Emma Tomalin will be Keynote speaker at Plenary II on Wednesday, 9 June 2021. For more information, please click here.

Profile
Emma Tomalin is Professor of Religion and Public Life at the University of Leeds. She has published widely on the topic of religion and development, including the following books - Religions and Development (2013) and The Handbook of Religions and Global Development (2015). She co-edits the Routledge Research in Religion and Development book series, which now has 19 volumes. She is the co-chair of the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Community (JLI) learning hub on Anti-Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery.

Web address: ahc.leeds.ac.uk/philosophy/staff/142/professor-emma-tomalin

Abstract

Faith in ‘leave no-one behind’ beyond 2030?

In this presentation I am interested in examining the SDG slogan ‘to leave no-one behind’ and the extent to which it does what it says on the tin. There is something compelling and uniting about the slogan ‘to leave no-one behind’. However, to what extent does it convey a radical and transformatory vision or is it just a clever and manipulative use of language? I am interested in understanding what this slogan actually means against the critique of the SDG framework as a vehicle for the neo-liberal development model that is unlikely to adequately address inequality and has ongoing negative implications for climate change. To address this, I examine who was involved in the consultations to set the SDGs, with a particular focus on the role of faith actors. Were faith actors involved? If so which ones and what was their impact? How are they now involved in implementing the SDGs? And what kinds of conversations do we need to be having in the run up to 2030 to ensure greater participation from marginalised groups and worldviews in the setting of any future goals or global frameworks?