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01:01:11

Conversation with Aaron Good, American Exception: Empire and the Deep State

Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and political scientist Aaron Good as they discuss Good’s book, American Exception: Empire and the Deep State. Good delves into the breakdown of U.S. democracy, focusing on the continuity of American foreign policy, the erosion of the rule of law, and the concentration of wealth and power among the corporate eliteTogether, they uncover the hidden forces shaping American governance, including the creation of a national security state after World War II and the…

14:35

Why Sustainable Development is Important: Happiness and Wellbeing

This chapter describes why the concept of sustainable development is so important, why it is so important that we orient towards the three objectives of prosperity, social fairness, and environmental sustainability. This video is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA license.

05:17

Subject in Law vs. Object in Law

The distinction between the subject and object in law is a very important element in law because it sets the scene for much of the structural discrimination that has hence occurred. This is relevant to sustainable development and human rights as law has evolved with subject-hood for only some and object-hood for the rest. This has consequences in terms of colonization, indigenous peoples, and other subjects. This video is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA license.

11:18

Transparency and accountability

Transparency is defined as a flow of relevant, timely, and reliable information, information in the economic, financial, social, institution, and political arenas, which is accessible to all relevant stakeholders. When it's clunky and not accessible, it is sometimes referred to as "zombie transparency". Despite efforts towards more transparency, there is some narrowing of civic space as a means of accountability. Additionally, transparency alone cannot solve these issues, e.g. if…

01:04:08

Ethics for Troubled Times

During times of unrest and uncertainty, how can faith and ethics help our communities take action towards a brighter future? This webinar, held on June 30, 2020, featured faculty from the SDG Academy course Ethics in Action for a panel discussion on the role of religion and spirituality in moving our society forward. - Dr. Anna Sun, Associate Professor at Duke University - Dr. Anantanand Rambachan, Professor of Religion at St. Olaf College - John Cardinal Onaiyekan, Catholic Archbishop…

08:57

Markets and Supply Chains

Price fluctuations happen as a result of the storage process from seasonal harvests and the working of the markets and the supply chain, as these harvests need to be transported between production and consumption. In off-farm storage, there are issues of food safety, processing, and quality assurance. Seasonal price changes reflect the cost of storage because when simultaneous harvests occur across a huge area, prices are low, but after that, prices rise by exactly the cost of storage, or the…

08:29

Cities as Centers of Cultural and Social Transformation Part I

Many people see cities as primary places of economic activity, but cities are also sites of social, cultural, and religious relevance. Examples of cities and their roles are given in their historical and cultural contexts. Cities are the center where intellectuals, artists, musicians, revolutionaries and others congregate, as well as where power and inequality is often seen. This is all explored in this chapter using historical examples. This video is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA license.

12:24

Introducing Sustainable Development

In this chapter, Professor Jeffrey Sachs introduces the course "Sustainable Development: the Post-Capitalist Order" and defines sustainable development. This video is licensed under the CC BY-NC-SA license. Please give attribution to the SDG Academy.

07:36

Thinking about Alternatives

In the first video of his series Freedom Now: The Economic and Political Alternative, philosopher Roberto Mangabeira Unger argues that traditional progressive politics do not go far enough in their reimagining of the status quo, and sets the stage for his vision of a truly progressive alternative.