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Alternative development paradigms through the lens of the young and discontent

31 October 2012
12:45 - 14:30

Date : 31 October 2012

Time : 12:45 – 14:30

Presented by Lizzy Mabotja, Hlokoma Mangqalaza, Fezile Mdluli, and Molemo Ramphalile (Human Sciences Research Council)

The current model of development is often blamed for the global financial meltdown and the resulting protracted recovery to a pre-crisis status-quo. In the context of continued global instability, what would an alternative inclusive model of development that avoids the problems of an overly capitalistic model look like? In as far as the youth have been disproportionately affected by the crisis, to what extent can a youth driven model provide solutions that move us from a consumeristic model to one that places the environment at the centre of development? These are just a few questions that the Youth Driven Pilot Project on an Alternative Development Model tried to address. The idea for a youth driven development project arose from the wave of youth led protests that swept across the world in 2010, beginning with the so-called Arab spring in the Middle East. In September, the same year, the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of the New York Times, carried a story, ‘Walking out on the System’, that probed some of the reasons behind the protests. Issues of high levels of youth unemployment and growing income inequality were highlighted as challenges facing young people across the world. With the global economic crisis compounding some of these issues there was a resurgence in the thinking around the limitations of a purely capitalistic growth centric model of development. The objective of this project was the development of a youth driven alternative development model. The aim was to come up with new concepts of articulating the type of development needed to engender more inclusive development whilst addressing the perils of the current model with its production and consumption patterns that ignore the finite nature of the resources it uses. Just like in the protests, social networks were leveraged to create a platform that initiates a discussion about the key concerns of young people and how these can be translated into an alternative model of development. This seminar will present the work of the YDD team that speaks to the aforementioned issues.

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 Kindly RSVP by 27 October 2012

This seminar may be attended via video conference in Pretoria, Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal. Details as below.

Cape Town: HSRC, 12th Floor, Plein Park Building (Opposite Revenue Office), Plein Street, Cape Town. Contact Jean Witten, Tel (021) 4668004, Fax (021) 461 0299, or JWitten@hsrc.ac.za

Durban: First floor HSRC board room, 750 Francois Road, Ntuthuko Junction, Pods 5 and 6, Cato Manor, Contact Ridhwaan Khan, Tel (031) 242 5400, cell: 083 788 2786 or RKhan@hsrc.ac.za

Pretoria: HSRC Video Conference, 1st floor HSRC Library Human Sciences Research Council, 134 Pretorius Street, Pretoria. Arlene Grossberg, Tel: (012) 302 2811, e-mail: acgrossberg@hsrc.ac.za