Reparations and global development
About
Reparations have become a popular demand around the world. Especially disenfranchised groups and countries in the Global South increasingly call for reparations. They ask for apologies for past harm, symbolic and institutional measures that recognize and prevent such harm, and – sometimes – for monetary payments.
Pro-reparations sticker by the Aborigines Advancement League. Picture by Quadrant Online
People gather in Minnesota on June 19, 2020 to demand reparations over slavery, segregation, and violence against black people from police. Picture by Fibonacci Blue
Reparations are part of broader efforts to create a more just economy. They are meant to respond to environmental pollution, mitigate the worst effects of climate change, compensate for infectious disease outbreaks and terrorist attacks, and bring some degree of justice for indigenous peoples and other minorities.
Activists march for climate reparations at the 2022 COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Picture by Oliver Kornblihtt / Mídia NINJA
Our research project studies new calls for reparations that address global development challenges. It compares reparations for infectious disease outbreaks, climate change, and toxic environments. The project’s research objectives are:
Compare how reparations payments are established, implemented and received as part of addressing these global development challenges
Learn what these payments teach us about reparations in development, from an economic, moral and political perspective
Identify what these payments can tell us about economic life more generally.