GREat Talks at Medway: Broken Ladders?

The second in the series of Great Talks by the Faculty of Engineering and Science at the University of Greenwich at Medway is titled Broken Ladders – Social Mobility in the Global South.  This takes place on Wednesday 13th November from 6 pm.

Social mobility resonates with a notion of just society where “an individual’s expected level of achievement is a function only  of his or her effort and not of his or her circumstances (Roemer 1998).”

Each person should thus have an equal chance of success, regardless of gender, ethnicity or family background.  Through simple examples, the talk will illustrate:

• why social mobility can be a slippery concept
• how rural, urban or other location affects mobility prospects
• educational mobility in Africa
• the odds for climbing the occupational ladder in Victorian Britain compared for example to contemporary India and China
• Finally, it will review what we know about social mobility determinants and the prospects for progress beyond poverty reduction in developing country settings.

The talk is delivered by Professor Vegard Iversen of the Natural Resources Institute.   Professor Iversen is a professor of Development Economics and head of the Livelihoods and Institutions Department, Natural Resources Institute (NRI), at the University of Greenwich.  After completing his Phd in development economics from the University of Cambridge (2000), he spent six years as a tenured Faculty at School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia.  He recently returned to the UK academia, after 12 years of living and working in India.  Professor Iversen’s research covers diverse topics including he long-term effects of colonial policies; the poverty and other impacts of large irrigation dams; whether exposure to politics differentially affects newly elected female and male politicians.

This talk will use material and present findings from an ongoing research collaboration with scholars at Duke University and the world Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) in Helsinki.

The talk takes place in the Ward Room in Pembroke Building on the Medway Campus.  As these talks are FREE they are popular so admission will be by registration only.  Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.  To secure a place call 01634 883495 or email:  ">.

There is free parking on campus after 5 pm arrival.