GDI at DSA2019
Researchers from the Global Development Institute will be convening 6 panels the Development Studies Association Conference. The conference runs from 19-21st June at the Open University in Milton Keynes. Find out about the panels and papers our researchers are presenting below.
How to address Menstrual Hygiene Management sustainably and at scale?
Our PhD researcher Mariana Lopez Rodriguez discusses her research on “Gender-Environmental relations in Global Production Networks.” read more…
GDI at ECAS2019
A number of our researchers will be at ECAS2019 on Africa: Connections and Disruptions. The conference will run from 11-14 June in Edinburgh.
What creates a pro-poor politics and the possibility of participatory planning?
The romance of the barricades features in Les Misérables, but it also figures heavily in academic texts. Many academics, professionals and political activists think contentious politics is the solution to injustice and structural disadvantage. They consider that it is the very willingness to protest publicly, to claim rights and entitlements through assertion rather than persuasion, that advances social justice, poverty reduction and progressive development. As George Bernard Shaw claimed: ‘all progress depends on the unreasonable man’
But experience of working with women activists in informal settlements suggests that this is overly simplistic and ignores the complexity of resistance strategies. Quiet resistance has long been recognised in the academic literature. However, it has been primarily seen as an individual action; with relatively little attention given by academics to actions that aggregate through replication into something that is deliberately subversive and potentially forceful. Collaboration with the state has long been recognised; but it is frequently critiqued by academics with allegations of co-option. read more…
GDI Lecture: Ambitious and ambiguous public investments in African cities with Edgar Pieterse
Listen or watch Professor Edgar Pieterse, DST/NRF South African Research Chair in Urban Policy, Director the African Centre for Cities and Professor in the School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, all at the University of Cape Town, discuss his forthcoming book on public investments in African cities.
New research shows community forest management reduces both deforestation and poverty in Nepal
Giving local communities in Nepal the opportunity to manage their forests has simultaneously reduced deforestation and poverty in the region, new research has shown.
In the largest study of its kind, an international team of experts led by The University of Manchester has found that community-forest management led to a 37% relative reduction in deforestation and a 4.3% relative reduction in poverty.
This is particularly significant in a low income country, where more than a third of the country’s forests are managed by a quarter of the country’s population. read more…
GDI Lecture: Forced labour in global agricultural supply chains with Genevieve Le Baron
Listen or watch Professor Genevieve Le Baron, Co-Director, Sheffield Political Economy Research Intitute (SPERI), The University of Sheffield, discuss the business of forced labour in global agricultural supply chains
Exploring the UK’s NGO sector
Chris Jordan, Communications and Impact Manager
[Visit the NGO explorer site here]
After setting out to better understand the UK’s development NGO sector, Dan Brockington and Nicola Banks soon realised that pulling together the data on thousands of charities would be a huge challenge.
After heroic amounts of filtering and crunching data, their research produced some fascinating insights into the health of the sector as a whole. While working closely with a range of charities, the researchers soon realised there was a real desire (particularly on the part of smaller NGOs and those based outside of London) to access similar information and connect with their counterparts. read more…
Research focus: migration in Africa with Oliver Bakewell
Oliver Bakewell focuses on the intersections between migration and mobility and processes of development and change, with an empirical focus on migration within Africa.
In this short video, he talks about how academics research can challenge and inform policy and the major research projects he’s working on. read more…
Hrishipara daily financial diaries: Managing income volatility
The Hrishipara Daily Diary Project tracks the daily money transactions of households in central Bangladesh. This is the third in our series ‘Tracking Transactions, Understanding Lives’, which focuses on individual diarists, creating pictures that give a sense of what these lives are like.
Managing income volatility: Ubaydullah, the brick-breaker
We have been tracking Ubaydullah’s 5-person household since mid-August 2015. His income varies a lot from month to month, so how does he manage such volatility? Chart 1 sets the scene. read more…