Why do such large wealth differences exist between regions of the world and do they change over time? A thousand years ago, wealth differences between continents were small. Since then, those differences have been increasing rapidly and seem to have taken on a structural character: the prosperous West versus the poor rest. Meanwhile, including with the rise of countries like Brazil, Russia, India and China, the relationship between the regions is changing again. What is causing this, what changes are taking place, what impact does it have and how can we best respond? People are moving from poor regions to rich ones. This migration can contribute to rebalancing. The same might also be achieved by more education in poor areas, by targeted investment programmes or by political and administrative reforms. Research on long-term developments in processes of globalisation offers the prospect of successful strategies to deal with the consequences.
Connecting character
Globalisation and development are complex and comprehensive processes with historical, economic, political, cultural and environmental dimensions. It is evident that globalisation and development do not mean the same thing in India or China as in Africa, Europe or the United States. Most theorising on globalisation and development comes from the social sciences and economics. However, it is necessary to study them from other perspectives as well, such as (social) geography, history and ecology. Examples of interdisciplinary questions are: What do historical undulations in the globalisation process tell us about the future of globalisation?
How should we value the globalisation process? How can globalisation contribute to the resilience of societies?
And how can globalisation threaten that capacity?
What forms of international cooperation between relatively rich and relatively poor countries stimulate the resilience of poor countries?
How do global developments and processes relate to regional and local developments in historical, economic and cultural perspective?
How can globalisation contribute to biodiversity and environmental quality?
How can institutional changes stimulate sustainable investments in developing countries?
