What is The Geography of Discontent

The geography of discontent is a social phenomenon that refers to the feeling of grievance or dissatisfaction perceived by a good part of the population living in those territories that feel abandoned by governments and policy makers. This phenomenon appears as a factor that can make the SDGs a valuable tool for more inclusive and people-centered policymaking. Indeed, high unemployment, low wage growth and other symptoms of poor socioeconomic performance have led to growing public discontent with the political and economic status quo. The geography of discontent stresses a growing mistrust from citizens about the capacity of their governments to ensure well-being now and in the future. This mistrust has generated a pattern in which the degree of discontent reflects the economic performance of a region relative to others in the country, inside country disparities depending on levels decentralization. The geography of discontent is a symptom of an underlying policy failure. Too many regions struggle because public policy has not responded adequately to their problems. A focus on aggregate performance at the national level has obscured that struggling regions require distinct solutions. Only if policymakers address this fundamental issue will they be able to deal with the cause behind the geography of discontent (OECD, 2019a). It is considered that SDGs can help to address some of the underlying causes of the discontents shown by the citizens through responsive and effective local and regional policies considering the principle of LNOB.

The Other Face of Those Left Behind in the Silence of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): A Global Analysis of SDG Discontent Geography

Isidore E. Agbokou (Centre d'Etudes Diplomatiques et Stratégiques de Paris (CEDS), France)