But it could be a threat to its sociopolitical foundations

Enhancing the universal relevance of SDGs

Income inequality is among the world’s most pressing issues, as highlighted in the recent Report of the United Nations Secretary-General on the Post-2015 Agenda. 1  In developing countries, income inequality is synonymous with spatial dispari...

The field of Development Studies needs to revitalize its identity and set clear boundaries for what it should and should not do.

Talk of ‘human security’ began to be heard soon after the end of the Cold War, amidst rising violence and social breakdown in Eastern Europe and Africa.  Its emergence coincided with the rise of stabilization as an aim of Western militar...

The High-level Panel (HLP) report has failed to transform the post-2015 debate, because it has missed the opportunity to correct the misinterpretations, misconceptions and misappropriations of the MDGs.

Fundamental systemic change is needed, starting with a cultural paradigm shift based on appreciation of our environment.

Economists seem to find it difficult to accept different schools of economic thought. But pluralism in economic thinking is the solution to the complexity of the real world that surrounds us.

The NGO community agrees that the foreign aid frame is no longer a viable option, even if that means that NGOs have to evolve into something else. The question is, should today’s NGO by retired, replaced or rejuvenated?

I recently chaired a forum that discussed whether a new paradigm has emerged in the field of development cooperation, and if so, what does it consist of? A great deal of time at these kinds of debates is spent exploring definitions and their usefu...

As many of those gathered here in Busan, I feel very excited about the chance we have to collectively shape the way in which development is practiced.

Aid effectiveness can not be dealt with in isolation

Our economy is shaped by our culture, Michiel Schwarz argues. The "sustainist" culture that is emerging will fuel a shift in economic orientation and the rise of an "ethononomics".

Budget support is a relatively new, yet already widely criticized, phenomenon. However, despite a lack of evidence of its impact on poverty reduction, it is too early to write it off. Budget support is likely to have a significant long-term impact...

According to Henk Molenaar, we are in need of a single, powerful concept to rival growth as development paradigm.

We are indeed in need of a new development paradigm, Henk Molenaar argues. Compared to the simplicity and intuitive clarity of the concept of growth, the ever more sophisticated indices we are developing to measure wellbeing are not going to do th...

Socio-environmental conflict is a powerful mechanism that has great potential to push for the paradigm shift that we urgently need, argues Diego Murguía.

In April 2011 the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD released its statement “Welcoming New Partnerships in International Development Cooperation.” The main objective of this statement is to forge a closer partnership between tradit...

Probably you already have noticed that The Broker started a project called the “Bellagio Initiative: living well in the 21st century”. This is mainly an online debate on a series of questions related to the promotion of human wellbeing in general,...

The Broker will publish interesting publications and current affairs in de field of global development.

The Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico is like a Mecca for complexity science. Physicists, biologists, cosmologists, anthropologists, playwrights and even novelists spend their time here, breaking down disciplinary boundaries. This time the focus is...

In one of his last blog posts, Duncan Green pointed to Martin Jacques' fascinating TED talk : Understanding the rise of China, which offers some confrontational and thought-provoking glimpses of China and its future role in the world.China will be...

The greatest task facing mankind is managing the future – but given the paroxysmal intensity of so many accumulated and emerging problems or challenges that we face today we need to and will treat our mission as Solving the Future.Solving the futu...

Does Ecological Economics have the ability to cope with short term crises of the capitalist economy, if we are primarily concerned with long-term cumulative phenomena, coevolutionary responses both by nature and institutions?A key area for our wor...

Growth for growth’s sake is no longer an option. Ecological economists are calling for a ‘green’ revision of incentives and investments, as the starting point for achieving societies that are sustainable in environmental, social as well as economi...

Sustained and widespread future prosperity will require basic reforms in global governance and in macroeconomic science. Such reforms will not be easy, as they require entirely new ways of thinking.

Some countries have shifted resources to stimulate ‘green economy’ opportunities, looking to capitalize on societal concerns about the spillovers of profligate consumption during the recent speculative bubble. Under the banner of a ‘Global Green N...

Within some sections of the academic community there is considerable hesitation to adopt web 2.0 applications for social networking through blogs, wikis, twitter and sites such as Facebook and YouTube. Granted, some academics, including a few prof...

One major point to emerge from the day of free-flowing and wide-ranging discussions at Brussels was the need for a new paradigm. As Frans reports, 'Among the hundred plus attendants there was a general feeling that we need a new paradigm, or a new...

After reading Andy Sumner’s article and then attending the policy forum I thought I would share some of my reflections on the issues that have been raised. It is important to recall that addressing poverty is not particularly antithetical with the...

I finished my blog yesterday by highlighting the need for a new development paradigm. This new paradigm may take up to five years to emerge and, from past experience of paradigm shifts, it will draw together ideas from existing theory and practice...

I finished my blog posting yesterday with a promise to say something about the 'what next?' question. Well, I’m always thinking about a book academics generally can’t stand but I love – that’s Gladwell’s Tipping point (Chip and Dan Heath’s Made to...

I’d like to blog on the ‘After 2015’ theme from the point of view of having co-led the 23 June with colleagues and friends at IDS, The Broker, ActionAid, DSA, and EADI.Looking for key emergent themes I’ve also just re-read the special policy brief...

I welcome Andy Sumner’s contribution on the future of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). While there has been much debate around achieving the MDGs, and tracking progress of countries and regions, little has been said about the future of the...

Sumner in his challenging paper “Beyond 2015”, encourages us to rethink the development policy and reconsider the need, nature and dimensions of MDG’s from the real expectations of poor people instead of donors’ interest. The author points out the...

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a visionary statement. They have focused the attention and intention of the world towards the challenge of our time. But they are a product of our past and as such are simultaneously unhelpful as they di...

There are less than 7 years to go before 2015. Ever since the MDG journey took off at the turn of the 20th century, their outcomes have been monitored and assessed. The interactive maps of the MDG Atlas provide some graphic insights. We need not b...

Like Barten, Schrecker and Woodward we believe that health is not about health care only, and optimal health care is not the sum of interventions against health problems. Consequently we believe that the current international global health promoti...