Addressing Global Inequality in a Post-Covid World

The Covid-19 Pandemic has tested everyone, exacerbating existing cleavages and injustices throughout the world. We have seen a plethora of challenges, from global protests in response to violent policing and state-sanctioned violence, to “vaccine nationalism/apartheid” a term which has quickly entered our vocabulary to characterize the hoarding of Covid-19 vaccines by wealthy countries. In a supposed interconnected world, why is cooperation difficult? How will people start to re-engage with the world? Will this force you to grapple with what it means that you are crossing borders, socializing with multiple people (even if still wearing a mask), and sitting in an indoor venue without concern while others are still hoping to visit their grandparents safely? What does it mean when things “open” up in the US, when those in the Global South cannot travel easily because of their lack of access to vaccines?

Building on elements from my “International Relations of the Global South” and “Contemporary African Politics” courses, as well as field research in West Africa, I will discuss themes and potential responses to global inequality.

Emmanuel Balogun is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Skidmore College, where he is also affiliated with the Black Studies program. He is a 2021-2022 Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow and the inaugural Diversity Fellow at Bridging the Gap DC. He is the author of the forthcoming book Convergence and Agency in West Africa: Region-Building in ECOWAS (Routledge). His research focuses on African regional organizations, global health governance, and peace and security governance. He is the recipient of a Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad Grant to study Pan-Africanism in Ghana and his research is featured, published, and forthcoming in International Affairs, African Studies Review, Africa Spectrum, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies, the Washington Post, BBC, and Oxford Analytica. He earned his PhD and MA at the University of Delaware, MA from Western Illinois University, and BA from New England College.