An Introduction to the ‘Global South’: How it Emerged, What it Means, and Why it is Contested
‘Global South’ is a contested term. Although it has gained popularity in academic and political discourse, where it is frequently used as a conceptual tool to understand and analyse the contemporary global divide, not everyone thinks that ‘Global South’ is a helpful term. On the one hand, ‘Global South’ has been described as misleading and inaccurate; on the other, unifying and empowering. To open the seminar series, I will explore the emergence of the term, discuss what it means, and examine why it is contested.
About the speaker
Dr Amy Duvenage is a lecturer in criminology at Southampton Solent University and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). Her work is grounded in decolonial, postcolonial, and Global South epistemologies, with an interdisciplinary orientation that intersects literature, education, gender studies, sociology, and criminology. Her research explores issues of identity, inclusion, and social justice, particularly within the context of post-apartheid South Africa and broader Global South narratives. Amy is the author of Roads to Decolonisation: An Introduction to Thought from the Global South (Routledge, 2024), a text that explores decolonial perspectives and knowledge production outside Eurocentric frameworks.
Across her scholarly work, she consistently draws on and critiques concepts such as ubuntu, using it as a lens to explore gender dynamics, migrant exclusion, pedagogical transformation, and community-building. Amy has contributed chapters to volumes published by Routledge and Springer, and has published articles in journals such as The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, Journal of Criminal Justice Education, Safundi, and Current Writing. Through this body of work, Amy has contributed to ongoing conversations on decolonial education, postcolonial critique, and the politics of belonging.
