Critical global thinking for progressive change

Presentation given at the 'Supranational Democracy Dialogue' conference, University of Salento, Italy 27 April 2017

Seminar lecture I gave at the LSE which was later published as a working paper of the the International Inequalities Institute (III): http://www.lse.ac.uk/International-Inequalities/Assets/Documents/Working-Papers/III-Working-Paper-12-De-Democratisation-and-Rising-Inequality-The-Underlying-Cause-of-a-Worrying-Trend.pdf In this paper I show how democracy has been eroded in various ways by neoliberalism and globalisation and argue that this is the underlying cause of the recent increase in inequality in much of the world. I conclude that in order to reduce inequality it is imperative to democratise economic policy making at both the global and the national level. Such democratizing could involve the creation of state-like structures at the global level which would be able to regulate global capital for the good of society. Trough these structures, policy alternatives, such as, for example, global social democracy, could be democratically debated - possibly in some sort of global parliament. However it is done, if we are serious about tackling inequality then we must be serious about democracy. The lecture is also on the LSE III website: http://www.lse.ac.uk/International-Inequalities/Videos-Podcasts/Inequalities-Seminar-Dynamics-of-Democracy-and-Inequality-in-the-context-of-Globalisation 21 March 2017

(Audio) Just ahead of the G20 summit in Germany I came to the the 'Global Solidarity Summit' and spoke with activists about the democratic alternative that we need to consider. 6 July 2017

Listen to my lecture at the Global South Studies Center at Cologne, Germany. As governments applauded the launching of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015, bitter negotiations were taking place regarding where the money would come from to pay for their implementation. At the UN’s Financing for Development Conference in Addis Abeba there was a marked North-South divide on this issue, with the G77 countries calling for a reform of the global tax system that would allow them to better collect taxes from multinational companies, while the OECD countries pushed for an extension of the role of the private sector in development activities. This lecture offers a critical analysis the various positions in this struggle and discusses the implications of the outcome for development, inequality and society. 12 July 2017

Discussing my book with RSA's Matthew Taylor on their podcast 'Bridges to the Future'. 9 sept. 2020

Panel at the New School, NYC, to imagine the global future and how we want to shape it. Moderator: Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Prof. of International Affairs, The New School. 00:00 Introduction 03:53 Question 1: What kind of global governance is needed? 04:23 Sam Moyn 1 - Prof. of Jurisprudence and History, Yale 11:48 Dena Freeman 1 - Senior Fellow, LSE 23:00 Sasha Llorenti 1 - Bolivia's Ambassador to the UN 34:11Michael Cohen 1 - Prof. of International Affairs, The New School 39:37 Question 2: Is global-level politics still possible? 40:27 Sam Moyn 2 42:30 Dena Freeman 2 45:55 Sasha Llorenti 2 50 31 Sakiko Fukuda-Parr 51:55 Michael Cohen 2 54:50 Sasha Llorenti 3 1:00:43 Dena Freeman 3 1:04:08 Sam Moyn 3 Event page: https://thefestivalofnew2019.sched.com/event/Sv1U/global-futures-disruptive-technologies-actors-ideologies-solidarities 4 Oct. 2019

How can globalisation be done differently to work for all of us? I discussed this with: 0:00 introduction 2:07 Lisa Nandy MP - UK Shadow Foreign Secretary 18:05 Anthony Barnett - co-founder of OpenDemocracy 29:52 Dena Freeman - LSE and author of Can Globalisation Succeed? 45:09 - Discussion Moderator: Neal Lawson - Compass. 2020-10-23 Event page: https://www.compassonline.org.uk/events/build-back-better-how-event-series/ The video on Compass's channel: https://youtu.be/id_l6Ps0Jro?si=uHwjsmrKuKUUp4w2&t=1772

Listen to my talk with the Times host Matt Chorely, where I told him that the fundamental problem with the kind of globalization that we have is the fact that our economy became global while our politics remained national. 29 Sept. 2020.