Translating the lessons we have learned from the Covid-19 era into the work of PhD studies and social justice considerations

In order to reintegrate the family, poor people particularly in the rural, there is need to have strong family households. Covid-19 has revealed that despite having laws, policies and programmes that appear neutral, they may have disparate impact on marginalized groups, exacerbate inequality and poverty with deleterious effect on sustainable and just economies. Our joint research before and during Covid-19, has shown that diversity blind policies amplify inequality, especialy for the poor and women. Rich people can afford to have proxies but not the poor or women-headed housholds. In the absence of strong family households, a one size-fits all approach does not address a pandemic like Covid-19.

Both South Africa and Sweden have diverse populations particularly influenced by migration due to a multiplicity of factors that require the tailoring of interventions and policies for all.

In this virtual workshop, we will discuss lessons learned from the Covid-19 era to critique the urbanised construction of the sustainable development goals, food security, feminist theories, gender, social fairness between groups and fairness between societies. The workshop is a pre-preparation of an upcoming five-week PhD course syllabus on Rural Development & Social Justice. The proposed course is a joint collaboration between Stellenbosch University, Mangosuthu University of Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Stockholm University and Södertorn University.

Speakers