UKZN Hosts Dr. Mamokete Modiba for Global Dialogue on e-Participation and Policy Modelling
On 17 July 2025, Senior Researcher Dr. Mamokete Modiba delivered a presentation at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal e-Participation and Policy Modelling in South Africa International Summer School under the theme “Globalisation and Inclusive Local Development”. Her presentation highlighted how globalisation is often celebrated by elites and industrialised nations as a force for progress and prosperity, while many in developing countries experience it as exclusionary and disempowering. Drawing on critical perspectives, including those of Scholte (2008), she dissected the various interpretations of globalisation, ranging from internationalisation and liberalisation to universalisation and Westernisation, arguing that these frameworks tend to produce dead-end outcomes for the global south context. “In practice, globalisation has largely served the interests of powerful nations and transnational corporations,” she noted. “For many in the global south, particularly the poor and marginalised, promises of trickle-down benefits remain unfulfilled.”
Dr. Modiba problematised the notion that local governments alone can drive inclusive development under these global conditions. While local governments are at the frontline of service delivery and development planning, she argued that they cannot be expected to shoulder the burden alone. “We must move beyond state-centric models,” she said. “Achieving inclusive local development in the context of globalisation requires the active participation of all sectors, particularly the private sector, civil society organisations, and most importantly, the marginalised voices often left out of development conversations.”
The session, attended by academics and postgraduate students, concluded with a call for deeper reflection and collaboration on strategies to ensure globalisation works for, not against, local and inclusive development. In closing, Dr. Modiba urged stakeholders to resist one-size-fits-all solutions, calling for the need to localise responses to global challenges, and that means creating space for genuine partnerships, community agency, and a shared vision of development that leaves no one behind.