Reimagining Development is the podcast of the Centre for Global Education, a development non-governmental organisation based in Ireland. The podcast aims to discuss new ways of thinking about and practicing global education and international development with leading thinkers, activists, authors and practitioners in both sectors. Every episode takes a deep dive into how we learn about global issues and how we can reimagine development to create a world that is equitable, just and sustainable. The podcast aims to present new ways of thinking about and acting to change our world.
Confronting Wealth Inequality in Ireland with Tom McDonnell
Host [Host Name] interviews Tom McDonnell, co-director of the Nevin Economic Research Institute, about confronting wealth inequality in Ireland and advocating for a global tax framework.
10 Apr 2026TRANSCRIPT
Mapping Far-Right Activity Online with Dessie Donnelly
Dessie Donnelly of Rabble Cooperative explains how far-right actors use online disinformation to fuel real-world violence against minority communities, offering policy and education solutions.
25 Mar 2026TRANSCRIPT
Neoliberalism and International Development with Alfredo Saad Filho
Professor Alfredo Saad Filho unpacks how neoliberalism fuels inequality and climate crisis, advocating for a green, democratic transformation in international development.
18 Mar 2026TRANSCRIPT
The Psychology of Activism and Palestinian Solidarity with Rebecca Heslin
Clinical psychologist Rebecca Heslin explores the psychology of Palestinian solidarity, offering insights on sustaining hope and activism while prioritizing mental well-being in this interview.
20 Apr 2025TRANSCRIPT
The Unjust Poverty and Unearned Wealth of Colonialism with Jim Clarken
Jim Clarken is the CEO of Oxfam Ireland and an Executive Director of Oxfam International. He is a leading commentator on human rights, inequality, sustainable development, the rights of refugees and migrants, and business and human rights. In this episode, he discusses the findings of Oxfam’s 2025 global inequality report titled “Takers Not Makers: The Unjust Poverty and Unearned Wealth of Colonialism”. The headline statistic in the report is that billionaire wealthgrew by $2 trillion in 2024, equivalent to roughly $5.7 billion a day, while the number of people living in poverty has barely changed since 1990. He discusses the economic system that is driving this inequality and how it can be reformed.
18 Apr 2025TRANSCRIPT
Justice-led Approaches to Global Development with Priya Lukka
Priya Lukka is a doctorate candidate in the School ofPolitics and International Relations in the University of Leeds. She recently delivered a workshop to members of Bond, the British network of network for organisations working in international development, on a “harm-repair approach” to global justice that acknowledges historic wrongs and how they can be accounted for. This episode discusses her approach to structural power relations, the factors that perpetuate the exclusion of people and the idea of reparations.
18 Apr 2025TRANSCRIPT
Peace, Justice and Demilitarisation with Joe Murray
Joe Murray has recently stepped down as Director of the Irish NGO Action from Ireland (AFRI), having worked in the international development sector in Ireland since the 1980s. He reflects on his career as an educator, activist and campaigner for social justice, peace and sustainability. In a dangerous period of military escalation around the world, Joe calls for demilitarisation and cautions against Ireland’s deepening involvement in the arms trade. He also calls for the development education sector in Ireland to more directly engage with the crises impacting our world at present and to keep their practice ‘real’.
18 Apr 2025TRANSCRIPT
Indigenous Resistance to Mega-mining in Ecuador with Andrea Sempértegui and Michelle Báez Aristizábal
Andrea Sempértegui is a professor of Politics at WhitmanCollege, Washington State, and Michelle Báez Aristizábal is a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador. They are both academics and activists who have carried out research on Indigenous resistance to a mega-mining project called Mirador in Ecuador’s southern Amazon. This episode discusses the environmental cost of the mining project and how it has impacted Indigenous communities and their relationship with land. Andrea and Michelle also discuss their membership of an anti-extractive collective in Ecuador called Comunalisis.
15 Apr 2025TRANSCRIPT
Decolonising Economic Development with Surbhi Kesar and Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven
Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven is a Senior Lecturer in International Development at King’s College, London and Surbhi Kesar is a senior lecturer in the Department of Economics at SOAS University of London. They are the co-authors of a research report titled Decolonising Economic Development: The Role of the Development Sector (https://www.bond.org.uk/resources/decolonising-economic-development-the-role-of-development-sector/) which was published by Bond, the British network for organisations working in international development. The report asks to what extent International NGOs support resistance to a colonial or neo-colonial order, or continue to be dominated by a Eurocentric view of economic development? This episode discusses the report and its implications for the international development sector.
24 Sept 2024TRANSCRIPT
Colonisation and Forced Displacement in the Occupied West Bank with Lubnah Shomali
Lubnah Shomali is Advocacy Manager with BADIL, a Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights in the occupied West Bank. She discusses the acceleration of Israel’s forcible displacement and transfer of Palestinians in the West Bank since 7 October 2023. She also reflects on the mass incarceration and torture of Palestinians and the importance of language in documenting human rights abuses committed in the context of settler-colonialism.
5 Jun 2024
Development in Africa with Professor Howard Stein
Howard Stein is a Professor in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS) and the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan. In this episode, he discusses how debt, neoliberalism and a dependence on commodities has compromised the capacity of African states to steer their own path toward development. Professor Stein also reflects on the implications of China’s intervention as a development actor in Africa and how this contrasts with the Bretton Woods model led by the World Bank and IMF.
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the podcast series are the speakers’ own and do not necessarily represent those of the Centre for Global Education.
5 Jun 2024
Cuba’s Model of Development with Dr Helen Yaffe
Helen Yaffe lectures in Economic and Social History in the University of Glasgow. Since 1995, she has spent time living and researching in Cuba. Her doctoral thesis, undertaken at the London School of Economics, was adapted for publication as Che Guevara: The Economics of Revolution by Palgrave Macmillan in 2009. She discusses Cuba’s model of development which has achieved stunning indicators of human wellbeing despite being subjected to a United States economic blockade for more than sixty years. She explains how Cuba’s revolution has survived US aggression to carve out a unique approach to development.
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the podcast series are the speakers’ own and do not necessarily represent those of the Centre for Global Education.
5 Jun 2024
Global Education as Activism with Colm Regan
Colm Regan is the former head of global / development education in the Irish development agency Trócaire and founder of the NGO, 80:20: Educating & Acting for a Better World. He has extensive experience of policy, advocacy, campaigning and education for social justice in the global North and South. Colm regards global education as explicitly political and rooted in social change. He discusses his “boots on the ground” approach to global education based on decades of activism.
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the podcast series are the speakers’ own and do not necessarily represent those of the Centre for Global Education.
5 Jun 2024
Cross-border Global Education with Dr Caroline Murphy
Caroline Murphy is the CEO of Comhlámh, the Irish Association of International Development Workers and Volunteers. She has considerable experience of the Irish international development and global education sectors having previously worked with Financial Justice Ireland, Children in Crossfire and the Centre for Global Education. With work experience on both sides of the Irish border in different capacities – research, strategic planning, and policy development – Caroline brings real insight to the question of how we can work effectively in global education on a cross-border basis.
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the podcast series are the speakers’ own and do not necessarily represent those of the Centre for Global Education.
15 May 2024
Critical Global Education with Dr Eilish Dillon
Dr Eilish Dillon is Assistant Professor at the Maynooth University Department of International Development. She has been actively engaged in global education in Ireland for over thirty years. In this episode she discusses her career in education that has combined teaching in higher education with collaboration and practice with civil society organisations. Eilish discusses the need for critical education and systems thinking as essential components of effective global learning.
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the podcast series are the speakers’ own and do not necessarily represent those of the Centre for Global Education.
15 May 2024
Global Education: Past, Present and Future with Professor Douglas Bourn
Professor Douglas Bourn, Professor of Development Education and Co-Director of the Development Education Research Centre at University College London, reflects on how the policy and practice of global education has moved from the margins to the mainstream over the past thirty years.
Reflecting on a career in both civil society and higher education, Professor Bourn shares his thoughts on the current state of the sector and how he sees it moving forward in the future.
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the podcast series are the speakers’ own and do not necessarily represent those of the Centre for Global Education.
Inside a recent episode
Confronting Wealth Inequality in Ireland with Tom McDonnell
Published 29 May 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] And we don't tax that. So that just gives you one example of why a wealth tax on top. would make sense in that context. And wealth gives other benefits beyond the income as well. It gives you security. It gives you freedom. It gives you power. It takes away the fear of not getting the next paycheck or becoming ill or whatever it might be because you can fall back on your wealth. And to answer your question about wealth inequality, well, the top 10% of society have about half of the wealth and the top 1% of society have about 13% of the wealth. So it's very unequal. Ireland is far from the worst country in Europe, never mind the world. […]
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