New Challenges in Global Politics: Time for Change

The main aim of this course is to analyze the social, political and economic challenges the world is facing at the beginning of the 21st century. Issues such as climate change, increasing inequalities between rich and poor, natural resource conflicts, human rights violations or unfair trade rules are just some of the most important items on the planet's global agenda. In order to address these subjects, the course will consider the opinion of both established mainstream analysts and those leftfield "alternative" views from academic fields, Non Governmental Organizations and social movements. In simpler terms, voices from both North and South will be heard.

The course is divided into three main blocks. The first one is devoted to the critical analysis of the challenges listed above and to the study of the major barriers to reaching a more sustainable and balanced planet. The second part of the course will take a look at those policies launched in the international arena - both those already implemented or those tentatively put forward- that bring hope for change and for making the world we live in a better place for most of the population. Real "success stories" which show that change is possible. Towards the end of the course, academic debates will be set aside in order to see what Barcelona civil society is doing in this respect, to discover what their priorities are and to see what it means to work for a better world in a NGO. To that end we'll take a look at what some of the more relevant NGO in Barcelona are doing at ground level.