24 avril 2024
Maryame Amarouche et al., « Can we import the narrative of left-behind places into the global South ? », HAL-SHS : sciences politiques, ID : 10670/1.t0qpbl
The rise of the concept of left-behind places in many Northern countries is intimately linked to recent explosions of populism (rise of the far right, violent mobilizations like the Gilets jaunes in France etc.). These would signal the great return of the "spatial question": after decades of globalization and metropolization, the populations of left-behind places are revolting against metropolitan elites. This partly explains the current rise of populist, nationalist political movements. However, research on left-behind territories concerns Europe and the USA. It does not apply this narrative to the countries of the global South. Yet the latter too are affected by neoliberal restructuring and the accompanying hardening of socio-spatial inequalities. Does the silence of international research mean that rising territorial inequalities in the Global South are not accompanied by forms of populism and localized revolts against metropolitan elites? If that’s the case, what are the political and social manifestations of left-behindness in the Global South?