We spoke with Dr. Marcia Barbosa, one of the directors of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC), about the role of science in Brazil right now and about the mini-series “Science creates development”, produced by the Academy.

“To glimpse into the future, tough, it is necessary to analyze the past and when it comes to the history of Brazilian science, the past is brilliant. Even though science financing was always inconsistent and precarious, Brazilian scientists were responsible for the invention of the polyvalent antiophidic serum; were the firsts to ever trace the entire cycle of a disease, — the Chagas Disease; and participated in the discovery of the meson pi particle. They have also discovered the bradykinin, a potent vasodilator that is used until now in the treatment of hypertension; Brazilian scientists were the firsts to complete a heart transplant in the Latin America and were the firsts to identify the Aedes aegypti as the transmitter of the yellow fever in Latin America.

Even with the great achievements of the past, today, more than ever before, the practice of scientific outreach has a crucial role on the destiny of science in the country. The creation of public policies that protect the investments in this field will be a reality only when citizens and political representatives recognize what the scientific community emphasized for a long time: science creates development!

http://www.abc.org.br/en/a-instituicao/missao/

Johanna Döbereiner (28.November 1924 – 5.October 2000) was a Brazilian agronomist. She played an important role in Brazil’s soybean production by encouraging a reliance on varieties that solely depended on biological nitrogen fixation.

Alberto Álvaro Alberto da Mota e Silva was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1889. He joined the Brazilian Navy in 1906, initiating an important trajectory that would change the direction of development in Brazil.

Marcos Luiz dos Mares Guia (1935-2002) had his work recognized in numerous instances, inside and outside the academic environment. He is one of the most important researchers in the field of biotechnology in the country, Marcos was one of those responsible for the discovery of recombinant human insulin. He was also in charge of the foundation of Biobrás, a pioneer in the manufacture of insulin in Brazil.

Milton Almeida dos Santos (May 3, 1926 – June 24, 2001) was a Brazilian geographer who had a degree in law. He became known for pioneer works in various fields in geography, notably urban development in developing countries. He is considered the father of Critical Geography in Brazil.

Few would disagree that there’s growing evidence showing the terrible impact of climate change on our planet, but what exactly is being done about it? Although the Paris Climate Agreement is a step in the right direction, researchers and scientists believe that… more focus needs to be given to the technological, economic, and policy dimensions of the challenge facing modern society today, as we are tasked with preserving the planet’s natural resources. Ahead of the World Sustainable Development Forum in Mexico City this week, its President, Dr Rajendra K. Pachauri, spoke to Traces.Dreams about the aims of the Forum, and the necessity in establishing long-term goals to lower greenhouse gas emissions, and protect the delicate ecosystems of our planet over the next century.

We met Dr. Narong Sirilertworakul a couple of weeks ago in Thailand. He is the President of Thailand’s National Science and Technology Development Agency, an organization focused on increasing… Thailand’s reputation as a global competitor in the fields of scientific research and technology, with the aim of modernising the country’s industries, growing GDP, and improving quality of life for the people of Thailand.
Dr. Sirilertworakul holds a BA in Industrial Engineering and a PhD in Manufacturing Engineering. He has extensive experience in research, management, and quality, and was a founding member of the Thailand Quality Awards. Dr. Sirilertworakul also serves as a Chairman on the boards of several innovation and technology-based businesses.

Early-career researches (ECRs) from around the world, including GYA members and alumni, share their experiences with science leadership training. They discuss the challenges ECRs face and how science leadership capabilities support positive and impactful actions, and describe their key learnings and how these apply in their careers.

Dr. Anindita Bhadra is a behavioural biologist, working with free-ranging (stray) dogs in India. While pet dogs are studied extensively and compared with wolves in order to understand the evolution of the dog-human relationship, free-ranging dogs in India provide the perfect model system for studying them in nature, and building an understanding of the intrinsic nature of dogs. As they have hardly been studied so far, Dr. Bhadra chose the dogs as a model system, shifting completely from her zone of training and comfort, social insects. This gave her the freedom to set up a research group from scratch, doing things that she had never done before, and exploring new vistas of research.

Dr. Bhadra was involved in the founding of INYAS, and was elected as the first Chairperson by the founding members in June 2015.

In June 2020 she was elected co-chair of the Global Young Academy. In this video, she shares her personal story.

You can find out more about her here: https://globalyoungacademy.net/anindita-bhadra/

Dr Flávia Ferreira Pires is Professor of Social Anthropology at the Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Brazil.

She completed her bachelor degree in Social Sciences. She earned a Master´s and PhD degrees in Social Anthropology at the National Museum, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

She became a professor at a young age. Since then, she has been leading various research projects, mainly aiming at understanding the everyday lives of children from their own perspectives and the macro structures that outline their existence. She has published over forty papers, book chapters, and books in influential periodicals and journals in Brazil and elsewhere.

In this video, she shares her personal story.

You can find out more about her here: https://globalyoungacademy.net/fpires/

Dr. Shalini S. Arya is currently an Assistant Professor at the Food Engineering and Technology Department Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai. She works in the area of Indian traditional foods, in particular cereal-based staple foods such as chapatti, phulka, thepla, khakhara, thalipeeth, naan, and kulcha.

Her work is focused on various aspects such as product development and standardization, nutritional improvement and characterization, chemistry and technology, staling, extension of shelf life using various technologies (MAP, oxygen scavenger, chemical, freezing, etc) for these products, all of which would have far-reaching significance in improving public health in India and that too based on the resources that are locally available and food staples that are regularly consumed by the locals. She has more than 50 publications in international journals of high repute. Thus, Dr. Shalini is indirectly contributing to improving the public health of the Indian population.

In this video, she shares her personal story. The journey that started with the curiosity and the passion of a child.

You can find out more about her here: https://globalyoungacademy.net/sarya/

In 2012, Eqbal M.A. Dauqan received her Ph.D in Biochemistry from the School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Malaysia, sponsored by the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD). Her main research interest is biochemistry, food antioxidants, and nutrition.

Her thesis was awarded for being an excellent thesis. She was appointed as a Post-doctoral Fellow at the School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, FST, UKM from July 2012 to July 2013. In July 2013 she was appointed as Senior lecturer at Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences- Faculty of Medical Sciences, Al-Saeed University (SU) – Taiz, Yemen, where she became Head of the Medical Laboratory Sciences Department at the same Faculty.

In 2014 Eqbal established a new program entitled Therapeutic Nutrition Department in, SU. She was selected as one of five winners of the 2014 Elsevier Foundation Award for Early Career Women Scientists in the developing countries (Chemical Sciences). Eqbal was selected to be a visiting scholar in UKM, Malaysia sponsored by IIE_SRF (USA) from Feb 2016 to Feb 2018.

In February 2018, she affiliated with the Global Young Academy as a mentee in the At-Risk Scholar initiative. In September 2018, she had been selected as TWAS Young Affiliate for 2018-2022. Currently, Eqbal was appointed as an associate professor at the University of Agder (UIA), Kristiansand-Norway through the Scholar at Risk (SAR) Network, USA.

In this video, she shares her personal story. The journey that started with the curiosity and the passion of a child.

You can find out more about her here: https://globalyoungacademy.net/edauqan/

The Global Young Academy gives a voice to young scientists around the world. To realise this vision, we develop, connect, and mobilise young talent from six continents. Moreover, we empower young researchers to lead international, interdisciplinary, and inter-generational dialogue with the goal to make global decision making evidence-based and inclusive.

Find out more about this here: https://globalyoungacademy.net/activities/global-health/

Find out more here:
https://globalyoungacademy.net/responsibility-for-refugee-and-migrant-integration-video-interview-with-the-authors/

We produced this video together with the Members of the Global Young Academy Women in Science working group. Listen to these inspiring researchers. They speak about their work, motivations, and dreams.

Learn more about the Global Young Academy here: globalyoungacademy.net/

Listen to these young scientists and learn more about their work, their questions and why they believe it is important what they are doing.

We produced these four videos together with the Global Young Academy working group… “Trust in (Young) Scientists”.

If you want to find out more about it, here the link.

A short message to all young women by the amazing researchers in the Global Young Academy working group Women in Science.
Learn more: globalyoungacademy.net/women-in-science/

This GYA Working Group focuses on biodiversity conservation… from a biomedical perspective.
The aims are to preserve knowledge about the medicinal properties of different species, create a global knowledge hub for biodiversity and biomedicine, and develop new pharmaceuticals from nature while protecting biodiversity.The loss of biodiversity minimises the potential for harvesting new medicines and for future medical discoveries. This is due to the interdependence of sustainability of the environment, human wellbeing, and the development of new public health practices. The actions of our group will mobilise the skills and expertise within the GYA to address this issue. In addition, the Bio2Bio incubator group aims to create practical recommendations for the sustainable use of Earth’s finite natural resources for healing purposes and requests the support from policymakers. With the expanding loss of biodiversity, we must act now to avoid losing new solutions for human-focused problems. Read more on the Global Young Academy website.

Watch our video about the amazing project The Global State of Young Scientists (GloSYS), a research project initiated by the Global Young Academy investigating the community of young… scientists in and from Africa.

Income inequality has skyrocketed in the United States. Since 1980, the richest 1 percent doubled their share of the nation’s earnings, and these high earners are concentrated in the financial services industry. Today, hedge fund managers earn an average annual income of $2.4 million, astronomical payouts that have mostly gone to elite white men. Megan presents an insider’s look at the industry. Have a watch!

We spoke with Megan Tobias Neely during the conference: Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilisation, organized by The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD).

Find out more about UNRISD here: http://www.unrisd.org

Who owns the future of our cities? Who determines how they develop? Who decides what does it mean a “dream city”? How can we challenge the unequal power distribution?

Listen to Fritz Nganje, a lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Johannesburg.
Mr. Nganje’s current primary area of interest focuses on the international relations of sub-national governments, and more specifically on how provinces, regions, and municipalities come together to promote city cooperation and inclusive urban governance and development.

We spoke with Fritz Nganje during the conference: Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilisation, organized by The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD).

The title of his presentation was :
City-to-City Cooperation and the Promise of a Democratic “Right to the City”

When city partnerships are designed and implemented in a manner that fails to challenge unequal power relations, the urban elite tend to use their position as gatekeepers of the institutional landscape of cities to determine which foreign ideas are localized and how, undermining
the transformative potential of city-to-city cooperation.

Find out more about UNRISD here: http://www.unrisd.org

How do the needs of indigenous communities transform over time, and how can these same communities integrate themselves into a rapidly changing society?

We sat down with Sudheesh Ramapurath, an ethnographer and a DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford, to talk about his research on Land and Livelihood struggles in India, his homeland. More specifically, Sudheesh’s research focuses on the struggles of the Paniyas, a community that is part of India’s indigenous peoples, the Adivasis. Sudheesh analyzes how, over time, starting from pre and post-independence periods right up to the modern day and age, the Paniyas are still living under the poverty line.
Why? What do they want? What do they need? What is the role of research?
What changes are needed?

We met Sudheesh Ramapurath, during the conference: Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilisation, organized by The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD).

The title of his presentation was :

Persistence of Poverty in an Indigenous Community
in Southern India: Bringing Agrarian Environment to
the Centre of Poverty Analysis.

Find out more about UNRISD here: http://www.unrisd.org

Is there hope for a structural change?

We sat down and talked to Gabriele Köhler a Development Economist, former UN official, and Human Rights advocate, about what we foresee for our society, economy, and planet 20 years from now. In her paper ‘’Creative Coalitions’’, she explains how, in a world marked by increasing exploitation, an unequal concentration of wealth and unfettered capitalism, there is room for hope and optimism thanks to new coalitions of people in civil society coming together to fight repression and standing up for common causes, mandates and concerns.

We spoke with Gabriele Köhler during the conference: Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilisation, organized by The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD).

The title of her presentation was :
CREATIVE COALITIONS IN A FRACTURED WORLD: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE?

Find out more about UNRISD here: http://www.unrisd.org

What does the future of equality and inequality look like in an interconnected world?

Listen to François Bourguignon, Emeritus Professor and Director of the Paris School of Economics.

We spoke with Prof. Bourguignon in Geneva during the conference: Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilisation, organized by The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD).

The title of his keynote was:
Global and National Inequalities: A Worried Look into the Future

Find out more about UNRISD here: http://www.unrisd.org

What does politics look like in sub-Saharan Africa? How does it work and whom does it benefit?

Development Economist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Michael Danquah, explains the power plays in place to keep only a privileged few in rule of his country, while the rest of the population faces a stagnant economy that puts education, health, and public policies at risk.
Improving education, raising awareness and restructuring old and faulty concepts of power become keys to leading a country out of the darkness, and to help start to position them, little by little, on the path to economic, democratic and social development.

We spoke with Dr. in Geneva during the conference: Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilisation, organized by The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD).

The title of his presentation was:
Inequality and Institutions: Exploring the Mediating Role of Political Settlements in Some Selected African Countries

“In this paper, we quantitatively examine the interplay of legal, political and economic institutions and political settlements on income inequality. We focus on the marginal effect of the institutional variables on income inequality conditioned on political settlements. The findings show that the marginal effect of legal, political and economic institutions contingent on competitive clientelist political settlements exacerbates income inequality significantly. This means that politics and power play in competitive clientelist political settlements are detrimental to equality and poverty reduction.”

What do inequalities look like in different parts of the world, and what can governments, civil servants, and citizens do to eliminate them?

In the second episode of our ‘Inequalities’ mini-series, Carla Beatriz de Paulo – General Coordinator in the Ministry of Social Development in Brazil – tells us about what hides behind the rise of a ‘new middle class’ in her home country, where dependence on State social programs from lower income sectors do not seem to be decreasing.

Touching on racial, gender and social issues, Carla gives us an insight into the needs and limitations that the Brazilian population faces everyday, and tells us how academia and field work can come together to bring about solutions to an unequal playing field.

We spoke with Carla Beatriz de Paulo in Geneva during the conference: Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilisation, organised by The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD).

The title of her presentation was:
Brazil’s economic upsurge in the 2000’s : The rise of a “new” middle class or the fragmentation of the working class?
Because of the economic upsurge in the 2000s, part of Brazil’s working class started accessing durable goods and private services that had been historically inaccessible to them. This was interpreted by segments of the government and academia as a shift in class structure, and thus seen as the rise of a “new” middle class in Brazil that was less dependent on public services. This would then allow the state to restrict its role to regulating private services and providing public services to the poorest. This study suggests that interpreting this income shift as the rise of a “new” middle class is not only incorrect, but also potentially harmful to social change, since it incites fragmentation and disengagement within the working class. Alternatively, it argues that those who bene ted from the income shift are a fragment of the working class and far more dependent on state social services than advocates of the new middle class thesis suggest. In order to better understand this phenomenon, this study seeks to investigate the level of access to health and education services of those in this income range. The results obtained through data analysis reveal the predominant use of public health and education services by “new” middle class in 2008 and 2013, respectively.

Find out more about UNRISD here: http://www.unrisd.org

How does inequality look like through the political lens? What are the true details behind Government bias toward certain sectors of the population, and what is to be done about it?

By conducting a survey in countries like Sweden, Switzerland and the UK, Jonas Pontusson, Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Geneva, explains the intricacies of political inequality in developed countries, the importance of representation through political parties, and the role of these same parties in modern day politics and society.

We spoke with Prof. Jonas Pontusson in Geneva during the conference: Overcoming Inequalities in a Fractured World: Between Elite Power and Social Mobilisation, organised by The United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD).

The title of his presentation was:
On the Relationship Between Economic and Political Inequality: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go from Here?

Find out more about UNRISD here: http://www.unrisd.org

In this Webinar one in our “Conversation Across Borders” series we will talk to Veronica Polinedro about how Sweden dealt with the influx of migration that swept Europe after 2015

During 2015, a record 1.3 million refugees crossed into Europe. Between 2015 and 2016, more than 2.5 million people applied for asylum in the EU.
Sweden is considering a “Welcome Card.” Upon arrival in Sweden, asylum seekers place a request for asylum and get registered with the national migration agency. Registered asylum seekers receive one Welcome Card per individual (based on age) to be used during the asylum application process, as both an identification card and as a key to their case status.

The card is to ensure the well-being of asylum seekers during, and after, the asylum seeking application process, revise the asylum seeking decision-making process for the national migration agencies and foster connection between asylum seekers, refugees and the local communities:
The story of the “Welcome card” began on May 20, 2016, when a team of experience designer, software developer, social entrepreneurs and business administrators came together during a 12-hour workshop to tackle the refugee crisis through design.

Veronica Polinedrio is a product UX designer working with transdisciplinary research and empathy to answer complex systemic challenges. In 2016, she founded The Welcome Card, where she lead product, design, and research. She has served as an advocate and coordinator for several community development projects, non-profit organizations, and start-up companies between the United States, Honduras, Sweden, and Italy. She is passionate about immigration and social dignity, designing solutions that build empathy and promote ethical practices for socio-politico-economical change within our communities

In this Webinar Interview with Jo Ruxton we discuss the huge problem of plastic waste and its impact on the oceans of our globe.

350 million tonnes of plastic are being produced each year. This could weigh more than humanity, estimated at 316 million tonnes in 2013. 8 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean every year. If waste management practices don’t improve, scientists predict this amount could increase tenfold by 2025
Plastics make up to around 75% of marine litter, although this can be up to 100% at some sites. Plastic in the ocean breaks up into smaller fragments called microplastics, which have been identified in commercial fish consumed by humans.

Jo Ruxton is the Founder Director and Producer of “A Plastic Ocean” the award winning documentary. It’s been named by Sir David Attenborough as “one of the most important films of our time” and has ignited mass consumer awareness.

In this webinar we interview Samara Croci who is a Brand and Communication Manager for Aquafil USA. Aquafil is a company that has placed the circular economy and sustainability at the heart of the company’s mission which is to save resources, give new life to otherwise lost materials and increase efficiency along the value chain.

Samara has 15 years of experience in communications for advertising, media production, social media, and branding.

In this webinar Samara will discuss the fascinating challenge – communicating the environmental problems we face today. It is an excellent school for a communications professional as it deals with something that you cannot always see, that is technical and complicated, and that we tend to avoid.

How can a company respect the environment go green and communicate its values to both its customers and to other businesses as well.

Samara is particularly interested in digital resources, and meaningful social media communication as well as video story telling to get her message about sustainability across.

Join us in this webinar which is the next episode in the Conversations Across Borders” series. It is about the journey of Ragnhild Larsson a journalist who made the journey to become a climate change activist

This was a knowledge journey through the different aspect of this issue – a ourney in the forefront of the climate change movement. A personal transformation, from a journalist to an activist.

In September 2015 Ragnhild Larsson . a Swedish journalist, based in Gothenburg started the podcast “The klimatpodden” about climate change. In her statement she told us

“I am worried and upset. The climate crisis changes everything. Why is this not the top priority in the media? How come our politicians don’t address the climate crises we are in in a proper way.” In Klimatpodden, the Swedish podcast about climate change you will meet researchers activists and entrepreneurs who act to handle the climate crises we are in the midst of.”

In this webinar we discuss with Iboro Otu from Nigeria how the Covid 19 pandemic has affected the African Continent and especially Nigeria.

In the UK and much of Europe we have had basic infrastructures like health services as well as an active voluntary sector ( as in Enfield) and although hugely under strain they have coped in the most difficult of circumstances.

But what happens in countries where that infrastructure is not there and where water is not always available and on tap. How do countries with widespread urban as well as trial communities enforce lockdown and social distancing. And how do Governments both cope and respond.

In this Webinar we discuss with Marie Elisabeth Mueller the power of storytelling in the digital age and how the news we hear can be democratised by the power of story telling.

But in the digital age story telling takes on a new form that involves text, graphics and video and makes the power of story telling something that crosses borders. And when so much news on the media is manipulated by the powerful story telling can provide a platform for all of us to correct the balance.

Dr. Mueller who was born in Duesseldorf holds a Ph.D. in Digital Storytelling, Media Science from the University Constance. She has been teaching interactive multimedia, crossplatform storytelling and trends in the media industry since 2014 at the Stuttgart Media University in Germany I work with people at the intersection of emerging technologies, digital literacy and communications.

In this Webinar Simon Nicholson an Assistant Professor in the
School of International Service Contact is interviewed by us about climate change and whether we will be able to meet the target set by the International Panel on Climate Change to reduce carbon emissions sufficiently to keep temperature rise below 1.5 degrees by the end of the century.

We know climate change is happening and we will have to adapt but are the measures to mitigate climate change and its impact enough or do we need more drastic measures like geo engineering. And if we do, how safe is that and what are the unintended consequences.

We also discuss how scientists communicate their concerns to both politicians and the general public so that the issues are understood clearly.

The World Health Organization in collaboration with arts and entertainment influencers and public personalities as well as leading arts and cultural entities are launching #SolidaritySessions and #SolidarityShows to a global audience.

Art, alongside science, is the way we can make sense of this moment of uncertainty and isolation, through an expression of solidarity and love with family, friends, as a community, a nation or as a species.

Celebrity musicians are sharing #SolidaritySessions, powered by Global Citizen, which are live performances taped in intimate settings and offered for free on social media to help share important updates and guidelines, show solidarity and raise funds for emergency programs. Tune into the sessions by following hashtag #TogetherAtHome.

We will be interviewing Lisa Russell who is a consultant/curator for the World Health Organization. Lisa is an Emmy-winning filmmaker, UN/NGO Storyteller and Artist Curator, 2x TEDx Speaker, Fulbright Specialist and Founder whose work lies at the intersection of arts, social justice and global development.

In this webinar we interview Nick Dearden the Director of Global Justice Now – a democratic social justice organisation working as part of a global movement to challenge the powerful and create a more just and equal world. They mobilise people in the UK for change, and act in solidarity with those fighting injustice, particularly in the global south:

Today we face two existential crises the corona virus pandemic and climate change and both bring the need for global justice strikingly to the forefront. As these crises unfold although they will impact on us all, it is the poor and vulnerable that will be affected the most.

Ho do we in a world in crisis, where fear and concern often makes us inward looking, find solutions to provide justice for those who need it the most.

In this webinar we interview the grand niece of Dag Hammarskjöld who was the second Secretary General of the United Nations and who died in a mysterious plane crash.

We talk to her about the legacy of her great uncle, the international situation today and also about her own work to further the vision of Dag Hammarskjöld.

You can follow Caroline’s Website with more information about what she does and also about her grand uncle at https://www.hammarskjold.org/

Join this Conversation Across Borders Podcast where we interview Alex Kagansky on the biodiversity of life and how it is being threatened thus creating a crisis for humanity.

The loss of biodiversity both eliminates possibility to learn nature, and importantly to survive and help the future sufferers, including ourselves and our relatives and friends, as it minimises the potential for harvesting new medicines.

This is due to the interdependence of sustainability of the environment, human wellbeing, and the development of new public health practices. We aim to mobilise the skills and expertise to address this issue. Earth’s finite natural resources are essential for healing purposes and requests the support from society at large able national, religious, or other interests . With the expanding loss of biodiversity, we must act now to avoid losing new solutions for human-focused problems.

In this Webinar Interview we talk with Rickard Ydrenäs about how Europe views the British General Election result and what impact it will have in the coming decade.

Richard is a political scientist, journalist and communications specialist with expertise on the European Union’s work, the EU’s legislative process and financial markets regulation.

In this webinar we discuss how we might develop a series of global webinars to celebrate research, help academics tell their stories, and build learning across borders; whether they be barriers in language, knowledge, religions or education.

We hope to get academics to engage with audience to share knowledge and enhance experience and in this webinar we will discuss how we might do this.

Dr. Mariana Heredia in conversation with Dr. Alice Krozer.

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Mariana Heredia, Sociologist and professor at the Interdisciplinary School for Higher Social Studies in Buenos Aires, Argentina, about her new book ¿El 99% contra el 1%?
Por qué la obsesión por los ricos no sirve para combatir la desigualdad (The 99% against the 1%? Why the obsession with the rich does not serve the fight against inequality).
Mariana is an expert in social inequalities and power relations. They speak about what we need for a more egalitarian future: inclusive public policies and less ambition toward money only.

Dr. Raymundo Campos in conversation with Dr. Alice Krozer.
 
In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Raymundo Campos Vazquez, professor at the Center for Economic Studies of El Colegio de México, about his new book Inequalities: Why a more equal country would benefit everybody.
Raymundo is one of the foremost experts on inequality in the country and walks us through the most pressing dimensions of inequality afflicting contemporary Mexico, that they have existed for a long time, and what we should do to finally improve the situation.
(The book title in original is Desigualdades: “Por qué nos beneficia un país más igualitario”)

Alexandra Haas – Inequalities

In this episode, Alice speaks with Alejandra Haas, director of Oxfam Mexico, about their recent report on the Gig Economy, “This Future does not APPly”.

The report focuses on the situation of delivery workers in Mexico City. Alice and Alejandra talk about their working conditions, the companies that employ them (“partner with them”), their customers, and the future of this, so far highly unregulated, sector of the economy.

Read the report here (in Spanish)
https://www.promesassobreruedas.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Este_futuro_no_applica_informe_01262022.pdf

https://www.oxfammexico.org/

Dr. Victoria Fernandes, Geomorphology

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Victoria Fernandes, a Geoscientist from GFZ Potsdam in Germany and specialist in Geomorphology, about her work on estimating the effects of climate change on river beds (erosion rates), and what they might be able to tell us about our future, i.e. the effects of climate change for landscapes and consequently, us (and all species).

“I am a Postdoctoral Researcher at GFZ Potsdam. My work focuses on integrating geological observations with quantitative geophysical and geomorphological models. Specifically, my research encompasses complementary avenues: (1) Extricating past vertical motions from the stratigraphic record using novel data and analysis of global datasets; and (2) Understanding how different geological processes shape Earth’s surface by integrating geological information with modeling approaches that quantify surface process interactions with climate and tectonics.

With a focus on Southern Patagonia, my current research combines low-temperature thermochronology with cosmogenic nuclide dating to investigate how the impacts of climate change in glacial regions are translated downstream into fluvial channels and depositional sinks. Additionally, I aim to gain insight into the role of climate change, tectonics and geodynamics on the topographic evolution of Patagonia. My project is part of the ERC GyroSCoPe Project, aimed at better understanding how periodic changes in climate affect Earth-surface processes.”

https://vmfernandes.github.io/

A north-south story – can we stop the global trade of looted cultural object?

In today’s episode, Alice speaks with Daniel Salinas Córdoba, a historian, and archeologist specializing in cultural heritage.
They talk about the problems relating to international trade, or trafficking, of historical artifacts and what needs to be done to improve the (complex) situation.

He is the author of “Guiding heritage. Representations of Mexico’s national heritage in tourist guidebooks, 1920-1994.

Abstract

“RMA thesis, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University. The present thesis explores the relationship between heritage, tourism, and the nation. It aims to contribute to the understanding of how the promotion of tourism in Mexico by state and private actors created, negotiated or displayed notions of heritage throughout the twentieth century and how these notions changed and evolved over time. Following a case study of the depiction of cultural elements of the Mexican state of Morelos in tourist guidebooks of the twentieth century, a sample of 12 guidebooks published between the 1920s and the 1990s was analyzed. The content analysis carried out looked for the images, narratives and discourses that the guidebooks presented of the archaeological sites, historical buildings, traditions and other cultural elements of Morelos.”

“In my own work and research, I’m interested in exploring the relationships between heritage, nationalism, and tourism, as well as the illicit traffic of archaeological artifacts and cultural restitution.” Daniel Salinas Córdova

https://danielsalinascordova.com

What is going on in Guatemala?

In this episode, Alice talks to Dr. Alejandra Colom, a professor of anthropology in Guatemala. They talk about Alejandra’s recent book Dissidence and Discipline, which explores the reaction of Guatemalan elites when the country’s Commission against impunity (CICIG) starts to investigate them – how the organized private sector becomes split into those that align (and get “disciplined” and the dissidents), and the consequences either of those positions can have for its members on the individual level.

Find out more about Dr. Alejandra Colom here:
https://califoundation.org/fellows/alejandra-colom/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alejandra-colom-bickford-83554a16/?originalSubdomain=gt

And here is her new book (in Spanish):
https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/B09522X9H6/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1667305749&refinements=p_27%3AAlejandra+Colom&s=books&sr=1-1

ELITES AND POWER – Do you understand the impact of networking?

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Julián Cárdenas, a Sociology Professor at the University of Valencia, who specializes in network analysis and research methods. We talk about corporate elite networks, how they differ across countries, and why their configuration matters. Julián explains how they can influence policymaking, particularly with regard to redistributive policies, and also how we can measure and better understand them.

Find Dr. Julian Cárdenas on Twitter as @juliancardenasx
Here is the link to the publication:
“Exploring the Relationship between Business Elite Networks and Redistributive Social Policies in Latin American Countries”
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/1/13/htm

How to stop toxic behaviours

In this episode, Alice speaks with Eréndira Derbez, a young illustrator and writer from Mexico (currently based in London), about her recent bestselling book They are not micro – everyday machismo (coauthored with Claudia de la Garza). It’s about the normalized everyday interactions like mansplaining and other toxic behaviors that are not only uncomfortable for women and other “minorities” but actually violent and in aggregate very harmful for individuals and the community.

Universities, elites, and inequality

Dr. Cristóbal Villalobos, Vice Director of the Research Center for the Politics and Practice of Education at Universidad Católica de Chile. Cristóbal is an education specialist and Alice talks with him about his research on the role that higher education institutions, particularly elite universities, play in the reproduction of elites, and hence inequalities. They also discuss the experience of non-elite students that manage to enter these institutions, which is often marked by social pressure, stress, and anxiety due to the cultural clash between their backgrounds and the new environments.

The hidden game that feeds Mexican inequality – and how to change it.

In this episode, you will meet Dr. Viridiana Ríos, a Mexican political analyst and journalist for the NYT and El País. She talks about her new bestselling book “No es Normal” ( This ain’t normal) which describes many different facets of inequality in Mexico, and what should be done about them.

Connect with and out more about Dr. Viridiana here:
https://www.viririos.com/
https://twitter.com/Viri_Rios
https://www.linkedin.com/in/viridianarios/?originalSubdomain=mx

In this episode, the last for this first season, Alice welcomes Nerina Finetto, founder and director of Traces&dreams. They are going to speak about Alice’s research. Perceptions of poverty, wealth and social mobility underpin policy preferences about redistribution in Mexico and beyond. But Mexicans’ desired level of equality is inconsistent with the contribution that they are willing to offer, especially at the top end of the scale. Instead of being seen as a burden, taxes should be understood as an investment in an inclusive, prosperous, and fair society.

Today, progressive taxes on wealth, inheritance, and capital are non-existent in Mexico. Moreover, the Mexican state’s limited capacity for tax collection and redistribution is compounded by the redistributive weakness of Mexico’s fragmented and hierarchical welfare state. To change this situation, the discourse around taxation needs to be reversed. Instead of seeing taxes as a burden, they must be understood as an investment in an inclusive, prosperous, and fair society.

How much would you be willing to sacrifice for that?

In this episode, Alice speaks with Djaffar Shalchi, entrepreneur, civil society activist, and millionaire – in favor of taxing #millionaires.

We speak about his organization Human Act, with its initiative Millionaires for humanity, which aims to get other multimillionaires on board and committed to a 1% global wealth tax for themselves and their peers.

Denmark-based Iranian-born Djaffar explains how difficult it is to convince his fellow wealthy people, why he is not betting on space travel and the importance of the state in the fight against inequalities.

In this podcast episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Lara Monticelli, Assistant Professor and Marie Curie Fellow at the Copenhagen Business School. Her research focuses on economic and political sociology and social movements, and she is a co-founder of the Alternatives to #Capitalism research network.

They speak about what defines capitalism, its relation to crises, and what alternatives within or without capitalism might look like.

Find out why good industrial policies are important to fight against inequality. In this podcast episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Amir Lebdioui, a Fellow at the Latina America Centre at the London School of Economics and an expert in industrial policy and economic diversification.

They talk about what industrial policy is, why it had just a bad image until recently, what makes its importance in the fight against inequality and how his Algerian home got him interested in the subject in the first place.

How can we change economics? How to make an economy that works for people and the planet | Purpose vs Profit podcast with Jennifer Hinton.

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Dr. Jennifer Hinton. Jennifer is an expert in sustainable economics and Senior Research Fellow at the Schumacher Institute located in Bristol (she is based in Stockholm though). She has a Ph.D. in Economics and another one in Sustainability Science. They talk about the relationship-to-profit theory, how it could help address the sustainability and inequality crises we’re currently facing, and how a not-for-profit world would look like.

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Jonathan Mijs, Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, and lecturer in sociology at Harvard University.

Jonathan is an expert on how people perceive and explain inequalities. He explains how the formation of these beliefs is anchored in our individual surroundings, why people overestimate social mobility, what meritocracy has to do with it, and if there can be a future where everybody knows more about people different from themselves.

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Javier Gonzalez, the Director of SUMMA (Education, Research and Innovation Laboratory for Latin America and the Caribbean), an affiliated lecturer at the University of Cambridge, and an associate researcher at COES (Center for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies) in Chile.

They talk about failed Meritocracy, on the basis of the recent report he published called “Divergent Trajectories: From the Higher Education Promise of Social Mobility to the Reality of Graduates in the Labour Market. He explains that social class of origin matters for incomes later in life even where individuals pass through the same institutions of higher education and actually social class becomes increasingly important over time.

A podcast episode with the economist Eduardo Ortiz-Juarez – What has poverty to do with inequality? | Inequality, Poverty, and Growth | WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF SEVERE CRISIS | Countries are suffering.

In this episode of #futureframedTV, Alice speaks with the economist Eduardo Ortiz-Juarez, a researcher at King’s College London and the Strategic Policy Engagement Unit of UNDP. Eduardo is an expert in poverty and inequality measurement and social policy; he explains the workings of the poverty-inequality-growth triangle (famously coined by F Bourguignon) and they talk about different indicators to measure inequality, the inequality- decrease over the last decade in Latin America and poverty reduction in Mexico at the municipal level.

What is the role of the state to reduce inequalities? How society without taxation looks? Do we need to pay more taxes?

In this podcast episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Jorge Atria, a specialist in economic and fiscal sociology and social stratification at the University Diego Portales and the COES -Center for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies in Chile.

They talk about tax policies, the role of the state, distributive justice and the need to have a more progressive fiscal structure in most countries of the world, and how there might be a window of opportunity to move towards this right now.

In this podcast episode, we talk about easy, legal, and free migration.

Dr. Alejandra Díaz de León explains why do migrants leave their homes. She is telling their story about crossing the borders.

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Alejandra Díaz de León, sociologist specializing on migration, at El Colegio de México. They talk about Central American migrants on their way to the US, trust between people who shouldn’t trust each other, the difficulties of transmigration more generally, and the particularities of deterrence policies on the American route. Tune in!

What is the price women pay for love? Podcast episode about gender inequalities in household and how to overcome them.

In this episode, Alice speaks with Sofia Mosqueda, political scientist and consultant, about the Politics of Love: the different expectations by gender towards what “to love” means, the convenience of the state to maintain intrahousehold inequality, and how a good love should look like instead.

ARE WE SEGREGATED BY CLASS? Let’s talk about economic development, big data, and urban inequality in Mexico City. Podcast episode with Diego Vazquez.

In this podcast episode, Alice speaks with Diego Vazquez who is the Research Director of #Oxfam Mexico. Diego is an economist specializing in Economic Development. They talk about last year’s report on Big Data and Urban Inequality where they found Mexico City to be completely segregated by class in terms of spaces used for recreation, education, and more.

Interplay of fiscal and monetary policies.
Why we need to know more about monetary policies!

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr Carlo Panico, economics professor at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, an expert in financial events, income distribution, and growth.
They talk about the interplay of fiscal and monetary policies, the role of central banks, and the financial markets’ lack of trust in party politics, especially in emerging countries. We also discuss how this, rather than being a technical challenge, is a political problem; in other words, how political will provides (or impedes) improvement in the coordination of institutions.

How China Escaped Shock Therapy.
The making of China’s economic reforms.

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr Isabella Weber, assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who is a political economist of China and global trade. They talk about Isabella’s new book “How China Escaped Shock Therapy”, what actually is shock therapy, why it was a bad idea (in hindsight) and how China managed to develop its own way of transitioning from state planning through gradual reindustrialization to its current strong position.

The Resource Curse – Does oil make you rich?

“The resource curse, also known as the paradox of plenty or the poverty paradox, is the phenomenon of countries with an abundance of natural resources (such as fossil fuels and certain minerals) having less economic growth, less democracy, or worse development outcomes than countries with fewer natural resources.” Wikipedia

In this episode, Alice speaks with Jesus Carrillo, Mechanical Engineer pursuing his Ph.D. in Economics at El Colegio de México, currently on a fellowship at Yale University, who specializes in the political economy of energy. They talk about the challenge of countries relying on natural resources for development (the resource curse), the sustainability of state reliance on oil, and how the future of big oil companies is changing.
#future #inequalities #economics

The Economic History of Large Pandemics

Today’s guest is Diego Castañeda, Head of Economics, Finance, and International Development at Ai-D (Agenda for International Development) think tank.
We had already the pleasure to speak with him in episode #4.
Have a watch here:
https://www.tracesdreams.com/video/inequalities-4/

In this episode, Alice and Diego talk about his new book “Pandenomics”. They talk about crises, pandemics, economic history and lessons learned (or not) for governments from previous crises.

The British Royals- Wealth, Power and Inequality

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Laura Clancy, lecturer in Media and Inequality at the University of Lancaster.
Laura researches the British #royalty and their relationship with/representation in the media. They talk about wealth, the importance of Royals in society today, the difficulties of researching anything related due to the secrecy and guarded image they keep, and recent cracks in this image with the Harry/Meghan conversation with Ophra and the accusation of racism.

Migrants, Expatriates, Mobility & Perceptions

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Sarah Kunz, Research Fellow at Bristol University who focuses on the politics of Migration categories, particularly elite mobility.

They speak about the meaning of terms like migrant and expat, the privileges and prejudices associated with one or the other, and how their meaning changed over time, also about the way citizenship and belonging are used or discarded in people’s identity and how this all links to international inequalities.

The politics of care

The episode in #Spanish with English subtitles.

In this episode of #Inequalities, Alice speaks with the sociologist Dr. Makieze Medina Ortiz, who is an expert in Childcare and Human Rights policies. They talk about the unequal division of care work in the households, and the missing engagement of the state to compensate and equalize this burden.

Inequality in Finland

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Hanna Kuusela, Academic Research fellow at Tampere University in Finland and cultural studies scholar working on issues of wealth.
They talk about the particularity of Finland, and of researching inequalities in the allegedly most equal country/example in the world.

Violence, Youth and Education

In this episode,i Alice speaks with Cirenia Chavez, a doctor in development studies from the University of Cambridge, and has been a consultant for different UN agencies including UNDP, Unicef, etc. Cirenia’s research focuses on the relation between violence, youth, and education. They talk about Cirenia’s study with imprisoned young male offenders in Ciudad Juarez, and some of the factors that drive them towards becoming offenders or not.

We dedicate this episode to the memory of Giulio Regeni, Cirenia’s and Alice friend and co-PhD student at Cambridge, who was killed in Egypt in 2016.

You can find out more about Dr Cirenia Chavez here:
https://www.cireniachavez.com/

Ethical challenges in the time of Covid19

In this episode, Alice speaks with Mira Krozer, a cultural anthropologist, who is an Integrity Advisor at Governance and Integrity in the Netherlands. They speak about the ethical questions faced by the medical staff and care sector during the pandemic, who decides what are morally right ways to act, and how an archive of testimonies can help inform and create accountability towards our dealing with the crises, on the individual and societal levels.

Reconciliation, Peace-building, and Forgiveness.

I had today with Jakob Silas Lund, stay-at-home-dad, writer, a consultant for a wide range of international development organizations (particularly UN women and other UN entities), and award-winning reconciliation activist. This conversation is about the issues of Reconciliation/ Peace-building, Forgiveness, and retributive justice, on a personal and global level.
Enjoy this reflexive and personal conversation!

Financial Market Central Banks, and Inequality.

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Dr. Jens Van T’Klooster, a specialist in Monetary Policy and Financial Markets who is a postdoctoral researcher at KU Leuven and the University of Amsterdam. Alice and Jens speak about the role of central banks in dealing with crises, and how the conventional wisdom of what monetary policy is able (and allowed) to do has suddenly been turned on its head since the onset of the pandemic. Jens explains how central banks effectively create (and should do so) money out of thin air to pay for the pandemic related costs in the EU/US, while those of other regions of the world are more restrained in their policy space still, unfairly – and how this all relates to inequality.

The costs of Inequality

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr Diego Sanchez-Ancochea, Director of the Department of International Development at the University of Oxford about his new book “The costs of inequality in Latin America: lessons and warnings for the rest of the world”.

Inequality and caste in India (and beyond)

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Ujithra Ponniah who is a Wealth Inequality and Elite Studies Fellow at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS) at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, about inequalities in India, the importance and meaning of caste (in and beyond India) and social protests.

Extreme Wealth and Inequality in London

In this episode, Alice speaks with Prof. Rowland Atkinson from the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of Sheffield. Rowland is an expert in the urban concentration of wealth, and what it does to the social fabric of the City.
In this conversation, you will learn about what extreme wealth has done to London, the changes it brings socially, politically, and physically (in terms of urban structure).

Climate, Inequality, and Sustainable finance

In this episode, Alice speaks with Aranxa Sanchez. She works at the Mexican Ministry of finance- Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público- where she is the Encargada de Finanzas Sostenibles. They speak about environmental inequality, the impact of climate change, and how sustainable finance can help to mitigate the related problems.

How to fight Inequality

In this episode, Alice speaks with Ben Phillips the author of How to Fight Inequality (And Why this Fight needs you).
Ben Phillips advises the UN, governments and civil society organisations. He was Launch Director of the Fight Inequality Alliance, and Campaigns and Policy Director for Oxfam and ActionAid International. He has lived and worked in four continents and a dozen cities. He has led programmes and campaigns teams in Save the Children, the Children’s Society, the Global Call to Action Against Poverty and the Global Campaign for Educationd. He began his development work at the grassroots, as a teacher and ANC activist living in Mamelodi township, South Africa, in 1994, just after the end of apartheid.

The Social Unrest and Inequalities in Chile

In this episode, Alice interviews Dr. Javier Gonzalez, who is Director of SUMMA (Laboratory for Education, Research and Innovation for Latin American and the Caribbean); he s also an affiliated lecturer at Cambridge Uni and researcher at COES (Uni Chile). They talk about the relationship between inequalities and the social unrest in Chile, how institutions influence the distribution, and the country’s recent move to change the Constitution, and what this could mean for its education system.

Tax Havens, Offshore Finance and International Inequality

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Andrea Binder, who is a Fellow at the Global Public Policy Institute, and an expert in offshore finance. They talk about the relationship between tax planning and banking, the role of the state, who or what actually IS the state, and how all this interlinks with elites, and ultimately, international inequality.

Inequality, Power, and Elites in Central America.

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Francisco Robles, professor at the School of Communication and the Institute of Social Research at the University of Costa Rica. Francisco specializes in the investigation of elites. We talk about the particularities of studying inequality in Costa Rica and Central America, and the danger and difficulties of doing elite research in the region.

You can find the podcast hosted by Dr. Francisco Robles here:
https://anchor.fm/iis-ucr

And here some of the resources suggested:
https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137359391
https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/fesamcentral/07598.pdf

The Impact of Public Finance on Inequality

In episode 19 Alice speaks with Carlos Brown, an expert in fiscal justice and public finance. He is the co-director of the Urban South Institute, a think-and-do-tank for environmental and governance issues in the Global South.

Food Inequality in Different Social Classes.

Dr Paloma Villagómez is a postdoc at the Social Research Institute of Mexicos national university UNAM. She specializes in food inequality and she talks with Alice about food processing and eating habits and practices by different social classes, and the prejudices related to (un)healthy diets.

The Multidimensionality of inequalities.

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Raymundo Campos-Vazquez, economist, professor at the Colegio de México currently on academic leave at the Central Bank.

They talk about the multidimensionality of inequality, perceptions of inequality, and discrimination on the labor market related to obesity.

Elections, politics, and criminal organizations in Mexico.

In this episode, Alice is with Dr. Amalia Pulido, assistant professor at the Political Studies Department of the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE).

Amalia is an expert in political violence and its relation with political parties. They talk about the upcoming elections, how criminal capture of candidates fosters inequality, murders of politicians, and the importance of accountability in the election process.

In this episode, Alice speaks with Raul Bravo Aduna, the (former) journalist and (now) editor of the resort Economy and Society at Nexos Magazine (arguably the most important editorial in Mexico).
They talk about the role of publishing intelligible information about inequality for society, and what its impact could be. It’s a pessimistic chat with a hopeful tone.

Worth watching!

In this episode, Alice meets Dr. Rosario Aparicio, a researcher at the Seminar for Labor and Inequality at El Colegio de México. They talk about the difficulties that indigenous women confront in the labor market, and in Mexico in general, the Zapatista revolution of 1994, and the current feminist movement and demonstrations going on these days.

The conversation is in Spanish with English subtitles!

Rich Russians and wealth creation.

In this interview, Alice speaks with Dr. Elisabeth Schimpfössl, a sociologist specialized elites and Russia at Aston University (UK). They talked about Elisabeth Schimpfössl ‘s book ‘Rich Russians’, and how the dramatic changes in Russia since the 1990s conditioned wealth creation and concentration, and where the (in)famous oligarchs are now.

In this episode, Alice speaks with the economist Dr. Eva Arceo-Gómez, professor at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico. Eva is one of the foremost gender economics experts in Mexico. They talk about Eva’s research on the penalty of motherhood in the labor market, the persistent gender pay gap, the unequal distribution of unpaid work in the home, and what needs to be done to improve women’s situation and decrease gender inequalities.

The opportunities technologies hold for a better future.

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Michal Kosinski from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior. Michal Kosinski’s research focuses on individual differences in behavior, preferences, and performance.
Alice and Michal speak bout the opportunities technologies hold for a better future, and how there is always a good and bad potential in all change.

Enjoy the conversation!

This is a conversation between Alice and Hugo Cerón-Anaya, an assistant professor in the sociology and anthropology department at Lehigh University in Bethlehem

They talked about his recent book Privilege at Play, which analyses the entanglement of Class, Race and Gender in the creation of privilege in Mexico, through an ethnographic study of Golf clubs. Hugo explains about the importance of studying privilege and what it meant to immerse himself into spaces of privilege as a researcher (without belonging to them himself).

The Covid-19 Crisis and Inequality in Mexico.

In this episode, Alice speaks with Dr. Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid, Professor of Economics at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). They talk about the necessity to the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis on inequality in Mexico and the Latin American region, and how, in order to get rid of physical distancing, we first need to reduce the social distance between those who have, and those who don’t have, resources like income, health care, and others.

Migrants, Racial Discrimination, and Inequality

In this episode, Alice speaks with Jean Beaman from the University of California Santa Barbara. They talk about Jean Beaman’s book “Citizen Outsider” which describes the experience of second-generation migrants from the Maghreb and racial discrimination in France, and how the situation is there compares to the US.

What does golf have to do with inequality?

In this episode, Alice speaks with Patrick Inglis, Professor at Grinnell College in Iowa. They talk about his recent book Narrow Fairways, which describes the points of connection between elites and the poor in India through studying the relationship of golfers with their caddies, and about the study of elites and inequalities in general.

In this episode, Alice meets Dr Máximo Jaramillo, a sociologist working at Fundar (civil society foundation for tax research) and the founder of Gatitos contra la desigualdad (kitties against inequality), a viral social media persona informing people about inequality with cat pictures). They chat about Máximo’s research on perceptions of poverty and inequality, and the influence that the myth of meritocracy has on these perceptions.

In this episode, Alice meets Luis Monroy-Gómez-Franco, who is a Ph.D. student in economics at CUNY Graduate Center, lecturer at The City College of New York, and external associate researcher at the Centro de Estudios Espinosa Yglesias (CEEY).
The topic of the conversation is social mobility, and how it functions as a link between big contemporary issues like poverty, inequalities, and the concentration of opportunities and how life trajectories are possible/likely in a given society, Mexico in our case, based on these.

You can find out more about Luis Monroy-Gómez-Franco here: https://sites.google.com/view/lmonroygomezfranco/home

Diego Castañeda Garza is an economic historian (currently finishing his PhD at the University of Lund) and prolific contributor to a range of media on questions of inequality, development, and economic history. Alice and Diego chatted about the impact of crises on inequality, and the challenges of historic analyses.

Dr. Roberto Vélez Grajales is currently the Director of the influential Mexican think tank Espinosa Yglesias Research Center (Centro de Estudios Espinosa Yglesias, CEEY). We met to converse about the unequal distribution of life chances in Mexico and what needs to be done to equalise both opportunities and outcomes.

Find out more about Roberto here:

https://scholar.google.es/citations?user=_7vh20AAAAAJ&hl=es

Find out more about the Espinosa Yglesias Research Center here:

https://ceey.org.mx/

In this episode two, Alice speaks with Ricardo Fuentes Nieva, an economist and the Director of Oxfam Mexico. He has previously worked at UNDP and World Bank and is co-author of the influential report “An Economy For the 1%”.

The main topic of the conversation is about the importance of studying inequalities today.

Enjoy it and please feel free to reach out if you have any questions you want us to ask about inequalities.

In this first episode, Alice meets Dr. Katie Higgins who is an Urban Studies Foundation Research Fellow in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of Sheffield. They speak about wealth inequality and the influence of urban elites in Manchester.

Enjoy the video!