What Would “Positive Development Studies” Look Like?
Convergence, Divergence, Flatlining or Plateau: What has happened to inequality between and within countries over the last decade?
by Saumik Paul (Senior Lecturer in Global Development, GDI) and Andy Sumner (Professor of International Development, KCL)
Understanding inequality trends remains central to assessing both development progress and global justice. Two major dimensions—inequality between countries and inequality within countries—have long structured debate in development studies.
In the 1990s, Lant Pritchett’s provocation that the world was experiencing “divergence, big time” captured the mood of an era in which income gaps between countries were seen to be widening. More recently, the “converging-divergence” thesis proposed by Horner and Hulme in late 2010s argued that while inequality between countries was declining, inequality within countries was on the rise. In this blog, we argue that something new has emerged over the last decade akin to a flatlining or plateauing.
New environments and fresh perspectives: Reflections from a visiting PGR
by Valquiria Almeida, PhD student at the Federal University of Minas Gerais
Valquíria is a PhD student in Demography at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil), who recently spent six months on research leave at GDI. She is currently a researcher at the National Committee for Refugees of the Brazilian Ministry of Justice and Public Security and has nine years of experience working with civil society organisations dedicated to the socioeconomic inclusion of migrants and refugees in Minas Gerais (Brazil).
Her research focuses on international migration to Brazil, gender and race issues in migratory trajectories and integration into Brazilian society, migration law, the life course approach, and social policies. In this blog post, Valquiria reflects on her experiences of studying abroad as a migration researcher.
Globalisation in Flux: What does the Transformation of Value Chains mean for the Governance of Decent Work?
by Louisa Hann
The exploitation of workers and the governance of decent work in global value chains (GVCs) represent long-standing issues spanning Development Studies, Political Economy, Economic Geography and International Business. While private and public ethical standards have done something to address problems like poor wages, lack of workplace security, and lack of social protection within global value chains, there’s still a long way to go before the world realises the UN’s 8th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) – to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.
Reflections on building resilience in the development sector
Recently, Dr Natalie Cunningham ran a microcredential series – short, online courses exploring the personal, organisational and societal implications of resilience.
As part of the final assessment, course participants were asked to reflect on an aspect of resilience they wanted to share with others. With their permission, we have collated an edited selection of people’s insights, which provide thoughtful and practical advice for others working in the development sector at the moment.
GDI Digest: Environmental Justice and the Role of Development Studies
by Louisa Hann
There’s no doubt we’re living through an urgent chapter of the climate crisis. With 2024 now confirmed the hottest year on record – recording a sobering global average temperature of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels – things are only set to get hotter. A recent World Meteorological Organization report posits an 80% chance of at least one of the next five years exceeding 2024’s record, as well as a 70% chance that the five-year average warming for 2025-29 will exceed 1.5°C. With every fraction of a degree driving additional heatwaves, flooding events, droughts, ocean heating, and rising sea levels, the challenges facing decision-makers, academics, and civil society more broadly have never been greater.
So, how are GDI academics putting their interdisciplinary expertise into practice to grasp and address such challenges? We’ve collated some of the key themes to have emerged in recent months, as well as some handy reading lists to help you explore the topic in depth.
Waiting as method: reflections on access, positionality, power and scheduling during fieldwork
By Edwin Rwigi and Anifat Ibrahim
Africa’s Path to Sustainability: Combating Plastic Pollution for a Sustainable Future
By Rabiatu Adamu Saleh
World Environment Day, observed annually on June 5th, is a global celebration and call to action for environmental protection. It’s a day dedicated to raising awareness about pressing environmental issues and inspiring collective action to build a sustainable future. As an African, I believe that environmental issues often receive insufficient attention within Africa, despite their significant contribution to the ongoing climate crisis. This blog focuses on Africa, a continent often associated with vast deserts, yet surprisingly rich in biodiversity and capable of remarkable resilience. It explores Africa’s unique environmental challenges, particularly plastic pollution, and highlights the potential for sustainable solutions that can benefit the entire continent.
“We Keep Planting”: Seeds of Hope and Healing in Rwanda’s Thousand Hills
by Mariana C. Hernández-Montilla
I woke to the sound of chickens outside my dormitory window at the Akagera Community Centre. Their morning concert, an unexpected alarm clock during my stay, became a surprisingly perfect example of Rwanda’s new beginning. There was something persistent, vital, and remarkably ordinary about those chickens, which felt especially meaningful in a country where ordinary life had once disappeared.
When the world turned its back on Rwanda in 1994, the unimaginable happened. On the ground, Rwandans were left to face the tragedy alone. After ten UN peacekeepers were killed, the international community pulled out most troops, as documented at the Kigali Genocide Memorial and other sources. What followed was one of the worst genocides in modern history, a tragedy that shocked the world and left a lasting scar on humanity. Yet, 31 years later, under the slogan “Kwibuka 31” meaning “remember, unite, renew” in Kinyarwanda, I witnessed a nation that had transformed itself through extraordinary resilience and determination. To learn more about Rwanda’s recovery in my capacity as a teaching assistant, I joined my class of students enrolled in GDI’s Environment, Climate Change, and Development Master’s on a trip to Kigali.
The economic geographical challenges of 21st century capitalism
by Yuko Aoyama, Dan Haberly, Rory Horner and Seth Schindler
The contemporary global economy is undergoing considerable turbulence. The state is resurgent, in multiple domains. Unpredictability is seemingly the name of the game amidst geopolitical and military tensions, unprecedented tariffs, the recent and continued threat of pandemics, technological and climatic change. Researchers must face up to what appears to be an unstable and rapidly changing context. In our newly released, edited collection – ‘A Research Agenda for Economic Geography: Reframing 21st Century Capitalism’ – we showcase analyses of 21st century capitalism ranging from globalization, platformization, and green transitions to geopolitics.