Global Social Justice

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Overview

The Global Social Justice Program aims to generate debate on the distributional impacts – the winners and losers – of current policies and to provide alternatives based on the rights of all peoples to benefit from economic and social progress. The world’s extreme inequalities should make us question the current development models, which have accrued mostly to the wealthiest. The Program aims to evidence how economic decisions affect all citizens but are often taken without adequately looking at their social impacts, therefore benefitting the better-off and perpetuating inequality patterns. The Global Social Justice Program presents alternatives to maximize the public interest and reduce inequalities, both at the national and global levels.

Full Description

Task Force Chairs

    Launched in 2012, the IPD Global Social Justice Program is a research, policy advise and advocacy initiative. The task force is dedicated to addressing social issues such as the welfare state, fiscal and social policies on a global scale. Through rigorous analysis, policy engagement, and public campaigns, the program challenges unequal economic policies while promoting equitable alternatives.

    Key Publications

    The program produces influential global reports on austerity and their alternatives such as End Austerity: A Global Report on Budget Cuts and Harmful Social Reforms in 2022-25 (2022); Global Austerity Alert: Looming Budget Cuts in 2021-25 and Alternative Pathways (2021); The New Normal A Renewed Washington Consensus 2010-24 (2019); The Decade of Adjustment: A Review of Austerity Trends 2010-2020 in 187 Countries (2015); and The Age of Austerity: A Review of Public Expenditures and Adjustment Measures in 181 Countries (2013). 

    The Task Force also focuses on alternative policies for people’s prosperity, such as The Welfare State Revisited (2018) and Rewriting The Rules of the European Economy (2019), as well as on documenting social discontent (World Protests: A Study of Key Protest Issues in the 21st Century, 2021)

    Advocacy & Events

    The Global Social Justice Program plays an active role in shaping international policy debates, organizing high-level discussions at IMF/World Bank meetings, such as Advancing Social Security in Times of Debt and Austerity  and  How Governments Can Respond to the Cost-of-Living Crisis? (2023), Avoiding Austerity in a Time of Compounding Crises (2022), IMF Conditionality Reform in Promise and Practice: What does the evidence show? (2019) and Social Protection, Inequality, and Growth in Times of Fiscal Consolidation (2015). It has also contributed to the G20 Civil Task Force on Equity (2012), just to mention a few events. 

    Training & Outreach

    Through e-discussions (Recovery with a Human Face, 2013-2021), and contributions to IPD trainings such as Journalism Workshop on Development, Economics, and the Financial Crisis (2013–2008), the program educates policymakers, journalists, and civil society on inclusive economic strategies and social policies to effectively reduce poverty and inequality.

    Media & Influence

    The Task Force publishes its research and analysis in global media, and its experts regularly speak at international fora like the UN. By combining rigorous analysis with policy advocacy, the program continues to shape debates for a more just and sustainable future.

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