Carpe Diem: Bandung, historical inequalities and development goals
JOMO Kwame Sundaram
ABSTRACT The 1955 Bandung Afro-Asian solidarity conference symbolized the end of the colonial era and the beginning of new relations between the former colonial powers which had industrialized and the former colonies subsequently variously referred to as the developing countries, Third World or South. These changing relations also involved new discourses and modes of analysis. The nature and pattern of inequalities has also changed significantly over time, including during the recent period. Despite high levels of national level inequalities, about two thirds of overall economic inequality are due to disparities among countries. But the determinants of changing inequalities have also changed significantly as economic relations at both national and international levels have changed with economic, social and political transformations. In recent years, the ascendant developmentalist discourse of the 1960s and 1970s was undermined by the rise of conservative market fundamentalism. The discourse of development has continued to change as reflected by the lines and terms of conflict and contention. The four Development Decades of the late 20th century gave way to the Millennium Development Goals of the last decade and a half. The struggle to elaborate the Sustainable Development Goals for the next period is the most recent manifestation of this ongoing struggle.
KEYWORDS: Bandung, colonial, development, G77, goals, imperialism, Millennium Development Goals, poverty, post-colonial, Sustainable Development Goals
Notes on contributor
Jomo Kwame Sundaram was Assistant Director General, Economic and Social Development Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations from August 2012 until the end of 2015. Jomo was Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development in the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) from January 2005 until June 2012, and (Honorary) Research Coordinator for the G24 Intergovernmental Group on International Monetary Affairs and Development from December 2006 until September 2012. In 2007, he was awarded the Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. Jomo has authored and edited over a hundred books and translated 12 volumes besides writing many academic papers and articles for the media.