Seminar - Social Protection and Coloniality: Learning from the Past and Present

Abstract

The historical influence of colonial powers and the continued, deep-rooted engagement of international development actors in shaping social protection systems is widely recognised across academic and policy arenas. Nevertheless, evidence of the role of coloniality in social protection remains limited.

This seminar looks a new research exploring the enduring impact of colonialism on contemporary social protection systems by considering the role of coloniality in social protection in the Global South, and Africa in particular.

It does so by employing a three-fold methodology, namely (i) an examination of empirical and theoretical literature, including scholarship on coloniality, policy transfers and political settlements in the realm of social protection; (ii) semi-structured interviews with international and regional stakeholders from academia, civil society and international organisations; and (iii) country case studies in Côte d’Ivoire and Tanzania.  

This research was commissioned by the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and carried out by researchers from the Open University, UK, the Université Jésuite of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

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Speakers

Dr Kevin Deane is a senior lecturer in economics at the Open University, UK. He is an interdisciplinary specialist in development economics, political economy and global health. His research interests focus on the social determinants and political economy of health, primarily with an application to the HIV epidemic, COVID-19 and malaria in Eastern and Southern Africa. 

Dr Julia Ngozi Chukwuma is a senior lecturer in economics at the Open University, UK. Her research explores how social policy takes shape in African contexts, with a particular focus on the political economy of health policymaking and global efforts towards achieving Universal Health Coverage.