Legacies of Inequality, Myths of Progress

Primarily focused on economic inequality, United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #10, “Reduced Inequalities,” also aims to “empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic or other status.” Yet today’s global inequities possess long legacies of systemically generated and sustained efforts to benefit the few to the serious detriment of the many, often the world’s Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities. What historical movements created such drastic disparities? Which social structures continue to uphold or even exacerbate them? What myths of progress abound, and to what ends? In this panel, Northwestern University professors Doug Kiel, Simone Ispa-Landa, and Katrina Quisumbing King will discuss the imperialist, white supremacist heritage of - and persisting principles underlying - our existing realities and will highlight the sparks of possibility for future justice.

This webinar is part of the Northwestern Buffett Institute for Global Affairs’ Building Sustainable Futures: Global Challenges and Possibilities series, which focuses on a different United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) each quarter with SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities being the focus of spring 2021.