BRICS, coexistence and social dialogue: Towards a multilateral social dialogue?

The world has seen a growing emphasis on the role of social dialogue in matters relating to social and economic development since the 2008 global financial crisis, however social dialogue as an approach to development issues has not been used to describe any multilateral cooperation. The closest utilisation of this concept is “dialogue” in the context of BRICS affairs, where the relationship between the countries is constantly viewed as a multilateral dialogue. This paper utilises the social dialogue approach to show how multilateral social dialogue is used by the BRICS in the pursuit of coexistence. The paper argues that the BRICS and their coexistence can be better understood as a form of an institutionalised multilateral social dialogue, based on cooperation among states that seek to shape the direction of economic and social policy in the international development landscape. The coexistence of the BRICS is further entrenched and demonstrated through the establishment of the BRICS institutionalised social dialogue platforms, which go beyond government interaction to include civil society and business.