Inclusive growth: the challenges of multidimensionality and multilateralism

The two decades either side of the global financial crisis have seen a remarkable surge and an equally remarkable reaction to global inequalities. This has played some part in fuelling the recent populist backlash against globalisation. In response, many global institutions and some national governments have embraced the concept of inclusive growth – proposing a policy agenda designed to share the benefits of economic growth and development more equitably. This paper argues that the current debate about inclusivity suffers from two major misspecifications that weaken the concept and undermine the prospect of the economic and political goals it stands for being achieved. For inclusivity to be meaningful and sustainable it must be understood in multidimensional terms, but attaching it to orthodox thinking on growth continually draws the debate back to narrow economic considerations. The concept has also been hampered by ‘methodological nationalism’, whereby policies for inclusivity are considered predominantly at the national level without adequate attention being given to the multilateral dimensions of inclusivity in a world of global interdependence. To be coherent and applicable, inclusive growth must be (re)conceived multilaterally and embrace a more multidimensional notion of inclusive development that hinges around a meaningful conception of human wellbeing.