, HED4805 ASSIGNMENT 2 2026 ANSWERS - DUE DATE 24 JUNE 2026
Question 1
1.1: Meaning of “Global North” and “Global South”
The terms “Global North” and “Global South” are used in social sciences and education
research to describe global inequalities in power, knowledge production, wealth, and
historical development rather than simply referring to strict geographic locations. The
“Global North” generally refers to economically developed, industrialised, and historically
dominant countries, mainly located in Europe and North America, which have long held
global influence in politics, economics, and especially knowledge production. These
countries are also historically associated with colonial expansion, where they produced and
controlled dominant forms of knowledge and academic discourse, often shaping how other
regions of the world are studied and represented. In the extract, it is shown that scholars from
the Global North dominate research output and publication trends in education journals, and
they often determine the themes and geographical focus of research, including studies about
the Global South itself (Seroto, Davids & Wolhuter, 2020). In contrast, the “Global South”
refers broadly to regions in Africa, Latin America, parts of Asia, and other developing
contexts that have historically experienced colonialism, economic exploitation, and epistemic
marginalisation. It is important to note that the Global South is not only a geographical
category but also an epistemological and political one, representing spaces where knowledge
production has been historically silenced, undervalued, or interpreted through Eurocentric
frameworks (Santos, 2014). As the extract highlights, scholars such as Taiwo (1993) and
Blaut (1993) argue that colonialism excluded indigenous knowledge systems and positioned
Europe as the centre of legitimate knowledge, while other histories were treated as secondary
or irrelevant. Therefore, the Global North and Global South represent unequal global
relationships in which the North has traditionally controlled academic discourse, institutional
power, and research agendas, while the South has often been positioned as an object of study
rather than a producer of knowledge. This imbalance is evident in the data presented in the
extract, which shows extremely low authorship representation from Africa and other
Southern regions in leading academic journals, reinforcing the idea that knowledge
Question 1
1.1: Meaning of “Global North” and “Global South”
The terms “Global North” and “Global South” are used in social sciences and education
research to describe global inequalities in power, knowledge production, wealth, and
historical development rather than simply referring to strict geographic locations. The
“Global North” generally refers to economically developed, industrialised, and historically
dominant countries, mainly located in Europe and North America, which have long held
global influence in politics, economics, and especially knowledge production. These
countries are also historically associated with colonial expansion, where they produced and
controlled dominant forms of knowledge and academic discourse, often shaping how other
regions of the world are studied and represented. In the extract, it is shown that scholars from
the Global North dominate research output and publication trends in education journals, and
they often determine the themes and geographical focus of research, including studies about
the Global South itself (Seroto, Davids & Wolhuter, 2020). In contrast, the “Global South”
refers broadly to regions in Africa, Latin America, parts of Asia, and other developing
contexts that have historically experienced colonialism, economic exploitation, and epistemic
marginalisation. It is important to note that the Global South is not only a geographical
category but also an epistemological and political one, representing spaces where knowledge
production has been historically silenced, undervalued, or interpreted through Eurocentric
frameworks (Santos, 2014). As the extract highlights, scholars such as Taiwo (1993) and
Blaut (1993) argue that colonialism excluded indigenous knowledge systems and positioned
Europe as the centre of legitimate knowledge, while other histories were treated as secondary
or irrelevant. Therefore, the Global North and Global South represent unequal global
relationships in which the North has traditionally controlled academic discourse, institutional
power, and research agendas, while the South has often been positioned as an object of study
rather than a producer of knowledge. This imbalance is evident in the data presented in the
extract, which shows extremely low authorship representation from Africa and other
Southern regions in leading academic journals, reinforcing the idea that knowledge
