The Tyranny of Growth
Manage episode 424754612 series 3581052
Bronwyn Williams & Malcolm Ray
In this episode of The Small Print, Brownyn speaks to author Malcolm Ray about his latest book “The Tyranny of Growth”. They discuss how a single number - GDP - came to have such bewildering power over our lives, despite its failure to capture many of the things we consider necessary for human flourishing. Together they unpack how the growth doctrine was used to co-opt African post-colonial institutions and elites to its cause during the Cold War and what could be done to develop a more inclusive measure going forward.
Bronwyn Williams is a futurist, economist, trend analyst and host of The Small Print. Her day job as a partner at Flux Trends involves helping business leaders to use foresight to design the future they want to live and work in. You may have seen her talking about Transhumanism or Tikok on Carte Blanche, or heard her talking about trends on 702 or CNBC Africa where she is a regular expert commentator. When she's not talking to brands and businesses about the future, you will probably find her curled up somewhere with a (preferably paperback) book. She tweets at @bronwynwilliams.
Malcolm Ray is the author of Free Fall and The Tyranny of Growth. His work is devoted to breaking down walls of silence – the comfortable catchphrases and policy tropes used by political and economic elites, multilateral institutions and social movements to win hearts and minds – in order to tell the story without fear or favour. He began his career as an anti-apartheid activist during the 1980s and early nineties, where he developed a habit of independent, but critical and irreverent thinking, spawning both his love of journalism and a desire for influencing change from the ground up. A multiple award-winning journalist, Malcolm’s writing is unapologetic and deals directly with themes of power relations, race, gender and class. His protagonists are often but not exclusively the poor and discarded communities.
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