SDGs and Inequality: Towards an Ontology of State Intervention?

In 2015 the SDGs replaced the MDGs. This new set of goals coalesce around a general theme of inequality. This article will argue that in order to understand how SDGs are to be managed, governed, and realised the role of the state in this process must be robustly theorised and contextualised within a world of multi-level governance. Therefore, a robust theory of the state must be outlined to generate an appropriate ontology of state (non)intervention with regard to solving the key developmental inequalities associated with the suite of SDGs. In addition, global, regional, and local actors all influence the ability to achieve these goals; yet the state remains a key institutional site where power coalesces. Therefore, the roles of this plethora of development actors must be delineated to reveal the nature of state power in a 21st century characterised by key processes of globalisation.