Urban metabolism, water scarcity and seawater desalination in Chile under a neoliberal paradigm
GDI’s Resources, Environment, and Development research group have recently organised a series of talks on ‘Red Talks: on the Politics of Resources, Environment and Development’ read more…
Data-Powered Positive Deviance: Learning from Outliers
Dr Basma Albanna recently gave a lecture at Africa in Science exploring her research into Data-Powered Positive Deviance.
In the lecture she introduces the new method that combines traditional (e.g. surveys & interviews) and non-traditional data (e.g. from remote sensing and mobile phones) to identify and understand development-related outperformers, and urges development and data science professionals to apply this structured, data-powered method to a range of development challenges and in a wider set of development domains, thereby enabling more effective use of the non-traditional digital datasets that are increasingly available. read more…
The Politics of Distributing Social Transfers: State Capacity and Political Contestation in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia
Dr Tom Lavers, Senior Lecturer in Politics & Development, Global Development Institute
Social transfers are increasingly seen within the development industry as the go-to response to poverty, inequality, and economic crises, a trend that has only been reinforced by the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This spread and expansion of social transfer programmes have been accompanied by a growing body of academic research, which has increasingly focused on the political drivers of policy adoption. read more…
Development Economics & Public Policy event series
A new series hosted by Development Economics & Public Policy welcomes back previous graduates to speak to current GDI students.
To book onto any of the events, please email gdi@manchester.ac.uk. read more…
Colin Fuller – Obituary
It is with great sadness that the Global Development Institute, The University of Manchester reports the passing of Colin Fuller on Wednesday 6 April at the age of 89. Colin was a Senior Lecturer at the Institute’s original structures: the Department of Administrative Studies (DAS) and Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM), for almost 30 years. He was one of the earliest appointments of DAS’s founder, Professor Arthur Livingstone, in the late 1960s and he taught at DAS and IDPM until his retirement in the late 1990s. We, David and Jayne, both met Colin who was Acting Head of DAS, when we joined the Department in 1985. read more…
Surveys for social justice: Ageing well in place in inner city Manchester
“I am most proud of being part of Community Savers because I know I am in a movement based on social justice. It’s also the place I’ve been challenged the most but also learned the most.”
Tina Cribbin, community activist and member of Aquarius Community Savers.
This is the story of how a women-led social movement methodology from the Global South, has enabled older tower-block tenants in inner-city Manchester to address health and social inequalities experienced by elderly people living in the heart of the city. read more…
Seth Schindler awarded Best Paper from Regional Studies Association
Dr Seth Schindler and his co-author Dr J. Miguel Kanai (The University of Sheffield) have been awarded Best Paper for their work on infrastructure-led development.
Each year The Regional Studies Association announce a Best Paper from each of their journals, published during the previous year. For 2022, the journal Regional Studies awarded this to Seth and Miguel’s paper “Getting the territory right: Infrastructure-led development and the re-emergence of spatial planning strategies”.
Read the full paper here or Seth and Miguel’s recent article based on the research below.
Students explore Digital Transformation during fieldtrip to London
More than 120 students from Global Development Institute met with industry leaders on an extensive four-day tour of London from 1–4 April, learning the latest digital trends while absorbing the capital’s vibrant culture. read more…
The Cocoa Diaries
Kwame Asamoah, International Development: Globalisation, Trade and Industry MSc alum
The cocoa chocolate industry is one of the most complex industries to understand. While over 4 million smallholder cocoa farmers produce over 4 million metric tons of cocoa beans a year, their national governments receive less than $10bn from an industry worth over $130bn.
I mentioned countries, not the cocoa farmers because, in Ghana, the farmer is entitled to only a percentage of a price they have no hand in setting. Currently, they receive an estimated 65% of the world market price from the sector regulator, although this is an improvement on the 1%, they received in the 1950s. read more…
New Open Access Book: The Politics of Distributing Social Transfers: State Capacity and Political Contestation in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia
Social protection has risen to a prominent position on the global development agenda since the turn of the millennium. Considerable attention has been devoted to debating the merits of different policy designs and the political factors shaping the adoption of different models. Yet ultimately, the ability of any social transfer programme to deliver on its promises is dependent on the effective implementation and distribution of social transfers in line with its objectives. read more…