2023–2027 STRATEGY

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) 2023–2027 Strategy outlines a five-year plan to advance economic justice in South Africa and across the African continent. The organization aims to move from a 'start up' phase into 'consolidation' and 'growth' by utilizing a research-policy-advocacy nexus to challenge neoliberal economic orthodoxies and promote systemic change that prioritizes human and planetary wellbeing.

• The IEJ's overarching vision is the creation of a just society characterized by the democratisation of economic decision making, systemic change, and an equitable distribution of resources to ensure planetary wellbeing and the realisation of rights.
• The organization's theory of change posits that conducting rigorous, collaborative research and sharing it with progressive social forces empowers these groups to contest orthodox policy thinking. This process is intended to democratise the policy process and lead to the implementation of proposals that advance economic justice and irreversible systematic transformation.
• The IEJ identifies several overlapping crises that frame its work, including a climate crisis that threatens the planet and requires CO2 emission reductions in South Africa, economic fragilities in Africa exacerbated by COVID-19 and potential structural adjustment programmes, and a social crisis marked by rising hunger and deepening poverty.
• The IEJ critiques the dominant response to these crises, which it describes as 'inclusive neoliberalism' or the 'Wall Street Consensus.' This regime is characterized by handing social provisioning and developmental priorities to the private sector through 'derisking' instruments like blended finance and public private partnerships, where states bear the risk while the private sector reaps rewards.
• The strategy defines five programmatic objectives: advancing inclusive macroeconomic and development frameworks; growing communities of practice for progressive economic thinking; supporting workers and marginalised communities in response to the climate crisis and changing work; popularising policies to build collective power; and strengthening the organization as a force for systemic change.
• A central priority across all IEJ objectives is the adoption of a feminist and intersectional analytical lens to center the experiences of women, workers, the unemployed, and rural communities who face multiple forms of dispossession.
• The IEJ aims to strengthen its impact across the African continent by building equitable partnerships and alliances, recognizing that economic justice is a global endeavor that requires Global South partnerships.
• To achieve its goals, the IEJ plans to strengthen its internal capacity by expanding staff, securing medium-term financial stability through a new funding strategy, and implementing a robust monitoring, learning, and evaluation (MLE) framework.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2023). 2023–2027 STRATEGY. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/iej_strategy-2023-2027_february-2023.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. 2023–2027 STRATEGY. 2023. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/iej_strategy-2023-2027_february-2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=2023–2027 STRATEGY |date=2023 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/iej_strategy-2023-2027_february-2023.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforeconomicjustice202320232027, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{2023–2027 STRATEGY}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2023}, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/iej_strategy-2023-2027_february-2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }