It is well recognised that in the global North our economies, our technologies and our social aspirations are awry. Infinite growth on a finite planet is not a defensible goal. Current debates underscore that striving for growth, consumption and incomes should no longer be key goals. But, how are these imperatives to be squared with an agenda for global prosperity?
A common critique of actions to reduce inequality and poverty is that they are ‘all talk and no action’. This lecture suggests that new conceptual thinking is necessary, and discusses the urgent need to redefine prosperity and along the way to change the way we talk about development.
About the speaker
Professor Henrietta L. Moore is a distinguished anthropologist and cultural theorist. She is the founding Director of the new Institute for Global Prosperity at University College London where she also holds the Chair of Philosophy, Culture and Design. Prior to this she was at the University of Cambridge where she held the William Wyse Chair of Social Anthropology from 2008 to 2014. Professor Moore’s work has developed a distinctive approach to the comparative analysis of gender and sexuality, and to the intersections between culture and globalisation.
A founding Trustee of The SHM Foundation and Chair and Co-founder of SHM Productions she has been actively involved in the application of social science insights to the arts, business, and public policy for twenty years. Appointed fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2000 and a Trustee of the Barbican Arts Centre in 2011 she has an on-going interest in the role of the arts in promoting cultural and social innovation. Professor Moore regularly participates in public and academic debates and has written and presented on subjects ranging from virtual worlds and new technologies, to self-imagining, democratic political decision-making and contemporary art.
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