GDI Lecture Series: Political economy approach to collective action, inequality and development with Prof Bill Ferguson
On Wednesday, 29 November, Prof Bill Ferguson, Grinnell College, delivered a lecture entitled ‘a political economy approach to collective action, inequality and development’. This lecture was the Annual Adrian Leftwich Memorial Lecture presented with the Effective States and Inclusive Development Research Centre.
You can watch the livestream below. You can also listen to the podcast below read more…
Hopeful visions in dark days
This blog originally appeared on the Manchester Migration Lab website
Blog by Dr William Wheeler, independent scholar
Migration, it is agreed, is intimately connected with hope. As we heard from Gulwali Passarlay, a refugee from Afghanistan and author of Lightless Sky, who talked eloquently of his perilous journey to the UK as a child, “It was hope kept me going.” But Passarlay went on to explain that it was when he reached the UK, when he found his story and even his nationality disbelieved by the Home Office, that his hope was crushed. read more…
In Conversation: Professor Bill Ferguson and Dr Pablo Yanguas
Effective States and Inclusive Development’s Dr Pablo Yanguas engages Grinnell University’s Professor Bill Ferguson in a thought-provoking discussion about the role of economics in both creating and addressing collective action problems. Bill, the Gertrude B. Austin Professor of Economics, delivered this year’s Adrian Leftwich memorial lecture on a Political Economy approach to collective action, inequality and development. Having begun his career as a neighourhood community organiser in Seattle, Bill believes that, “Economics is fundamentally a social science. It’s fundamentally an attempt to understand human behaviour,” and is a strong advocate for rethinking the way the discipline is understood and taught – in order to deepen its contribution to addressing social ills like poverty and inequality. read more…
Development politics lacks a shared language
The fact that I have written a grand total of 7 posts for my own blog in the entirety of 2017 is a testament to the madness that this year has been. Good madness, I must say. None of that Lovecraftian “things-man-was-never-meant-to-see” stuff. But madness anyway. And as I emerge from a cocoon fashioned out of draft chapters and reports, taking up blogging again seems like the perfect New Year’s Resolution for the month of December.
So I will start with my main takeaway from 2017: writing about the politics of development for different audiences is not an easy thing to do. I have always prided myself in being able to talk politics with almost anyone, anywhere. But writing semi-cogently is a different challenge altogether, as this year has shown me with the clarify of a punch to the face. Here are four translation tasks that I have had to deal with, and the realization that has come out of the experience. read more…
Reflections on Be // Longing
This blog originally appeared on the Manchester Migration Lab website
Blog by James Shraiky, PhD Candidate, HCRI, The University of Manchester
The Migration Lab Conference explored some of the most contemporary, complex, and current migration issues facing our modern time. Participants arrived from all corners of the world; North America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Presenters came from diverse, interdisciplinary, and overlapping backgrounds such as; Medical Anthropology, Political Science, Migration Studies, History, Conflict Studies, and Humanitarian Research. While the conference theme centered on “World on the Move: Migration, Societies and Change,” presentations touched on migration and migrants culture, political landscapes, policy, education, creative methods, technologies, and many other related subjects. Conference presentations encompassed a broader spectrum of migration issues; from individual slavery stories, all the way to the larger future migration policy. The first day sessions focused on “Brexit and Migration;” the second day interrogated migrants’ rights and migration policies, and the third day sessions discussed specific case studies on migration issues. All days covered issues concerning countries from all over the world including countries from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and North America. read more…
From Syria to Gateshead: Reflections
This blog originally appeared on the Manchester Migration Lab website
Blog by Dr Ghalia Sarmani, Head of Arabic Languages, Al Nimra Qur’an School, Manchester
Earlier this month I attended the ‘World on the Move; Migration, Societies and Change’ conference hosted by the University of Manchester’s Migration Lab. The two-and-a-half day conference was rich in providing a ground for intellectual debate, and for developing further research projects.
On the third day of the conference; I attended a workshop titled ‘From Syria to Gateshead’. The project is part of a larger, cross-national participatory arts-based study of belonging among resettled Syrian refugee youth in regional cities in Australia and the UK. This workshop characteristics music works and visual art created by resettled refugee-background, mainly young Syrians in Gateshead. Artworks emerged out of a participatory arts-based study conducted by Durham University, GemArts, and Gateshead Council and researcher and project coordinator is Dr Caitlin Nunn, Durham University. read more…
Is the World on the Move?
This blog originally appeared on the Manchester Migration Lab website
Blog by Gabriele Restelli, PhD Candidate, HCRI, The University of Manchester
The title of the conference World on the Move made me think: Is the world on the move? Are we witnessing an era of unprecedented migration?
Indeed, in absolute terms, more individuals are moving; but that’s simply because the world population has increased to 7 billion. Global migration data show no evidence of discontinuity in overall international migration trends. The total number of people living outside their country of birth (migrant stock) has remained relatively stable as a percentage of the world’s population since 1960, ranging from 3.1% to 3.3% in 2015. Similarly, only 0.75% of the world’s population emigrated in 2014 (migrant flow) – just like in 1995. read more…
In Conversation: Prof Diana Mitlin, Jack Makau and Joseph Muturi
Prof Diana Mitlin spoke to Jack Makau (Director of Slum Dwellers International in Kenya) and Joseph Muturi (community leader, activist and Coordinator of the Kenyan Slum Dwellers Federation) when they were visiting Manchester to guest lecture on GDI’s innovative “Citizen Led Development” course. They discuss the challenges faced by slum dwellers, such as the lack of secure tenure rights, access to basic services and threat of violent evictions – and how community organising and activism is allowing people living in informal settlements to effect change and make their voices heard. Jack and Joe also talk about building partnerships with city and national government, collaborating with researchers to quantify the ‘poverty penalty’ in Mukuru, and not putting too much hope in politicians.
read more…
Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene? Not for those with low-incomes
Prof Diana Mitlin, Managing Director, Global Development Institute
The United Nations has a specialist unit to measure and monitor progress on provision for water, sanitation and hygiene, the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP). JMP’s regular progress reports are an essential stocktake that enables us to assess the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6. Unfortunately they are often congratulatory rather than critical, leading to complacency rather than action. This is particularly true of the 2017 report and its discussion of affordability.
To recap, the Millennium Development Goal 7 called for halving (by 2015) the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. It did not mention affordability. SDG 6 mandates the world to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water, and access to adequate and equitable sanitation by 2030. Affordability is mentioned in the context of water, and implied for sanitation. But sadly, the goal’s indicators do not require measurement of the costs and access. In the context of extreme poverty and commodified basic services, consideration of affordability is critical. Adequate access without affordability is meaningless and risks making us believe that SDG 6 has been achieved when it has not.
Creative Methodologies… notes and musings from a fledgling researcher
This blog originally appeared on the Manchester Migration Lab website
By Thea Soltau, PhD Candidate HCRI, The University of Manchester
As a fledgling researcher, my attention is almost equally divided between my research interests and the research methodology itself. With a background in theatre, education and community arts I am particularly interested in the experiences of academics and practitioners who are employing creative methodologies to conduct their research. The intention of this blog is to reflect briefly on some of the challenges which were raised by the panel entitled ‘Creative Methodologies’ at the Migration Lab’s recent World on the Move conference. read more…