On 25 February 2026, Global Visions ry and the Finnish Society for Development Research (FSDR) will host Whose Future? Global Visions in a Contested World, a public panel discussion at Think Corner (Tiedekulma) in Helsinki. The event is part of the pre-conference programme of Development Days 2026, celebrating FSDR’s 40th anniversary.
Time: 17:00-19:00
The discussion examines the state of the world in 2026 and asks what today’s shifting power dynamics mean for societies most affected by global inequality. As geopolitical tensions intensify, development priorities are reconfigured, and global governance faces growing contestation, the panel will explore where power lies in practice—and whose lives and futures are being prioritised. A central theme is the meaning of a “multipolar world”: who defines global problems and solutions, and whether multipolarity opens space for new actors or merely reshapes old hierarchies.
We would like to firstly introduce Walden Bello.
Walden Bello is a world-renowned scholar, activist, and public intellectual whose work has shaped global debates on development, globalization, and democracy for decades. He is currently an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Binghamton and a retired professor at the University of the Philippines. He is also the co-founder of Focus on the Global South, a leading progressive think tank based in Bangkok and affiliated with Chulalongkorn University.
Bello is widely known for his critical analyses of corporate-driven globalization and its social, political, and environmental consequences. His work bridges academic research, political practice, and grassroots activism. In recognition of his contributions, he received the Right Livelihood Award (often referred to as the Alternative Nobel Prize) in 2003 and was named Outstanding Public Scholar by the International Studies Association in 2008.
In addition to his academic and activist work, Bello has played a direct role in politics. He served as a member of the Philippine House of Representatives from 2009 to 2015 and ran for vice president in the 2022 Philippine elections. In 2023, Amnesty International Philippines honoured him as the Most Distinguished Human Rights Defender.
Bello is the author of 25 books, the most recent of which, Global Battlefields: Memoir of a Legendary Public Intellectual from the Global South, reflects on a lifetime of engagement with struggles for justice, democracy, and alternative futures. His presence at Whose Future? Global Visions in a Contested World brings a rare combination of historical depth, regional insight, and lived political experience to the discussion.
The panel brings together scholars and public intellectuals with long-standing engagement in research, policy, and activism, offering grounded perspectives from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Alongside Walden Bello, the panel features Robtel Neajai Pailey, Assistant Professor at the London School of Economics, whose work focuses on citizenship, belonging, and development from a Liberian and African perspective, and Alfredo Saad-Filho, Professor at Queen’s University Belfast and a leading scholar of political economy, development, and neoliberalism. The discussion will be moderated by Max Tallberg and Astrid Aminoff.
The event is free and open to the public, and will be livestreamed and recorded for the Global Visions YouTube channel.
