Unequal Worlds; an inequality research podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode of Unequal Worlds, host Wesley Maraire speaks with Tomas Salem, PhD fellow at the University of Bergen’s Department of Anthropology, about the rise of the far right in Brazil. The conversation explores the political, economic, social, and religious forces fueling this movement, focusing on its deep connections to corruption, economic inequality, and the militarisation of police operations.

Salem discusses how political cosmology, populism, and religious movements, particularly Pentecostal churches, have shaped Brazil’s far-right rhetoric, while social media platforms like WhatsApp spread misinformation and mobilise support. The episode also delves into the Pacification project in Brazil’s favelas, examining its racial and economic implications, authoritarian policing practices, and complex relationships with drug gangs and residents. Finally, the discussion highlights the global relevance of these dynamics, especially in relation to inequality, spirituality, and discontent among marginalised populations.

Tune in for a deep dive into Brazil’s political landscape and the broader implications of far-right movements worldwide.

You can read Tomas’ new book titled ‘Policing the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro’ for more insights. It is free and open access!

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In this episode of Unequal Worlds, we dive deep into the pressing challenges and innovative solutions surrounding the global green transition. Host Wesley Maraire and guest Michael Grubb explore the evolving landscape of climate finance, political solutions, and the critical role of private investment in advancing low-carbon projects in developing countries.

Key Topics Covered:

• The transformation of office buildings in South Africa into independent power producers through solar energy, reflecting a global shift towards renewable energy.
• The political and financial intricacies of the $100 billion climate finance goal for developing countries, including the role of public and private investment.
• How leveraging windfall profits from the energy crisis can significantly boost climate finance and accelerate clean energy investments.
• The potential impact of debt forgiveness and the critical need for targeted solutions in the fight against climate change.
• Strategies for transferring renewable energy technology to regions rich in resources but lacking in technology infrastructure, focusing on Africa’s potential.

🎧 Listen Now: Join us as we navigate these crucial topics and uncover how new political solutions and visionary initiatives can reshape our approach to climate finance and ensure a fair green transition for all.

Subscribe to Unequal Worlds on your favourite podcast platform and leave a review to let us know your thoughts!

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In this episode of Unequal Worlds, we explore the topic of citizenship and its current state in diverse political contexts. The episode was recorded at a Breakfast Seminar at Bergen Global as part of the joint GRIP and Chr. Michelsens Institute (CMI) project Political Protests and New Forms of Citizenship. The discussants included Mari Norbakk from CMI and Giorgi Cheishvili from Tbilisi State University, moderated by Elina Troscenko from GRIP.

Citizenship is in crisis due to the rise of populist and authoritarian governments, and its inability to tackle challenges such as climate change, refugee crisis, and the pandemic. The commodification of citizenship and the closure of spaces for protest have also raised concerns among scholars. However, large-scale political protests are taking place, challenging authorities in instances where they seem to be losing legitimacy and people's trust.

Citizenship may appear static, but it is constantly negotiated. The panelists shed light on different practices and understandings of citizenship in diverse political contexts, and how the dynamics of negotiating the relationship between the state and society take place under different political regimes.

The episode reveals how people are maneuvering a changing landscape and changing relations between the state and the people by drawing on examples from mainly Qatar, Egypt and Georgia and with references to Bahrain and Latvia.

The Panel:

Giorgi Cheishvili is a social anthropologist and his research covers topics such as state, nationalism, citizenship and borders. He has conducted extensive ethnographic research in Georgia and Turkey. He holds a PhD in social anthropology from the University of Bergen (Norway) and is currently a visiting lecturer at Tbilisi State University (Georgia).

Mari Norbakk is social anthropologist at Chr. Michelsens Institute and her work is focused on the Middle East, specifically Egypt and Qatar as well as migrant communities in Norway. Research interests include masculinities, marriage, gender, women’s rights, revolutionary practice, class, capital and migration.

Elina Troscenko (moderator) is the Head of the GRIP Secretariat. In her academic work she has been focusing on Soviet legacies in the Baltics, the Caucasus and Central Asia exploring issues relating to borders, citizenship and bureaucratic practices of the state in relation to marginalized populations.

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This episode’s guest is dr Zarina Patel, Associate Professor of Human Geography in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town. In conversation with GRIP’s Maria Bakke Ulvesæter, dr Patel discusses, among other things; the ways urban developments can be just and sustainable; epistemic inequalities and the importance of trans-disciplinary work; the significance of Africa’s future urban development; and how urban development and inequality are intrinsically linked.

Dr Patel’s research addresses the politics and practices of achieving just and sustainable urban transitions. The distinctive focus of her scholarship is the use of transdisciplinary approaches to navigate alternate insights and responses to complex urban issues in southern contexts.

Mentioned in this episode:

Research and knowledge centre Mistra Urban Futures

The New African Urban University

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This episode is a recording of GRIP affiliate Svati Shah's keynote at the 2022 Bergen Exchanges. Here, Dr Shah sets the issues of gender, land rights and political enfranchisement as well as postcolonial queer and trans theory into the broader context of anti-democratic governance and battles over historical memory in India. 

Svati Shah is a feminist anthropologist who works on questions of sexuality, gender, migration and caste capitalism in India. They hold adjunct appointments in the Departments of Anthropology and Afro-American Studies at UMass-Amherst. Dr Shah’s ethnographic monograph, Street Corner Secrets: Sex, Work and Migration in the City of Mumbai, discussed sex work as an aspect of labour migration that is mediated by the politics of space, urbanization and caste. They are currently researching the rise of authoritarianism and the histories of new left social movements, queer feminist critique, and anthropology in South Asia.

You can read more about Svati Shah and their work at their webpage: Svati P. Shah 

This event was a part of the LawTransform Queer Lawfare seminar series (sponsored by Fritt Ord), a collaboration with GRlP (Global Research Programme on Inequality), Centre on Law & Social Transformation and Centre for Women’s and Gender Research at UiB.

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We are happy to be able to share a recording of this keynote session with you as an episode of our podcast Unequal Worlds. This keynote address was given by Prof. Leandro Rodriguez Medina (Department of Sociology, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Azcapotzalco, Mexico) and entitled: “On epistemic decentralization: challenges for knowledge infrastructures”.

GRIP affiliate Dr. Susanne Koch (STS Department/Chair of Forest and Environmental Policy, Technical University of Munich) together with Prof. Nelius Boshoff (Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology, Stellenbosch University) convened the workshop “Science as a Site of Inequality: An Exploratory Workshop for Sharing Evidence and Experience from Environment-Related Research Fields” (11.–13. May 2022).

The hybrid event brought together scholars from all across the world to discuss how science itself is shaped by inequality – and how it could become a more inclusive space of knowledge production. The workshop was hosted by the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studyand funded by the DFG Programme Point Sud.

If you are interested in hearing more from the workshop, you are welcome to listen to this talk given by Nelius and Susanne as part of the CWTS Diversity and Inclusion Seminar Series.

Keynote: Leandro Rodriguez Medina

Moderator: Susanne Koch

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Cover photo by Andrew Stutesman on Unsplash

2020 marked the start of several global crises the consequences and impact of which we are still attempting to comprehend and deal with, and inequalities are again on the rise worldwide.

In this episode we dive into the newly published book The Long Year, edited by Caitlin Zaloom & Thomas Sugrue, which brings together some of the world’s leading scientists and incisive thinkers who grapple with the implications of the various crises of 2020, providing a sobering and critical analysis of the pre-existing conditions that lead to these crises, exposing the way inequalities have exploded and also offering suggestions for the ways forward – ways to reform, reconnect and rebuild a more equal future for us all.

To talk about this book, we are lucky to have one of the editors, Caitlin Zaloom, with us. Caitlin is a professor of Social & Cultural Analysis at New York University. She studies the cultural dimensions of finance, politics, technology, and economic life. She is also the author of books Indebted: How Families Make College Work at Any Cost and Out of the Pits: Traders and Technology from Chicago to London.

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Food is at the core of the UN's development agenda for the 21st century and several SDGs explicitly focus on food system challenges. Food production, distribution and consumption are linked to inequalities in a myriad of ways, and in this episode we explore inequality through the lens of food. In this discussion GRIP's Elina Troscenko is joined by Ingunn Marie Stadskleiv Engebretsen; Professor, Centre for International Health at the University of Bergen and Hanne Rosendahl-Riise, Associate Professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen. 

Hanne and Ingunn led the course Food Security for 8 Billion; Closing the gap with commitments, sustainable measures, and research during  Bergen Summer Research School 2022. Bergen Summer Research School is a partnership of NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Chr. Michelsen Institute, and NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS, under the leadership of the University of Bergen. Every year, 100 PhD candidates are welcomed to take one of six parallel PhD-level courses, all based in some of Bergen’s best research groups, and each addressing important global challenges. 

Follow Bergen Summer Research School on Twitter to get notified of next year's course! 

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Photo by Tomas Hertogh on Unsplash

The SANORD 2021 conference was hosted by the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and the University of Bergen. The conference focused on how SANORD partners can use and strengthen partner­ships - with the aims of meeting the needs of the UN 2030 Agenda. GRIP was a contributor to the sub-theme “Epistemic challenges, intellectual labour and South-North partnerships” and we are now lucky enough to be able to publish the keynote by Maria Paula Meneses as a podcast episode. 

Keynote "Food as knowledge, interconnecting the Global South" by Maria Paula Meneses

Discussant: Pamila Gupta

Moderator: Bjørn Enge Bertelsen 

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The Centre for International Health (CIH) at the University of Bergen (UiB) hosted the 12th European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health in Bergen, Norway 2021. GRIP’s executive director, Bjørn Enge Bertelsen, led the plenary session “ Will global health survive its decolonisation? “ and we are happy to be able to share the recording of the session with all of you.

Keynote “Power, privilege and coloniality in Global Health”  Dr Madhukar Pai

Participants:

Tammam Aloudat

Lioba A. Hirsch

Themrise Khan

Bjørn Enge Bertelsen (moderator)

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