BRICS and the Transformation of the Global Economic Order: Decolonial Aspirations, Contradictions, and Feminist Futures.
This paper explores the transformative potential and inherent contradictions of the BRICS alliance—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, now expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates—in reshaping the global economic order. Against the backdrop of a deepening global polycrisis marked by climate breakdown, inequality, and debt distress, BRICS has emerged as a pivotal vehicle for the global South’s quest for equity, autonomy, and a multipolar world.
BRICS embodies both promise and paradox. It presents itself as an alternative to Western-led governance, advancing agendas of dedollarisation, South–South cooperation, and climate justice. Yet, its transformative potential is undermined by internal hierarchies, patriarchal governance patterns, and dependence on China’s strategic dominance.
For BRICS to truly advance a decolonial, equitable order, it must deepen inclusivity, embed gender and human rights principles, and avoid replicating the very hegemonies it critiques. Ultimately, the measure of BRICS’s success will lie not in macroeconomic indicators alone, but in whether it can translate multipolarity into justice, dignity, and agency for the world’s majority.
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