McAuley Oration 2025
Where you live should not determine whether you live
Date: Tuesday 25 November 2025
Time: 4pm
Location: Archway 2 Lecture Theatre, University of Otago, 290 Leith Walk, Dunedin North
Cost: Free public lecture
Speaker
Philip Nel
Philip Nel is Professor Emeritus in Political Economy at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He completed his DPhil in Philosophy in 1984 at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, and served as professor and Head of the Department of Political Science at Stellenbosch until 2002.
He was appointed as professor at Otago in 2003, and twice acted as Head of the Department of Politics, in which capacity he contributed to a strong postgraduate programme in Politics at Otago. He supervised 30 PhD students, many of whom became academics in their own right, and seventy Masters and Honours students. He has been a visiting professor in Germany, Japan, South Africa, and Vietnam, and continues with his research on the political economy of global inequality.
He is the author of The Politics of Economic Inequality in Developing Countries, a number of monographs on the international relations of developing nations, and a large number of academic articles in peer-reviewed journals, covering philosophical, political, and economic themes.
Abstract
Despite recent progress in reducing extreme poverty, improving the wellbeing of countless people in the world, and reducing between-country income inequality considerably, our world remains fundamentally unequal. These conflicting trends are well-captured by variations in the rate at which child mortality is declining globally.
Progress in female empowerment, neo-natal care, available public health care, and improvements in sanitation and feeding have led to a significant decline in child mortality across the globe, but at variable national rates.
Many more children would survive if it were not for the inordinate role that national borders play in determining who gets what in our world. While it is unwise to wish national borders away, the world has shown that multilateral cooperation is not only possible, but highly effective in dealing with global challenges. Unfortunately, contemporary geopolitical trends threaten to undo many of the multilateral advances of our time. Some green shoots remain, however, such as the recent Agreement on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response. A crucial addendum to the Agreement is still to be negotiated dealing with pathogen access and benefit sharing. It is up to “friends” of multilateralism, including Aotearoa New Zealand, to make sure that such negotiations succeed despite the machinations of the big powers. Many children’s lives depend on it.