Hi Arthur—thank you for sharing these comments and raising your important observation of the relative lack of global south voices in the EA movement. While there is an ongoing effort to increase participation in EA groups in the Global South, it is also essential for those of us in the Global North to understand the depth and implications of this concern. To that end, I have embarked on educating myself (especially from a global health perspective) and wanted to share these resources that I have found helpful, including a summer course next month that I’ve signed up for. Hopefully others in our community will also engage with:
1. A YouTube video: “Shifting power in global health will require leadership by the Global South and allyship by the Global North”, Dr Madhukar Pai. 2. Two short books: - “The Foreign Gaze” by Seye Ambimbola, a book available for free here. - “Rethinking Global Health. Frameworks of Power”, by Rochelle A. Burgess, a book available for free here. 3. An online summer course, “Reimagining Global Health”, Summer Institutes of Global Health, McGill University. Runs the week of June 8, reduced registration fees for students and LMICs. (Previous years’ course slides are available here). 4. The Decolonization Toolkit, created by the student initiative Eye on Global Health in Copenhagen.
Like you, I wonder how much more successful the EA movement might be in achieving its goals if it addresses this “structural blind spot” and enables and elevates Global South voices throughout its levels of leadership.
Simon, thank you for this and for the quality of the resources you’ve shared. I was not familiar with Seye Abimbola’s The Foreign Gaze, but the framing immediately resonates. The “gaze” is not just an epistemological problem it has direct operational consequences. When global health programs are designed by people who have never had to make them work in a context like the one I’ve been working in, the assumptions embedded in the design tend to be invisible until they collide with reality on the ground. I’ll look at the McGill summer course the timing is interesting given where I am in my own transition. What strikes me most about your comment is the distinction you draw between participation and leadership. Increasing Global South participation in EA groups is necessary but not sufficient. The structural blind spot I described is not primarily about who is in the room — it is about who is setting the agenda, defining the cause areas, and deciding what counts as rigorous evidence. Those are questions of power, not just representation. I’d genuinely enjoy continuing this conversation particularly around how EA might build accountability mechanisms that go beyond good intentions. Would you be open to connecting directly? Here is my contact information if needed: meniansou25@gmail.com ; https://www.linkedin.com/in/meniansou-n-arthur-kouadio-566373249
Hi Arthur—thank you for sharing these comments and raising your important observation of the relative lack of global south voices in the EA movement. While there is an ongoing effort to increase participation in EA groups in the Global South, it is also essential for those of us in the Global North to understand the depth and implications of this concern. To that end, I have embarked on educating myself (especially from a global health perspective) and wanted to share these resources that I have found helpful, including a summer course next month that I’ve signed up for. Hopefully others in our community will also engage with:
1. A YouTube video: “Shifting power in global health will require leadership by the Global South and allyship by the Global North”, Dr Madhukar Pai.
2. Two short books:
- “The Foreign Gaze” by Seye Ambimbola, a book available for free here.
- “Rethinking Global Health. Frameworks of Power”, by Rochelle A. Burgess, a book available for free here.
3. An online summer course, “Reimagining Global Health”, Summer Institutes of Global Health, McGill University. Runs the week of June 8, reduced registration fees for students and LMICs. (Previous years’ course slides are available here).
4. The Decolonization Toolkit, created by the student initiative Eye on Global Health in Copenhagen.
People may also be interested in this previous forum post.
Like you, I wonder how much more successful the EA movement might be in achieving its goals if it addresses this “structural blind spot” and enables and elevates Global South voices throughout its levels of leadership.
Simon, thank you for this and for the quality of the resources you’ve shared. I was not familiar with Seye Abimbola’s The Foreign Gaze, but the framing immediately resonates. The “gaze” is not just an epistemological problem it has direct operational consequences. When global health programs are designed by people who have never had to make them work in a context like the one I’ve been working in, the assumptions embedded in the design tend to be invisible until they collide with reality on the ground.
I’ll look at the McGill summer course the timing is interesting given where I am in my own transition.
What strikes me most about your comment is the distinction you draw between participation and leadership. Increasing Global South participation in EA groups is necessary but not sufficient. The structural blind spot I described is not primarily about who is in the room — it is about who is setting the agenda, defining the cause areas, and deciding what counts as rigorous evidence. Those are questions of power, not just representation.
I’d genuinely enjoy continuing this conversation particularly around how EA might build accountability mechanisms that go beyond good intentions. Would you be open to connecting directly?
Here is my contact information if needed: meniansou25@gmail.com ; https://www.linkedin.com/in/meniansou-n-arthur-kouadio-566373249