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Trade and tariff wars have dominated headlines in recent months as Trump wages economic warfare against the world, particularly targeting the Global South. The US has placed huge tariffs on goods from countries like Brazil, Bangladesh, India and Vietnam in a bid to influence policy-making and market access in global south countries. Backed by big tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, this warfare is partly aimed at entrenching US tech monopolies around the world.
But Trump's use of trade as a weapon of empire is not new. Imperial states have long used neoliberal trade deals as way of continuing economic domination and colonial extraction of countries across the globe. In this panel discussion Global Justice Now campaigners will be joined by activists and researchers from India and Latin America to understand how trade is used as a weapon of empire and what we can do to build democratic digital sovereignty for the masses.
Seema Syeda is a campaigner at Global Justice Now leading on Big Tech and US-UK trade deals. She is also co-author of 'Creeping Fascism: what it is and how to fight it' and a founding member of the Decolonial Europe Collective.
Shobhit Shukla is Lead Research and Policy Engagement at IT for Change, India. His work studies the political economy of digitalisation, focussing on labour in the digital economy, data & AI governance and digital trade. Trained in law, he also engages in policy advocacy to advance progressive visions of digitalisation and development, particularly in the Global South.
Cecilia Rikap is Associate Professor in Economics at University College London and Head of Research at the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. She co-authored the groundbreaking report 'Reclaiming digital sovereignty: A roadmap to build a digital stack for people and the planet' as well as the books Capitalism, Power and Innovation: Intellectual Monopoly Capitalism uncovered (Routledge) and The Digital Innovation Race: Conceptualizing the Emerging New World Order.
We are a democratic social justice organisation working as part of a global movement to challenge the powerful and create a more just and equal world. We mobilise people in the UK for change, and act in solidarity with those fighting injustice, particularly in the global south.
IT for Change is an NGO based in Bengaluru, India. We aim for a society in which digital technologies contribute to human rights, social justice and equity. We seek to frame the discourse, advocate for appropriate policies and demonstrate working models on the ground to transform our society's approach to technology. We seek to build bridges across different sectors in the global struggle towards an equitable digital society.
