General Introduction: Building Hope, Perspectives and Experiences from the Global South

The idea and concept of the global south are controversial and polysemic. It is used to group together all those countries and territories that have less beneficial development conditions, with significant levels of poverty, inequality and marginalisation, often linked to their heavy colonial history and economic and cultural dependence. The concept of the global south has been referenced to the countries formerly known as the third world. In recent decades, however, this concept has been extended and applied not only to the previously mentioned third-world countries, but also to cities and regions. Thus, it is argued that there are not only countries in the global south, but also territories that can be called ‘souths’ in northern countries, referring to poor and marginalised areas in richer countries, as well as ‘northern’ or rich areas in the countries of the global south.