Foreword from the Chair

Over the last year a global pandemic has cost millions of lives, pushed even more millions into extreme poverty, and shone a spotlight on pre-existing systemic economic inequality. This has brought the world to a tipping point. On the one hand, in recent years populist nationalisms—from Brazil to Colombia, India, and the United States (to name just a few countries)—have shown an ability to garner mass support for economic programs that undermine the poor to the benefit of the few, leading to social disequilibrium and political conflict. On the other hand, the chaos and rank failures of such governments to deal with pandemic and poverty has exposed the vapidity of their populist claims, opening space for alternatives to emerge.

That raises hope … but a hope for what? The stubborn question with which the Young Initiative engages is how to give substance to that hope. What are, in short, alternatives to the status quo that move us beyond mere rejection and toward supporting a politics of pluralism and an economics of dignity? The report that follows gives details of our work toward that goal. This has included Young Initiative-sponsored events to uplift voices that speak to different visions of our local and global political economy. This has also meant extending Young Initiative partnerships with local and global practitioners to advance such visions in practice. And, lastly, it has resulted in impactful Young Initiativeenabled academic work that is, at least in part, constituted by these conversations and partnerships. Importantly—per the Task Forces led over the past year by members of Occidental’s Biology, Diplomacy & World Affairs, and Urban and Environmental Policy departments—this work necessarily crosses borders between academic disciplines just as it crosses traditional divisions between community, government, and academia. Together, we hope this Young Initiative work over the past year has substantively contributed to an overdue global conversation—a conversation about imagining more inclusive, equitable, and pluralistic forms of political economy.

Anthony Tirado Chase

Professor, Diplomacy and World Affairs Chair, Young Initiative on the Global Political Economy

The following three sections of this report detail the Young Initiative’s work in the domains on which our mission focuses:

» Young-sponsored student activities » Young-sponsored campus events » Young-sponsored workshops and faculty research