Book Spolight: Hidden Politics In the UN Sustainable Development Goals

A Critical Development Chef d'Oeuvre By Professor Adam Sneyd

Hidden Politics in the UN Sustainable Development Goals

In Hidden Politics in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Adam Sneyd, a professor of political science at the University of Guelph, dismantles the façade surrounding the UN’s much-celebrated SDGs. While the goals are widely lauded for their ambitious agenda to foster a more inclusive, peaceful, and sustainable world, Sneyd’s rigorous analysis uncovers a complex, underlying political landscape that paints a less rosy picture.

Rather than advancing bold reforms, Sneyd argues that the SDGs have become tools that legitimize a liberal international economic order, safeguarding capitalist interests rather than confronting the structural challenges that sustain inequality and environmental degradation. His critical analysis of each of the seventeen SDGs reveals that these targets, though well-intentioned, lack the transformative substance needed to effect real change. In other words, they serve more as a scaffold for existing power structures than a revolutionary blueprint for a sustainable future.

Sneyd's work has garnered praise across the academic and critical development spectrum. Scholars such as Craig N. Murphy and Peter Dauvergne commend the book for its originality and its ability to challenge assumptions. Dauvergne notes that Sneyd "tears down the façade" of the SDGs, revealing a disturbing truth: the SDGs often reinforce the very power imbalances they claim to address. Similarly, Susanne Soederberg highlights Sneyd's "brilliant" application of a critical political economy lens, exposing how big business and corporate partnerships perpetuate injustice under the guise of sustainability.

Hidden Politics offers an essential wake-up call for those involved in global development, inviting policymakers, activists, and academics to question the very foundations of the SDG agenda. Bonny Ibhawoh remarks that this book is more than a critique; it’s "a call to action"—a plea for genuine reform that places people and the planet above profit. This incisive text is ideal for anyone seeking a deeper, more critical understanding of global governance, development, and the ideological battles that shape our world.

Hidden Politics in the UN Sustainable Development Goals is a must-read for those eager to rethink the SDGs beyond surface-level optimism.