In this episode, I’m joined by Michael Galant, member of the Progressive International’s Secretariat and senior researcher at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (here on the show in his personal capacity!). Michael and I talk about the decades-long campaign to build a New International Economic Order—a radical proposal, first articulated in 1974, for radically reshaping the entire global economy as we know it in order to level the playing field for the nations of the Global South. We discuss the history and trajectory of the NIEO, the connections between this worldmaking project and the broader Third Worldist movement, and the Progressive International’s new efforts to revive the NIEO’s radical vision as we mark the 50th anniversary of the UN’s original Declaration on the Establishment of the NIEO.

Return to Bandung is hosted by Pranay Somayajula, an Indian-American writer, researcher, and organizer based in Washington, D.C. His work explores themes of diaspora, (inter)nationalism, anticolonial politics, and the many lives and afterlives of empire. You learn more about Pranay and read his writing on his website, as well as on his Substack blog, culture shock.

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to leave a review or rating, and subscribe to the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Sources and helpful links:

• ​UN General Assembly Resolution — Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order (May 1974)
• ​Progressive International — Program of Action on the Construction of a New International Economic Order (September 2024)
• ​Progressive International — A Manual for Mutiny: Presenting the Program of Action on the Construction of a New International Economic Order (September 2024)
• ​UN General Assembly Resolution — Towards a new international economic order (December 2022)
• ​Karuna Mantena — Getting the NIEO Right (Law and Political Economy Project, May 2018)
• ​Adom Getachew —Worldmaking After Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination (Princeton University Press, 2019)
• ​Michael Galant — Who’s Afraid of the Global South? (Foreign Policy, April 2024)

Social links:

Return to Bandung:

• ​Twitter: twitter.com/returntobandung
• ​Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/returntobandung/

Pranay Somayajula:

• ​Twitter: https://x.com/p_somayajula
• ​Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pranay.somayajula/
• ​Website: https://www.pranaysomayajula.com/
• ​Substack: https://www.culture-shock.xyz/

Michael Galant:

• ​Twitter: https://twitter.com/michael_galant

Progressive International:

• ​Twitter: https://x.com/ProgIntl
• ​Website: https://progressive.international/