How politics and power shape state capacity
Why do certain parts of the state in Africa work so effectively despite operating in difficult governance contexts? How do ‘pockets of bureaucratic effectiveness’ emerge and become sustained over time? And what does this tell us about the prospects for state-building and development in Africa?
Edited by Sam Hickey, Pockets of Effectiveness and the Politics of State-building and Development in Africa follows 10 years of research from the Effective States and Inclusive Development Research Centre.
We are pleased to say that the book is Open Access. Read an extract from the opening chapter by Sam Hickey and Kate Pruce below. read more…
“What does your £1 mean to you?” Celebrating the launch of One World Together
Nicola Banks and Chibwe Henry
Last month we were delighted to hold an intimate celebration marking the start of One World Together. We were joined by our magnificent Youth Board, our four inspiring partner organisations and a fantastic and welcoming audience at the University of Manchester.
This was not only an opportunity to introduce a movement that has been in the making for more than two years. It was a chance to really showcase what we are seeking to do, bringing in our four partners to highlight what this new collaboration means to them. Our Youth Board also demonstrated the way we envision One World Together becoming an engaged and dynamic youth-powered movement for change. read more…
“Powerful and humanising”: bringing research on ageing and displacement to life
Tess Hartland is a PhD researcher in Sociology, and a member of Manchester Urban Ageing Research Group. Her research focuses on experiences of ageing among refugees and asylum seekers living in Greater Manchester. Here, she reflects on the creation of Echoes of Displacement, a co-produced comic developed from her research. read more…
The desire for dignity in Nepal rattles political relations
Clare Cummings, Research Associate, Global Development Institute
Almost two decades since waves of protests spread across southern Nepal demanding respect and rights for the Madhesi ethnic group, the desire for dignity continues to disrupt Nepali politics.
In 2007, the Madhesi, who are an ethnic group from the border region with India, began mobilising, demanding citizenship rights, equality and inclusion within the Nepali state. They sought an end to their discrimination, in which the state treated them as foreign citizens due to their cultural ties with north India. Until 1958, Madhesi Nepalis could not even enter Kathmandu without a visa.
In 2015, in response to sustained political action by the Madhesi, the Nepali Constitution finally accorded greater rights to the Madhesi and other minority groups and introduced a new federal structure, including a province in the Madhesi dominant region. However, in Nepal, anti-India nationalism is still strong and the Madhesi, with their familial, cultural and economic links to India, are caught in the anti-India discourse. read more…
In Conversation: Kathy Dodworth + Elisa Gambino
In this episode Elisa Gambino is joined by Kathy Dodworth. They discuss Kathy’s new book, Legitimation as Political Practice, her transition from working at an NGO to academia and the idea of the non-state
MSc Human Resource Management Residential Visits
Students on our MSc Human Resource Management Enhancement Programme (HRMEP), recently took part in a residential visit to Bristol, Bath, Salisbury, Birmingham and Ironbridge.
The MSc HRMEP has developed over seven years, with support from Heads of School and Faculty, to offer closer student engagement with a wide range of organisational contexts in the field of HR practice, with a focus on the professional, cultural and social dimensions of student’s experience. HRMEP aims to equip learners with a robust theoretical framework in human resource management and at the same time to provide students with an opportunity to gain insights into practice-focused human resource practices across a wide range of management contexts and sectors. read more…
From Online Fieldwork to In-Person Discussions: Sharing Microfinance Research Findings in Rural Indonesia
Namira Samir, PhD Researcher, Global Development Institute
Namira Samir is a final year PhD Candidate at Global Development Institute, The University of Manchester. Her PhD research investigates the interplay between credit, human capabilities, and labour in Indonesia. In May 2023, she visited the Credit & Savings Institution, where she had previously conducted her primary data collection, to share her main research findings with the borrowers and key officers.
The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and restrictions left me without a choice. Since I was determined to collect primary qualitative data, I had to conduct my fieldwork remotely.
Finding a Credit & Savings institution that would allow me to speak to their members through an electronic form of communication was an arduous task that consumed five months. Institutions I had previously approached were concerned about potential data leakage. One of these events was reported when I had completed interviews with five respondents at a Credit Institution. The key officer said: “Recently, our members received texts that seemed to be predatory lending and even though we trust that you will not circulate their personal information, at this time, we can only allow in-person data collection.” As a result, I terminated the data collection at that institution and was unable to use the five interviews collected. read more…
Call for Papers: Europe in US-China rivalry
Nick Jepson and Seth Schindler, in collaboration with Nana de Graaff and Imogen T. Liu, are organising a workshop entitled “Europe in US-China rivalry: The implications of great power politics”. The workshop will take place on 9-10 October 2023 in Amsterdam and there is a call for papers out with a deadline of 15th June 2023. Full details on how to submit a proposal can be found at the bottom of this page. read more…
One thing that should never be taken away from you is your education!
Malavika Krishnan
Malavika was recently a nominee in the University of Manchester’s Social Responsibility Making a Difference Awards. She was highly commended in the category of Outstanding Social Innovation, for her work around education in India. She also recieved two commendation awards for equality, diversity and inclusion, and Outstanding contribution to widening participation category. This blog outlines her invaluable work.
As a 25-year old Indian citizen, I would like to present the dichotomy in the standard of living I have witnessed over the years. Considering India’s remarkable performance in Information Technology and Information Technology enabled services, it is no surprise that the country is regarded as a global knowledge and service hub. It would be easy to assume the country is making significant economic growth and progress towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 1 of eradicating all forms of poverty (UN, 2022). read more…
GDI at the Development Studies Association Conference 2023
Academics from the Global Development Institute are presenting papers and convening panels at the annual Development Studies Association conference, which is taking place at the University of Reading 28-30th June 2023. This year’s conference is hybrid, meaning a chance for DSA members to get together in person for the first time since 2019.
The title of the conference is Crisis in the Anthropocene: Rethinking connection and agency in development. The Athropocene – and its conditions, structures and relationships under which we operate – signals a new era in human development in which crises of environment and nature are increasingly take centre stage.
At a time when new challenges are continually emerging in an interconnected world and uncertainty, risk and precarity are the ‘new normal’, this era unsettles and potentially overturns, conventional ways of theorising and practising development. read more…